Good bye 2014, Hello 2015

Well, 2014 is just about over. Just a few more hours. Did I keep my resolutions?  Do I even REMEMBER my resolutions of last year?  Yes and no.  I remember that I wanted to lose weight.  I have.  Not much, but at least I'm lighter than I was last year.  Hopefully I'll keep it going. I didn't learn to make a pie crust, but I'm still going to be working on that for 2015.  Although if I learn how to make a good pie crust, I may not become lighter.  Hmmmmm.  Might have to think about that one for a while.  :0)

A big changed happened just today.  I quit my job! Might as well do it now!  Hubby and I sat down and figured out how much money I was spending and how much I was making and the spending WAY out numbered the making.  So we decided it would be better for me to stay home. (You know that just broke my heart. lol)  I'm working more on my writing anyway.  I have a few opportunities coming down the pipeline for me.  I hope they pan out.  We shall see.  I do know that I REALLY enjoy it.

Now on another topic, the last few days have felt kind of weird around the house.  I keep looking down to see if I'm going to step on Skeeter.  I still check the blankets on the couch before I sit down so I don't sit on her.   At night, I wake up thinking I hear her wining to go out.  It's just weird.  I guess when you've had an animal around for 15 years it will take a bit before I get use to not having her around.  It's kind of nice though, not having to watch where you step at night. (Skeeter got to where she would pee or poop on the floor.)  Or to have her beg to be picked up to set by you on the couch just so she can set for 2 minutes and then want back down so she can then beg to be picked up again. Ya, not gonna miss that little game.

I knew that Skeeter wasn't going to last much longer.  I was just waiting on her time.  I know that seems harsh, but it's how things are.  Everything that lives, must die also.  Anyway, I kept asking myself if I wanted another dog in the house.  I'm still asking that.  I knew I will probably bring one of the cats in the house, but do I want another dog.  And if I do, what kind?  I know it's still soon after Skeeter, but I've had a while to think of this.  Funny, I still don't know.  We shall see.......

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, Happy New Year!

An End and A Beginning

We all know, if you own a pet, that this day will come.  After all, it is natural.  We had to put our Skeeter down.  She had been having problems lately.  She would pee all over the house, she had a cough because of her heart which was bad, and she had quit eating for the last week.  We all knew it was going to be soon.  Well this morning, when I got up, I found other "signs" that she wasn't doing good.  Then when she tried to come into the kitchen, her back leg wasn't working.  I knew the time had come.  It's hard to make the decision, but I knew it had to be done.  It was the best thing for her.

Please don't leave comments like," Awww I'm so sorry."  I know you are!  I just don't want to think of being sorry.  She was 15 years old.  She lived a good dogs life chasing rabbits and guarding chicks.  She was a stubborn little "rat". (That was her nickname.)  I just want to think of us doing the right thing for her.  She had it good.

As I went out to feed the animals this morning I noticed that one of the doe rabbits was making a nest by pulling hair.  We will be having new rabbit kits soon.  It's the circle of life.  (Cue the Elton John song.)  Anyway, I'm hoping that this doe makes a good mommy.  She's making a really nice nest!  She's pulling plenty of hair.  In fact, I thought that something may have killed one of the rabbits there was so much hair.  But it was just her getting ready for her new bundles of joy.  Here's to hoping they make it.

The other doe that I bred at the same time hasn't started pulling hair.  Actually, I've had to clean out her nesting box twice now.  She keeps pooping in it.  I'm not sure about her.  If she doesn't have any this time, I'll breed her one more time and see.  I would like to keep her because she is a broken pattern New Zealand.  I think those are pretty.  It's just something different from the plain white ones.

Last night Hubby and I met with some friends who gave us some chickens.  Well, you can call them chickens.  They gave us some Silkies.  I'm not wild about this type of bird.  They are small and their eggs are tiny.  Their not much use for us here on the homestead.  I heard though, that Silkies make great mothers and if you wanted eggs hatched put them under a Silkie.  Well, right now, I have so many chickens I don't think I want any more anytime soon.  In fact, I have to butcher a few.  I'll probably sell the Silkies.  And if I can't, I'll put them in a pot and make chicken broth out of them.  I'm not going to keep feeding them this winter.

Well, I have plenty to get busy on.....

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, farmer

I Was Bull Riding.......

At least that's what I'm telling everyone.  Bull riding sounds soooo much more interesting then what really happened.  What am I talking about?  Well, this incredibly clumsy woman stepped off of the porch of our old house and landed wrong.  By doing this, I sprained my ankle, bad.  Yep, I'm down for the count.

For a few days, I was on crutches.  In fact, for one day I was in a wheelchair.  The day after I sprained my ankle we went to the zoo.  My sister had gotten tickets for us in advance.  There was no way I was going to pass that up.  Plus, they had wheelchair rentals! Woooo Hoooo!  Anyway, I did find out that you can't see much when you are in a wheelchair.  Well, nothing but butts.  Lots, and lots of butts.  And on that note, I don't care how well you are built, please, PLEASE don't wear workout tights as pants. Trust me on this.  Ok, thanks.

Well, with me down for a while, we are going to have to put a few things on hold.  Getting a building for the workshops is one of the things on hold.  I don't know where this will lead us, but I'm sure everything will work out for the best.  Maybe this was a sign to slow down.  Maybe this was a sign to look into a different direction.  I don't know, but it was a big blow.  Time will only tell. One thing at a time.  And right now, I'm concentrating on getting my ankle better.

So for now,

Small Farm Girl, down for the count.

The Up And Coming Changes At The Farm

It's been a little wet around the farm, as you can tell by this picture of our horse Fancy.  I swear our horses can find ANY burrs that we have on the place.  I think it's like a magnet for them.  We even mowed the pastures this year so there shouldn't be any of these aggravating suckers. You can tell by this picture that is was starting to get foggy and cold.  Snow will be flying soon.

This rabbit, and another one just like him, are going to be butchered any day now.  We are just trying to find the time. It shouldn't be too long now.  The two that we are getting ready to butcher are squeezing through a hole at the top of the wire that divides their hutches.  That wouldn't be bad, but they get in together and fight.  Ya, it won't be too much longer and we won't have to worry about that problem.   

This pretty girl is finally pregnant.  Actually she and her sister are pregnant.  We are expecting a batch of babies around Christmas.  Hopefully it won't be too cold.  It usually isn't for rabbits.  They are really good at keeping their babies warm.    Plus where I fill their hutches with hay, they burrow right down into it and all is warm and cozy.  That and a nice nesting box should do the trick.

On another note, we have been busy around the farm getting everything cleaned up and organized.  I hinted around in one of my recent posts about something going on here at the farm.  Ever since I have been writing this blog, people have come up to me and asked me questions about homesteading: how to can, how to raise and butcher your own rabbits, how to shoot bows, how to use herbs for healing and so on and so on.......

Well, Hubby and I have decided we will be having homesteading workshops here at the farm! Things that people have always asked me about in the past, now they can come to the farm and learn hands on. I've been kicking this idea around for a many years.  I was wondering about if I should do this, or just stay and do what I'm doing now.  Then I read a friends blog about just go and take the leap. That kind of kicked me in the pants.  I'm going to be 42 this March and I need to switch from "planning mode" to "doing mode".  So since I've been wanting to do this for years, I decided to take the leap.  What do I have to lose?

We will be getting a small building here on the farm so that I can have the workshops in.  I've got sooooo many ideas of what I want to these workshops to be about.  If I can't teach the class, then I know people that can teach them.  It should really be fun!!!  I already have some local people excited about them and willing to sign up!!!  

I'll be putting the dates on here for the up coming workshops. Maybe some of you in Blogland can come to the farm!  We will be putting up a building after Christmas so once we get it up and running, it shouldn't be long until the first workshop.  I'll keep you all updated.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, taking the leap.

