Scorched Earth

Dh is a trash burning enthusiast, at least that's what I've decided. There is only one problem with my little pyro, he looses interest and leaves his fire unattended eventually. I got home last night to see his trash barrel burning and he was no where to be found, I was a bit concerned as it was sitting right next to the expedition and it was very windy. I called him and he moved it a few feet, then told me he wasn't in the mood for another fire today. I didn't think much of it given his history of occasionally setting a bit of grass on fire now and then, nothing major. Then I walked in the front door and HG announces that the firemen had had to come out this evening when daddy set a big patch of the grass on fire, right by the house!!! There are days I think I will get home to find the yard much like the picture above (without the mountains of course, since I live in the land of the plains). :(

Buying Seeds on a budget

Wal-mart offers seeds under the brand American Seed (not to be confused with the American Seed Co.) for $0.20, I have read in several places that these seeds are also available at the dollar stores and some have reported finding them at $0.10. A few words of caution however, 1. you always get what you pay for, so if you really cannot afford anything else give it a shot but pin your hopes on 100% germination. 2. From reading their website I am not 100% convinced that these are in fact true heirloom seeds. While they are not marketed as hybrids, I noticed that the company's website had this to say about their seeds

We store our seeds in a temperature controlled facility to maintain above average germination and vigor. We perform in-depth testing and outdoor trials on new varieties before accepting them into our line of products to ensure that the products delivered to you are of the highest quality. We are continuously testing and improving our products to provide our customers with the latest and most useful and interesting seeds and seed starting products.

It may mean nothing or something, I do not really know. Have any of you used these with much success?

Raised Beds

If you're unfamiliar with all things garden like me, you'll find that just about everything sounds like gibberish no matter how simple it maybe. Here is an excellent step by step pictorial on how to build a raised bed, by the one and only Pioneer Woman.

Pregnancy and garden update

I want to thank everyone for keeping us in their prayers. We miss her terribly and the shock really hasn't quite worn off.

In other news, I went for my check up and discovered that my due date has been moved up a week. I also discovered that even though I have kept my weight gain within 5 pounds thus far, I will not be able to deliver at the birth center as my height and weight are not within their guidelines (Read: I'm too fat) :( My glucose test came back normal, the ultra sound revealed that the placenta had moved up and is no longer an issue, my blood pressure is good and overall things are looking good. Keep praying that baby will move head down as she is in a transverse position. We are still waiting to hear from cardiology about the echo and the heart monitor results.

Our sweet hay guy came by while dh was off picking up AR from school and began burning our garden area. The kids and dh were really thrilled by the big tractor as it tilled the ground. They all desperately wanted to ride on the thing, lol. When he was done he wished dh good luck, both men think the garden area is quite large and are wondering how it will all get done. To be honest it is smaller than I'd hoped but I was not home to give directions. I am told by my dear friend Stacy that I will be able to fit a lot more than I imagine, I'll take her word for it :) A few things have been started and are getting and are waiting in the pantry. Dh is looking to get some rakes and we will go smooth the ground as suggested. Stacy pointed me to an awesome garden planning blog. Here is the pic from her blog: (click on image to view larger)


I had hoped to use this a my guide but I think I will need to work up to this plan:


All in all, farm life moves on weather we are ready for it to or not. Friday is the yoder auction and we hope to pick up the rest of the chickens we will need to get us through the year, for eggs, replacements and meat. We will also be picking up a Jersey bull calf while there for AR to raise and for us to produce pure bred Jerseys.

She's gone . . .

Dh got her home and fed her the electrolytes, he then worked on getting some milk in her. A few minutes later the milk came back up and she died. Words cannot describe what I feel right now.

Difficult lessons and close calls

This morning we woke up to find that Valentine was listless, her breathing was shallow and we couldn't even get her mouth open to give her the bottle. :( I told dh to take her to Marian, it seemed to be my natural response as she is her mother. Marian sniffed the calf and went on her way. Sweetiepie and Quinn stayed with her. DH left to take AR to school and I left for work. Immediately I called the doctor in the city to see what time they opened and if they could get her in. God's grace was upon us and the doctor was already there (before 8am) and would see her right away.

