Another Monday...

I'm full of hope today even tho it's overcast and misting rain outside. Today could be a great day. On the way over here to the library, as I topped a small hill along the rural state highway, coming thru a combined bean field was a beautiful 8 point buck. He was trailing a doe because he was trotting along with his nose on the ground, not paying attention to anything which of course scares me since he's close to the road and not slowing down. So, common sense prevails and I go ahead and slow down just in case he runs right out in front of me. He gets right to the edge of the road, stops and raises his head. If there was ever a time I wish I had a camera....

I made a nice loaf of french bread last night plus my normal every day bread to go with the chicken I butchered. I breaded(home made breading mix) the pieces and fried them up with corn and potatoes I grew for the sides. For some reason, my chickens were in roost by 3pm yesterday and I only got 6 eggs which I used for the egg dip with the chicken.

I'm concerned about the weather we've been having lately and how it's going to affect next planting season. November and February as normally our wettest months and so for November here has been unseasonably warm and dry. So, I've been working on plotting out what I will container garden next season to ensure I don't suffer crop failures with plants I need to eat with in the coming year. Container growing will help me a great deal if we have another wet spring as well as a dry one. Control of the plant is all mine with the containers.

Okay, now a news flash for all you early risers...... the Leonid Meteor shower is going to be at it's peak Tuesday in the pre dawn hours. I'm hoping it's not overcast here like the last meteor shower... I just love that stuff and hate to miss it due to weather.

I'm having a bit of a craving for carrots and radish. I'm thinking about pulling a planter out of storage and setting it in the kitchen window and planting some carrot and radish in it. Both are super simple to grow and the 10" deep windowbox planters work pretty good for them. Maybe I'll have fresh baby carrots for Christmas!

A little excitement around here

It's normally just kind of quiet around here but I'm not complaining, I like it that way. Nothing wrong with things going like they are expected to be. The animals are all doing well and the house is still standing, lol. I've just bee piddling around the farm, working on little things that I'm not happy with. I was giving the Moo cow a little attention, rubbing on her, giving her water and hay, working her legs for her when she stood up. Just stood up and stayed up. She walked in a circle and moved forward 4 or 5 steps and laid back down. I steadied her as best I could and notcied instantly where her problem is. All this time I thought it was her back legs but it's not. Her front ankles are stiff and she's walking on them. So, more cow therapy is in order to help her get back on her feet. I will work on getting her ankle muscles stretched back out so she can run and play like a young cow should do. I'm so excited( hard to tell when typing or reading) about her progress. Everyone around me has said that since she's been down so long, she'll never get back up. Well, I guess Moo is going to make farmer history then because she is getting back up! Go Moo!

I had a wild day with the chickens, I guess we have to be missing some eggs when we pick up each day because I found 48 eggs last night! I'm going to have to whip up a couple quiches and some pound cake or we'll never get all those eaten.

The countdown to getting the home computer fixed is coming to a close and boy, am I glad about that! I so can not tolerate nosey people at the library, they just can't mind their own business! Also, you get these kids sitting next to you that think they are computer guru's and constantly mumble and curse..... not to mention all the work I need to be getting done around the farm that I have to put on hold so I can go to the library. LOL, I so love being in public. Can you tell I miss my home computer??

Easy stuff happening around the farm today. I'll just be gridning a little chicken feed for the week, digging some potatoes from what's left of the patch out back, working on Moo, cleaning up more of the straw in the loft that the chickens have so graciously scattered for me(they peck the strings and break bales) and maybe a new bread recipe for supper. Nothing special for supper tonite, just a couple of pork butterflies from the hog I butchered.

The weather is still nice here so it will be an outdoor day and supper will be made on the grill over a fire tonite. Just can't beat a real wood smoke and flame pork chop!

Another Beautiful Day

This warm weather is so nice. I know come January we're going to pay for it. I'm dreading the 2" of ice and the freezing temperatures.

I had to take a quick cell phone pic of the baby bunnies this morning, they were just so darn cute. They are eating feed now and completely out of the box. They grow so quick.

I had a nice time last night, my daughters first home game, they won. I took around 30 pictures that I can't get off that old Kodak camera until I get my computer back. The countdown is killing me, I should have it back in around 10 days. I'm so excited about it, I can finally get all my garden plans for the coming season worked out. I've got all my old garden plans on a cd-ROM I can't access until my computer is fixed so I'm wormy waiting. Hahahaha, I guess I'll live thru it okay.

Moo Cow got up yesterday! She stood for just a few seconds but it was great. Now she knows she can get up and she's really moving around the barn lot now. I'm pumping the feed to her in the hopes she continues to get stronger. After all this time, no one around here can beleive she's not dead yet anyway so when she gets up, she will surely be the talk of the farming community. Not that I really care about that but maybe some of my farming ideas might rub off on others because of her.

I still haven't found a milk cow but I haven't given up. I've got a few leads to run down in the next week or so that hopefully will give me an opportunity to aquire my own milk source. Speaking of milk, the nanny goat is doing well and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she's got at least one kid inside her growing. 2 would be better ;)

Not much going on around the farm today other than enjoying the warm weather. I've been tossing the idea of making a different goat pen away from the barns but nothing serious yet. I've got a couple spots in mind but they need some cleaning up and clearing out. Brush and a few pieces of farm equipment in the way. Maybe by the end of the week I'll get more motivated toward getting something solid going.....

Lazy days

lazy days, yep, it seems that way lately. This past week has been absolutely gorgeous! 70 degess, mostly sunny, mild nights, not what one expects for November. It's overcast today tho, looks like a bit of rain might come this way. Now I have to figure out how to get that cow back in the barn. She's made it 20 or so feet out into the barn lot and she's grown a bit.

I've got a bucket all set up to transplant the mini bell peppers from the tub by the porch to the kitchen garden for the winter. Since the frost didn't kill it back and it's still flowering, I might as well save it. The peppers are sweet and spicey, a nice addition to just about everything I cook around here. I will give the plants a juice of rabbit poo as fertilizer and let them grow in the windows.

The Muscovy duck hatched a chick out yesterday, she still has 6 chicken eggs and 7 duck eggs under her. I'm not sure exactly how long the Rouen has still, she's just got duck eggs under her, all her own. So, we've got 7 more days before the ducklings start to hatch, 21 for chicks and 28 for ducks.

The bunnies have jumped out of the box and this is the size where they are so darn cute! I love playing with them. At this size, it's hard to imagine them as supper. I've got 3 does hopefully to kindle on the 24th as well.

I've been doing double duty with the cooking, more than one meal at a time going. I've got a sweet sauce simmering on the stove today for pizza sauce, a couple italian dishes and what's left will go with meatballs. A little of the pork mixed with some of the beef rolled up with my own little recipe. I made a couple batches of french bread so we could have garlic bread with our meals. I like the french bread better than the italian bread.

Hubby is still unemployed and we're starting to feel the squeeze just a little bit. I'm still sitting on a few projects that need finished before the bad weather comes along. Always thankful we had a decent harvest this year, plenty to eat!

It's time to start thinking about the coming holidays. I love this time of year... I need to make some soap and some cheese, get back after that quilt that's been sitiing folded up in the drawer for more than a year...