A Very Creative Holiday

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season!  We have been reminded that we haven’t put up a blog post for a while, and people have been commenting that they miss our exciting news and esoteric wit.  And so, here we are!

The last week has been creative, to say the least.  We headed down on the 21^st to Richmond, IN for Nate’s work Christmas party.  We went down early on Saturday morning to have lunch with some friends, and then went to check on the house.  We brought our sleeping bags and camped out in our own house!  It was actually pretty fun, except that we had forgotten all of the noises that the house makes in the night, and how drunk people tend to wander past in the middle of the night talking and yelling.  We’re putting those on the list of things we do not miss.  The party was a lot of fun, and we got to catch up with all of Nate’s co-workers as well as meet some new ones!  It was also incredible how much the kids have grown, some of them we didn’t even recognize.

That day in Richmond, and all through night, it poured and poured.  We rose early and left, avoiding certain roads that were flooded and headed back north.  As we neared Michigan, it was clear that the night that we missed had not been peaceful.  Anna, who was watching our house, called to say that the power was out.  About 30 minutes past the Michigan border, we started seeing the ice, which had blanketed everything!  We met family for lunch (after changing venues several times due to lack of power) and then headed back to the house.  The road to the next town to the north was completely blocked due to a fallen tree; our neighbors had to drive down their hill and through our field to get out, because they had a fallen power line in their driveway.  We bundled up, grabbed our gloves and tree loppers, and headed out to help clear the roads.  After a frigid hour, we decided to call Mom and Dad (who had power) and asked if we could come stay.  In the most ironic of turns, Dad and Kate were supposed to spend the evening with us, one of our first guests to stay in our new guest room, but it was not to be.  So we all headed to the Kahlers for an evening of hot soup, wine, and games!  Despite the close quarters, fun was had by all.

Christmas was filled with family and love.  We were especially excited about a quilt top that Justine put together for Grandma and Grandpa Noel’s cabin, and an out-loud game called Password that we gifted to play with Grandma Giddings, who is having more and more trouble with her vision.  We also held the Newtons and Bells close to our hearts, missing their warmth.

We are now back with power and settling back in.  Yay!

Wishing everyone a warm winter and a 2014 filled with blessings!

-Nate and Justine

How Cheesy!

Hello Friends and Family!

A couple weeks back, during one of the cooler and blustery days, we decided that it would be cheesemaking day!  When we got up we pulled 2 gallons of milk out of the freezer, but it took a really long time to melt. So we employed a combination of oven exhaust, microwave, and hot water to help speed up the process.

Next, all the milk went into a giant pot and started heating.  Once up to temperature, the rennet and mesophilic bacteria were added and the heat was steadied.

After about an hour, the curds had formed.  It was really interesting; they formed a solid block right below the surface and half-float in the whey.  The next step was to cut the curds into 1/2-inch squares, which you can see below if you look closely.

Next we had to maintain a constant temperature of 98° and stir to keep the cubes from molding together, stir stir stir!

Then we drain the whey and keep the curds.  This is what they look like going into the cheesecloth:

It is wild that the curds stay in the cheesecloth, since the cheesecloth is basically just a large piece of gauze.  So, gather the curds and wrap them up.  Then, you have to squish it.  Normally you would use a cheese press, but there was no way we were going to invest in one.  So we used our shipping scale to weigh books, and stacked the right weight on top of the cookie tray.  Low-tech but effective!

Several hours (and more weight) later we were done!  Look!  Cheese!

Nate wanted to try a cheese that he could compare with something that we'd recognize, so we made a cheddar.  Unfortunately, the cheddar has to age 4-12 weeks before its appropriate to be eaten.  We did try it "young," and it was sort of tasteless and squeaky, like chewing rubber.  We're hopeful that a month from now it'll be gourmet!

In the meanwhile, things are great around the farm.  Here are a few photos:

Dolce's baby has been named Gucci, and is growing like a weed!

The chickies are growing too!  I'm sensing eggs in our future!

We wanted to include a photo of Pato in the pond, he's a part of the barn team.

Love to everyone!  Go out and kill some mosquitoes for us!

-N&J

Home Sweet Homesteading

Hello Everyone!

As many of you know, Nate and I bought 13 acres last August with a house and barn.  We had a visiting momma and puppies last fall, but for the winter the barn lay dormant.

No so anymore!  First, our local animal control had a cruelty case involving a large number of goats and sheep.  Nate said absolutely NO to sheep, since he remembers having to chase them back into their enclosure from his childhood, but we had been talking about getting a goat or two to keep the grass down in the front pastures. I had been checking Craigslist, but we didn't want to spend a lot of money on what would probably end up being a glorified mower.  But when the call came in for goat foster homes, we were ready!

First, we got three.  Two adult girls, and one baby.  The two adults we named Dolche and Gabana, a joke since they are far from designer goats.  Dolche (Che) is an angora, and Gabana (Gabby) is an Angora/Pygmy cross.  Gabby also came with her baby, Coco Chanel.

