Well, Excuse Me

Our ducks are completely free ranging this year, owing mostly to my lack of effort in keeping them in the fenced in place that they are meant to be. There are certainly disadvantages to having ducks who have the run of the place. The biggest of which is the mess that they leave on my front porch. (Can't for the life of me figure out why they like it there so well.)

There are also some advantages. They are helpful in the garden. They eat the grass and the bugs, and really don't seem to bother the vegetables themselves. (The same can not be said for a few chickens who have managed to escape their fence despite my best efforts.)

The hens also are more successful in hatching their clutches when they are not confined to a fenced in area.  But sometimes, I have to wonder about the places they choose for their nests. Such as the hen that is pictured below.

She has made her nest between our shed and the steps to our side door. This is where we park. My washer and clothes line are on this side of the house. This is the door we go in and out of the most. Yet, there she sits.

She really isn't in the way, and I really wouldn't mind except for one thing. Every time someone walks down those steps she hisses and gets her dander up as if we are intruding on her territory. Really? Well excuse me Mrs. Hen, this was my space first. You're welcome to it for your month of brooding, but I really do not appreciate your rudeness!

When you have a few days off

As many of you know, after a seven year hiatus from the world of paid working, I chose to go back to work a little over two years ago. I did not go back to my previous profession. Instead I chose to take a serving job that allowed me to work on weekends with a minimal disruption to our homeschool schedule. The choice was made in an effort to get out of debt.

For the most part, I am happy the choice was made.  The schedule can be grueling at times, but working three days a week has been a tremendous lift to our financial position. Our debt has been significantly reduced. The credit cards have been paid off for some time, and that in itself is a tremendous burden removed.

The last year has been exhausting. We've taken some heavy hits here both emotionally and financially. The responsibilities of farm and family are overwhelming some days, but these are the responsibilities I enjoy the most. The weeks go so fast, and when Friday rolls around I often just want to stomp my feet, and scream "I just can't do it!" But I don't. There is an emergency fund that needs built back up. There are medical bills that need paid, and huge black cloud of student loans that still hovers over our heads. I suck it up, put on my best fake smile, and head to work. It needs done whether I like it or not.

This weekend I found myself in an unusual circumstance. I was off Friday and Saturday! It felt a tiny bit of heaven to not have to rush home after the market Friday to get ready for work! We did however have a wedding rehearsal to attend.

Friends of ours from church got married on Saturday. Vivian was the flower girl. It was a fun wedding. The rehearsal was Friday with dinner at Hillbilly Hot Dogs.

Saturday was the wedding followed by an outdoor reception. The weather was good, and the wedding and reception were beautiful. The Appletons however did come out of the wedding with a couple funny stories.

Of course, one would involve Nolan. We had to go a little early so Vivian could be there for pictures. Nolan spent the whole time on the DS. It wasn't until I saw him sitting at the top of the steps playing that I realized what he was wearing. His siblings helped him get his clothes, and I only gave him a brief glance before we left. How do you like his ensemble, dress pants, button shirt, tennis shoes, and no socks?

His father came to the wedding in an even a better outfit. He had on his farm clothes, a t-shirt, stained up shorts, and work boots. To be fair, it really wasn't Tim's fault.

We needed to get feed Saturday. With the time and location of the wedding, and the hours of the feed store, it was decided that the best solution was for Tim to go early to the feed store, and then meet the rest of us at the church for the wedding. Part of that plan also included that someone (who would that be?) would bring the clothes Tim had picked out, and he could change when he got to the church. That someone forgot to grab Tim's clothes.

The only store anywhere close to the church was Dollar General. So we went and found Tim a pair of short, a button shirt, and a pair of shoes for the wedding. Thankfully the wedding was pretty casual, and luckily all the items were 50% off. We spent $17.

The wedding was early, and after the wedding we wondered what to do with ourselves with the whole family home on a Saturday. Tim and I considered a date night. Honestly, I think the last time we had time completely alone was when we went to North Carolina for his surgery. We looked at the movie listings, and found nothing very interesting, and didn't really feel all that motivated to get ourselves together to go out again.

Instead Tim took a nap, I read a book, and the kids read and watched a movie in the heat of the afternoon. When it began to cool off a little we all headed out to the garden for a little work. We worked together on the best part of gardening, the harvesting.

We picked green beans. Did I mention we made my bean poles too high, and I planted them too thickly? Ah well, live and learn. This was our first year to use bamboo teepees for poles. In previous years, I've always planted the pole beans on the fence.

We also picked onions, peppers, tomatoes, a few potatoes, corn, melons, okra, and the year's star performer, the herbs. I now have two kinds of basil, parsley, and sage drying above my kitchen sink. It smells so good.

We made my favorite dinner after that, a dinner made almost entirely from food from the farm. We had roasted corn, fried okra, hamburgers, melon, peppers, and sliced tomatoes. Dinner was late, and by the time we ate and cleaned up it was time for bed. It was a wonderful day!

