Friday, December 28, 2012

Resolutions Anyone?

Well, it's that time of year. The time of year that you look back and evaluate how the past year went and what you want to do different in the coming year. I know some people don't like to make resolutions but, I DO! To me it's like a new beginning. Yes, I understand that I get a new beginning every day. I just like the thought of the "Big Day". I like anticipation. lol.

 Anyway, this year I have made some really good resolutions. (I want to stick this in here that I don't beat myself up if I don't keep these. So, this is more fun than anything else. :)) This year, I want to make most of my food from scratch. I want to go to the grocery store and just buy the basics. No more $200 grocery bill for only 2 people every two weeks. Especially since we have 2 freezers full of meat and veggies. That's just stupid!!!!!! I don't buying thing like frozen pizza or processed foods. No! I buy things like cheese and soups.(Ok, those are processed. lol) I would buy breads and snacks for Hubby's lunch that he takes to work. That in itself is $50 a week. So this year, I am just buying the basics so that I have to make things from scratch. I'm gonna start making the bread, the snacks, the soups, and hopefully anything in between. I can, I just haven't. Hopefully I will learn some new recipes too!

 Another resolution is for me to DO MORE! Don't waste my time in front of the t.v. I'm gonna turn the t.v. off during the day. I don't like any of the shows anyway. I just watch it because it's on. So, instead of me wasting my life, I plan on turning the t.v. off and turning on adventure! (That sounded like a cheesy slogan for a cruise ship company. lol)

 Another resolution,(I am going to be busy this year!) is just to be more pleasant to people. (Although some are just so stupid you just want to bonk them on the head with a Christmas wrapping tube.)

 And of course, I'll have the lose weight resolution. I made a bet that I would lose 75 lbs buy August. I guess I had better get busy. Hopefully with my new resolutions, It will come off pretty easy. (Ya, right. lol)

 So what are some resolutions that you have made?

 So until next time,

 Small Farm Girl, Resolution Maker. : D

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my blogger buddies! I hope you are as blessed as I am.

SFG

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Found Treasure

On a back road, deep in a holler, is a small general store that has been there for one hundred years. Actually, this year was the 100 year anniversary for it to be open. Anyway, a friend of mine had a book signing there this weekend. He wrote a book about sour dough bread. Great topic in my opinion. This is not his first accomplishment. Soc Clay (he's the one in the red shirt and hat.) is a known writer/ photographer for many outdoor  magazines. Plus, his photos have been used world wide. He's very good.
As I got to looking around this store, I noticed all of the stuff that they had. Canning needs.
Crocks anyone? They have any size you would need.
You can't really tell in this picture but, this is a bunch of cast iron things. Skillets, griddles, molds, etc.....
On this wall there is many things that you would need but not know where to find them in any other stores. Notice the wash tubs on the top, half way down the wall! Three different sizes!

In the back of store they had Christmas songs being sung. (This is my Mom,Dad,cousin and family friend singing.) Notice the little girl on the right, she just sat there and watched everything with wonder in her eyes. She is soooo cute! I don't know who she is.
Then, another banjo and another guitar was brought out and bluegrass music sprang forth. There was even some dancing involved. We all had a good ole time!

There was probably over 100 people that stopped in that day for the book signing. It was great! I have decided to start looking for and appreciating things about the Appalachian culture. There is sooo much to appreciate here! I think I will do a few posts on the culture and natural beauty that is found here. Some is VERY unusual. So if ya ever wanted to know anything about the Appalachian Mountains or the culture of the people, leave me a comment. I'll see what I can find out.

 So until next time,

 Small Farm Girl, treasure finder

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Chicken or the Mouse?

I found out that I'm a softy when it comes to certain small, furry things. The other day, as I was feeding the chickens, I found a small mouse in the metal barrel where we keep our feed.  I must have left the lid open just a bit and it got in last night to get it a small bite to eat.  It was so cute, and it looked like it was scared. I mean, wouldn't you be if you couldn't get out of a big, metal barrel.

Anyway, I thought about just killing it because, well, it was eating my chickens food and I don't want it in my house.  But, it looked sooooo cute! It wasn't eating that much. I mean, it's just little. hehehehe I looked around and found an ax handle and put it down in the barrel hoping that it would climb out.  It didn't. It ran around and around and around. Nobody said that they were smart. I looked around again trying to find something else to help it get out. The only thing I could find was the scoop that I used to get the feed out with. It's not actually a scoop. It's more like a small coffee can. Should I put my arm down in that barrel with the mouse? It's cute, but I don't want it climbing up my arm and all. I looked back down in the barrel. The small little thing was just sitting there shivering with fright. Awwww. I had to help it.

I slowly put my arm down there with the coffee can so that it could get into the can. It just sat there all nice and calm. It wasn't even afraid of me. It acted like it knew what I was doing. I slowly scooped it up with the can and it didn't try to get out or anything! I turned around and went to put it on the ground when out of no where, a ferocious, death dealing chicken swooped in with it's razor sharp beak and killed the little mouse. And then, it ate it. The end.

Well, I guess that's part of living on a farm. Sometimes your the mouse, sometimes your the chicken.lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, farmer.

  

Monday, December 10, 2012

Lottery Winner

I hit the lottery!!!!!! That's right, you are reading a blog that is written by a lottery winner. How much did I win?  Well, I won 3 eggs. That's right folks 3 whole eggs!

My chickens are free range chickens and for the last month, I haven't gotten any eggs from them. At least, that's what I thought.  I had to (gulp) buy eggs from the store.  Come to find out, those little boogers were hiding their eggs from me. I found this out yesterday when we didn't let them out. It was pouring the rain so I just kept them inside their old chicken coop. (Yep,still working on the new coop.) When we went to check on them that night, 3 beautiful brown eggs! I don't know if I should be glad that we found them, or mad that I've had to buy eggs for so long. 

I did get some really good information from Phalen from Homesteading Neophyte. (It's gonna be great having her next door.) She told me to feed my chickens some protein late in the day. Food, like leftover steak, or old cheese, or even dog or cat food, would be perfect. A lot of times chicken feed doesn't have the extra protein in it that the chickens need when the days are short and cold. I hope it works. I'm tired of buying those nasty, pale yellow things that they try to pass as eggs from the grocery store. Yuck!!!!! 

This coming spring I'm going to get more chickens. I'm down to just 6 hens. (Thanks to Jack. Grrrrrr) I want to at least have a dozen. I've got a few people that are wanting to buy some eggs off of me. I don't make a living off of selling them. It just helps to pay for some of the cost of feed. Plus, I couldn't eat 6 dozen eggs in a week. Although, I do like my omelets. lol.

Now, I get the pleasure of trying to figure out what kind of hens I want to get. So far, I like my Barred Rocks and Buffs. Do you have any favorites?

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, lottery winner.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Learning

Have you ever wanted to try something just to see if you are any good at it? Well, that's the way I feel about photography. Everybody and their cousin thinks they can take pictures and that they should be a professional photographer. Not true. (In my opinion.) Just because you bought an expensive camera doesn't make you a photographer. Not everyone has the "eye" for it.

 When I was in school, I majored in Art. I even had a scholarship to go to an art school in Columbus Oh. I turned it down. In my (stupid) opinion, I didn't think you could make money by doing anything with art. Plus, when I went to the school to look around, everybody was dressed all in black and had a "I hate the world" look to them. I was not like that. I liked color! I liked the world! hehehehe. So, I turned down the scholarship. One thing that I wished that I'd taken though, was photography. Yes, I can draw, and I can paint, and I'm not to bad at sculpting, but I've never REALLY tried photography. Sure I've pointed and clicked, but I've never REALLY tried to take a picture. So here is my first try.
Not too horrible, I think. But, there are MANY things that I have to learn. Things like aperture, and shutter speed, and lighting, and,and,and,and....... Well, you get the idea. Now, if only I can figure out this camera so that I can take some more.


