Point to Ponder

Recently while reading the newspaper I came upon this article.

At the time I did not give it much thought.  Just got a thankful feeling.

Our motto of "lucky to live where we live" rang true in my ears.  Hugging my hot cup of Sunday morning coffee I thought of the quiet and solitude of winter here on the farm.

Then we began a firewood cutting frenzy.

After a couple afternoons of the wood cutting fest, I got to thinking.  Winter is not necessarily a quiet time around here.

Bare with my thoughts.

Sleet pelting all surfaces - especially noisy when hitting the hood of your Car hart

Endless discussion of where is the next "spot" to cut wood

"Thunk" of wood hitting the woodshed floor can send vibration from your toes to your ears

Perhaps there are a few of you who have never heard the sound of chainsaws at work or at least it has been awhile.  Let me share.

Hope we do not get fined for disturbing the peace of winter!

In True Friendship, All Flaws Can be Overlooked

The Little Guy has his favorite stuffed animal:  Baby.  

Baby has been there since day one.  

Baby has endured and shared all.  Teething, ear aches, and multiple flu bugs.  Through all of Little Guy's milestones: birthdays, potty training, ABC's and 123's, vacations, timeouts, and just recently lost teeth.  

For awhile Baby went EVERYWHERE with the Little Guy.  They were inseparable.

For whatever reason Baby gives Little Guy comfort and the sense of unconditional love.

But over the years this unconditional love has required physical sacrifice on Baby's part.   Holes, tears, and thin spots have required anything from a few stitches to full body triage.  

One can easily overlook flaws in friends and loved ones.  What's missing stuffing, a few extra lumps here and there, and asymmetrical  limbs anyway?

Awhile back, I ask Little Guy if we should wash Baby.  Permission was given, but there was a different response this time. 

Apparently at age of six, Little Guy is beginning to understand physical limitations of things around him.   

"Mom, you can wash him, but please do not use hot water.  He might shrink."

Baby just hanging out to dry

When I am become as worn out as Baby I hope Little Guy watches my back with the same passion and love while overlooking all my worn out spots, lumps, and asymmetry!

January Thaw

Oh what a beautiful day!  Blew out the dreary winter cobwebs here on the farm.

The first chore of the day:  cleaning out the chicken coup.

 No more stepping on frozen chicken poop when gathering eggs

Next in line:  clean, fresh bedding for the "ladies".

No more frozen crap under our feet

What to do the manure?  Add it to the flower garden.

Seriously, a picture of chicken crap on the garden?  Yes, Gardener's Gold come spring.

Now a little primping for the humans.

All the sheets washed and hung out to dry.  They await our wind-burned cheeks.

 Add to the list:  improving the odds of catching another coyote.

Sprucing up "the spot"

Stopping to enjoy the view and watching a total of 5 bald eagles doing their stuff.

Great view of the creek valley and the beautiful clear sky

Could not pass the day without trying to catch a fish.

Picture tells the story for itself:  not one fish caught

Fishing not biting, so tried ice skating.

Too slushy to glide on the blades

Ended the day with doing a few remaining chores.  Cheeks burning as the air turns colder with sunset. 

Awesome sunset as seen from the porch swing

Ahhh.  I think today was needed.  It was a nice reprieve to our winter.  It felt so good to blow out the winter cobwebs of cabin fever.

We so enjoyed the day outside together.  Days like today make it easy to realize how fortunate we are to live were we live, and how fortunate we are for our loved ones.

New Years Day 2014

Like most across the country, we too experienced the Polar Vortex. The cold extended through New Year's Day.   Thought I would share some holiday activities on the farm.

First the critters needed fed and pampered through the cold.  Well the old tractors coughed and belched and refused to start.  We cannot feed hay without the use of the mighty combustible engine.

As usual Mr. O did his mechanical magic.  Believe me when I say diesel exhaust can smell beautiful in the frigid air after one stands over jumper cables reeking of starter fluid with crossed fingers and all the while bawling cows are serenading you.  Makes for a lovely New Year's Day morning adventure!

Waiting patiently,....do you know it is -10F?  Where's my hay?!

A few hours later chores are completed and we head inside.

Fact:  Icicles grow on beards and mustaches during a polar vortex

Venturing inside I stumble across something in the basement.  It is furry and frozen stiff.   When Mr. O and married, my father-in-law warned me:  "there will be days you wonder why you love him."  No more needs said.  Warning - The photo below is not a tender heart. 

Fact:  One must thaw out a coyote before it can be skinned.

Getting beyond the fact that a frozen fur bearer is thawing out in the basement, we settle in for a few hours inside.  A warm lunch was a must.

Now let me give you a little history.  Back in 2007 we had a major ice storm in the area.  We are the second to the last on our electrical rural grid line; hence we were without power for 9 days.  I kind of enjoyed it.  It really had just a few draw backs:  kerosene lamps leave a black residue, no oven (we cooked soups/stews on top the woodstove), disgruntled teenagers in the house, and eventually we ran out of clean clothes which meant a trip to the laundry mat.

Anyway from that experience we thought we should be more prepared.  A old-time coal/wood stove was in order.

Here she is.  I think she deserves a name.

New Year's Day menu.  Homemade venison bologna, home canned sauerkraut and home raised potatoes.  It was a hit! 

With warm bellies we bundled up again and headed out.  We were low on firewood.  An hour and half later we had a nice truck load.

Back inside we had some meat to grind.

Everyone is considered labor around here.  Little guy included.

So this is how we spent New Year's Day.  Quietly.  Bundled up outside.  Feeling the warmth of a good fire inside.  Enjoying the bounty around us.

And for those of you wondering, yes the coyote was removed from the basement, ........eventually, and I love Mr. O more than ever!

Catching Up

I will forego all the 2013 excuses and the 2014 promises, but I will try to write more.  Why?  Simply because I enjoy it.


Farm happenings since last blog:

• cows got out and DESTORYED the vegetable garden
• a very wet year turned into a drought
• ponds were rebuilt
• end of growing season - which actually ended very early for our veggies!
• whittled on the 2013 produce stockpile (many family and friends shared their garden bounty so we could "put up" our normal amount of canned/frozen staples)
• last calf of the year born
• all cows came home to winter from their summer pastures
• half the calves went to the sale barn
• feeding hay
• electric waterers in use
• gravel for the driveway delivered and spread!  yeah
• firewood cut, but not near enough for the winter
• 2013 hunting season done
• snow and ice removal
• the to do list worked on, but of course NOT completed

There was one project which did get completed, and I want to share it.

It most likely started in the 1960's.  The photo below is from 1971.

Look over the driver side fender.  See the top of a blue spruce?  Cute little thing.

 

 

Fast forward from 1971 to the 1980's.

 



See the spruce to the right of the garden patch? More stately rather than cute.

 

Leap from 1980's to one month or so ago.

 

 

 

 

 Sad to see it go, but there was no life left.  Age and disease caught up with our majestic spruce.

No more shelter for our feathered friends.

The view from our windows will never be the same.

New resting place,........offering shelter to our furry friends down by the newly built pond.

 

Cutting down the spruce was on the "to do list".  But it did not feel like a chore.  It felt like a farewell to us.

 

Rest assured a replacement will be planted this spring!  The 2014 garden catalogs are arriving daily.

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!