P.S.  I would like to hear from all of you in Blogland about what you would be interested in coming to learn about.  This is going to be fun!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!  I know I haven't been on here in a little while, but I have been very busy getting ready for this big day.  I just love when we all come together.  Oh who am I kidding, I just love to eat!!!!!!!

So have a turkey leg for me!

Happy Thanksgiving,

Small Farm Girl,  soon to be stuffed like the turkey.

The Pre Winter Farm

Boy has things been busy around here.  We are getting ready for winter.  I'm glad we're still having some really nice days.  Good working days.  We've been cutting wood, making sure the cars are ready for the snow and ice, and we've been getting the animals ready for the cold.

Today I started feeding the rabbits hay.  I start out with a little at a time so that it doesn't mess with their stomachs.  At first, the hay scared them.  Only one of my rabbits have ever had hay before.  Then slowly, they started to nibble on a little.  Then, it was like someone had given them candy.  They loved it! Giving the rabbits good hay will cut our feed bill more than half.  Plus come winter, I use hay to line their cages so that they can make little holes to get in to protect themselves from the wind.  The rabbits are outside, up against the old house.  This helps with some wind but not all of it.  The hay will help them with the rest.  Their cages have roofs on them so I don't have to worry about the rain and snow.

After a few days, I'll clean out any hay that's left.  There is usually poop on it and it needs cleaned out.  But as soon as I clean it out, I put a bunch back in.  The rabbits love this set up.  It's more like their natural habitat.  We have thought about doing cages on the ground, but with our predator problem around here, not to mention all of the cats, our rabbits wouldn't last any time at all.  So I figured this was as close as we can get. It seems to work for them.

We have finally started chopping wood for winter.  I know, I know, we are REALLY late.  We have some trees down on our fences and we are going to use them before we go looking somewhere else.  We are friends with a few loggers, hopefully we can use some of the tops and butt cuts from the trees they down.  The wood may be green, but it's better than no wood.  The green wood will be mixed in with good seasoned wood that we have.  It should be fine to burn. I think we will be okay this winter.  Everyone talks about a bad winter.  I'll believe it when I see it.  I don't put much faith in the prediction.  I just get ready for a bad winter and if it happens it happens.

I'm still kicking around what to do with the farm. Still thinking about getting sheep.  I probably will, but it won't be until next year.  I want to make sure we have a place made for them.  Good fencing and good shelter.  I don't want to just jump into them. I want to make sure I'm getting the right breed for what I'm wanting, plus I want to make sure I'm set up for it.  I have a habit of just deciding that I want something then jumping right into it.  Then after that, I regret not being prepared.

I have some other things that may be going on here on the farm.  I want to make sure everything is going to work out before I tell you all.  Only a few people know, but a lot of people could be involved.  More to come on the later.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, Making the farm better  

A Friend's New Blog

Hey guys!  I have a friend who is getting her blog up and running.  She lives on a small farm and she just bought her first goats.  She has been making goat milk soap for a while.  AWESOME goat milk soap.  She also makes skin care from goat milk.  I can honestly say it's some of the best skin care that I've ever tried.  And, with me being in the beauty business, that's saying a lot!!!  Drop by and check it out.  Plus, leave her a comment just to say hi.  Go easy on her though, she's new at this blogging thing. lol  Her blog is called Journey's Edge Farm.

SFG

The Cleaning Of The Farm And A Change, Maybe

This time of year I always look at the farm and try to see what's working and what's not working.  Then I will have the whole winter planning on how we can change the "not working" parts of the farm.

One easy thing that we are going to do is get rid of some chickens. We have too many.  I normally would sell the eggs, but so many of the people that I was selling eggs to, ended up getting chickens for themselves.  I'm happy about that.  We were actually just covering the cost of feed by selling the eggs.  Instead of having 29 chickens, I think we are going to downsize to around a dozen.  Plus, Hubby is working on our new chicken coop and it will be a little smaller than the one we have now. Oh by the way, it's almost done!!!!!  When we first started to build it, we just had a few chickens.  Then we had a lot of people ask us about eggs for sell.  So this spring, we went and bought some chicks. (Who can resist baby chicks in the spring time? Not me!)  I was hoping to keep selling some of their eggs.  Now, I'm over loaded with eggs!!!   I have a least 10 dozen eggs in cartons right now!  I like to eat eggs, but not THAT much. lol

The rabbits that we have?  Well, I'm not real sure about them yet.  I tried putting our does in with the buck for a little while.  They wanted nothing to do with him.  Yes, they are does.  I checked.  Three times.  I'm gonna try it again soon.  If I don't get them to breed this time, I'm done with rabbits.  I told Hubby if we get rid of the rabbits I was NEVER to get rabbits again.  For a person who grew up on a rabbit farm, I can't grow rabbits to save my life!!!! If they don't work this time, I'm going to cut my loses and move on.

The cattle, well, we are still growing our herd.  Working on our fencing is the biggest things we do with them.  That and baling hay.  No big deal.  Cattle are great investments.  At the markets, right now, they are going for $2.40 a pound.  That's not hanging weight.  That's the cost of them walking.  Plus, we have a waiting list of people that want to buy our grass fed beef.  I don't blame them.  Fresh, grass fed beef is soooooo much better tasting than what you get from the store. We will be keeping the cattle.

One thing I'm looking into again, is a few fiber animals.  I'm still not sure if I'm wanting sheep or alpacas.  I'm leaning really hard toward sheep.  They are slightly like goats in their care.  And, I really miss my goats.  I've been kicking around getting sheep for a couple of years now.  Then I asked myself, "What am I afraid of?"  I'll never know if I like them unless I get them.  So that's one of our big projects that I'm doing around here.  I'm getting our little barn/building ready for some sheep. I'll get some pictures of the "before," then, I'll get some of the "after." We will also have to put up different fencing too.  We only have barbed wire right now.  It holds cattle but it won't do much for sheep.  Plus, I don't want their wool all messed up by the barbs. Wove wire fencing is so EXPENSIVE!!!!  It's gonna take a while before we can afford to buy the fence.  Hopefully we will be able to get everything done and set up for sheep around spring or so.

I went to Hug-A-Sheep Day at Equinox Farm this past weekend.  It was like giving alcohol to an alcoholic.  I wanted sheep that much more.Sara from Punkin's Patch, didn't help me any.  She keeps prodding me to get some.  Oh, and a donkey.  We (she and I) decided I need a donkey too. lol!!!!  Hubby, not so much.  This is the faces that were there to greet me at Hug-A-Sheep Day.  I think I may be hooked.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl,  Sheep farmer?

500 Posts!

As I was getting ready to write this post, I noticed that this was my 500th post!  Yay!!!!  It's hard to believe that you guys are still here to see what "little ole me" has to say.  Go figure!  This got me to thinking of all the things that has happened since I started blogging.

 I bought goats. I sold the goats.  I had a bunch of cattle, we sold a bunch of cattle, and now we are building our herd again.  We bought rabbits, we sold the rabbits, and we bought more rabbits.  Thinking about selling them again. lol.  We bought chickens, dog killed the chickens, and we got more chickens.  We moved from "The Shack" to the new house.  It's still not done, not even close. I learned to make bread.  I learned how to can many different things.  I learned how NOT to can many things also. I learned to plant a few different ways and, of course, how NOT to plant certain ways. It's been a very active time.

I've made a lot of friends since I've started this blog too. Friends from all over the United States.  Of course, you can only know me, and I know you, from what is written on here. I actually got to meet some of you and good friendships have developed.  I also feel that I have developed friendships on here that have grown because of Facebook.  You get to see the personality, on Facebook, a little bit better sometimes.  I have been blessed with many friends because of my blog.

So hopefully, I'll be able do write many more posts for many more years to come.  I have really enjoyed writing these 500 posts. I hope that you will also be here to read them.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, writer of 500 more.