 So until next time,

 Small Farm Girl, student

P.s. If anyone has any good sites to learn photography for idiots, I would appreciate the info. :)

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

An Announcement

I think I'm out of my funk now. I just want to say "Thanks" to all the people that left really nice comments. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!  I didn't want that post to be a "poor, pitiful me" post.  I was just saying that I was just a little down at that moment. I think we all get there sometimes. But, I will go on....(enter Celine Deon(sp))

And now for an announcement.......Phelan from A Homesteading Neophyte is going to be my neighbor!!!!! That's right folks, you can now be jealous. hehehe. To make a long story short, I heard that she was looking for a place to move and I just happened to know of a place to where she could move to. It all worked out.  The timeline is not set in stone, but I'm sure it will be soon. YEA!!!!!!!! I have a feeling there will be fun for all.

I'm also sure there will be some really good stories coming out of this move. hehehe This is going to be good folks.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, Phelan's neighbor. YEA!!!!!!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

I Feel Like I Have Failed

That's right, I have failed. Failed at being a farmer. This year has been the hardest on me and our farm and I feel like it's my fault. This year we have lost 3 calves. One got stuck in the mud before I could find it and it froze to death. Something killed one, and I have know idea how the other one died. It just did.

I haven't had one successful litter of rabbits. It's always been something that I did. I kept checking on them to see how they were doing, therefore the mother killed them. They do that when they are bothered. One time, I calculated the wrong date and didn't put the birthing boxes in the cages in time. This time, I put the boxes in too soon and the rabbits pooped in them therefore they had their babies outside of the boxes.They all died. It's stupid mistakes like that.

Two days ago we had a chicken massacre and not in the good way. 14 of our chickens got slaughtered by something. We think it may have been Jack(our new St. Bernard), but he was down by the house almost all day. More likely though, he's the one who done it. We are down to 6 fryer roosters and 7 hens. Hens who are not laying their eggs in their nest so I'm not getting ANY eggs. I have looked all over and can't find them.

Nothing has happened to the goats, so far. But, I'm still holding my breath with them. The way things have been going, I'm just waiting.

We had to put down one of our horses a few months ago because she broke her leg. I have no idea how she broke it, but it was beyond repair. I didn't put it on here because, once again, I felt like a failure.

Our garden produced all of one batch of green beans and 3 cucumbers. The rest was either ate by deer or dried up. We were lucky enough that Hubby's parents had an abundant supply of green beans this year because they were hauling water to their garden with a giant tank in the back of their truck. 

These, and I'm sure other things that I have forgotten about, have happened to our farm. And because of all of them, I feel like I have failed this year as a homesteader.  It also makes me look at how I done things this year and wonder where I could have changed things. As I look back, there are many places that I could have done things differently. The cattle, well, there's not really much we could have done with them. These things happens sometimes. It doesn't make it easier, they just happen. The rabbits are going to get a better hutch. One in which they will have plenty of room and a permanent  brooding box built on the back that can be blocked off for when they're not ready to have babies.That way, they won't poop in it. The chickens are getting a new coop as I type this. Hubby is still making it. Pictures to come.  The goats, well, we will just see. As for the garden, we will start all over again next year with a smaller garden that we can actually take care of. 

We have our plans. I just hope things work out.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, failed, but learning.


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Thankful

I love this time of year. All that it stands for and most of all,for all the food we get to eat. hehehehehe. You know what's so funny about cooking Thanksgiving dinner? After I cook it, I usually don't want to eat it. Hmmmmmm. Maybe I'm on to something. "Hey Honey!!! Want to have a  small, skinny wife?" another hehehehe Ya, not going to happen.

Anyway, we are having a few people over to our house for Thanksgiving. I always tell people if they don't have a place to go for dinner, they are more than welcome to eat with us. Me and Hubby is going to have a turkey dinner even if no one else comes to visit. We use to go to his Grandma's on Thanksgiving but she passed away a few years ago. My side of the family has their Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. I would rather eat as to go shopping anyway. :)  Then, since we like punishment, we are going to go to my cousin's house on Saturday(3 hrs trip one way) for my mom's side of the extended family's Christmas party. Whew! I'm tired just typing that. But, I love getting together with all of my family and friends. 

So if I don't get to get back on here this weekend, I just want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and to let you know that I am thankful for all of you out there in Blog Land. 

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, thankful. 

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Question of the Day

Have you ever wondered what,"Once upon a time," meant?  And, how do you get "upon" a "time?"

This question just let's you all know how much my mind has been wondering lately. :)

SFG, question askerer

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Oh the Horror!!!!!!

Okay, I have to take a deep breath before I tell you all this horrific story. Around this time of year, with it getting colder, small, creepy critters tend to want to come in the house. I don't like them, but I can handle mice, flies, and the occasional beetle. I can't however, handle spiders. I know, I know, they are more scared of me than I am of them. Wanna bet? I also understand that spiders help catch flies and undesirable insects. I still haven't met a insect that I hate worse than a spider.

Anyway, back to my story...... This morning I got up and put on my house coat and wondered through the house. I let Skeeter outside so she could do her business.  I turned the t.v. on just to see if the world had come to an end while I was asleep last night.  And being a little hungry, I was trying to decide what I was going to have for breakfast. I didn't want anything big and heavy, so I decided on cereal. I got my bowl, filled it with cereal, and went to get the milk out of the fridge. As I was opening the door, something caught my eye. On my shoulder was a giant field SPIDER!!!!!!

I. FREAKED. OUT. I grabbed my clothes and tore them off  like Hulk Hogan in the wrestling ring. I ran through the house into my bedroom,(why my bedroom? Have no idea.) and turned around looking at the door, panting. ( I'm actually glad that I wasn't expecting the cable guy at that time. Could you imagine the story he could have told about seeing the fat girl running through the house naked, screaming?)

Now, as I stood there, I realized I had a live spider in my house. It needed to be killed. I started looking for what I could kill it with. Fly swatter? No, to small. The spider was, after all, the size of a dog. So I look around. I spied in the corner of the room, an old tennis racket. That would work!!! I grab the racket and the fly swatter (for back up) and crept back through the house. I was on a mission. I could just hear the theme of Mission Impossible running through my head.

I spied the clothes lying on the floor. They looked so innocent. No one would know what horrors they contained.  I force myself to creep up to the clothes. I FORCED myself to take the tennis racket and move the clothes. The spider jumped out onto the top of the clothes.  Once again, I go screaming through the house, still naked.  (I'm so glad I live far enough outside of civilization I don't have to worry about people looking in my windows.) I'm back into my bedroom, facing the door, panting, again.

Okay, SFG, you have got to calm down. You are on a mission and you have to achieve victory over the monster spider! I creep back out to the kitchen. I see the spider is still on my clothes. It's just waiting on me.  Oh gosh!  Okay, okay, now what? I can't just hit it with the fly swatter. What if I miss? What if it jumps on me?  Throw a shoe at it! I frantically look around for a shoe. I see one by the door. I grab two, you know, just for back up.  I creep back towards the enemy. It's watching me, I can tell. I throw the shoe, and then the other one. I think I wounded it! I pounce! I'm beating my clothes to a pulp with the tennis racket and the fly swatter all at the same time. Die spider, die!!!!!!

I jump back, panting, and looked. In the middle of my clothes there is a small stain that was once the dreaded spider. "Take that spider!!!!!" I yell at the stain. At that time the cat rubs it's tail against my leg. I scream, run into the bedroom, turn around, and look back at the door, panting.