 Che the Angora

 Gabby and Coco

As an added bonus, as we were waiting for our goat delivery, a friend called and said that she had a family who had a duck that needed to find a new home.  She told me that he was going to send the duck with the goats.  "You'll be fine," she assured me.  I wasn't totally sure of this, but we readied an extra stall.  The duck, Pato, is truly a character.  At the beginning we were hoping that it was a girl and she would lay eggs, but since there have been no eggs so far, we are thinking that Pato is a boy.  Still, even without eggs, Pato is worth it.  He is our constant companion when we are outside, and he spends the day hanging out with the goats.  He has even decided that he likes their sweet feed, which has corn in it, and he will follow them into their stalls at night.  The only sound he makes is a hissing noise, and he does that both when he is happy and when he is angry.  He waddles around all day wagging his tail feathers, and when he gets upset his waddle gets even more pronounced, and you can hear his feet slapping stubbornly on the ground.  He is awesome.

A few weeks later, we get another call.  A mother goat and her two babies were being fostered at a home that also functioned as a daycare.  The babies were too friendly, and were knocking over the children.  Could we take them?

Almond (right) and Joy (left), bumper goats

This took a little more convincing, but after a while Nate acquiesced.  As fosters only, I promised.  We drove over to get them, babies Almond and Joy.  The mother was rather skiddish, and didn't have a name.  Wikipedia was a wealth of knowledge about Almond Joy's, and it turns out that at one time they were made by Cadbury.  And so, Cadbury, Almond and Joy joined the Bellhaven team.

As with any new adventure, the first thing I did was go to the (digital) library.  I downloaded anything I could find about goats and homesteading, and after finishing 'Story's Guide to Dairy Goats' I announced to my wonderfully adventurous husband that I wanted to try and milk our new goats.  I do have to mention that Pygmy and Angora are not traditionally dairy goats, but I figured that they had to have milk, and I didn't need multiple quarts a day anyways.  So, with blueprint in hand, Nate and I went to Home Depot.

Cadbury in the milking stand

I am thankful every day that I have a husband with a great sense of fun.  So with lumber and hardware in hand, Nate built me a milking stand.  We are milking Gabby and Cadbury each day, and getting about 2 cups of milk.  Right now we are freezing it, because we need a gallon to make cheese!  We are getting close, though, and should be able to report back on that soon.

As if that wasn't enough fun (six goats and a surprise duck), we also decided to get chickens.  We put out a call to our foster friends to borrow a cage and heat lamp to make a brooder, and voila!  We were ready for chicks.  This time armed with 'Backyard Chickens for Beginners', we headed to the farm store.  They had a variety of chicks, and I knew that we wanted at least a few Rhode Island Reds, which are protective of the flock, and a few Americaunas who are good layers.  So we got two of each of those, and also picked an Ida Brown and a Buff Orpington, to check out those breeds.  They are growing so fast, and have probably doubled in size since we got them last weekend.  When I open the door to the basement and call "Chickies!" they peep peep peep!  They should start laying around 5-6 months, and are only about 3 weeks old now.  In about a month they will out-grow their pen, and get moved to the barn.  They are really adorable, and we're trying to handle them a lot.

Our chicks.  The two reddish ones are the Rhodies, and the two speckled are the Americaunas; bet you can figure out the Ida Brown and the Buff Orpington on your own.

One week later!

Everyone goes in the barn at night, so about an hour ago I headed down to put everyone away.  I had some special treats, but I noticed that my social Che didn't come out to greet me, so I was calling for her.  I found her in the middle stall, looking tired but contented.  Then she moved aside to reveal a newborn kid!  We are so thankful that it is another girl!  Che happily munched on bread while we petted her and her baby, and told her what a great job she had done.  And while we were a bit skeptical about the goats at first, we are thrilled to have this new addition.

 Every night when we walk back from the barn, we watch the sunset and can't believe that we've gotten so lucky.  And while we know that homesteading isn't everyone's cup of tea, we wish this happy lucky feeling to all of our friends and family, in their own circles and passions.

Yours,
-N&J

Bittersweet Symphony

Grandma Marjorie was an amazing woman.  She married grandpa Caleb just before WWII where he was stationed in Mill Valley, CA.  The couple bought land in a hollow just below the mountain where he was stationed, and you can still see his lookout on the top of the mountain from one of their house's large bay windows.  She raised three beautiful, wonderful girls, including Nate's mother.  She was an integral part of her church, a devoted student of the French language, and loved a good walk up or down the mountain, even in her later years.  She lived to the age of 89 and passed away peacefully watching television in the home Caleb designed and built for them.

Though she passed last November, it was decided that the memorial service would be held on her 90th birthday on February 22nd.  And so, family and friends arrived from near and far to enjoy the beautiful California spring that grandma so loved.  The days before the memorial were filled, as family went through old photo albums and pulled out photos that would help encompass Marjorie and Caleb's life together.  Stories were traded as pictures and items were set aside to share at the memorial, a great tribute to a wonderful life.  The service went off beautifully in grandma's home church, and all breathed a sign of relief.

