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Has anyone seen this? I saw the video here and now want to see the movie.
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I ran to the Farmer's Market the other day and picked up these.
I love new potatoes, and my potatoes have apparently all gone to the plant and not the seed. We had a feeling our ground was too rich. This is our third failed attempt at potatoes. Good thing there is a Farmer's Market across the street from where I work. I try to by local or grow food myself as much as I can. Good for them, good for us, good for the earth! We woke up Saturday morning very early to the roar of wind (75 mph), pounding rain, and hail. Gotta love the Midwest! The storm lasted about an hour and the rain lasted until noon. We layed around inside all morning. Something we NEVER get to do. I read and got a little nap in, Randy napped, and the dogs snuggled with us and napped on and off. Once everything had cleared (especially the lightning) we went out to assess the damage, tree limbs, a filthy pool, and my garden had some serious damage. We repaired fence that afternoon and still have a little left to do before the sheep can be moved over to new pasture, but we are closer. Grandma was back in the hospital, so I was on boysenberry duty. I picked five more quarts for her freezer and two quarts for fresh eating at our house.
We have vowed to take it easy on Sunday afternoons. We just need to start forcing ourselves to set things aside and relax a bit. Our pool was too chilly to swim since the storms had blown the solar cover off on a 60 degree night, plus all the rain water. So, we just hung out and did some mowing and gardening. Monday I had to take my parent's dog to the vet for them so I didn't get home until noon. However, I got busy and got the house dusted, cleaned the skylights, kitchen, and vacuumed. Then I tackled my herbs and some cooking.
Chives, dehydrated in dehydrator overnight.
Cucumber Salad: 2-3 Cucumbers 1/4 c Real Mayo (no Miracle Whip) 1/4 c White Vinegar 2 T. Sugar 1/4 t. Dill (used fresh and just eyeballed it, is there such a thing as too much dill?) Mix all together and chill before serving. We love this! Is it summer without cucumber salad? It might be for us since our chickens destroyed most of my cucumber plants yesterday. The Banties (my good children) have never messed up anything while free-ranging in the garden. The Rhode Island Reds, however, demolished the plants and ate all the cucumbers. Did I mention they haven't started laying eggs yet, so they aren't technically a productive aspect to our farm and better tread lightly : )
I also got two cabbages out of the garden over the weekend and made sauerkraut (Nourishing Traditions).
And Pickles.
Fortunately, my echinacea survived the storm and still looks nice. It was really windy, so the pictures are a bit blurry but you get the idea. Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday!
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Our water test came back a-ok, so we are leaning toward Salmonella. Randy and I still haven't made a full recovery. We are supposed to start a second round of antibiotics, but I'm holding out until I see my kinesiologist Tuesday to see if he has an alternative route to take. Right now I am taking Oil of Oregano to help with my upset stomache and will start Echinacea/Goldenseal this evening to battle the repercussions of the antibiotics. I'm also going to start a Vitamin C regimen of about 6,000-8,000 mg/day to give my body a swift kick. I've read up to 18,000 mg/day is okay, but I'm going to start at 6-8,000. I'm also trying to eat lots of plain yogurt to add good bacterial back into my system. I haven't been to the dairy yet and won't make it over there until Friday or Saturday, so we have no yogurt, no kefir, no nothing until then. We pitched everything after our doctor uttered the word salmonella. So, we will have to start over. I also hope to make another batch of kombucha over the weekend if I can get my hands on some organic black tea. I've been eating homemade/fermented sauerkraut daily in hopes of getting my body back in shape to fight for itself. We really hated to do the antibiotics, but at the time we had no choice. I'll keep you posted on how my "self medicating" is going. I get an eye roll from my husband sometimes, but I still forge ahead. He's always amazed when it works. Have a great weekend!
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My parents have two dogs. My brother just got a puppy to bring his dog count to two. And now we have a third dog at our house. Here are my brother's two hound dogs. They are too cute and so happy-go-lucky!
Biff
Dax And here is our new addition in the midst of a game of ball.
