Another COUNTDOWN!

In just a week, (and two days) it will be the day of our 

THIRD Annual Really Local Farm Market & Craft Fair!!!

If you are local, would you please come up and see us???

We have lots of cool vendors coming and we have

9 entrepreneurial homeschool kids 

that are excited to try their hand at selling their crafts!

As it stands now I have 34 different flavors of jams and savories!

Trying to work through my list of everything that needs to get done in the next 9 days.

Thank you! Thank YOU! THANK YOU!

I closed the rafflecopter and then it crashed so choosing the winner has taken a bit longer than I thought!

However....drum roll...we do have a winner!

In the Random Drawing, it pulled number 11 which is 

Niki

There is also a second equal prize for the reader that commented (and shared the blog) the most!

Elizabeth!!

Both of you can pick your 3 jellies at the festival!!

For everyone else that entered, you have also gotten a prize of half off a jam or jelly  (or salsa) of your choice!!  I will have your discount at the festival!

NOW, don't go away.  Now that I'm back to blogging, I need some company so I'm not out here just "talking" to myself.  

BIG GRIN!

Happy Blogoversary Day!!

Unbelieveable!!!

It's been 10 years of sharing !!!

Since I've started I've posted a total of 909 times

(I actually have 5 blogs, 3 of which are public)

ON THIS BLOG...

This will be post #678

As of this exact second I have had a total of 27,193 page views!

As you know I am doing a giveaway for my blogoversary!

As a final thank-you, you have tonight to go back a read any posts you might have missed and be sure to comment so you can get your name in the hat a few more times!  You have until NOON tomorrow.

If you are annoyed with my endless plugs of the blog and the Festival, I'm (kinda) sorry.  Some of my 101 goals include having more regular readers, commenters, and likes on the Cackleberry Facebook Page, (and also our Pinterest page) 

So you have helped with my 101 goal list!  Thank you!

Tomorrow at 2:00 pm EST, check back to see who "Rafflecopter" picked as our winner!

My family!!

I am so incredibly blessed!

Here are my three favorite guys all working together to spiffy the farm up for the Farm Festival!

Today My Man, My Boy, and My Dad all worked HARD to get the fence fixed and painted.

Meanwhile, My Mom and I went to town to deliver milk, and get more jelly supplies!

She helped me so much to get all the errands completed and food on the table for lunch.

And did I mention....TODAY is the BLOGOVERSARY!!!

Thank YOU so much for being a part of My "family".  I appreciate every comment and like.  It makes me feel incredibly blessed to have your feedback and participation in our farm! 

(There will be a separate post for the giveaway)

Another pretty day on the farm!

Fall is such a nice time of year.  

It's warm but not terribly hot.  Less bugs.

And the new way the sun is angled makes things just look different and beautiful!

The sun was low in the sky and put an awesome shadow of one of our front yard trees on the barn in the far back yard...

Beautiful Blue Skies and Wispy Clouds.

My Mommy's Day Wishing Well

Setting sun..

ONLY TWO DAYS! Until our Blogoversary!

OH MY!!

Be Sure to comment on every post!

Share with friends and have them comment (and say you sent them for another entry for you!)

Follow the blog.

Like the Cackleberry Hollow facebook page.

Follow the Cackleberry Hollow pinterest page!

You will be glad you did

 (And I'd be forever grateful!!)

Now, about that picture......

My dear handsome boy was up on our roof cleaning out the gutters to get ready for the rain and the winter.  He's in a great mood so was hammin it up for me!

He makes my house look so small!!

Look out below!

Just kiddin!

Spider Webs and Dew..

Overnight it seems that the spiders were working overtime and there were elaborate webs all over the place!  And since it was so foggy with tons of dew, they were very visible.

  Man went out and took lots of neat pictures of them.

That's Cousin Rump in the front, and Miracle and MooSteer behind/

SO PRETTY

New Signs!

Horray!  The new signs, postcards and business cards have come in today!!

Man made me a set of windproof posts to hang my banner down at the major intersection!

Be sure to come out and see us on October 8th. We've got 12 vendor (with a possibility of two more!!) And have been working non stop so there are lots of things to see!!

And FINISHED!!

Our "Sadie" (my Ford Escape) has never lived under a roof!  Spoiled today...but within the next few weeks, the cars will be back out in the weather and the lean-to will be filled with our winter's firewood!

And then..rebuild....

In Progress.....

First we need to CAREFULLY get the broken bits down....

THIS...is finally getting done TODAY!

I'm SO excited!  After (over) 3 L O N G  years the lean-to is finally getting fixed!  Horray!  Picture updates coming...here's the first.

Be sure to go back and read (and comment) on posts you might have missed!  Only 12 days until the BLOGOVERSARY Giveaway!!

Harvest Moon

Today was a very busy day!  

My parents came up for their "farm" fix.  My dad and the Boy made a great display out front and worked on the water situation (The well has not been functioning correctly for almost 18 months.  But it seems to take 3 years to get things done...lol).  Dad made a temporary fix so we can get city water out to the barn without having to use 7 hoses from the house.  

Man made some awesome "hotdog" sticks for Dad in anticipation of the evening!

