Sugar Bend Farm

Call 911

Not something any of us wants to have to do!  On New Years eve about 9:30 or so, I was working in the kitchen frosting some cinnamon rolls and finishing up some dishes, getting ready for the dinner at Mom's the next morning.  I happened to look out the west door and noticed the birdbath that stands at the end of the sidewalk was glowing.......what in the world is that??  I stepped out onto the deck and saw big smoke.  I hollared at hubby that the garage was on fire which is where it looked like it was coming from.  Actually it was our grainary and 10 big bales of hay next to it!  While waiting for the fire trucks to get here we got the hoses out and hooked up and started to spray it down a little.  Let me tell you my heart was racing!

Fire departments came from 3 towns and there were 9 trucks here!  Quite an exciting New Years Eve celebration we had here.  There is an open shed just a few feet from the burning hay bales that also contained hay, small bales.  They were able to keep it contained so that did not catch on fire, we are so thankful for that! 

Our garage is not far, and the siding is melted on it and the shingles have damage.  A small chicken house on another side had the siding melted as well.

So..........we have a tremendous amount of things to be thankful for in this ordeal!  If we had been gone, or in bed, or I had not looked out the door when I did.........it would have only been a few more minutes until I believe both of those buildings would have gone up and then the house is just on the other side of the garage, it would have been next along with 2 other chicken houses, and the shed containing the small hay bales too.  We could have so easily lost everything except 1 barn and 1 chicken house that are on opposite sides of the farmyard.

God's timing is always perfect!  We have no idea why he allowed this to happen, but his timing is perfect and we are giving thanks that more was not lost and no animals were hurt.

We did lose all of the feed for all of the animals, the 10 big bales of hay, feed barrels and buckets, some feed tubs, chicken feeders and waterers, the scales I weigh baby goats and feed with, catch nets, chicken leg catcher, dog chain, 3 pet carriers, fan, shop vac, some tools, cooler, electric roaster, some storage tubs..........I am sure a few other things.  I was worried about Snowball the cat that liked to sleep on a pillow in there, but the next morning he came to greet me!

Other than the shock of that night, the worst part has been keeping an eye on the hay burning.  It finally burned down enough by last night, that we could relax and go to bed without too much worry.   There was a danger of it flaring up enough to start something going again and we had to continually check on it and hose it down when we didn't feel comfortable.  The night time hours have proved to have me feeling unsettled and anxious...........it is all in God's hands, but I know human nature brings these feelings when something like this has happened.  If you would, please offer a little prayer for me to feel peace and safety, thank you!

The house a mile away that burned 3 days before was determined to be arson, however ours is listed as undetermined as far as I know now.  The hay and all the water made it difficult to tell exactly what had caused it.  It is hard not to think it may have been set as well.  Which is hard to think about too.  We have dogs and yard lights and we were home when it happened?? 

Back to being thankful!  Our friends and neighbors have been so generous and thoughtful to us. One has promised to  replace the hay we lost, another brought over a bale the next day, the man who's house burned brought up 2 bales!  Hubby went and had the folks open up the elevator so he could get a few bags of feed on New Years day.  Then today he went and picked up a mix of goat feed and to our total surprise they said it is paid for!  Wow!  A good friend from a nearby town had called and told them she would pay for the entire feed mix for our goats.  The same man who is replacing the hay is bringing his skid loader over to help clean up the mess after the insurance adjuster has been here.  Others have offered to help and come by to see if there is anything they could do.  Folks in rural America are still kind and caring people and we are blessed to live here!  Thank you to everyone who has helped in our time of need.

I had put off bloging since this happened, but am glad I finally sat down and put it on paper, or I guess on computer...........

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

Winter Weather

Well, so much for global warming - at least in Southeast Alaska!  Our average temperature for December was 6.5 degrees lower than normal.  I'm glad it has warmed up over the last few days, but now we have snow - and lots of it!  Light and fluffy and not too heavy to shovel.  It has been snowing here at our house about steady since Friday, small flakes to large flakes.  I took a few pictures Saturday morning when Rod and I went out.  Here is the chicken coop - I shovel the snow around the base of the coop to try to keep the heat in for them.  Our wood pile is off the back of the coop so we have just one path to keep clear instead of two.

Here is a shot of the garden with the coop in the background - the twigs in the foreground are my red current bushes.

I shovelled the chicken yard, but they didn't venture out.