I think I've had enough for today. I think I'm just going to sit on the couch all day and drink hot chocolate. I can't take much more stress.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, spider hunter.

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Things I Do For My Dog

I can't believe I did it. I actually went out and got into Jack's dog house.  Let me start from the beginning. Jack has been outside since Friday. I couldn't take him in the house anymore. Don't get me wrong, I really like him. He's a good dog!  But, you can only walk over a huge dog so many times.  Anyway, he seemed like he enjoyed being outside. He didn't like being away from us though, but he's getting use to it. We have french doors and he can look inside the house anytime he wants.

Anyway, this morning it started raining. The poor feller didn't know what to do. He has always been inside when it rained. We have a HUGE dog house for him right next to the door to our house, but he didn't know what to do with it. I threw some doggy treats inside just to get him to go in. He wasn't afraid to go in or anything, I think he just didn't know what to do.  So I, wanting to help all of the poor, ignorant animals out there, crawled back into his dog house and called him in with me. (Yes, the dog house is big enough for a St. Bernard and a million pound human to sit or lay comfortably) He got all excited and bowled me over when he came in. After a little wrestling match, he finally settled down and went to sleep inside the dog house with his head on my leg. I stayed in the dog house for about a half an hour and then I tried to get out. You know, it's easier to get into a dog house than it is to get out of one. Especially when you have a huge dog wanting out at the same time.  Let's just say that is wasn't pretty.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, sucker.


Thursday, November 8, 2012

What's Up Jack


This is what my life is filled with right now. He is an 11 month old baby. He still acts like a baby too. We are still trying to teach him things that a 200 lbs baby should not do. (He's not up to 200 lbs yet, but as he get's older he could be.) Things like jumping up on you, running into your legs, not moving out of the way when you are trying to walk around him, leading on a lead rope, etc. You understand. Oh, and one other thing, not giving handshakes. Some people think this is cute, but when your paw is as big as a horses hoof with sharp claws on it, it can hurt someone. My step daughter got it on her cheek just last night. Not good.

 Anyway, I know some people just don't understand the difference between having a lap dog, and having a "horse" that thinks it's a lap dog. It may be cute when your little chihuahua jumps on your leg so that you will pick it up. It's another thing when the 200 lbs dog jumps up on you and you fall into the mud. It's cute when a pomerainan gets sooooo excited that it's tail and butt are wiggling like crazy, another thing when the big dog knocks the lamp off of the table with his tail. Cute when the small dog follows you everywhere you go in the house. Not as cute when the big dog does it. For example...As many of you know, we are living in a house that in not finished. When I say,"Not finished," I mean we have studding for walls and sheets for doors. So, the "horse" has pretty much the run of the house. Wherever you go, he goes too. You turn around, he is there. You do the dishes, he is there to see if ya need any help. You go to bed, he sleeps on the floor. You go to the bathroom, well, let's just say you haven't lived until you are setting on the toilet and a dog is looking you in the eye. "Whatcha doin?"

 Our hope is to make Jack an outside dog, but he has been inside his whole life. He doesn't have the winter coat of an outside dog. It will come in time as we keep him outside for longer periods of time. He also has separation anxiety. He has never been alone. When Hubby took him down to his dad's house to show them our new dog, he kept him in his truck while he went inside. He left the windows down a few inches so that he could get fresh air. When Hubby came out of the house, the window was shattered and Jack was out of the truck. He came around the side of the truck like,"Hey, everyone! Look, I got out of the truck! Aren't you proud of me?" Hubby, not so much.

 Anyway, all this has happened in just 24 hrs. I can't wait see what the next few years will bring.

 So until next time,

 Small Farm Girl, what did I get myself into? lol

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

New Kid On The Block

So what are the goats looking at?
Why, they are looking at the new kid on the block! Meet Jack.

SFG, dog owner. YEA!!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Halloween Mystery

I woke up this morning and thought,"Great, the fire must have went out in our stove." It was COLD in the house. I get up and go into the living area and what do I see? The front door was wide open! What!!!!! Cold air was blowing in from the north right into our house. No wonder it was cold!

Now I had a few questions, did someone come into the house? Nope. Since our house has an open floor plan, I could see instantly that no one else was in the house. So I knew I was safe.

 HAD someone been in the house? No, nothing was missing. Although, I wished someone would have taken all of the clutter away. lol.

My next question was, "Did the cat get out?"  With the cat having feline leukemia, it can't get around other cats just in case they could be sick. But, on the second look around, I saw the cat sleeping on a pile of coveralls on the chair. I went and petted him. Yep, he was a little damp from being outside, but with it being rainy, he probably didn't want to stay outside for long. That question was solved.

Next question, "Did anything come INSIDE?"  Yesterday morning when Hubby went to work, there was a strong smell of skunk.  Oh please, PLEASE don't let there be a skunk in the house! I do believe I would just burn it down and start fresh. lol. I would NEVER get that smell out of a house. So very slowly I checked under things and in hiding spots for anything black and white. It didn't help that the cat thought I was playing and would hide and jump out at me. Did I mention that my cat is black and white. Uh ya, fun..... No skunks were found. Although, I did have a few heart attacks.

Finally I was wondering how the door was opened.  Then I remembered that in the middle of the night, Skeeter  had to go outside to do her business. I also remember being REALLY sleepy. So maybe, just maybe, I didn't shut the door tight. And, with the wind that we have been having, It just opened the door all the way. Problem solved.

 Everything turned out okay. No robbers, no lost cat, no skunks. I can handle the cold for a little time. At least until the stove heated everything back up. It could have been a lot worse. I did learn my lesson and will now check to see if I closed the door all the way whenever  I get up in the middle of the night.  But, you have to admit, it could have been a really good Halloween story about ghosts opening the door in the middle of the night. bwahahahaha! It's also a good thing that we didn't have a dog outside at the time. Could you imagine getting woke up by a big, slobbery tongue in the face? LOL! Oh well........

 So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, door checker.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

This Morning

I woke up this morning to snow.........and then I went back to bed. :)

SFG

Monday, October 29, 2012

Early Riser

Here I am sitting in front of the computer at 5:15. Hubby just left for work and I decided to stay up instead of going back to sleep. I'm going to try this for a while hoping that I get use to getting up early. Usually I go back to bed and toss and turn for a little bit before finally going to sleep around 6:30 and then getting up feeling groggy around 10. I don't like getting up that late, and I don't like feeling so groggy. So, I'm going to try staying awake.

The animals are confused in the change of the normal routine.  The cat usually comes and sleeps with me once Hubby is gone and Skeeter sleeps in her blanket by the bed. Now, the cat is sleeping on my shoulder/chest. I guess he figures that he's going to sleep on me no matter what. Skeeter stared at me for a little bit like she was thinking,"Aren't you coming to bed?" Then, she just went back to bed herself.

What makes getting up this early hard is that I actually have been up since 2am.  We started up the wood stove for the first time yesterday. It finally got cold enough that we needed it.  Everything was all nice and toasty in here. Around 2 am this morning, the stove started to smoke. The wind from storm Sandy was making it's appearance. It was blowing just right to cause back drafts to come down the chimney causing smoke to slowly puff out of the stove. Nothing major, just enough for me to smell it. Now this might sound funny, but I can't sleep if I smell something different in the house. If I have something in the crock pot to cook overnight, I can't sleep. I keep smelling the food. If the litter box needs changed, I can't sleep. I have to clean it out. If Hubby had too many beans..... Well, you get the idea. :) Anyway, the smoke from the stove woke me up at 2am this morning and I couldn't get back to sleep.

