It's the Small Things

When I got the idea for this post a few days ago, my intention was to simply showcase some close up photos of our first Christmas here on the farm.    But, life sometimes has a way of turning everything upside down in a flash. 

All it takes is one simple phone call to change everything.   Our phone call came Saturday evening as we were driving home from my lovely early birthday celebration.   Joel and Jeremy had taken me out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant in town and as we were driving home my cell phone rang.   It was Jarrad, our oldest son, and he asked to speak to Joel.

Seems Jarrad was in some discomfort and had a "growth" protruding out from his left upper chest wall and it was hurting and he wondered what doctor to go see.   Joel gave him the name of someone he trusted and Jarrad proceeded to get an appt. for Monday afternoon.   Dr. Rodriquez was very concerned when he examined Jarrad and ordered a CT scan for the very next morning.   The 23rd.   My 61st birthday.  

When Jarrad called us mid-afternoon with the report, it was not good news.   He has a 4" lymphoma tumor in his left upper chest next to his heart and pushing up against his rib cage.   The tip of the tumor has bulged out between 2 ribs and that was the "growth" Jarrad was complaining about.  

A lot of phone calls have burned up the wires over the last 24 hours and a plan is coming into place.   Jarrad goes into the hospital Friday morning (remember, folks, it's Christmas and very difficult to get these complicated tests done with so many docs out of town or out of their offices).  He will be an outpatient as a biopsy will need to be done to uncover what type of cancer we are dealing with.   Then the real work begins.

So what does that have to do with the Small Things?    Many of you will already be able to relate to this, but when you are faced with life threatening circumstances, it's amazing how it's usually the Small Things that take on major importance.  

Things like a soft touch from your spouse to comfort you in your distress.   Things like the sun finally shining thru the clouds to brighten your day after days of stormy weather.   Things like enjoying the lights on the Christmas tree late on Christmas Eve when the kids are finally asleep and the presents are all laid out under the tree.   Things like taking a deep breath, closing your eyes and feeling God's arms wrapped around you as tears run down your face.

I know we are all caught up in our hustle bustle world, especially at this busy season.   There are cookies to bake and presents to wrap and parties to attend.  My wish for you is that you have many moments where the Small Things touch your heart, make you stop for just a moment, and lock those memories away in your heart.

Please lift Jarrad and his wife Dawn up in prayer as they are about to face trials such as they have never dreamed they would have to face.   And pray for me as I drive on Christmas day......hey, a mama's gotta be by her son's side when he is about to get life changing news.  I'll try and keep you updated about Jarrad's condition.

One thing.....for those of you who have never met Jarrad, he's the eternal optimist.  He never met a stranger, always has a ready smile on his face, and has the word "Positive" practically stamped on his forehead.   So it didn't surprise me when yesterday, in the midst of the phone calls and fear, he and I joked that he didn't have to go to such extreme measures to help me forget I was now another year older.  That's Jarrad.   And yes, he knows Jesus as his Savior and that God is in control of all that is happening to him right now.

Have a Blessed Christmas with your loved ones,
And thank you for praying for our family,
Debbie

Don't Wear Fur

Whaaaaat?   First, let me explain.   Yesterday Joel and I "went to town" to run a few errands.   One of those errands involved looking for some farm appropriate outer wear for Joel to wear while tending to the animals during the cold months of winter.   Translation:   clothes that you don't mind getting poo, mud and other gross stuff on.

He found a pair of awesome bib overalls that are quilted inside and will keep him cozy warm on those blustery days.   He had already bought some lined work gloves that he loves to wear, but he still needed something warmer for his head and neck.  Wearing a scarf is not an option as it whips around in the wind while scooping out feed, etc. so we were looking for some kind of hat other than a knitted one that would better protect his head and neck. 

 Voila!   We found the perfect hat, one that has ear coverings that can be worn down during those really frigid days, or up when the temps are milder.   It even has a furry lining to keep the cold wind off his neck.  The front of the hat also has fur and can be unsnapped to help shield his eyes from pelting sleet or snow.  