Here are a few chicken pictures - it is difficult to get good pictures because they are always on the move.  Here is one of the Buff Orpingtons with a Barred Rock on the left and a Wyandotte on the right.

Here is a Buff Orpington, Wyandotte, Light Brahma, Barred Rock and Aracauna in the back.  The Light Brahma is one of the younger chickens, but she is huge!  Rod thinks she is part goose  :o)

Here is one of the Rhode Island Reds in the nest box.  We have been getting around 6 eggs per day.

Here they are trying to clean the snow off my boots for me!

Our New Year's Miracle

We truly had a New Year’s
miracle. Gianni had a wreck in his truck the night of January 1. He was
returning home at around 2AM from a friend’s birthday party when he hit a patch
of ice. After 4-5 nose-to-tail flips, it landed on it’s side in the middle of a
field. Because of roadside bushes and the field was lower than road, he was not
found until 7:30 AM. After removing him through the windshield he actually
managed to stand and speak. He is not sure if he was wearing a seatbelt and the
airbags failed. He suffered hypothermia, mild frost-bite on his fingers, and a
concussion of the cerebral cortex (sorry, not sure if that is what it is called
in English, this is translation from Greek.) Amazingly he did not break any
bones, no internal injuries, and only two minor bruises. Of course, he couldn’t
move for two days and there was a lot of pain in his hands due to the
frost-bite and concussion. He is home from the hospital today, still shaky and
sore. The only lasting effect is that he cannot move the fingers on his right
hand and uses his left hand with difficulty. There has been improvement and the
doctors assure us that he should regain full use (probably within a month) with
physical therapy. The only part of the truck (a 2 year old Nissan Navara,
Frontera in US) still in one piece is the passenger cabin (minus all the
glass). It truly was a miracle. Please pray for his hands to recover. 
 
 
 
A lesson in reading the fine
print: We found out that our 30,000 euro truck with only 2 payments left to pay
it off, is not covered by our insurance. We thought it was. Although this is a
real financial blow, it is just money. I’m just so happy that my hubby is
alive!
 
 

A new year: a new challenge

Now that it's a new year, my focus has gotten back onto organizing our trip to Tennessee.

I need to make our motel reservations, get the house in order, decide what to pack, and yes get back into my weight loss plan.

I know, I know everyone starts talking about their New Year's resolutions and 9 times out of 10 weight loss is at the top of the list. I would just like to be able to get outside, that is, if the weather will cooperate a little, and walk. It gets very very cold here in Minnesota during the winter. I do not like it this cold, and I practically hibernate.

I started back walking. I didn't go crazy in November and December with the holiday foods, so I didn't really add any extra pounds, just basically maintained.

I am in the process of making a new doll. I found another face that I like. I am basically happy with the pattern that I use now, I've just made a few modifications to the original pattern.

I still need to put hair on the 20 dolls that I have done. Poor things, they are all dressed, with faces, but they have no hair. Each one has a different personality, and I have to think about what color the hair should be to fit with their outfits.

I'll be pretty busy getting the dolls done. I absolutely love making these dolls. I just don't know why I never did it sooner.

Once I finish my latest, I'll post a picture of her.

Fleece In The Valley

One of the problems I have encountered over my years of raising sheep is connecting with local handspinners who might like to buy my raw wool.  In my earlier days of raising sheep, there was no local wool mill to take my wool to.  Now I have the luxury of having a mill just 7 miles from my home.  That sure saves me and my customers a lot on shipping costs!

So I got to thinking the other day that there's got to be a way to connect the grower/producer with the handspinner and also including the mills in Montana.  I created Fleece in the Valley.  It's a yahoo group. 

Here's my description:

Wool & Shearing Sheep

I've blogged about shearing sheep here before.  In fact, there are several entries in case you want to search around. 

This post was born of frustration.  The frustration that comes from totally ignorant comments like, "I am a vegan and therefore I will only use man-made fibers, so as not to harm any poor little helpless animals."

May I be blunt?  (I guess I can, it's my blog!)  What do you think the good Lord put animals on this earth for?  For our viewing pleasure so that they may live out their days with rotted wool falling off their backs?  UGH! 

Let me give you a little lesson in sheep shearing.  Shearing prepares the sheep for giving birth and allows the lambs to find the teats much easier.   Wool is a renewable resource for the sheep, just like our hair.  Funny thing is, you cut it and it grows back.  A spring shearing is much like a shave and a haircut for us. 

