Congrats to Rhonda Jean of Down to Earth fame!
Her blog has been declared the best homesteading blog for September 2007 by The Modern Homestead.
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Saturday, September 01, 2007
Friday, August 31, 2007
Pony? Pony. PONY!!
MOM! HORSE! SMALL, BLACK,WHITE, HERE! ~door slam~
What? I walked out onto the porch in time to see a herd of children running and laughing behind a terrified black and white miniature horse. Don't chase it! I yelled at the herd. My children froze, but the others, well they weren't raised by me. Soon this freaked out pony was being chased by kids on bikes through the road. There was no way I would be able to coral it now. I told my oldest to take his bike and ride over to the owner's to let them know, they weren't home. My closest neighbor decided to round her up and coral her in his pasture until the owners arrived. He was able to scare off the unruly children and bring the pony in.
My middle son has been brushing out the neighbors horses, to earn rides. He will be six next week and has decided that he wants a horse for his birthday.
I don't see that happening as we are not yet ready for one. We are attempting to be ready by next spring for the donkey though.
My neighbor also asked if I was the one that was braiding her horses tail Why on earth would I be doing that? She didn't know, but someone has been avoiding the hot fencing and braiding one of her horses tails in the middle of the night. I joked with Marina that I was actually the one doing it, it's the grown up version of my little pony. Of course the joking deteriorated to the point where we had chickens with OCD out in the fields fixing the horses hair.
I have a lot to do this week, and really not looking forward to any of it. I will be without a camera for a few days, but I will tell you why later.
I also won the White Raven Award. Color me thrilled!
Hope you have a great weekend!
What? I walked out onto the porch in time to see a herd of children running and laughing behind a terrified black and white miniature horse. Don't chase it! I yelled at the herd. My children froze, but the others, well they weren't raised by me. Soon this freaked out pony was being chased by kids on bikes through the road. There was no way I would be able to coral it now. I told my oldest to take his bike and ride over to the owner's to let them know, they weren't home. My closest neighbor decided to round her up and coral her in his pasture until the owners arrived. He was able to scare off the unruly children and bring the pony in.
My middle son has been brushing out the neighbors horses, to earn rides. He will be six next week and has decided that he wants a horse for his birthday.
I don't see that happening as we are not yet ready for one. We are attempting to be ready by next spring for the donkey though.My neighbor also asked if I was the one that was braiding her horses tail Why on earth would I be doing that? She didn't know, but someone has been avoiding the hot fencing and braiding one of her horses tails in the middle of the night. I joked with Marina that I was actually the one doing it, it's the grown up version of my little pony. Of course the joking deteriorated to the point where we had chickens with OCD out in the fields fixing the horses hair.
I have a lot to do this week, and really not looking forward to any of it. I will be without a camera for a few days, but I will tell you why later.
I also won the White Raven Award. Color me thrilled!
Hope you have a great weekend!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Luck me a Lady
Luck doesn't exist {finger crossed as I say that}. Honestly I think luck plays a big role in the homesteading life. Some may call it a miracle, and some day's I am inclined to believe that. It just seems like every other day, I will look at something and contribute luck to its or my survival. Most of it is hard work and persistence, but it could have gone the other way. Ya got lucky Phelan. Sigh, I know.
It can make you feel better to have a fetish or talisman about your being, home, garden, just to encourage luck to visit. As I well know, all that hard work and persistence can lead to the death of something. I have a few little things, like a horseshoe over my entryway door, a dream catcher over my bed and a bell on the undercarriage of our bike.
If you are a strong believer in luck, and wish to bring more into your life, there are several things you can do {just don't give up all that persistence}.
If your cow has come up dry, try walking her under an arch made from the wood of an ash tree.
Honor Saint Armand in your vineyard to grow the best grapes and brew the best wines and beers.
Mix your seeds with the ashes of consecrated palms burned on Easter to insure a healthy crop.
Honor Saint Bartholomew in your leather working shops, to bring luck to your work.
The bloodstone is very lucky for farmers and cattle breeders.
Wearing jewelry with a bulls head in it will bring you a large family and productive fields.
