Surefire way to reduce wrinkles!

If you are on a diet, stop reading now.  If you, on the other hand, are like me and believe that adding a little wieght every year can decrease your wrinkles, READ ON!

Maple butter
1 stick of soft butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup maple syrup
1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
Whip it all together!

At the very bottom of this page there is my youtube video giving instructions on making white bread.  Follow these instructions except after you punch the dough down lay each half out flat like a rectangular pizza.  Spread half of the maple butter (instructions above) on the 2 dough halves.  Take some cinnamon sugar and coat a couple handfuls of raisins with it in a bag.  Pour the whole bag over the 2 halfs and distribute.  Roll up the dough to form 2 loafs.  Bake as directed in the video.

When it is ready and has rested 5 miliseconds, cut into it, slather the still hot piece of bread with maple butter and hand that to your spouse or child.  While they are distracted, eat the rest of the loaf.

Enjoy and be well!

The new building is here!!!!

The week before Thanksgiving

We had a very busy day today cleaning up the yard, moving the turkey pen, tucking in the garden for a long winters nap....  Cleaning up the turkey pen and moving the flight cage was the hardest.  I really enjoyed raising those boys, they were a pleasure.  I've had more than a few people comment about what we do here, raising and slaughtering our own meats.  Many people don't understand that we do this to ensure that we are raising the animals kindly, with care and respect.  We slaughter them quickly and as efficiently as we can.  Tad even played soothing classical music during the day.  We care about these animals and we thank them for feeding us, for fertilizing our lawns, for composting our left-overs.  I cried the morning of the slaughter because even though I know we are doing the best thing we can, it is hard and it will always be a sad day.  We make the decision to raise our own meats or buy from small farms to ensure we are supporting what we feel is right.  That was me on a soap box.  Be well.

Some fun pictures from our last kids day this fall!

Lamancha Success!

I think things went well for Lamancha (Buttercup) and this spring (in 5 months) we will be proud goat grandparents!  I'm hoping for girls so I can keep them :)  Cricket and Cupcake were not as enthusiastic, so we will have to bring them back to the farm when they are feeling a little more frisky.

Today was a wet and nasty day but we got things done and now I'm going to head out to take one of my nieces and one of my nephews to west african drumming in Willimantic, CT.  It is so much fun, I can't say enough about it!

This weekend I will be going to a local farm to look into adopting some laying hens to keep the store in stock with eggs (we just got eggs in if anyone is looking).  At the end of the weekend I will head to another farm in eastern Connecticut to check out some silkies and frizzles (these are hens) for my fancy collection!

It's a good life!

Be well!

We are closing early today!

We are closing our doors at 3:30pm today in order to bring our 'girls' to a larger farm to meet the fathers of what we hope will be precious kids this spring!  We are very excited and nervous!  I will let you know how it goes!  Be well!

New Fun Fall Decorations! The Great Pumpkin is here!

Fun additions to any garden!

The greatest door decoration!

Mini pumpkin for your mum planters!

Beeeeeeezzzz

Mom and I fed the bees, fed the goats, picked 2 pints of strawberries and enough rhubarb for a pie, and worked on mom's facebook page!  We had a great time, well, I did- haha!  Not sure how thrilled mom was to feed bees.  She didn't flinch, though, didn't look scared in the least!

John and I are working on a plan for our next Family Day which will be in June! I will post as soon as we verify the date! We will have the petting zoo again and might even have a face painter :) So many fun plans for the summer! I can't wait to share them all. My favorite thing about running the Connecticut Country Store is meeting all the neighbors and friends in our area - awesome people! Be well!

May 25, 2010

Sorry we've been so quiet! We've been very busy preparing for upcoming family events and bringing in produce and keeping up with all those plants! Next weekend will be full of treats for your Memorial Day Celebrations! Get your nitrate free, pasture raised, grass fed hot dogs, kielbasa, keli dogs, and knockwurst! Superb for grilling, no preservatives, the best bbq food in CT!!!!

