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!!!!!!