She was loaded up onto the front seat of the expedition as dh drove as fast as he could. Exhaustion was a factor and directions made little sense but eventually he found the place. The dr gave her a shot as he was concerned that she maybe coming down with pneumonia and she was a little dehydrated. Dh explained that she was not drinking the water that we put out for her and the dr gave him some electrolytes to be administered via feeding tube. We will also be getting a goat nipple for the bottle to see if she prefers the softer texture (didn't know they existed). She will get another shot in the morning and will move from 3 feedings to 4 (depending on how much we can get her to take each time). Overall she was in good condition but there is some concern that she may have water on the brain (genetic condition), but we'll be keeping an eye on it for now.

I can't tell you how relieved I am that she is alright. We will have to find some kind of balance for the next calves born on the farm. Valentine is our first baby on the farm and much like a first child we feel such terrible guilt if we aren't able to anticipate her every need to keep her safe and healthy. I imagine this will be a very long learning process, hopefully we'll be on the right side of the learning curve and can make sure there isn't a next time. :(

Stories that give us hope . . .

This video was posted by Ginger and I really wanted to pass it on.

A taste of home: Pork Pelau

For me Pelau should be the national dish of Trinidad and Tobago, but I don't get to make that call :) This one pot wonder is an excellent way to get lunch/dinner on the table in under an hour. Recipes being what they are are excellent guides but to get this just right, you will need to experiment a bit - no two pelau are alike and there is rarely a bad one to be found. :)

Ingredients:
light brown sugar
vegetable oil
2 cans of pigeon peas/gandules
4 cups of rice
salt
black pepper
green seasoning
cumin
3-4 lbs cubed meat (chicken, beef or pork)

Optional:
Coconut milk
habanero pepper
tomato

Directions:
1. Season the cubed meat with the green seasoning and let sit for at least 20 minutes. (I use a Ziploc bag for this)

2. cover the bottom of the pot with a small amount of oil, then add just enough sugar to absorb the oil. I use a medium high heat to then "brown" the sugar - (refers to the caramelization).

3. Quickly add the seasoned meat to the caramelized sugar and stir properly to coat each piece. Then cover and let the meat cook.

4. Add salt and black pepper to taste and pigeon peas, tomatoes, habanero pepper (do not let it burst if you do not like very spicy food) and other desired veggies can be added here.

5. Add rice a few minutes later and either coconut milk or water to cook the rice. Remember that there is already liquid in the pot, so estimate and adjust the amount of liquid to be added based on rice package. (Do not use instant rice).

6. Once the rice has cooked the dish is done. Enjoy :)

I had the benefit of using our home grown pork for this recipe (pictured above) and it was delicious. AR had thirds and Fourths, lol. It was a big hit, I have some more pre-seasoned meat in the freezer so I will make it again. :)

Laura Ingraham on the O'Reilly Factor

Final Pig Adventure: Bittersweet

Tonight was bittersweet, we sold the last of our pigs and sent her off to be butchered tomorrow. The loading was . . . difficult, that's probably the nicest way to put it as she bucked like a wild horse or bull. I watched dh and Melissa's hubby, Jerry, try several different ways to get her and even when they finally got her roped on both ends, she fought like nobody's business. She tipped the scales at a whopping 260 pounds and will probably provide a bit over 200 pounds of meat for their freezer. Treva will miss her adopted baby, Miss Oinkers. She kept mooing at us while they tried to round her up and loaded, she knew how the story would end. Now she will be alone once more . . .

I pray that the next batch of pigs are as nice as these were. They were an awesome bunch and made for a really tasty lean set of meat. We will definitely be keeping the same diet this next time around.

In other news, we took Valentine to visit Marian. I wanted her to know that her baby was safe and being taken care of. At first she didn't notice that we'd brought her out, then I sent dh to get her. She came running when she saw Valentine and sniffed every inch she could. I was sad, Valentine didn't know her and was cold. I pushed her closer as she kept backing away and finally Marian, moved on. There was sadness and sweetiepie attempted to try to intervene. She came over and once more Valentine ignored her attempts to get closer. Treva came over and soon Marian came back too. The two ladies tried to get some kind of response from the girl but nothing.

We took her over to the house and left her outside to play freely behind the house, she seems to like playing around the large round pen. AR checked on her and she was in her usual spot, a few minutes later HG went to check on her and came in to say that she had moseyed down into the road. I don't think I have been that scared in a long time, I ran as fast as I could, looking for traffic and hearing the mooing from the crowd. I scooped her up in my arms and brought her back home, she will be haltered from now on. I was happy to see that the cows were still looking out for her, even Lot was mooing like crazy at her. I remember how they ignored Quinn, even when he was out and could get hurt.