After, we all had more time to spend together enjoying both the home and countryside.  Thought there was limited internet access, Nate took much of the down time to work on his game.  Cousin Alexi became enchanted by the process, and the two spent hours talking about games and design.  Since the trip, Alexi has been diligent in learning more about game design, and is headed to a programming camp this summer to learn more.  Nate is thrilled!  :)

We went out as a group to Golden Gate Park one day and went boating and hiking.  Mom teased Nate that he owed her a paddle boat ride, as many years ago he agreed to pilot a similar boat, but then decided, after paddling out to the middle of a lake, that he would rather not paddle anymore and left mom to get them back.  So the three of us grabbed a boat, and Alexi, John, Susan and Tatiana grabbed a second, and we chauffeured mom around Stow Lake.

We also got the chance to spend time with Caroline Benson and her family.  Caro was one of my bridesmaids, and spending time with her is always a joy.  Though we hadn't talked in a while, we came together as if no time had passed, the two of us making silly jokes and Nate rolling his eyes.  We also got to meet her boyfriend Matt, who we wholeheartedly approve of. 

One of our interests is always learning more about our newly combined family.  We spent a lot of time going through photo albums and hearing stories about Caleb and Marjorie, their daughters Susan, Sally and Molly, and all of our cousins!  We were excited to see the family crests hanging in Grandma's bedroom:

Our trip home had an unexpected (but ultimately fun) detour. We left from San Francisco early in the morning for a 7:30am flight and flew to Chicago to catch a connecting flight to Grand Rapids. Unfortunately, when we got there and turned our phones back on we got an email from United saying our flight had been delayed. By the time we got to our gate and got settled, it was delayed again. We went to the customer service desk to see if they could get us on another flight and we were put on standby. When we arrived at that flight's gate, the agent there told us the flight was overbooked and she was going to have to ask a paying customer to give up a seat, so there was no chance for us.

Meanwhile, at every step of the way we noticed a man about our parent's age who was following the same path, one step ahead. When he saw us at the other gate, he laughed and asked if we wanted to rent a car together and just make the drive. It was a three and a half hour drive or a five hour wait for a flight that might get delayed again. We jumped at the chance to get moving again, so we left the airport, caught a shuttle to get rental car and he offered to pay if we did the driving. It turns out he was from Canada and on his way to Holland, MI for a conference. We had an enjoyable drive there chatting about the differences between the US and Canada and laughing when he said 'eh' without realizing it. After dropping him off, we finished the drive to Grand Rapids, dropped off the car, and arrived back to Lansing right around when our flight was landing in Grand Rapids.

All in all it was a wonderful trip.  It was fabulous seeing so many family and friends that we've been missing, and to reconnect with people in new ways.  We are so blessed and humbled to be surrounded by so many amazing people!

-Nate & Justine (enjoying tea and a hike in Golden Gate Park!)

Gulf Shores Gaiety!

Dear Family and Friends;

Sometimes we don't post here as often as we should because we feel like not much is going on, and we don't want to bother you.  The last two months have been a different story!  We haven't been posting because things have been so so busy!  But we are happy to report that we are home now, and finally life is falling back into place.

At the beginning of February, we headed down to Gulf Shores, Alabama with Grandpa and Grandma Giddings.  As always, we had a fantastic time!

All days in Gulf Shores have a certain cadence to them.  We get up, and both start work on our computers.  Luckily both Doxpop and CAHS allow us to work remotely, so from morning to afternoon we get things done.  Then, later, we start talking about what adventure we're going to go on that day.  We find something to check out, then pack up and head out for some fun!  Then, of course, seafood dinner.

One of our trips was to the Wharf where the pelicans were relaxing after a long day of badgering fishermen for their catch.  But since they spend all day trying to steal from humans, they were very social and we got pretty close to them. This one was sizing up Grandma and, luckily, decided she was too big for its pouch.

Here's another photo that Nate took of the pelicans. You can see the condos in the background; the one above the left pelican's head was ours!

Another fun trip that we took was to the Gulf Shores Zoo, the "little zoo that could!"  It was really really fun! When you first walk in, you see an island filled with ruffed lemurs!  They were flipping and playing and teasing each other, and we had a lot of fun watching them!  Also at the zoo you could buy a cup of food and take it with you to feed some of the residents.  They had six tigers, wolves, bears, capybaras, aligators, livestock, and many more! It was a surprisingly diverse zoo for its size.  

One of our unique outings on this trip was to the Nina & Pinta, replicas of two of the three ships that Columbus sailed to the Americas.  It was really amazing to learn how the ships had been constructed in a shipyard in South America that still used the same techniques that they used centuries ago to make the originals.  Also it was interesting to see where Columbus would have slept (a tiny hold below deck), and to learn that many of the sailors would have slept on the deck for the entire voyage! There is a unique opportunity for people to go live on and sail these ships from place to place for weeks or months at a time, but Nate and I decided that we'd prefer just to visit.

We enjoyed sampling the local eateries (seeing who made the best gumbo) and taking in the Mardi Gras parades.  The parade is half trying to catch beads, and half trying to guard Grandma from beads flying at her.    As always, we had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa and really enjoyed getting to stop in and see Sarah, Lawanna, and the boys on the way down and back up!

Coming up in our next episode: Our trip to California!

Love to everyone!

-J&N