So, So, Much

So many things going on this time of year.  With the usual farm stuff and then Christmas on top of that, it's been busy.  Then, this past week and a half, we have been hammered.  There have been two deaths in our extended families.  One on Hubby's side, and one on mine.  Funerals are hard around the holidays.  Funerals are hard ANY time of year.

Then as all of that was going on, Chassis came down with Parvo.  It was horrible.  That poor dog was miserable.  She had to stay 3 days at the vet's.  So much for money for Christmas presents.  Well actually, I took some of the money I had back to finish the Sherri Shack to pay for her vet bills.  I'm glad we had it held back, but now I have to come up with money to fix the Shack. It's just been hard.  We are keeping an eye on Holley hoping she won't come down with it too.

I haven't had much time to write on here, as you can probably see.  We have been going one day at a time.  Still soooooo much to do.  I haven't even began decorating for the Christmas, but I will.  I really want to this year.  So instead of getting ready to decorate, I'm here. hehehehe.

Oh well, I thought I'd catch you all up on a few things.  I haven't disappeared off the face of the Earth, yet.  I was going to say the posts may be farther apart, but that's pretty much how they've been anyways.  Hopefully we will get everything back on track.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl

Goodbye Jack...

I hate to write this post.  I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.   But......
We have to rehome Jack.  We have tried for 3 years to keep him from killing our chickens, but it's just not working.  We have even put the chickens behind a fence reinforced with cattle panels and he got in and killed them.  HE BENT THE CATTLE PANELS to get in and kill the chickens!!!!!!  He has cost us more money and more time than any other animal on the farm.  He has to go.

 We found him a home a few miles away from us.  He will be living with a military vet and his wife and kids (which he loves).  They live up a holler where there is no traffic.  This is good because Jack had gotten to where he was running after certain cars that would go down the road. He would have gotten hit here sooner or later.  His new family also has 77 acres of land that he can run on. That's more than what he has here too.

I'm going to miss him.  He really was a good dog to me.  He guarded me like it was his job, which it was.  Now he has another family to guard.  A family that doesn't have chickens, and a family that has children that he can play with.  I know it will be an adjustment, but Jack loves EVERYBODY (especially kids) so I know he will be fine.  Actually, he will probably be more than fine. He will love his new home.

With us living on a farm, we will need an outside dog.  I don't know if we will use one of the Aussies as an outside dog, or get another dog.  If we get another one, we'll go to the dog pound and get one.  We think a pound dog makes the best dogs.  We have gotten them there before.  We usually get an older one because we know that an older dog doesn't have a huge chance of someone taking him home.  And, what dog wouldn't want to live the rest of its life on a farm?  

We had tried everything so that we could have kept Jack.  I didn't want him to have to live his life on a chain or in a small kennel.  I like him too much for that.  Although it's not easy for me, I know this is what's best for everyone.  We had planned on getting a good flock of chickens soon.  I know that if he had killed them, we would have done something in anger and I don't want that.  Once again, I think we are doing the best thing.  It's still not easy.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, feeling low.

P.s.  Please no negative comments or telling us what we "should have done." We have tried EVERYTHING.

Busy November

Once again we have been very busy around the farm.  I feel like I've been neglecting this blog.  Don't worry friends, I don't plan on leaving it.  I love writing on here and love to have your comments and feedback.  Hopefully things will start slowing down soon.  But, we are getting such great weather for it being the last part of November, it's hard NOT to do stuff around the farm while we have the chance.

This is one thing that's been going on.  It's deer season!  

And as you can tell, Hubby had filled our freezer.   This was a nice one!  I'm so proud.  He shot it from 200 yards in our back field.  He's an awesome shot!

This chickens seem to be liking their coop. Now the problem is they have Dry Pox.  It's like Chicken Pox for, well, chickens. Hubby and I are thinking real seriously about just starting over with new chickens.  Butchering these chickens, (Don't worry, we aren't going to eat them.) cleaning out the coop with bleach, and just starting the flock over. 

We're thinking about getting good young chickens that are not just the random batches that we normally get.  I'm done with that.  I think we're getting a deal and they turn out to have something wrong with them.  Nope, we are going right to the source and getting them from the hatchery.  Since we have a place to put them now and keep the dogs away from them, they should last longer than a couple weeks. lol.  Here's hoping huh. 

We are still working on The Sherri Shack.  It's coming along slowly.  Hubby is allergic to insulation so I've been putting up what I can.  On days that my back and knees aren't hurting I go out and put some up.  I'll tell you now, I'm not as good as he is, or as fast.  But, I'll get there.

I'm hoping to be on here again before Thanksgiving, but if I'm not, I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, busy on the farm

The Long Awaited Chicken Coop

It's done!  Well, almost.  I still have to paint it and we still want to put a fence up.  We have it now so that the chickens can go into the garden.  Hey, they can eat the leftovers and fertilize the place all at the same time.  Works for me!

Isn't it cute!!!

Hubby just bent the cattle panel around into the garden.  We have rabbit wire on the bottom of the panels so it works nicely.  We like to have the chickens to be able to get under the building.  That way they can get out of the sun and still enjoy some nice breezes.  I am still planning on getting some boards down and the fence nailed to them so that the fence around the bottom is sturdier. We don't want anything getting in that way.

See those posts back there?  That's where the back of the permanent fence is going to be.  Those chickens sure are going to have a nice big space.

Hubby designed the coop so that we don't have to go inside to collect the eggs.  Good idea Hubby!!!

The chickens really seem to like it!  I will make a suggestion here, if you are ever going to build a chicken coop, put linoleum down on the floor.  It makes clean up sooooo much easier.  Just sweep it all out.  No sticking poop on the floor.

You may also notice that there isn't very many chickens in this coop.  If you'll remember, we had bought about 24 chickens just a few weeks ago.  Well, Jack decided that once again he was going on the rampage.  We had had enough.  We were either going to give him away, or fix the coop.  As you can see, every one wins.  And from the looks of it, everyone is happy.  All of the many roosters anyway.  I think I see chicken dinners in my future.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, chicken coop owner.

Chickens

We've been having chicken problems lately.  We keep having chickens "disappear."  Yes, we could finish the coop and put them in there, but I really like free range chickens and we have sooooo much other things to do right now before winter.  Hubby did catch a young possum eating one of the chickens the other night.  Needless to say, we won't be having problems from him anymore.  But, we still came up one missing chicken last night.  It could be a raccoon, another possum, or even the hawks that we have flying around here.  I still haven't put it past dogs.  We are keeping watch closely.
We will find out it is and catch it.