The reason we'd left her to play was because I'd come in to find that Sammy had killed one of the chicks. Their new cage made it easy for them to squeeze out and he likely got excited, like when he sees a wild bunny. He has since been banished to the outdoors and will have the dead bird tied around his neck, so that we can make certain this never happens again. I love him to death but I cannot risk him endangering our food.

All in all this day has been trying on me emotionally, or maybe it's just pregnancy hormones? Either way, I'm hoping that tomorrow will be better.

1 chick down :(

My furry little buddies got a bit chilly this afternoon as dh and the children left to take Valentine for a walk outside. I arrived home to find all the doors open, along with the lid of the box and all the chicks huddled under the lamp. I proceeded to get them warmed up and never noticed that we were 1 chick down. :( Tonight SL was looking in on the chicks and yelled "one chick dead", (he's 3 sentence structure isn't on his priority list). We raced over to find the poor thing laying on it's back and the head was smuched under the wood shavings. :( Less than a year after moving to this home we have lost more animals than I care to think about, but it has made the children very tolerant of death . . .

The home processor's best friends

The fillet knife is the best tool in butchering, the sawzall(use 12" wood blade) is a very close second. The sawzall is excellent for the bones but the fillet knife gets all the close cuts. I have a new respect for the art of butchering, it is an art form. I don't think I did too bad on processing the meat, I will say that there is a huge difference between working with the warm body versus the nicely chilled, stiffer body. However, that is not always an easy task for the average home butchering. The day after we butchered the weather warmed up quite a bit and we had to get ice to keep it cool, dry ice was also added. This worked only because we had a box big enough to hold the 2 halves and the ice. There would be no way that our freezer would have been able to hold the 2 sides. Even with a basic cutting, separating the halves in 3, they were far too big to fit both sides.

I had hoped to give a video or at least pictures of the processing but the charger has gone awol. :( Either way, I will be following the following recipe for the bacon and hams. Here is an excerpt of the basic brine:

Basic brine recipe:
6 quarts soft or distilled water, 1 1/2 lb sea salt, 1 1/2 lb brown sugar Herb bag: 1 tbsp crushed juniper berries, 1/2 a nutmeg, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp peppercorns, 4 cloves

Tie the herbs in a cloth bag. Boil the water, salt and sugar and skim away any froth. Remove the pan from the heat and add the herb bag to steep. Sterilize the crock with boiling water and a baking soda wash. When the brine is quite cold, remove the herb bag, strain it and pour it into the crock, and put the meat in.

You may need to double or triple this recipe, depending on how much of the pig you wish to brine. So here's a larger recipe, assuming you'll be brining the entire pig.

Tanith Tyrr (Bay Gourmet) has done an excellent job on the pig processing FAQ's, check it out.

Maybe I should move to ND? :)

BISMARCK, N.D. – A measure approved by the North Dakota House gives a fertilized human egg the legal rights of a human being, a step that would essentially ban abortion in the state.

The bill is a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that extended abortion rights nationwide, supporters of the legislation said.

Representatives voted 51-41 to approve the measure Tuesday. It now moves to the North Dakota Senate for its review.

The bill declares that "any organism with the genome of homo sapiens" is a person protected by rights granted by the North Dakota Constitution and state laws.

The measure's sponsor, Rep. Dan Ruby, R-Minot, said the legislation did not automatically ban abortion. Ruby has introduced bills in previous sessions of the Legislature to prohibit abortion in North Dakota.

Story Continues here

Bottle Baby ~ HA!!!

You remember Valentine, our newborn. Well we've been attempting to bottle feed the little one since she was born. We figured that since she hadn't nursed it would make the process a bit easier. HA!!! She throws a complete tantrum (throws herself down and everything) when you try to get that nipple in her mouth.

Now, I personally wouldn't want a hard piece of rubber being put into my mouth but they are yet to make the nice soft silicone version for calves. :( Each day she seems to be taking more, though I feel like the bottle is self filling - every time I get done (and I hear her swallowing the milk) it seems like nothing has been drank. :( She has gotten used to the noises of the kids and calls for us when she is bored or lonely. She slept through the night last night, as opposed to the constant trying to get up and walk around - she may have been trying to leave, anyway she woke up and called for us. Figuring she was hungry I got her a warm bottle ready, well she was not willing to take this one much better than the last. We are holding out for the week and will evaluate our options then. Pray she gets better with this, she has figured out how to suck on it, and she like the milk better than the colostrum (think formula, yuck!) but she is like a kid with ADHD, far too distracted to stay to eat much at anyone time. So we are feeding her often to keep her hydrated.