The Revealing.

I got to thinking the other day.  As much as everyone on here feels like family, we really don't know each other.  We may comment on each others blogs or even on Facebook, but we really don't know each other.  Some of us have even talked to each other on the phone, but still, we don't REALLY know each other. I don't think you can really know a person unless you have been around them physically for some time.  A lot of things can be hidden without seeing the person's face.  A lot of people have surprised me on how they REALLY are once I got to know them in person.

For many years now, I have been "faceless" here on my blog. I feel like a lot of us have become friends.  (Well, as close to a friend as the Internet can let us be.)  So, I decided that I was going to have a revealing.  I'm tired of being behind a curtain and trying to be anonymous.  I mean seriously, you can't hardly be anonymous on the net anymore anyways.  Plus I figured once my articles get out there with my picture attached to them, I would be revealed anyway.  So well, here goes.

This is me.  Well, what use to be me.  I'm 20 pounds lighter now.  Yay me!!!!  And now to let you know more, my name is Sherri.  HI!!!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, just me. (Well, and Hubby too.)

P.s.  I didn't realize how big my boobs looked in this picture until I posted it.  Well, enjoy.  LOL!!!!

As Of Late

I promise I am still here!!!  This time of year is very busy for us.  The garden is winding down, but now we are getting ready for winter.  I was hoping to have our house close to being done already.  With Hubby being sick and me working, it has been near impossible to do anything with it.  We really want to get some done on it though before it gets too cold.  We shall see.  I learned not to count  too much on my plans as of late. Something always seems to change them. lol

The chickens are doing great.  They are really laying their butts off. hehehe.  I'm sure they will be molting soon so I should enjoy all the eggs while I've got them.  They usually molt right when it starts to get cold.  I think they do this so that they can line their coop with feathers for the winter.  Just an idea.  Hehe

The rabbits are doing good.  The three young bucks are still alive.  We haven't found time to butcher them.  Maybe this weekend.  It's suppose to be cool.  I don't like to butcher them when it's hot.  The flies are usually really bad then.  It's suppose to be in the lower 60's this weekend so it would be a good time.  I'm also going to be breeding the other three New Zealand does to The Big Guy soon.  And yes, I checked.  They are all does. I'm sure!

The cattle and horses are starting to grow their winter coats.  I like when they start to get all fuzzy.  Makes them look so cute.  I think it's about time we butcher our young bull too.  I think my freezer is calling his name.  He is a pretty good sized bull.  Angus and Limousine mix, he should be really good eating. Hershey, the young heifer born this past summer is growing like a weed.  She'll be a nice cow when she gets older. We've been trying to tame them down as best as we can. The older cows are a lost cause.

Before the weather gets real bad, I want to check all of our fence and make sure there are no trees down and on the fence.  If there is, maybe we can cut some for fire wood.  We haven't done any of that either this year.  We are soooo far behind on things.  Including writing on this blog.  :-)

I know I have said this before, but I'm hoping things will slow down a bit and I will be able to do some writing on here.  I've been writing for the magazine, but I have felt that this is my first love.  You guys are like family!!! Well on that note, I'm going to have to stop.  I will be trying to stay in touch with you all.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, busy.

Wooo Hoooo!!!

I don't remember if I told you, but this year, I though the garden was a bust.  At first the crows came and pulled up some of the small seedlings so they could eat the corn or beans they were coming out of.  Smart buggers.  Next, we had our rabbit problems.  They were eating the tops off of our beans as soon as they got their normal leaves on them.  After we put up a rabbit fence, the deer decided it was their turn to torture me.  They jumped my garden fence and ate almost all of my green tomatoes plus, they ate my beans down to the ground.  I just about gave up on the garden all together.  That was, until last night.

I went out to see if we had one, just one tomato for a sandwich.  Not only did I find one tomato, I found a whole bucket full!  Plus a gazillion large green tomatoes coming on!!! The weeds were horrible, but I had tomatoes!  I think the weeds were actually hiding the tomatoes from the deer.  There were no deer tracts in the garden at all.  Well, not any I could see.  There were a LOT of weeds.

Not only did I have tomatoes, but I had beans!  The beans that I thought were being taken over by weeds had decided to fight back.  They had climbed the weeds as if that was what they were there for.  There were bean plants taller than my head and they had a very heavy load of beans on them.  Woooo  Hooooo!!!!  Maybe I won't go hungry this year after all!

Now if I can only find time to pick and can them before the first frost.  Looks like it's time for me to take some time off work again.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, actual gardener.  kind of.....

Oh My!

See these little cuties?  There are actually three of them.  I have waited 5 extra months for them to grow up so that I could breed them. These pictures of when they were one month old.  They are a lot bigger now.

I was going to breed them to this fine looking feller.  You can't tell it in this picture, but he is a solid black New Zealand.  He's a nice big boy.

Well,  today was going to be breeding day.  I put one of the young ones in with the Big Boy.  They went around and around and around.  Then......fur started to fly.  I mean, big tufts of fur.  The young one was tearing fur from the Big Boy.  It went on and on and on.

I had to get them apart!  So I grabbed the young one and got it out of the cage.  As I was holding it, I had a thought.  Maybe I didn't get the sex right with the young ones.  So I looked.  I turned it over and right there in between it's legs were..... Oh My Goodness!!!!  That's not a girl!

I checked another one.  SAME THING!!!  I checked the last one......  I am officially revoking my rabbit sexing license. It was a buck also!  I have waited 5 month and fed these suckers lots of food for nothing!!!!

I guess I'll be having rabbit stew pretty soon.  Back to the drawing board.  Looks like I have to wait another 2 months for my other three young'ens to be old enough to breed.  Don't worry, I checked them again.  Yep, they are does.  Hopefully.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, license revoked

Bad Things And Good Things

Many things have happened since my last post. As you have probably already heard, we here in Blog Land, have lost a real icon of homesteading.  Sci-Fi Chick died.  I'm not going to go into any details.  I'm sure she would hate all of  the attention her death is getting, but I also don't think she realized how much she touched the lives of so many people.  We use to talk a lot in Wolfe's chat room, sometimes way up into the night.  I will miss those chats.  I talked a lot with her and I think we had become friends, at least as close as the Internet would let you.  You will be missed Sci.

Since it has been so long since I have posted on here I thought I would try and catch you up on what has been going on.  We have been really busy around here.  We were given a bunch of corn so we froze a few bags for later.  I just love frozen corn.  It tastes just like fresh picked corn. No canned corn can compare.  If the electric is out for a long while we will keep the freezer going with a generater.  If we can no longer run the gererator, we will be canning some corn really fast. lol. I think the taste of frozen corn is worth the gamble. We froze some of the corn that we grew, wasn't as good as the corn that we were given, but it will work in the middle of the winter.  I think we waited a little too long to pick it.  It wasn't as milky as I like it.  I'm picky.

I have officially signed the contract to be a writer for Molly Green Magazine!!!  I actually have something published on their website!!  I'm soooo excited!!!  I'm talking about Hubby and I trying to eat more organic foods because of his health scare. It's a short article but it's still an article that I wrote, publish by the magazine.  You can read it here.Our Journey To Wellness Begins  Did I tell you that I'm EXCITED!!!!!! LOL!!!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, saddened, yet excited at the same time.

Getting Scary

The garden, this year, is a bust.  Not that things didn't grow.  Ohhhhh noooooo!  Things grew great!  The deer were very happy that my tomatoes grew great!  They thought they were tasty too!  We haven't had one red tomato out of our garden. (not counting the cherry tomatoes) The deer eat them when they are green.  We haven't been able to keep them out of the garden.  The deer also ate the beans.  It's a bad time for us to fail in the garden area.

