Category: Around the Homestead

We are in the midst of harvest at our house.  My dh and I help my parents and grandma get their wheat harvest in.  I usually drive the grain truck and take care of the chores at our house.  My dh drives one of the combines with my brother or Dad in the other.  Last year we used a grain cart behind the tractor, but this year the crop is so poor it isn’t needed and not financially feasible to run it.  I did receive my first combine lesson.  There is definitely a lot to know and remember, but the other day I saw a little girl (maybe 14?) driving a big, fast combine and was determined to learn how to drive our old John Deere combines.

We have two baby chicks so far.  We pulled the babies and the mamas, but are contemplating putting the mamas back with everyone else and just leaving the babies in a separate pen since there are two of them.  They are eating and drinking like crazy, so apparently they are both healthy.  Now let’s just hope they are hens and not roosters.  I don’t think my shins can handle anymore roosters on this farm. LOL

Tomorrow my dh and I are headed to Sedalia, Missouri in search of two Texel rams.  It’s a long drive for one day, but our other option was Michigan.  Our in-law are there, but it was still just too far and too hot to haul something that far.  So the “Show Me” state it is! 

Last night we got a break from the field.  We ran to our neighbors and picked up 28 tomato cages they wanted to get rid of.  We finally go to swim in our pool again.  It was so relaxing!  Then I made stir-fry that was really nice and light on a hot day.  I also managed to bake bread, so we can pack a lunch for our trip and started the crock pot with ham hocks for collard greens.  Mmmmm.

I promise to take some harvest pictures.  It’s just an incredible time of year where everyone pulls together, works hard, and is just a little nicer to one another.  It’s like Christmas in June!  Last night on the way home I saw a giant John Deere combine with an American flag on the back of it blowing in the wind out in a wheat field.  Does it get anymore “All American” than that?  If I see it again tonight I’m taking a picture.  It was just one of those scenes screaming to have its picture taken.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week.  Hopefully the next time I blog my sheep flock has increased by two in size.

This was my project over the weekend.  My dh finally released his old Caterpillar work boots to me and this is the end result.  Incase you can’t see them very well; there are hens and chicks planted in the boots.  I got the idea after perusing the photos on Long Creek Herbs.  A very cute place I would love to visit someday.

After a day in the heat the pups were ready for a nap.  When we first got Ash (the blue heeler) I wanted her to learn to stay outside, didn’t happen.  When we found Koal on an Alabama roadside and decided to keep the timid little guy I said, “no way am I having two dogs in the house, they will learn to stay outside.”  Well, below are pictures of how well that worked out for me, but now I can’t imagine leaving them locked outside.  Enjoy!

This is Koal.  The chair looks kind of funny because it was pretty dark in the room and the flash reflected off the leather.  I wasn’t even sure you would be able to see the little guy.

This is Ash.  They have been digging holes in the backyard to keep cool (even though they have a pool, dh says they know they aren’t supposed to swim with out adult supervision, ha! ha!).  We are thinking Ash fell in one of her own holes and hurt her leg.  Oops!  She’s getting better, but any other time that oversized tennis ball would have been toast.

Wheat harvest is underway and the wheat is doing better than expected.  Let’s pray it continues on well for my parent’s sake.  They have had some terrible luck lately, so I hope things turn around for them soon.  Farming is never predictable unfortunately.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. 

I just have to say Kansas has the most abundant wildlife I’ve ever seen.  I remember when we first moved back from Birmingham I would drive to work and be amazed at all the animals you would see along the way.  During our commute in Alabama the only thing we saw on a daily basis was dogs and puppies people had dumped and abandoned.  It broke my heart.  I hope to never see anything like that again. 

I drive just over 3 miles on dirt roads at the beginning of my commute (in the dark) and the other 40+ miles on little two lane highways.  So there is a lot of opportunity for critters to be out and about.  Yesterday I saw a jack rabbit and drag raced a pheasant that literally flew right beside my passenger window for a short length of time.  This morning I saw deer on two different occassions and a coyote not far from our house.  It makes the drive interesting dodging wildlife the whole way.  I forgot how much I missed it when I lived in the city.  I actually worked with a guy who had never smelled a skunk before.  He asked us to compare it to something so he would know what one smelled like.  I told him there is no comparison to what a skunk smells like, how has he never smelled one?  Just one of the things I took for granted about growing up in the country.  That is until I lived in a tourist hot spot and an urban area.  Not that a skunk smells terrific and if you haven’t smelled one you don’t know what you’re missing!  Ha!ha!