Our Valentine's Day

**************WARNING: THIS IS GRAPHIC********************

Well as some of you may know, my dh and I celebrate Valentine's Day on February 15 instead of the 14th. We're not cheap (we so are), it's just that everything is 50% off then :) Anywho, the weather was right for another butchering and so we were up early getting it all ready. I must say that this was a delightful comedy of errors. Since dh hadn't separated the 2 pigs we had to get one out to be butchered. I decided that a nice "box" would do just the trick and began to work on it. We went to Lowe's yesterday and got a cull packet - these are pieces of wood that are not "perfect" and so they pull them out. You can get these at far better prices than the perfect ones so depending on your project, I highly recommend using it - the catch is you have to buy the entire packet.

I digress, my box was way more difficult to build than I anticipated, for one thing the screws and drill bits were cheap :( Anyway, when it was finally done - so very unpretty it was, we discovered that our pig would not go in . . . willingly anyway. During this time we also realised that there was no gun either :( The plan was that we'd strike her on the head and then slice the throat. Turns out she was not about to go that easily. After 2 strikes, she had run off and escaped into the larger barn area. Remembering that we didn't want to stress her out too much, the men held back and get her calmed down.

We decided that the 20 gauge shot gun would have to do - even though it would be messy. The shot got her down so that her throat could be cut but she was determined to live. (I've decided I like her spunk and want to be just like her when I grow up). They dragged her out to be hung and she still continued to put up a fight, the other side of her throat was slit and we could still hear her trying to breathe. After, what felt like forever, we get her all drained out, we moved her to the new fire pit. (Lot had finished off our wheel barrow and it turned out to be an excellent fire pit).

We moved into the scald and scrape mode and it seemed to go like clockwork, that is until the 2nd dunk. All of a sudden we realised that the hair was not coming out and we would have to improvise (again). I got dh to get the hair clippers, that worked for a little time but the hair was far too coarse and the clippers died. The men began to work the hair off using their knives. This was actually far more effective than i thought it would be.

Just as we were getting in the swing of things, the boys run over to deliver terrific news . . . Marian gave birth!!!! The boys were convinced that the baby was a bull but I have heard too many stories of getting it wrong initially. As we got closer to observe mama and baby, we saw Lot getting far too rough with the calf. This was an immediate concern and we yelled for the men to come get the calf and distract the other cows. The calf was taken to the barn and named Valentine :)


We then got back to the pig and worked on trying to get the gasoline rubbed on, so that we could burn the remaining hairs off. Turns out this is not an easy feat by any means, in fact I was surprised to see that after several attempts we couldn't get her lit :( Then we'd get it going for a split second and the wind would put her out :( Have i mentioned lately how irritated I get, that the books leave so much of the IMPORTANT details out. (off soap box). Dh had the pleasure of even catching his hand on fire briefly (I swear I'm not laughing :)) Here is a pic of the rag he'd had in his hand at the time, lol.


The plan was to get her hung, gutted and halved. This way we could let her age overnight and break her down further tomorrow. Dh and I got in there and helped get her gutted. It was nothing like I expected, for one thing those membranes are really stuck on there good. It is like trying to break the skin of a balloon without a single hole to get a small grip. This part was video taped and will be available later. Soon enough we were done and the pig was halved. We opted to wrap the halves in plastic and store them in my new box from Spirit surplus sales :)



Once we were done I went to see the little calf and take more pics, because I can :) As I was taking pics, I decided to lift her tail as she kept wagging it, turns out the calf is actually a heifer :) She is currently residing in my mud room, as we decide on building her a shelter. It will probably be an addition to Quinn's old pen. In the mean time, the kids are thrilled to have her close by. We have gotten her to take the bottle a little and will continue her on the "formula" until she is about 2 weeks old. Then she will get milk from Treva.