It's getting scary out there folks.  The world is one big powder keg getting ready to blow.  I feel it could happen at any time.  The things going on over seas are one thing, but the things happening on our own soil is something else.  The "feel" is just not right.  No respect for anyone or anything.  People are not respecting authority and authority is not respecting the people.  It could get ugly.

In fact, I was told by Country Girl, that there are rumors going around about something called a "Purge" here in my own local city.  If you have never heard of this, it's where people will do anything that they want for 12 hours. Looting, stealing, burning, raping, and possibly murder.   It could get bad.  This "Purge" is suppose to happen on the 30th of this month.  We shall see if anything actually happens.

It's times like these, when I hear all of the stuff going on in the world, that I look at how I could improve on being prepared.  I have a job now, so I have to think about what I would do if something happened while I was at work.  I'm sure most people have thought about the same thing.  It's just coming more to the front of our thoughts when we see what's going on in the world.

This makes one wonder, will this ever stop?  Will the powder keg blow?  Or, will things just pass over and go back to where the people can trust one another?  Will it ever get to where the people can trust the government again?  Only time will tell.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, watching

Busy Time Of Year

It's that time of year.  The time of year when we don't even have time to breathe.  Work has been taking up so much more time than I was wanting it to.  I've been working full time but I'm considering going down to part time.  That way I can have extra time to work on the garden, house, and just farm "stuff" in general.

I'm also still working on writing.  I'm just getting the "beginning" of things going on that front.  I'm soooo excited about this opportunity!  It also has put a torch under me to try writing for other magazines.  Why stop with just one???  hehehe.

On another good note, we've been really taking care of our health.  I've had soooo much more energy since I've started eating right and exercising more.  My knees have felt better than they have for years.  Now the challenge is to keep it up. This extra energy is pretty addicting, hopefully I can.

Hubby will be cutting hay this weekend.  Hopefully we will get a few days together that are rain free.  It's not that we've gotten much rain, we need more.  We've been getting just enough to not cut hay.  The weather forecast is for a few dry, sunny days together, so as of right now, hay will be put up this weekend.  We already have it sold so that will be extra cash in the pocket.  And I don't know about you, but I can ALWAYS use more cash. :0)

Hershey, the calf, is growing very nicely.  She's getting bigger and bigger everyday.  That little one is going to be a massive cow.  She has shoulders on her like a bull!  Maybe I should post a picture of her on here again.  I can get much closer to her now.  She's not as scared of us as her mom.  That's a good thing!

I'm also considering getting rid of the rabbits, again.  I keep missing the dates that they need to be butchered and then I end up with gigantic rabbits that are too big and tough to taste real good.  They are costing us more money than they are worth.  Sure, I could raise and sell them, but then I have to have time to put them on the Internet and wait for the buyers to come.  My time, right now, is something that I have to be really picky about.  If it's not something that I REALLY enjoy, I'm not going to mess with it.

I'm actually going to try and cut back on all the stuff we have in the house.  We live in the basement, but we still have a lot of useless stuff that we have brought in.  I mean seriously!!!!  We don't NEED all this stuff!!!!  It's just cluttering up space.  And right now, I enjoy the space more than I enjoy the stuff.   Maybe I should have had this mindset when I was bring all this stuff into the house to begin with.  Oh well, time to start pitching.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, busy

P.s.  I just told my boss that I will be going down to a part time position.

Invasion

These little buggers (or should I say BIG buggers) are taking over my garden.  These are sand hornets or cicada killers to others.  Sure "They" say the sand hornet is docile.  I'm not going to press my luck.  "They" say, that only the female has a stinger.  Once again, not going to press my luck.  I can't even go into my garden to pick vegetables without these things making fly-by passes of my head.  Nope, not gonna press my luck.  These are MY veggies!!!  As much as I don't really want to kill these things, I was told that if I don't, they can take over a garden in no time.  Which they have.  So it looks like we are being invaded, once again, by some sort of pest that I have to fight off for our garden.  It's getting kind of hard to eat from our garden when everything else wants to also.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, hornet killer.

P.s.  That is not me holding that hornet.  That is a picture I took off the net.

I Wasn't Going To Say Anything But.........

I can't keep it in any longer!!!!!!

I'm going to be writing for a great new magazine coming out!!!!!  I'm not going to say the name of it just yet.  I REALLY don't want to jinx myself. lol!    Just in case something happens and it doesn't go through.  But as of right now, everything is going good and I'm going to be signing a contract for them soon.  I. Can't. Wait!!!!  This may not seem like that big of a deal to some, but I've been wanting to write in a magazine ever since high school.  This is a dream come true for me.

Now, I know there are people out there who write for magazines all the time, some have even written full blown books.  Maybe down the road I may, but right now, I'm just basking in the feeling of having my writings published.  I'm sooooo excited!!!

So, that was my big news.  I'll let you all know how things go as they progress along.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, author. (hehehe.  I just love saying that!)

Meet Little Hershey

This is little Hershey.

This was as close as I could get to the cattle for a while.  There are times where I can get real close, but I think they knew that I wanted them to come close.  So of course, they stayed far away for a while.  The black cattle are the ones I can get closer too.  They are newer to the bunch.  One is our breeder bull, the other is going to be relocating to our freezer real soon. He was born last year on the farm.  He's going to be one tasty beef.

Hershey was born around the 4th of July.

So, she's at the age where she's getting a little spunky and likes to kick up her heels.  She's going to be staying around here as a breeding cow.  Hopefully she will be a little easier to tame than her mommy.  Her brother was.  Now if I can just get her to come when I call.  The older cows have lived on the good grass around here for so long, they don't really like sweet feed.  It's hard to convince them to come and try some.  The younger ones will try it so I have been able to get closer to them.  We shall see if I can get them trained to come to my voice.  

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, keeper of the herd

This Means War!

Looks all nice and innocent huh?  That is, until they get in your garden and eat your tomatoes!!!!!  This means war!!!!

 We already have a fence up.  It's made with cattle panels so it's at least 4 1/2 feet tall.  Doesn't event slow them down.  So tonight, Hubby and I are getting some of our old electric fence posts and bringing them out about 5 feet from the panels. Then we are stringing up fishing line.  I've heard that this works.  The deer doesn't see the line and when they get ready to jump the fence, they walk into it and it scares them. Hopefully that will help.  We shall see.

 I'm also going to make us a scare crow.  Well, technically it's going to be a scare deer since we haven't had much problems with the local crows.  I'm going to put aluminum pie pans for the scare deer's hands.  The idea is the wind will blow them and they will scare the deer.  Everyday I'm going out and moving the it to a different spot.  That way, it will keep the deer on their toes/hooves.  I'm not going to have deer ruin our garden that will be our main source of food this coming year.  They have miles and miles of grass and trees to eat from.  They don't have to jump the fence just for MY tomatoes.

If the fishing line doesn't work, I think I'm going to put in a trip wire with bottle rockets attached.  One way or another, these deer aren't getting my tomatoes!!!!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, deer roast anyone?

Good Things

Things have been going good here.  Things are, so far, looking up.  We changed doctors for Hubby.  I don't know about you, but I don't like a doctor that throws pills at you and says, "Take these and come back in 3 months.  If they worked, we know we diagnosed you right."  Uh.....no.  We don't "just" take pills to "see". Anyway, we found another doctor that believes in natural medicine along with modern day medicine.  She also specializes in stomach issues. She is a great find! We got to talking and she informed me that the food that we eat today has caused so many of the health problems that are out there today.  I would love to be able to sit and pick her brain for a few hours, but I'm sure that would be expensive. :0)

We have been trying to eat as much organic food as we can.  It's hard.  I will be the first to say that our diet wasn't the best.  Now we have to change our "tastes" of food.  I've been spending time going over the Internet looking for recipes and such.  Pintrest is a life saver.  With me working, it's also harder to find the time to make the good meals that we need.  I'm having a little problem trying to balance work, farm work, and house work.  I didn't realize how much there is!!!

