Giving Up GrandBoy's Paci



Why would we have a John Deere peddle tractor on the roof of our "General Store"?  It is a bribe.  We are trying to get 3 1/2 year old GrandBoy to give up his paci.  He is very brave, until about ten o'clock at night!  Then he has to have it.  When we gets rid of his paci for good, we will get the tractor down for his enjoyment.  Until then, he sits and gazes at it, and makes plans.  "Honey, did you see the hook on the back?  I can pull my wagon", he said.  We started this offer at Christmas time, but this week when we went in the Co-op, Pappy notice the tractors were on sale.  I asked how many they had, and they were down. to one.  So we felt like we need to buy it.  But I said no way was he using it before he gave up the paci.  When I got home Pappy had parked in on the roof!  I hope this is successful soon!

Visitors to the Farm

Today we had a family stop by to look at our rabbit house and see how we do our cages, etc.  They are interested in setting up some rabbits on their own place.  They recently moved to the community.  They got some chickens a few weeks ago, and rabbits will be next!  We visited a while and they looked around.  They plan to return in a few weeks and get some rabbits when they have some cages set up.  The father also said he might come back and follow my husband around for the day and see how and what he does.  That was kind of neat.  They asked if we eat our rabbits, how we cook them, and what other details we could share. 

Last week when someone was here buying rabbits they asked GrandBoy if we eat the rabbits.  He, being three, said, "No we don't eat them!"  And I said over his head, "Yeah, we do!"

Life on the Farm - Spring

We have been pretty busy here lately.  We got back from our trip, and went right in to getting ready for Easter.  We sold at least a dozen rabbits during the Easter week.  People are still calling for them , so we will continue to sell as long as they want them.

We went to a couple of flea markets last weekend.  This weekend I have to work on our taxes! 

We really enjoyed the Easter weekend.  We have family and friends in and out all weekend.  Friday I had an engagement party for my sister and her fiance.  Then Sunday we had dinner and an egg hunt after church, and later went fishing.  The GrandBoy caught a fish and was very happy. 

We are getting about a half dozen eggs a day now.  That is nice.  Pretty soon I will start freezing them.

Well, I will talk to you again soon.  Hope your Easter holiday was blessed!  Honey

Morning friends!  We've been out of town lately, visiting family.  I'm always so glad to be back home!   We've had some additions to the farm in the last few weeks, and I thought I'd update you there.  About two weeks ago, Pappy bought me two jersey cows!  They were very thin, and needed to be fattened up.  So we are working on that, and they look a great deal better all ready.  Pappy got an unbelievable deal on them, and so after they breed and have calves, we will be able to milk them.  At that point, I will have to work out some way to have help with them.  But I'm sure I will enjoy having our own source of milk.

Another addition is in the way of baby chicks.  Tractor Supply had chicks for sale, and we got some so GrandBoy could see them grow.  I think the minimum purchase was 6, so that is what we got.  A week later, Pappy and GrandBoy were at another farm supply store.  GrandBoy saw more baby chicks, and threw a fit so he could bring Honey some more chicks!

This weekend we took some friends to the flea market.  They had never been, and it was our first trip of the year.  We were looking for peacocks, guineas, and pigeons.  We didn't find anything that day.  The next morning, Pappy ran to another flea market, and was able to find some pigeons and a pair of turkeys.  So we were excited. 

I think that is all the new additions for now.  I'll try to have photos this week.  Thanks for stopping by!  Honey

Tornado, Part 2

Sorry I've been gone a little longer than I said.  It's been hard to get everything back on track here.

As I said, I parked my car in the neighborhood behind us.  I left a note on the family's door and explained when my car was in the street in front of their house.  I got my things together, and made a plan.  I put the groceries in a big tote bag that would hold every thing easier.  I got my  purse, and looked through the car to see what I needed to take with me, and what could wait.  I put my book and bible in my purse, the post office keys, and a few more items.  Then I locked the car, and started walking. 

Pretty quickly, I was walking in mud.  I had thought about stopping at the Tractor Supply Store or the Farmer's Co-op to buy mud boots, but they had both been closed.  So here I was going through the cotton fields in my sandals.  Slipping and sliding, trying to stay upright and moving forward.

I came to a small area of moving water, not really a creek, because it is not always there.  I walked along side it till I found a spot where I could almost step over it.  I crossed to the other side, but my shoes were really wet.  By this time, I could see our barn.  But somehow I was turned around from where I thought I should be.  I remember telling myself, "They lied.  I can see the barn, but the house is gone".  I'm so glad I was wrong!  Pappy called and asked where I was.  I could see someone walking the opposite direction across the pasture.  I said I was in the pasture, and if that was him, he was going the wrong way.  I could see he had GrandBoy with him, walking along holding hands, looking for Honey.  He then saw me and told me I had parked in the wrong place, and I needed to go back.  Go back?  I said, "No, I'm not going back" and I hung up and wouldn't answer the phone again.  Pappy and GrandBoy disappeared.  A few minutes later I saw Pappy, coming toward me on the tractor.