It was pretty cold here yesterday and we almost always have a wind blowing on our bluff, so when the thermometer reads 35 degrees, it usually feels more like something in the 20's.   Joel was excited to try out his new hat when he went down to feed the pigs and chickens late in the afternoon and he donned his coat, gloves and new hat......now he was ready for the elements.   Bring it on!

Twenty minutes later he came back inside the house and was laughing, grinning from ear to ear.   Here's his story.   He walked down to the animals, fed the pigs first as he usually does.   Man, this hat is really keeping me warm(he was thinking).   Then he walked over to the chicken coop, scooped out some scratch for them as a treat and proceeded to open the main door of the coop.   In his words, "All hell broke loose." 

As he walked in he was startled as chickens that were sitting up high on the roost almost knocked themselves out trying to fly out of the little chicken door on the opposite side of the coop.   He said they were climbing over each other and flying into the walls in their frantic attempt to escape the coop.   What the?????    Oooooooh!   The fur on the hat!    It freaked them out because they thought he was a predator.   Bah-ha-ha-ha-ha!  He had to take the hat off to finish taking care of the chickens and laughed all the way back up to the house. 

I guess he will be able to wear the hat to take care of the pigs, but will have to remove it when he gets anywhere near the chickens.   He says he probably scared them out of egg production for a week, they were so frightened.   The moral of the story is:  Don't wear fur around chickens.

The End,
Debbie

Guinea Hens

Yes, the subject for this morning is guinea hens.   What in the world????   From our reading we discovered they were imported from Africa and they integrate beautifully with our hens....just another part of the flock.    We didn't raise them for their egg laying capability and we certainly have no intention of eating them.   So, why did we raise them?

Because they protect the rest of the flock.   We have enough natural predators of our chickens that we felt the need to take some proactive measures to protect our girls.  The female guineas make these squawking cries at a fevered pitch that warn the rest of the girls if a predator is approaching.   Unfortunately, they also just squawk to hear their own voices.   Loudly.   Continuously.  All.  Day.  Long.   That's one of the reasons we have the Chicken Castle(A.K.A. the chicken coop) at the far end of our land...as far away from the house as possible so we don't have to listen to them.

And, boy, can they ever fly high......when frightened, they will launch up 20-30 feet into the highest branches of the surrounding oak trees without struggling one single bit.   Eventually they'll come back down and all 4 of them will run up and down outside the electric fence, trying in vain to figure out how to get back in with the rest of the flock.  

Did I mention yet how dumb these birds are?    They will lay eggs out in the woods, and abandon the nest......yup, they just sorta forget they laid eggs that need attention and warmth from their mama in order to hatch.   And they can spend endless amounts of energy trying to get back inside the fence, completely forgetting they were able to deftly fly out by themselves and could just as easily fly back inside the fence.   If they only tried.   Really?   How hard is it?

When Joel goes down to the coop to close it up for the night, invariably the 4 guineas will be pacing outside the fence and seem collectively relieved when he turns off the power to the fence and pulls back one section of the fence that gains them free access to their pasture inside the fence.   Really.   Dumb.   Birds.

But I think they're beautiful.   Their itty bitty heads are a light robin's egg blue in sharp contrast to the black feathers with perfect white polka dots that cover the remaining part of their overly huge bodies. 

See?   Aren't their feathers really pretty?    I haven't come up with a use for them yet, but I'm thinking there is some kind of cool craft where I could make use of these little pretties.   Just think.   God created those perfect little white dots on each and every black feather.   Boggles the mind, doesn't it?
I'll let you know if I create something with them in the future. 

Meanwhile, the egg production in the coop is really ramping up.   Yesterday we collected 10 eggs!   As the hens lay more consistently, the size of each of the eggs is getting larger, slowly but surely.    Once the eggs are generally the same size, we will start selling them.   It's exciting that we already have several people asking when our eggs will be ready for them to purchase.   Maybe now I can pay off our tractor.   giggle......yeah, right.