We'll also have stripped and Canadian bacon and eggs for camping!  AND delicious pastries!  You can't forget to pick those up to top off a wonderful weekend celebration!

May 18, 2010

It was a very busy weekend with lots of fun! Yesterday was a sad day when i went to feed the bees and found that colony #2 had abandoned the hive. Noone was left behind, not even any dead bees could be found. I will get another colony to replace them on the 4th. Colony #1 is doing well, I will check on the queen tomorrow to make sure she got out!  I will have much more exciting things to say tomorrow after a little sleep!  Be well!

New fun pics!

12,000 (of 24,000) bees!

A few escapes!

They'll climb anything, anywhere, anytime!

My little sweet Cupcake!

Sweet Cupcake being bad eating my blackberry bushes!

Buttercup smelling the flowers!

May 12, 2010 Bees!

The bees are now at Arrowhead farm (pictures to follow, I've got to get the camera cord!) but we did not set them free last night. Adam from AZ Apiaries suggested we wait until Thursday because of the weather. They are buzzing in my pottery cubbord in the basement! And yes, I did get stung, but no pics because it wasn’t a good sting and there wasn’t anything to share! See you at the store!


Today's Earth Handbook is about being conservative when washing your car. Before this adventure my husband washed my car every other week! Now that we work constantly :), we rarely get it in. When we do, however, we will focus on using a bucket and not being wasteful with that water! Check out this book written by Christine McCartney & Samantha Booth, get the details and get GREEN!

Be Well!!!!

Mother's Day

John and I with baby Buttercup :)

Sustainable Living Practices 3

All the pies are gone, look for more this weekend :) Today is a big day at Arrowhead farms - the bees are coming! If I don't find my camera, I will borrow one! I set up the hives this morning while the goats played with Dori (my older catahoula leopard dog). The store is doing great and everyone is getting thier landscaping done with the brown and red mulch!


The Earth’s Handbook for the 9th was about making your own soaps! Natural healthy wholesome soaps from home. If you don’t have the time, check out our wonderful lotion soaps and goat soaps at the store – you can’t go wrong! And now we have goat soap wrapped in wool which moisturizes while it exfoliates and gives a great lather for shaving! Check it out!

The Earth’s Handbook for the 10th was about becoming more aware of your energy use. A big problem John and I have at home is our old windows. We can’t afford to replace them right now, so in the meantime we use plastic and heavy drapes to keep the drafts from blowing through. It makes a huge difference. We also installed a fireplace in the basement to help with the heat in the winter and it works wonderfully. We counteract the dryness by venting our dryer into the house during the winter to keep the air moist and smelling nice!

Today’s tip is about reshaping your clothes instead of throwing them away. I’m not sure I’m skilled enough for this. I do donate my clothes, though, and that helps, too. Or I turn them into rags so we don’t use paper towels up cleaning!

Be Well!

May 8, 2010

We've got strawberry rhubarb, blueberry, mixed berry, apple, and white chocolate raspberry mousse pie, blueberry cake, and chocolate ship cookies - YUM! Along with everything else awesome in the store, of course! The only thing we won't have is the goats. Lightening storms and metal cages don't mix!

Today's Earth Handbook tip is to line dry your clothes, it saves money and conserves energy! Of course, today is a poor example as I wouldn't recomend hanging your clothes during a thunderstorm, but on nice days it is a great idea! I have a retractable clothes line that I love. Its easy to put away with company or when my father-in-law mows the lawn (yes, we are that lucky). It saves money and it is a nice relaxing chore!

May 7, 2010

TGIF! I love the weekends when I get to hang out in the store and talk with all of my new friends! We've got a lot going on this weekend and tons of wonderful plants. The goats will be visiting and the bunnies will be there, as always. Lots of fun origional gifts and those delicious pastries!