Our schedules are jammed packed. Our weeks are often rushed and stressful. I often wonder how this life is the the simple life. It might seem strange that when I find myself with a day off, that I would choose to work in the garden with the family instead of getting away for an evening with my husband. Tim and I rarely get to work together on farm projects, but when we do I have to say that it is deeply gratifying. Maybe it is knowing that we are in this together. Maybe it is the satisfaction of laboring together to provide for our family.  I'm not sure, but I do know that it is far better than working in the garden alone, and much more appealing to me than sitting in an over air conditioned theater being entertained. I wish there were more days like this.

Gaining Ground in the Battle on Squash Pests - maybe.

You've all heard people talk about how prolific zucchini plants are. You've probably heard stories of gardeners sneaking zucchini onto their neighbors porch in an effort to get rid of it. But let me be the one to dispel this myth. I have had one year of prolific zucchini. Every other year, it has been a battle with the pests to keep this family in zucchini.

It isn't just zucchini either, growing squash has become war, and I fear I am on the losing side.  We are waging a chemical free war here, but I think the bugs may be smarter than I am. It was so bad last year that I swore I was not going to plant anything in the squash family this year. But then spring came and I started thinking about grilled veggies, stuffed zucchini, zucchini brownies, zucchini struedel, fresh pumpkin, and well, before I knew what I was doing hills of dirt were made and seeds were going into the ground.


The more I do this organic gardening thing, the more I am convinced the my best weapons are careful observation and quick action when pests are observed. This is the strategy I tried to implement with the squash this year. The squash have two enemies; squash bugs and vine borers.

The adult squash bugs are elusive. They are a gray color and tend to hang out in the dirt where they are well camouflaged.  I mostly see them on the actual plants in the cool of the morning. If I see them, I squish them or drop them into a jar of water with dish detergent.

Their eggs however, are more easily found. Look for copper colored eggs on the leaves. Most often they are on the underside of the leaf, but sometimes on the top. The eggs are hard to squash. I remove the leaf and the eggs and feed it to the chickens or drop it in water with dish detergent.

The newly hatched bugs have gray or greenish bodies. They almost look like a tiny spider. They are easily smashed.

While I can't claim victory over squash bugs, and can claim containment.  They are there, but by removing the eggs and destroying of the bugs that I do see, I am able to keep them from doing serious damage to the plants.

The deadly enemy to my squash are the vine borers. Adult vine borers are moths. They resemble a red wasp. I rarely see them, and if I do, I never can kill them. They are too fast. They lay tiny black eggs on the stems of the plant. I've looked for the eggs. I've removed a few things that may have been eggs, but then again maybe they were just dirt.

I don't know I have a vine borer until I see something like the picture to the right. See the yellow stuff that looks like chewed fibers. Yep, that is the evidence of a vine borer. Or if it is dry it will look something like sawdust.

When the stem is cut open, you'll find a white grub like worm with a black head. The one pictured on the left is a pretty big one. The tiny ones can be hard to see.

The only thing I know to do when these bugs are found is to split open the stem and destroy the bugs. This works pretty well if the borer is only in a leaf stem. When they are in the main stem of the plant, you can split it and mend the stem by covering it with dirt or wrapping it up, but the plant is severely weakened.

The first time I found borers this year, I split the stems, destroyed the borers, and covered the stems with dirt. The plants came through this nicely. They stayed upright and green. They looked healthy, but fruit production came to an abrupt halt. I wasn't able to keep up the borer vigil, and the next time I checked over the zucchini they were so infested with borers that I pulled all but one plant. It is so frustrating. My next step is to replant, and try again. 

Another thing I noticed this year is the pumpkins are coming through these attacks better than the zucchini or summer squash. I have not been able to keep as close of a watch on the pumpkins, and vine borers are there. The pumpkin vines put down roots that seem to take up the slack where the borers have attacked. Maybe I should try a vining variety of zucchini?

The war is on, and though I think I gained a little ground this year, the bugs definitely have the advantage. Any one have a secret weapon they'd like to share?

A Little Patience Pays Off

If I were to list my finer qualities, patience would not be at the top of the list. I'm not a patient person. I want things to happen now, and I get impatient with people (especially my own children) more than I'd like to admit. But if there is one place that I can say Tim and I have learned to be patient, it is with regards to making purchases.

Being patient is absolutely necessary when it comes to parting with our hard earn dollars. We've learned the hard way, finding a way to buy things we can't afford costs you dearly in the long run. We've also learned that a little patience usually pays off.

I can not count the number of times when we've really wanted or needed (or thought we needed) something, but decided to wait for it, and were so glad we did. Sometimes we found we really didn't want it that much, or that doing without it wasn't so bad. Other times we were able to find the item at a much better price, and often for free. We've seen this happen with so many things. There have been small things like clothing, bigger things, like furniture, and really big things like a vehicle.

