So Many.....

I've been gone from the blogging scene for a while, a few weeks, in fact. So many things are going on in the world and in MY world, that I didn't even know what subject I should write about first. So I guess this blog post will just be all jumbled up. (Like it always is. lol)

Around the farm... We have just been trying to get somethings done before fall and winter comes around. Fencing and such. Nothing abnormal. We have been canning beans and beans and beans. (Did I mention beans?) That is the only thing that done well in our garden. So if nothing else, we will be able to eat green beans this winter. We went to farmers market and produce auctions to see how much veggies were going for around here. The tomatoes and corn were normal prices. Can you guess how much the green beans were? $85 a bushel!!!!!! If I didn't can everything we grow, I could make a fortune!

Some bad news from the farm..... We are going to have to get rid of George.  He went after our neighbors(on their own property). Once after the grandpa and one time after the kids as they were walking to the school bus. We saw it both times. We tried calling him back, but he acted like he didn't even hear us. The last time, when he went after the kids, Hubby chased him down with our car to get him away from them. George has just gotten too unpredictable to have around. Last night he chased our goats until they couldn't run anymore. They just stood there panting.  I've had enough. If  he's not going to be an asset to the farm, he has to go.

Now for news from around the world......

Is anyone else getting scared yet?  Democrats and Republicans fighting for what's best for our country. Major drought in our farm lands. And, rumors of economy collapsing. What happened to our wonderful country?

I could go on and on about these topics so I'll just leave that for other posts, but feel free to comment on how you feel about them. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, observer.

Snake Update.

Just a small update about the snake on the fence.

It DID rain after we put the snake on the fence. In fact, it rained 3 1/2 inches that week that we put it on the fence. Coincidence? Never! I'm blaming the snake. hehehehe

So if you need rain, and I know a lot of you do, find a snake, kill it, and hang it on a fence. Hey, I'm just saying.......

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, rain lover.

So That's Why............!

Warning! If you don't like snakes or pictures of snakes, do not read any further. Oh, and there is a picture with a little bit of blood in it. Just warning you.

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 Okay, I guess if you don't mind looking of snakes, you are still reading. Now I'll tell you my story. For the last 2 months we haven't been getting any eggs. I thought it was because we changed feed, or because it's been hot, or because we had new chickens in the hen house and I figured they were just laying somewhere else and I wasn't finding them. We free range here folks. (for now) So imagine my surprise when Hubby told me that he killed a big black snake in our hen house. Aahaaa!!!! So that's why we haven't been getting any eggs. Here is a picture of the culprit.

See that bulge? That's were all my eggs have been going.

Now I'm not one to be afraid of snakes so I felt that bulge to make sure it was one of our eggs. You know, just to see. lol. Anyway imagine my surprise when is started to rattle! What?! Could he have eaten a rattle snake? I've always heard that they would. I started to feel some more. It rattled again. I had to figure out what was going on! So, me being me, squeezed that snake until................ this popped out.

This is the top part of a baby rattler. Hubby's grandpa used it in our hen house to encourage the hens to lay eggs in the nests. That poor snake thought it was a real egg, so he ate it. Imagine my surprise when it came out. So the big question of the day is this......Does that make him a "rattle" snake? hehehehee

On another topic, did you notice that we hung that snake on a fence? There is an old wives tale that said if you hang a snake on a fence or a tree, it will rain. Well, we did get rain. But, it was only a trace. I think I need more snakes. LOL!  Do you know of any old wives tales about making it rain? We need all the help we can get.

So until next time,

 Small Farm Girl, rain maker.

I Started Walking Again Today

I started walking again today. I know, I know, I shouldn't have stopped in the first place.  But, I did.  I got lazy. It got hot. And......., I got lazy. ( I said that already, huh.)  Well, anyway, I started walking again. Hubby works third shift so I had him call me when he started home. I got up and got ready. I was going to start walking again today.

When Hubby got home, he decided (was tricked) into coming with me. But, on only one condition, he rode the four wheeler. Wimp. It wasn't like I was going to be able to walk a million miles. Heck, I'd be lucky to walk a half a mile. (Did I mention that I JUST started walking again today?) Anyway, it was nice that he rode the four wheeler. That way I could walk until I got tired and then I could jump on the four wheeler and ride back home. I hate walking somewhere and thinking, "Okay, am I half way tired? Should I turn around now? Will I have went far enough? Or, will I be dragging my butt by the time I get back to the house?" This way, I just walked until I got tired. (Which really wasn't that far. I just started walking again today.) 

There were a few things that I learned while I walked today. One thing was...Don't wear a blue shirt. Sounds innocent doesn't it?  I think every bee, within a mile radius, came to inspect my shirt. I think they thought it was a walking flower.  A BIG walking flower, at that.  I would walk a couple steps and then do the bee dance. Walk a few more steps and do the bee dance. I threw my arms up in the air so many times, I could have took flight myself.

Another thing I learned today was it's harder to walk on gravel than it is to walk on blacktop. I am not known to be the most graceful person on the planet. I think I found every loose gravel on my road. Did you know that when you go down hill and step on a loose rock, your foot will travel another 6 ft before it will stop.

