Monday, April 27, 2009

Lost

We got lost. We got lost BIG time. Me and Hubby like to go four wheeling. We have two four wheelers and we love to take one or both out and just ride. Sometimes we take the dirt roads, sometimes we take the trails, and sometimes we take a combination of both. Today, we just got lost.

We started out riding the trails that we have rode for years. We ride over the ridge to a mom and pop store where we get food or gas or sometimes, just a drink. Everything was going fine when....da da da dommmm.....(pause for dramatic effect) the trail that we have become so familiar with disappears! In front of us stands( or should I say doesn't stand) acres and acres of clear cut land. If you have never seen a clear cut, imagine a giant lawnmower being taken to the trees. All the trees were gone! All that was left were stumps and skidder trails. (Skidder trails are the trails that this giant machine ,called the skidder, drags logs down. Makes since doesn't it.)

Anyway, we had to find our way down the side of the hill to get to some kind of a road. The skidder trails are full of ruts,rocks, and mud, it's almost impossible to navigate. At one point I got off of the back of our four wheeler as Hubby took it down this really steep part of the skidder trail. Both back tires came off the ground. I slid down the trail on my butt. It was that steep! I was so happy to get off that hill.

We finally did get off the hill, but now we are on another trail that we have no idea where it goes. We keep following it and following it until...da da da dommmm...(another dramatic pause) we come to a gate. Now, should we go through the gate? Whats on the other side? There was no fence, just a gate, a new one. What will we find on the other side? Should we ride though it? Will we be greeted by a toothless man with a shotgun as we hear banjo music playing in the background? We could always go back. But, I almost rather face the shotgun. We creep along....(pause) We come upon a house that is being built. We still creep along. Hoping no one is there. We come upon another gate. We are going through this one. On the other side is a paved road. Yay!!!!!!

We finally make it to civilization. So with much relief, we head out to the mom and pop store. As we are a few miles from the store, out four wheeler starts to cough. Then it starts to sputter. Then it almost dies. We are running out of gas! Hubby reaches down and puts the four wheeler on reserve. We have no idea how far we can go with the gas tank on reserve. But, for a happy ending, we did get to the store. We had an ice cream,(we deserved it), and filled up the tank with gas.(insert sigh here)

Needless to say we did not go back the same way. We made it home. Hubby's arms are sore for navigating the ruts with the four wheeler, and we are both very dusty.

I'm taking a bath.....

Small Farm Girl..(adventurer)

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Finally!!!!! Sunshine!!!!!

I finally have sunshine! I now, also, have a sunburn. Oh well, can't have it all. We have been doing so much around here, that I haven't had much time to write on here. Sorry about that. Anyway, isn't it amazing how a little bit of sunshine can give you such an emotional boost? It was so nice here, me and Hubby decided to go to the local flea market.

Our local flea market is on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I love going there! My favorite part is seeing all the old tools that the old timers bring in to sell. These old men will sit their things up on tables to display them like they are their babies. Which they are, if you think about it. They have probably spent more time with those tools than their children. They might have used the tools WITH their children. Man, if those tools could talk.

Another part of the flea market I enjoy is the canned goods that the women bring to sell. Today must have been kraut day. There were jars of it all over the place. And the honey, some of the best looking honey you'll ever see. I didn't know where to look first. Being kinda hungry didn't help matters either. I was good though, I only purchased sunglasses.( I needed them because the sun was out! Yay!)

I started to plant my beets today but, the ground was still to wet. Maybe tomorrow.We finally took the plastic off of the house. I can now open windows and let the fresh air in. Nothing better this time of year. I can just feel the house take a deep breath. It told me," Thank you."( not that the house talks to me....oh never mind.)

Hubby is coming along on the new house. He has put the steps from the walk-in basement to the main floor. Now he's starting the electric. Once we get power, we can move in the basement. I can't wait. We are trying to decide if we want to use our well, which has plenty of water, but it has either rust or red clay in it from time to time, or use our cistern, which could run out of water. I think we are leaning to the cistern. Just things we are going to have to figure out as we go along.

Well now I'm going to go and take a nice long bath. It's been a long day. But at least it was sunny!

So for now....

Small Farm Girl

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

motivators

Have you ever went to some one's house and was just motivated? Yesterday, me and Hubby went to visit a friend of ours. She had moved to a small patch of land ( about 10 acres) and was doing such improvements to it. It looked great! Just being there made me want to go home and work on MY projects. I love seeing what other people do to their homes. My friend is also a motivator. She is constantly encouraging others. She and her husband are the nicest people to be around. So warm and friendly. She is full of ideas and wisdom. I feel like a big sponge when I'm around her. Just soaking up the ideas. I'm so glad we are friends.