In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy our new found treasure as we cook up our very own eggs each morning.   How do you like my egg skelter?    Yeah, I didn't know what a skelter was either until I saw this one in a catalog.   You add the freshest eggs at the top of the skelter and the oldest eggs roll down to the bottom where you use them first.   And did you know that fresh eggs don't need to be refrigerated?   I know!   How cool is that?

Just sayin' we are having too much fun with all these new discoveries.   And now you know about guinea hens.   Wait till you come to visit and hear them squawk with your own ears.   It's a sound you won't soon forget.

Getting our chicken on,
Debbie

Studio Reveal.....Finally

Yes, we have hung the last shelf and I even managed to put up a few Christmas decorations in my new studio.   We still need to build the breezeway to connect the studio to the house, but that's a project for another day.  Or maybe I should say, a project for another month.   At this point I'm kinda tired of moving boxes and bins and unpacking them, so, I'm thrilled just to be in the studio.   And it's done!

 One of the truly exciting things about this studio is the walking space I have around the cutting table and the tables which hold the sewing machines.   I've been packed into some small spaces over the years in various houses and this feels like a real luxury having some breathing room.   I still need to finish working on a couple of quilts to hang from the wire shelving behind the cutting table to make it feel more homey.   Besides, a studio has to display some quilts, right?

This end of the studio houses all my scrapbook supplies.   I love having this giant old oak table to work on and the pressed back chairs make my heart sing.   The armoir used to be in our bedroom and since there is no room for it in this little farmhouse, it has been repurposed as a wonderful storage vehicle for all the paper, stamps, and albums I use when I scrapbook.  

We just finished installing the wall shelf that houses my paints and ribbons.   Below that is the teal cabinet that used to hold record albums back in the day when we all had stereos that played records.  Now it is a great place to store works in progress.   And I just love my feather Christmas tree from my old shop.   It seems to fit right in here in the new studio.

After a good scrubbing, my old white comfy chair is ready for me to sit in to do my handwork.   And it's positioned right across from the tv so I can watch football or chick flicks in here and not drive Joel and Jeremy crazy.  And we brought my sweet chocolate table over here from the house with my favorite seasonal candle house on top of it.   I just had to string lights around the 4 windows of this new space to bring in some cheer during the bleak winter months.   They make me happy just looking at them.

Oops, sorry about the tubes of caulk.   I'm still putting things back in the workshop and these are on their way out the door.   Doesn't Flora the Flamingo look right at home here in her new digs?   Remember her from the shop?  

And now my monthly calendar holder has a permanent home on top of the narrow shelves.   Each month I can change out the mini-quilt.

Yes, the lights definitely "make it" for me.   It's hard to see, but I hung giant pine cones from lime green ribbon behind the lights.   The "private" side of the studio has 2 windows and I choose not to put blinds on these windows so my view of the farm isn't obstructed.   On the "public" side of the studio I did hang white blinds to match what we already have inside the house....and this gives me more privacy from the cars that pass on the road in front of the house.

It's so nice to have so many of my favorite items in one place where I can display them and enjoy them each time I enter the studio.  Joel gave me this huge piece more than 10 years ago for my birthday and I love turning it every three months to expose another season on each side of the house.  

This is the workhorse area of the space....2 wonderfully sized tables with my embroidery machine on the right and my everyday sewing machine on the left.   Now I have a large flat surface from which to work on my quilts.   Can't.  Hardly.  Wait.  

The cupboards on each side of the doorway going into the storage room are almost full.   I'm so glad to have the extra counter space, too.   This place is really a dream come true for me!  I love the soft blue walls contrasting with the light wood floor and the cotton striped area rugs bring a punch of color to the room.

