Finally Get to Use My Christmas Present

We live in a split foyer house. 

I like to can garden produce until the cows come home.

So every summer it meant schlepping five gallon buckets of produce up the stairs.  Then taking those 5 gallon buckets full of canning refuse back down the stairs to be disposed.  Dribbling gunk all about the house.

The antiquated electric stove would only allow me to have two large pots cooking at one time.  This meant 50% capacity. 

The hot kitchen heated up the entire upstairs.  The grout on the ceramic floor tiles would be crusted with brine, tomato skins, and things unidentifiable.

Lines of filled Mason jars filled the limited kitchen counter space as they cooled. 

Once cooled, the filled jars were schlepped back downstairs to the pantry.

Sound efficient? Not.

I dreamed of having Summer Kitchen of yester year. 

Detached from the house.  Solely designated to the canning process and assisting with my insatiable need to put up enough food for a small army. 

Enter Mr. O.  Believe me when I tell you he is knows the definition of Process Improvement and running at Full Capacity.

I swear it is a guy thing or maybe it is genetic.

No matter.

Mr. O brought me back to reality.  And common sense.  And efficiency.  And a very practical solution.

A canning kitchen in the basement.

So for this past Christmas, Mr. O got busy and rigged me up a kitchen downstairs.  Nothing fancy, but oh so efficient!

Four burns which can hold 4 large pots at the same time.

No buckets up and down the stairs.  No cluttered kitchen counter tops.  No sticking to the kitchen floor while whooping up supper.

And did I mention the handy dandy sink too?

Just the right of the stove: Whala, a sink!

 

Mr. O did not miss a thing in the canning kitchen planning process.

 

I have wanted for this day since Christmas. 

 

I had a mess of cucumbers calling my name to stuff them into Mason jars, brine them and give a hot water bath.

 

But Mr. O wanted to go fishing tonight. 

 

Can?  Fish? Hang out on a pond bank and watch the sun go down,.......

 

hmmmmm. Dilemma.

 

I stayed home to use my Christmas present.  I think I hurt Mr. O's feelings.

 

Think I can pay him back with pickles?

First canning project from the new kitchen.

 

Oh the process improvement! 

 

Thank you Mr. O.  Can you now help me with my two left thumbs?





  Broken Mason jar of the evening.

New Addition to Animal Conglomeration

We accumulate things here at New Leaf Farm.

Often times these things are cast offs.  Things we haul home. Then stack, park, or pile.

These things include but are not limited to: old farm equipment, crocked fence posts, water tanks with holes, rolls and rolls of used chain link fence.  You know, all the things one could possible use in the future - or not.

Our accumulation of rejects is now gaining ground in our animal world.

We have a coon hound who is scared of raccoons.

We have a yellow lab who thinks he can bawl like a coon hound.  He is not scared of raccoons, but rather cameras.

Please, please, do not see me.  Stay away with that camera!

 

We have a draft horse too old to draft.

Hello, my name is Jack.  I am the ultimate definition of a hay burner.

 

So is it any wonder one of Mr. O's co-workers asked if we would take in their roosters?  They had too many.  And shocks of all shockers, we agreed to add them to our flock.

 

Now a short chicken lesson.

Chickens can be like people.  Or is it, people can be like chickens?  Anyway, a flock will bully newbies, so there is an adjustment period when adding new chickens to one's flock.

 

So, the new roosters where isolated in their own space before we integrated them with the others.  We watched them interact.  Something seemed off.

 

Not all were acting like roosters.

 

One was kind.  Sweet.  Not pushy, but in charge.  Took care of all household chores with no complaints.  (Remember, chickens are like people.) 

 

You get the picture?  There was a hen in the group.

 

We call her Margaret.

 

At first glance it is easy to identify Margaret as a rooster.  She towers in height over the others. 

Picture a woman all of 6 feet tall and size 13 in men shoes.

 



Hello, my name is Margaret.  I am the big, all black one in the middle.





 

Margaret has gankles.  You know, just like people with no ankles.  Start at the knee and go down to the heel with no indent in the leg - gankles.

See no ankles, only gankles.

 

Put aside her size and Margaret has flare.  She is calm and collected.  Cool and fashionable.  Almost like a queen amongst us commoners.

See my best side?

 

Margaret's feathers are soft, long and have translucent green splattered about.