Thai
He loves to play ball, however, he is faster than our blue heeler, Ash, and she gets kind of testy about it. So, my mom, "Grandma," bought Thai a new ball of his very own. He loves it. Koal just hangs out behind us where it's safe from flying objects. We have our hands full, as if we didn't before the third dog came along, but I just can't imagine him being locked in a shelter hoping for a good home. He still favors his foot from time-to-time, but it's healing well and doesn't slow him down. Randy sprayed the stickers in our pasture last night, so hopefully we can get Thai out there soon working with the sheep. I really didn't want to use chemical on the pasture, but we didn't know what else to do. We will be planting Bermuda seed this weekend (hopefully), so that should help choke out a lot of the weeds we are having problems with. We've started rotational grazing and hope to burn in the fall, so that should help also. |
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Over the weekend my Grandma picked boysenberries and was nice enough to share. I had pulled weeds in them earlier in the season and will be going there to pick berries tonight. Incase you aren't familiar, boysenberries are very similar to blackberries in flavor and appearance. I also picked mulberries over the weekend out of this tree.
See all those weeds and shrubs growing underneath it? That makes it fun : ) To pick mulberries you don't actually "pick" them. You take a sheet, lay it under neath a branch, and shake the branch until all the ripe berries have fallen off. Then you pour the berries in a bowl and move on to another branch. I soak my berries in salt water when I get home to drive out any bugs that may be hiding inside them. With the boysenberries I made my first ever pie from scratch. I took a pre-oven picture which was a good thing because the after-oven picture wasn't as pretty.
I asked my grandma how to make this pie and got a "Grandma" recipe. You use a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Needless to say it boiled over in the oven and the crumbles on top melted into a puddle, but it tasted delicious even if it didn't look the prettiest. I also pulled some onions yesterday and cut some chives and have them dehydrating in the dehydrator. I have ham hocks in the crockpot so I can freeze the broth to use for mustard and collard greens in the future. Hope everyone has a great day!
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Five days of sickness. We aren't 100% sure which ailment we have/had, but it is a slow recovery either way. Randy and I have both been sick at the same time. No fun when chore time rolls around. Salmonella-milk, eggs, meat, fruits and vegetables Giardia-water (specifically un-chlorinated well water) Monday we saw a PA (are they not just better than doctors 9 times out of 10) who put us on meds for both. Blood work showed bacteria, but no specifics. We are having our water tested tomorrow, however, they cannot test for giardia. They test for E. Coli and if it comes back positive they assume giardia exists also. Basically if you have E. Coli in your water you have issues no matter what. When going through the questions in the doctor's office I obviously had to bring up the raw milk, farm eggs, home processed meats, etc and she never really batted an eye. No lecture on buying pasturized milk. Nothing. It was so nice. I guess even the doctors are starting to think outside the modern medicine box. I tried what I could think of before resorting to prescriptions, but we were getting weak, dehydrated, and not getting any better. Just for fun, here is what didn't cure us: Large doses of Vitamin C (4,000-8,000 mg per day) Oil of Oregano (high antioxidant, cure mild stomach problems) We surpassed "mild" almost immediately. Yogurt (good bacteria) Lots of water (unfortunately it was unfiltered well water) It will be a long recovery from the information I have read (2-3 weeks), but we are starting to feel human again. |
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We have an abundance of herbs and salad supplies in our garden. I picked herbs the other morning, tied them with twine, and hung them to dry in my kitchen area.
Oregano
Spearmint
Lemon Balm
All tied up and ready to hang.
This is my first attempt. I think they are supposed to have brown paper bags over them, but I'm trying without first.
Lettuce
Spinach
To freeze my spinach I quickly steam it (3 minutes I believe) and place it in ziplock baggies or use my Foodsaver.
While I was preserving the harvest our blue heeler was taking it easy.
We also milked out our mama ewes after a few days of weening to make sure their bags didn't get over loaded with milk. Here is the frozen milk on it's way out to the big freezer. It will be used next year as needed for bottle lambs. And here are the boys (Thai and Randy) hard at work fixing our fence after a tree trimming "oops" and a few storms (hence all the limbs and wood).
Last but not least is a picture from our front porch. There used to be a row of Australian Pines to block the road and wind. However, they became diseased and had to be cut down. The view is amazing, but the openess to the road is not very enjoyable. It was a little hazy the morning I took the picture, but it's still pretty. Have a Wonderful Day! |
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I was tagged!