The downside to having a farm and working full time jobs, is that some projects never get done due to time constraints. We had hoped to be able to milk Marian and Christmas, but we just don't have the time to devote to working out their shyness. This leaves us with the current plan of creating milk cows by making all our calves bottle babies. It is surprisingly less time consuming. Oh, I forgot to mention our new customer, (he stopped by to get that thing we aren't allowed to advertise except for on our farm, lol) drove up a few minutes after we had hung the pig to drain and we were so impressed that he never once said a word about the pig hanging from the post. I'll let you know if he mentions it the next time he's in the area. :)

We got Chicks :)

A fun filled Valentine's day to you :) Today we made a trip to Atwoods to see if they still had the onion bulbs and seed potatoes on sale (turns out they did, YAY!!) While there we heard the wonderful chirps of the 4 day old chicks and fell in love. This year we will have many chickens to help stock the freezer and lay some eggs for the house and a few for sale. We opted not to get the pullets (nicely priced at $2.59 a piece since they are guaranteed to be female) but instead took a roll of the dice and will wait and see how many hens and roosters come up :) We got 7 rocks and 5 yellow ones (I believe they are Cornishes), lol. All in all we are thrilled to have them, the kids a having fun naming them; we suggested names like drumstick. :)

Homemade Laundry Soap Recipes

TIPS FOR LAUNDRY SOAP: We use Fels-Naptha bar soap in the homemade soap recipes, but you can use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk's Hardwater Castile or Zote bars. Don't use heavily perfumed soaps. We buy Fels-Naptha by the case from our local grocer or online. Washing Soda and Borax can normally be found on the laundry or cleaning aisle. Recipe cost approx. $2.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value

4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)


Powdered Laundry Detergent- Top load machine

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax

-Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)

Recipes courtesy of the Duggar website :)

For a step by step (With pics) see here, their recipe is very similar. :)

Cardiologist

Today was a great trip to the cardiologist :) This was the first time seeing her and she was not pleased with the other drs I've seen. She feels very strongly that they've all just been passing the buck and she is re-running the tests so that she has her own baseline and pictures :) While my EKG was normal for the most part today there were some slight blips that would be indicative of a recent heat attack though mild. She has given me an additional med for any palpitations while I'm on the daily med, but this one is as needed. We chatted about the nursing issue and she has said that she will change the med or take me off of it so that I can, she was very clear that I should if I wanted to. I was so happy. She said the most that could happen is that I may need to pump for the first 2-3 days and dump - while coming off the med but that's it. I cannot tell you how wonderful this news is. Anyway, thank you all for your prayers.

Crokpot Yogurt

I mentioned that I was trying out the crockpot yogurt the other night, it was delicious. The kids loved it. I got a little 2 qt crockpot and halved the recipe but wanted to share a few thoughts. They neglected to mention the skin that forms on the top of the milk while it is "sitting" and then the skin that forms on the top of the yogurt. The consistency is closer to slime and it is surprising when the taste gets to your mouth because it is definitely yogurt at that point. I'm not the adventurous type so I taste nothing until my testers have approved it, and it was a very clear 2 thumbs up all around. I will try the thickening methods recommended and get back to you. AR commented that it was similar to the Dannon Danimals yogurt drinks, I may get the blender and capitalise on that :) I added 1 table spoon of sugar and almost 24oz of sliced strawberries in sugar. That seems to have been the perfect mix as it provided the best taste. Try it let me know what you think. :)

The tastes of home - or at least a close second

I was sitting writing yet another paper when the kids declared that we had nothing to eat. They're so dramatic. Anyway, I've been dying to try the Amish White bread recipe but it was not to be. I had everything ready to go when I realised that I only had a bag of self rising flour. I was crushed. I began to scour the internet for any bread recipes I could find using self-rising flour and was not too encouraged to find page after page of beer bread and/or soda bread. I was not impressed.

Finally I found a forum that said that I could substitute the flour into any recipe that called for baking powder but I would need to omit the salt, baking powder and baking soda components. That seemed simple enough and now my search was more refined, I was looking for yeast free bread recipes. I stumbled upon this recipe. The result was a cross between a bread and a bake - bake was a daily staple of my youth. It is heavier than bread but oh so yummy. Here's my modification:

Ingredients
3 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions
1 Mix dry ingredients.
2 Mix liquids and add to dry.
3 Stir until there is no more dry flour. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Add additional flour as needed.
4 With oiled hands, Place on clean baking sheet.
5 Bake for 40 minutes at 400F.

I would have posted a pic of the bread but the cheese attacked and made delicious sandwiches :) Don't fret, we'll be making more of this very soon :) Though tonight we will be working on the crockpot yogurt and some cream cheese.

Got milk?