Last night we had roasted chicken, baked potato, homemade bread, and salad fresh from the garden.  Yum!  The only flaw was the store bought dressing.  Baby steps, I’m working on it.

I spent last night weeding the lettuce and carrots and tending to the chicken (basting it every 30 minutes) while my dh mowed the lawn and vacuumed the pool. 

Tonight I intend to mulch the area I weeded and plant some carrots in the places none came up.  For dinner I’m thinking leftover beef stroganoff, homemade bread, and a fresh salad.  I need to make room in our refrigerator.~Smile

Have a wonderful day!

Randy’s Dad and stepmom, Brenda, arrived Thursday afternoon right on time.  We spent the evening relaxing, chatting, and making plans for the weekend.  When the two of them come to visit their plan is to work around our homestead and help out as much as they possibly can. 

We rose early Friday morning I started a batch of bread and then began our day in the garden.  We trimmed back our yucca plants, pulled weeds, planted okra, and mulched with old leftover sudan stubble the sheep didn’t eat over the winter.  It is a nice mulch/fertilizer combination and holds moisture great.  In the afternoon we went fishing (not the best time to fish, but it was fun).  That evening we met my parents for dinner at a fun little restaurant in a fun little town near where we live. 

Saturday morning we got up bright and early again and headed to the pond to fish.  It started raining on us after we had been there awhile, so we decided to call it quits.  By the time we got home it had stopped raining, so the girls worked in the garden some more while the guys organized our garage/shop.  At noon my dh ran to the dairy for milk.  Then we headed to town to get some groceries and tools and to have lunch.  When we got home we began working in the flower beds around the house.  

Sunday they guys trimmed trees, I planted leftover plants from Mom’s store, and Randy’s step mom, Brenda, pulled more weeds in and around the garden.  You probably see a weed pulling pattern and that is because our garden was entirely out of control with weeds.  ~Smile  That evening our neighbor brought over his wood chipper for us to use, so the guys ran the branches through the chipper and covered our driveway with woodchips so we won’t have to trudge through the mud.  Two friends/neighbors stopped in to say hi and visit, my mom, aunt, and three cousins all stopped in also which is always nice, and two co-workers of Randy’s stopped by on their Harley’s on their way back from New Mexico.  Very cool!  So we had a bustling little day with visitors.  Unusual when you live in the country.  No one is ever, “just in the neighborhood.”  ~Smile

Monday was the last day they would be there to help, so it was crunch time.  The guys stretched fence in our lot and made it so the chickens now have free range of a part of the sheep lot.  They were in heaven!  Brenda finished all the flower beds (3 total) and they look absolutely wonderful.  The guys finished chipping the wood and cutting up the larger pieces for firewood.  Dh and I are making plans to buy an outdoor wood furnace, so we will have to get some firewood put back.  In the afternoon we started to unwind and relax.  My mom offered to make us dinner that evening, so we got cleaned up early and headed to their house.  Everyone got to love on “Crooked Neck” our special little lamb who was born with a crooked neck (hence the name).  She’s precious and you can’t help but love her.  We had tacos that were excellent and everyone ate entirely too much.  Chores had to be done when we got home.  Randy and his Dad shut up the sheep, his Brenda finished packing, and I tended to the chickens.  Surprise, we have a baby chick!  Woo hoo!  Just one and who know if it will live to see daylight, but mama is guarding the precious little thing like a hawk.  I put water and food in her nesting box so she can stay with her baby as long as she needs to.  The marker worked.  We used a permanent marker and drew a line all the way around the egg, so we would know not to collect those eggs.  Out of eight eggs we only had two left (not sure what got them), but so far one of them has hatched.  We will dispose of the other egg Wednesday evening if it hasn’t hatched by then.  I was so excited when I saw the broken egg and then a little baby chick.  How amazing and what a feeling to see new life on the farm.  By then it was bedtime, and we were all exhausted.

At 3:00 we all drug ourselves out of bed, so dh could take them to the airport and head off to work.  We had so much fun with them here and got so much accomplished.  They are so wonderful to help us out every time they come to visit.  Hopefully they make it back soon!

Luckily it’s a short work week.  Dh and I are both exhausted and ready for the weekend again.  Back to a normal schedule and sleeping in our own bed again.  We will be thankful for both!

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend.

Randy’s Dad and Stepmom should be here in less than one hour.  They are flying in from Ohio, so hopefully the weather didn’t slow them down.