Toss a coin into your well if it has gone dry to have it flow once again.
A Kachina doll made to feel as it is part of the family, will bring luck in the form of a good harvest and protection from natural disasters.
Invoking Saint Medard is helpful to hold off bad weather.
Quartz is important to use when you are wanting rainfall.
For all you seamstresses and tailors, dropping your needle is good luck, but not your scissors. Do not start a new garment on Friday, and never work on a Sunday.
Depending on the symbol, tattoos will ward off evil and bring good fortune.
Saint Zita is someone to have on your side if you are a housewife, a maid, or have lost your keys.
There are many more good luck charms out there. The one above I felt where the best ones for homesteaders. Most other charms tend to bring love, ward of evil eye, or evil in general, power and wisdom. The rabbit foot, not mentioned above is a more recent charm. It is said that farmers saw the rabbits that ate and tore up there fields digging with their hind legs. Throwing their legs into a pot of soup and eating it was said to bring luck. Not to mention one less rabbit destroying your crops.
Now let's not all run off and acquire the luck items in mass, we really don't want everyone to know what we are up to.
What do you do for luck?
It can make you feel better to have a fetish or talisman about your being, home, garden, just to encourage luck to visit. As I well know, all that hard work and persistence can lead to the death of something. I have a few little things, like a horseshoe over my entryway door, a dream catcher over my bed and a bell on the undercarriage of our bike.
If you are a strong believer in luck, and wish to bring more into your life, there are several things you can do {just don't give up all that persistence}.
If your cow has come up dry, try walking her under an arch made from the wood of an ash tree.
Honor Saint Armand in your vineyard to grow the best grapes and brew the best wines and beers.
Mix your seeds with the ashes of consecrated palms burned on Easter to insure a healthy crop.
Honor Saint Bartholomew in your leather working shops, to bring luck to your work.
The bloodstone is very lucky for farmers and cattle breeders.
Wearing jewelry with a bulls head in it will bring you a large family and productive fields.
Toss a coin into your well if it has gone dry to have it flow once again.
A Kachina doll made to feel as it is part of the family, will bring luck in the form of a good harvest and protection from natural disasters.
Invoking Saint Medard is helpful to hold off bad weather.
Quartz is important to use when you are wanting rainfall.
For all you seamstresses and tailors, dropping your needle is good luck, but not your scissors. Do not start a new garment on Friday, and never work on a Sunday.
Depending on the symbol, tattoos will ward off evil and bring good fortune.
Saint Zita is someone to have on your side if you are a housewife, a maid, or have lost your keys.
There are many more good luck charms out there. The one above I felt where the best ones for homesteaders. Most other charms tend to bring love, ward of evil eye, or evil in general, power and wisdom. The rabbit foot, not mentioned above is a more recent charm. It is said that farmers saw the rabbits that ate and tore up there fields digging with their hind legs. Throwing their legs into a pot of soup and eating it was said to bring luck. Not to mention one less rabbit destroying your crops.
Now let's not all run off and acquire the luck items in mass, we really don't want everyone to know what we are up to.
What do you do for luck?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Late August Morning
We are not suffering from drought this year.
August in Kansas should look like this
Instead it looks like this
No, not complaining.
Even with the rain fall, some of my trees in our orchard are struggling. I am starting to think it has more to do with the soil than with the amount of water they are receiving. In some areas, despite the rain, the clay is hard and cracked. Other places are soft and yield gentle under your feet. Just looking out into our field you can see the marbled effect of the clay. It has been the cause of some stress here. We are unsure if we are going to make it.
We have an apple and a cherry tree that are the same age. The apple tree is touching 6 feet in height, while the cherry, who stand only a few feet away, is struggling to touch the 3 foot mark.
We choose an area that the field grass was struggling for life to plant our grapes. It should have been a perfect area, the grapes would concentrate more on their berries then the foliage. That is not the case.
I have followed the advice of books, yet have rarely been successful with their sure things. Time now to do it our way. If this means re-landscaping, then so be it. But something has to change if we are to make it. I fear that this land will only be good for growing field grasses.
