Classes Coming in November!

Family Farm Day
Thursday, Nov 4th, 1:00 pm and Tuesday, Nov 9th, 1:00 (Farm Day Classes full, we will have Farm Days in Spring)
Cost is $6 per person up to $25 per family

Our Family Farm Day is a fun day on the farm, gather eggs from the chicken house, romp and play with the sheep and goats, try milking a cow, horse or hay rides, spin yarn, make butter, and try some homemade ice cream.

Remember this is an outside activity, please dress appropriately, no sandles.

Space is limited.

Please RSVP

For all classes E-mail christie at shekinah-farm.com

Or call two five six, 8 two nine, 88 seven 4 and leave a message

Soap Making Class

Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 1:00pm
Cost is $6 per person up to $25 per family

We will be making home made lye soap. Everyone will take home a bar of soap, children will make home made bath salts, and we will have a soap carving contest. Science handouts will be available.

Inclement weather reschedule for 11/18

Space is limited.

Please RSVP

Long Term Storage Class

Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 1:00pm

FREE!

We will be learning how to put food up for long term storage. Bucketing wheat, drying, canning, fermenting, freezing, etc.

Space is limited

Please RSVP

Spider Beside Her

My husband came in the other day from doing chores and told me that a spider was outside the back door in the summer kitchen. I asked him what kind and he said that it was an Orb spider.  Orb spiders are beautiful yellow and black with very perfect webs. If you include the legs they are larger than a golf ball. They are fascinating spiders.

Well, I was heading out to the summer kitchen and as I approached the glass back door I looked for the spider, but did not see it. As I walked up to the door more closely ready to open it the spider fell from the roof in my face! I am not scared of these big, beautiful spiders, but this startled me and I yelped! My dear husband ran in to see what happened and once informed, replied by saying that he told me it was there! Yeah, well, I knew it was there, but that didn’t stop it from startling me! Can you imagine this falling in your face?

After going in and out of the door several times, the dear spider decided that building its home in the doorway would not be a good situation and moved on. I don’t know where he went, but I’m sure it will be a perfectly made web.

We do not celebrate Halloween, but we have great spiders and webs around the farm. Yah is amazing!

Niji's Progress

Last week, we received a new horse. Her name was Rosie, but she didn't know her name and my daughter called her Niji (see earlier post about her name.) Niji came to Shekinah Farm a little under weight and very skiddish. This past week was spent working with her a bit, teaching her not to be rude, getting her used to our other horse and our farm, and helping her fatten up. She has gotten along well with my old man, Hicks, and is fattening up with a diet of fresh grass, hay, alfalfa and oats. She has adjusted well, although she doesn't like the cows! :) Here are some pics. She is filling out very nicely!

We praise Abba for his hand on the animals of our farm!

Apple Pie in a Jar

1/4 cup honey (1/2 cup sugar)

·         1 cup cornstarch

·         2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

·         1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         10 cups water

·         3 tablespoons lemon juice

·         7 quarts peeled, cored and sliced apples

Directions

1.     Place a rack in the bottom of a large stock pot. Fill pot with hot water. Sterilize 7 1-quart canning jars, 7 lids, and 7 rings by placing on rack, jars upright. Bring water to a boil. Boil 10 minutes. Remove with a holder and allow jars to air-dry. Save water for processing apples.

2.     Combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and water in a large saucepan. Place over high heat and cook until thick and bubbly, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

3.     Tightly pack apples into sterilized jars. Slowly pour syrup over apples, covering them completely. Slide knife down inside of jars to allow air bubbles to rise. Clean jar top edges. Screw lids on jars.

4.     Carefully lower jars into pot using a holder. Leave a 2 inch space between jars. Add more boiling water if necessary, until tops of jars are covered by 2 inches of water. Bring water to a full boil, then cover and process for 30 minutes.

5.     Remove jars from pot and place on cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press top of each lid with finger, ensuring that seal is tight (lid doesn't move up or down at all). Sealed jars can be stored for up to a year.

These are great for gifts any time of the year!

Easiest Applesauce

4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

3/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons honey as needed (depends on type of apples)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (if desired)

Directions

In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher.

This recipe can be increased according to the amount of apples and the size of your pot!
You can also use a slow cooker for 3-4 hours until apples are soft for mashing.
We like to leave some chunks for texture.

Hot pack jars with sauce and run them in the water bath canner for 5 minutes to seal.

The Puppies have New Homes!