 Well, we had gotten all the way down to only 3 hens and 2 roosters. (Why are the hens always the ones that are killed?) This past weekend, after only having 3 eggs for our breakfast, I started looking on Facebook livestock sites.  Chickens were going for $10-$15 a piece!  Even for VERY young ones.  I noticed on one post where this person commented wanting to trade his chickens for something.  I messaged him and asked if he would like to sell his chickens.  He did, but I would have to take them all.  24 chickens for a VERY cheep price. Yes sir!  

The chickens were a mixture of ages.  I don't think any were over the age of 2 yrs though.  Some haven't even started to lay yet. He also had 6 roosters with them. That helped me out because I was at the point were I was having to buy chicken broth.  NO MORE!  Wooo  Hooo!!  I see some good chicken and dumplins in my future.  Some of the roosters are young so I'll be able to have a good sized roasted chicken for Thanksgiving.  We aren't big fans of turkey around here.  We do like our chicken though.  

The hens haven't started laying yet, well, at least where I can find the eggs.  I figured between them molting, changing locations, and the shorter days, we wouldn't be getting a lot right now.  They will come into it soon, I hope.  I refuse to buy store eggs.  EEEEEWWWWW.   Plus our neighbors will be a lot happier when they can get our good farm eggs too.

Early next spring, I'm hoping to put some eggs in the incubator and see what we get.  Hens or roosters will help us out.  I tired of spending money on chickens that we can raise ourselves. I'm also tired of spending money on store bought meat.  I'm just waiting for it to all be recalled.  Everything else is.....

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, chicken farmer.

A Fail And A Win

I took this photo with my phone. Not in focus....

I tried my hand at making apple cider vinegar.  Truthfully it would have worked but for one small detail that I didn't do.  You see, to make apple cider vinegar, you take some apples,(duh) or apple peels and cores, put them in a non-reactive container.  I used my new fancy, dancy fermenting crock.  You cover the peelings and cores with water, stir it around once a day for three days, and then let the concoction sit for about three months.  Waa Laa, apple cider vinegar.  Just strain and put into containers.  

Sounds easy right?  Well, I left out one small detail.  When you put the apples and water into the container, you have to cover it well with a tea towel.  Then put a rubber band around it so that fruit flies wouldn't get in.  Yep, forgot the rubber band part.  I went and checked on my apple cider vinegar about two months into the process and YEEEEEEWWWW.  A swarm of fruit flies flew into my face.  Also, inside the container was a gazillion baby fruit fly maggots.  Double ewwwwwwww!

Well, I went and dumped the mess over the hill because it wasn't going to do me any good. When I came back into the house, you could hardly breath because of all the fruit flies flying around.  It would have made a great horror film.  Death By Flies.  Anyway, now I had to come up with a way to get rid of all those stupid flies, and I think I did a really good job.

I took a mason jar and put a couple inches of apple cider vinegar in it.  I knew those flies loved that stuff.  Then I made a funnel that fit down into the jar and came just above the vinegar.  The dumb little flies could get in, but they couldn't get out.  I bet I had hundreds of those little suckers in that jar in less than and half an hour.  No more breathing flies!   

I may have failed at making the vinegar, but I sure did make a nice fly trap.  I guess you win some and ya lose some.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl,  fly catcher. 

Back In Business

The last month I've been having problems with my computer.  It was very slow and kept kicking me off the Internet.  At this point I was ready to get the ole hammer and chisel out and start chiseling.  It would have been faster than what my computer was going.

Anyway, a good friend asked when was the last time I done updates?  Ummm, updates?  I may be able to write on this blog, but it doesn't make me a computer genius.  In fact, I think any three year old would know more about computers than I do. So my friend scanned my computer and found that I had over 19 updates that needed to be done.  Well, huh.  To make a long story short after my computer updated all night long, I'm back to business.  Woooo Hooooo!!!

Actually, the computer going down couldn't have happened at a better time.  We've been busy around the farm.  Hubby has been working his butt off. He's been trying to get everything done before it gets too cold to do anything.  He's been cutting firewood, working on my Shack, fixing fence, rolling the last of the hay, and just the typical cleaning up for winter.   I'm really proud of him for how hard he's working on getting our homestead ready for the winter.  We both have been working a extra hard.

Oh, and I'm going to brag on myself for a bit. hehehehe.  I got to help mount the outside light on the Sherri Shack.  ALL BY MYSELF!  I also put in an outside receptacle.  Hubby was looking over my shoulder so that I would do it right and not cause anything to burn down, but I did it!!!  I know that there are many women out there that can do all of that with their eyes shut, but this was a first for me. I kind of liked it.  It actually felt like I done something.  When you do dishes or laundry, it never gets done.  It needs done the next day.   This was different. I shouldn't have to do this kind of work again.  A very nice feeling!

The pups are not really pups anymore.  They are getting big.  In fact, they are starting to get some of their harder farm training.  We have young calves that get out almost every day.  They don't go anywhere other than our yard.  But, this gives the Aussies training in herding cattle.  I have them push the cattle back into the field.  Chassis does a really good job.  When I have her by herself, she can tell that she listens to every word that I say.  When Holley is with her, she doesn't have a chance.  Whenever Chassis barks, Holley will run up and jump in her face.  Holley is still in the puppy play mode.  She still has a little bit of growing up to do.  I'm sure she will get there. Right now though, Chassis is the harder working of the two.  Chassis can even chase and catch a Frisbee.  I just LOVE watching her do this.  She can really jump high in the air.  Holley just wants to grab the Frisbee with Chassis and bring it back with her.  I'll have to get a video of this.  It's very cute.

I have a few other things to write about, but I don't want to make this a long post.  Now, that my computer is running a lot faster, I'm hoping to post more often.  Here's to good friends that know a little bit about computers!!! yay!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, back in business

Auuuugh!

Having technical difficulties.  Please stand by.
SFG

It's Here!

If you follow me on Facebook, you would have found out that I got this beauty last weekend.  I'm sooooooo excited!!!!  I've so many plans for this building!  Right now we're wiring it for electric and soon we'll be putting insulation and drywall up.  It's not as big as some of the other buildings we were looking at, but with a little planning, it'll be big enough for what I want to do with it.  