The garden is starting to produce now.  Lots of cucumbers and peppers.  The cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen also.  The bigger tomatoes are starting to develop nicely.  Hubby put up the rabbit fence around the whole garden yesterday so I'll be able to go in and weed the garden now.  I know that doesn't make since, but I had to keep weeds in my beans to hide them from the rabbits.  If I weeded them, the rabbits thought I was uncovering the beans just for them.  Now that the fence is up, I'll try to make that garden look like it should.  Plus, I can plant more beans and other things for the fall.

I keep having good things to tell you all.  We had a new calf born!  We think it's a heifer.(girl)  She will be a keeper.  No freezer time for her.  With cattle prices being so high, having a heifer born on the farm was good news indeed.  She will, hopefully, give us many years of more calves.  I haven't been able to get too close to her for a picture just yet.  The three older cows that we have are wild.  They won't let us near her.  I promise though, I'll get a good picture and post it on here.  She is the color of a chocolate bar.  We called her Hershey.

Another good thing happening around here....The "dream thing" is coming true.  I wished I could tell you more, but I want it to be official before I can tell you all what it is.  This, keeping it a secret, is driving me CRAZY!!!!!!!!  It's hard for me to keep in good news! Oh well, it will be out soon. I hope.  :0)

Well,  I'm going to get off here and get back to work.  No time to relax around here anymore.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, good news teller and secret keeper.

It Has Begun...

The garden has started to produce!!!  Yay!!!!!  I'm getting hungry just looking at this picture.  No chemicals, just taste.  I can hear the pickles calling my name now.  Yummmmmmm.


The lily pads are putting on a show this year.  They are pretty, but they are also an aggravation. You can't fish without hooking one of them.  Plus, they are so heavily rooted in the pond, you usually end up breaking your line.  Not fun when you have a huge fish on your line.  One of these days we are going to have our pond redone and all of these lily pads will be taken out.  That will be on down the list of things to do.  I just thought I would though you a photo of them.  They are kind of pretty....

As you can tell, our grass is getting a little bit out of hand.  Our lawnmower broke and we haven't had the extra money to fix it.  I'm hoping this weekend we will.  Right now, Hubby has been Bush Hogging the grass with the tractor.It works.  Skeeter has been having an allergic reaction to the tall grass.  Her poor little muzzle will swell up and she starts scratching.  I've been giving her a small dose of Benadryl.  That's what the vet told me to do.  It's kind of funny watching her all drugged out for a couple hours.  She sleeps like a rock too.  Although, she was pretty good at that before the drugs. hehehehe.

Hubby and I have been trying hard to stay on our "organic" diet.  It's not the easiest thing to do.  I keep running out of recipes to make.  Plus, with us being on the go a lot, it's about impossible to just grab something on the run.   And I don't know about you, but I'm not going to spend over a dollar on an organic granola bar that truthfully isn't really all that organic.  It still has things in it that I don't like.  Hey, maybe I'll look up some granola bar recipes.  (smacks head with palm)

I'm also looking for someone who can sell me a herd share on some dairy cattle. This whole "can't sell raw milk" is really ridiculous in my opinion.  I could make butter, cheese, and of course drink the milk if only I could find someone that had some dairy cattle.  So far the only ones I can find are pretty far away.  Of course once I get a barn built, I'll be able to get my own cow, but that could be a few years down the road.  I don't have that much time to wait right now.  We "NEED" our dairy products.  hehe.

 And FYI, just because a food is in the "healthy food" section of the grocery story, doesn't mean it's healthy. I've had to really look at the ingredients of foods.  I've gotten to where if it doesn't have simple ingredients, I'm not going to buy it.  That's why I'm trying to make my own things.  It's actually kind of daunting.  I've got so many things that need to be done now that we are eating this way.  Working on the farm is not making it easier, but at least this way it's giving me a time limit in which I have to get things done.  I won't keep putting it off until "tomorrow".

And to finish out this rambling post, I could possibly have some exciting news to tell you.  I don't want to jinx it and tell everyone about it.  So for now I would really appreciate everyone sending prayers my way that this "thing" will work out.  If it does, it could be a dream come true for me.

So on that note,

Until next time,

Small Farm Girl, dreamer

A Little Bit Of Everything

Things have been going fairly slow here on the farm.  The heat has brought everything, pretty much, to a stand still.  This weekend is suppose to be nice so it looks like hay will be cut and rolled.  Don't plan for parties and such when hay season is upon you.  That's where the old saying, "Gotta make hay while the sun shines," comes from.  

Hubby has been feeling better.  He said that he doesn't get the pains in his stomach as much.  I keep forcing water on him to drink.  He actually says he is craving water now instead of forcing himself to drink it.  It makes it easier on him that way.  We are still going to doctors appointments every now and them.  I think they want to get as much from us as they can.  It's a good thing we have decent insurance.  For that, I'm thankful.

We have been trying to stay away from processed foods as much as we can.  It can get expensive since our garden hasn't really taken off yet. I did get some cucumbers and jalapeno peppers out of it the other day.  I wished I knew we were going to be going through this a head of time, I would have planted so much more.  Some big prepper I am. hehehe.

The rabbits seem to really like getting in the garden and eating the beans, so we have had to put up a smaller holed fence on the bottom of the existing fence that we already had up.  I'm hoping this fence keeps the "garden eaters" at bay.  Nothing more aggravating than something eating your garden, that you have worked hard on, for a few months.  Last night Jack was barking at four deer across the road.  I'm hoping he will keep them away.  He's usually a big chicken unless it's someone or another dog walking the road.  I wouldn't want to come up on him in the dark either. Think Cujo.  hehehe

Almost all of the chickens have graduated to the big house.  We only have 5 Americanas that are still too little to join the crowd.   They are still in the "in between" house.  It won't be long now.  And yes, before you ask, we are still working on the chicken coop.  The coop itself is just about done, the fence is not.  I'm not really worried.  Small Stuff.

The rabbits are getting bigger.  I figured I will be butchering some soon.  Possibly this weekend.  All depends on the hay.  This heat is really hard on them.  They can handle the cold so much better.  I put a floor tile in their cages so that they can lay on it.  The tile usually stays cool.  Plus they like to nibble on it to sharpen their teeth.  I just learned about that little trick this past winter.  We shall see how it works.

I did find a job.  I'm back to working in a salon again.  This one is a little different than the one I was in.  I really like it.  Everyone there is different.  No one is the same.  We also all get a long because of these differences.  It doesn't really seem like work being here with these people.  They also understand that I have  a farm and there may be times I can't come in.  That's a rare gem to find. I hoping that by me working I will be able to keep up with this blog.  In fact, I'm writing this at my desk at the salon.  It may just work out.  I can see the barn going up soon.....Hopefully.

I'll let you know.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, employed.

Trying Organic

Blogger is screwing with my dashboard.  I can't see all of your blogs.  I'm trying to follow on my phone but I won't be able to comment much.  It's kind of hard to comment from my phone.  Oh well, it's all just small stuff. :0)

The heat and humidity have been pretty bad here for the last week.  I'm hoping it cools off so that I can get in the garden without getting up tooooo early.  I like early morning, but, come one, I have my limits.  hehehe.  I'm guess I AM gonna have to start getting up earlier.  That means getting to bed sooner too.  That's fine with me.  I'm not a big night owl.  Although the people I live with (Hubby and Country Girl) are.  Once again, just small stuff.I can't believe how much my out look on life has changed.  Little things don't bother me as much as they use too.  Maybe this health scare was a blessing in disguise.

 After all of this,we have been trying to eat better. Did you realize HOW MANY cookouts happen in summer time? :0)  We are trying though.  Right now, all we can do is eat what little bit we do have canned/frozen from last year's garden.  We still have a small amount of our beef left in the freezer too, but it's getting on the low side.