I can wrap my presents on this counter and leave out the wrapping materials till I need them again.  Of course,  no sewing room would be complete without a proper ironing board and iron.  

As you can see, the storage room is full from top to bottom, but now everything is organized and I can find whatever I am looking for.  

Here's a peek at the left side and the metal shelving with bins on it.   All my seasonal decorating items for the house are in separate bins, so, when Easter rolls around, I just have to pull out my Easter bins and I can decorate the house without having to dig around in the attic to find what I need.   This makes it so easy and convenient for me.   Plus, I love being this organized.  

Well, that's the grand tour.   I'm sure I'll be tweaking the studio over the next year, but at least now I'm moved in there and can function once again.   I feel so blessed and realize what a luxury it is to have a dedicated space for me to "play" in once again.   Sewing and crafting bring me so much enjoyment and now I can hardly wait to hang out in my own special place.

Bring on the crafts,
Debbie

The Great Chicken Hunt

I don't know about you, but most of our weekends start off pretty mundane.   Get up, drink some caffeine, do a few chores.   You know, the stuff of everyday life.   And then, there was this past weekend.   Our Saturday was quiet enough.   The guys did some outside work and I puttered around in the kitchen.....making these pillows of yumminess.

Yes, the cold, rainy drizzly day just seemed to call out for something to brighten all our spirits.  And what better way than with homemade sticky buns?    Needless to say, they really hit the mark with my guys.   Nothing like baking something delicious to put a smile on my men's faces.

Well, that was Saturday.  Sunday came alive as the first sunny day we've seen in 2 weeks and when it warmed up in the afternoon Joel made the decision that it was finally time to break up the "Gang of 8".   Yeah, you know, the 8 cocky roosters that have been terrorizing the hens for weeks now.   But first we had some prep work to do.  

It was my job to scrub the food grade bucket where the cleaned birds would cool down in an ice bath.   And the knives and other tools needed for the job had to be washed, too.   While I was doing that, the guys set up a table as a station to do the work side of skinning and gutting the birds.

Gloves.  Check.   Paper towels.  Check.   Butchering book.  Check. (you know we're going to need to review this again!)  Cutting board and knives.  Check.

Ok, now, let's get this show on the road!    We three headed down to the chicken coop and pasture to see which of the "Gang" would be going to Freezer Camp today.

Awwww, isn't he magnificent?   The roosters really are quite majestic, they're just too danged....um, how shall I say this?......too danged amorous!

I can just hear him saying,"Hey, baby.   You want me to follow you to your boudoir?"  Poor hens.  This goes on all day long.......in the coop, out in the pasture.....wherever a hen can be cornered.   Yikes.   We think it's time to even out the odds.  According to Joel's chicken book, 1 rooster is plenty for 10 hens.  Well, we have 9 roosters for 12 hens.   That's not good.....

 Joel was sizing up the roosters to pick which ones he wanted to slaughter today.    Some of these guys are pretty big....and Joel is the "choosen one" who has to catch them.   Um, yeah, better him than me.   I collect eggs, I DON'T pick up the chickens.    It's a pact Joel and I made before we even bought the birds last Spring.   He knows flopping wings freak me out......I like the birds just fine, from a distance.

See?   Here's Henny Penny.   She flies over the electrified net every morning to escape the romantic advances of the roosters.    She is 1 of only 2 Rhode Island Red chickens we have, and the only one with a name out of all our chickens.    The rest are called Eggs and Meat.   Joel really loves the calm nature of the Reds and they have taken to eating out of his hand.   It's pretty cool to watch them eating out of his hand as they lovingly coo and cluck the whole time.     

This is as good a shot as I could get of the "Gang of 8".....I just couldn't get all 8 of them in one pic.   Boy, do they ever rule the roost?   Just look at them strutting around the yard.