Now, to today. Since our visit, I started looking at our house and the horrible shape its in. Not just structurally, but cosmetically. It's dirty! I had better warn Hubby that I'm in one of my cleaning moods. Stay away, stay far far away! A clean house makes my mind peaceful. I just feel better when my house is clean. I guess I've better get busy, I've got a long road ahead of me.

So for now,

Small Farm Girl, Cleaning lady

Sunday, April 19, 2009


I have a dream. I have a dream that one day me and Hubby will be able to live off of our farm. I know I already live here. I'm talking about homesteading. Actually LIVING off of our farm. Anything that we would ever need to live, we could get here. No longer being dependent on Krogers or Wal-mart to live day to day. Having enough food canned every year to last us the whole year or more. Vegetables from the garden, fruit from an orchard, meat from our cattle or deer and turkeys that Hubby gets in the fall. That is my dream.

Now I don't know everything about homesteading, but by reading books, checking the Internet, and talking to older folk about how they used to do it, ( that's my favorite thing to do) I'm gonna homestead.

I think homesteading is a lost art. We, people in general, depend too much on the outside world for our everyday items. I told my sister( Baby Sis) that when she was looking for her new house, that it should have a place for a garden. She said," Why? Krogers is just down the block." Sheeeeesh. I love her anyway. Guess I'll have to plant enough garden for her too. I'll take care of you Baby Sis! I promise!

One of my favorite things about homesteading, is telling people that you want to homestead. I like to keep a mental scrapbook of all the weird looks that I get when I tell people that I'm trying to homestead. There's the questioning look, drawing the eyebrows together and tilting the head to the side just slightly. They have no idea what homesteading is. There's the, raising one eyebrow and tilting the head toward you look, that says," Are you kidding me." Baby Sis fits in that category. There is the, smile and and raise the eyebrow look, that says'" Oh okay, just tell me when you get done playing, we'll go out for pizza, watch a movie, and then go to the mall." But my favorite one, is the all knowing smiles and nods of the head that say," I know where your coming from sister." I love thoses. They understand what there is to being dedicated in something that you truly believe in and love. They understand what work goes into making sure your family is taken care of in this time when all the food you get at the grocery store is contaminated with chemicals. They are the ones who will go out of their way to help you in anyway they can. These are also the ones that I want to call friends.

So if anyone out there in Blog Land can give a small farm girl some advise about starting homesteading, feel free to lend it. I will listen. I promise.

So for now,

Small Farm Girl, Homesteader

Thursday, April 16, 2009

I Need Sunshine

I need sunshine! I need it bad! I think I'm going crazy! Do you ever get in a funk? I'm in one now. I want to get out and do things in the yard or garden but, it's been rainy, cloudy, and cold. Well maybe not cold, but when I got use to 70 degree weather, 45 is cold. I actually am finding myself getting depressed. Everything is getting on my nerves. I need sunshine!

I think I should start planning my new flower garden. I've got a huge area in the middle of a circle drive where Hubby said I could plant flowers. I think I will start planning what I'm gonna plant there. Do I want it to be full of annuals or perennials? Do I want grasses or color? So much to pick from. I do know I want it to be easy to take care of, but I don't want it to look like the regular flower spot that I see a lot of. The look that says I don't know where to put anything so I'll just throw it there.

Great, now I'm in a funk about not knowing what to plant in my flower garden.

I need sunshine bad!!!!!!!!

Small Farm Girl (losing it)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Shack


This is my house, I call it the Shack. It was built back in 1860. Most people, when I tell them that it was built then,get grand ideas of beautiful farm houses with winding staircases, oak trim, 10 ft ceilings, and stain glass windows. Not here. This house WAS built back in 1860, but it was built by a farmer, not a millionaire. I also think a family of termites moved in the day it was finished.

This time of the year we get the dreaded swarms of termites. When I say swarms, I mean SWARMS! You might go to get in bed at night and there will be termites all over your bed. They'll be under the covers, under the pillows, and between the sheets. Good thing those little boogers are easy to kill. But, I hate having to change the sheets when I'm in the mood to sleep. It's also a good thing they don't bite. There have been times when you wake up and they are already in your bed with you. NOT a good way of starting the day.