I’m so excited for them to get here.  They are so much fun!  His Stepmom is wild and so much fun to be around.  She is a fabulous SHW and takes such good care of her husband and home, has a beautiful yard and flowers, and manages their finances and meal planning great.  I could learn a lot fom her.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

We had a really nice weekend!  Friday I spent the day cleaning our entire house.  I dusted, I vacuumed, I did laundry, I mopped, etc, etc.  Randy came home early and finished getting the pool ready.  All that’s left now is for the water to warm up, go solar cover, go!  I harvested my chamomile and have it drying.  I just have the flowers in a cake pan with a flour sack towel over it.  If anyone knows of a better way to dry chamomile please let me know.  I have a dehydrator, but wasn’t sure if I should use it on herbs.  Thanks!

Saturday, we spent the entire day in the garden.  Randy rotortilled in between all the stuff already coming up.  The weeds had gotten out of control, so pulling them wasn’t too appealing.  We used old sudan stubble the sheep didn’t eat to mulch our nearly 30 tomato plants.  It was a mixture of fertilizer and mulch and looks like it’s going to do a great job of both.  We laid soaker hoses along the tomatoes and hope to do the same once we get our okra planted and coming up.  Saturday night we actually curled up to watch a movie which we haven’t done in so long.  It was really nice!

Sunday, we finally made it back to church.  The minute Dad broke his ankle, even our Sundays were sun-up to sun-down, nonstop work.  We are early risers and our church doesn’t start until 9:15.  So, we use the extra time to do the things we enjoy.  I read, Dh plays Playstation!  Just for the record I would like to launch ALL Playstations off the face of the globe, however, he enjoys it so I deal with it.  It happened to be my cousin’s Baptism at church, so it was nice to be a part of it.  We really enjoy our minister and his wife.  Our church is a little, bitty church in a little bitty (unincorporated) place.  Half of it is filled with my family (cousins, aunts, and uncles).  We both really like going and hope to make our Sundays a little more sacred and a time to relax and spend time with each other.  When we got home from church dh mowed the lawn and knocked down the high grass in our rams pen.  I think if our ram could have done a cartwheel to show his appreciation he would have.  He was visibly happier to not be up to his eyeballs in weeds.  He also mowed around our struggling windblock of cedar trees.  They are fighting with the weeds for water and may need more mulch to ensure their survivial.  Sunday afternoon we met my dad and brother at dad’s pond to fish.  Dad caught a nice catfish, but they both threw in the towels early.  We stayed and ended up catching three more fish to add to the collection.  When we got home dh cleaned all four of them (yuck!) while I did chores and got dinner ready. 

At the end of the weekend we could look back, see all we had accomplished, and still feel like we had a break from working. 

Our weekend (literally the whole thing) was spent at my Dad’s shearing sheep.  We started at 9:00 am Saturday and didn’t finish until 2:00 pm Sunday.  It’s done, yea!  Everyone is wormed, sheared, and in their proper place.  Dad’s fence around his new pasture is almost done, and it is now to the point where he can do most of the work to finish it up.  It may be a couple of days because now he has come down with some sinus junk and is laid up in bed sick. 

When dh heard Dad wasn’t feeling well he said, “well that could have just as easily been me if you didn’t feed me all the good food.”  Aah, he does appreciate our lifestyle change.  We have both noticed our lack of sickness much to our enjoyment.  The two of us used to always be sick with sinus infections and colds.  Taking our diet back to a more natural state seems to be working.

Sunday afternoon we did manage to get started on the pool.  We had to replace the filter and some other parts.  They sent us the wrong filter (and the store is 100+ miles away round trip) and the other part they sold us was missing all the washers/seals.  So our pool did not get opened over the weekend like we had planned. 

My dh and I decided after a full weekend of shearing and not getting anything done at our house we would take Monday off.  We got so much accomplished in just one day.  Our new fence is up for our ram so he got to go out to pasture, we replaced some fencing in our lots, got a bunch of tin and t-posts picked up out of the pasture, mowed, and ran  the weed eater.  I made ice cream, cottage cheese, and bread.  I made kefir, but something went wrong and it was pretty much repulsive.  I’m going to Dollar General today to buy an old cake pan so the chickens can feast on all my failed attempts.  They will appreciate them.  My kefir grains should be in the mail coming my way today, so hopefully they will be better than the powder I have been using.

A friend of our neighbor’s called last night to see if Randy wanted to start carpooling to work.  At $3.20-something a gallon how can you say no, right?  I know it’s an inconvenience for him, but hopefully it will save us enough to get ahead and won’t have to be a permanent thing.

This will be a short work week for me, so hopefully I can hang in there.  It was so nice being home yesterday.

Have a great Tuesday!