Category: Around the Homestead

I was on my home from work yesterday when I got a call from my dh who said he had been trying to dig fence post in our sheep lot (we are re-doing all the fencing in our lots and around the back of our chicken coop) and hit a water line. So, between him and my dd they think they have it fixed. Time will tell if it holds, but so far it looks like it’s going to.

I was on my own for getting corn at Grandma’s for the sheep. It’s in a type of grain cart and takes some effort to get it out of there. However, I came home with a full barrell despite my dh’s doubts.

We let the chickens out on the garden last night. They were in heaven! Hope it cuts down on our grasshopper population. We got six eggs last night, but there were feathers everywhere so I’m not sure how long the girls will keep it up. I’m not looking forward to being without eggs again.

Last night’s dinner was leftovers since we didn’t have water until 7:00 pm. Tonight I hope to make a Taco Soup recipe I found on Crystal Miller’s website along with her cornbread recipe. I always have good luck with her recipes, and they always taste great!

I promise to start adding pictures soon. Maybe over the weekend I can get some taken.

I worked through lunch and got home a half hour early last night. We were supposed to take three more roosters to the neighbors for butchering, but when we arrived with our roosters our neighbor wasn’t home from work yet (he had to work late). So, we are supposed to bring them back tonight. When we got home I fed the sheep their corn, plugged in the baby monitor, and flipped the light on in their shed. Then, dh and I worked for a little bit on dd’s lawn mower (the pull behind for the tractor). Then decided to put up some fencing on the garden and try letting the 3 roosters we had caught to be butchered out to see how they faired. The little guys immediately started pecking and scavenging, so I think we are on to something. I the pen doesn’t have a top on it, so they will only be allowed out on during the daylight when we are home to supervise. At least we were productive and made good use of our time last night. We will let all the chickens out in the garden in the evenings and by the weekend I will have a nice area ready for planting. The chickens will be moved to a new spot in the garden to prepare it for the next weekend. This will hopefully cut down on our bug problem in our garden in the summer months as they eat the larvae and prevent new pests from hatching. The fertilizer is nice too.

We then played frisbee for a little while in the backyard with Ash and Koal before heading inside for dinner, clean up, and some relaxation. I read (Nourishing Traditions) in the living room with Koal tucked away at my feet while Randy and Ash watched tv in the family room. Our different ways of relaxing!

Yesterday evening we took two of our roosters down to our neighbors house where a friend of their’s butchered two of our Bantam roosters for us. We let him keep the meat in exchange for dd getting a lesson in butchering. Still not sure we are up for butchering ourselves, but at least we have an idea how if we need to. He told us to bring the others down this evening and he would butcher them for us and let us take home the meat.

We also took our neighbors nine eggs we had just collected. They are good to share with us, so we try to repay the favor when we can.

We got our dogs to take their heartworm medicine which isn’t always easy. Ash isn’t fond of the heartworm pills and/or Frontline and runs if we go to the cabinet they are stored in, here’s the package open, or smells it. She’s nuts! Friday is supposed to be their bath day, so we’ll see how that goes. Ash is usually pretty good, and Koal behaved last time so hopefully it goes as smoothly this time around. Koal’s yearly shots are Friday so it might put him over the edge to have a bath on the same day. LOL!

It’s supposed to be 68 degrees today, but cooling off into the 50s tomorrow. So we’ll enjoy today while it lasts!

We had a productive weeekend!

Friday was my Kitchen Day.  I made sauerkraut, baked bread, made green tomato bread, carrot cake cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting, and homemade pizza.  I also manage to vaccum my house and do five loads of laundry.  How two people have so much laundry I will never know.  In the evening we met mom and dad in town at Mom’s store and her, Dad, Randy, and I all loaded up and went to the Garden Show in Wichita.  They had a band there playing all Beatles music, so it was fun to listen to.  Afterwards we went to Willie C’s for a quick bite to eat before heading home. 

Sunday we didn’t make it to church.  My dh was supposed to meet up with one of our neighbors and make two trips hauling round bales from a town about an hour away from us for our sheep and my dd’s sheep.  However, he had to postpone so we ended up calling my cousin who took his semi and got all the bales in one load.  Whew!  We now have feed for awhile.  Common spring!  While we were waiting we got a large area of weeds pulled near the garden and ready to plant flowers around our bird bath, sawed the legs off of our two feeders so our baby ewes can get into them (they are too big for the creep feeder, but weren’t big enough to reach in the regular feeders), got one of our three-wheelers put back together, and got my db dirt bike running again.  The dirt bike alone was a chore.  I was on the 3-wheeler pulling Randy on the dirt bike as he tried to get it started.  When he finally got it going we were nearly 1/2 mile from the house.  He took off and left me to kick start the 3-wheeler.  To make a long story short, I ended up walking home and taking him back for the 3-wheeler.  I just don’t have enough “umpf” to get them going.  After he left to get hay with my cousin, I washed the bedding and played with Ash and Koal in the backyard.  I also went through my Avon order so I would be ready to place it on Monday.  Sunday evening when we went to do chores we noticed our roosters fighting.  We will need to get the smaller ones picked out and butchered this coming weekend.  My neighbor (a butcher) has offered to help show my husband how to do it.  So, next time we might be on our own. LOL