Today we sold a couple gallons of raw milk A couple gallons of milk went to a new home and it is a good feeling. There are so many rules that go with this though, that it seems like such a hassle. Here are the rules for Kansas:

Summary:

"On-farm retail sales" of raw milk and raw milk products are legal to the "final consumer." The farmer can only advertise the sales of raw dairy with a sign posted on the farm. The sign must state that the milk or milk products are raw. Farmers must clearly label as "ungraded raw milk" each container of unpasteurized milk for sale.

Farmers whose business consists only of on-farm sales of raw milk do not need a license to operate. The Department of Agriculture considers farmers selling raw butter or cream to be running a "dairy manufacturing plant" and requires them to obtain a dairy manufacturing plant license.

The state does not inspect farmers selling raw milk and raw milk products on a routine basis like they inspect farmers selling Grade A raw milk for pasteurization. They only inspect raw milk and raw milk product sellers if there is a complaint.

Kansas Statutes
Chapter 65. PUBLIC HEALTH
Article 7. MILK, CREAM AND DAIRY PRODUCTS

65-789. Unlawful acts.

(d) sell, offer for sale or have in such person's possession with the intent to sell at retail to the final consumer any milk or milk product which has not been inspected and designated Grade A pasteurized in accordance with the provisions of this act and any rules and regulations adopted thereunder, except that on-farm retail sales of milk or milk products shall be exempt from the provisions of this act unless stated otherwise; or

65-771. Definitions

(b) "Dairy manufacturing plants" means any place where dairy products, Grade A milk or milk products are manufactured or prepared for sale or distribution, either at wholesale or retail. This term shall not include a licensed food service establishment which is licensed to manufacture homemade ice cream pursuant to this act.

(w) "On-farm retail sales of milk or milk products" means the sale of milk or milk products on the farm by the producer from the production of the dairy herd to the final consumer, so long as the person making such sales does not promote the sale of milk or milk products to the public in any manner other than by the erection of a sign upon the premises of the dairy farm. The advertisement upon any such sign shall state that such milk or milk products are raw and shall be in letters of a uniform size. Each container in which any unpasteurized milk is sold or offered for sale shall be clearly labeled as ungraded raw milk.

Chapter 65. PUBLIC HEALTH
Article 7. MILK, CREAM AND DAIRY PRODUCTS

65-778. License requirement for certain persons engaged in milk, cream or dairy business; fees

(a) Any person who engages in business as a dairy manufacturing plant shall first apply for and obtain a dairy manufacturing plant license from the secretary and shall pay a license fee of $120, or commencing July 1, 2002, and ending June 30, 2005, a license fee of $155.

Here is a great site to find out the rules for your state. I am thankful that we are in Kansas where it is legal to sell the milk and milk products (with a license), as there are many other states that it is not legal. In those cases there are many "milk share" programs that have sprung up to circumvent the law. Funny how something natural can be so heavily regulated in the form it is best for us, making it difficult to get.

Rough day? Let me help :)

My baby has spent the past few weeks calling everyone and everything "ma ma" :) She's so cute. After hearing the last 3 say nothing bu "da da" for the longest time, it is nice that she is stuck on me :) Dh is not thrilled, lol!! She also says "hi" and "bye" and waves, but the latest trick offers a little more sugar as she sends kisses or comes to give one. :) That kid will rule the world with her cuteness, lol :)

Anyway, here is a song to help get you through the really bad days and give you hope in the not so great ones. Enjoy.



"If you're going through Hell, keep going." ~ Winston Churchill

The new babies

No, I'm not having multiples - that I'm aware of anyway. We are getting new pigs in a few weeks and they were just born a few days ago. Aren't they adorable? :)




Our last group were a Hampshire/Duroc cross, this bunch is a Yorkshire/Hampshire cross. Did you notice how the little black ones look like the ones from the last bunch? I will miss that bunch, they were really sweet and a great group for 1st timers, even with all of their antics. LOL!!! :)

No it's not Halloween

We don't even celebrate that specific "event" at our home or anywhere else for that matter. No, we do love the after sale at wally world though, it is an awesome way to stock up the play clothes box. It's amazing how many variations can come from a handful of costumes. In the end they were exhausted and went to bed early.







She was a bit upset that SL wouldn't hand over his sword, lol. Excuse the dirty face, it seems to be a permanent affliction :( More on that later . .

My littles :)

Why is it I seem to always find my littles in a box?







You'll have to excuse my green child, there's more pics of that to come later, lol :)

This is why they aren't supposed to use the camera