See all that gravel around the bottom?  Well, it'll be gone soon.  We put that there so that they could deliver it easier.  We will keep the gravel that is under the building but move the gravel that's around it.  I want to be able to plant herbs and such there for later use.  Since we're still working on our house, I didn't have a place to plant herbs permanently.  Now I do.  Plus, I'll have a place to work with them on the inside.  Herbs, paintings, and well, anything else I want to do.  I have to keep tabs on what is going to be going in there.  It's not THAT big. lol

With the slow change in the temperatures around here, I have been baking like crazy.  I keep looking up new recipes on Pintrest. ( By the way, I have to limit my time on Pintrest.  I can waste a whole afternoon there and not even know it. hehehe)  If I find some really good recipes, I'll post some on here.  So be prepared to get fatter with me. lol

Another thing that has been going on around here is music.  I've been playing my fiddle at a few festivals and parties. I really enjoy playing that thing.  If you would have told me back in the fourth grade, how much I was going to like it later on in life, I wouldn't have quit taking lessons.  But of course, you couldn't tell "Fourth Grade Me" anything. lol

Well, I got to get back to doing some chores around here. They don't do themselves.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, Shack owner.

Long Shot

This past weekend Hubby and I took a trip on what is called the Heritage Harvest Tour.  What you do is drive along a designated route and visit old churches and farms that are part of the tour.  This year there were 10 stops.  Most of the churches had a meal and crafts for sale.  The farms had pumpkins, crafts, and baked goods for sale.  The one thing that we bought, along the tour, was a few jars of sorghum.

"What is sorghum?" you ask.  Well, sorghum is something like molasses.  In fact, some people call is sorghum molasses.  The difference is that sorghum comes from the actual sorghum plant instead of sugar cane.  Sorghum cane looks a lot like corn as it grows.  Instead of corn on the cob, sorghum makes grains on top of the plant.

These seeds can actually be popped like popcorn.  It doesn't pop as big as popcorn, but it's pretty tasty.  Kind of has a sweet taste too. The seeds can also be made into flour.  In fact some sorghum flour is used for people who have a wheat allergy.

Anyway, we are going to use the sorghum plant to make sorghum syrup from it.  We have grown it before and had someone else make the sorghum syrup for us, but we want to be able to do it ourselves.  The hardest part in making it yourself is finding the mill. (top picture)  Most of these old mills haven't been in use for so long that people just scrap them.  It about makes me cry just thinking about it.  All of these old mills are just tossed just like they were nothing.  When in actuality, they helped many families make extra money to help them through the winter.

So, I'm going to just put it out there that we are looking for a sorghum mill and/or pan.  I know it's a long shot, but I have to try.  We would like to have it set up and running by next fall if at all possible.  That way we would know to plant the sorghum plants this spring.  So if someone out there in Blog Land would know where we could get one of these sorghum mills, or if you would happen to be one of those people who have one that their grandparents used and would like for it to be used again, please contact me.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, long shot taker


P.s.  These pictures were taken off the Internet.

I Couldn't Keep It In.

We finally got our phone back.  It had been out since last Thursday.  It rained.  Oh the joys of living in a very rural location.  Anyway, we got the phone back, but the Internet is very sketchy.  It comes and goes.  So while I had a small amount of it today, I thought I would keep in contact with you guys.
The weather is just wonderful around here.  Now is the time when we are trying to get everything done on the farm.  I wished the weather would stay like this for longer than it does.  There never seems to be enough of it.  It's either hot or cold.  With it feeling as good as it does, Hubby has been getting a concrete pad ready for our outdoor wood furnace that we bought TWO years ago.  Hopefully we'll be able to use it this year.  I think we will.  I have good vibes about this. lol.  He's been working really hard on it.

The pups (I really need to stop calling them that.  They are almost fully grown dogs now.) are doing GREAT!!!  They are starting to really come into their "jobs" now.  Chassis has decided that I'm hers and I can't go anywhere in the house without her being able to see me.  Good thing I can tell her to go outside the bathroom.  She does.  She just lays outside the door. LOL.

Holly had adopted Hubby.  I think she's in love.  She whines every time he leaves for work.  Then does a happy dance when he comes home.  If he goes outside, she is there beside him.  Yep, a match made in Heaven.

Now for a change of subject.... Remember when I said that some changes were coming.  Things that I was excited about.  Well, here it is.  I can't keep it in any longer.  We ordered one of these!



The one we ordered isn't exactly like this one, the roof is different and it doesn't have the lights on it, but you can get the idea of how it's going to be.

I'm soooo excited!  This is going to be MY place!  Not to live in, (although I plan on spending a lot of time here) but to work in.  I'm going to be painting, writing, and studying about herbs in here.  This is going to be my place to do what I want.  Our house isn't done yet, but the things that I want to do in this building, I wouldn't be able to do in our house anyway. When I was painting my last painting, I had paint ALL over the place. This building will save the walls and furniture. lol.  Plus, come on girls admit it, who wouldn't love a place to have JUST FOR YOU. Now, I DO!!!!  Once everything is set up, I plan on having classes in here.  Classes on painting, herbs, homesteading, and so on.  This way, people won't have to come into my house, which is still under construction, and I honestly don't want a bunch of strangers going in and out of my house. I think it's a great idea!

We ordered it three weeks ago and it's suppose to be delivered in four, so hopefully we will have it set up in a week.  We will still have to run electric and do the insulation and drywall, but that shouldn't take too long.  I will have it up and running before Thanksgiving if all goes well.

Now you know the secret that I have been keeping.  Of course you all know me, I couldn't keep a secret for too long. hehehe

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, owner of a she shack.  

Back At It.

You REALLY can't tell the colors of the painting by this picture. I took it with my phone.  Oh well....

Anyway, I'm back to painting again.  I just love painting it's so relaxing.  I am transported into my happy little world. lol 

We've finally got some decent temps around here.  I love fall.  The best time of the year, if you ask me.  I know winter is coming, but that's okay.  I'm glad I live in an area that has 4 distinct seasons.  By the time I'm done with one, the next one is just around the corner.  And really, who doesn't love pumpkins this time of year? hehehe

Anyway, this is just a short post today.  Back to some more painting.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, wanna be painter.

Where Were You?

I can remember exactly where I was when the first plane hit the towers.  I was managing a Dollar Tree in town.  I was on the phone with my mom as she told me what happened.  My dad, who is a Vietnam Veteran, knew right off that we were under attack.  He just knew...  

I remember turning the store radio to a station that was giving us play by play action.  While this was going on, I was trying to answer customer questions and helping cashiers with their work.  But I was always, always listening to that radio.

When my shift was over, I went home and woke Hubby up.  (He worked third shift at that time)  He had no idea what had happened that day.  We sat glued to the t.v.  because I hadn't seen the pictures or video of any of it.  The visual was way worse than just listening to it on the radio.

