Things Are A Growin (picture heavy)

Look who we found!!!!  Ya, he's looking a little ashamed.  He let a small, little beagle tail lead him into temptation.  And, five or more miles from the house.  That's right, at least 5 miles from the house!  He should look ashamed.....

When we got him back, he didn't act the same to me.  His innocence most be gone.  He doesn't listen to me as closely as he use to and if you watch him long enough, you will see him look longing into the horizon.  I just hope he's not looking for that beagle.  Oh well, we at least have him back.  He doesn't know it yet, but he has a appointment with the vet in the near future. Snip, snip.

As I'd promised you, I've some pictures of the things growing around the farm.  The chicks were moved from inside the house,(thank goodness) to outside in their little brooder.  At first they didn't know what to think.

 "What IS this green stuff.  And who turned on that BIG light?"

Slowly a few brave souls ventured out into the big world.  Well, at least their bigger world.

Soon they were all enjoying the sun and green grass.  This is not all of the 17 that we have.  The others were still "chicken" on coming out.

And not to be outdone, this is our New Zealand Black buck rabbit.  He sure is a pretty thing.

This is our new Champagne D'Argent/New Zealand mix.  I'm thinking they are all does, but at this stage in life, it's hard for me to tell 100% .  I'm pretty sure they are though.  Either way, they will get used.  Either breeders or eaters. lol

Right now they are just so darn cute.

And while I was out taking pictures of the animals, I thought I would throw in a few shots of the farm and the trees and grass coming alive.

 

This is our back field.  We mostly cut hay off of it.  But in the fall, we let the cattle and horses back there to clean it up for us.  That little tuft of weeds back there is around a small pond.

I just love how everything looks so green this time of year.

This is a picture of behind our barn.  We let the cattle and horse roam this part all of the year.  There is a spring down in the hollar that has never gone dry.....yet.

So that's what's going on around here on the farm right now.  The dog is back, the chickens are growing, the rabbits are growing, and the grass is growing.  All is good in the world.

So until next time.

Small Farm Girl, blessed

Gone

I was going to put some pictures on here, of cute little rabbits that we bought this weekend.  But instead, I'm writing a sad post.  Our St. Bernard is missing.  Gone. Out-a-here.  No where to be found.  He possibly found a girl friend somewhere and will be back in a few days, but when it comes to big dogs like that, it's unlikely he will be back.  People are scared of big dogs and have a tendency of shooting them. What's weird is, he never left my side before.  When my little dog was in heat last week, he still would make the rounds with me on the farm.  That's why I'm wondering if someone didn't pick him up.   I'm going to give him a few days to come back.  If he hasn't come back by then, I'll have to look for another dog.  We need one here on the farm.  A farm dog is very important.  It keeps coyotes and stuff away from the livestock.  This time though, if I have to get another farm dog, I'm getting something smaller.  Any suggestions?

Until next time,

Small Farm Girl, dogless,

P.s.  Don't take this post the wrong way.  I'm still looking for Jack.  I'm just being realistic.

Going's On

I'm still here.  I promise.  I've been trying to catch up on my house and farm work.  Glamore Girl (Hubby's daughter) has decided to move back in with us.  She lived with us for a few months back when she was in the eighth grade.  She's now in nursing school with only 1 1/2 years to go.  She moved in with us because it's calm and peaceful here.  I'm glad she feels that way.  It'll be nice to have her here.  She's a wonderful young lady. So with her coming to live with us, she brought many boxes full of clothes and personal things.  We had to do a bit of rearranging with furniture and such, but all will be okay.  Now I just have to clean up the mess. lol.

Speaking of mess, these chickens in the house are driving me crazy!!!! They are loud, they eat a lot, and they STINK!  Oh, how I can't wait until they are put out into their growing pen.  We've had them in the house this long because it's been pretty cold around here the last few days.  After this cold snap, they're going out!

I'm still looking for rabbits.  For some reason there's a shortage of them around here.  Why?  I have no idea.  Before, rabbits were EVERYWHERE.  The people who normally have rabbits are low on their numbers too.  I don't know if it's because of Easter or if people are finally seeing how great rabbit meat is to eat.  I'm wanting a certain type of rabbit, so I'm being a little picky.  That's okay, I'm going to get what I want sooner or later.

Things are starting to bloom and show a bit of life around here too.  I'll go and get some good pictures of it in the next few days.  Things are starting to look up.  Although, the Farmer's Almanac is calling for a hot and dry summer.  As long as the humidity is down, that shouldn't be that big of a problem.  We have decided we are going to water our garden from the creek that is just over the hill.  We have access to a big tank and pump.  I'm going to have tomatoes this year or else! lol.

That's what's been keeping us busy around here lately.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, uhhhhh, I got nothing here.

Ramblings

Well, the steroids are starting to wear off.  My knee isn't as bad as it was. I do feel better, but not as good as I did while taking the steroids.  Now I know why some people can get hooked on drugs.  I'm back to feeling like I don't want to do anything again.  Not really lazy, just like I don't have the energy to do anything.  I didn't realize how bad this feeling was until I took the steroids and saw how good I felt then. Now I have something to compare it with.

So now, I'm on a mission to feel better.  I'm not sure how, but I want that energy back.  I want to feel better again.  But this time, I want to do it the natural way.  I've heard it said that exercising gives you energy but what happens if you don't have the energy to exercise? lol. Don't worry, I'm not going to turn this into a "exercise blog".  I was just telling you how things were around here.  Now back to the regular scheduled programing......