Now, look real close to the picture.. go on look. Yes, that is plastic wrapped around the whole house. It has no insulation. We have to wrap it with plastic to keep heat in. We heat it with a wood stove so that helps. The wood heat is really warm. Plus, the house is only 700 sq feet. We don't have much room to heat. You may laugh at the plastic, but its warm.

Other than the termites, we do get our share of critters that try to make The Shack their home too. From a flock of starlings,to spiders and mice, to the two 6 foot long black snakes we had found in our pantry. (Now I understand why we didn't have many mice that year.)

Now, before you get all down and start crying about the injustice of the world, there is an upside to all of this.....We are building a new house!!!! yea! It's 2400 sq feet. Talk about an upgrade. The best part of this new house is not that it is bigger, or not that it is warmer or safer. The best part is that it's paid for. It's taking longer to build than a normal build, but we don't owe a dime on it. Now that's worth living in The Shack just a little bit longer.

Excuse me while I put another log in the stove.

Small Farm Girl

Rainy Days

I wish that it would stop raining. Just enough to get my beets into the ground. Just enough that I can get to my chicken coop without wearing hip waders. I wish it would stop raining....Just enough so that I don't have to worry if my car will get stuck on our dirt road...Just enough so that the tractor doesn't get stuck when we go feed...I wish it would stop raining. But, it is verrrrrry good for the hay crop! Always look on the bright side of life.

Small Farm Girl

Friday, April 10, 2009

Its Friday!


Yes, it's Friday. This is the day you look back on the week and think, "What did I do this week?" This is also the day you look forward to the weekend and think,"What can I get into this weekend?" Since this is Easter weekend, there will be the traditional family gatherings. But, I'm now wanting to get my little farm into shape. I'm more into cleaning the yard instead of cleaning my plate. (Although you can't tell that by my waist line.)

The chicken coop needs some work. The last big wind storm we had blew the chicken house over.( poor chickens, what a ride!) We set it up right, but now we need to redo the fencing. I get a few hens that get out. And where do you think they make a bee line for?.....My garden! I only have onions planted now, but they peck at the small sprouting onions and pull them out of the grown. They don't eat them, they just pull them out of the grown! I hate to clip their wings. They might need them to fly away from a predator. But right now, it's them, or my garden. And right now, my garden is gonna win.



Happy Easter everyone!!!!

Love Small Farm Girl

Monday, April 6, 2009

our horses




These are some of our horses. The closest is my husband's. Her real name is Buttercup. Jay(my husband) refused to own a horse named Buttercup. So he calls her Piggy. I think she resents that. She acts like she doesn't like Jay now. I call her Mama. She was pregnent when we bought her at an auction. I think she likes the name Mama. Jay started calling her Piggy because her whole world is food. She will do anything for food. She lives to eat.

The horse behind her is my horse Foxy Lady or Foxy for short. When we purchased Foxy, she was very skinny. She had a colt a few months earlier. He was a big colt and she had to use alot of energy making enough milk for him. Jay calls my horse Bones. She doesn't like him either......

Horses are such funny creatures.

Ill post more pictures of our other horses later...Like when I can figure out how to put more than one picture on here at a time.

So for now......

Small Farm Girl

This is a picture of some of our cows. We raise Limosine cattle. Not a lot of them, just enough to keep our freezer full and to sell some every so often. We have 8 head of cattle. 6 cows and a breeder bull, and a young bull getting ready for the butcher. I love my cows. They act like old women you would see at a beauty parlor. Some of the older cows act like they are wise and nothing seems to bother them. Its like they are there to give the younger cows advise on how to behave. The younger cows are a little flighty. They dont trust us humans as much. We bought the bull this fall. He doesn't trust people at all! We paid good money for him, but Im not sure if he was worth it. Hes very skittish. We only keep the bull for a few years, so he wont be here too long.

We feed our cattle only hay that we grow and bale. We dont feed our cattle grain. Its been proven that grass fed beef is better for you than the grain fed beef that is common today. They taste a little different, but, I think it still tastes very good. We sell some our young cattle to people so they can have them for their tables. They keep comming back for more. They must like it too.

As I learn more about how to do more on this blog thing, I'm gonna tell some really interesting ( see funny) stories about our adventures in farming.

So for now....

Small Farm Girl signing off. ( That sounded professional didn't it)

Sunday, April 5, 2009

pictures

Well I kinda got my pictures downloaded to my blog, now I just have to figure out how to get them where I want them...These things are so complicated!!!!
 
 
 
 
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