Later that night I remember going into town to get gas.  There was a rumor going around that gas prices were sky rocketing and we wanted to make sure we had some to get us through for a while. On the trip to the station,  I remember looking up in the sky and not being able to see any flashing lights from far away airplanes.  It was so weird not seeing those planes.  We live close to a navigational beacon that the commercial airplanes use to know where they are.  It was also rumored that the airplane that went down in PA, made a loop around this beacon's signal.

Out of the whole day though, the thing I remember the most was being scared.  Scared of how our lives were going to change.  I had all kinds of things going through my head on that drive to the gas station.  We have to go through a remote wooded area to get to the gas station and I was wondering if it would get to where we would have to live in a place like that.  Would we all be hiding from the horrible people that were trying to destroy America?  I remember starting to cry thinking that the way we lived would be gone.   At that time, Hubby and I didn't homestead.  We lived on the family farm, but we didn't grow a garden or anything like that.  We were in a different mindset then.  We lived like everybody else.  We had no idea how delicate our way of life really was.

 I also felt for those families that lost loved ones that day.  I could only imagine how they were feeling at the time.  My heart was very heavy for them.  It still is.

So on that most horrible day, can you remember what you were doing and how you felt?

Until next time,

Small Farm Girl, remembering

I'm So, So, Sad

I'm sad.  I'm sad about how things are going in this nation.  I'm not talking about left or right.  I'm not talking about religion.  I'm not talking about race, gender, thick or thin, haves or have nots.  I'm talking about how we are treating each other.  Where has all of this hate come from?

At first I was right in the middle of it all.  How dare they do this, how dare they think this, how dare they.......   Then I started to look at how I was treating LOVED ones.  I was being hateful, and they were being hateful right back.  I didn't like this feeling! This isn't how we are!  What happened to all of the fun and laughter?

Then I started to observe other people.  People in the grocery store, people in the restaurant, people driving in the lane next to you.  We are all angry.  Angry about being offended.  This one is offended because of something someone didn't do, this one is offended because of something someone did, and this one is offended because no one offended them.  It's a big circle.  Where does it stop?  It stops with love.

We need to start loving mankind again.  Stop being offended about everything. Yes, we have that option to not be offended by things. If someone offends you, you are the one who decides on how you will react to being offended. When we start to love again, we will realize that the things we were offended by seem to disappear.  You start to realize that not everyone is out to get you.

We can still have disagreements.  With a nation of such diversity, not everyone can agree on everything.  That's okay.  Hate, on the other hand, is not okay.  When we bring hate into the equation, nothing can ever become better or be resolved.  And I understand some of you still believe that you "love your neighbor."  But do you really?  And if you do, how do you show it?  Could your "love" be mistaken as hate?  Think about that the next time you "love" that person who cut you off in traffic.

I'm writing this late at night because I'm just so sad and I can't go to sleep.  I know this may sound weird, but remember after the 9/11 attacks?  Remember how hard it was to find an American flag?  Everyone wanted one.  We were proud of our nation!  We looked at people differently.  We were nicer to our fellow Americans.  It didn't make a difference what color you were, or how much money you made. We held doors open for people. We smiled as we passed by.  We were all Americans. We were in this together.  Well, we are still in this together.  But, if we keep this hate in our hearts, we won't be together.  We will be divided and then we will fall.

I say we bring back the love.  I'm not talking about agreeing with everybody.  I'm talking about loving everybody.  Even the people that you absolutely do not agree with.  Those are the ones that need it from you the most.  Or maybe, YOU are the one that needs to love because you have hated for so long.  Just like in The Grinch That Stole Christmas, maybe our hearts are so tiny because we haven't used them to love for so long.  Maybe you need to start small and work up to something bigger.  Just like lifting weights, don't over do it at first.  But really, can you over love?

I'm sorry if this post sounds all "hippy" and all.  I don't think of myself that way.  I actually think of myself as someone that use to hate everything.  I'm still not perfect, just ask anyone that knows me.  No never mind, don't do that. hehehe.  I just found out how easy it is to get pulled down into the "hate abyss."  It's hard to get back out, but it can be done.  And once you do get out, you will realize that the world is a wonderful place.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl.  ex-hater

Cow Update

I thought I would give you an update on the cows.  The little ones are doing great. The reason is this big momma right here.  Just here recently Hubby and I were out looking at the cattle and trying to figure out our winter plans for them.  We noticed that this cow was nursing her baby PLUS Skinny Cow's baby. That's a great trait to have in cows.  I'm actually surprised that she's doing this.  Beef cattle aren't known to nurse other calves.  The down side of this is this cow is the wildest cow we have.  She will NOT let you come close to her.  And now, the babies don't want to come close to us either.

We have found out why Skinny Cow is not doing well.  We think she has broken her ankle.  It's swelled and she doesn't want to stand on it.  She HAS put a little weight on over the summer, but not enough to last her through the winter.  I hate to say it, but we will probably be taking her to the sale where she will end up being hamburger.  Sometimes it's not fun being a homesteader.....

On to better things.  Today is suppose to be the end of the hot weather.  We are suppose to be getting some rain tonight to bust up this heat.  I sure hope so!  We need some rain!  We are very close to the record for the least amount of rain at this time of year.  Our pastures should have a few more months of green grass on them before we have to feed hay for the winter, but unless we get some more rain, we are going to have to start feeding sooner. 

 Hay, this year, is going to be hard to find.  The rains that we had earlier in the summer kept the farmers out of their hay fields.  They didn't get a multiple cutting of hay.  That's not good.  I can see hay prices going up.  And if hay prices go up, cattle prices will go down this fall because farmers are selling off their stock so they won't have to feed them through the winter.  Come spring, when the grass starts to grow, cattle prices will skyrocket. There won't be as many cows out there to buy.  It could get interesting.  We are some of the lucky ones.  We have enough hay compared to the amount of cattle that we have. The only thing that will help out around here for other farmers, is hopefully there was good hay seasons other places near here.  Don't even get me started on the drought out west.....

Now for a change of subject...

There are some exciting things in the works for me (At least I think they are exciting).  I don't want to say exactly what right now.  I want to make sure everything comes together before I reveal what's going on.  I don't want to jinx it. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, teaser. 

Happy Happy

Look what a lovely, lovely, lady gave me!!!  She read on one of my latest post about how my dogs broke my hummingbird feeder and I couldn't find any, so that sweet lady gave me her feeders!  She gave me two!  My hummingbirds are going to be sooooo happy.  Thank you Ina!!!

