| Just wanted to post these pictures. The family evacuating is about more than I can bare to think about. I don’t know them personally, but how incredibly sad for them.
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One special little lamb…
We call her “crooked neck.” Creative I know, but she already recognizes it, so we hate to add more trauma to her life by changing her name on her. She was born on a really cold night and she was a twin (her baby brother didn’t make it). Dad was convinced an hour or so after we brought her into the house she would never stand or nurse on her own. He told me to put her back outside with her mama until he could “take care of her.” I cried all the way out to the pen carrying her. Mom was outside and told me not to give up yet. My dh got in the pen with me and we held mama (who is the meanest sheep I’ve ever encountered in my life) and held her little head up so she could nurse. Right then and there we agreed we would do whatever it took to ensure she was given a chance to live. Dad agreed if Randy and I would hold the mama and work with her every night and supplement a bottle she could stay. She can now nurse on her own and runs with all her might.
No matter how bad a day it is for any of us. We can go out there and see her crawling through panels and running as fast as she can to get to us and it makes everything better. She even comes up on their front porch sometimes to visit. We ALL love her and don’t know what we would do without her there.
On a sad note, animals are similar in how they treat others who are different. When CN crawls through the panels of her pen with her mama and the other babies she enters the pen with mamas without babies. They all crowd around her and butt her with their heads until she falls on the ground. She just picks herself up and runs as fast as she can to get to us. The other little lambs don’t play with her either, so she just hangs out by herself or with her mean mama for protection. We had another bottle baby, Bottles, (we are so creative with names, aren’t we) who was different and it was the same scenario. No one would play with him so he just stood out in the lot by himself. He didn’t even have a mama for company or protection. Good thing they have us
Dad swears that if every lamb was born with a will to live like she has he would be the richest sheep farmer who ever lived. We all agree!
Cream of Mushroom Soup…
We had tuna casserole last night. I made my own cream of mushroom soup and let me tell you it was great. It wasn’t salty and it didn’t hold it’s shape when you poured it from one container to another. Here’s the recipe:
Creamy Mushroom Soup
1/4 c butter
1 can mushrooms
Onion
4 T ww flour
2 c chicken broth
1 c milk or cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic salt to taste
Melt butter in saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions and mushrooms for about five minutes. Mix in the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the chicken broth. Cook, stirring, five minutes or until thick and bubbly.
Stir in milk or cream and season to taste. Heat through, but do not boil.
Very tasty!
We also marked eight of our Bantie eggs last night to see if Miss Thang can hatch us out some baby chicks. She is a fiesty little thing and apparently wants babies in the worst way. So, we’re giving her a shot at motherhood.
Have a great Tuesday!
Grocery Shopping…
My dh and I went grocery shopping over the weekend. We are determined to go three months without going to the store. We will get our milk from the dairy near our house and may go to the specialty store near my work for bananas and apples. Other than that we are buckling down and doing without. I made a menu for one month and intend to just cycle through it. This is my first time buying for this long, so I’m sure I will have to get creative come month three.~Smile
This week’s menu:
Monday: Tuna Casserole with homemade bread
Tuesday: Scrambled Eggs with Toast
Wednesday: Beef Stroganoff
Thursday: Tamale Pie
Friday: Chicken Rotel with ww tortilla
Saturday: Stir-Fry with Brown Rice
Sunday: Grill
We are going to try to start making our Sundays more of “a day of rest.” It’s really tough when you work all week and have a small farm. We really need both our days to get caught back up. However, we want this to be “family day.” A day we spend time together, rest, relax, and preparing for a new week.
My dh and I helped work Dad’s lambs over the weekend. Approximately 300 of the little darlings. We used a sore mouth vaccination which is a live vaccine and not once, not twice, but about a million times did I get it smeared on my face or splattered with it as the little critter shook their heads. I have eight days before I’m in the clear, so wish me luck. From what I’ve heard it’s very painful and from the looks of sore mouth on the sheep, I know I don’t want it on my face. Ugh! However all of Dad’s and all of our’s are vaccinated, docked, etc. Now they just have to grow up to be big healthy sheep.
