Welcome Winter

So where did fall go? We really aren't ready for
the cold and snow, but Mother Nature has different ideas.

Mick has cut and split a lot of wood for the wood furnace, and we have to get it all stacked. He is thinking it is going to be a cold winter. I don't like the cold and snow, it hurts my bones.
I had to get the heated waterers out for the chickens yesterday. They don't seem to mind the cold, but I know I had some guineas with frozen feet last year. Hopefully it won't be as cold this year.

We got our first taste of snow the week of Thanksgiving, up until then, we were
in the 60's during the day. Now that we
got the first snow, it cold, and really cold!

Welcome Fall

Fall shows up and here I am another year older. You wonder where all the time goes. Then I sit back and look at the photos I have captured and they tell my story and document my time.

I can see that I haven't had much time to blog, I know I have been outdoors most of the summer.

When I am inside it was to can tomatoes and pickles and various other crops.

My photos are slightly out of order and it is too early in the morning for me to mess around with them. This is Tiffany's new Classroom. She is now teaching at Garfield Elementary. It is the school the boys went to. I had to make her new curtains for her room.

Besides all the canning, I also messed around with chicks, and chickens. I am trying some different breeds for variety. I like the odd and rarer breeds, but they can be fussy to raise.

I find the mortalitiy is higher than your standard chickens, but they are so pretty.
We had a small issue with the gender of some of the flock. I gave some hens to an urban farmer friend, and we found out later that it was a rooster, and no roosters in the city allowed! So they brough it back to me and we traded for another hen. Then they called and had another rooster from a friend, so now I am the proud owner of a Black Cochin Rooster, and he is GRAND!

The fall flowers are gorgeous and the weeds have taken over most of my beds. There just wasn't enough time to kepp everything in A1 condition

Along the way, I went back to work this summer, only to break my little toe again, so I was off for another 8 weeks. Now I am back at work and back to my old department. Hopefully it will be easier on my bones.

Now we wait for winter!

Ruralosexual

This Article appeared in our local paper. The author is John Gladden, and his columns are hilarious. Thanks John for your humor.....we love it.

You might be a ‘ruralosexual’ if you can relate to this column
By: John Gladden July 21st, 2009 · Medina Gazzette

In recent years, the term “metrosexual” has burrowed its way into the public dictionary, describing a person who is urban, stylish and has a penchant for luxury. The word has been applied to the likes of actor Brad Pitt, soccer star David Beckham, and others among the similarly hip and famous.
Somehow, it doesn’t seem to describe me or most of the people I know. Most of us don’t live in big cities, couldn’t care less about what’s in fashion, and don’t spend a dollar we don’t have to. We’re more like “ruralosexuals.”
How do you know you’re a ruralosexual? Well, the first sign may be that you are vaguely uncomfortable with any word that has “sexual” in it.
Nevertheless, you can bet you’re a ruralosexual if:

Your idea of entertainment is pulling up a chair and watching the chickens strut around the yard.

The smells of good hay and freshly turned earth are better than perfume.

You run a tab at the parts store.

In summer, you mow your grass once a month, whether it needs it or not.

Most of what’s in your freezer is food you produced yourself.

You know where to find wild berries all summer long.

Throwing something away goes against every moral fiber of your being.

You have stay-at-home clothes and going-into-town clothes.

A good day is when you don’t have to go into town at all.

Your idea of getting a snack is taking a paring knife and salt shaker out to the garden.

You slow down and look at every truck, tractor or piece of equipment for sale at the side of the road.

You’re always racing the sun.

Your thumbs and the sides of your index fingers are stained with dirt for the duration of the

summer from pulling weeds in the garden.

It’s just “fair,” not “the fair.” As in: I’m getting ready for fair.

Your spouse can tell how nasty a chore you plan on doing any given day by the age and condition of the ball cap you put on when you walk out the door.

You’ve taken care of puppies and kittens abandoned on your road.

You’ve reached your hands into places that would scare Indiana Jones.

You’ve fixed things that would stump even MacGyver.

You’ve put on moves that would rival Michael Jackson as you’ve danced out of the way of moving livestock, angry bees, loaded skunks and ankle-twisting groundhog holes.

The wannabes in the cowboy hats just make you smile.

You spend more time outside than in.

You don’t know your own cell phone number, but you have the vet’s number memorized.

You’ve “used the facilities,” shall we say, from a moving tractor because you didn’t want to stop work.

You’ve stopped work to let a family of rabbits scurry to safety.

The patches on your clothes have patches on them.

You know how to blow your nose without using a tissue.

Every time you hear someone driving a tractor up the road, you know who it is by the sound of the engine.

