Back In My Day...........

Every Thursday my parents and I go out for breakfast.  It's a nice time to catch up and see how they are doing. (although I call them every night and they only live 10 mins from me.) This past Thursday my uncle and aunt joined us.  It was nice to sit and talk to everyone.  As we were talking, my dad and my uncle started reminiscing about how it was when they were growing up back in a hollar in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.  Talk about some GREAT stories!!!!  As I sat there and soaked it all in, an idea came to me.  How nice would it be if everyone could learn from these stories???  Right then and there I asked them if we can get together, every so often, and just tell stories.  They liked the idea so we decided to get together that night.

I brought along a pen and paper.  As soon as they started talking, I realized I need to get some kind of recording device.  My little stubby fingers couldn't write that fast and I didn't want to miss anything.  I'm still sorting stories out.  There were stories about fishing and pulling logs off of the hills with horses.  Stories about getting scared while out hunting.  They told stories about how they went to school in a one room school house and how they had to walk so far to get there. (Yes, I asked them if they had to do it bare footed, in the snow, up hill both ways. :-)

Anyway, my plan is to write  some down of the stories that they told.  One reason is so that you can read how it was.  Another reason is so that I can have these stories from my family.  Ether way, it should be interesting to read. Expect stories soon.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, recorder.

Babies

Yesterday I was looking around in our old house and guess who just happened to be in there?  Yep, Gypsy.  Plus, her babies!!!  We finally found them! 

Since the floor is rotting out, they can easily go from outside to inside with no problem.  In our old bedroom, they were just  hanging out.  I didn't get to bring my camera up there but I will.  There is nothing cuter than babies!  And to prove that point........

She is 10 weeks today!

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, baby picture lover.

My "Not A Mother" Day Gift

While mothers everywhere were getting flowers for Mother's Day, Hubby got me this.  It's a basket of herbs and such.  I figure since I wasn't a mother, this would work perfectly!  lol.

It has chamomile, sage, and oregano in it.

It also has stevia, rhubarb and,get this, swiss chard in it.  lol

I'm not a big fan of rhubarb.  It's too sour for me.  I'm still going to plant it though and see what kind of recipes I can try it with.  Maybe jelly?  With enough sugar, anything can taste good. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, not yo momma!

Getting Mapped Out

It's time to get serious folks.  I'm talking about myself.  I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Thoughts From Frank And Fern, and Fern was talking about her herb garden.  What I really found interesting is how she mapped out her garden on a piece of paper.  Then I remembered how another friend mapped out her whole farm.  She doesn't have much level land, but she sure did put a lot of stuff in the small, level acreage that she does have.  So I got to thinking, (I know, scary.)  I'm going to map out MY place.  I've got around 55 acres of land here, and I didn't know where to start!  I was told to make a list of the things I have here and things I want here.  Why am I now just letting that sink in?

 I know I'm gonna have a garden.  I actually already have that set in place so I won't have to do much thinking on that.  The new chicken coop is right next to the garden.  That way when we would happen to have a few tomatoes, or such, go bad, I can just chuck them to the chickens. The brooder is going right next to the "big girl" coop.  We have our pond, my clothes line, our driveway, and our, soon to be installed, homemade, outdoor, wood burning stove, so I have to make sure I put those on the map.  Hubby is going to want to build a garage to put the tractor and hay equipment in, so I'll make sure I put that on there too.  Our pasture fields are pretty much already set in stone.

Now I have to figure out what I WANT. (This is better than Christmas!) I know I want apple trees for sure. I have a couple already planted, but I want more.  We eat a lot of apples in the winter.  It may be in the form of pies, crisps, apple butter, or just fried apples, but we like them a lot.  We usually go to a local apple orchard and get them, but they are usually sprayed.  I want to be able to use my own unsprayed apples to make apple cider vinegar.  I also want blueberries. Yummo!  I want strawberries. Double yummo! And I want to transplant our blackberry bushes closer to the house so that they are not on the other side of the 55 acres.