At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer. 1. What was I doing 10 years ago? I was a freshman in college and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life! 2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today? 1. Check and possibly pick mulberries. 2. Spend time playing with our three dogs 3. Dinner: Sloppy Joes on Homemade Bread with cream corn and salad fresh out of the garden. 4. Spend time with my husband. 5. Reading time before bed. 3. Snacks I enjoy: chips and salsa (as unhealthy as that may be) anything with cheese 4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: We would not work the meaningless jobs we currently work, but would hopefully spend our time giving to others. Especially helping adandoned and abused animals as we are both compassionate about it. 5. Places I have lived: Kansas South Carolina Alabama and now Kansas again I am tagging: No one. I like doing these, but I'm at work and must get back to it. Thank you so much for including me. |
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I won't hop up on a soapbox here, but all I can say is how could someone take an domesticated animal of any kind and dump him along the side of the road (if that is in fact what happened) and never look back?
Koal, Ash, and Thai When we found him he was not fixed, had an infection in his foot, was malnourished, and had cheat (weeds) in his eyes. He is on the road to recovery and ready to heard some sheep. The bookend dogs, Koal and Thai, were both found along the side of the road. They adore us and won't leave our sides. Rescue a dog and they will be the most loyal friend you will ever know.
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On my way to work this morning I found a dog laying on the side of the road. I almost hit it and figured someone else had and just left him. I turned around assuming I would take it to the vet near work and it would probably have to be put down because it wasn't getting up. When I got turned around I saw two other dogs in the ditch with it. The hurt dog wagged its tail when I talked to it and the other two bolted (some friends). He had a collar, but no tags and turned out to be an Australian Shepherd with a hurt front foot. I called Randy, loaded him in the car, and headed home. He's kenneled in our garage with food and water. I've left notes, talked to, and called all the houses around where I found him. I've emailed and called radio stations and vets, so now we wait to see if anyone claims him. He's not fixed, so no wonder he was on the run. People just irritate me. Our dogs, Koal and Ash, don't know we have company. They probably aren't going to be pleased. We may have found Ash's replacement since she is beyond useless as a sheep herding dog : ) Randy and I have a habit of acquiring stray or abandoned dogs. A part of me always wants to find the owner and a part of me always wants to keep them. Whatever the ending is to this story, I hope it's a happy one. |
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Just a quick tidbit on the stimulus checks you are getting this year. We intend to pay off debt with our's, however, if you must spend your check to "stimulate the economy" here are a couple of ideas: *Shop locally with the money at individual retailers (i.e. NOT Walmart) *By items made in the USA (rather than stimulate foreign economies by buying products made in_______(fill in the blank)). *Use it at local Farmer's Markets *Donate to local or enviornmental charities (humane societies). *Invest, save, or pay off bills (rather than buy more material items, try to get yourself off the economic treadmill so many Americans are on these days). It's everyone's perogative how they spend the money. This is just a reminder of things which may actually "stimulate" the US economy, help local retailers and farmers, and/or just be a wise choice for individuals. |
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It is time to wean our baby lambs from their mamas. There is nothing noisier on our farm than this time of year. Texel sheep are heavy milkers which is great during lambing, but a little more time consuming when it's time to dry them off. Last night Randy and I milked out 14 ewes just to make sure they didn't get overloaded with milk in the drying-off process. I froze the milk in soda bottles so we will have some extra milk next year during lambing season. You enter into a category of, "ew gross," when you own livestock and do things you would never in a million years thought of doing prior, like say store 8 bottles of uncleaned, unfiltered sheep's milk in your fridge and freezer. Yum! Tonight I am focusing on catching up on some house work and spending some quality time with our dogs. They have been a little deprived the passed couple of days so it's make up time. Have a wonderful day!
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My in-laws are absolutely great to not only come from Ohio to visit us, but they also come to help us out around our farm with any projects we need done in the spring. We accommodated them by providing tree trimming, fence building, gardening, weed pulling, building new flowerbeds, opening the pool for summer, hanging lights in the garage, and a garage door opener. They even helped us de-worm our sheep and separate for weaning. For nine days we spent our days working around the homestead. It was incredible how much we got done. I was so grateful to have his Dad there to help him with some of the projects I couldn’t do or would prefer not to have to do. They love it, and we love it. They are already planning their next spring trip. We can’t wait! Before we picked them up from the airport we dropped by a friends graduation party. Andrea (the graduate) and I met in college, and she was the matron of honor in my wedding. Alicia, her sister, and I also met in college at the same time and are good friends.