One other thing I learned today was not to walk and breath with your mouth open. Refer back to the first thing I learned on my walk today.

Out of all the things that I learned today, the one thing that I'm glad that I learned was how much better I felt today. I had more energy, and I wasn't sluggish all day. That in itself is worth me getting up early. I might just keep this up. lol

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, I started walking again today.

The Lies of Spring

Do you remember Spring? You know, that time of year when everything is all nice and fresh and new. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming and you can NOT wait to get into the garden to plant acres of green beans and corn. You know, because YOU are going to work from sun up to sun down in the garden. Picking and weeding until your garden looks like something out of a Homes and Gardens magazine.

And then......(you knew this was coming).......Summer arrives.  The bugs come out and eat your potatoes. The crows pull up your corn one by one. The heat sucks all of the juice out of any tomato that ventures to grow on a withered vine. The humidity is so thick you have to wear a scuba mask just to breath oxygen. My weeds are taller than my beans. I tell everyone it's because I'm using them to shade my vegetables . Yea, that's it. Veggie shades.

I've come to the conclusion that Spring lies to me. It tells me things like, "The weather will ALWAYS be this nice." or " There won't be very many weeds in the garden this year." or my favorite " You will want to work sooooo much this summer that you will lose a gazillion pounds." LIES! All LIES!!!!! LOL!

So as I'm sitting here in my A/C house, enjoying a green/mint ice tea, I think of the lies of Spring, the truth of Summer, and the hope for Fall.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, trying to stay cool.

Some Kind of Prepper

That's right, some kind of prepper I am. We have had some storms roll through here for the last few days. Nasty storms. There are still people without electric going on their 4th day. And to make it worse, we have had temps up in the 100's. Imagine no electric, no refrigerator, no water,(if you have a well) no a/c or fans.  Yep, it could get uncomfortable real fast. Luckily, me and Hubby are not one of them. Our electric was off for just a few hours. And that was after the storms went through, so it was a lot cooler.

Anyway, I like to think that I have been prepping for things like that. Canned foods, water to flush toilet with, crank weather radio. Yep prepared. Well...........I found out were I lack, big time.  I didn't have enough oil for the oil lamps. And, I only have two lamps. Two lamps were okay for our old house. It was small. You could have one lamp going in one room and could see in the next. Our new house needs more light. So on the list of things to get for prepping is more oil and more lamps.

Another area that I lack in is watering the animals. At my old house, all I had to do was dip some water out of our cistern and take the animals some water. Now at our new home, although it's only 200 yrds from our old house and cistern, I need a way to pack the water. Five gallon buckets of water are heavy.  And, a lot of goats equals a lot of water.  Luckily the electric came on before it got too late, and I got to water them with the water hose.

Now, not living with A/C is VERY low on my list of things that I want to do. I will admit, I am soft when it comes to heat. A baby in fact. Give me a good cold day in January, I can handle that. Wood stove, more clothes. You can only take off so many clothes in the summer heat. I want to be prepared for the A/C to go off, but I won't be looking forward to it if it dose. You will probably hear me wining from a LONG distance away.

Now, I'm making lite of this situation when in fact, some people are really having a rough time out there. The whole state of WV is having a time with this. Not only are they without electric, some places can't get gas for generators and vehicles. People who were just passing though the state have been stranded because they have run out of gas and can't get more.

Columbus, OH had over 145,000 people without electric this weekend. If you think you have it bad living in a house without electric, imagine living in an apartment building where the windows don't open.

Out of all of this, I hope people realize that prepping doesn't always mean being prepared for an apocalypse. It's being prepared for storms and earthquakes and floods and fires. Anything can happen people. Just be prepared. I for one, will be more prepared next time.

So until next time,

Small Farm Girl, A/C lover.

Welcome to High Land Farms

That's right everyone, we have finally come up with a name for our farm. And since me and Hubby live up one a hill, we thought that this name was perfect. It just clicked. So now, we have been getting everything all ready for our new adventure in farming. We have decided that our main focus will be on Myotonic (fainting)Goats and grass fed Limousin cattle. Of course, we will probably throw a few other little things in there too. I mean, I jump from one project to the other so fast, I just know that I will probably be adding other things into the mix of farming adventures. (Does anyone know about raising dinosaurs? LOL)

 With us actually having a focus on the way that we want to take our farm, we have been really busy around here. This is a new Myotonic goat that we picked up this weekend. I want you all to meet Strawberry. Isn't she pretty. That's one big strawberry!!! lol.

She is just a little shy with us right now, but she will come along.

 We also have this big feller to sell. His name is Hoss. Hoss is a mix between Myotonic and Boer goat. If you are wanting meat goats, this is the mix to have! The Myotonic goat gene adds extra muscle to the already muscular Boer goat. Plus, they add disease resistance. They are very hardy goats. For the Myotonic size,(little bit smaller than Boer) they have the most meat per bone ratio. And when you cross them, you get thing that look like this.

Isn't he pretty?!!!!! I'm learning sooo much as we go along! And I'm soooo excited to learn more!!!!

 Now you all know what we have been doing around here. I've just GOT to keep you guys updated more!! :)

 So until next time,

 Small Farm Girl, from High Land Farms (hehehehe)