One last thing before I close. I would like to ask everyone to pray for the people of Greensburg, Kansas. I had a friend, his wife, and their three year old daughter who lived there. They lost everything! Their home, their cars, and all their belongings. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Steam Cleaner suggestion…
We have two dogs who we allow in our house. One is 40 lbs. and the other is nearly 60 lbs. I know some of you are probably gasping in horror, however, we had the dogs in Alabama and didn’t feel comfortable leaving them outside all the time. What’s the point of having them if you never see them or they are cooped up in a dog run every day of their life. I’m climbing down from my soapbox now.~Smile
Anyway, the carpets are needing a thorough cleaning, I was gifted some money for helping Mom and Dad when Dad broke his ankle, and I have chosen to purchase a steam cleaner with the money. I just wondered if anyone had any suggestions on what to get (i.e. brand, type of spin on the brissels, heated water, etc.). I’m mainly looking at Bissel and Hoover because that is what the majority of the stores carry. There is a huge difference in price, but they all seem fairly alike. Just thought I would see if anyone has a suggestion. Also, if any of you have pets in the house and would like something safe and effective for spot treating or all over carpet cleaning I highly recommend Nature’s Miracle. It is an all natural line of pet products and worked great when we were housebreaking our little darlings.
My mom and I are planning a long overdue shopping adventure next Friday, so I am gathering information and making a list of all the things we need. The closest city is 50 miles away and because my husband drives there everyday we rarely go there when he is off work. We will be going to Sam’s on our outing. This will be our major grocery shopping for the season. We will try to live off the garden as much as possible, but do need to stock up on paper products, coffee, etc. I’m also looking for some containers to store bulk food in. Any suggestions?
One more thing, I am trying to order kefir grains today. Does anyone have a place they use and could recommend?
Thanks for all your help. Have a wonderful weekend.
One step closer to being debt free…
I just wrote a check to pay off one of our student loans. Yippee! My husband and I prioritized a list of bills to pay off. We determined which to pay off first by the amount owed and the interest rate. We put a couple smaller bills first in order to have a few successes and get the hang of it before we really buckled down and hit some of the larger debt. What a feeling! I seriously think him and I will have to have a mini celebration tonight. Not including the house we only have three more to go. We will focus on our mortgage as soon as all our other debt is taken care of. My husband and I are really blessed to be where we are today. It’s hard not to compare yourselves to others driving the nice cars and wearing the nice clothes, but we know (now) those things aren’t what’s most important to the two of us. We want to be good stewards of the earth, practice good husbandry, and take care of those who are dear to us. We value time more than money. We want to live a life that will keep us (both of us) home more and at work less. We are now one step closer to home due to some sacrifice! Life is good. ~Smile
Here are some budget templates (I use the first one “Personal Budget”) to keep an eye on where our money goes. I know not everyone likes these, but I found them tremendously helpful. My husband loves that I keep track of this, and at the end of every month I print it off to show him the areas we did poorly and the areas we succeeded in following our plan. Good luck!
One to go…
We had another set of twins today, so we only have one ewe to go. However, she is not really looking pregnant. So, we may be done for the season. Hoorah! I’m ready for normality, and I know my husband is a bit overworked and stressed.
Grandma went home from the hospital Monday, but is still really tired and sad. Mom and I were supposed to go up and plant her flowers for her last night, but it was pouring down rain. They are calling for rain for the next week, so we’ll see if we get her flowers in the ground or not. I need to go for a visit. She needs company right now. She is used to being on the go non-stop, so being stuck at home is really hard for her. We are just thankful she is home and in recovery mode.