The sheep is sat upon his/her rump in a position that is very calming and relaxing to it.  It's just sort of mezmerized  and allows the shearer to do his work.  From there the shearing begins.  A clipper is used to cut the wool off.  Once in a while a sheep is nicked, but sheep have so much lanolin in their wool, the nick QUICKLY heals.  Occasionally there are careless shearers out there who don't give a hoot about the sheep.  I've had some ears cut and teats cut off.  That shearer will not be back on my property.

Wool is a wonderful fiber.  There are so many different uses for it.  I just get tired of having to defend it to the ignorant, but then as they say, ignorance is bliss.

Besides, what do you think those man-made fibers are made of?

18 things I love about being married

Monday on the Homestead

We have been focusing lots of our time with my son.  His visit home has been wonderful.  He said it has been just what he needed.  The girls and I have been keeping the meals and baking going almost non-stop since he came home.  I am glad to see him enjoying home cooking so much.  He still has a couple more weeks with us. 

Today some of life needs to go back to normal.  Emily starts work again (after a couple week holiday break) and I think I will have the youngest kids do a little school.  Jacob may go out and about in town with Richard today so he may not start school yet.  He is way ahead of schedule anyway so I am not too concerned about it.   

On my to-do list today is laundry and housework.  I need to get some floors mopped and some dusting done.  Wood heat seems to create a lot of dust!  I also need to get the kids back to my daily house cleaning chore list today.  With all the fun times and off schedules my house is showing a bit of neglect.  So that much of a normal schedule will start today! 

Tobin and I will be having our weekly date so I need to get a pot of bean soup cooking before we leave.  I was thinking Italian Pintos were sounding pretty good.  Maybe I will find the time to get some French bread made before I leave too..  we will see how the days goes.   

I will be back soon to more blogging and sharing but for now life seems very focused on my kids and family.   

I wanted to leave with a pic of my grandbaby Elizabeth taken at Christmas time..  she is growing so quickly! …

Hope you all have a great Monday on your Homestead!

My Baby's Birthday!

Yup!  Today was my baby's birthday!  She turned 24!  Where on earth does time go?  She and her husband and the 2 granddogs came out for dinner.  She had requested lasagna, so that's what she got.  Her brother made some awesome stuffed portabella mushrooms too!  He's a total mushroom nut!

I decided to surprise her with something I made, some needle felted pinecone ornaments.   With Correy passing away, I got to thinking about how she never sold anything she made.  Countless baby hats, booties, doilies, mittens, socks, you name it.  She'd never take a dime for any of it because then it just wouldn't be fun. 

Back when I was younger (so much younger than today!  LOL) I gave a lot of my hand-crafted things away.  Then I started doing craft shows in order to earn a little extra money.  I guess I've gotten in a rut of selling off everything I make and not passing some things on to the ones I love. 

So there you go my wee one, who's not such a little wee one anymore!  Enjoy your handmade gifts!

Love, Mom

GOALS AND CONVICTIONS

Instead of writing down every little thing we consume each day, I thought about writing things down as they are used up, such as a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, etc., but I am finding myself falling behind on even that, so I think I will try to find some online information about how much of what to store for a family our size.  I'm sure the information must be out there somewhere.  In the meantime, we are really stocking up on soda and juice bottles full of water.  The bathroom closet is about one third full of water, and I also found a shelf in my son's closet to start filling. 

I mentioned in an earlier post that I want to make changes for the new year, but haven't really put anything into action yet.  I know what books I want to read, what organization skills I want to utilize, etc, but haven't really taken any action yet.  I want to make big changes from last year (and previous years), but found myself this morning falling into a habit which I hate of rising too late and then proceeding to tell my husband his "faults" and why they are making me miserable.  I would really love to see the change in myself of waking up on Sunday mornings with more than enough time to make it to Bible class and worship, and not criticizing my husband.  I think Sunday morning is the time of the week when I really allow Satan (or whatever negative entity it is) to really work on my attitude.  I must stop this from happening and I know I can do it!!!  I will not let Satan have the victory in this. 

We start homeschool back up tomorrow.  We will be doing science for two weeks and then back to history.  I don't have to work at the store until Tuesday. 

Actually, it does seem that my husband and I have gotten a little closer as we have been agreeing that we need to work on having more financial wisdom together.  He also has more time at home as a result of being laid off from his part-time job, so he doesn't feel so much like a stranger who joins us for a quick dinner and bedtime. 

Have a good week!

Melanie