Broken-down vehicles and rusty machines just seem like a natural part of the landscape.

You’ve nearly put your vehicle into a ditch because you were so intently studying a garden, building, crops or animals you were passing by.

Your primary unit of organization is “pile,” as in: a pile of scrap, a pile of manure, a pile of wood, a pile of trouble.

You enjoy getting soaked in a well-needed rain as much as plants do.

What was supposed to be a “temporary fix” on a building or piece of equipment has lasted 10 years.

You live by the rule that if it’s free, you take it.

In the winter, you’d rather watch the fire in the stove, or the fireflies outside on a summer night, than to watch TV.

You worry when the wind blows, when it’s too dry or too wet, when it’s too cold or too hot.

You’ve been so filthy, you’ve had to undress on the porch before being allowed to enter the house.

You wish there was an open season on trespassing four-wheelers.

You have an everyday pocketknife and a special-occasions pocketknife.

A date with your significant other usually involves a stop at the tractor store.

You’ve got dirt under your fingernails, except for the one that’s busted off.

You pull off your T-shirt and your skin looks like you are still wearing a white T-shirt.

You’ve stopped along the road to salvage a stick of firewood that fell off someone’s truck.

You envy people with 40-hour workweeks and regular paychecks, but you wouldn’t trade places with them for anything.

Where Has Summer Gone?

As I find time to sit for a minute, I will check my e-mail and run through my favorite blogs. But as I read the blogs, I can see that everyone is sooo busy with all the goings on of summer that we don't have time to update our blogs. I know there are a few that have time to at least update once a week and then there are others that have time to update more often, but I am one that hasn't done an update in about a month or so.

It has been too nice to be indoors and if I am indoors, I am too tired do do anything except sleep, because I have worked my butt off outside.

The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous for the past month. A little on the colder side for July, but still beautiful. This past week we have gotten into a rain mode. One day rain, then two dry days, then scattered showers, then sun again. The humidity is up and my air conditioner hasn't been off in a week. Farming has been great. Crops are on tract and hay has been all put up. we are waiting on second cutting and for the sweetcorn to come in. The boys have been very busy doing the farm chores. We also got some pigs this year. they are a big hit at the farm!

The chicks have grown and they needed a new chicken run, so spent some time and built one for them. After about a week I had to revise the design and add a door so I could reach the feeders more easily. You see, Grace is not my middle name, and I tripped and broke my baby toe again. I needed easy access to the chicken feeders without doing acrobatics with my toe. The broken toe also meant I was off work again. I can't get a shoe on to save my soul, not that I haven't tried. So flip flops have been my pal for the last 4 weeks.

The goats came to visit after I came down with a severe case of poison ivy. They can eat up the poison ivy around the yard and it doesn't bother them. Everyone here in the house has had some poison ivy. We think the dogs are walking through it and them getting it on their fur and we pet them and it gets all over us. The goats are doing a good job of eating it up!

I have the funniest Rooster. His name is Don King. He is a Polish chicken. It is a breed of chicken that I have never seen before. He has this top hat of feathers that remind me of Don King's hairdo! He really is a beautiful rooster. He has a girlfriend named Alvira.
We have also had some other births here at the farm. Sweetie and Tina have come to stay this summer and they both delivered beautiful heifer calves. They have been doing a great job nursing and taking care of their babies and eating up the pastures.

We are all trying to deal with the recent economic downturn. Cutting back where we can and staying close to home. Small side trips are all we have done, and there isn't any plans to do any travel far from home. My DIL has made some changes, from Kindergarten to Second grade, which will be exciting for her, and she is also moving buildings within her district. I will be helping her get some things ready for her classroom.

The garden is bountiful and my DIL and I have been canning up a storm. We have done pickles and jelly so for. Beets, beans ans zucchini are next. It has made for a very busy summer. What did you do this summer! I hope you all had fun!

Just Another Summer Day

The sun has been out here and the weather has been pretty fine. Dave is making hay and is as happy as could be. The corn is up and the wheat is starting to head out. We have had a pretty good growing season so far. The weathermen must be on crack, because they can't get a forecast straight, we can predict the weather better than they can with all those fancy sophisticated weather measuring tools!
There is so much yard work and chicken chores to do that I haven't had a moment to sit down and check out the blogs.
The Guinea Keets are hatching...11 so far.... they will probably go to auction. I have too many now! The neighbors are complaining that they are noisy, but I have to listen to their flippin' ATV's and motorcycles...or the weed wacker at 8:00am....don't they realize, some people work nights..... Anyways, as soon as something exciting happens here I will update the blog.
Enjoy the summer sunshine!