I could go back to sleep for a little while, but I need to get up around the time the sun comes up because I need to let the chickens out of their chicken house.(The new house isn't done yet.)  We have 8 young roosters in there getting ready for the butcher block and if the older rooster wakes up at the same time as the young ones do without them being able to get out, there could be some very disturbed chickens. I have been letting them come and go as they please and kept the door open all night long, but without us having a dog to guard them at night, something went in night before last and helped itself to a chicken dinner. One of our hens were eaten right in the chicken coop. So we aren't taking any chances on whatever it was coming back.

Well, I guess I'm going to have to get something done around the house so I'll get off of here for now.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, early riser

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Sheep and Dogs

Yesterday was a good day. We went to "Hug-a-Sheep Day" over at Punkin's Patch.  Lots and lots of sheep!  Where else would I want to be on a cold, wet day? It was nice and toasty with all the sheep milling around you wanting cookies. Thanks for inviting us Sara!!!

Well, as you all probably know, we had to get rid of George.  He went to another family that didn't have any other animals. He will be fine. But now, that leaves our home dogless. (Skeeter doesn't count.) We need a dog that can go outside and bark at coyotes and actually scare them away. (Skeeter won't do that.) We also want something that will get along with all of our animals,cows, goats, chickens, and Skeeter.  The dog also has to get along with our neighbors kids. (George, did not.)  So, that is our problem. We need a dog.

So now, we are looking for another dog. This dog has to "click" with us. We are not just going to get the first big dog that someone gives us. We are going to be picky. It's hard to find the "right" dog. I also believe that you don't have to pay a fortune for it either. Do you know that someone once gave us a dog that was worth $2000 to $4000?  It didn't work out. We got rid of THAT one real quick. It would growl at me and Hubby every time we would go outside. Then, it attacked Skeeter. Nope, we didn't keep that one. The previous owner didn't want it back either. Imagine that.

I believe some of the best dogs are cheap. We've got some really good dogs from the dog pound. Luke, our St. Bernard was a gift. We got to keep him for 8 yrs before he died of the old age of 13. That's OLD for a St. Bernard. We miss him. He was a great dog. A little slobbery, but a great dog.

I know somewhere out there is our dog. We were hoping for a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, a Bernese or another St. Bernard but, we aren't going to limit ourselves to just these types. When the right dog comes along, we will know.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, dog wanter.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Question of the Day

When we get our upstairs done on our house, and we get out of this basement, I'm considering getting a gas stove to cook on. Now, I know I will like cooking on it better because of the instant heat and such but, I've heard that propane stoves leave a film on everything in the kitchen. I've never had a gas stove, just electric so I have no idea. Is this just something that the old stoves did? Are they better now?  I really don't want to have to wipe everything down all the time. I know me and I just wont do it. I also know that a film on everything in my kitchen would DRIVE ME CRAZY!!!

So, the question of the day is.....What do you cook with? Gas(propane) or electric.

SMF, question asker..er

P.s. I already have a wood stove that I cook on and love it. But, I have that as a back up and not my main cooking stove.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Fall

This picture was taken across the road from our house. It was such a beautiful day yesterday I just had to take some pictures. Although it is with my phone, I thought is still come out half way decent. I can't wait until I get a good camera. hehehe.

So until next time, Small Farm Girl, Happy Fall Ya'll!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Chicken Coop Dreams

We are in need of a new chicken coop. Hopefully this weekend we'll be building a new one. We have some left over lumber from when we built our house, so we are going to use it. We will probably end up with one that looks like this.



But, I would love to have one that looked like this.


What a fancy chicken coop.

 A girl can dream.........

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, dreamer

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Drained

Today I drug myself out of bed. It was gray and cloudy outside. I DID NOT want to get up. A friend was coming over to my house this morning so I HAD to get up.  I waited until the last minute to get dressed and I threw on a baseball hat. No doing my hair today. No putting on makeup. I was too tired. My friend stayed for a little over an hour and them went on her merry way. Me, I just wanted to go back to bed, but I knew that there were hungry goats that need to be fed. So I drug my sorry butt outside and fed them, I fed the rabbits and I let out the chickens.( They have gone crazy this time of year, but that's a story for another time.)

I noticed that the goat fed was running low so I had to run to the feed store to pick some up. Normally I talk to the owner. He is really BIG into Boer goats. He travels the country showing them. He's pretty good too.  I    usually can talk to him for hours about goats and the show world, but today, I was just too tired.  I got a bag of goat feed and said, "Hi and Bye," and left. I just wanted to get home.


When I got home I knew that I had soooo many things that needed to be done. The house looked like an airplane crashed in it.(Not exaggerating! I think I saw landing gear.) I just had to do something. So what did I do? I sat down on the couch and looked at pintrest on the computer. Usually I see the nice looking pictures of what I want my house to look like and them I get inspired and get up and get busy. Not this time, I was too tired.

I HAD to do something.  Drink coffee? No! I would be up all night. Seriously, I can't drink a whole cup without being up all night. Soft drink? Yuck!  Hot chocolate? Getting closer.... Tea!!! I would drink a nice, hot cup of Earl Grey. I searched the cupboards high and low. WE WERE OUT !!!! Augh!!!!!!  Don't panic!!! Breathe!!  I found a bag of green tea. Not as potent, but it might work.  And then, as I was searching for the tea, I found it, back in the corner of the cupboard. I think I heard angels sing! It was a small, fun size bar of chocolate. Now I'm not a sweet eater, I'll take biscuits and gravy over a a big hot fudge sundae any day. But, today, I needed chocolate. And, I ate it. I savored it. I almost cried.(okay, not really, but you get the picture. heheheh)

So I ate chocolate and drank green tea and in 15 minutes, I had so much energy I was zipping around like a ground squirrel. I think I might have to stock up on chocolate.  For medicinal purposes, of course. wink

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, energized


Monday, October 8, 2012

Busy Weekend!

Is it just me? Is October one of the busiest months? Whew!!! This weekend we were gone from the house every day since Friday! We did sleep here at nights, but we had so many things going on, we didn't have time to do anything around the house. In fact, I didn't have time to even do dishes or laundry. I am out of clean forks and clean underwear. (Not necessarily in the order of importance. lol)  We were busy, but it was worth it.

Friday we went to the Wool Festival in Falmouth Ky. It was WONDERFUL!!!!! I learn soooo much when I go to this festival. This time I learned about felting wool. It's so interesting! It's like making sculptures with wool. I think I love this!! :)  It just might(cough, cough) be my new obsession. It's easy, it's artsy, and it's very fun! Look it up, you just might be hooked too.We also got to see the Crazy Sheep Lady, Sara. I just love her! You will too! Stop by her blog and tell her I sent you. If you love sheep and anything to do with wool, she is your lady.

Saturday we went to help my cousin move into her first home. The house was just adorable!  She was so excited to finally get her own house. She did an excellent job of picking one. We didn't get home until late Saturday night and we were TIRED!

Sunday we had to go and do our basic running. Hubby had to get parts for his truck, we paid a bill off, and we had to do some grocery shopping. (Don't even get me started on the prices.) We didn't get home until after 8 pm. I've had enough!!!!

So instead of doing dishes or laundry, I had to get my priorities straight and blog first. hehehehe.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, procrastinator

Monday, October 1, 2012

Great Weekend!!!

This weekend was great! We had our(for lack of a better name) Prepper Party! We had a great amount of people showed up. We had good food to eat and great conversation. You can't understand how great it is to talk to people who think on the same line that you do when it comes to being prepared.  Now, I want to let you know this was not an "end of the world" event. This was a "be prepared for anything" type of party.  We talked about all kinds of things that could happen.  It was very enlightening. Things that you never thought about was brought up by the person next to you. It was an all around great night. In fact, we are hoping to have another get-together in the spring. Maybe with even more people and more organization. hehehe

The week before we had the party, we were given some bean plants by Hubby's parents. They planted too many so they were just pulling up the plants, beans and all, and giving them away. We ended up with the back of Hubby's truck heaping full of green bean plants.  After we picked the beans off of the plants we had 3 bushels of green beans. I actually ran out of jars! I now know what I need to get me for Christmas. (Did I just say the C word. Auuugh!) Before I ended up running out of jars, I had 72 quarts of beans. I ended up giving over a bushel of them away. I think I'll be fine with that. LOL!

