It's Official

Carsyn's violin has been complete since June already, but with all the going's on around the farm there's been no time to post pictures etc.

Besides the finish was still curing ... and he hadn't slipped in to the city to get the official appraisal (for insurance purposes).

That happened last weekend.



The verdict is ... he has created an instrument with a $1,400.00 value. That is really pretty good for his first solo attempt as a Luthier!

He already had a buyer for the violin so it is sold and gone ... and he misses it dearly.

So do we 'cause Carsyn has played it a lot. It sings beautifully, easily.

He'll be making another one ... and another ... and another ...

He's good at it.

This is his passion.

This is his gift.

Way to go, Carsyn! We're so happy for you. Thanks for making the world a little sweeter!

Venture Advance

Our Beeswax Candle business has made strides this winter ... so much, in fact, that we are already marketing them at the Brandon Farmer's Market every Friday.

The sweet smell of beeswax fills our home as Brayden makes his creations in our basement work room. Many of the candle shapes are formed from molds we've made ourselves. The sense of accomplishment is just as sweet ...



As new things go, we've experienced some challenges in the learning curve - like using the correct wicking as well as the correct wick thickness for each candle - but now, some of those hurdles are behind us, the candles burn brightly clearing the air as only beeswax candles can do and adding much delight to our decor.

Delightful, beautiful, functional and healthful, these candles will make great gifts for anyone and everyone - I know I certainly feel like I've received a gift every time we get to do a trial burn test of one of the newest creations.

SWAGBUCKS Birthday

Do you search the web? Do you use Google when you're searching? Or some other search engine? Do they pay you to search? WHAT? They DON"T PAY YOU?

Well, then it's time you sign up with SWAGBUCKS! They pay you to do what you do anyway. I've been searching through SWAGBUCKS for about a year now -- just through my own searches I have gotten almost $40 ... and I honestly do not do a lot of searching, certainly no extra effort is put forth to get this.

Besides that, if I promote SWAGBUCKS here on my blog (like I'm doing now, smile) and any of you sign-up using the link from my blog I would also earn swagbucks everytime you do for the first while. So -- they pay me to advertise for them.

You can do the same ... and get swagbucks also! Go to SWAGBUCKS now to sign-up. Give yourself a gift, it's SWAGBUCKS' birthday.

Amazon: Free $4 Video-On-Demand credit

Right now, you can get a free $4 credit for Amazon's Video On Demand.

We heard about the following movie in summer. There is a link to view the trailer of Food Inc. on this post. All about manufacturing of food -- we know that food is made by God, not industries. It is best eaten that way or in a state as close to the original form as possible. The movie really is what we here at Klasse Woods Natural Farm are all about. This movie was just released in November, but from now until January 3rd you can go to Amazon.com and watch it for free:



They offer all sorts of films for $0.99 to $2.99, some good, but many not-so-good. So "Be careful little eyes, what you see ..."

"I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes ..."Psalm 101:3a

Here's how to get your free $4 Amazon video-on-demand credit:
::Go here and enter code AVODGIFT.

::Click "Apply" and the $4 credit will be automatically added to your account.

::Choose and watch a movie (or movies!) for free by January 3, 2010.

Thanks, MoneySavingMom!

The Gopher Guys

After a brief sabbatical during the summer, the Gopher Guys are back in action. This time their operations are covering about 350 acres of pastures & hayland.

Brayden's catch was rather interesting today. A GOOD catch on a chicken farm! Weasels are a major predator of chickens - they could wipe out our whole flock in one tragic night!

Area farmers are very appreciative of their efforts. Few words needed: repeat customers says it all!

Planting a CSA Garden

We put the first potatoes into the soil on May 1, 2009. So far we have planted potatoes, corn, peas, spinach, herbs and some zuchinni (under hot caps).

Daddy supervises Timothy, Benjamin & Bronlin doing what they deem as the "best part" of the job - cutting the seed potatoes while Faith Mattaya gets the cushy job, Overseer of Operations.


Everyone can help plant:



As always, clicking on the picture will open it in a larger window for a close up view.

Piles of Opportunity

There are piles of opportunity everywhere.



Five of our young men are back in action catching gophers - that perfect enterprise for little guys.

AND ... its multi-tasking!

They're:
- earning pocket money,
- helping us and a neighbor improve the pastures and hay fields,
- feeding the cats & dog
- learning business "skills"
- getting extra exercise 2x/day
- learning money & math (at least the littlest guys are)

Gotta love that!