Mom and I spent the afternoon getting all of the jellies labelled for the Festival.  And also made a few more jars of jelly (Sweet Tea with Lemon Jelly, anyone?)  And also put up more of our Pepperonicis.  My family went through 1 pint at one meal!!  These are canned for our lovely Festival folks though.  I ran out of labels though, so off to town again tomorrow.

Then Dad started up our little backyard bonfire (not the huge one in the field that also needs burned) and we enjoyed campfire hotdogs and marshmellows as we watched the big Harvest Moon come up.

Scary night for Kristl

Tonight was a scary night with Kristl.

She is in the 13-14 year old range.  As she was coming into our room to sleep she had what we think was a pretty serious seizure.  I've read that older Eskimos do tend to start having seizures.

So we know that we might not have long with her (Sad Face!!)  She's a princess of a pooch, so her being a "farm dog" is kinda hilarious!  She adores Man and can be usually found nearby!

Here they are resting in the den after the scary bit!

HuliHuli Chicken! Guest post from Man!

The Huli-Huli Chicken is happening TODAY! 'Twas

marinated in kicked-up-a-notch brine overnight and the coals are just about ready for cooking. At some point I'll begin cooking the leg-o-lamb when the chicken is further along. It's BBQ... it will be readay when its ready!

Huli Huli Chicken - Hawaiian Chicken Recipe

Huli Huli Chicken Brine
1 Cup - Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup - White Sugar
2-3 - Bay Leaves
2 tsp - Granulated Garlic
6 Cups - Ice 
4 Cups - Cold Water 
1 Cup - Hot Water
5 to 6 pound - Whole Chicken (split in half) see video.
Brine Directions
Combine hot water, bay leaves, salt, sugar, garlic and mix until dissolved.
Add cold water, ice and chicken. Ensure chicken is submerged.
Refrigerate 4-12 hours.
Dry Rub
2 TBS - Granulated Garlic
2 TBS - Kosher Salt
1 TBS - Paprika
1 TBS - Cayenne
1 TBS - Granulated Onion
1 TBS - Black Pepper
1 tsp - Cumin
Dry Rub Directions
Mix all ingredients until well combined.
Huli Huli Sauce 
1 Cup - Pineapple Juice
1/2 Cup - Ketchup
1/2 Cup - Lite Soy Sauce
2 TBS - Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 Cup - Light Brown Sugar
4 Coins - Fresh Ginger
Huli Huli Sauce Directions
Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan over medium heat and bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer and cook until reduced and thickened, 10-15 minutes.
Directions
Remove chicken from brine and pat dry.
Season liberally with dry rub.
Preheat grill with 1 small piece of apple wood (or kiawe wood) to 350º.
Grill Chicken over direct heat until it reaches 160º, flipping every 5 minutes. Approximately 45 minutes..
Generously baste chicken on both sides with Huli Huli sauce and continue to cook until the sauce has set and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of a minimum of 165º. https://www.facebook.com/groups/381019335339668/

This is a comment from our guest that he posted on Facebook to HIS friends:

To all my Hawaiian frenz, I got to sample um and was broke-da-mouth Ono! Mahalos to Scott Wallace and Ohana for bringing back memories of growing up in the islands. Epic!

Are YOU ready for this?

Fall is my favorite season!

I love the cooler nights, the still warm days, the lack of bugs and humidity!

The only thing I don't like about Fall is that it means that winter is not far behind.

I am so not ready for THAT! 

Now if I were "City Mouse" I'd come up with a Haiku for this.....but I'm "Country Mouse" and I don't have time for THAT either....LOL!  If you need a Haiku fix (or to see what City Mouse is up to go see her at Nikiverse.)

1 down....how many more to go???

If you've been around here long, you've heard of my 101 in 1001 goal.  (If not check it out here)

Well, today I was able to cross a mighty goal off the list!  It was huge...

Can 500 jars!

Last year I was able to complete 199 jars.

Last month I canned 265 jars!!  

Which left 36...I've already canned 48 jars this month as of 9/10.

I'm going to continue to keep count, as I think it would be cool if I made it to 750.

Update to the residents...Bovines!

Like I said the other day, it's been awhile since I updated the resident list.  Here are some pictures to go with the list...

*3 Jersey Cows.
*1 Jersey Steer
*2 Jersey Bull Calves

This is Hershey, The Mama (and Grandmama) of the Herd and MooSteer, the full grown Steer that still thinks he's a baby and is still nursing (!!)

Here is Frances Butter (Franci) on the left and Miracle Moo on the right.

These are Hershey's Twin daughters that were born right here on the homestead.

MooSteer

Moosteer will be leaving our farm in about 6 weeks to go to "freezer camp"  

He's been a nice animal. 

These are our Baby Bull Calves that were born this past summer on the homestead.

Left is Porter H.Ouse.  He is Franci's calf (looks just like her) and was born 5/26/16

Right (laying down) is Cousin Rump Roast.  He's Miracle's calf and was born 5/28/16.

Rump

Porter (looking like Mama!)

They are about 4 months old now and soon will be having a visit from the vet for

 those horns and umm..bull parts.