Alicia, Andrea, and I Here are just a few of the things we got accomplished while they were here visiting.
This is a bench by our pool. Brenda laid the stone and bought me lavender and echinacea to plant in the flowerbed.
That's Cooter, our cat!
The Garden! All my greens and brassicas.
Other half of Garden! Potatoes, Tomatoes (all the way in the back), Peppers, and lots of seeds.
My potato in a tire. Yes, I need another tire or two, but I haven't come up with them yet.
My garden is really taking off. We are now on a mission to buy minimal groceries and eat strictly from our freezer and garden. We will have to buy the staples, but other than that we are eating fresh, homegrown food from our farm. We have spinach, all sorts of greens (lettuce, collards, kale, mustard, etc.), strawberries, radishes, and turnips ready to eat.
This is a flowerbed Brenda and I built last year, but added some yuccas and prickly pear cactus this year.
My aunt put these pots together for Grandma's 80th and gave them to whoever wanted one after her party was over. This sets by our front door and is absolutely beautiful.
The guys found this while they were trimming trees in the backyard. Poor Robin.
We took Hank to our neighbors who raise, sell, and show llamas for his yearly shearing, hoof trimming, and de-worming.
Once the trees were cleared and the fence was rebuilt, Randy hung our fun little sign up by the road. We had a great time with them, and they were a huge help to us. We can't even imagine how long it would have taken the two of us to do all the things they help us accomplish. Hope everyone has a wonderful day! |
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Self-sufficiency in the food department…. It is the time of year in Spinach Lettuce/greens Collards Green onions Soon to come: Potatoes Broccoli Cauliflower Peas Cabbage Foraging: Although I have never actually “foraged” before, I fully intend to try: Dandelion greens Breaded Dandelion flowers Morels (I think we missed them this year, but fully intend to try next year) Foraging later in the year: Mulberries Sand plums Currents I sometimes struggle with the inner battle of “organic vs. frugal.” Anyone else have this problem? I want to buy everything organic, but then I have a feeling of regret that I’ve over spent and not used our money wisely. There has to be a balance. I justify my non-organic purchases with, “I cook from scratch, so if I don’t buy EVERYTHING organic I’m still doing better than most.” So, with that being said, Randy and I also take advantage of the farming in our area for free corn on the cob and free wheat from nearby family fields. No it’s not organic, yes it’s laden with chemicals, but it’s free and corn isn’t really all that good for you to begin with and we eat it in moderation (don't you love how I justify my choices). The wheat (if we purchase a grain mill) will be just enough to get us by for a couple of months, and then we will purchase it from a nearby bulk food store (organic). I also struggle with the need for supplements in our daily routine. These have proven to prevent ailments and sickness, so it’s hard to eliminate something that is working so well for us. However, I want to try to cut back on some of the expenses. We buy supplements for our two dogs as well. For the price of the supplements I feel they will save us on vet bills over the long run (our small dog has severe allergies) just the same as I feel it has saved us on doctor bills as well. Still I will try to trim, trim, trim. We have also put some major purchases on hold and are currently brainstorming ways to get by without: A tractor to move round bales for our sheep A new roof on our house New permanent pasture fencing (goat fencing) A vacation to the Northeast in the fall Here’s my idea for the tractor. We can line our round bales up outside our lots in the winter and place electric netting extending from the lot out around one round bale at a time to allow them to eat the one bale. When that bale is gone we can move the electric netting around the next bale and so on until spring arrives again. This year my Dad had to drive his tractor 5 miles (roundtrip) to move a round bale into the sheep lot for us whenever they ran out. Not very feasible with the price of farm diesel and not fair to him to have to take time to do it for us every other week or so. We plan to patch the old roof as needed and save until we have enough money up front to do the roof without having to finance it. We ran one strand of electric fence cable ($300) around our existing fence using the existing posts and not replacing the entire thing with goat fencing ($4000). Granted this is only temporary, but it saved us $3700 for now. A vacation to the Northeast to see the fall foliage will just have to wait. We love our farm and can enjoy fall at home instead. Homesteading, self-sufficiency, voluntary simplicity, whatever you want to call it does take sacrifice and a little ingenuity. If it were easy everyone would be doing it. I just had a discussion with Randy the other day about what he would sacrifice to not have to commute 2 hours a day and go to work 40 hours/week? I would sacrifice A LOT! He's a little resistant to some of the changes, eh hem, Dish Network is his life, literally. Some of the silly (IMO) expenses we have that could easily go: Dish Network Dining out (we've gotten kind of bad about this lately) Non-necessity food and beverages Extra vehicles Everyone has places they could trim. It’s just a matter of prioritizing the important things