The latest example of this happened a few weeks ago. For the entire back story, we need to go back about a year. Tim's office used to be a restaurant. When the building owner converted the space he walled off the kitchen to create an office space and a kitchen. A caterer was working out of the kitchen, and then he went out of business.

The caterer left most of the equipment, and Tim approached the building owner about purchasing a couple of things he thought would be useful on the farm. Mainly, at the time, Tim was thinking of the stainless steel tables. He wanted them for deer processing. There were also freezers and stoves, and a few other things. Tim offered a price. The landlord countered, and no middle ground was found.

The kitchen sat vacant for over a year, and then the landlord approached Tim to see if he was still interested in any of the equipment. There was a new tenant coming, and they didn't want most of the things that had been left in the kitchen. The timing couldn't have been better for us.

Our current freezer space really was not enough for the business of the farm. The freezers we did have were old and inefficient. New freezers were on our purchase radar already. The kitchen had two good sized chest freezers, a small commercial upright freezer, and a small walk in freezer. Cash is a little tight, but the owner assured Tim they could work out a plan for payment.

In the end Tim took all the freezers, two household stoves (one that is needed for the canning kitchen, not sure where the other one is going,) and a lot of miscellaneous type items. There was a wonderful commercial gas stove there that I would have loved to have. Sadly, I have no place or no gas for it! He also cleaned up the place a bit. The owner was just pleased to have it all gone, but we offered to trade him some farm goods for the items. A wonderful deal for both sides!

The freezers came just in time as we just had a whole beef and hog processed. The chest freezers are already full. We need to decide exactly where we want walk in freezer, and do some prep work before we can set that up. Tim didn't get the tables he was originally looking at, but those weren't really needed like the freezers were.

No matter how many times it has happened, it still amazes me how a little patience pays off, and how often the need is met just at the right time. We are truly blessed! 

Our New Tools

It was chicken processing day, Rob from Wild Sage Homestead and a friend were joining us to learn how to process a chicken. The whole family was excitedly gathered around. Tim went to work a little late that morning. Our thirteen year old even posted on Facebook that he was excited about the morning's event. The kids couldn't wait to get started.

What was all the excitement about? We've processed hundreds of chickens, and the kids normally make themselves scarce on processing day. This was no ordinary processing day though. This was the day we got to use our new chicken processing tools, a plucker, and an eviscerating table.

Thanks to the help and support of the community, we were awarded grant money that enabled us to step up the whole process of processing. Thank you Gail Patton of Unlimited Future, who has been a cheerleader for us all along and got the ball rolling on funding for a plucker. Additional funding received from CAFE Huntington, and matching funds from Create Huntington allowed us to purchase a ready assembled plucker, and a table designed for the job of processing. Remaining funds will be used for some more kill cones, and a new water pump for our rain water collection system.

So the big question of course, is how did our new tools work? I couldn't be more pleased. The plucker turns my twenty minutes hand plucking into a two minute job. And even more importantly, it does a nice clean job. Even after spending a lot of time hand plucking, it seemed I was never done. I would keep finding feathers I missed. The plucker machine gets the birds clean. It does miss a little on the inside of the wings, and occasionally the thigh, but finishing up those areas only requires another minute or two.

The table allows me to stand up instead of hunching over like I used to. There is a convenient hole to drop all the mess through.  When you're done a simple spray of the hose, and the remaining mess washes down the drain, and leaves you a clean slate for the next bird. 

I am so thankful for these new tools! With them we will be able to process and sell a lot more chickens!

And in case you're wondering, the excitement for the kids didn't last. The youngest two pressed the on switch on the plucker a couple of times, and then disappeared. The older two did stick around to help. Kellen is the kill cone master, and Lydia does a great job picking any remaining feathers. Their excitement over the plucker may have faded quickly. Mine, however, has not! I am still thrilled, and looking forward to using it again!

Simply Delicious

Grilled Center Cut Ham Slice

Occasionally, someone will ask my favorite way to cook a certain cut of meat. Most of the time I don't think they are expecting the answer I give. If it is a large piece of meat, my answer is something like this, "I throw it in crock pot. Sprinkle it with a few spices, and let it cook all day on low." For the smaller cuts of meat the answer is simply a variation, "I sprinkle it with some spices, and toss it on the grill. Flip it every so often until it is done."

How do you like those recipes? Truth be told, I really do enjoy cooking. I love to try new recipes, or more often use a recipe as a guide to create something new and delicious for the family. Following recipes, or creating new ones requires a rather scares resource. That resource would be time.

If you ask me my favorite way to prepare something, it will be a way that is quick, easy, and produces a delicious result. That my friends is likely to involve a crock pot or a grill. When you have a good piece of meat, you don't need to spend a lot of time, or add a lot of extra ingredients to achieve a wonderful result.

But if you were looking for a more specific recipe than "Slap it on the grill with some salt and pepper," here are a few recipes I like. Hope you find something useful.