I have always wanted an herb garden too.  I have started one a few times, but something keeps coming up to where I have to move it.  The last herb garden has been run over by the tractor so many time everything died.  Everything except the mint.  You just can't kill that stuff. :-)  I have books upon books of herbs.  I LOVE the thought of making my own medicine, or having my own herbs to cook with. Hey!  I'm gonna have to make a map of things I'm gonna put in my herb garden!  Oh goodness,  I think I'm going to be obsessed. lol

I could go on and on about my wants, but I think I'm going to go and start mapping.  I'll let you know how it goes.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, Mapper

Why I Love It Here

I have been trying to write this post for a few days now.  I kept writing something and then erasing, writing then erasing.  I just couldn't put it into words how I felt about this place.  This is Kentucky.  Not the Kentucky you see on Derby Day.  This is Eastern Kentucky.  We don't have million dollar horses here that can run like the wind, but we do have the Kentucky Mountain Horse that can go all day long at a smooth gait.

 It's a different kind of place here in Eastern KY.  People have asked me what it's like here.  It's hard to describe.  First off, the land is beautiful.  There are many hills, some are steep, some are rolling.  The trees range from pines to massive oaks.  There are many rocky creeks and rivers also.  Great to fish in!  The wildlife is very abundant.  This is a beautiful place but if I want to get to the heart of it all, I must talk about the people.

The people here are different than any you will meet any place else.  Imagine stepping back in time at least 60 years.  That's kind of how the people think around here.  Sometimes that's good, sometimes not so good.  Not many businesses do their business by Internet. They don't trust the Net.  They can't tell if someone is telling the truth or not by the way they type.  They like to do things face to face. Although they are really getting into Facebook right now. :-)

There are a lot of people who still grow gardens and can here.  That's what their parents did so that's what they do.  Although I have to admit, it is starting to become more rare.  The new generation is starting to get a little lazy.  Video games and computers are important to them.  I'm sure it's like that in a lot of places around the U.S.

Family is very important here.  Your identity is based on who you are related to.  I was not born here but my Dad was.  He came from a family of 12 kids.  That's right folks! 12 KIDS!!!  My poor Grandma.  :-)  But since my family was from here, I'm not considered an outsider.  Families will fight with themselves.  But, they will stick up for each other when it comes right down to it.  Remember the Hatfields and the McCoys?  Ya, they were from this part of the Appalachia.  That kind of mentality is still here.  Although, it may be more quiet and sneaky.  Families have each others backs.  We are a scrappy type.

There are much more that I can get into about the people and the places here.  I don't have enough time to write about it in one post.  My plans are to write about it periodically on here.  We'll see how that goes. Hehehe.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl,  Appalachian American

Ooooops! I Feel Sick Now

Hubby, Glamour Girl, and I went on a mini vacation this past weekend.  We went to the Smoky Mountain National Park.  At the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains is Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg   Glamour Girl had two weeks in between college courses, so we decided it would be nice for her.  It's just a few hours drive from the house.  It's a nice place to visit.  It has a mix of nature and tourism.  You can pick which one you want to immerse yourself in.  We picked a mix of both.  We went to a place called Cades Cove.  It's a beautiful place surrounded by beautiful mountains.  It has an abundance of wildlife that live there.  It also has many old buildings from when the settlers come to the place.  These building include churches, houses, and a grist mill.  At the time we were there, they were doing a demonstration of how the mill works.  It was really interesting!

I also had pictures of when we went up on the top of one of the mountains that overlook Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg  It was awesome.  The views were breath taking.  I took many pictures.  Pictures that were good enough to frame.  Then....... I hit the wrong button.

I deleted ALL of my pictures. Both off of the computer and off of my camera.  I'm sick to my stomach.  We hardly go on vacation and I wanted to remember this one with many pictures.  I took pictures of everything. And now they are all gone.  I feel awful. I guess I can use this as a learning experience.  I now know to make sure that I have MANY backups for all of my pictures before I delete anything. Hey!  Maybe this is any excuse to go back! lol.  Got to keep looking on the bright side.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, Just Sick

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