Work From Home

I think I've stumbled upon a work-at-home opportunity that each of us can do...so I'll share it with you:

Early in April I mailed three letters to three different companies. These short letters were kindly letting the companies know my experience with their product. I used the same format for each letter - short and to the point, with a gracious tone.

Here are their responses (click on the picture to make it big enough to read the fine print):


- One diaper company sent two coupons to cover the FULL price of two packages of their new improved diapers (which they are already in the process of developing - they gave me the new product code to watch for) = approximately $25 retail savings.

- Another company sent a coupon for full retail of my choice of their products (a thank you for taking time to send them my results) = approx. $15 retail savings.

- The third company sent a $15 cheque to compensate me for their unsatisfactory product.

So, for a few minutes of my time and few cents spent on stamps I have been compensated with approx. $55.00 !! If I would consistently make that three or four a week? That could add nicely to our household expense budget -- how about yours?
Each of the above reviews were "negative" reviews, in that the product did not perform as they stated and/or I just indicated how the product could be improved upon.

Each company responded with gratefulness to me for the time I had taken to let them know my view of their product.

We are all product testers "in the field". The companies value our opinion!


Designate a time in the week to do this and see it if can benefit your family too. I've made-up sort of a form letter on my Word program so that makes it easier & even less time spent. I keep a running list of products around my home to review and then record when I've sent off a review and what the compensation is, if any. That way I can be careful to only review each product one time. In time, I may run out of products to review, however there are so many brands of each item I doubt that will be anytime soon (every chain store has their own company product) ... I guess we may well be using products that we do not like sometimes. We'll have to see if we can live with that.

I am trying "positive" reviews as well to see how well that is received by the companies. I expect they will appreciate hearing positive product reviews, but they may not "reward" the effort with product coupons?? Still a positive review can potentially brighten someone's day so it would be a good & Godly thing to do.

So, I'm thinking I can use my already budgeted dollars for cleaning, cooking or whatever to purchase items I already need and use ... in fact, I can just write up reviews of products I already have in my home -- and get "paid" for having tried them. Then next time I can buy a different label and review that item.

All of us already are product testers. Try it - Submit a review & wait to receive a reward. Work from home - for yourself & for a myriad of production companies. You be the boss. Your overhead is already in your budget except for the few cents it will take to buy stamps and send off the letters air mail.

Perhaps these reviews could be sent by email. I haven't tried, simply based on my theory that a hardcopy opinion by letter will be perceived as carrying more "weight". For now, I'm enjoying reaping the benefits of product testing this way. If you try the email route please consider sharing your experience with us here? Thanks.

Now if you're thinking you don't use diapers or whatever, think again -- you could use some of those kinds of things to give as gifts, make up gift baskets or diaper cakes. Either way, we can use what God has already blessed us with to bless others and save our family dollars.

Win, Win all around!

A dollar saved is a dollar earned!

Ready? ... Set? ... LAUNCH!

Click on the banner or click here to view our farm website.

Thanks to Corbyn for a job well done!

Spring into Savings

Yet another great offer this time on topics like: saving money, getting-out-of-debt, frugal living and homemaking tips.


The ladies at LivingOnADime.com and MoneySavingMom.com. have just contacted me to let me know that with the rise in the price of groceries, they have decided to team up to offer you their two grocery savings e-courses along with a huge pile of bonus items. Even better, they are offering this Savin' O The Green 17 e-book package to our readers for $17, a substantial discount off of the regular price of $75 for these e-books.


The e-books that are included in this offer are:


Supermarket Savings 101 eCourse with audio downloads
Grocery Shopping On A Budget eCourse
Money Saving Meats e-book
Saving On Cleaning Supplies e-book
Eating Healthy On A Budget e-booklet
Is Eating Out Eating You Up? e-book
224 Meals In A Hurry e-book
Grocery Savings e-book
Menus That Make Cents e-book
Plan Ahead Leftovers e-book
Quick Dinners e-book
Menu Planning Made Easy
Simply Centsible Breakfasts
Simply Centsible Suppers
Kids Recipes
Menus On A Dime
470 Crockpot Recipes


For more information on this exciting offer, go here.

Learn to Play Guitar DVD

Would you like to learn the play worship songs on the guitar like a pro?

This unique "play-as-you-watch" process is illustrated in vivid, yet simple,
step-by-step detail in this Christ-centered DVD course.

View an 8-minute audio for an overview and description of the program.
Most of the songs are familiar worship songs to most churches.


7 Good Reasons To Learn To Play the Guitar with
Jean Welles' Worship Guitar Class:
1. It Will Bring You Lifelong Enjoyment.
Playing provides a creative outlet, joy, and comfort.