The girls laid seven eggs yesterday, so they are obviously enjoying the cool, rainy weather. Nothing better to do on a rainy day then sit inside the coop and lay eggs, I guess. ~Smile
I have a pot of ham and beans in the crockpot. Mmmm! It’s a cool rainy day, so it’s going to be so nice to walk in to dinner ready to eat. I think I’ll make some cornbread to go along with it.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Twins, twins, and more twins…
We had a set of twins (a boy and a girl) yesterday morning and a set of twins this morning (a boy and a girl). Yea! We only have two more mamas to go! We vaccinated and banded tails Saturday morning, but didn’t castrate any of our boys. They are sooo good looking we are going to attempt to sell as many off the farm as possible before sending them to the sale barn as market lambs. They are gorgeous, so if anyone is interested in adding some brawn to their sheep flock (and happen to be in the Kansas area) we have high percentage Texel rams on the market.~Smile
Our neighbors have a gigantic smoker and were smoking turkeys for a friend of our’s and offered to throw a couple of lamb roasts on the smoker for us. They were absolutely delicious. They tasted almost identical to pork. This was our first encounter with lamb, and we were impressed with the flavor. It’s hard, but you just try not the think about where it came from. I always tell myself, “we take care of them, so they can take care of us.” It really does help (me).
My dh has been working like crazy to get our pastures fenced in. We will worm our sheep this week or weekend, and they will be turned out on pasture. I can’t wait. We are working lambs this weekend at Dad’s. We are guessing around 200 lambs. Yikes! The weekend after we are shearing sheep at Dad’s. Luckily a lot of them are hair sheep, but I would still estimate around 100 of them will need a trimming and 300-500 will need wormed (not sure if we worm the lambs?). Ugh! I’m going to be Buff Betty by the time all his sheep are tended to. This past weekend we separated the rams (20-30) from the ewes and small babies. I’m sunburned and bruised to prove it.
Have a great Tuesday!
New Babies…
There was a bit of a break, but both farms had babies yesterday. Dh even had to stay a little late this morning and induce one of our ewes to get her to labor. She had a healthy little boy and is hopefully doing okay. We are up to seventeen babies if I’m not mistaken. I’m supplementing a triplet just to be on the safe side, but otherwise everyone is healthy and hopefully happy.
I’m getting ready to go to lunch. I’m running to a store called Back to Nature to buy myrrh. I’m on a mission to make our own toothpaste (using Crystal Miller’s recipe). We are squeezing the last little drop out of the tube, so dh said he will give it a go and try it. He’s so good to just go with the flow and try all of my (sometimes crazy) ideas.
I’m leaving 30 minutes early because our boss kept us late Monday evening. So, I’m running some errands for mom, delivering Avon brochures (a fun little side business), and going home to prepare for a three day weekend at home. Yea! Mom is off work today and tending to chores at their house, so we just have our little ones to tend to. We have no plans or prior engagements this weekend, so my dh and I are both ecstatic. I love being home!
Have a great weekend!
Chores…
When I got to Mom and Dad’s my dh had pretty much all of the chores done. Yea! They offered to make us dinner because my sweet aunt from North Carolina had sent us a ton of food via Honeybaked Ham so we didn’t have to cook while Dad was hurt. So, we went home to do some chores. We are supplementing one of our triplet babies with a bottle, we are milking out and drying off a ewe, and had to feed and water before heading back down for dinner.
My aunt and cousins were out last night. My Grandma was put in the hospital yesterday. She has pancreatitis, so they are battle it again. Please pray for her. She gets so down when she has to stay in the hospital (as this has happened a few times before). She’s a social butterfly and it’s such a disappointment to her to have to miss out on bridge, bowling, and all her social gatherings. Hopefully it’s a speedy recovering this time around. I was going to run to the bookstore near where I work over lunch today to get her a book. If anyone has any suggestions. I was thinking just a “feel good” type book like Chicken Soup for the ….Soul or something uplifting. Thank you in advance.
Today is haircut day for dh (it’s been 9 mos. since his last haircut and he’s looking like a wild man), so he is going to be late. That leaves me to do chores at Mom and Dad’s. Yuck! Oh well, he has taken care of them the past two days. It’s probably time for me to take my turn.
Tonight we are having scrambled eggs with farm raised eggs, msg free sausage, and toast from homemade bread. I love it! I love eating foods I know are healthy for me and know what has gone into them. I had totally planned to make kefir smoothies for Randy and I for breakfast, but just didn’t have the time. Maybe tomorrow! Dh had an upset stomache this morning so I probably should have made the time to make one for him. He seems to like taking apple cider vinegar for stomache ailments ever since I recommended he try it, so hopefully it helped him this morning also.
Have a wonderful Wednesday! My week is almost over. Yippee!
A Simple Prairie Life 