I told him to stop playing with his food

He says it's hand rubbed meat

She even lays on her side, and will stick a leg up for her belly rubbed, just like a dog.  But because he does this, she runs, screaming at me as soon as I walk into the pen. She thinks I will scratch her, I think she is going to push me down and eat me.

I am still on hiatus, I just needed a break from the drama going on, and I know you guys talk to me still. ~haha~

On Hiatus

Will be back in 2 months

Good luck!

Please stop dumping them on me

I really wish people would stop dumping their dogs in the country. I realize that many think that us country folk will take them in, and yes, once in a great while we do. However the shear amount of dogs that get dumped, there is no feasible way to care for them all.

For those that dump their dogs, here's what happens to your pooch.

1. they get hit by a car
2. the get torn apart by coyotes
3. The get bit or scratched and die from an infection
4. they starve to death

Now if they managed to escape the above, they get hungry

5. farmer shoots them for attacking livestock.


However if they are very lucky


6. Animal control is called to pick them up


But even Animal control has told me to set out poison for the dumped pets. I won't do that, but some will.

If they manage to find other dumped dogs, they form a motley pack. And begin killing anything or anyone. They attack children and adults alike. I know you are looking at your pooch thinking but Sparky wouldn't hurt a fly. Think again. Try not feeding them for a week and see if they don't turn on you. You know they will. They become crazed by hunger. Dogs are not vegans. If all they can get is grass and plant life, they will eventually find a farm, they will kill the chickens or rabbits. And then they themselves will be killed.

Some feel that their dogs have a better chance at life in the country, rather then placing them in the care of the Humane Society. They are wrong. It is needlessly cruel to dump your dogs in the country.

I have shot many myself, ever since the city put in a measure that restricts what they consider dangerous dogs.  I am tired of it. I am tired of your dogs desperate for food. We have to be careful with our children as well because of it. However lately the packs have slowed down because of the drought, they are starving to death and the coyotes have been eating them.

Show that dog a bit of kindness and take them to the pound. And it isn't just dogs, cats are a big problem as well. 

Blog Listings confusion

Someone, pointed out that I am listed under gardening, and here I am talking about violence.

I am actually listed in all sorts of places, gardening, construction management, cooking, do-it-yourself, frugal, farming, alternative, survival, crafts etc. . .

Here's the rub, I didn't list myself in them. I listed myself in only two places, under homesteading and personal journal, and I have only received a couple of hits from those places. Wonderful readers list me in other places, like stumbleupon, pintrest,  and blog rank are the most popular. Many of these places do not list homesteading or farming as a general listing, so many blogs like mine end up under gardening. Some times when a person asks to list a blog, the listing employees look at that blog, and if you have been talking about gardening for that week, the employees label the blog as such. (and I have looked at the blog rank listings, they have my numbers way lower then they truly are)

The most hits I see in a day are about butchering, as several e-how posts link to them.

So, now you know.

This is a personal journal that talks about everything. If you want gardening come back in mid march.

Candles and guns

Apparently those of us that decided to put up photos of our guns with a lit candle upset a good many people. I have been reading about it on and off for the last few days over on Weer'd World. Then I read an open letter by Sarah on Cranky Chicks with Guns. 

I guess I could always put my two cents in.

Once upon a time I was a young girl, and a victim of a violent crime. Not many in my life know about this. Because I survived it and no longer consider myself a victim. I was, yes. And I don't bring it up, and talk about it in conversations.  It was 20 years ago, and now I have no qualms about pulling a gun out on a man that just walks into my house, because he knows Husband is away. I don't know what that man's intentions were, but I am guessing that it was more than just to take a house tour. I had young children in the house as well. He heard my dogs, and saw my rifle, he ran. And I was safe.

But  about  20 years ago (I was 14 he was twice my age) it was a different story. Candles lit in honor of my victimage is not appreciated. Candle light vigils have their place, just not in mine.

 I thought I was in a safe place, I thought him sweet and kind. He lit candles to be romantic and we talked. He wasn't a stranger.

The lit candles in the room didn't save me from his savage beating when I didn't want to give him head.  The lit candles didn't rescue me when I screamed for help as he used his knife to cut and shred my clothing. The candles didn't comfort me when I gave up fighting and merely cried through the pain. The candles flickered and died as the scene repeated itself.


 I loathe this story. I hate remembering it. Even so I will not cower and play victim. 

The variousness of it

How many of you live in a mobile home, manufactured home, or trailer?

Most of them are pretty much set up the same, unless you get a custom set-up. Ours is 30 some odd years old. And it has a time keeping itself warm.  Every year I tell Husband that this is the last year I will suffer a winter in this thing. However things creep up, and we have to put off building something new. Our biggest obstacle is that we live in one of the few counties that actually have building codes other than, if I push on it and it doesn't fall, it's all good.  (that and money of course, but that goes with the building code problem)

So what we are doing in the interim  is "customizing" the home. Things like putting in a real floor is quite normal for a trailer house, especially when one falls through it. I've done that, what. . . twice now? But the biggest problem is pipes freezing.