I am glad to see October finally here but, it is the busiest month for us. It seems like every weekend we have something to do or someplace to go. This coming weekend we are going to the Kentucky Wool Festival. YEA!!!! I love this festival! This is where I learned how to spin wool. Thank you Sara!  Great place to be! I'll try to take some pictures but, I'm having issues with not being able to put pictures on here. I don't know. I'll figure something out. lol

So how is your October turning our so far?

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, one busy farmer.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

I can actually feel it in the air. And what could that be? Well, Fall of course!  My favorite time of the year. Bonfires, pumpkins, mums, and cool, crisp mornings. All of my favorite things.  This time of year  I almost get giddy just thinking about them.  Every weekend is jam packed full with festivals and harvest parties. In fact, Me and Hubby went to a festival this weekend. It was really nice! When I get better with taking pictures with my phone, I'll be putting pictures up of all the fun things we are getting into.

Speaking of that, a week from this Friday on Sept 28, I will be having our first "preppers bonfire."  I don't know what to call it. lol. I figure I'm inviting a few friends who like to prep for things whether it be cold weather or the end of the world.  We are just going to sit around a bonfire and have a Q & A. If someone has a question about something, like canning, raising goats, spinning wool, etc, hopefully there will be someone here that can answer their question. It's not going to be anything fancy. Heck, I don't even think it's going to be organized. lol.  I figure we could have a pot luck dinner and just visit with each other, talk about the coming winter weather and how to be prepared for it. I'm hoping to have one of these in the Spring too. Maybe that one will be a little organized. (doubt it.)  Some of the people planning on coming are bringing tents to stay in. I hope it's not too cold for them.  Should be fun! You all are invited to come too! Comment with your email or email me, and I'll give you directions on how to get here. Once again, I want to make sure that it is perfectly clear, this is not organized AT ALL!!!! Maybe down the road if more people start to show up, I would like to get demonstrations and maybe even vendors here. All depends on how big it gets. You never know, this may even be the last one. Who knows!!!! lol. 

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, organizer....hehehehehe, okay even I couldn't say that with a straight face. LOL!!!!


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

By George!!!!

I think I've got it!!!! I'm trying out new ways of getting my pictures on here. I never have my camera with me whenever something interesting happens to me. But, I ALWAYS have my cell phone. So, I've been trying different things and I think I've got it! They are not the best pictures, but they get the idea across. So, now onto this picture.

This picture was taken last night. IN MY HEN HOUSE!! If you look closely, you will see a chicken up in the top, right corner looking down at it. It was right under where they roost! I did end up killing it with a hatchet handle. (I'm ruff and tuff that way. lol) I picked it up to get it out of the hen house and how did my lovely hens repay me? By pooping on my back whenever I bent down to pick it up. Yep, you heard right. I got pooped on by one of my hens. Not to be gross but, it wasn't the nice "solid" poop that you sometimes get from caged chickens. OOOOOHHHHH NOOOOOO. It was the semi runny poop that you sometimes get from free range chickens. Where did it poop? The one inch of bare skin that was showing on my back when my shirt moved up as I bent over to pick up the possum, of course.  Eeeewwwww! I about puked.

Anyway, everything is back in order around the chicken house, and so far no more problems. I sooooo need to get another dog.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, possum killer.

Ignore these test posts!!!! hehehe

I'm trying out new ways of getting pictures on here. Just ignore my futile attempts. :)



Test post

Lookie what we found in the hen house!


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

So Many.....

I've been gone from the blogging scene for a while, a few weeks, in fact. So many things are going on in the world and in MY world, that I didn't even know what subject I should write about first. So I guess this blog post will just be all jumbled up. (Like it always is. lol)

Around the farm... We have just been trying to get somethings done before fall and winter comes around. Fencing and such. Nothing abnormal. We have been canning beans and beans and beans. (Did I mention beans?) That is the only thing that done well in our garden. So if nothing else, we will be able to eat green beans this winter. We went to farmers market and produce auctions to see how much veggies were going for around here. The tomatoes and corn were normal prices. Can you guess how much the green beans were? $85 a bushel!!!!!! If I didn't can everything we grow, I could make a fortune!

Some bad news from the farm..... We are going to have to get rid of George.  He went after our neighbors(on their own property). Once after the grandpa and one time after the kids as they were walking to the school bus. We saw it both times. We tried calling him back, but he acted like he didn't even hear us. The last time, when he went after the kids, Hubby chased him down with our car to get him away from them. George has just gotten too unpredictable to have around. Last night he chased our goats until they couldn't run anymore. They just stood there panting.  I've had enough. If  he's not going to be an asset to the farm, he has to go.

Now for news from around the world......

Is anyone else getting scared yet?  Democrats and Republicans fighting for what's best for our country. Major drought in our farm lands. And, rumors of economy collapsing. What happened to our wonderful country?

I could go on and on about these topics so I'll just leave that for other posts, but feel free to comment on how you feel about them. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, observer.


Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Snake Update.

Just a small update about the snake on the fence.

It DID rain after we put the snake on the fence. In fact, it rained 3 1/2 inches that week that we put it on the fence. Coincidence? Never! I'm blaming the snake. hehehehe

So if you need rain, and I know a lot of you do, find a snake, kill it, and hang it on a fence. Hey, I'm just saying.......

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, rain lover.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

So That's Why............!

Warning! If you don't like snakes or pictures of snakes, do not read any further. Oh, and there is a picture with a little bit of blood in it. Just warning you.

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 Okay, I guess if you don't mind looking of snakes, you are still reading. Now I'll tell you my story. For the last 2 months we haven't been getting any eggs. I thought it was because we changed feed, or because it's been hot, or because we had new chickens in the hen house and I figured they were just laying somewhere else and I wasn't finding them. We free range here folks. (for now) So imagine my surprise when Hubby told me that he killed a big black snake in our hen house. Aahaaa!!!! So that's why we haven't been getting any eggs. Here is a picture of the culprit.



See that bulge? That's were all my eggs have been going.




Now I'm not one to be afraid of snakes so I felt that bulge to make sure it was one of our eggs. You know, just to see. lol. Anyway imagine my surprise when is started to rattle! What?! Could he have eaten a rattle snake? I've always heard that they would. I started to feel some more. It rattled again. I had to figure out what was going on! So, me being me, squeezed that snake until................ this popped out.





This is the top part of a baby rattler. Hubby's grandpa used it in our hen house to encourage the hens to lay eggs in the nests. That poor snake thought it was a real egg, so he ate it. Imagine my surprise when it came out. So the big question of the day is this......Does that make him a "rattle" snake? hehehehee

On another topic, did you notice that we hung that snake on a fence? There is an old wives tale that said if you hang a snake on a fence or a tree, it will rain. Well, we did get rain. But, it was only a trace. I think I need more snakes. LOL!  Do you know of any old wives tales about making it rain? We need all the help we can get.

So until next time,

 Small Farm Girl, rain maker.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

I Started Walking Again Today

I started walking again today. I know, I know, I shouldn't have stopped in the first place.  But, I did.  I got lazy. It got hot. And......., I got lazy. ( I said that already, huh.)  Well, anyway, I started walking again. Hubby works third shift so I had him call me when he started home. I got up and got ready. I was going to start walking again today.