When he met me, he took my bags and told me to climb on.  I didn't want to, cause I'm afraid of the tractors.  I've never ridden on one before.  They seem to move too fast to me.  But under the circumstances, I did as instructed.  You probably don't understand, but there is only one seat on a tractor, so that meant I was to ride standing up.  So we take off.  The wind is still really strong, and my skirt is blowing up around my head.  I notice that Pappy is getting a good look!  I said, "what are you doing?"  and he said, "Looking at you".  I tried to pull my skirt down, but that meant letting go to what I was holding on to.  Pappy said, "you are just going to have to show your hiney to whoever is around to look, cause if you let go of the tractor, you are going to fall off".  So I continued to hang on, and made it to the farm unharmed except for some scratches on my feet and lower legs from the walk across the cotton fields, and a little tarnish on my dignety!.  The next day my feet ached horribly!  I think they were bruised from the rough ground traveled.

So that is the story of how I got home.  Our farm was fine.  There was a big ball of metal in our front yard that looked like tinfoil.  It had been a storage shed in it's previous life.  Just picked up, and dropped into our pasture fence.  Guess we'll figure out how to get it out of there.

Each morning I would walk the half mile down our driveway to see if there was any progress.  Each day, there were utility workers trying to get the lines back up and get our electric on.  One day, I looked and found one of our missing garbage cans across the road in a field.  I knew it was ours because an envelope with my name on it was inside.  Monday, someone pushed the downed trees to one side, that were blocking our driveway.  We were able to get out, buy milk and bread and go to the post office.

We are so blessed compared to some in our community.  I will try to post some pictures soon, if any are worth looking at.  Most were taken with my cell phone, and may not be any good.

See you soon.  Thanks for stopping by and checking on us.  Honey 

Tornado

I'm sorry I've been away for the last week.  We were in a tornado last Friday.  I was at work.  Early in the day, it started looking dark and earie outside.  I told my boss that it looked just like the day last April when tornadoes struck here.  Little did we know what was to come.  Weather sirens started going off, and kept going off.  We didn't  know exactly where the storms were, or what was going on.  At one point my oldest daughter texted my that Pappy wanted me to call my parents, cause there was a tornado over their home.  My parents have been hit by tornadoes twice before in this same home.  The most recent time last April.  I tried to get them to move, but they have not listened.  I called my Mother, and she said they were under the house.  She said the sirens were going off, and their power was off.  She said police were speeding down the road but they couldn't tell where they were going or what had happened.  Later we would find out that the neighborhood behind my parents home had been hit again.

Daughter contacted me and told me our power was off.  That she, Pappy and GrandBoy were in our storm shelter.  This was about 10 in the morning, I think.  She told me the neighborhood beside us had been hit, and we could not get in our driveway for downed trees, but we were safe for the moment.  When 12:00 came, I told my boss I had to leave to see about my home and family.  I got in my car and went north, not realizing the extent of the damage.

I went to cash my paycheck, in case the banks closed.  Where we live, they were already closed, I would find out.  I stopped to buy batteries and a newspaper, but lots of things were already sold out.  Pappy would need cigarettes.  As I got in the small town about 10 miles from where we live, the commercial section of town had been hit.  The parents were parking on the highway, and walking to the church to pick up their school children.  The restaurant had been hit.  Every where was damage.  It was hard to look at.

Pappy had already told me one road home was impassable.  So I began trying to find a way home.  Our whole road was closed on the section we live, because the tornado took out eight power poles and the lines.  All the lines going the half mile off the road to our home, were down.  The trailer in front of our home had been hit.  The storm jumped over our home, and hit the neighborhood behind us.  I parked in that neighborhood, and started walking across the cotton fields to our farm.  I found a large tote bag in my car, and put all the groceries in it.  I slung my purse across my chest and started walking. 

I'll type more tomorrow.  It's getting late here, and this is kinda a long story!  See you tomorrow.  Honey

Top 10 Reasons I Love to Live on A Farm!

Our barn and corral

This is a different type of post for me.  I've never written a top 10 list before.  But here goes!  The top ten reasons I love to live on a farm!

The General Store where we hold our "gatherings" and we do some cooking and canning

1.  It is quiet.  We live a half mile off the road, and our nearest neighbors are at least a half mile away in any different direction.  So that lends itself to quiet living.  Quiet, that is, if you don't take into account the roosters, guineas, and peacock.  The cows who MOO every time they see the pick up truck, and the sheep who love company.  But people noises, we don't have a lot of that.