Lamb
Curried Chops and Leg Of Lamb
Gryo Burgers

Chicken
Cooking a Skinned Bird
Summer Garden Chicken


Beef
Meatloaf (simple)
Meatloaf (variations)
Homemade Sloppy Joes


Pork
Blackened Chops

Why We Feed our Animals Grain

Photo Credit: Love Happiness Photography

Since venturing into the public sale of our meats, we've encountered a lot of question about how our animals are raised. I think that is wonderful. It means people are educated and care about where their food comes from.

Probably the most frequent question we get is whether the animals are fed grain or not. I understand the concerns. Some are concerned about animal welfare. If you've seen video of chickens or beef in a feed lot type setting, there is good reason to be concerned.

Others are concerned about nutrition, and the fact that most animal feeds contain GMO grain. Honestly, I am just beginning to understand these issues, but I do understand the concern that is there.

We raise beef, chicken, pork, and eggs for sale to the public. All of our animals are pastured. They have access to large open spaces. They forage, and eat all the good things the pasture has to offer. They all also are fed a ration of grain daily.

One reason we choose to feed grain is nutrition. The pork and chicken grow very quickly. They need the extra protein in grain to sustain that growth. The cows do not grow as quickly, but they still need a good diet. Our pastures are in good shape. They probably could maintain our small herd of cows in the summer without grain. The trouble comes in the winter.

Good hay is hard to find in these parts. We do bale some of our own, but it isn't enough for all the animals through the winter. Our hay is normally pretty good, but then hay is subject to timing and weather. This year our hay is not as good as normal. Our first cutting was delayed because of the rain. Hay loses nutrition if it gets too tall and stem-y. When we could finally cut and bale the hay, we only got one field cut before Tim started his treatments. The other two didn't get cut for another month. That hay was way overgrown, and unfortunately, got baled damp. Hopefully, our second cutting will be better. We won't get a third cutting this year. Giving grain helps to cover any deficiencies in the hay.

Photo Credit: Love Happiness Photography

Another, and perhaps less important reason, we feed the animals grain is to keep them a little tame. Feeding them everyday helps them get to know us. We talk to them. We give them a little love. We watch for any signs of illness or other things that require our attention.

The animals know us. They are comfortable around us. They know our voice, and they certainly know what a bucket of feed is. It may not seem like much, but it goes along way when you're trying to work with them.

I'm very thankful the animals know what a bucket of feed is when we're moving an 800 pound sow from pasture to pasture, or loading a 1400 pound cow into the animal trailer.  With a bucket of feed and the call of the person who feeds them, they will follow you just about anywhere you want them to go.

Our animals are humanely raised, and get lots of fresh air and exercise. Our animals are fed grain. While I understand the interest in grass fed meat, exclusively grass feeding any of our animals is not an option that works for this farm. Hopefully, now you understand a little better why.

Apple Sauce Oatmeal Cookies

Beginning to sell at the Farmers Market has been a great adventure this summer. Our main focus here on the farm is meat and eggs, but when the market began, we had precious little in the way of meat to sell. We decided to add baked good to the items we had available.

The market we participate in is a producers market. Baked goods are required to contain local ingredients, preferably those grown yourself. So, I went on a search for recipes which could be made with products from right here on the farm.

One of my favorites was found at Allrecipes. I tweaked it a bit to create the Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies we've taken to the market. We make ours with our eggs and applesauce. By request, here is the recipe:

Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies
1/3 C butter, softened
2/3 C packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1/2 C applesauce
1 1/4  C flour
1 1/4 C oatmeal
1/2 C raisins (optional)
1/2 C walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter. Add brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, and baking soda. Mix in applesauce and egg.  Add flour, a little at a time. Stir in oatmeal. Fold in the raisins and nuts.

Put spoonfulls of dough on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes until lightly browned.

In the Midst of Chaos

The morning sun was just beginning to come over the trees. There was a cool breeze. The birds were singing in the woods. The kids were occupied with other tasks elsewhere. All seemed peaceful and right in my world. I felt a deep and abiding contentment even though the task at hand was butchering chickens. It was a couple of the best hours of my entire week.
 

The younger two were with Tim's parents for the week. Though I missed them, it turned out to be incredibly good timing for their annual visit. The week was incredibly busy. In addition to our normal activities, both Kellen and Lydia had their Battle of The Books Tournament, and Lydia had a lamb at the fair. If you ever have had an animal at the fair, you know what all the entails. We were there everyday to care for the lamb, and most days there was some kind of showing to do. It was extremely hot and humid. It was also one of those weeks full of extra farm surprises. Such as a 800 pound sow breaking floor boards and getting stuck, and the keys (with the spare) getting locked in the van. 

I don't mean to sound as if it was a horrible week. It wasn't. Lydia did well with her lamb. Kellen won his tournament. It really was a good week. It just was a very very busy one.

It was a week where I desperately need some quiet alone time. I had plenty of down time at the fair between activities. I spent a lot of time reading then, but that wasn't what I needed. I didn't need to be entertained. I needed to be quiet, to be still, and to disengage my brain for awhile.  That time was found last week while processing chickens.