Today the last of the puppies were adopted and have gone to new homes. I pray YHVH keeps each puppy in the safety of his hand and that they have loving homes and long lives.

We did keep one puppy. A person was supposed to take one of the puppies and he backed out.. in the mean time, Shelly has grown attached to her and she has talked Daddy into letting her keep it.

So, we have a puppy... well, 2 because my son decided to keep one of them too... sigh. Oh, and did I mention my other daughter adopted one, too. Well, so we found homes for 9 of them and the other 3 have adopted our family. Still, I didn't keep all 12 (thank goodness!) So, here she is (she is the one on the left).

She was the runt, and is the smallest. Shelly has named her Rivka. She is a darlin' isn't she!

Our son, Ricky, has named his pup Emit (we affectionately call him Emet, which means truth in Hebrew.) I don't have a picture of him yet and the battery on my camera is dead. Guess I'll have to break down and go buy a new cord (I know it will show up the minute I buy a new one, but I can't function without my camera!)

Blessings

New Horse!

Hey, Ya'll!
Well, I meant to post this last night but life got in the way! So, yesterday morning the farrier showed up on time (thanks, Jessica) with a trailer and a beautiful Sorrel Filly!

She is spirited, but sweet. A little thin, but healthy. She came with the name Rosie, but Shelly decided that since Rosie doesn't really know her name she wanted to change it. She decided to name her Niji (pronounced nee-jee). Niji is a Cherokee word for partner. This means that Shelly has decided that she will work with her and has made Niji her own. Yah has answered our prayers and Shelly was out this morning feeding her a bucket of oats and getting her hay.

We will never forget Sasha, but Yah has a reason for everything, and we praise him for his excellent greatness!

Time to Make Socks!

We have just finished our Sukkot celebration, the weather is cooling off, and the days are getting shorter. What does that mean to me? Crackling fires (outside currently, but soon, in the wood cookstove in the kitchen!), soup and fresh, warm bread, family game nights, and evenings working on some sewing or knitting project.

So the project I will start tonight will be socks! I promised Shelly I would make her a pair of socks out of some specialty yarn we bought last year and I haven't had a chance to start them. Actually, I started a shawl for her during her surgery and put it on the shelf for the summer (I am too busy in summer with gardens and summer activities to knit). I pulled it out last week and got it finished on Friday.

 Isn't she gorgeous? Anyway, finished just in time for the cool weather! But, now our feet are cold! So I'll get started on her socks and do some spinning for myself. I am still learning to spin, so I will make some "designer" yarn for myself and make a scarf.

Her socks will be made with Opal Specialty Sock Yarn and I will try my hand at knitting two at a time, toe up, on two circular needles. The last two pairs I made were two at a time, cuff down, on 2 circulars. I will probably make a few pair for myself out of worsted wool for warm footies to wear around the house this winter.

I picked up several yards of different colored corduroy fabric for $1.99 at the fabric store so I will be making some jumpers and skirts for us for warm winter clothes. Yay, for fabric sales!  I am looking forward to winter projects.

Ponderings Over the Past Year

I just found out that we are getting a free horse on Tuesday! She is a 3 yr old, red TN Walker. She has been ridden, but not much and needs some work. Shelly was back and forth on weather she wanted another horse and she is a bit nervous about it. I think it will be good for her to get back to working with a horse again.

So, Yah is faithful to restore what is taken. This time of Sukkot is the time when the Torah scroll is rolled back to the beginning. A time when we look over the past year, remembering His blessings, and ponder what will come. As I look back over the year in this time of 'New Beginnings' I consider all that has happened.

Last year at this time we were standing at the river, looking at the giants in the land... making the decision to cross over or to let fear erase the blessings Yah had given in the wilderness. The choice? To have brain surgery.

As the year progressed, we were blessed with sheep and goats, had them attacked by dogs, had brain surgery, had baby sheep, lost our bull calf, had a new calf, new bee hives, nursed sick mama cows, lost one of our horses, and were abundantly blessed with gardens, lots of fresh fruit, children all summer, puppies and now to finish it off, a new horse... young enough to teach to pull and ride.

And the river we crossed, Shelly is seizure free and coming off her meds, out of Babylon! There were good times and bad, but how would we recognize the good without the bad? How would we see Yah's blessing without the need for one? As Tevia would say, "Somewhere in the good book it says, 'the Lord giveth and the  Lord taketh away.'" I don't believe that anything is ours, but all belongs to Yah, so he can take, give, and redistribute as he pleases! He is good!