Watch me strut and check out my behind! 





 

Usually the cast offs which find their way to New Leaf Farm are not as lovely as Margaret.  The norm here is to be rough around the edges.  You know:  Quirks.  Warts.  Easy Keepers with Overall Deficiencies.

 

This definitely applies in the beauty category.

 

See.  Here is proof. 

Hi.  They call me "no-neck".  I am the white one in the middle.  A mutt of the chicken world and I am the NORM at New Leaf Farm!

 

 

  

 





The Beast on the Deck

We have a small deck off our bedroom. 

Mr. O and I end most summer evenings on the deck sitting, relaxing, enjoying the view, and sipping some wine.

This summer we are sharing our space with a view blocking visitor.  We jokingly call the visitor: The Beast.

The Beast has been around for about 4 or 5 years, but this year The Beast is spreading her wings - or should I say vines.

 

 

 

The Beast overtaking the deck

 

So our evening conversations this summer often focus on taming The Beast.  Mr. O is quick to suggest a trim.  On the other hand, I would rather wait to give the hair cut. 

 

You see I have a soft spot for The Beast.  In a month of so, she will be gloriously covered with dainty white fragrant flowers.  The smell is intoxicating.  A dead tie in my book between The Beast and lilacs.

 

The Beast is actually a clematis - sweet autumn I believe.

 

But anyway, last night a very cool thing happened.  The Beast appeared to have repeat visitors.  We sat very still.  We watched.  We waited.

 

 

Chipping Sparrow Visiting The Beast

 

Both the male and female sparrows ventured in and quickly out of the bowels of The Beast.  Worms wiggling from their beaks each time they entered - gone on their way out.

 

In between one trip of the parents, we ever so gently moved vines,........and look what we found.

 

 







A Nest of Babies!

So for now The Beast is safe from the barber shears.  We will continue to share our space with The Beast and the family she is housing.

 

Makes for a delightful evening of watching, enjoying, and sharing our space with a blocked view.

 

Lucky to live where we live and definitely noticing the little things this week,......... 

 



Beautiful Evening

Not every July evening has picture perfect weather on New Leaf Farm.  Tonight was AWESOME.

No humidity and in the lower 80's - all we can say here is ahhhhhhhhhh.

Quietly brought home some loads of hay and equipment.

Here is my driver's view.

 

 

Wind in my hair, cool air on my face - taking a look around from the tractor seat.

 

The view beyond the hood of my old M.

 

 

Lucky to live where we live.



Bearing, bales and a little irony

Enough time has went by to now look back on 4th July working holiday.  We have licked our wounds long enough and can now share the experience.

All I can say is we should learn NOT to make plans on New Leaf Farm – gets us every time!

 First there was this: All systems ago!

Baler greased, oiled and ready to roll up some hay.

 

Things went smoothly for awhile. Then the world BEARING came into our vocabulary.

 



Will not bore you with details, but behind this gear is a bearing and it is broke.

 

Without this bearing, no bales can be made. In fact this broken bearing started the hay around it on fire.  Quick thinking Mr. O extinguished it with his always present, always available, (you guessed it) human male anatomy part. This is true - really.  How can one make up something like THIS?

So bad baler bearing at 7pm on July 3 – change of plans.

Out come tools

 

No luck. Shaft will not budge. Cannot get to the bearing to replace it.

Now enter Craig's List. 

Believe it or not we found the exact same model baler for sale within 30 miles. Well maintained, fairly priced and field READY.  So on Friday, July 5th, we are back in the haying business.

Way behind “the plan”, but back in the game.

It was bliss! We were rockin', rollin' and makin' hay.  And then as quickly as things were looking up – it changed.



One of the front tires broke off the tractor.

No. Craig's List was not the answer to this break down.  Mr. O assured me the solution was simple: Get the tractor to house and weld the %&*!* thing.  But how to get it up the hill?

Semi-wrecker to the rescue (apparently they can go off road - through the woods and through the stream to retrieve broken tractors)



 



Now, do you want to hear some irony?

Best as we can decider – our superman to the rescue and tow truck driver is the great grandson to the once owner of New Leaf Farm.

Would this previous owner, who we are sure toiled to squeak a livelihood from these beautiful hills, be proud?

Yes – for sure. But proud of WHO?