We got a lot accomplished this weekend.  We moved dirt in front of our house.  It used to be sloped the wrong way so that when it rained, water would pool in front of the house.  We almost had a moat. lol.  Skeeter had to put on scuba gear just to go outside and do her business.  Buy the way, a wiener dog in a wet suit is a sight to be seen. hehehehehe.

So, me and Hubby decided we were going to start on it.  We have been putting it off for a few years now  but this year, I was wanting a nice place to sit and enjoy a morning tea and maybe do more blogging outside.  I love sitting outside and if I have a nice place on top of that?  Wow, I would be in heaven.  As soon as I get it done, I'll take pictures and show you.  I'm really proud of how it's turning out.  I just wished I had taken some before pictures.  Oh well, at least you'll be able to see the end results.

This coming weekend we plan on putting some time into the chicken coop.  The little peeps that I have in the house are gonna need a place soon and we are going to have a part of the coop just for small chicks.  I can't wait.  These things are starting to stink up the house.  Although, they are fun to watch.

I also sold all of my rabbits this weekend.  No, I'm not giving up on my rabbits.  I'm just getting younger ones.  The ones I had were getting up there in age and I'm tired of "breeding" them and not getting litters.  So, I'm starting new.  Hopefully I'll be able to find some juniors and won't have to wait too long to get them bred.  I'm needing some rabbit meat!!!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, rambler

Oh, To Have A Cat's Life

Too Stubborn For My Own Good

Sometimes being stubborn is a good thing.  Sometimes being stubborn is a bad thing.  This time it was a dumb thing.  For three years now, I've had knee problems.  Some days I couldn't even stand for more than 3 mins.  It was excruciating getting out of bed in the morning.  And if I didn't sleep "just right", my knee would wake me up in the middle of the night screaming for relief.  I've mentioned my knee a few time to my Dr, but I've always told him it would be fine.  I just need to take some more aspirin or ibuprofen.  For 3 years I've not been able to walk up to do the feeding of the animals without riding my four wheeler up the small hill to where they were.  I couldn't hardly get out of the truck at times because I knew when I'd slide down to the ground (Its a tall truck), I'd feel a stab of pain in my knee and possibly go to the ground myself. For three years, I put my farm life on the back burner because I couldn't do anything.  It's one of the many reasons I sold my goats.  It wasn't fair for me to have animals that I couldn't take care of.

The Dr. prescribed me some steroid pill to take.  Me being stubborn, I refused to take them.  I don't like taking pills if I don't really have to.  I would be fine.  Well, it got to where I really couldn't do anything.  I had gained MANY pounds, my back started hurting, my other knee started hurting. I was going down hill fast because of lack of activity.  But, I couldn't help it.  I COULDN'T do anything.

Last weekend was the last straw.  I was standing in Lowe's with Hubby picking out things for our house and I had to leave and go sit in the truck.  I couldn't stand and look and I could hardly walk.  Plus, I had to go grocery shopping after that.  After grocery shopping, I barely got through the line before I was almost crying with pain.  At that moment I decided I wasn't going to live like this.  I didn't want Hubby taking care of me like I was an invalid at the age of 41.  I didn't care what I had to do, I was going to do something.  So to begin with, I would take the steroids that the Dr. prescribed to me.

So on day one of the steroids, I was to take 2 pills before breakfast, then one after lunch, one after dinner, and then 2 before I went to bed.  Then I  was suppose to gradually decrease the amount of pills per day until I was done.  Well, after the first 2 pills,  I felt sick.  I means pukey sick.  I'm not one to get sick to my stomach, so this was horrible to me.  I thought I had made a mistake.  What had I done?  I sat down and wished this feeling to go away.  Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out, for about half an hour.  Then............

I felt WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!  No more pain!!!!!!!!!  My knees quit hurting!!!!!!!!  My back felt better, my legs quit hurting, and I felt years younger!!!!! What WAS this wonderful feeling?  I hadn't been without pain for so long it felt strange, but yet, wonderful.  I keep using that word. Yes, it means what I think it means. (hehehe) But that's the only way I can describe how I feel.  The next pill was the same but the sickness didn't last as long.  I still felt wonderful.

I'm on day 4 of the pills.  I've lost 5 lbs just because of all the stuff I've been doing.  I'm hoping this feeling is permanent.  I hope I don't go back to the way it was.  If I do, I might just have to check out the black market for steroids. lol.  Okay, I won't go that far, but I do know that I can feel better now.  I know that the pain is not the way that I have to live.  Would I have liked to do it the natural way, yes.  But sometimes, you just have to do what you have to do.  I also know now, not to be so stubborn.  Sometimes the Dr. does know what he's talking about.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, pain free, finally

Burning The Fields

Yesterday was warm and the wind was not blowing too much.  Perfect for burning the fields.  We started around the pond.

 
Sometimes the wind would pick up a bit and the fire looked a little scary.

We burn the fields so that the ashes from the old grass will put nutrients back into the soil.

It may look all black and chard right now, but in a couple weeks, it will be greener than the parts that we

 haven't burned.

Hubby had his eye on the situation.  If it got out of hand, he would get his tractor and put it out.  In fact, when we started to burn the field across the road, the wind DID pick up and he had to get the tractor and scraper blade to put it out.  I called Phelan's Husband to see if he could come up and be another set of eye to help watch the fire.  I like having extra help "just in case."  All went well.

This is our new outside cat, Gypsy.  She just wondered in.  Now if you look at that big belly, you can see she's going to have a litter of kittens.   As the fire was going, she was checking out the the brush looking for mice.

She's a good hunter.

And of course, Skeeter kept her eye on things too.  We all felt so much safer. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, fire watcher.