So we turned off the electricity to the fence and Joel went into their pasture with his curved shephard's crook thingey.....yes, that's the official name in the catalog.   Don't laugh.   Really.   Well, he proceeded to calmly walk up to the roosters and then swiftly and deftly swiped at the legs of one of the Gang.   Oh, man!    That rooster untangled his legs so fast and flew away in a flash.   Hmmmm, that didn't work very well.

Jeremy was trying ever really hard to be supportive of his dad.....but we all three had the giggles as Joel wrestled with one after another of the roosters.   And not one of them got caught.   Huh.   Imagine that.

Well, after all the commotion in the pasture, several of the birds went into the coop to escape Joel.   Jeremy stood guard at their little chicken door while Joel went into action for Plan "B".   Once inside the coop, Joel closed the chicken door essentially trapping the birds inside.   Then he tried to catch a rooster......by himself......with and without the shephard's crook......nadda.   No dice.   Not gonna happen in a million years.  

Fifteen minutes later Plan "C" was put into action.   Bet you can guess what that was.....can't ya?  Yup, old Eagle Eye Jeremy and his trusty 22 went in for battle.   And he did great with 3 direct shots to the heads of 3 of the roosters.....humanely dispatching them as we gave thanks to the birds for their sacrifice.

Yes, Jeremy did a great job and it sure was a lot faster than chasing birds all around the pasture or the coop.   And a lot less stressful for Joel.

Proud daddy.  Yup, that's my son that helped me out.    Now on to the gross, um, on to the part where the birds become food for our table.   Two hours later, we were finally done.    It took the two of us, me acting as assistant and Joel doing the majority of the job to get to the point where the birds looked like something you would buy in the grocery store.

A little rinsing of the bird, and chilling it down to around 36 degrees in an ice bath was all that was left to do before putting the birds in bags in the refrigerator to rest a few days before we butcher them into pieces for freezing.  

I must say, going through the whole ordeal yesterday has given me a brand new appreciation for what our ancestors did every single day to provide food for their family.    It takes a lot more time and energy than you realize to put food on the table, especially when you are the one responsible for providing that food.  I think I'm better at growing food in the ground than I am gutting and skinning animals.   But I'll help Joel with his part just like he helped me with the gardening last summer.

Loving every new experience,
Debbie

Homestead Eggs

Our chickens started laying eggs last week....first one lonely little egg and then 2 days later another little egg.   By the end of the week we had 4.   Yippee!   And now, just shy of 2 weeks later, we have collected just over a dozen eggs.

Last night when Joel came back from feeding the animals he brought 5 eggs with him.   Wow!   I think several of our Buff's have finally ramped up production and pretty soon the remaining hens should all be producing eggs.  According to the books I have read, the eggs can start out a little small and get bigger as the hens grow in size.  No matter what size they are, we are so happy to finally have eggs from our own hens.

So this morning when I made breakfast we used up the last 2 eggs we had purchased from the grocery store.   Hopefully, this is one more step on our road to growing our own food.   Next step: time to slaughter some randy roosters.   More on that next week.

"Egg-ceptionally" Happy,
Debbie

They Did it Again!

Who did what again?   The pigs, of course.  Who did you think I was talking about?   bah-ha-ha-ha......Yes, the pigs got out of their pen again.   Only this time it wasn't because the gate was left open.   This time they used their weight and brute strength and pushed a hole in their fence.  

Let me back up a minute here and explain better what happened.  Joel and I had gone "to town" to buy pig and chicken feed and run our errands.   When we returned to the farm, we unloaded the car and were in the process of taking the heavy sacks of feed out to the bins where we store them when I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye.   Aw, man, the pigs were roaming free, scarfing up all the acorns their greedy little mouths could scrounge.   

Ummm, yea.   They're not supposed to be over there.   Rooting around.   Digging for acorns.  

Time to get serious and bring in the tools to repair the fencing.  So, on with our boots and Joel got supplies from his workshop.