2. You Will Be Able To Be a Blessing to Others.
Play for and with others, with their take-anywhere instrument.

3. You Can Use It To Worship the Lord.
"Praise Him with stringed instruments" (Psalm 150:4).

4. You Can Experience Immediate Success.
No previous music background is necessary.

5. You Can Learn in the Convenience of Your Own Home.
No need to spend time going out to lessons.

6. You Can Start Anytime.
And at any age, it's never too late to start!

7. You Will Save Money.
Save hundreds of dollars compared to private lessons.

For more information visit Worship Guitar Class.

Crafting Joy & Gift Ideas

Crafts that give joy in the making and extend to the joy of giving.

At eight years of age, Timothy is now enjoying Christmas crafting using our scrollsaw. His first nativity:


And here he's making some stars that he "dreamed up" all on his own ... simple stars etched with the words of "Joy" or "Love" (he's already wrapped them & I missed a picture):

The words on the stars are etched using a wood burning/pyrography tool - another tool we recommend as a great crafting tool. Lee Valley sells a great one. It gets hot so do use caution & supervision.


The scrollsaw has definitely been one of the most worthwhile investments we've made(thanks Uncle Barry):
- it is a relatively safe saw due to the slow speeds with which it can be used though supervision is recommended when children are young and inexperienced with using it. We would recommend getting a variable speed saw. A good warranty like Canadian Tire offers on their MasterCraft brand is a good thing to have also - Canadian Tire also regularly offers deep discounts, watch for those...

- through the years it has positively paid for itself as our young men have made many gifts using the scrollsaw and in addition to that they have made items that they have sold. Professional looking, unique gifts - to the glory of God!

If you have young men or young ladies in your home who love to be crafty - we would recommend buying a good quality scrollsaw as a gift that will keep on giving ... gifts and hours of productive enjoyment. Who knows where it may lead them - or you!

Farmer's Market One Last Time

Our farm buyers requested a day at the market with us as part of their introductory business "training".




The market was 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM. By the time, the children & I arrived around 2:00 a lot of produce/baking was already sold out ... but there's only so much a person can do!!!!

We've found the market to be "like a job", therefore we deem it not a necessary part of our itinerary. We LIKE living outside of the rat race.

But to humor the buyers ... we picked fresh zuchini, dug new potatoes, baked more zuchini into Zuchini Breads and added the variety of Banana Bread(these breads sell WELL!), baked up that one last tub of cherries from last year into Cherry Tarts and Cherry Coffee Cake, made two pans of our ethnic "Platz" using fresh rhubarb and saskatoon berries (this time I made one panful of each though I have combined the two fruits for a nice variation as well), Sesame Crisps are always a hit, and of course, the staple - Whole Wheat 'n' Flax Bread with its variation made into Focaccia. We always bring along some of our organic eggs, copies of my cookbook and this summer our boys have sold quite a few of their pyrography wood photo frames (good job guys!).






Those things nicely fill a table & line our pockets when we go to market. Some of the boys have found that they rather enjoy the time interacting with people and we've met some really nice, interesting folks as well, I might add. So not only is it an income venture it is also a learning growing experince - one that the boys can do with their Dad (another bonus!)

All that preparation done on Wednesday, our regular egg marketing day - this time, also introducing our egg clients to the new owner who came along with us for another aspect of his "training". We, and they, are working to make this a smooth transition for them - but I'm sure there will be surprises along the way for them anyway. Such is the nature of ... farming!

What a day!

Thank you, Lord, for Your sufficient grace!

Farm List of Income Streams

Here is a peek into the inner workings of our farm. I thought I'd just jot down a list of our current farm income streams in case some of you are interested:

- organic eggs - producing, cleaning, grading & marketing of eggs from our flock of 299 layer hens plus cleaning, grading & marketing of the eggs from two other 299 layer flocks that we have under contract producing for our markets.



- pasture-raised organic poultry - we're planning to increase from 550 to 1000 birds this summer.



- organic SK. Carmine Jewel sour cherries - 1400 lbs. last year, our first year of production. This year there will likely be more, barring inclement weather. This new product is gaining a great local following quickly, though there is also the reality of a glut on the market in the forseeable future because so many orchards have been planted in recent years that will soon be in full production.

We pitted the cherries last summer using a commercial pitter, got that done in 1.5 hours and then we spent the rest of that morning packaging the pitted cherries. We took them home and froze them, so we've been selling them frozen throughout the winter. The last 250 lbs. were just spoken for by a local resturanteur yesterday.