When Hubby got home, he decided (was tricked) into coming with me. But, on only one condition, he rode the four wheeler. Wimp. It wasn't like I was going to be able to walk a million miles. Heck, I'd be lucky to walk a half a mile. (Did I mention that I JUST started walking again today?) Anyway, it was nice that he rode the four wheeler. That way I could walk until I got tired and then I could jump on the four wheeler and ride back home. I hate walking somewhere and thinking, "Okay, am I half way tired? Should I turn around now? Will I have went far enough? Or, will I be dragging my butt by the time I get back to the house?" This way, I just walked until I got tired. (Which really wasn't that far. I just started walking again today.) 

There were a few things that I learned while I walked today. One thing was...Don't wear a blue shirt. Sounds innocent doesn't it?  I think every bee, within a mile radius, came to inspect my shirt. I think they thought it was a walking flower.  A BIG walking flower, at that.  I would walk a couple steps and then do the bee dance. Walk a few more steps and do the bee dance. I threw my arms up in the air so many times, I could have took flight myself.

Another thing I learned today was it's harder to walk on gravel than it is to walk on blacktop. I am not known to be the most graceful person on the planet. I think I found every loose gravel on my road. Did you know that when you go down hill and step on a loose rock, your foot will travel another 6 ft before it will stop.

One other thing I learned today was not to walk and breath with your mouth open. Refer back to the first thing I learned on my walk today.

Out of all the things that I learned today, the one thing that I'm glad that I learned was how much better I felt today. I had more energy, and I wasn't sluggish all day. That in itself is worth me getting up early. I might just keep this up. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, I started walking again today.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The Lies of Spring

Do you remember Spring? You know, that time of year when everything is all nice and fresh and new. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming and you can NOT wait to get into the garden to plant acres of green beans and corn. You know, because YOU are going to work from sun up to sun down in the garden. Picking and weeding until your garden looks like something out of a Homes and Gardens magazine.

And then......(you knew this was coming).......Summer arrives.  The bugs come out and eat your potatoes. The crows pull up your corn one by one. The heat sucks all of the juice out of any tomato that ventures to grow on a withered vine. The humidity is so thick you have to wear a scuba mask just to breath oxygen. My weeds are taller than my beans. I tell everyone it's because I'm using them to shade my vegetables . Yea, that's it. Veggie shades.

I've come to the conclusion that Spring lies to me. It tells me things like, "The weather will ALWAYS be this nice." or " There won't be very many weeds in the garden this year." or my favorite " You will want to work sooooo much this summer that you will lose a gazillion pounds." LIES! All LIES!!!!! LOL!

So as I'm sitting here in my A/C house, enjoying a green/mint ice tea, I think of the lies of Spring, the truth of Summer, and the hope for Fall.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, trying to stay cool.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Some Kind of Prepper

That's right, some kind of prepper I am. We have had some storms roll through here for the last few days. Nasty storms. There are still people without electric going on their 4th day. And to make it worse, we have had temps up in the 100's. Imagine no electric, no refrigerator, no water,(if you have a well) no a/c or fans.  Yep, it could get uncomfortable real fast. Luckily, me and Hubby are not one of them. Our electric was off for just a few hours. And that was after the storms went through, so it was a lot cooler.

Anyway, I like to think that I have been prepping for things like that. Canned foods, water to flush toilet with, crank weather radio. Yep prepared. Well...........I found out were I lack, big time.  I didn't have enough oil for the oil lamps. And, I only have two lamps. Two lamps were okay for our old house. It was small. You could have one lamp going in one room and could see in the next. Our new house needs more light. So on the list of things to get for prepping is more oil and more lamps.

Another area that I lack in is watering the animals. At my old house, all I had to do was dip some water out of our cistern and take the animals some water. Now at our new home, although it's only 200 yrds from our old house and cistern, I need a way to pack the water. Five gallon buckets of water are heavy.  And, a lot of goats equals a lot of water.  Luckily the electric came on before it got too late, and I got to water them with the water hose.

Now, not living with A/C is VERY low on my list of things that I want to do. I will admit, I am soft when it comes to heat. A baby in fact. Give me a good cold day in January, I can handle that. Wood stove, more clothes. You can only take off so many clothes in the summer heat. I want to be prepared for the A/C to go off, but I won't be looking forward to it if it dose. You will probably hear me wining from a LONG distance away.

Now, I'm making lite of this situation when in fact, some people are really having a rough time out there. The whole state of WV is having a time with this. Not only are they without electric, some places can't get gas for generators and vehicles. People who were just passing though the state have been stranded because they have run out of gas and can't get more.

Columbus, OH had over 145,000 people without electric this weekend. If you think you have it bad living in a house without electric, imagine living in an apartment building where the windows don't open.

Out of all of this, I hope people realize that prepping doesn't always mean being prepared for an apocalypse. It's being prepared for storms and earthquakes and floods and fires. Anything can happen people. Just be prepared. I for one, will be more prepared next time.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, A/C lover.


Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Welcome to High Land Farms

That's right everyone, we have finally come up with a name for our farm. And since me and Hubby live up one a hill, we thought that this name was perfect. It just clicked. So now, we have been getting everything all ready for our new adventure in farming. We have decided that our main focus will be on Myotonic (fainting)Goats and grass fed Limousin cattle. Of course, we will probably throw a few other little things in there too. I mean, I jump from one project to the other so fast, I just know that I will probably be adding other things into the mix of farming adventures. (Does anyone know about raising dinosaurs? LOL)

 With us actually having a focus on the way that we want to take our farm, we have been really busy around here. This is a new Myotonic goat that we picked up this weekend. I want you all to meet Strawberry. Isn't she pretty. That's one big strawberry!!! lol.

She is just a little shy with us right now, but she will come along.

 We also have this big feller to sell. His name is Hoss. Hoss is a mix between Myotonic and Boer goat. If you are wanting meat goats, this is the mix to have! The Myotonic goat gene adds extra muscle to the already muscular Boer goat. Plus, they add disease resistance. They are very hardy goats. For the Myotonic size,(little bit smaller than Boer) they have the most meat per bone ratio. And when you cross them, you get thing that look like this.

Isn't he pretty?!!!!! I'm learning sooo much as we go along! And I'm soooo excited to learn more!!!!

 Now you all know what we have been doing around here. I've just GOT to keep you guys updated more!! :)

 So until next time,

 Small Farm Girl, from High Land Farms (hehehehe)

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Bigger Boats

Yes, I'm still here. Don't get excited. hehehehe

It's been busy around here as always. Anyway, one day when I actually had time to breath, I was sitting out front of our house enjoying the view of the pond scum taking over our pond,( That was sarcasm folks.) when I remembered what an older gentleman told me once. You see, he loved to go boating. I don't know if he loved to fish on his boat, or if he just loved the whole aspect of just being on the water. Either way, he LOVED it. He said that whenever he purchased a new boat he would love that boat. It was the best boat ever! Until, he actually got it on the water.He would look around at the other boats on the water.  He always saw a bigger and better boat. This made him to never be satisfied with the boat that he had. He would turn to his wife and say, "Honey, one of these days, I'll have me a boat that size." She would just shake her head and say, "There is always a bigger boat."

I got to thinking about how some people are with their homesteading. "If we only had a bigger tractor....."  "If we only had a bigger garden....."  " If we only could have more land...." I admit, I'm one of those people.  I'm all happy with what we have until I see someone who has a better garden, or a better tractor, or (heaven forbid) more goats. In fact I seek out places that I know are "better" than ours. I visit farms where they have many people tending their gardens and their lands and I wish that I had our gardens and lands looking like that.