SFG

Welcome

The other day I was commenting on Facebook about having horses.  That comment led from having horses, to living on a farm.  You would have thought I was a rock star or something.  I didn't realize how many people want to live in the country on a farm.  Just in the last few months I've had people ask about coming to see and pet my animals.  People who wanted to help gather eggs and help with fencing.  We just have to tell them when we would want them to come down.

Now I'm not one of those people who feel comfortable asking people for help on the farm.  I feel that we live here and we should be the ones taking care of it.  Sure it gets hard sometimes.  I know that the fence is nearly nothing holding the cattle in.  In fact, we have some young ones, right now, that keep getting out.  Put that on the list of things to fix.  

I've tried to pay people locally to come and do some chores that need done.  No one is interested.  I mean, really, who wants to do REAL work. lol  Things like cleaning out fence rows or cleaning out rabbit poop under the cages and putting it on the garden.  It's hard to get anyone locally to do that.  But at the same time, I have people from the city who want to come and help on the farm just to see the animals.  This kind of puzzles me.  Then of course, this made me think.  

The things that I and the locals see all the time, is new and exciting to people that live in the city.  Locals here can go to THEIR backyards and clean out fence rows and mend fence.  That's nothing new to them.  But to people that don't live in the country, this is something that they don't get to do everyday.  They would feel, for a day or two, that they would be actually working on a farm.  I find this interesting. 

Anyway, I did offer the people that wanted to come and see the farm an open invitation.  I know them and it wouldn't be like having strangers in my house.  But, I just can't see myself making them do actual work here.  If we do happen to be doing something when they come, they are welcome to join in, but I don't want them to plan on coming just to work.  That feels weird to me.  I want people to come and visit, not come and work.  Unless I was paying them, of course.  I guess that's the kind of person I am.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, welcomer.  

Random Thoughts And Pictures

I haven't posted much on here for a while.  I guess I feel that I've nothing new to say.  I feed the animals in the morning, fix me breakfast, and start in on the constant chores of cleaning the house and doing laundry.  I let the dogs out, I let the dogs in.  It's a constant cycle.

I'm trying not to write too much about things that I'm thinking about doing.  That way when something doesn't pan out, it doesn't look like I'm just blowing smoke.  I've been known to say things that I'm "gonna" do.  LOL!!  

This little girl visits my humming bird feeder a million times a day.

See that beautiful feeder?  Well, my dogs ate it.  Yep, they could barely reach it, and they chewed the bottom off of it.  I went to get another one, but the hummingbird feeders have been put away for the winter at the stores.  I feel so bad for all of the little birds that depended on my feeder.  I hope they can find another place to eat. I'm still looking for another one for them.  Maybe I'll get lucky.

While I was out taking pictures of the birds, I kept hearing this noise that sounded like it was coming from a small engine.  I just figures that a neighbor had something running.  Little did I know this would come over the horizon.

This is the field where we cut hay.  It's across the road from our house. 

Looks like our neighbor has a new toy!  Now THAT'S the kind of toy that I want!!!  How fun would that be!!! 

Just put that on the list of things I want to do. lol

The Ends

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl,  I'm still here.

Dreams And "Gonna's"

There comes a time in a persons life when they have to step back and look at reality.  I have found that my reality is warped. LOL!  I am a dreamer and a "gonna-er". I dream big dreams and I always tell myself, and other people, things that I'm "gonna do".  I looked back on some of my blog posts and read about all the things I'm "gonna" do.  Whether it's "gonna" post pictures of something, or start teaching homesteading classes here on the farm.  I have written about many different things that I'm "gonna" do.

By now, if you have followed this blog for any amount of time, you know I don't always do what I say I'm "gonna" do.  I didn't actually realize how many times I do this!!!!  It's not that I tell you something that I'm going to do and sit back and laugh and say to myself," No way am I going to do that."  No!  I honestly think I'm "gonna" do it! I either get involved in something else and figure you have all forgot about what I was "gonna" do, I forget, or I simply get overwhelmed with all the things that I say I'm "gonna" do, and give up all together.

What adds to my "gonna do"s, is my ability to dream big.  I mean BIG.  My mind is constantly thinking of the next big thing.  The problem with that is I usually haven't finished the thing I was "gonna" do before. I'm in a constant state of dreaming and "gonna doing".  Because of this, there are so many projects of mine that do not get done.  Chicken coop built, cleaning the house, butchering the rabbits on time, paint that painting, spin that wool, write that article

and the list goes on and on.  Finally, this past week, I told myself that enough is enough.  My brain is overloaded.  It's time to erase, start over, and down size my dreams and "gonna" list.

First on this list is the garden.  One year I was "gonna do" container gardening. Then I realized that if I had containers, Jack (our St. Bernard) will pee on every container that we have. He does this to any flower pot I have on the ground. lol.  We also have decent garden soil so why would I want to waste that.  Just about every Spring, we think we're going to have this huge garden and we are "gonna" have the whole pantry full of canned goods.  It starts out that way, the garden looks soooo nice when it's freshly tilled and the small plants are sticking up out of the ground.  Then the heat hits, or like this year, the rains hits.  Hubby, nor I, can (or wants to) get out into the garden and keep up with the, at that time, small weeds.  The weeds then take over the garden and we are overwhelmed once again by the enormous job it would be to go weed the "jungle."

This past week, we both had a good, honest talk about our garden.  We need to stop listening to people, that are trying to help, and start thinking about what we can REALLY do with the time we have to put into it.  So BOTH of us have decided to downsize our garden.  We don't really need 125 tomato plants.  With that many we get overwhelmed real easy.  We don't take care of them and they don't produce anything or worse,they rot or go to waste.  With a smaller amount of tomatoes (like 6-10 plants) we will have the "want to" to actually do something with them.  There won't be so many to overwhelm us.  By doing this, we will probably get a better yield of tomatoes anyway.  We are doing this with the whole garden.  Next year we aren't going to feel like there is just too much to do with it. I really think we will enjoy it so much better.

Now that Hubby and I had this talk, we are looking at things differently for our whole farm.  We need to eat this elephant one small bite at a time instead of all at once.  Believe it or not, a big farm isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Especially when you don't have anyone to help take care of it with you. I have actually envied people that have just a few acres. To keep us sane, instead of thinking big, we are thinking small.  Just doing one small project at a time.  Both of us will be happier and more willing to get projects done.  Instead of redoing the whole 55 acres of fence line, do a small amount at a time.  Sooner or later, all of the fence will be fixed and hopefully we won't have to mess with it for a while.