- farmer's market - we started with the local Community Farmer's market late last summer. My loveable Farmer & a couple of our sons really enjoyed this venue selling extra organic eggs, fresh & frozen cherries plus baked goods using the cherries and my organic whole wheat bread.


... and some possibilities for the future:

- market garden produce

- pastured beef

- pastured lamb

- pastured turkeys

- bees 'n' honey

We may add more, as God leads us along this agrarian entrepreneurial journey.

What kind of income streams do you have? I invite you to share ideas with everyone reading this by leaving a comment? Thanks.

And may God add His blessings to you as well.

Daytipper Pays for Your Thoughts

Daytipper adds real meaning to the phrase "a penny for your thoughts."

They want you to submit helpful hints and handy tips. They'll even pay you 300 pennies for your thoughts - at least for every one they publish.

Any topic qualifies. Jennifer from iMommies said it best "...from saving money to spending money, from raising kids to raising goats (pun intended), from cleaning house to throwing parties…and everything above, below, and in between." Thanks for the heads-up on this one iMommies.

Each tip needs to be 500 characters or less (note: that is characters not words).
That's not long at all - in fact it shouldn't be long. So for a little bit of writing you can get paid to share your thoughts.

The stats indicate that one out of ten tips submitted are published.

Market-Evaluation Customized

One thing I've done periodically in the past and again recently was to write a letter to a company to let them know if I like or dislike their product. Since becoming a paid mystery shopper I've come to realize that taking such pro-active action is really beneficial to the company. It is for that reason that they will usually send a coupon for free product.

The address for each company can be found on the package/container. I suppose a Google search could also give online access to this process... Has anyone tried this avenue?

The rules I follow are to:
1. BE POLITE!
2. Be honest.
3. Be factual.
4. Be helpful by providing product information like UPC code, size,
expiry ... whatever could help them. Even offer suggestions you would like to see added.
5. Be concise.
6. Use correct letter format, spelling, grammar as best you can. Present it professionally. Typed or hand written are both acceptable.
7. BE POLITE!

This last item was for a toilet bowl cleaner that I felt did NOT do the job as well as its other variety of the same brand. The company sent me a generic coupon that had printed on it a list of many/all the various items this company offers - I could choose which item I wished. So I choose one that I use a lot ... which ended up being one of the most expensive on the list, but one of the only ones that I wished to buy as I certainly DID NOT want to buy another of the "faulty" product. The cashier just filled in the purchase price of my new product.


So in essence, you could create your own mystery shopper position writing many companies to let them know your opinion of their product. It takes a little time, but it is beneficial to you & others. Plus you get the remunieration of the coupons.

Now, that said. I know I have sent praise of product in the past and not received a coupon, just a thank you response, but knowing you've blessed someone gives a good feeling too.

Also, I have not yet tried this method using the internet/email method. Instead, I 've chosen to date to do this using snail mail, believing this may leave a more sincere message with the manufacturer. Granted, then you also incur the expense of postage.

Has anyone else had experiences like this?

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Pictures of Wood Crafts & Gifts

A set of the cedar nativity ornaments made by our boys using a scroll saw. They are also nice as a holiday ornament hung in a vehicle on the rear-view mirror.


A testimony of Jesus, the Reason for this Season.


Pyrography, or better known as wood burning, has been a new interest this year and quite a common interest it is. We found that out when we went to purchase a quality "Razertip" wood burning tool at Lee Valley - they had sold 4 just that morning and we had to wait to get one ordered in. Wow!


For these frames, the boys have used character qualities, depicting animals that demonstrate them and a Bible verse that encourages us unto Godliness.











Gift tags cut from veneer business cards, pyrographed & cut (we cut the hole later with a hole punch). The business cards can be bought at Lee Valley as well, 50 for $3.25.

ChristianBook.com: A Wealth of Resources

As you shop the vast selections that CBD offers, click on each item you wish to purchase, put it into your cart and then complete your purchase before navigating away from the CBD site.

Check the bargins & bundles.


Enjoy shopping from the comfort of your home,
Darlene
... who will pass along to you here any CBD discount codes I hear about.

We live & learn @ Sunview All Natural Farm

This is an arial view of Sunview All-Natural Farm near Warman, SK. CANADA. This was taken in the fall of 2006.

Our orchard of SK Carmine Jewel cherries is the fenced area to the right of the yard. Our organic laying hens live happily in the hip-roof barn built just for them in 2001. While the broiler chickens truck around the barnyard fence in their "chicken tractor" leaving behind lush green grass.