We have been trying to stay off wheat for a while but it's not going real good.  I thought about trying organic wheat and sugar.  We like our breads and tortillas around here.  If I start making them myself, I'll want to make them with organic flours.  Maybe it's more of the Roundup and such that is causing Hubby's problems.  We'll just have to try different things and see.  It's going to be an interesting time.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Wow! That was a rambling post!!!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, going organic

What I've Learned. And The Results

We went to the doctor's Thursday for the results of the biopsies.  The results.........Still no cancer!  I just love saying that.  We did find out a few more things about what was going on.  Hubby not only had the baseball sized inflammation in his upper bowel, he had a smaller one on his lower bowel.  The doctor said that there were possibly two reasons for this to happen.  One, he has a inflammational bowel disease like Crohns, or two, he wasn't getting enough blood to his bowel because of something like dehydration.

Well, HELLO!!!!  Hubby never drinks water.  He almost ALWAYS drinks either ice tea or coffee.  Both drinks have caffeine, therefore they dehydrate you.  He also works outside in a factory welding and cutting metal.  A hot job!  So that's a good possibility!  Either way, Hubby and I are still happy it's not cancer.  That would take us in a whole new direction.  

The doctor is actually leaning more toward the disease, so he decided that he was going to give Hubby a new med.  This will be like an inflammatory medicine that will stay only in the bowels.  It will not go through his whole system.  We will have to go back to him in three months to see if this is helping any.  Hubby is also suppose to drink lots, and lots of water.  Hopefully this will help out the situation.  We shall see.

During this whole ordeal, Hubby and I had plenty time to talk.  By being faced with a serious illness, we have made many decisions about our lives.  One:  We are going to start taking better care of ourselves.  I know, I know, we should have done this before.  I'm sure you all can relate.  But, we figured we got a second chance and we don't want to throw that away.  We're going to try and eat as much "good stuff" from our garden and pastures instead of buying everything from the store that has been processed or is artificial.  You would think that since we have such a big farm and all, that we would be doing that already.  We weren't.  We liked lunch meat and pre-made granola bars.  We like prepackaged things like sausage and cheese.  Now, we are going to make this stuff ourselves.  We have been trying to go off of wheat, so far, not doing so good.  Maybe if we would go to organic wheat, it wouldn't be so bad.  We shall see.  I'll keep you updated on all of this.

Two:  We are tired of not getting anything done.  Sure Hubby can do a lot of the stuff around the house by himself.  Things like finish the house, build a garage, build a barn, finish the chicken house, and sooooooo much more.  The problem is, TIME.  He works 10 hr days and then on the weekends he just has maintenance stuff to do at the farm.  He doesn't have time to do everything that needs done.  With his job, he makes enough money for us to pay bills, and then we have just a tiny amount left over to buy things like feed and gas.  That won't get things done.  So that brings us to number three.

Three:  I'm going back to work.  I'm going to get a job so that I can make some money so that we can hire these things done.  We are getting at the age where we need to hurry up and do this!  Not getting any younger here!  I'm not working for fun, or to have something to do, I'm working so that we can get some of our infrastructure done around here.  That way, when we DO get older, we will have everything set up to where we (hopefully) won't have to worry about things on the farm.

Four: Stop worrying about the small stuff.  It's no big deal!  You look at things differently when something like this happens in your life.  I really don't care that Hubby smacks his gum when he chews it.  He chews gum because he quit smoking.  Look at the big picture!!!!

Five: We have started going back to church.  You can only imagine all of the "deals" that you will make with God when something like this happens. LOL!  Seriously, there were a lot of people praying for Hubby and I.  I believe that is the only reason that we got good news.  Some of you may have your opinions, and that's fine, but I will also have mine. :0)

The content of this blog may change a little.  I'll still have things about the farm and such, but it may be a little more personal.  Writing this not only let's family members know what's going on, it let's me have a "diary" of sorts, that I can look back on and see where we have come.  Don't worry, I'm not going to get all sappy on you all.  There will still be some of the "crazy happenings", I'm sure.  But I also think that you will get to actually know me and Hubby better.  I think I'm okay with that. I hope you are too.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, getting real

A Long And Life Changing Weekend: Part 3

Sorry I had left you guys hanging like that. lol.  Soooo many things going on right now.

Anyway,  as you would expect, I didn't get much sleep THAT night before the colonoscopy.  We kept waiting on the doctor to get there and start everything.  The nurses said he would be in that morning.  Well, I don't know where you are from, but in my neck of the woods, 4 o'clock pm IS NOT MORNING!!!!  By then, I was about at my wits end and Hubby was getting cranky because he hadn't had anything to eat since Thursday afternoon.  Well, other than blue Gatorade.  (He said he will never drink the stuff again. lol)

Finally the doc came in.  I was on pins and needles.  He was just telling us what he was going to do with the colonoscopy and about the mass that was in the beginning of Hubby colon.  I asked him what he thought and how big it was.  First off, he said it was a pretty good sized mass.  The size of a baseball.  (Oh goodness!)  Then he said he was confused because his blood count was perfect. It didn't show a significant infection. (Uh oh.)  Therefore he was leaning towards some kind of tumor. (NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!)  By that time I kind of went numb.  Colon cancer runs in Hubby's family.  The doctor said they would be coming up to get him and take him down to the procedure room any minute.

When he left, I lost it again.  I cried and cried while laying down and hugging Hubby.  I told him that I could not lose him.  He just laughed.( Like he would always do.)  And told me not to worry.

"Oh sure, no problem!"  "What, me worry? Naaaaaa. Just had something in my eye."  He kept telling me that it wasn't cancer.  "But the doc said........"  He would just shake his head.  I wished that I could be that  optimistic.

Finally they came in and got him for the colonoscopy.  I was trying to take my mind off of it.  Actually, to tell you the truth, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be at that time.  I had asked my mom to put Hubby on the prayer list at church so I knew A LOT of people were praying for him.  Plus, my uncle and aunt put him on their prayer lists at their churches.  I had come to the terms that whatever this was, we were going to try and beat it.  It was the not knowing that was the worst.

I sat there and was watching the preliminaries of the Belmont Stakes Race.  Getting ready to hopefully see a triple crown,(Nope.) when the little nurse from the station came in.

"Ms. Small Farm Girl?"
"Yes?"
"They need you down in the colonoscopy labs."

My heart sank.  Was it that bad?????  They had to have me down there?  Did they find something already?  Oh goodness!!!!

So I followed the small, thin nurse ALL the way across the hospital.  Now this girl had just bagged about running marathons and mud races, so by the time I had followed her to the colonoscopy dept, I was ready to just have them take me to the morgue.  I was huffin and a puffin, let me tell you.  We finally came to the department and had to be buzzed in.  I was a nervous wreck.  They kept talking to me in a hushed voice.  I followed them to where Hubby was laying in a cubical made of curtains all hooked up to machines.  He looked so helpless.  The nurse looked at me and said," Ya, we knew that it was going to be a while, so we thought you might want to come down here and keep him company."

AUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!  I had just about died for nothing!!!!  I had all kinds of horrible things going through my head.  They just about had to call "code blue" on ME!!!!

Hubby, like always, just laughed.  He especially laughed when I told him about how I wanted to trip that little "racer" that brought me down here so fast. lol  Then the nurses started talking about recipes that they were making, and all the food that they were going to be taking to a picnic.  Hubby, who hadn't eaten since Thursday said real loud, " I would kill for a nice juicy steak about now."  The room went silent. LOL!!!!!

Well, they finally came back and got him.  The moment of truth was before us.  I sat there and bounced my knees, I "looked" at Facebook, and sometimes, I just sat and stared.  The nurse kept coming and asking me if I wanted anything to drink.  I do believe if I had taken a drink of anything, I would have thrown up.