I think this talk has helped us tremendously. I didn't realize how stressed we were thinking of all the stuff we were "gonna" do.  As we do the small things, we will gradually add more.  It's always easier to start small and get bigger. I'm sure there are some of you out there in Blog Land that could take over and have a nice BIG producing farm, but for us, starting over and going small (at first) will be a blessing.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, ex-gonna-er

The Promised Calf Pictures

I've been promising calf pictures now for the last two weeks.  The little red one on the right is out of the skinny cow.  This little girl has made it this long so I went and gave her a name.  Her name is Penny.  She is the exact color of a penny. You can't tell it in this picture because 1) It was getting dark when I took this picture, and 2) I took it with my cell phone.  I have other pictures of the little black calf.  Which, by the way, is also a heifer. ( A young cow.) The bigger one in the middle is a bull.  He will probably be in the freezer come next spring.

Here is a better picture of our newest little girl.  She is a nice chocolate brown.  We haven't named her yet.  I usually wait for the names to hit me.   This momma here, hasn't had very many babies.  She will be going to the sale barn soon. If you can't pull your own weight around here, ya gotta go.  Well, we have given her YEARS now and this is her first calf.  I believe she is almost 7 or 8 years old.  She's outta here!  Plus this is the main wild cow.  The other cows have tamed down a bit over the last year.  Not this one.  She's almost to the point of hurting someone and we won't put up with that.

Around the farm we have just about given up on the garden.  I will be getting a little bit here and there, but nothing to do much of anything with.  A VERY bad year for it.  We have decided that we are going to scale down our garden for next year.  When spring comes around we always go over board with the size of the garden.  We always think bigger is better. I'm not giving up on gardening.  I'm just making a garden the size of which I KNOW I can take care of. If the garden was all that we had to do, that would be fine.  But, we have just been overwhelmed with the weather and the farm this year.  We are really doing a lot more than we usually do.  We also want to do things right and not with a "That will do." attitude.  With my back and knees and Hubby working 10 hrs shifts, it's hard to run a 55 acre farm.  We are doing it slowly, but we are getting there. 

Hubby and Country Girl have been cutting hay this last week.  We have 3 more fields to cut yet.  We're hoping for some good rains to help the fields grow some more for a later cutting.  We shall see if that'll happen.  Hay's going to be hard to find around these parts.  Most farmers didn't get to get in the fields early spring because of the rain.  Therefore, they didn't get to cut their fields as many times as usual.  Gonna be an interesting winter.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, farmer. 

Fed UP.

Is it just me or are the days REALLY flying by?  I feel like I just can't get anything done.  For one, we can't get into the garden.  I've got zucchini in there the size of my leg.  I guess I'll be making a lot of zucchini bread.  That's ok, I like to freeze it and give it as gifts. The tomatoes are getting the blight.  The bottom leaves are brown and yucky.  Of course, they have had so much rain on them, I would be more surprised if they DIDN'T have it. I'm hoping to get some tomatoes out of it.  I would really like to get some tomato juice canned.  I HATE buying tomato juice from the grocery store.  It just doesn't taste the same.  Actually, most things that you buy at the store doesn't taste the same as what it does from the garden. I have no idea how anything else is doing in the garden.  I can't see from the outside of the garden fence.  Although I did notice that there were deer tracks in there.  AAAAAAUUUUUGGGHHHHH.

I don't know if I have told you or not, but I had cancelled all of my future physical therapy appointments.  I was maxing out on flexibility and strength.  I guess that's what ya get for living on a farm.  But I wasn't seeing any differences, and I wasn't going to keep spending $35 twice a week. (They were wanting me to come 3 times a week.  Uh, no.)

I did finally get in with my back doctor.  He came in, (on time!) and said before I can do anything for you, we need to get an MRI done on your back.  Thank you for your co-pay, and left.  Well, it didn't happen EXACTLY like that, but it might as well have.  Why didn't they inform me that I needed an MRI before I came and seen him?  Anyway, he gave me a number to call the next day to set up my MRI.  Well, I called it 2 days later and the lady setting up the appointment said the doctor hadn't sent down a request for the MRI.  Seriously???  Can't people just do their job?  I say this because my primary doctor that I have to see twice a year for my blood pressure meds messes the meds up EVERY SINGLE TIME.  I have to go back and tell him that he has given me the wrong amount of pills.  One time he even sent my meds to the wrong pharmacy!!!  I would change doctors, but he actually acts like he listens to what's wrong with you.  I've had other doctors just blow off symptoms and they ended up being something.  He also listens when I tell him what's wrong with ME.  Most doctors think they know more about their patience bodies than they do.  Anyway, I'm fed up with doctors in general.

Soooooooo,  I've got a plan.  (You saw this coming didn't you?)  My plan is to be off my meds by the next fouth of July.  I'll lose the weight to where I don't need blood pressure pills and I'm going to really look into finding something natural that I can grow that will help with the inflammation in my knees and back.  With the way the medical field is getting, I'm wanting to stay away from it as much as I can.

Well, this has been long enough. Especially since my computer deleted this post twice.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, Fed up with the medical field.

Cows and Rain

I'm sitting here at my table listening to the rain hit the tin roof.  Since we don't have any insulation on the ceiling, you can hear it really well!  Nothing better. It's about 65 degrees outside and dark because of the rain.  I LOVE IT!!!!  This kind of weather say, "Sit down and read a book!" lol

Yes, I know the garden needs weeded and I can't get out there without sinking half way up to my knees. ( I know this because I just HAD to get that zucchini from the garden yesterday.) I also know that the tomatoes need staked.  They are laying down on the ground and the mud is not good for them.  Yes, I know that the hay needs to be cut.  We haven't been able to cut any this year because of not having any recent dry days.  But, I REALLY love these cool rainy day!  The animals do too!

We had a cow have a little heifer 4 days ago.  I'm hoping they will be okay.  Our cow has been losing weight and she has gotten really skinny, then she pops out the cutest little copper colored heifer that we have seen around here in a while.  I am watching them closely because I'm not sure if mommy has enough milk.  She doesn't look like she has much of a sack and the calf is always trying to get something to eat.  I'm hoping that the cow's milk will come in better soon.  This cow has had and raised other calves before.  Nice calves.  She is just so skinny now.