There is something about engaging the hands in productive, yet mindless, activities that brings about a deep satisfaction. I've found it before while hanging clothes on the line. I know others find it in washing the dishes and in cleaning. 

So often I look for rest in the form of entertainment. I turn to the computer. I turn to a book, or perhaps a movie, seeking a little time to rejuvenate. While those activities may provide a bit of physical rest, mentally they are only a distraction. They turn my brain from the never ending to do list by occupying it with something else.

I'm not very good at being still, taking a deep breath, and enjoying the moment around me. When it actually happens it often catches me by surprise as it did this week. All I can do is be thankful for those moments of rest and peace amongst the chaos of our daily life.

I turned around and he is a teenager.

Today Kellen turns thirteen. Our first teenager in the house.

It certainly doesn't seem like it has been ten years since he was this cute little toddler, and wasn't it just yesterday he was an inquisitive little boy? It is hard to believe he is now such a sensible young man. Sensible, for a teenager anyway.

 I'd love to show you a picture of the handsome young man he has become. Conveniently, he is rarely around when there is a camera in hand. The recent pictures I have of him are candid, and at a distance. A visitor to the farm somehow talked him into standing still, and half smiling for this shot. As you can see, he was already taller than me back in February when this was taken. I would not be surprised if he has grown another couple inches since then.

He has changed so much in the past year. In the homeschool year book pictures from the previous year, he still looks like a little boy. He has decidedly lost that look now. His voice has gotten deeper. He is wearing his dad's shoes, and there is just a tiny bit of peach fuzz on that upper lip.

We are so proud of him. He often was my dad's right hand man working around the farm. He was here to help while Tim was at work. He learned a lot, and has been a huge help to us all on the farm. His specialty is electric fence building. He puts up the new hog pens by himself, or occasionally recruiting a younger sibling to help. Tim will check and sometimes make a couple adjustments, but Kellen really has the skill down. He helps take care of the pigs, and is a big help around the house too.

Though Kellen has changed a lot in the past year or so, he still is the bookworm that we all know and love. He reads, and reads, and reads. Give him fiction. Give him non-fiction. Give him a business magazine. He'll read them all, and likely remember most of the information he read. The things he picks up, and concepts he understand from his massive reading amazes me sometimes. Of course, for pleasure, he'd prefer a good fantasy novel or manga. His slight obsession with manga, I may never understand, but his younger siblings are right behind him.

Today Kellen turns thirteen. Five more years and he will enter adulthood. Five years is nothing. Vivian was born a mere five years ago. We've lived here over five years. Five years fly by in the blink of an eye.

I know these years will likely be full of bumps, growing pains, and letting go pains, but I plan to enjoy them. Kellen is a wonderful child, and I am excited to watch the development of the man he is becoming.

Happy Thirteenth Birthday Kellen.

And a week later.....

I am planning events for September. September! As in, summer is over and it is time for fall activities. Say it isn't so?! I've barely begun my summer!

With the late start this spring, we've harvested very little from the garden. In fact, about all we've harvested is herbs and berries, and most of the berries, like those pictured, are wild berries. I have not canned a single thing yet. My canner and equipment are sitting untouched in the closet. It is sad.

Not as if I know when I'd I have time to can anyway. This summer has been a whirlwind of activity. We've had friends and family in. We are going weekly to a farmer's market, and just trying to catch up from the month or more of work time lost with Tim's melanoma treatment. Maybe it is a good thing I don't have beans or tomatoes ready to harvest yet.

In other happenings around the farm, we have a new foal, which I have yet to get a picture of, and we have lots of kittens. Anyone have a suggestion for how to get our feral females to stop reproducing? Our current overload of cats goes way back to our two original females. We mistakenly thought it would be fun to allow them to have kittens one time.

At least the feral mommas do bring their kittens to the chicken house once they are a few weeks old. The new kittens are fairly tame. Want one? or two? or a half dozen? Lydia took this adorable photo. I have to say this kitten is one of my favorites.

 

How is your summer going? Did I ask if you wanted a kitten? 

Ungratefullness...

We are on our way to the park to play with friends. We've stopped at the store to pick up snacks and drinks. I throw some fruit and healthy options in the cart along with a few things that are not so healthy, but the kids consider treats. One child spends the majority of the trip to the store asking for things I haven't put in the cart and then whining when I say no.


I work in a restaurant where most of the items on the menu are made in house. Occasionally, the prep cooks will run behind for whatever reason, and we'll run out of an item for up to an hour. I am always shocked by the reactions of customers. Disappointment, I can understand. Honestly, some people just get down right irate. It is a big menu. Really, you can't find anything else you want to eat?



We sell at a local producers only farmer's market. When we started selling in May, some people just couldn't understand why none of the vendors had tomatoes or peppers. I didn't even have all of those in the ground before June.