The next thing I knew, the doctor came out.  No expression on his face what so ever.  Oh no........  He shook my hand and said,"Ms. Small Farm Girl?"

"Uh, ya."
"It's not cancer."

It's not cancer.
It's not cancer.
One more time, IT'S NOT CANCER!!!!!!!!!!

I started to cry....again.

The doctor said that it looked to be some kind of inflammation.  He took several biopsies of it and was going to send it to the lab, but he said that he had been doing these things for many years and he could just about 100% tell it wasn't cancer.  He even gave me a picture of it.  In my opinion, it didn't look like cancer either.  :0)  He also said it could be something like an autoimmune disorder.   Maybe Crohns Disease.  Don't ask me, I don't really know what that is just yet.  I wanted to wait until we were sure what it was before I started looking things up.  I'm still on cloud nine because it's NOT CANCER!

At this time they were wheeling Hubby back into the room.  He was sleeping so soundly.  They kept trying to wake him up.  I thought, "Let the man sleep!" That's the best sleep he's had since he's been in the hospital. I was sitting there listening to him snore and pass gas.  It was the best sound in the world. (Ask me that in a few months and I'll denigh I ever said that.)  I was, at this time, still crying and laughing.  The nurse came and asked if I was okay. "These are happy tears!"  She just smiled and handed me a box of tissues and once again tried to wake Hubby.

By the time we got him "awake" and up to his room, he had asked me 5 times how things went.  And I told him and showed him the pictures each time.  I didn't care, IT WASN'T CANCER.

Hubby was let go from the hospital later the next evening.  They pumped him full of many rounds of antibiotics.  I asked him if he felt like a Tyson chicken. hehehehe  He feels much better now. He even rolled hay for our neighbor this past weekend.  He still gets a small twinge in his side every now and then, but we have another appointment with the doctor this coming Thursday.  Prayers would be appreciated at that time.  We will be narrowing down what the cause of all of this is.

In my next post, I'm going to be telling how all of this has changed our lives.  And it has!  BIG TIME!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, IT'S NOT CANCER

A Long And Life Changing Weekend: Part 2

I last left you after the lightning had hit our chimney and zapped a few of our appliances.  I was feeling kinda down.  I didn't have the extra money to replace them.  So Thursday I was kind of moping around feeling sorry for myself.  Hubby texted me and said he didn't feel good. Great!  For about a month now, Hubby had been having a "pain" in his side.  He said that it felt like someone was sticking a screwdriver between the lower ribs on the right side.  His back has also really hurt him.  So much so, he couldn't finish rolling hay for our neighbor. (He must really be hurting if he couldn't help someone.) But, Hubby has a bad back so we didn't really think much of that.

Anyway, when he came home Thursday complaining of not feeling well, I really didn't think much about it.  I mean, come one,  suck it up!  Your just being a big baby! (Women, you know what I'm talking about..... ;0)  Well, after he ate half of his bowl of chicken noodle soup, he checked to see if he had a fever.  He did!  It was 102.2.  He wasn't being a baby!  He was sick!  Instantly, I thought of the pain he was having in his side It could be something more than just his back being out of joint.  I told him we are going to the hospital.  We got in the car and I drove him to the urgent care.

Luckily we didn't have to wait long.  They took him back to see if they could help.  After the doctor checked him out, he decided that he needed a CT scan.  To do this, they would have to transport him to the bigger hospital in another city.  They were going to admit him.  WOW.  Poor guy was really sick.  I felt like such a horrible wife...... I didn't believe he was actually sick when he told me.

We waited about an hour for the hospital to find us a room and then they transported him there.  Hubby felt a lot better by that time because they had given him some "feel good" meds.  Of course the two pretty EMTs  that were transporting helped him too, I'm sure. :0)  By the time we arrived it was around Midnight.  I had to arrange for someone to take care of our animals plus make sure we had things that we needed at the hospital.  Luckily Country Girl offered to do the animals and bring us up necessities.   She's such a good young lady.

They told us as soon as we arrived in our room, that Hubby would be given something so they could do a CT scan of his abdomen.  I didn't taste the stuff, but Hubby acted like they were killing him just by making him drink it. lol.  He had to drink it every 1/2 hr before they could do the CT scan.  This kept us up all night.  They finally done the scan around 5 in the morning. Later on that morning, the dr came in to give us the news.  There was something, "Just not right," about the picture.  There was something there, but he couldn't make it out.

With that information, the small ball of fear that was in the pit of my stomach, started to become bigger.  I instantly started to think of cancer.  Colon cancer runs in his family and I have been nagging him about getting a colonoscopy.  I started to think that if I would have just made him go get one sooner maybe we wouldn't be here right now.  I was fighting back tears all day.  Now, the doctor did say that it could be something else like an infection or a blockage, but if you are like me, you always think the worst.

I call my mom and dad and tell them the better diagnosis, diverticulitis, something he ate, or my favorite, a big  poop. They come up and visited and that did make things feel a little better.  Hubby didn't really want them there, in fact, he didn't want ANYONE there.  The nurses were giving him "stuff" to "clean him out".  Hubby said that he would never drink another blue Gatorade again. lol.  They were putting the "stuff" in the Gatorade for him to drink.  But anyway, Hubby couldn't get very far from the bathroom and he didn't want people there to watch his, um, "problem".  So, Mom and Dad didn't stay long.  I told them I had to go home and check on things and get us a few items that we needed.

It was later on in the afternoon when Hubby spiked another fever.  The nurse came in and gave him some more meds and informed us that since he had another fever, they were going to do another CT scan for the new doctor that was coming in that weekend.  Hubby had to drink some more NASTY stuff.  We waited and waited.  FINALLY they came and got him for the CT scan. I was hoping beyond all hope, that the "mass" was gone.  This is the first time in my life I was hoping for poop.  When they brought him back to his room, they told us that the doctor would be tomorrow to give us the information we needed.

I decided that I would go and check out the house and get more things for us.  When I pulled into the driveway, I lost it.  I mean I LOST IT!  I sobbed.  And I'm not a crier.  I called my mom.  I couldn't even get any words out I was crying so hard.  Mom and Dad came over I just hugged them and cried. And cried, and cried.  I cried about things that I hadn't cried about for years.  I just couldn't be strong anymore and I cried some more.  I was so scared. I know the doctor hadn't said the "C" word just yet, I just KNEW!!!!!  I couldn't think of anything but losing my husband.  It still scares me now just thinking about it.

Mom and Dad helped me do a few things around the house that night and they said they would take care of the animals the next morning.  That really took a weight off of my shoulders.  I couldn't have made it through this without them.  Plus, it's nice to be able to just cry.  Like I said, I'm not a crier.  I HATE to cry.  I have always thought of crying as a sign of weakness.  Even when I would go to funerals, I wouldn't cry.  My Dad goes to a Memorial Day celebration for veterans every Memorial Day.  I won't go because I know I'll cry.  I avoid things that make me cry.  Now you understand what I'm talking about when I say that me crying like this was a big thing.

After a shower and packing a few things, Mom and Dad went home and I had to go back up to the hospital.  I was SO TIRED.  I hadn't slept in over 1 1/2 days.  I was sleep deprived drunk.  I'm glad I wasn't pulled over.  I do believe I ran a couple red lights on the way.  But, I'm glad I went back.  When I got back, Hubby had spiked another fever. Another big one.  I went to the nurses desk and told them.  They came back, gave him meds, and then it came down fast.  They couldn't do that colonoscopy fast enough for me.  They said the doctor will determine if they were going to do it next day.

I'll tell you the end tomorrow.  I'll also tell you how all of this has changed in my life.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, crier.