She is one of the 3 wild ones we have.  Well, I guess out of all the 3 she is the least wild one.  Her last heifer isn't as wild and has gotten to where she will come up to the fence to see if I have anything for her.  We don't feed our cattle grain on a daily bases, but we do give them a mouthful every once in a while to get them use to us.  It didn't work on the other 2 cows, but the momma of the new baby has been coming up when I do put some feed out for them.  In fact, I have been able to touch her one time.  That's a big accomplishment considering how wild she was before.

Anyways,  It was 2 days since I had seen Momma and baby so I went looking for them this morning.  For some reason, I just knew that they were dead.  But as luck would have it, they're not.  They were both laying down in the back of the field.  Momma still looks all skinny and horrible, but baby is looking better.  Hopefully Momma will be able to raise this little girl.  I left them a bit of grain hoping that it will help Momma with some of her milk production. If we had a place to actually hold her, I would run Momma up in there and check her over.  Or if we had a small corral that we could contain them in, that would help too.  I guess we are just going to have to make it a priority to get those things done here on the farm.

I was going to get a picture of those two but I wanted to see if they were going to make it first before I told you all about them.  Then I got to thinking, this is farming!  Sometimes animals make it and sometimes they don't.  I just want to tell the truth here.  I'm not going to name the heifer just yet though.  I'm not going to go that far. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, weather lover.

Published! And Farm Goings On

There is soooo much stuff going on right now here around the farm.   But first, I wanted to show you THIS!!!

That's ME!  I'm published in Molly Green Magazine!!!!!  I'm sooooo excited!!!!  As soon as I figure things out, I'll put a link on here to where you can get a subscription.  I got my first copy in the mail just last week.  I can honestly say that this magazine is REALLY GOOD!  I'm not just saying that because I'm writing in it.  It is REALLY GOOD!.  Oh, I already said that. lol

Well, we finally got some rain around here.  It's funny.  The weathermen just can't predict the weather in these parts.  They say it's because of the mountains and how the weather reacts to them.  I don't know.  All I know is that I'm just about done listening to them.  When they say we have a slim chance of rain, we ended up with 3 inches.  When they said we were going to get around 5 inches because of tropical storm Bill, we only got 1/2 inch.  Very unpredictable.  I've come to the conclusion to just step outside and see what the weather looks like.  If it's wet, it's probably raining. 

.................. 

I started physical therapy last week.  I've gone 3 times so far.  I think it's a waste of money.  With insurance, my co-pay is $35 for each visit.  I don't feel any different.  In fact, one of the therapist said I was one of the most limber patience that they've ever had.  She didn't really see why I need to come.  So I'm going to talk to them and tell them I'm going to stop going.  It's just too expensive for what it's NOT doing for me. Maybe once I actually go to my back doctor, we will find out if I really need it.  I'm going to wait and see.  But in the mean time, I'm gonna save me some money and cancel the rest of the appointments

.....................

On to farm news. Coyotes have been coming around close to the house and hay barn.  I'm not sure what they're trying to get.  Chickens, cats, dogs, rabbits?  Hard to tell.  I just hope they keep their killin's to the wild rabbits and leave our livestock alone.  The coyotes are really getting thick around here.  It's not unusual to see them in broad daylight now.  I'm kind of leery about letting the pups out to play.  Although, I know Jack will be around them.  He's their protector.  I'm still apprehensive about letting them out for long periods of time.  But, you try and keep two growing Aussies cooped up inside the house.  Um, ya,

The garden is doing very well with all of the rain.  I've been going out in the mornings and weeding for a little while.  That way I don't have to go out for a long period of time and stay out in that heat.  It's like a sauna around here.  Everyone says, "Oh ya, we have humidity here too."  They just don't understand the concept of our humidity.  It really is like a rain forest with all of our trees and water ways.  The hills block a lot of the breezes too.  I promise, the humidity is different in the hills.  I'm not saying it's worse, just different.

...................

Hay season should have already started here on the farm.  The rain has held it off for some time.  That's one thing you don't want though, and that's to rain on your hay after it's cut.  It gets all moldy and it loses some of it's nutrition.  When Hubby goes out and does the cutting, I'll do a small post on how it's all done.  I'm sure there are a few of you out there that has never seen it done.  It's kind of interesting.  At least it was to me when I first saw it being baled.

Well, I've jabbered on enough for now.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, published.  

Budgets

I hate to post this because I know a lot of you out there are flooded but, WE NEED RAIN!!!  We got a whole 1/2 of rain for the month of May and June has produced nothing for us so far.  We can watch the radar of the storms coming our way.  As they get right up to us, they disappear giving us nothing, nada, zipo.  We actually can SEE the rain coming from the clouds on the horizon.  But nope, us nothing.  Our garden is just about to give our on us.  The plants are so small and puny.  I'm hoping they will come out of it IF we get some rain.But finally, we have a good chance of getting rain today.  In fact they are calling for sever thunderstorms to come through here tonight.  Here's to hoping they actually rain on the farm.

Now on to financial news.  I feel like I can tell things on here not because I'm a wiz at doing things, but I think that maybe, some how, my mess ups can help other people too. Hubby and I were talking about some of our wish lists.  You know, the, "If I win the lottery" talk.  Well, we got to wondering how many of the people, that my husband works with, can afford to buy new trucks and motorcycles and still get new houses and things like that. They made the same amount of money as he does so why were we living paycheck to paycheck?  Did their wives work and make thousands of dollars a week?  What was the deal?

Well, we got to looking at our budget, or should I say lack of one, and we were noticing that over half of our money was going to fuel and eating out.  WHAT???? You mean to tell me that it was adding up to that?  WOW!!!!  That really put things into perspective.  Even though we live about 30 minutes from any large(er) town, it was really taking it's toll on our money when we, on a whim, decide to go and, let's say, get an ice cream.  Those things really add up!  (They add up on your waist line too, but that's a whole other issue. lol)

So what are we going to do about it?  Well, for one, we are not going to eat out.  We realize that we like my cooking better than most restaurants anyway. Plus, it's a lot more healthy for us too. And since we are stopping our "let's go for a drive" mentality, we don't have to worry about needing something to eat while we are out.    I realize that I will have to make sure that I plan out our meals so that I know when to get something out of the freezer to thaw.  That way it won't take very long to make meals.  I really think this will work. We need to stop using "eating out" as our "lets do something" idea.  I would rather go fishing anyway. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, homebody.

P.s.  It started raining while I was writing this post.  YAY!!!!!

Bye,Bye Bunnies......Hopefully.