Another child pushed the boundaries, and got grounded from a new video game that was on its way in the mail. When the game arrived the rest of the family was allowed to play it. This child was not happy, and argued vehemently with me over the issue. Then suddenly the arguing stopped and the child smiled. When asked what changed, the reply was, "I think about the starving children in Africa and then things in my life doesn't seem so bad."


Hmmmmm...

We are such an incredibly blessed people. Yet, no matter how much we are given, we want more, and we want it now. We are so accustomed to getting whatever we want when we want it, that we pout and throw fits when we don't get our way. We completely forget the many blessings we do have.

Please don't think that I'm being judgmental. My name is right at the top of the ungrateful list. I have spent much of this year thinking how unfair it all is. People have been so wonderful to us, but I've wanted more. I've pouted, and grown a tinge of bitterness. I've forgotten to be thankful for the many blessings we do have while I've focused on the things that we don't.

This has been a terrible year filled with loss, stress, illness, and struggle. It could be said that it is only natural that some of these feelings should develop under these circumstances. My reactions are definitely natural and fleshly. Is that how I want to live?

Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. (Galatians 5:25 NLT)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NIV) 

No. Living by the spirit is so much better. Here I am humbled again.

Our Holiday Morning.

Berry pies, muffins, and biscotti to come!

And Normal Life Returns

June was a long, hard, month. I am so glad it is over. Tim's treatments were hard on him. He was down for the month, which made it hard on the rest of the family. In addition, it was one of those months were nothing seemed to go right.

Cows got out and wandered far from home. A predator all but wiped out a batch of meat bird chicks. A tree fell and took our power lines and two sections of fence with it. The hot power lines were in the chicken pasture requiring us to move all the meat chickens. We were without power for about 12 hours that day. The garden was behind, and what we did have in didn't look good. The weeds were taking over.  It rained, and rained, and rained all month. By the end of the month I was feeling so frustrated and discouraged.

With the flip of a calendar page, Tim's treatments were finished. Suddenly, our normal life returned and chased away the cloud that seemed to be hanging over my head. Of course, not everything went wrong during the month of June. It only felt like it.

During the month of June we were awarded two grants. With these funds we have purchased a chicken plucker. The plucker will pluck a bird in about 20 seconds. Hand plucking takes me about 20 minutes. I can't wait until this baby arrives and we can take it for a spin.

In June there were play dates. There were camps. There was the support of friends and family. A horse was born. Cows were purchased. Pigs were sold. There was a lot of baking and the selling of bake goods at the farmer's market. Ducks made nests in places they shouldn't. Well, maybe that isn't a good thing, but it is certainly interesting. We're leaving the nest, by the way. The poor duck hens have been having a heck of a time with their clutches this year. They keep getting pushed off the nest by predators. Here is hoping this nest in my garden, right next to the house, will be a safe place to hatch out some ducklings.

With the treatments over, Tim is feeling a world better. He isn't 100% yet, but he is up and doing things. He is back to work, and back to working on the farm. We are all happy about this. The weather has been wonderful. Friends came and helped whip the garden back into shape. Tim has the hay cut, and life feels normal again. It is busy. It is full of hard work and challenges, but it is good. I am so glad to put June and Tim's treatments behind us!

Hot Cheese Twist

The other day I was searching through recipes, and discovered this favorite from our early years of marriage. It is so delicious, I'm not sure why I stopped making it, and it got buried in the piles of recipes. Maybe little kids and diapers and a overly  busy life had something to do with it? No matter, it is time to pull this recipe back to the top of the stack.

Hot Cheese Twist
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 TB. + 1/2 tsp. sugar
3 TB. butter
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3 1/2 cups flour

Hot Cheese Filling
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2-4 TB chopped, canned, hot peppers

Dissolve yeast in warm water with 1/2 tsp. sugar. Warm butter and milk to lukewarm. Add to the yeast. Add remaining sugar and salt. Mix in the egg, yolk, and 2 cups of flour. Slowly add the remaining flour until a soft dough forms. Knead dough until smooth. Cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and roll into a rectangle on a floured surface. Roll to about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle with cheese and peppers, Roll up tightly from the long side. Pinch the seam. A little water will help the seam seal.  Coil the foll on a baking stone. Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes. Bake at 400 F for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Six more to go.

I can't remember what all I've updated here about Tim's melanoma, so bear with me if I'm repeating myself. The second surgery went very well. It left Tim with another large scar, and a deep depression under his arm, but the most important news is they found no more cancer cells in the soft tissue that was removed there.

Interferon treatments are recommend following the surgery. The treatments started about three weeks ago. This has been an incredibly long month. I am so ready for it to be over. Tim is at the hospital every week day for about an hour to receive the treatments intravenously. Before starting treatments we had read that the side effects were flu like symptoms. "Flu like symptoms," well that could mean a lot of things, and we hoped for the best.

The first week was rough. Following his treatments, Tim first got the chills. Chills so severe that he was still cold in the ninety degree heat we were having that week. The chills were followed by the sweats, and it was all accompanied by body aches, nausea, and fatigue. We hoped the next week would be better.