You know,I use to laugh at people who come to our farm and say things like," Oh, how I wished we had a place like this."   or "  I can't wait to get more goats like you." or " I would love to have all of this land!"  Well, at first I would laugh at them and explain that they wouldn't want it if they knew how much work went into it.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I love our place, but there are times I would give it up for a nice condo near a pool.  Like the time when I was milking the goats and had over a half a gallon of milk in the pail when the dog barked, scared the goat, and the half a gallon of milk ended up soaking me from head to toe.  Or the time I wanted to see my sister graduate from collage, but couldn't because we had no one to milk the goats for us that night.  Or the time that it was 90 bazillion degrees outside and we had to put up hay or the animals would starve that  winter. Oh, and don't forget standing on your head picking the 4 rows of beans in your garden that you were stupid enough to plant all at the same time. (Cough, cough, yes, that was me.)

Yes, I use to laugh when people said thing like that. Because if they only knew what went into making a farm, well, a farm. But then I remembered that I did the same thing when I went to visit those other farms. I was wishing that our farm could be like their farm with nice fences, crystal clear ponds, beautiful, well groomed goats, and a garden that could be in a Home and Garden magazine. I remember, I'm just like everyone else. We need to look at what we have and appreciate it. Someone out there would give their eye teeth for our 50 acres, or 10 goats, or our 1978 Ford tractor.  We need to sit back and enjoy what we have   instead of always wanting something else. Because.............Well?........

There will always be a bigger boat.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, boater

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Clothes Line Perils

Oh, the perils of hanging clothes on the line. I like hanging my clothes on the line. Let me clarify, I LOVE hanging my clothes on the line. It's relaxing, it keeps the house cooler, and(maybe it's just in my head) I feel like they are cleaner. (Other than when the dogs poop under the clothes line. That's a whole other story.)

Anyway, as I was putting on my shirt this morning, I felt this sharp sting under my arm. Ok, a little lower, it was more on the side of the boob. (Sorry men folk. This post is going to be about my boob.) Instantly I knew what it was. WASP!!!!!!! I jerked my shirt off (good thing I was alone in the house.) and out flew the little bugger.  After I hopped around yelling, "Ouch,ouch,ouch!!,"(no Mom, I didn't cuss. lol) I knew that wasp had to DIE!

I looked and looked, I couldn't find a fly swatter. Why, well, because I cleaned my house this weekend. Never fails, I put things up and then can't find them. That's why I keep my house dirty. Yea, that's it.  Anyway, I finally found one to kill it with. As I was starting to swing at it, the head of the fly swatter fell off. Nice. I did finally find something  and yes, it died. But, not before it had already done it's damage. My boob was starting to swell.

Now, most people would have liked this. I'm not one of them. My boobs are too big as is. Now I'm gonna have to put up with a bigger one. Plus it's lopsided. Great. On top of that, it HURTS! So I do what I was taught to do. Grab some plantain, chew it up, place it on the sting. Hey, it worked! It quit stinging! Now, I have this awful taste in my mouth. Blaaaaaa. Not only an awful taste, but bits and pieces of plantain that will not come out. I rinsed and repeated a million times. I still could not get those bits and pieces out of my mouth.

After all was said and done, I will survive. But, I do now know that I will have to check my clothes before I put them on. Even if they were shaken out and folded and in my clothes drawer for 3 days. You just never know when you will get stung on the boob.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, lop-sided.


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Goings Ons

I haven't got to blog in a while. We have been very busy around here. From selling off most of our cattle,( I'll get to that in a minute.) to getting ready to buy more goats.

It all started when our cattle broke through the fence and got into our neighbors yard to eat their grass. You know, it's ALWAYS greener on the other side of the fence. lol. Anyway, as we were getting the cattle back into their field, the bull started to get, shall we say, frisky.  He would paw the ground, throw dirt over his shoulder, then he would act like he was going to charge us as he let out this VERY loud bellow. Now when this is coming from a 2500 lbs, it can be very intimidating.  It was at that moment that I realized, I don't really like messing with cattle. They are big animals that can hurt you. (Duh!) Even if they are sweet and gentle. One wrong step, and you have a broken foot, or a broken rib, or even worse, dead.

So that night, I sat down with Hubby and asked him does her really like the cattle. I mean, REALLY like the cattle. I was expecting an instant,"YES!"  But, he actually thought about it. He said that he likes watching them out in our fields. (I do too.) He likes eating them. (I do too,) He likes being able to say that he has "cattle". (OK.) But actually messing with them, uh, "No."  I was surprised.  So we got to talking even more. We realized that his dad and step mom wouldn't be able to help us work the cattle too much longer. It will just be me and Hubby doing the work soon.

 I HATE working with them. Well, I don't "hate" working with them. We just don't work them enough. So, they are basically wild animals. Plus, our corral is in really bad shape so we are just patching holes here and there with "temporary" fixes. That's why I don't like messing with the cattle. Wild animals in bad fences DO NOT MIX.

So, we sold all but 3. We kept the 3 youngest heifers. We are hoping we will be able to tame them down to where we will be able to lead them around with a bucket of feed. Hopefully we will be able to make them like pets. Then maybe build up the herd again.

With the money that we got from the cattle we are going to improve our farm. We are going to build fence, a new corral, and, oh, yea,get more goats. YEA!!!! Now I LOVE messing with goats.  They won't kill you, at least most of them wont. lol.  We are going to build up our herd of Myotonic goats.  Ever heard of Myotonic goats? How about Fainting goats. Yep, that's right folks. Myotonic goats are Fainting goats. And, we are getting more Fainting goats. (We have three already.) I'm going to spend my day out there scaring them just so that I can watch them faint. heheheheeheh. I can't wait!!!!! hehehehe. I'm so evil. hehehehe.

Well, anyway, I'll keep you all up to date on the going ons here around the farm as we take this turn into a new adventure. I am soooo excited!!!!!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, BOOOOO! hehehehehe. Evil, pure evil. lol

Friday, May 4, 2012

That Last Hour

If you get up early in the morning, you understand how important that one hour, before you get up, is. You cherish that hour. That's when you get your best sleep, right?  Last night as I was laying in bed wondering if I could make it that last hour without going to the bathroom, Skeeter (my weenier dog) decided that SHE need to go out. I threw back the blankets and went to let her out.

As I was waiting on her to come back in, ( I swear I do believe she took the long tour of the neighborhood.) I noticed that it was lightning. We have had thunderstorms skirt around us for the last few days, so I just assumed that that was what it was. FINALLY Skeeter came back in. ( I do believe she was wearing a lei.) I went back to bed thinking that I could get in the last 45 mins. Then I remembered the lightning. I had clothes on the line. ( Don't judge me! They were still damp!) I figured that if it was just going to be a small, gentle rain, I would leave them out there. I love the feel of clothes that have been rained on. (Or at least I HEARD that they feel good. Cough, cough.) So I check the radar and notice that we had some pretty good storms coming our way. So I get back out of bed and go out and take the clothes down. (Yes, they were still damp.)

I go back in the house and hang them on chairs and door knobs all over the place so that they wouldn't get that moldy smell. Ok, MAYBE I can get the last 20 mins of sleep in.( Hey, sleep is important!!!!LOL) I go back and lay down. Then as I snuggle back under my blankets, I remember my poor little tomato plants that were sitting on the back of our four wheeler. I had put them outside yesterday so that they could get a little extra sun. 

I fling back my blankets and get up. Put on my house coat and go out and get my plants and bring them back inside. Maybe, MAYBE, I could get a little more sleep. I go and dry my feet off and get back in bed. I just lay down and get comfortable and........Yep, you guess it. The alarm clock went off.

I guess it's time to get up.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, sleep deprived.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Got Milk, Again?

That's right folks, I'm milking again!!!! (I'm not the one giving the milk. That would be my goats. Just to clear that up.) I'm back to the twice a day schedule of going out and getting the goats up on the milking stand and getting that Ooooohhhhh so good milk.

