Tag Archives: Kids

February 21, 2011 · 8:52 pm

A Field of Ice

We were enjoying warmer spring-like temperatures a week ago here in Minnesota and our ridiculously large piles of snow finally started melting. All that melting snow meant that a LOT of water was trying to make its way from our hay-field down towards the river.

The water was still backed up in the field when the temperatures plunged to below freezing once again over this past week. As a result, our hay-field turned into a giant ice rink. With a free day on the calendar yesterday, the kids decided to take advantage of the ice.

They grabbed their ice skates, some hockey sticks and a tennis ball and headed out to the hay-field.

With their boots in place to mark the goal area, it wasn’t long before they had a lively game of hockey going on.

None of my kids are hockey players, but I think they do pretty well on the ice for only getting their skates on a couple of times a year.

I thought they were a little crazy at first when they decided to head out to play on the ice. The latest winter storm was rolling in and the wind was really whipping out of the east.

I was freezing when I went out to take pictures of them. As I glanced out the window later, I noticed they had taken their jackets off and were skating around in sweatshirts! These kids are hardy Minnesotans!

Sofie was trying to figure out what we were all doing out in the hay-field. She went out to watch the kids play and when I showed up to take pictures she looked over at me inquisitively.

Everyone eventually came inside to warm up and enjoy our Sunday brunch.

The predicted snow finally started to arrive in the afternoon and the kids talked their dad into going out on the ice before the snow covered it up.

I went out to take pictures again. I didn’t last long. I’m a Minnesota girl, but am definitely not as hardy as my husband and kids.

Each year around this time, I tell myself that I am better suited to live where it is always warm and they have palm trees and sandy beaches. I always get over it…you have to when you live here.

It snowed the rest of the day and through most of today. We now have about a foot of fresh snow! The recent teasing of a spring thaw is just a distant memory, as we are now buried in snow once again. And so is the ice rink in the hay-field.

Hockey in the hay-field. I never would have imagined…

–Lynell

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Filed under Daily life, Kids

Tagged as Daily life, Kids, skating

April 19, 2010 · 6:44 pm

Township Cleanup Day

Every spring in Minnesota, townships have a spring cleanup day when residents can bring in various items to dispose of, including old appliances, electronics, mattresses, batteries, tires, scrap metal, etc. The township charges a fee for some of the items, but allow disposal of a limited number of items free of charge.

In celebration of our township’s cleanup day this year, we decided to resume the barn project and tear out the cattle stanchions and miscellaneous piping to haul in for scrap metal disposal.

We have owned our farm for a decade now and we have never done anything with the inside of the barn, besides stash things that do not belong anywhere else. Prior to us purchasing the place, many years had passed since any animals occupied the barn. Needless to say, it is a real disaster.

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Filed under Barn, Kids, Outbuildings

Tagged as Barn, barn renovation, cattle stanchions, Kids, stanchions, township cleanup

February 12, 2010 · 10:58 am

Our First Honey Harvest

After our first summer as beekeepers, we were fortunate enough to enjoy a moderately successful honey harvest. Jesse collected the full frames from the hive and we brought them into the house to start the messy process of extracting the honey from the comb. Using an electric uncapping knife, we sliced away the waxy caps of the honeycomb to allow the honey to drain out.

The hot knife cuts right through the wax. You can see it starting to ooze out already.

Furthering our investment in beekeeping equipment, we purchased a honey extractor from Mann Lake, Ltd. The extractor holds three frames. Once the frames are uncapped, we placed them into the extractor for spinning. We learned from a demonstration at the State Fair to only partially spin one side out and then turn the frames around and spin the other side out.

The extracted honey sits in the bottom of the drum until opening the drain valve. Passing through a double-strainer, the beautiful golden honey drained into a five-gallon bucket.

After finishing with the extraction process, we were ready to put our honey into containers. We ordered 25 of these great honey bottles from our favorite bee supply company.

The final total for our bees was in excess of 50 pounds of honey. Not too bad for beginners!

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Filed under Bees, Kids

Tagged as Bees, Harvesting Honey, Kids

February 1, 2010 · 6:36 pm

Bees and Teens

The kids thought their dad was a little weird when he told them we were getting bees last spring. This came as no surprise to us because what kid doesn’t think their parents are weird at some point? Jesse originally thought he would focus on getting our youngest son involved with the bees as a special project they could do together. They checked on the hive together and Jesse shared with him all he was learning about bees through reading and talking with his bee mentor, Paul.

As the summer progressed, however, an interesting thing happened. The other two also became interested in working with the bees. Eventually, each time Jesse would say he was going out to check on the bees a discussion would ensue about whose turn it was to accompany him. We purchased a second beekeeper suit and they each took turns working the bees with their dad.

Smoking the bees encourages them to gorge on honey, which makes them calm. Calm bees are a good thing when you are pulling out frames to inspect.

Our youngest takes his turn.

Even our oldest, a genuine teenager and huge XBox 360 fan, wanted a turn working the bees. We couldn’t have been happier.

Brushing the bees off to get a better look at the frame. The bees are making good progress in capping the combs filled with honey.

And so the bees have turned into a family project. These amazing little creatures have attracted the interest of our teenagers enough to lure them outside and away from technology. For that, we are grateful.