A Long And Life Changing Weekend: Part One

I don't even know where to begin when it comes to writing this post.  I have so much to say.  So much in fact, I'll probably break it up into a few posts.  Anyway, I may tell too much about our life, but I feel this story has to be told.  I don't want to sugar coat it or hide how I was feeling just so this will be a good read.  I'm going to tell the whole ugly, raw, story.

First off, Wednesday morning started out like any other day here at the farm.  It was hot and muggy but they were calling for thunderstorms that would cool things off.  Around noon, Country Girl (formally known as Glamour Girl), called me up saying that there was a tornado warning.  She was at collage in her car, and didn't know what to do.  I checked the radar and told her to come on home, she could beat the storm here.  And she did.  We sat and watched the storm go through.  No tornado.  We were happy about that.  About the time the next storm hit, Jack had tried to get underneath the window air conditioning unit and knocked it to the ground.  Country Girl and I went out in the pouring rain trying to lift it back up into the window.  It was raining so hard the water was pouring off the roof and hitting us right on top of the head.  Neither one of us could see because of the water in our eyes.  We were laughing, it was horrible that the air conditioner was probably broke, but what else can you do when something like that happens.

After we finally got it back into the window, we run back into the house.  As we turned around and looked, Jack had somehow sneaked into the house behind us.  Nothing like having a sopping wet, heavily shedding, St. Bernard running through your house.  We yelled at him and he runs into my bedroom.  Ugh!!!!  We run in there to get him out.  CG grabs his collar and he sets down.  I push from behind.  He is scooting across the concrete floor leaving a BIG wet, hair trail, behind. We finally get him outside and we turn around.  It looks like a giant indoor slip-and-slide with hair.  Ugh!  I'm in the middle of making dinner so CG grabs old towels and wipes it up.   I'm glad I have her here.

Then after Hubby comes home and we are sitting around eating fajitas, we tell him about how we think the air conditioner is broken.  By the time we tell him the story, we hear a big SNAP!  We see sparks coming out of our chimney!  It looks like someone put off a fire cracker inside our house!  Our chimney had been hit by lightning!!!!!!! We race outside to see if it had hit the house.  It hadn't, but the chimney was lightly smoking.  Then we realize that we are standing in the middle of a lightning storm. SMART!  We run back inside.  We start looking at all of our electrical things.  It zapped our phone, t.v., the brooder light for the chicks, and the most important thing of all, my new dishwasher.  AUGHHHHH!!!!!!  We haven't had this dishwasher more than 6 months.  My first dishwasher too!  I was in love with it.  Oh well, I guess it could have been worse.  It didn't burn down the house.  But at the time I asked myself, can it get any worse?  Just so you know, don't ever, EVER, EVER ask that question.  Because, it will.  And it did.......... Life changing events.

I will leave you there in suspense.  Plus,  I really want to figure out HOW I'm wanting to tell this story.  It's a very important story for me to tell.  I don't ever want to forget it.  I don't think I ever will.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, changed.

Plantings

This past weekend was a busy time.  Of course, spring is always a busy time for homesteading.  Luckily (or unluckily, depends on how you look at it.), we don't have to worry about goats having babies this year.  I miss the bouncing babies, but I don't miss the part where I worry myself to death.  I always worried when it come to the goats giving birth.  We've never had a problem, other than a couple kids needing selenium, but they usually came out of the "weak knees" syndrome in a day or so.  I knew if I kept the goats any longer, I would be pushing my luck.  It would be bound to happen sooner or later.

Hubby and I also put in our garden.  We went out early in the morning, worked until the sun started to get more direct, then went out later on in the day when it was going down.  We planted 8 different types of tomatoes, two long rows of corn,(We will wait another two weeks and then plant some more.) three different types of beans, cucumbers, summer squash, two different types of hot peppers, (Thanks Catherine for getting me hooked on the peppers.) and sunflowers.  I'm probably missing something. I just can't think of it right now.  We plan on maybe planting some more things as the year goes on.  Things like beets, turnips, and maybe some onions.  Those will have to wait just a little bit later. Last year I was talking about doing a container garden.  Well, I didn't get many containers.  Plus, I couldn't pass up all the free space we have for a garden.  Sure, it's not exactly what I want, but it will work for now.  I haven't convinced Hubby of the wonders of the raised bed garden,yet.  He thinks if he can't get a tractor in it, then it won't work.

I DID convince Hubby into letting me plant trees.  In fact, he said I could plant as many trees as I want!  I'm gonna make it a forest around here!!!! hehehehe  I just LOVE trees.  There is something about trees that make a house a home.  I may change my mind when I have to mow around all of them, but I doubt it.  We shall see.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, planter

Bye,Bye Black Snake

I was sitting out in the shade this morning working on my lap top and drinking some sweet tea, when all of a sudden the most awful racket was coming from over across our pond.  I could see two red wing black birds diving down at something.  I was thinking maybe a frog or a mouse that they were trying to catch.  Then I noticed that something was jumping up at them, trying to get to them.  I went in for a closer look. This is what I found.

It was getting in the bird's nest and eating their babies.  When I got there, there was one in the snake's mouth.  Let's just say, it didn't get to enjoy it's meal.  I know your not suppose to kill these big black snakes, I know they are great for rodent control and all, but I enjoy my birds a lot more than I enjoy the snakes.  So one of them had to go.  I picked the scaly thing. He was getting a little too close to the "teenage" chicks for my taste anyway.  So bye,bye, black snake.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, baby bird saver

P.S.  Before you start making comments about why I shouldn't have killed the snake and should have "rehomed" it, go find your own black snake to rehome.  This one is dead. End of story. 

Monday, Uh, Tuesday Rambings

Instead of a nice picture of my garden full of vegetables, I have to post a picture of my pond.  Mainly because there are no vegetables in my garden.....yet.  We have been having a hard time getting the plants in the ground.  We have them, they are nice a big, but, we just haven't put them in the dirt.

One of the reasons is I found out that this blood pressure medication that they have me on makes me sick to be outside in the sun for too long.  I'm not talking just a little bit, I'm talking SICK!  I burn just looking at the sunshine now.  Not fun....   Hubby has either been working or has been laid up with back problems.  I'm telling you folks, it's not fun getting old.  I think we have decided that we are going to put in the garden when the sun goes down. We still have time.  I think I'm going to have to become a vampire. 

Anyway, I have been sitting in the shade for a few days (I still get a sun burn if I'm not careful)  watching the "teenage" chickens.  These things grow up real fast.  I'm thinking of introducing them to the big chickens tonight.  They have become a small nuisance around here.  The are eating my flowers and herbs, pooping on my chair and table, and our one rooster that came with the bunch has decided that his only job in live, is to torment Skeeter.  Skeeter is not  amused.  It's kind of funny watching these chickens though.  They think they have to run everywhere they go.  They can't just slowly walk.  It's all go or no go.  They can be standing in one spot after they ran there from across the yard, and just fall down, asleep.  Entertainment right there folks!!!  Why would anyone want to go to the movies when they can watch these chickens?

Speaking of entertainment, this past Saturday Hubby and I, along with my mom, dad, sister, BIL, and of course my little niece, went to a get together at an old mom and pop store just down the road a bit.  They had bluegrass music being played by some of the locals, my dad being one of them.  It was a nice time for all.  There were hot dogs and potluck to eat. As we were eating, we sat on a blanket under a nice shade tree.  There was a slight breeze blowing and it felt like heaven.  It was right them and there I decided I was going to get some trees planted in our yard.  We built our new house in the middle of a  pasture field, so there wasn't any trees.  Everyone needs a good shade tree to sit under!!!! So as I am making my map of our farm, (I'm still drawing it up)  I'm going to figure out where to put some good old fashion shade trees. I think somewhere close to where I want to sit for the rest of my life. :-) 

That's all I have for now.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, shade tree lover.

Copywrite May, 2014