By Sunday evening we were exhausted and not ready to start another week back at work.  However, we made it to work without too much negativity!  Had trouble sleeping, so I need to get my lavender sachet back in my pillow.  It nevers seems to make it back in there after I wash the bedding.~smile

Have a great week!

Randy finished up working on Dad’s tractor, and Mom and Dad grilled pork chops and steaks for the four of us.  It was nice to just relax and chat with them. 

We only collected three eggs.  They had eight eggs a day for three days straight, so it was probably time for a little break.

It’s cold and WINDY here today.  The weekend isn’t supposed to be very nice according to the weatherman, hope he’s wrong!

Tonight’s dinner is chicken and noodles.  I boiled off a chicken earlier in the week, so it will be a nice warm dinner with the weather we’re having.

Randy spent the evening working on Dad’s tractor at their house so I was in charge of the chores. Our ram has become a total pain and butts every chance he gets. He got me when I wasn’t looking and didn’t have my bucket of water to throw at him, so I dunked my arm in the stock tank and gave him a good splash. He still proceeded to butt me, so I emptied their corn and refilled my bucket with water. He looked in the bucket once and left me alone from then on. I’m not convinced he’s smart enough to know the water in the bucket was for him if he didn’t shape up, but who knows. Randy will hopefully finish up the tractor this evening and have it running. Dad hopes to have our garden worked (with the tractor and disk) tomorrow, so we can work it with the rotor tiller to break up the large clumps and get a few things in the ground (peas, carrots, potatoes, and lettuce for sure).

I spent the evening reading a book I just picked up from the library, “Living the Simple Life” by Elaine St. James. So far, so good!

Our computers were being updated at work, so I was off my computer and just killing time from 10:00-2:00.  I felt terrible all day, but felt a lot better once I was home.  Our chickens laid 8 eggs so they are becoming more productive.  Dad has offered to just let us have them, so we are going to have to get with the program and get some fencing built for them so they can have more time outside.  We had scrambled Bantie eggs for dinner, and they were good.  Since it’s staying lighter outside we have promised to dedicate some time every evening to playing with our two dogs in the backyard.  They love it!   

We had a nice weekend and managed to get a lot of things done around our farm. Still no baby lambs, but they aren’t actually due to start lambing until March 7th. The chickens are definitely getting settled in. One of the roosters attacked my legs on Friday and puffed up as if to let me know who’s in charge in the coop. They are laying much better. Probably due to getting settled in their new home and the warmer weather we had last week. It has turned off cold once again and plans to stay that way for awhile, but it is February in Kansas so you can’t expect anything different.

Saturday, we worked to clean Randy’s shop so he will have room to work on some upcoming engine projects. My dd has been reluctant to move has been reluctant to find a new home for everything in the shop at our house, so we broke down and boxed it up for him and set it by the door. Our pool house is our next project, but we didn’t have the energy to tackle it this weekend.

Sunday was church and then running a few errands. Dad came up to work our garden with his tractor and disk, but it was still too wet and he ended up having tractor problems and had to go home. We built nesting boxes for the chickens and called it a day. We watched the Nascar race in the afternoon. It was too windy and cold to do much of anything outside. It was an early bedtime (7:00 pm) and an early morning (4:00 am).

Coming to work today was hard on both of us. We love being home together so much and have such a good time. However, the bills don’t pay themselves, so off to work we go!

Fat Tuesday… Other than a long day at work, Tuesday was a great day! I had lunch at a fun little restaurant with my Grandma and Great Aunt. It was nice to get to spend some time with both of them. My dh got the corn for the sheep before I even got home and picked up an old wooden ladder from Grandma’s. When I got home Dad was tacking up the foam board insulation in the chicken coop and once he was done the ladder was cut in two and put in the chicken coop. Now they have two places to roost and climb. We noticed an egg eating issue last night before we could get one of the eggs collected. It seems to be the roosters eating the eggs, but we don’t get to observe them as much as we would like to know for sure. Dad got them for free from a guy who no longer wanted them, so they had been neglected a little. They are looking better by the day!

Dinner was Red Beans and Rice.

I soaked my rice overnight:

1 cup brown rice

2 cups water

1 T. yogurt

Soak approximately 8 hours and cook as directed. I makes a world of difference! Time to start my day at work.

Have a great Ash Wednesday!