The severity of the chills and sweats was a little better the following weeks, but the nausea, and extreme fatigue remain. The treatments also caused his triglycerides to skyrocket. The doctor gave him a prescription for this. The side effects of the medicine is more nausea. *sigh* He has lost over ten pounds, has little appetite, and has basically spent the month of June going to the hospital and staying in bed. Even the simplest of chores or task zap all his energy. It has been a very long month. He has six more of these treatments, and I think the whole family will be much relieved when this is over and done. 


When these treatments are completed, he will have another year of treatments at a much lower dose. These treatments are done at home three times a week. The side effects should be much less severe.

That is where we stand in this process. The treatments have been far worse than the surgeries, but we know that in the realm of cancer treatments it could be a lot worse. We're almost through the worst of it. Gritting our teeth and pushing through. 

We'll be Saving on Shampoo

When it has not been raining this spring, it has been unseasonably hot. Long hair and heat makes for hot heads, and lots of pony tails. The girls have been begging me to go get hair cuts. Lydia and I have both donated our hair before. Lydia's was long enough to donate again, and Vivian wanted to donate hers this time too. Wednesday, we finally found a good time to go and get hair cuts.

Viv's hair has always been long. It has only been trimmed up here and there. I was a little hesitant to have her hair cut. In the last six months or so she has completely lost any vestige of baby chub. She has gotten tall and slender, and looks like a little girl instead of my baby. In my mind, keeping her hair long was an attempt to hold onto the baby just a little longer I think.

I was right. Cutting her hair did make her look even older. I can't be upset though. It is super cute and she loves it.

Lydia has had short hair before. So, cutting her hair again was not as dramatic. She has extremely thick hair. It was hot for her, and a lot of up keep. See how thick it is. That is the top of her pony tail where they cut it off. That is a lot of hair.

Both the girls' hair is stacked in the back. Funny how the same hair cut looks so different on each of them. Cute on them both, but definitely different.

Oh and I got a significant amount of hair cut off too. Guess you'll just have to see me in person to see how much.

The Drama that is Nolan

All of my children have a bit of a flair for drama. It may be best if I keep my opinions of where that particular trait comes from to myself. Of all the kids, Nolan, by far, is the most susceptible to dramatic outbursts. Don't be fooled by that sweet little face. Even at seven, this kid knows how to throw a good fit. The latest example occurred Monday evening.

Nolan asked me if I would cook him two eggs for a snack. Normally, I would readily agree to this request, but it so happens that I was just about to start dinner at the time. A snack right before dinner is never a good thing. A snack I have to cook right before dinner is just down right a bad idea. I told him as much. Let the whining begin.

Seriously folks, I do feed this child, frequently in fact, but if you'd been in my kitchen at that particular time you may have thought he hadn't eaten for a week. I was having none of it, and swiftly sent him outside to complete a chore. I was feeling rather smug at nipping the episode in the bud and getting on with the evening. I set about getting things out for dinner. A few minutes later I heard a yell and crying. It was the kind of cry that says I'm hurt. Even Tim thought Nolan hurt himself so I went out to check.

When I found him he was sitting on the ground in the chicken run. At first he wouldn't answer me when I asked him what happened. I asked him to get up, and he said he couldn't. After a cursory inspection I could see no cuts, no scrapes, and no reason for him to be sitting on the ground, unable to get up, and crying. With some urging he finally told me he was crying because he was so hungry. So much for nipping it in the bud. I set him on his feet and got him started on his task while explaining that if he was really hungry he would do what he was supposed to so I could go cook dinner.

By the time I got dinner in the oven, he was back in the house whining about how he was so hungry. He literally threw himself on the kitchen floor whining and crying. When I told him he'd have to go to his room if he didn't stop the whining and crying, he was quiet, but he stayed on the floor writhing, as if in pain.

At this point in the story some of you are probably wondering why I was letting this poor kid suffer so. Why didn't I just get him a snack? How could I let him go hungry? Maybe I really am just that stubborn? Or maybe I'm well acquainted with the drama of Nolan? Whatever the reason, I was pretty confident that he would not die of hunger in the fifteen minutes it was going to take for dinner to be ready.

Blessedly, the timer finally went off. I sent Nolan outside with the task of finding Kellen to let him know dinner was ready. He wasn't happy about it, but he went, after I helped him pick himself off the floor. I got the girls and began dishing out dinner.

A few minutes later Kellen came in for dinner. I asked him where Nolan was, and Kellen told me that Nolan was outside playing with the kittens.

Did you catch that?

The kid that was so hungry he was in tears and could barely get off the floor decided that instead of eating he was going to play with the kittens! Really?! A few minutes later he came strolling back into the kitchen as if none of the previous drama had occurred. All he wanted to do was talk about the kittens.

That is the drama we live with. That is Nolan.