I have something that I think was once suppose to be a dinning room. Or at least a space to but a desk size table into for people to eat on with a cheap lamp type chandelier hanging above it.  A silly little table isn't big enough for the 5 of us, we have tried. And it has the washer and dryer in a closet type thing in the same area.  We have taken the fridge out of it's cubby hole and put it in the dinning area, along with the 2 upright freezers. But the washer is on the north side of the house. Bad Bad Bad. The lines to it freeze every year.

We moved the laundry area to the master bath. Our master bath has been all kinds of things over the years, ever since we removed the brittle plastic garden tub because of a leak and mold. I think creating a laundry room will be the last step. It is 12F now, and the lines didn't freeze! With as much laundry as I have to do between the 5 of us and our various chores resulting in much dirt, dust and oil, this is great! Plus the first time in 10 years that I could do laundry on such a cold day.

But now we have an empty hole in this dinning area. Husband will be putting in a new pantry in it. This helps out greatly, and I will have a place to put all those canning jars!

We have several winter projects we are working on. Maybe with the customization of our own trailer will help give some of you, that are tired too of living in one of these things, a few ideas of your own.

And I would love to hear about your own tailored trailer.

Rabbit mistake

Long story short

Took a doe to a buck

doe was larger than buck

doe killed buck

I Bought a Book

Huzzah!!!

Thank you thank you I am proud of myself.

On the recommendation of a couple of people, I purchased Five Acres and Independence by MG Kains. Trying to find it through a place that accepts paypal was difficult. I bought it online through Ready Made Resources. giving them a shout-out because they had the book, and it arrived quickly.


Glancing through it, I must say that it seems to be right up my alley. I will let you know soon.

Also, Fox Chapel Publishing sent me two new books to look over before it's release date.

What are you doing with them?

Kids crack me up sometimes. Yesterday I took cupcakes to Small's classroom. The first question and the multiple follow up question, was did I make the cupcakes myself. When I answered yes to one, they smiled and excitedly told the child next to them that I had made them. I am assuming homemade is a treat to most of them, and they seem to prefer it as excited as they were getting. I know Small will come home with a cookie or cupcake with only a couple bits in them, telling me they were too sweet and didn't like it. You can tell by looking they were store bought. But my kids are so use to homemade, and not so sweet.

While I was there a phone call came in on my cell. I sent it to voicemail, because I have that option even though I do not have a voice mail set up. But I could see the caller ID. Once I left the school I called the guy back. He is bringing us 15-20 telephone poles over in the next few days

Husband was all giddy. "Wasn't expecting that many!" I informed Husband that the guy said that was the minimum he would be bringing over, as soon as he finds out how many have already been spoken for, we could get more,

Husband's eyes then lit up. "you know what we can do with those? I said I could have a zombie proof fence. Have you seen telephone pole fences? We have some people in town that have one, pretty freakin cool looking, and nothing is getting over them.

Of course Husband nodded. He was thinking about the walipini, and the "ditch". If we get the "ditch" 6 ft deep we can keep my preferred flavor of fish. Husband is all excited about the possibilities right now. I have to get him to narrow his focus and pick one project at a time. These poles are 30 -35 ft a piece!

So I am feeling a bit defeatist this morning. 2 reasons. First we have come to the conclusion we need a bit of help launching the shop and have decided to go ahead a try using the site peerbackers. And the second is that we went and looked at a place, that was close to perfect, except for the carpeting. It was an old post office, everything was concrete blocks, including the floor. We offered to buy the carpet, so we could rip it out and be replaced later, but I got a phone call later with a no. Maybe something else will open up in the next few months.

Do you guys want my noodle recipes?  I know you can find them anywhere, but thought I would ask if you wanted mine. Many go through the recipe page at the top of this blog. Well, I should be making noodles tonight, always looks like colorful streamers hanging from my kitchen ceiling.

Light a candle to stop violence

I am running a bit late, with only an hour left on the 8th.



I do not carry a hand gun on the homestead. And the blanket is my lame attempt at making it more girly. (If I had known about this early, I might have been able to do something a bit more pretty)

Read about what's going on on Light a Candle to stop Violence by Weer'd World

Some people cringe when it come to firearms. Once upon a time, I was raised to believe that guns were evil, that if guns were made illegal that crime would go down. However BTK came into our lives, ('85) and my mother started to secretly carry one in her purse. And then I grew up and did my research. Guns have freed societies, guns have protected us, guns have allowed us to eat in times we might have starved. Yes, some people have done great harm with firearms, but they have also done great deeds as well. Responsible gun owners should not have to suffer and give up their protection (or their livestock's protection) and their rights because of a few uneducated, desperate, or criminal inclined individuals.