GrandBoy moving a "brand new" just born goat!  He is so proud.

Our "girls"

2.  There is plenty of room for any hobby or activity your kids want to pursue.  Our daughters are all grown up now.  But we are starting on the next generation!  GrandBoy wants to be a tractor driver when he grows up.  I remember when we first moved here, the girls all took up special hobbies and interests.  Daughter #1 decided to raise goats, and she called herself the "Goat Queen"!  Daughter #2 bottle fed a Brahman bull calf one summer.  That bull recently sold for $1,700 at the cow sale.  And our youngest daughter decided one day that she was going to find out how the chicken laid an egg.  She stood by one hen for a couple of hours,  pulling her rear up off her nest, until she finally saw an egg.  From then on, she was convinced that eggs came out of chickens!

GrandBoy making juice with our fruit press.  Pappy is helping.

3.  There is always room for a large garden.  We plant a ton of stuff each summer.  By the end, I'm pretty much ready for the garden to be done.  But we eat organic and try to produce as much of our food as possible.  We (I should say I because the girls are grown and don't help much any more) can and freeze as much of our food as possible.  Daughter #1 and Pappy are mad at this statement and just reminded me they canned peaches last summer!  So I'm thankful for our garden.

Pears waiting to be canned

4.  We have plenty of fruit trees and berries.  The first summer we were here, we started planting fruit trees.  This year Pappy is planting blackberry and raspberry patches.  We have peaches, grapes, apples, and pears.  Blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries.  So it's nice not to worry about what has come in contact with our food.

Just bottled wine

Within hours the balloons inflate, and you know it is working

5.  We have learned to make our own wine.  When we moved here, I found the Welch's Grape Juice wine recipe on line.  I made wine, and we enjoyed it with our friends.  When Pappy retired, he started making wine out of our fruit juices.  People still love it, and we do this every year.  Some flavors are better than others, but we live and learn.

One of my favorite quilts on our "downstairs" clothes line.

The front yard clothes line.  This one gets used the most.  But some days call for both.

6.  We have room for a clothes line.  Actually we have two!  I like to save on the utility bill anyway we can.  Most of our tenants' utility bills are higher than the one we get for the whole farm, farmhouse and all.  We try to conserve where we can.

Some of our Black Angus herd

Sheep and goats

7.  We raise our own meat.  I just asked Daughter #1 what her favorite thing about living on a farm was.  I was actually afraid she would say, "nothing".  But she said that her favorite part was having our own food and meat.  We are beef cattle farmers.  We take at least one cow to the processor each year.  This year Pappy ended up processing a cow that went down while calving.  She was paralyzed, and if a cow can't walk, the processor can't take it.  We also raise our own chickens, rabbits, sheep, and goats which are all used for meat.  Occasionally the hunters who park here while hunting, will bring us some venison.  And most years we buy a pig from the processor.  We are very well stocked for meat, and Pappy gets mad at me if I buy any.

More cows!

8.  We have our own goats' milk, and may be expanding to cows' milk soon.  We have had dairy goats for a few years now.  Probably about four.  But last night Pappy told me that a friend had bought a herd of miniature cows, and there were a few jerseys in the mix.  So we may be getting a dairy cow.  And if so, I'll never buy dairy products again.  That is really what most of my grocery budget is for.  Dairy, produce, and bread.  When I retire, I am going to go back to making my own bread like I used to when the kids were small.  We make some of our own cheese now, but its hard to get enough goats milk for much cheese if you want to drink any.  Most of our goats are meat goats.

A friend from church

9.  If someone is coming down the long, dusty driveway, you know they must want to see you!  You will know long before they get to the house, and can come out to greet them and see what they want.  I say that but there was a time when we had three teenage girls and Pappy worked third shift.  I swore I was going to buy a drive way alarm system.  I found out that teens had been up and down our drive one night, and a wrecker even came and picked up one girls' car!  But that is the exception, not the rule.  At least, I hope so!

Independence Day!

10.  We have lots of "Gatherings".  Friends are always wanting to meet and spend time with us on the farm.  They want to bring their own company to meet us and see our home.  We are like a tourist spot!  Pappy's Police friends are always "gathering" here to rest, relax, and spend time enjoying each others company.

New baby goats

Meat Rabbits

11.  This one is a bonus, but we meet lots of people who drive down that long driveway to see if they can bring their kids to see "real" farm life.  When I had a Child Care Center, we brought the children here each Spring.  Now families come around Easter to buy rabbits.  Home school families stop by and say they have heard about us and will be back. All year, people knock on our door, and ask what we have for sale! 

Stop by soon to see us!  We can't wait to see you!