Cold Antler Farm

Our ad appearing on Cold Antler Farm blog

If you're looking for a fun and interesting read, please visit the blog of Cold Antler Farm. Jenna was a Presenter and Keynote Speaker at the recent Mother Earth News Fair in Pennsylvania.

Beeswax Candles, Sled Dogs, Projects, What Else?

Mom selling the candles at our Mother Earth News Fair booth.

Ever try to be creative when life feels like its about to swallow you up whole? Working on it! Don't get me wrong, LOTS of good things are going on to move us closer to our Irish Creek Homestead. But I've got to say, it sure is a complicated process, getting to this "more simple life" I hear about and have my sights set on.

Some updates and it's about time! We just returned from selling our Scent from Nature; 100% Pure Beeswax Candles at the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. It was AMAZING! The setting was so beautiful and the workshops, presentations and other booths were just beyond words. My mother flew up from Arkansas to help sell the candles which also gave me a chance to actually participate in the fair on a non business level. Just loved it. I was inspired by the presentations I attended. Joel Salatin is so extremely passionate, listening to him speak brought chills and tears all at the same time. Temple Grandin, is a wonderful speaker who has advanced in her life and passion for animals because of her autism. I purchased a couple of her books and can't put the first one down. Met a "neighbor" from Wisconsin giving a presentation on land management. Ann Larkin Hansen reiterated some of the things I've heard my dad speak of over the years. He retired with 30 some years of USDA Forestry Service experience under his belt. We're ready to manage our land!

Points Unknown Sled Dogs! Phoenix finally sired his first litter. Sasha (Zimbi - a Zulu/Jesse daughter and Q - a Tuloon/Bazil son) gave birth to 5 healthy puppies on September 1st. Friends Jim and Judy had agreed to raise this litter for us and we couldn't be happier with how things are going. I do believe they're enjoying all of the puppy fun, as well.

We have decided to move forward, into phase 2 of our building project. We load all 23 dogs up tomorrow morning and head up to our Irish Creek Homestead to meet with various contractors. By the middle of November we hope to have heat and insulation, functioning well and septic systems, a communications system and our solar energy system all up and running! Yay! We need to spend a few days doing some prep work before our contractors can begin so I'm ready to work!

Dog Kennels! We had been trying to figure out how in the world we would be able to time the move with the installation of the new dog kennels, knowing that once the ground froze, we would be out of luck and our poor dogs wouldn't have the big kennel runs we want for them this winter. We had been pricing the materials and it was going to cost us nearly $12,000 just for the materials. Yikes!  Well, things happen for a reason and when they're supposed to. I got an email from a friend a couple of days ago who, sadly, lost her last Malamute over the summer. They are moving on and have NINE 10'x40' kennels plus other various size kennels that include all hardware and they want it gone for $1500. !!! Kennels will go up in October and the dogs will have some cushy, new-to-them, living quarters. 

Beeswax candle sales have picked up since candle season has officially begun and I am finding that the exposure we had at the Mother Earth News Fair was extremely valuable. All kinds of new things are on the horizon for us! First things first, however, and let's just get through the short list before we move on to new projects.

The MN Honey Producers Assoc Booth at the MN State Fair was another success! We raised more money this year than last for the organization. Small pallets of surplus honey still reside in my garage waiting for their owners to retrieve them and a folder full of accounting items awaits.

So! There you have it. Now off to clean the house yet again in hopes that its new owners will miraculously appear while we are away this week. I've never cleaned this much in my entire life. Ask anyone who knows me. No, we still have not sold the house. The market is picking up, but we're finding that it will take just the right buyer for our place, one that can appreciate the land and home like we do. We need a buyer who sees the value in a small parcel geared toward a homesteading lifestyle; a buyer that is ever inspired, as we are, by the breathtaking view out every front window. Intrigued? Click here to view the photo album.

Sasha/Phoenix Puppies; Birthday!

Sasha with her new arrivals.

Three males and two females

Resting comfortably

We're happy to announce the arrival of the much anticipated Sasha/Phoenix litter! Sasha owns one of our much appreciated kennel helpers, Chris and his family. She is from the Points Unknown Zulu line with a dash of Hedlund Husky. This is her first litter.

Phoenix lives right here at Points Unknown and is of deep Hedlund Husky lineage with a dash of Joe Redington Sr's old school Alaskan Husky lines. Phoenix puppies have been long awaited. Now they're here and we couldn't be happier.

Due to busy schedules and a nearly full kennel here at Points Unknown, dear friends Jim and Judy and granddaughters have graciously agreed to have Sasha in their home and help raise her puppies. We are so appreciative of their help.

We've got five healthy puppies, three males and two females, ranging in weight from 1lb to 1lb 2oz at birth. Our litters have typically been very light on males so we were delighted to have three males in one litter.

Puppy names have a Spanish theme and are as follows:

1.  MALE:  gray with white spot on head;18 oz.: "MANCHA"  (Spotty)
2.  MALE:  Brown, gray, black with four white feet, 16 oz:  "BOTAS" (Boots)
3.  MALE:  Tan and Black w/ partial white collar; 18 oz.:    "PINTO"
4.  FEMALE:  Brown, gray, black w/ white feet and white tip on tale, 16 oz:  "MIXTA"
5.  FEMALE:  Dark gray and black, 16 oz.      "HUMO"  (Smoke)

Happy Birthday!

Klaus and Sweet Pea Turn Ten!

Klaus at 10 years old.

Sweet Pea at 10 years old.

Happy 10th Birthday to Sweet Pea and Klaus today! In this photo, she is saying, "Must you?" It's rare to catch a photo of her with her ears up. Sweet Pea is irreplaceable in our kennel. She is the adoptive mother of any puppy who enters motherless. She is also an extremely versatile sled dog and leader. Klaus is one of our all-time-best open country leaders and my most loyal companion.

They are litter mates and are from the Points Unknown Zulu line of Alaskan Huskies. Their sire, Zulu, has lineage that dates back to Susan Butcher's Granite. Their dam, Jesse comes from an unknown line of big, Siberian-based Beargrease racing Alaskans.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea and Klaus! We love you!

Photo Update

More photos have been added to our Irish Creek Homestead building project album! Click here.

Building Phase 1; Complete.

Shell complete

Neil returned this morning at 4AM and reported that the shell is now complete! Wow. Can't believe we've come this far. More photos can be found by clicking here.

This comes right on time and right IN time for our participation in the MN Honey Producers State Fair Booth. Delivers of our out-of-state honey products begin next week followed by the honey and bee product deliveries by our Minnesota producers. When all is said and done, we'll have up to 22 pallets of honey and other bee products in our detached garage and more in our basement! Other storage arrangements will be made once we make our move because hauling honey to the fair every morning from 6 hours away just isn't quite practical.

Phase 2 can begin once our Watertown property sells. Click here for our Watertown listing photo album. In phase two comes the finishing of the interior and the addition of our utilities such as well, septic, outdoor wood boiler and complete solar system for electricity. Until then, we'll be pleasantly up to our eyeballs in honey!

Building Project Update

It's shaping up!

I played hooky yesterday and zipped up with little Zola, our new Hedlund Husky puppy, to check on our building project. Neil went up last weekend to get a jump start on things before the carpenters arrived on Monday. They've come a long way in just a couple days!! It's really looking like a house now.

Last night it poured down rain which made it necessary for them to do some inside work while the exterior dried out. When I left this morning, several windows had already been installed.

Several new photos have been posted, including some fun ones of Neil's new and improved wilderness shower creation. Click here to view them.