in life. To me TIME and our HEALTH are the most important things in our life and the two things lacking in most lives. I enjoy going out to eat, but with the price of fuel, the cost of going out to eat, and the unhealthy food we will most likely consume, wouldn’t it be just as fun to pack a picnic lunch and go sit by one of the ponds nearby, or under our big cottonwood tree, or even just on the patio at our fun little bistro table? It’s about spending time together and it doesn’t have to be expensive to make it memorable. The cost of living is definitely on the rise. I am evaluating and re-evaluating our spending more and more as prices continue to increase. Some of the most valuable traits you can have in today’s world is to be able to: Grow at least some of your own food Cook from scratch And be thrifty with what money you have. Hope everyone has a wonderful week. |
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Ever since Randy and I lived in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and worked at Burro Loco, a Mexican restaurant there, we have tried to acknowledge Cinco De Mayo even if only in a small way. Yesterday, I soaked the rice, made homemade tortillas, and browned our usual ground hamburger/venison combination. Then, the UPS man showed up with our electric fence cable. I put everything into bowls in the fridge, and Randy and I spent the evening putting up electric cable in our pasture. Dinner ended up being grill cheese sandwiches with homemade tomato soup I had canned the summer before. Quick and easy! You learn to adjust after a few years on the farm. Something always seems to pop up and plans get changed on a regular basis. Tonight, unless something else comes up, we will have our Mexican dinner in recognition of a belated Cinco de Mayo. We now have ½ of our pasture (about 15 acres) fenced with electric fencing so our lambs can’t squeeze through the old existing fence and wreak havoc on my garden and Dad’s wheat field. They are calling for thunderstorms for the next two days, but we hope to get the other ½ of the pasture fenced, so we can stay on track with our three week rotational grazing. We are trying to improve the quality of our pasture and decrease the need for de-wormer. My in-laws are arriving this weekend and will be here for 10 days. They are lots of help to us when they are here. They have us make a list of things we would like to accomplish while they are here, and we work like crazy until they leave. They are so great to help us around the farm. Our Have a wonderful week! |
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Randy and I have talked more and more about the idea that in the future homesteading, as in growing your own food, raising your own animals, making things yourself as opposed to buying them, may be the only way to survive as our economy spirals out of control. The world is getting harder and harder to live in and there is a growing security in the path we have chosen, to provide for ourselves as much as possible. Teaching children how to provide for themselves is more important than ever as our food chain becomes more and more unstable and oil prices continue to climb. Where to Start: BAKE YOUR OWN BREAD: You don’t even have to grind your own wheat yet, just start by baking the bread your family eats. Lots of people have bread machines stored away they had to have and never really used. I use mine just to mix and let the bread rise once in. Then, I put the dough in a loaf pan, let it rise one more time, and bake. EASY! PLANT A GARDEN: It can be a small one or in pots on your patio, plant herbs, tomatoes, whatever you love. With the rising prices of everything around us every little bit you can provide for yourself helps. Not to mention the fact you will know your produce is free of chemicals and is grown locally. CHANGE YOUR MENU: Stop buying pre-packaged, processed food and start buying food in its original form, FRESH. Shop your local Farmer’s Markets, add beans and rice to your diet, and eliminate soda and pasteurized milk and juice. These are not only healthy changes, but budget friendly changes. COOK FROM SCRATCH: This is kind of the same as some of the ones above; however, it is so important. This will save you money and improve you health. Think you are too busy? Use a crockpot! Check out The Family Homestead for some great recipes. HANG YOUR CLOTHES OUT TO DRY: Use a clothes line. There is nothing more relaxing than hanging your clothes out on the line on a quiet morning. Use the time to reflect and relax, plan for the day, or pray. You can save money and sanity by this simple task. CONSERVE: Conserve energy! Conserve money! Conserve time! Conserve tradition! Conserve family! EXTREMES: If you want to get really serious in your quest for the homestead-life and self-sufficiency you could: *Get a dairy cow or a couple dairy goats. *Covert to an off-grid system (solar, wind, gray water, rain barrels, etc.). *Get rid of all NEEDless expenses (cable, landline/cell phone, magazines subscriptions, etc.) *Pay off debt! This is important. Start with smaller bills and pay them off one at a time. *Instead of spending all your time mowing, fertilizing, and controlling weeds in your lawn, start converting that space to usable space to plant produce. *Plant fruit trees and bushes. Lastly, use the library. You don’t have to own every book. The library is a great place to learn about making more with less. The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live it is a great book to motivate you.