A New Repurpose Project

Re-purposing, recycling, and making do mean a lot of things to different people. Some are motivated to save the planet. Others are out to save a dime. Around here, it is a way of life. We simply can not go out and buy new every time a need arises.

Some time ago, on another blog, I shared some of our re-purposed items in Re-purpose Recycle and in More Repurpose Recycle. It is funny to look back at those posts from almost four years ago. Many of the items are still in use in the same way. Some of those items have been re-purposed again. A prime example is the storage shelves Tim salvaged from a previous employer. One of those is now in the chicken house with the bottom fenced in. It is our brooder pen.

Over the years there have been a lot of projects involving re-purposing of items. Sometimes it is a simple matter, like most of the items shared in the posts above. Other projects have involved quite a bit of time and physical labor. The biggest of these that comes to mind is the tearing down of a barn. Those materials were used to build a pig house, a chicken house, and various other building projects.

As you may recall, we have been working on getting our broilers out of the chicken house and onto pasture.  The first step of the project involved re-purposing some unused rabbit hutches to make them more suitable for chickens. Those pens worked wonderfully for the broilers. The problem was we had more broilers in the brooder that would soon need to be moved out. We needed another pen.

And now we have one. Tim built this over the weekend.

Can you see what the frame was in its first life?  Does this help?

It is the frame of a kitchen table. It is upside down and used to have a glass top. Everything in this project is re-purposed, save the wire fencing which we already had on hand. The metal roof may still be from that barn. Is that right Tim? The door is metal scraps from another project. The wood floor frame is scraps too.

We needed a new chicken pen. In the matter of a day, we had one for free. Alright, not free if you want to get technical, but we didn't have to run to the store to buy a single thing for it. That is my kind of project.

The chickens seem to like it too. Not that you can tell from this picture. The chickens were all out running in the grass and chasing bugs when I took this.

Homeschool Reflections

Homeschooling in our area seems to just be exploding. When we first joined our local co-op about five years ago, I would guess there were maybe fifty kids in the co-op. Then a couple years ago it just began to grow like crazy. Our numbers swelled to over 100, and we were forced to start a waiting list because we could no longer accommodate such a large group of students. At the same time, at least three new homeschool groups began in the area.

With the sudden influx of so many homeschoolers, I often find myself in the midst of conversations with new homeschoolers with a million questions about what curriculum to use, or how to get started, or how to handle a toddler while schooling an older child. Most of the time my answer is to just relax and enjoy the process. Not as easily done as said, and probably not the answer most people are looking for, but really, it is the best advice I have. 

It was in the midst of one of these conversations, with a complete stranger who stopped me because she thought we looked like homeschoolers, I realized I am no longer a novice homeschooler. I'm a veteran. I am not exactly sure when that happened. Quite, honestly, I still feel like a novice at about every turn. Every year there are new academic skills to learn. Kellen pushes me to teach, or facilitate his learning of, new things on a daily basis. The younger children may be learning skills that I've previously taught to an older sibling, but they learn at a different pace with a different set of talents and interests. I still feel like I am trying to figure out this homeschooling thing.

When we began homeschooling with Kellen in kindergarten, almost eight years ago, we were very much homeschooling in a school at home manner. In fact, we used an online charter school at home. In some circles, that isn't even considered homeschooling.

We moved here when Kellen was in second grade, and that kind of schooling was no longer an option. By the time Lydia entered the homechool scene, there were two more babies to care for, and the beginnings of the farm. Over the years there have been a lot of times when life has just gotten in the way of the book work of education. This last school year we may well have had more days without school books than we had days with the school books.

It is hard not to feel guilty about this. It is easy to feel like I am failing my children, and that I really need to get my act together. When I feel that tinge of guilt come on, I just have to remind myself that by any academic standard our kids are doing just fine. And more importantly, that education is not about how far we get through a text book. It isn't about how many facts my kids can spout off. A lot of the education I want my children to have for this life has nothing to do with anything you'll ever find in a text book.

Many of our best lessons come when we aren't using a text book. Someone will ask a question, or maybe we'll see something that sparks a conversation, and we are off on a educational moment. It is amazing to me how much education happens when I simply turn off the screens (TV, games, and computer.) The kids go outside and find things in the woods. They create clubhouses. They read. They play board games, and just yesterday Kellen and Lydia had a globe out. Kellen was quizzing Lydia on world geography. Education happens. It doesn't require a text book.

Even though I've been in this process for a long time now, I still don't know what I am doing. I still wonder how to challenge my gifted student, how to make math click for my child who struggles with math, and how to get a certain child to sit still long enough to learn the things he should. I'm quite certain they don't write enough, and I've yet to figure out a plan of attack to address that, and the big question looming over my head currently is how in the world I am going to add another student into this mix next year.

Despite all my shortcomings, despite our crazy life, despite all the things I've yet to figure out, these children are getting a high quality education. They are thriving. They are learning. So, my advice to new homeschoolers is also my advice to myself, "Relax, and enjoy the process."