Well, I put the rabbits up for sale on a Facebook livestock page.  Hopefully I'll be able to sell them soon.  I like these little buggers, but I know they aren't fitting into our farm plans.  Why feed something that's not going to contribute to the farm.  If that means by working, making money, or by being food.  So far, they haven't done much of any of those. No one but me likes to eat the rabbits.  I don't know why, they taste like chicken. lol  So it's gonna be bye,bye, bunnies.

Although I'm going to miss seeing them come to the front of the cage to be fed, I won't miss breaking the ice out of their bowls in the winter. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, moving forward.

My Favorite Place In The World

Almost every morning, weather permitting, I sit just outside my back door and drink tea.  I sit and enjoy the frog sounds from the pond and listen to the roosters crowing up around the old house.  The birds are the loudest in the morning  and I can hear them from quite a bit away since we live on top of a hill.  To me, this is heaven on Earth.

This is the time that I can recharge my "batteries".  I sit and plan on the things I will be doing that day.  Or, I'll just sit and think of the things that I SHOULD be doing that day. lol.  Sometimes the Call of the Lazies is just too powerful for me to resist.

Then around 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the sun peaks over the top of the house and I have to leave my piece of heaven.  That is, if I haven't already.  By then it's too hot to sit there anymore.  But of course, I've usually abandoned my post and moved on to the things that need to be done around the house.

Here is the flowers Hubby got for me on Mother's Day even though I didn't have any children.  But, I guess being a step-mom counts.

I just love these flowers!  Look how pretty!!!  I'm not real sure what they are called.  All I know is they are beautiful!

Our church gave out the  normal petunias to all the women in the church that weekend.  I love them too.  The flowers just add to the experience of the outdoors.

I just thought you might like to have a small peak into my morning ritual.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, back door sitter.

The Reason For The Small Absence and Puppy Pictures

It's been a little hectic around here.  We've been trying to get the garden done.  We have it planted.  Well, most of it.  There are a few little things I want to plant still.  Some, of course, can be planted in the fall garden. But, the way time has been flying, that will be like, well, tomorrow.

Another reason for my absence is because of stupid Dr appointments.  I had gotten to where I could barely walk from my house to my car, let alone do chores around the house.  My knees and back were hurting sooooo bad.  I finally broke down and went to the Dr.  Have I mentioned I HATE going to the Dr.? I still haven't had the Dr check out my foot where I sprained it.  Anyway,  the Dr told me that I have deformed knees. Who knew? I've had them all my life and as I have gotten older, they are starting to give me problems.  He said I'll probably have to have knee replacements on down the line.  He did give me some anti-inflammatory meds that seem to be working very well.  I can straighten my leg now.  I haven't been able to do that for 4 years.  It's amazing how it feels to do something so simple.  I've even been able to walk around a flee market.  Wooo  Hoooo.  The Dr. told me that the knee replacement can be put off for a while depending on the pain that my knees cause me.  I have a long list of procedures to do before I actually have to get to that point.

As for the back pain? Well, the Dr. told me that I have arthritic in my back and I have also fractured it somehow.  Yay...... can ya hear the sarcasm?  I honestly don't know how I done this.  I just know that it has been hurting for a while.  I just figured it was because I was overweight.  

Doc told me that the weight didn't help any, but it wasn't the reason for the knees, but it could have been the reason for the back.  So some how, some way, I'm gonna have to lose this dad-blame weight. The Dr. has me going to physical therapy so maybe that will help some.

   

Because of news like this, I was kind of slapped me in the face with my own mortality. I'm not going to last forever. lol.  I've been kicking things around in my head.  One of the biggest things that has been teasing me has been this farm.  Do I really want to be self sufficient?  Is it really important for me to eat food that we grow ourselves?  Do I want to keep living this lifestyle?  Sometimes it would be so much easier to just stick my head in the sand and live life like everyone else, not listen to the news, not care about GMO's, and not care about if anything is going to happen to our freedoms.  The people who don't care about these thing seem so carefree and relaxed. Maybe that's the way to go. 

But.....

I have this wonderful friend who, when I get this way, I can call and she will tell me all kinds of horror stories about how it's very important that we keep going.  How it will be worth it in the end. In fact, my little talk with her has kind of kicked my butt in gear to let me realize that I really DO want to live this lifestyle.  I just need to modify it now because of my limitations.  We need to narrow down and specialize in things instead of just throwing things out there willy nilly.  

 I'm going to have to really buckle down and start working on my herbs.  I think this will be an important thing when it comes to our health care now and in the future.  I don't want to depend on just popping a pill all the time. The last few months I had slowly gone to believing in the "normal" western way of medicine.  It's easy to fall back to that when almost everyone around you believes this way.  I have to get back to looking into my herbsd I do have my herb plot picked out and things are slowly getting planted.  I know this will take years to be exactly the way I want it.  The hardest part for me was to find a spot to put the herb garden.  I have that now.

Another thing we are changing here on the farm is we are selling the rabbits.  I'm the only one who really likes eating our rabbits and as much money and time as I'm putting in them, they aren't worth it for us.  I still think rabbits are a great homesteading animal.  But, you have to make sure that the animals will work for you.  

I'm keeping the chickens but I'm going to cut down on the size of the flock.  We don't need to get 18 eggs a day.  I was selling the eggs there for a while and doing really good, but most of the people who were buying my eggs, went and got their own backyard chickens.  I'm happy for them to be able to do this.  I believe it's a great experience for them.  I'll just have less chickens and use less feed.

One of the things that we are going to start focusing on is our cattle.  We really like our cattle.  Even though some are wild,(mainly two of the cows) we are slowly winning the others over to where they aren't afraid of us.  We plan on getting our fence in better shape so that we can buy some more.  By putting money into our cattle, it's like putting money in the bank. Not everyone can put cows in their back yard. Plus, if for some odd reason we would have to go and stay somewhere over night, the cattle can take care of themselves. 

We'll also be raising Australian Shepherd farm dogs.  I'm pretty good with training dogs, but if I can't get them trained to herd the cattle, I'm going to look into getting them an actual herding dog trainer. This is important to me.  I want these pups to be an asset to the farm.  Not just something that's going to eat us out of house and home. lol.   I love these little girls, but they have to pull their weight too.

So without anymore waiting, here are some recent pictures of the pups.  

  

Here they are taking life easy.

They love playing with Jack.  Remember, Jack is a 200 lb St. Bernard, so you can see how big the girls are getting.

                                      They will play, and play with him for long periods of time.

                                                                And, he will play back.

                                                He'll even let them think they are winning.

                                                     It's a tough life working on the farm.

So until next time, (which hopefully won't be so long.)

Small Farm Girl, homesteader.