  I enjoy milking. It's very relaxing. Spending time with just you and your goat. But........(you knew that was coming didn't you? lol) I have this goat that has freshened for the first time. Her name is Gracie. ( As soon as I get my camera, I'll be get a picture of her on here for ya.) Gracie is a great milker. She hops up on the milking stand with no problem. She hops down with no problem. She stands like she has been doing this for years. But, she hasn't! And, for her first time of being fresh, she is giving a good amount of milk. The only problem that I have with her is that she has a teat with the hole not quite at the bottom of her teat. The milk squirts out the side while I'm trying to milk. Not just out the side, but right at me! So to milk her, I have to concentrate on aiming the milk at the bucket. So if I get to milking both teats at the same time, I end up squirting myself in the chest more than once. I usually just milk one at a time.  It takes longer, but I at least don't get a milk shower.

On top of her "off teat", Gracie lifts her leg up on that side whenever I milk. So as I'm trying to aim her teat into the bucket, I'm trying to keep her from putting her foot into the bucket. Geesh! I'm working up a sweat just trying to get milk! The first time I milked her, I ended up with milk on my chest and a foot in the bucket. Not a good day. lol.

Anyway, I really shouldn't complain. At least she isn't like Hanna. Hanna is my other Nubian who usually gives good milk, has GREAT, long teats, but goes psycho on me whenever I try to get her off the milking stand. She gets this "look" in her eyes that said, " Oh no!!!! I'm going to fall into the deep pit of despair!!!!!" She locks up all four legs and I have to physically turn her around on the stand, making sure she doesn't put a foot in the milk bucket, which she has done before, and then I have to pull her off. Once she is off, then she thinks shes being chased by a monster that will rip her face off. She throws that head back and tries to drag me back to the goat pen. I swear she has a mental problem. At least she made a good mommy this year. LOL! Got to love them goats!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, milker.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Goings On

When I was talking about getting "out of the chair," I didn't think it was going to be like this. Whew!!!! Finally kidding season is over. No more babies. Yea!  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE baby goats, but for a first timer when it comes to kidding, I was a nervous wreck! But now, everything has settled down (a little).  And wouldn't you know it, I can't find my camera. I have GREAT opportunities for pictures of cute, little, bouncy babies, and I can't take pictures!  As soon as I find it you all will be bombarded with cuteness.

And for all of you in the Ky area that has been in a drought, " You are welcome." Yep, I have decided that I am the reason that we have been having so much rain. It's all because I don't have a place under shelter that I can milk my goats. Yep, I'm Millllllking in the Rain, I'm Milllllking in the Rain. What a Glorious Feeling, I'm Haaaaaappppy Again...... Ok, I'm done.

Another thing that has been going on around here is Lily has been sick. I mean, not sure she's gonna live, sick. We don't know what happened to her, but she hasn't eaten since Saturday. Although today, she started acting like she was feeling better and she actually ate some canned dog food. I think she will pull through. We were thinking that maybe she had been bit by a snake or the coyotes got to her.

Speaking of coyotes, they are HORRIBLE around here. Twice a coyote has come within a few yards of me in the last week. SCARY!!!!! Luckily George was right next to me and drove them off. He's a good boy. I think I'll keep him. lol. I just hope those nasty Coyotes stay away from my little baby goats.

Right now I have to go and get some more goat feed. They are eating it like crazy. But, I guess that's what I get for having 16(that's right folks, 16) goats.  And on top of this, we are looking into getting more Myotonic goats. We have decided that we just LOVE them. Great mothers, good personalities, and VERY easy to take care of. I'll still keep my milkers though. Gotta have that milk. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, no longer sitting in the chair.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Pictures and Deep Thoughts

Cuteness Alert!!!!! You have been warned.



Check out those blue eyes. He got them from his daddy.

Hey Mom, give me a piggy back ride.
Ok, since I got you all warmed up with the cuteness factor, hehehehe, now we can get into the deep thoughts. Have you ever wondered about what you want in life. Then you look at it and think, "Nope, not there yet." Well, I was reading a friend's blog( shout out toModern Day Redneck!)and he wrote about how some people are "Arm Chair Quarterbacks" in their prepping. They tell people what they should do, they criticize how they do it, yet they don't "do it" themselves. Well, I may not actually be an arm chair quarterback when it comes to prepping, I though about that phrase. "Arm Chair Quarterback." Then I looked at my life. I have been an arm chair quarterback. Not criticizing people or anything. But, not actually "in the game" either. I noticed that I keep saying that I'll do something then don't. Or, I'll WANT to do something and then don't.  Or I see someone do something and I think of how I wished that I can do that. Well, I CAN! I just need to "get out of the chair."

Another thing that I noticed about myself is that I need a schedule. When I was working, I kind of had a schedule. I knew that my time, to get that project done, was limited. It's not limited now so I keep saying, "Well, I do it later. I have time." But as I do that, I realize my life is passing me by. Things are not getting done. Now, dishes and laundry and everyday things are getting done. I'm talking about the extra things that need to be done.  Building fence, building goat barns, joining goat clubs, write more on my blog, etc. etc. I keep putting them off. It's about time that I "get back into the game"

So thanks MDR for giving me a wake-up call. Life's knocking. I had better answer the door.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, active quarterback.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Ebooks from Patrice

The season of canning will be on us faster than you know it. So if you guys would like to get a leg up on some really good information about pressure canning, water bath canning, or if you just have questions about canning, you need to go to selfsufficiencyseries.com.

Patrice from Rural Revolution, has made a series of ebooks that can be purchased for just a bit of pocket change but, is really full of information. I think it would be worth your time and money to visit the site and download some of the ebooks. Oh, and tell everyone else. The more people know about canning and preserving their own food, the better. Give them a try!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, canner

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

We have babies!!!!!!

This is Shotgun. He is a little buckling and was born first.

This one is a little doeling. Not sure what we are going to call her.

This a picture of Mommy the day before she had them. Doesn't she look like she is tired? I would be too!

I've been letting the girls out in the afternoons so that they could get fresh grass.

I think Hanna is wanting to have hers next. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, goat watcher.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

More Rambling

What a great Saturday! Me and MIL went to an animal swap at a local Tractor Supply store. It was great! I sold a few goats, some rabbits and I broke down and sold my young milk cow Annabell.  On top of all of that, I had people asking for more! I finally feel like our little farm is getting off the ground. You can work and work, but until you see some money rolling back in, you always wonder if it's what you should be doing. Well, yesterday proved that I am doing the right thing.Now that I have a nice outlet for some of the farm things,(the auction is still trying to get underway, just waiting on some red tape junk.) I really need to start working toward getting more things to sell.

We are still waiting for babies to arrive. I swear if someone would look at my goats the wrong way, they look like they would pop. HAVE BABIES ALREADY!!!! I'm getting up a few time a night going out and checking on them. I think they really just have a pillow under their pelts, setting back and laughing at me. Fooled her!!!! Ha ha ha!

I think I've decided to change George's name to Bob. Bob BARKER!!!! He barks ALL. NIGHT. LONG! I think he's afraid of the dark. lol. It doesn't matter what it is, he's going to bark at it. Last night he was barking at the cattle. You know, the cattle that has lived on this farm longer than he has. Those scary, mean, ferocious cattle that like to eat goats. Auuggghhhh!!! I went out last night to shine the light out in the field, you know, out of some chance there IS a dinosaur, mutant, swamp monster out there. George followed everywhere that I would shine the light and he would bark at it. I think he has a screw loose. And right now, he's sleeping all nice and sweet. I think I will go and sneak up on him and bark my fool head off.  See how he likes it.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, I can't believe I'm barking at a dog. Now who's got the screw loose?