August in Kansas should look like this
Instead it looks like this
No, not complaining.Even with the rain fall, some of my trees in our orchard are struggling. I am starting to think it has more to do with the soil than with the amount of water they are receiving. In some areas, despite the rain, the clay is hard and cracked. Other places are soft and yield gentle under your feet. Just looking out into our field you can see the marbled effect of the clay. It has been the cause of some stress here. We are unsure if we are going to make it.
We have an apple and a cherry tree that are the same age. The apple tree is touching 6 feet in height, while the cherry, who stand only a few feet away, is struggling to touch the 3 foot mark.
We choose an area that the field grass was struggling for life to plant our grapes. It should have been a perfect area, the grapes would concentrate more on their berries then the foliage. That is not the case.
I have followed the advice of books, yet have rarely been successful with their sure things. Time now to do it our way. If this means re-landscaping, then so be it. But something has to change if we are to make it. I fear that this land will only be good for growing field grasses.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Tales from the weekend
My anniversary weekend started on Friday night, a friend called us and we ran off to the city. You can read about that night here.
My husband and I got 3 hours sleep Friday. Stupidly I hadn't finished, I mean caught up, on the house work that I had neglected to do because of my preoccupation with the wood flooring. It was the kitchen and laundry area that was a disaster, the rest of the house was clean. I spent some time trying to clean up before I had to go pick up the boys. I had left my truck at my sister-in-laws, so my husband and I had to take the motorcycle out in the chilly, foggy morning. A man in a gravel truck was flinging his cargo all over the road as he straddled the middle line. We buzzed around him, only to have him try to rear end us as we turned onto a side road.
Marina was sitting in my driveway when we pulled in. I honestly wasn't expecting her until later that day. I embarrassingly took her inside. Then convinced her that since she had drove all night {10 hours total} that she should go and get some sleep in our camper.
We she woke, we gave her a tour of our land. It is very different from her own, hers has many trees, while ours is wide open. Not too much to see, but we tried to explain how the future would look for our homestead. Then we went into town. She saw the bank, the grocery, Sonic and the liqueur store. Valley Center isn't very big, so that was about all there was to see, besides the Barton explosion site.
Home again. My parents-in-laws showed up a few hours early. Typical for them. I ran my boys to my mother's house for the night. I know what you're thinking, why would I invite the in-laws, but have my mother sit? Many years ago my mother claims she done drunk the Indian out of her and the Irish had taken over. Meaning she was having blackouts, she no longer drinks and finds hanging out with drunks distasteful. She rather babysit then hang out. I stop at the grocery before returning home.
Half the people we invited showed up. That's fine with us, only 1 of the no shows bothered us. One of the guys we spend Friday evening with showed up. Marina and I spent a little time in the house, listening to Blondie and talking while drinking {a feat in itself}. Soon though we were persuaded to go out into the humid night.
The men decided to play wrench and work on a 60's chopper that was sitting in our garage. Something that hadn't been started in years, while the woman folk sat around right outside the door chatting. Marina got to experience the bike building party. Soon air raid sirens were heard. We stood up, trying to figure out what the noise was, the closest air raid and tornado sirens to us are over the river, you can't hear them at our place. Maybe it was some kids, was my response, but then we saw the red and blue lights of a country water engine. Fire! We looked back in the field and there was indeed a big fire in a neighboring field. My sister-in-law asked how high are field was. It was a good height because of the brome that was growing out there. I suggested we take the truck out to the back fencing. When we got out there, we saw that it was only a bonfire, someone didn't like a neighbor and called on them. It is a $500US fine if they didn't have a burn permit. We took the truck back up.
Marina discovered that I am expected to keep refilling my husband's drinks. I realize that it seems a little 1950's, but it is something that I have always done, with only the jesting complaint. My husband and a friend were standing near the house. Marina bet that he was waiting for our return to get a refill. My husband had a little bit of drink left. But when we got up there, he downed it and asked for more. Marina won her nickle. All I had was a dime to give her.