Storey's Basic Country Skills another great book for motivation and ideas. Path to Freedom is a great site to see how a family (in Good luck and have fun! It takes work to be a homesteader, but the rewards far outweigh the costs. |
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This was a really easy recipe for making your own shampoo. I have a recipe that actually makes it from lye, but for a good starter shampoo this one is great. Sorry I didn't actually do a tutorial. This made more than enough for Randy and I, so I didn't go ahead and make another batch. Herbal Shampoo: 2 cups Distilled water 4 oz of Castile Soap (lavender, peppermint, etc.) ½ oz. (2 T.) Rosemary ½ oz (2 T.) Sage ½ oz. (2 T.) Nettles ½ oz. (2 T.) Lavender 2000 mg MSM Mix the herbs in a mason jar, which has a lid. Boil 2 cups distilled water. Add 3 heaping tablespoons of the mixed herbs into the boiling water. Pull the boiling water and herbs off the stove. Let the herb mixture sit for 30-40 minutes. Put the 2000 mg MSM into the herb mixture after 30 minutes of cooling. After 40 minutes and the MSM is melted, strain the herbal mixture into a bowl. Pour 2-2 ½ oz of strained herbal tea into an 8 oz bottle. Now, pour the 4 oz of castile soap into the bottle. Cap the bottle and shake to mix the ingredients. The shampoo is now finished and ready for use. Use this as a bas for all the shampoos you make. You can add different herbs as you learn what these herbs do and how they help your hair. You can vary the ingredients according to your taste.
**I added 4 drops of Rosemary essential oil for good measure since I struggle with thinning hair. *MSM-an organic sulphur compound in gel, liquid, powder, cream or capsule form. Consult your doctor before using MSM, especially if you are using medication. *Rosemary-stimulates the hair follicles and helps to prevent premature baldness *Sage-has antioxidants and keeps things from spoiling and is antibacterial *Nettles-acts as a blood purifier, blood stimulator, contains a large source of nutrients for hair growth *Lavender-controls the production of sebaceous gland oil and reduces itchy and flaky scalp conditions
The herbs came from More Than Alive. They have a great selection of herbs I couldn't find at other places and great prices.
The finished product!
