Ducks, eggs and pickles

Good morning, afternoon or evening depending on when you are reading this. It has been a little while since I have updated you on what is going on here at Keebs Acres Nubians (that is my herd name, cool isn't it?). Last Friday my husband, daughter and I went to Roger's auction with some really great friends and I am hooked! I cannot wait to go back. My husband purchased a box of bananas for 5 dollars which is a great deal! My only problem was what to do with all of those bananas before they went bad! Well, I finally got them all used. First we made tons of banana chips in my excalibur dehydrator. We dipped them in a mixture of part honey and part water and then dried them for what seemed forever, they are a little chewy but taste great! We also ate some bananas of course but you can only eat so many so yesterday I pureed some and put it in the freezer to be used later for banana cakes, muffins, and bread. I also froze some whole to be used in smoothies and shakes. It will be nice to just pull some out whenever we are in the mood for something banana. I also purchased 6 beautiful ducklings at the auction. They are great! I love having ducks. My husband of course acts like he cannot believe I have added another animal but I know he does not mind and likes them also. If I can put up with his calves he can put up with my ducks, lol.

No matter how many years I raise chickens it is still exciting when a new chicken lays her first egg and yesterday one of my younger hens laid her first egg!! I was excited and of course yelled for my husband to come see. I cannot even imagine how excited I will be when my ducks start laying eggs. I am really hoping they are not all boys, lol. The middle egg in the picture below is the new one. Isn't it pretty?

 

And last but not least I spent the day canning up some of the produce out of the garden. My canning cabinet is starting to get filled up and I think it looks so pretty. Does anyone else like to just stare at their canned goods because of how pretty they look. Here are some pictures of some of the stuff I canned yesterday.

I picked the peas a little too late and only ended up with a dozen jars but that is better then no jars.
 





The picture below is of some of the pickles I was able to get canned. We are having an abundance of cucumbers this year and have even been blessed with enough to share with friends and family.

 

 This year I have truly been blessed for the first time with a large garden that is doing amazingly well and I am thankful to God for this abundant blessing!

Have a wonderful and blessed day!!

~April

Shared at Homestead Barn Hop

Primitive skills workshop

I am back! In case you did not notice I have been missing for a few months. Life gets busy sometimes and you cannot always get done what you want but a few things have changed around here and I have a little more time in my day to get things done. The biggest change is that my husband is now on the daylight shift at work. I find it crazy how much more I can get done with him at work during the day and home in the evening. I am thoroughly enjoying it. 

Now to the topic of my post today. Last weekend my husband Doug, a friend of my husband's whose name is Bob, my daughter Caitlyn and I all went to a Primitive skills workshop at our state park. We had a great time. It was nice making new friends and learning how to do things in a survival situation. 

Caitlyn and I making our spindle

learning

The hardest thing we learned was how to make a spindle, hand hold and fire board to use with a bow drill to start a fire. 
                                  

Doug's spindle, hand hold and fire board. Mine was not picture worthy.

No matter how hard I tried I just could not get a fire started so I guess I learned that if I am ever lost then I will probably be dieing from hypothermia, lol. Like Pat (instructor) said now we need to practice so I plan on practicing and perfecting my bow drill skills and hope to be the first to start a fire next year. We also learned how to coal burn, that was fun. 
                           

Spoon made from coal burning

What you do is you take a piece of wood, the size is dependent on whether you are wanting to make something small like a spoon or something big like a bowl to collect water, Pat even said if you had months you could even make a canoe. We did not have that much time so we did not attempt that. After you select the piece of wood and have it cut down to size you take a coal out of your fire and put it where you want to make an indention in what you are making and then just blow on the coal moving it around a little, after the coal goes out you just get another until you have the desired depth and size you need. It was fun. The only part I did not enjoy was sleeping in the tent on the ground. We brought an air mattress but were unable to blow it up so I ended up sleeping in the car. I really enjoyed this workshop though and I plan on attending it next year. They have lots of great workshops at the park and we will be attending an Edible Wild Plants workshop at the beginning of next month. I would suggest that everyone check and see if their state park offers these kinds of learning experiences. 

Have a blessed day!!

~April 

This post shared at the Homestead Barn Hop