Around 1 am, the chopper was started up, and us women folk clapped the boys success. Shortly there after, we regaled the group in stories from the past 11 years. At one point I turned to Marina, Our first few years were terrifying, I joked.
Around 2 am people began to leave. Marina climbed into the camper to pass out, and my husband and I retired to our room. We slept hard. In the morning I went and picked up my boys. Marina was ready to head out on our return. With a hug and a nickel in change, she took to the road on her long journey home. My husband and I really enjoyed our anniversary, and were thrilled about Marina's visit.
And Alrescate, thank you for the card. We got a good giggle from it.
My husband and I got 3 hours sleep Friday. Stupidly I hadn't finished, I mean caught up, on the house work that I had neglected to do because of my preoccupation with the wood flooring. It was the kitchen and laundry area that was a disaster, the rest of the house was clean. I spent some time trying to clean up before I had to go pick up the boys. I had left my truck at my sister-in-laws, so my husband and I had to take the motorcycle out in the chilly, foggy morning. A man in a gravel truck was flinging his cargo all over the road as he straddled the middle line. We buzzed around him, only to have him try to rear end us as we turned onto a side road.
Marina was sitting in my driveway when we pulled in. I honestly wasn't expecting her until later that day. I embarrassingly took her inside. Then convinced her that since she had drove all night {10 hours total} that she should go and get some sleep in our camper.
We she woke, we gave her a tour of our land. It is very different from her own, hers has many trees, while ours is wide open. Not too much to see, but we tried to explain how the future would look for our homestead. Then we went into town. She saw the bank, the grocery, Sonic and the liqueur store. Valley Center isn't very big, so that was about all there was to see, besides the Barton explosion site.
Home again. My parents-in-laws showed up a few hours early. Typical for them. I ran my boys to my mother's house for the night. I know what you're thinking, why would I invite the in-laws, but have my mother sit? Many years ago my mother claims she done drunk the Indian out of her and the Irish had taken over. Meaning she was having blackouts, she no longer drinks and finds hanging out with drunks distasteful. She rather babysit then hang out. I stop at the grocery before returning home.
Half the people we invited showed up. That's fine with us, only 1 of the no shows bothered us. One of the guys we spend Friday evening with showed up. Marina and I spent a little time in the house, listening to Blondie and talking while drinking {a feat in itself}. Soon though we were persuaded to go out into the humid night.
The men decided to play wrench and work on a 60's chopper that was sitting in our garage. Something that hadn't been started in years, while the woman folk sat around right outside the door chatting. Marina got to experience the bike building party. Soon air raid sirens were heard. We stood up, trying to figure out what the noise was, the closest air raid and tornado sirens to us are over the river, you can't hear them at our place. Maybe it was some kids, was my response, but then we saw the red and blue lights of a country water engine. Fire! We looked back in the field and there was indeed a big fire in a neighboring field. My sister-in-law asked how high are field was. It was a good height because of the brome that was growing out there. I suggested we take the truck out to the back fencing. When we got out there, we saw that it was only a bonfire, someone didn't like a neighbor and called on them. It is a $500US fine if they didn't have a burn permit. We took the truck back up.
Marina discovered that I am expected to keep refilling my husband's drinks. I realize that it seems a little 1950's, but it is something that I have always done, with only the jesting complaint. My husband and a friend were standing near the house. Marina bet that he was waiting for our return to get a refill. My husband had a little bit of drink left. But when we got up there, he downed it and asked for more. Marina won her nickle. All I had was a dime to give her.
Around 1 am, the chopper was started up, and us women folk clapped the boys success. Shortly there after, we regaled the group in stories from the past 11 years. At one point I turned to Marina, Our first few years were terrifying, I joked.
Around 2 am people began to leave. Marina climbed into the camper to pass out, and my husband and I retired to our room. We slept hard. In the morning I went and picked up my boys. Marina was ready to head out on our return. With a hug and a nickel in change, she took to the road on her long journey home. My husband and I really enjoyed our anniversary, and were thrilled about Marina's visit.
And Alrescate, thank you for the card. We got a good giggle from it.
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