Yup.   Here's what the oinkers did.....pushed that fencing away from the 4"x4" post that it had been stapled to.  That fencing is some tough stuff, I can hardly believe they were able to dislodge it and wiggle their tubby bodies thru the hole.   Darn.  That's going to be fun to fix. 

 So, we dug around the post and poured in quick setting concrete to reinforce the post in it's hole.   Then, we had to re-staple the fence in place....with a whole lot more staples.   Then we reinforced the hog panels with smaller fence posts.   That should hold them until it's time to take them to slaughter.(Which, by the way, was approaching closer and closer as Joel and I chased the pigs.  Do you get my drift?)  Ok, now that that's taken care of.....how do we two round up these huge pigs?

I mean, these are not exactly little piglets any longer.  See how big they are compared to the Polaris?  They both weigh in at over 150 lbs.  And you can't believe how quick they are on their feet.  Chasing them is impossible.

The pigs were feasting on the thousands of acorns and seemed to have no interest in any food we used to try and entice them into the pen.  Then, Joel got the idea to use the chicken scratch as it has a lot of corn in it and pigs simply can't resist corn.  And it worked!  

The pigs were docilely following Joel at a leisurely pace all the way to the gate of their pen....Just call Joel the Pied Piper of the Pigs.  Ha!

And then they bolted!   I mean they ran like the dickens in opposite directions.   Um, not good.   And Joel was most definitely not amused.   We tried to lasso them, we tried to lure them with food, we tried to herd them and nothing worked.

Joel decided that the pigs would come back to their pen when it got dark and so we hauled some new straw and put it inside their Pig Palace to make it nice and cozy for when they returned.

 I mean, really, why wouldn't the pigs want to come back to their pen with a view like this of the distant mountains? 

Aw, geez.   Now one of the 2 Rhode Island Red hens flew out of their pasture.....she was being harassed by some overly ardent roosters.   Joel loves these 2 Rhode Islands....they will eat out of his hand or the scoop when he offers them scratch.   He really wanted to catch this little gal and get her back inside the netting so she wouldn't be in the way of the pigs.

Here is one of the handsome culprits responsible for her flight.  He is a dandy, though, isn't he?
Well, back to the pigs.

We had 2 small pumpkins left up at the house, so, I retrieved them and Joel was using them to lure the pigs once again.  And it seemed to be working.  Sorta.

By now Bacon was huffing and puffing and she laid down to catch her breath.   Pork Chop was still following Joel.  Hey, if we could just get one inside the pen, the other would eventually follow.
Right?

At this point I was sitting in the driver's seat of the Polaris and Pork Chop got up and started rubbing herself against the thick tires of the ATV.   She literally was rocking the boat!   Joel and I were laughing and shaking our heads at this point as we had been at this for well over an hour with no success.  Since we were getting nowhere fast, we decided to take a break and check on the pigs closer to evening, and headed up to the house.

Not 5 minutes later the dogs were barking and we looked out the back door and this is what we found.  Yes!   The roaming pigs had come all the way up to the house....which is near the road....which means they could get hit by a car.....  So much for waiting until dark and letting then go into their pen on their own.   Now we had to get serious about rounding these bad boys up.

 Time to put the boots back on again.  We herded the pigs with a lot of arm waving and yelling and got them back closer to their pen once again.

And then they just nuzzled into the huge pile of leaves we were getting ready to burn.   They continued to bury their heads deep down to retrieve acorns.   How can you not laugh at such antics?

Enough already.   Joel was getting pretty irritated and the sun was about to go down.   Through a series of chasing, herding and a lot of yelling we finally managed to get Bacon in the pen....where she immediately plopped down in some thick mud and lay there panting.   Pork Chop was only a couple of minutes behind her and greedily drank and drank her water. 

Thank goodness!   I don't know who was more tired.....the pigs or us.   I was just happy they were safe in their pen and hope to never have to repeat this adventure again.  And it only took us a couple hours this time!    hahahaha

The End.   Seriously.   The living End.

Whew!
Debbie