I have been using it for about a week. It gives my hair a lot more volume, however, it also gives it a different feel than my commercial shampoo. I am still getting used to it. It's not thick like commercial shampoo, but it doesn't take a lot and lathers really well. |
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Well the chicks were safe and sound this morning. Last night we loaded all of them up and moved them back into our garage/shop, and Randy put cinder blocks all the way around the perimeter of the coop. This morning he could see where the skunk had tried to dig under the blocks and wall to get in and didn’t make it. This will only be a temporary solution for a couple of reasons. It doesn’t look all that attractive, and I don’t think it will deter the critters forever. We are planning on digging a trench around the outside wall of the coop and burying tin at least 2 feet down. Basically we will be extending the wall into the ground two feet. Hopefully this will keep everyone out of our coop. The numbers were a little better than Randy first thought. We ended up losing nine chicks and are still debating on whether or not we will replace them or not. If we do it will be in the fall when we get our Cornish Rocks to raise for meat. The sheep are doing well and see to be enjoying the pasture as opposed to hay. We are getting closer to weaning which is never fun for anyone. We are late getting our sheep recorded to the Texel Sheep Breeders Society, so we will probably have to pay a penalty on a couple of them. Oops, that is kind of my responsibility, and I pretty much dropped the ball. My plants from Abundant Acres are supposed to be here tomorrow. They were pushed back a week due to a late freeze. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday. |
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Monday started out as a great day and kind of ended on a bad note. Every spring we borrow our neighbors tiller to work our garden. The agreement is Randy changes the oil and gets it all ready so when I neighbor goes to use it it is all ready to go. It works out great for both parties. We don't have a tiller and our neighbor is not a mechanic. So, Randy tilled our garden and when he was nearly finished it broke. $150, and two weeks later it is up and running again. Randy got a phone call at 6:30 last night from our neighbors because the tiller had started smoking. We got down there, Randy tinkered with it, and it threw a rod just like it did the first time it broke. Our neighbor is being really great about it. He knows there is a good possibility there is something else wrong causing this to happen over and over. However, Randy is going to do a couple of things to it to see what's going on. The tiller is old and it may be a situation where he should just buy a new one. When we went to bed last night we were pretty upset about it. We hate borrowing and just needed a reminder that it is not a good thing to do. We woke up this morning with better attitudes and decided we would just roll with the punches, fix it, and move on. On my drive to work Randy called me to let me know a skunk had dug into our chicken coop and killed 11 or our 25 month-old chicks. The skunk didn't even eat them, just killed them for sport. Fourteen of them had gotten over or through the panel separating the chicks from the Banties and survived. Isn't that sad? It just about made me sick this morning when he told me. So, all our chickens are locked inside right now until we can figure out what to do to try to save the few we have left. Every morning starts with feeding our bottle lamb/lambs. This particular morning it was really cold outside and the gate to the backyard was open, so our cute little bottle lamb made her way not only to the backdoor, but stepped right inside to have breakfast.
In other news, Friday and Saturday were spent putting up electric fencing in our pasture so we can 1) make paddocks to rotational graze our sheep and 2) block off a portion of the pasture so we can start replacing fencing. This is Randy out in our pasture. Our house is in the background.
We borrowed Mom and Dad's four-wheeler and trailer and it made things so much easier. Sunday, we sheared 36 sheep at our house and over 200 at Dad’s house. We started at our house at 6:30 setting up and didn’t get home, showered, and settled until 7:00 that evening. We were tired. Monday, Randy took the day off and worked on my brother’s four-wheeler and worked on his pickup. Hopefully we will have a pickup up and running again soon. Tonight we will be moving the chicks back inside their pen in the garage where they will be safe and sound. Any suggestions for reinforcing our dirt floor coop are welcome. I have read to bury 1 ½ to 2 feet of fencing around the perimeter, so we are debating on something like that. We really feel dirt floors are the healthiest in a coop and would prefer not to do wood or concrete flooring. Our house is so cozy right now with the weather being in the 70s. Windows open and cool fresh air blowing through the house. What could be better? What would a post be without a few dog pictures, right? Here is Ash who doesn't have the ability to take a picture with her eyes open. She is playing with her favorite toy, Lamb Chop.
Here is Koal playing with the ONLY toy he has ever really played with, Animal. Just incase you can't read it, the front says, "Cats are not my friend."
Have a wonderful day!
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Posted in Animal Life
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That's how many baby lambs we worked (vaccinated, docked tails, and de-wormed) at Mom and Dad's Sunday. I got lucky and got to de-worm them, Dad vaccinated and docked tails, and Mom and Randy were the catchers. By the end of the day we were all pretty tired. I made shampoo over the weekend. As soon as we have used it a couple of times and worked out any kinks I will share the recipe (maybe even do a fun tutorial on it). This weekend we are putting up electric fencing to split our pasture in half. Then we will start rebuilding our exterior fencing with goat fencing and eventually have it split into parcels for rotational grazing. We have been wanting to do this ever since we got into the sheep business, but just hadn't had the money or the time. However, our pastures need some extra care, and we would like to at least cut back on our use of de-wormers if not eventually eliminate the use of them all together. I planted a few more things in the garden yesterday. It is slowly but surely coming together. Just waiting on my heirloom plants from Abundant Acres to get here and we will be in full gardening mode. Hope everyone has a wonderful day.
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