Those who continue to look over the grass and woods? Still trying to squeak an income from the steep terrain?

Or his offspring, smart enough to find another means of livelihood - one who drove off in an air conditioned cab and not having to do this before getting out a welder?

Balancing act before the welder comes out.

 

All let you all answer that question.



Hands: working hands - working on the farm hands

Just want to share a quick snippet of the summer activities at New Leaf Farm. 

Needless to say, the "holiday" weekend was eventful, but we can definitely add not so productive, and definitely NOT as planned. 

We will share our adventures, but honestly more time needs to lapse and the psychological wounds need to heal a bit more before we divulge the farm work over the long weekend of the 4th.

Enough of all that.  Soon we will write the details up and add historical details directly relating to New Leaf Farm.  No that is not meant to be a trailer!  Lack of ambition is the reality.

ANYWAY,...........

Today let's focus on hands.  Specifically, working hands - working on the farm hands.

Grease monkey hands from working on *&^~*%*! equipment

(don't you love the worn out jeans?)

 

 

Hands keeping a low profile picking black raspberries as grease monkey hands are working on *&^~*%*! equipment

 

 

My Mr. O pointing out my constant lack of planning. Living proof in a sunburn AND poison ivy.  Got to love the contrast. 

 

 



Good news!  At the end of the day, we still have all 10 digits!

 

 

But now think of this,......what would it be like if Mr. O and I did not have working hands - working on the farm hands? 

 

 How would that look like? 

 

What would we do with all of our time?  Watch TV?  Shop?

 

 

 

He would be crowing and I'd be a cluckin after 'em. 

Enough said.



Weekend of Antiquing

When one thinks of antiquing it conjures thoughts of antique stores and flea markets. 

For those on the more adventurous side, one might add garage or rummage sales, and estate or farm auctions.

It has a totally different conjure on New Leaf Farm.  We HATE to let anything be called unusable.
If something was good at one time, why would it not function yet today?

Here, follow our thought process:

Air - the first clothes dryer

 

 

Cherry pitter (is that a word?) from Enterprise Cherry Stoner - made is USA - wish I knew the born on date

 

 

 

 Farm equipment with WOODEN parts (it's called a Pittman & you should hear the tractor parts person laugh when you call asking about if they keep them in stock)

 

 

 

Grandma's rolling pin and salvaged butcher block

 

 

Crown Masson jar - predates Mason?!

 

Old fashioned hollyhocks

 

Original incubator

 

 

 

 

Inventor of pollination

 

 

Perhaps our activities down on the farm should be not called antiquing.

 

One cannot call it recycling either; things are still used for the original purpose.  

 

Our wish is not allow things to become old, obsolete or antiquated.  Granted at times this takes BIG TIME ingenuity; think wire, bubblegum, and duct tape.   

 

So at New Leaf Farm we do not go antiquing - we anti-antiquate the things around us.

 

 

 

 

 



Good Men at New Leaf Farm

It is cherry picking time at New Leaf Farm.

 Little Guy Pickin Cherries

 

Granted not big Bing cherries, but rather tart cooking cherries.  Oh but all so juicy!  Juice dripped from hand to elbow while dangling from a step ladder trying  to reach the elusive big ones on top.

Little guy and I were picking together - sticky bonding time if you will. 

The chickens were foraging below us pecking at our dropped fruit.

Mr. Big Guy, our dominant rooster, was in the mix and clucking to his girls. 

I noticed Mr. Big Guy eyeing the lowest branch.  He cocked his head to one side and in one fluid motion, he jumped and plucked off a cherry.

Wow! how cool was that?  Little guy saw it too.  We both were watching and amazed, but then something else happened. 

Mr. Big Guy spit the cherry to the ground and clucked to his girls.  They all gathered around fighting over his newfound treasure.

And guess what?  He did it again and again until all the cherries on the branch were gone.

Mr. Big Guy taking care of his girls - how cute, but yet so strong.

Mr. Big Guy & his girls

You know what they say about pets looking like their owners?  Well apparently on New Leaf Farm this applies to valor.

This rooster mirrors all the men on New Leaf Farm - they love to look after "their girls".

Yes, comparing my hubby, Mr. O, to a rooster is a compliment. And yes, it is romantic. 

 Mr. O off to mow trails for his girls

 



Noticing the little things with a smile on my face!