Today's Earth Handbook tip is to 'Call in a favor'. We are very good at this! Without the help of family and friends, we wouldn't get half of our chores done! It also makes tasks fun, its great to be able to hang out with friends and family and get the job done! When I have a big project like the bees or the goats I pick a partner. This way we can learn more, share some of the work, and both enjoy the results! By inviting someone with experience you can also save yourself a lot of headaches and waste!

Be well!

May 6, 2010

I can't believe its already Thursday - where does the time go? It sounds like the rain will water some of the plants this afternoon which will save us a lot of work! The flowers look great and we'll feed them this week so they will be all set to make mom smile! We also will be featuring a new artist this weekend who turns wood bowls - they are gorgeous!


Today's Earth Handbook focuses on composting. Over the past year I've been planning and replanning my composting method. Now that the goats and bunnies are here I have plenty to compost and still no bin, so this month I vow to take action! My left over foods will still go to the chickens at Tad's but anything that doesn't will be heaped into my bin. I will let you know how it goes!

Be well!

Cinco de Mayo

The Catahoula's (dogs) met the goats this morning and it went very well. We introduced them 1 at a time and had the goats safely in thier pen. They were very curious and Roxi cried a little because she couldn't get in the pen with the goats. I think we will take the time over the next few weeks to introduce them regularly and seperately to get them used to the goats while the goats are safely in thier pen.  This way when the goats graduate to living outdoors, the dogs won't bark and go crazy at them.  So far so good.

Today's Earth Handbook discussed the 'Humble Honeybee' and how the cooperation of the colony works to survive. Unfortunately they are not surviving and this posses a real threat to our food production. This year John and I have chosen to raise 2 colonies of bees in our back yard (with the help of my friend Jeff and the Eastern Connecticut Bee Association). I took classes on the UConn campus to help me learn how to raise the bees and keep them healthy. It was a lot of learning and I'm sure I couldn't be ready and will learn a lot this first year. I pick up my colonies on May 11, 2010 - just a few more days!!!!!!!!!! (I'll have to start getting up at 4am!)


Enjoy this beautiful day and Be Well!

May 3, 2010

11pm and I'm still not in bed, that is not good!  We got a lot done tonight, though, so I'm happy :)  The bunnies have a new playpen that will be easier to clean and we have plans to get them a doublewide to put in the basement this week to help them tolerate the temperature change - it is much cooler down there!  Meanwhile they've been living on ice packs and plenty of water!

The goats are well and drinking 48 oz of milk a day each!  They've also started to drink water and some grain.  The hay is slow but I've noticed its been eaten a little.  They got the chance to play in our large garden yesterday (they don't really know how to eat plants yet) and they LOVED IT - running around and clicking thier heels like crazy little girls!  They are so much fun to watch and enjoy!

The dogs are happy that I got them treats this week and that I'm letting them sleep with a fan during the day.  The cat is always content sleeping in the basket my sister made her (which will be coming to the store soon for sale!)

Tonight I spent some time with a new artist I will introduce tomorrow - VERY EXCITING - beautiful work, wonderful people!

Be well!

Sustainable Living Choices

One piece of our mission is to talk to people about sustainable living practices.  Sustainable is a new buzz word that can have many definitions.  For our purposes we are focusing on practices that can support our environment while helping ourselves to be more self-reliant.  This often comes with the benefit of saving us money as well!

One sustainable choice we made this winter was to vent the dryer hose back into the house to provide extra heat and moisture to the air (I covered it with a stocking)- it worked great! Now its time to send that heat back out if I need to dry clothes on a rainy day. Otherwise its the laundry line! I know it sounds strange, but I love taking the time to hang out my laundry - it is like a nice pause in the day where you can relax your brain.


According to the Earth Handbook today, May 3rd, one posititve choice you can make is to share a ride whenever possible. This winter my husband and I sold his truck and used only my VW wagon which actually worked out pretty well! This summer I will try to take my motorcycle to work whenever I can. I can usually commute for over a week on 3 gallons of gas!