Horsefly Trap

	The very beginning of making the horsefly trap.  In the feeder area (background) we used to have a wooden feeder we had build a few years back.  We bought a round bale feeder so that one was no longer needed.  We took it apart and that is what we are using to build the trap.
	This is the area (top & middle of trap) which will hold the jar to keep the horseflies trapped and unable to get out.
	Jerry is screwing in the cover...
	Hole will allow for the horseflies to fly up into the jar and become even more trapped.  I read on the net that horseflies do not fly down ???? :-)
	Here is the jar... set and ready to receive her prisoners...
	For the plastic, I am using the plastic I kept when we bought mattresses... way back when...  being a pack rat can be a really good money saver...
	All that's missing is the ball, which will simulate an animal which to the horsefly's mind will be really yummy!  LOL
	Very promising!!!
	We went to Wall-Mart and got, beach ball for 3.97$ and spray paint.  Got the blue twine from MedowView Ranch.  Thank you Elaine.
	Background animal is named Bear but is not a bear, hee, hee, and I promise I did not spray paint any part of him or any other animal on this property. And poppo is all black, Peppy is mostly black, Jolie and Hanky are pretty near all black...
	Here it is, the finished product!!!!
	They are going in like crazy...  Just from the time I took this picture to the time I uploaded to this blog... there are many, more... The horseflies are really not that bad today... with the wind and it is not that hot out... well at least here they are not that bad…When they are bad, the horses come in for their smudges and they haven't been for two days... so I know it is not that bad for them...  Can't imagine how many would be collected if the horseflies were really heavy as they were on the weekend....

difox' Horse Treats

di's Horse Treats

4 cups of oatmeal

4 cups whole wheat flour

12 table spoons molasses 

2 cup of warm water

2 medium apples (cut into small pieces, almost shredded)

                or

2 cups of shredded carrots

Preheat oven to 350°C.  Mix thoroughly all ingredients.  Consistency should be all ingredients well mixed and moist but still very firm.  Spread on sprayed "cookie sheet".  Bake for 60 min.  Cut into small squares.  Let cool.  I store these treats in a large plastic container "snack" zip lock bags.  I have 3 horses so I place 6 treats in each bags.  Then place all in large plastic container.  I always keep one bag out so that when I call the horse, I feed them their treats when they show up.  I am trying to train my horses to come when I call them.  This morning they showed up 10 min. after I called them.  :-)  Maybe it is working. 

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie

the dough is a recipe I got from my mom.  It is the best and flakiest ever.

Dough - Pâte à tarte infaillibe (maman)

   2    cups    shortening

   4    cups    whole wheat flour

   1    tsp       salt

   1    cup      water

   1    tbsp     vinegar

   1                egg yolk

   1                egg white

1. Mix flour and salt.

2. Cut shortening into flour mixture.

3. Make hole in mixture, middle...

4. Mix together water, vinegar, and egg yolk.

5. 'Fountain' liquid into flour mixture...   Do not over mix...

6. Whip egg white.

7. Fold egg white into pie mix.

8. Divide into 10 pieces.

9. Wrap individually  in cellophane.

10. Place in Freezer.  Can be kept for seems like forever.  :-) N.B. It is better to use the dough when it is really cold even still partially almost frozen.

The filling... (2 pies)

3 cup cooked pumpkin

1 can evaporated milk

3/4 cup of sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

In large bowl, combine the all ingredients.

Divide between two 9" pie crusts.

Bake 15 min @ 425° F.

Reduce temperature to 350° F and bake for an additional 50 min. or until pies are set.  Toothpick inserted in centre should come out clean.

Fire Starters

Fire Starters

Time again to make fire starters...

This year we even have been saving the wax which is around the baby bell cheese.  This is recycling to the up-most.  

  The wax is melted in a double boiler (safety).  Once the wax is melted I add sawdust and mix it in.  I use enough sawdust to make sure that there is now wax liquid seeping through when I push hard on it with a spoon.  
Then I spoon the mixture into egg containers (not the Styrofoam kind) the kind that burns.  
Once the 'fire starters' are melted... with a sharp saw like knife I cut the fire starters into individual fire starters. 
The bottom right pictures show the fire starters at work... in the process of starting a fire in the wood stove....  Makes life a lot easier to start the wood stove first thing in the morning on a cold winter morning.  

Crochet Hooks & Knitting Needles

Here is how I organize my knitting needles and crochet hooks...  I have 3 of these one for normal knitting needles, one for crochet hooks and this one for 4 X double pointed knitting needles.

Once I rolled the 'pocket' together (see start of roll on right side of pic) then I have two lengths of material to tie it all together. Nice, organize and easy to store.

These can be bought but are not necessarily the size I need and they can be quite expensive.

Bought some material way back for 1$.  4 nice pieces of about a meter square each.  Nice and thick and sturdy perfect for this and many things.

So, I folded and the material on the wrong side, went all the way around except for a small hole to be able to turn material inside out... then folded the material in 3 (can be more or less depending on sizes of needles, or hooks) then I sewed the one fold into little pockets.  I think on this one I made it 1 1/2 inch pockets.  One at beg, I always leave bigger to store other objects like in this case round needles.  

Hint:  on tope left of the pic, there is a ruler wich is also a gauge. I have the same one in both of my needles holders and then am able to use the same gauge all the time.  I also keep another one (same) close to my knitting and use it all the time.  Did you know that not all needles are created equal depending on the manufacturer.  That is one I always use the same gauge ruler.

Tarp Stay!

Here at dansbois, we sometimes have to cover things from the snow/rain.  This time we had to cover a big round bale of hay.  Jerry came up with this idea.  A 2 liter bottle.  The cover is pierced to accomodate a hook.  Then, a washer and a nut are placed both inside and outside the cover which is then screwed back onto the bottle.
Usually I would have used sand in the bottle for weight.  When I needed it the sand/ground was already frozen so I just used water which once frozen made the bottle heavy enough to hold the tarp down when it is windy.  It is easy to remove a few of the bottles, get what is needed underneath and then replace the tarp and the bottles.  Works great!