Water

Our well pump died a few days ago and suddenly we were stuck without running water. But let's start at the beginning. I turned on the tap only to find that the water pressure was horribly low, usually that means that one of the guys has left the hose on. I called to dh to go check it out and came back with the news, there was no power in the well house. We checked the breaker and it was not tripped, so we were confused. We suddenly had to find the source of the power and after making a few calls we discovered that the power for the well comes from the garage. Now this was both good news and bad news at that time. It was great because we finally had that information, but it was bad because the only breaker box we knew of in there had a nest in it since before we moved here. After some tinkering we discovered that that was not in fact the box and so the hunt continued. On the opposite side of the garage there was an old fuse box, wouldn't ya know it, it had blown a fuse. DH went to the hardware store and picked up a new fuse and replaced the blown one. When he flipped the breaker in the well house to test it, the fuse immediately blew again :( In an effort to narrow things down DH took off the wires from the well pump and then started over, sure enough all the lights came on. He then attached the well pump again and the fuse blew as it had before. :(

As I have probably mentioned before, trying to get an electrician or plumber out to this area is almost impossible. We made a few calls and no luck. Finally we found an electrician who was willing to talk and he verified that the well pump was indeed the problem. DH went to work and was chatting with one of the regulars and the guy offered to come help us with the pump. We felt so blessed. The next day he came over and checked things out, not only was the well pump dead, so was the pressure tank :( We would need to buy practically a whole new set up to get water back to the house. Not good.

DH brought the pump into the house and asked me to start looking as he headed off to work again. There were quite a few pumps that seemed so similar, that I finally called my dad to figure it out. Once again we were blessed. We were able to find all the parts we needed at Lowes and so we got them home and were ready to begin. But life likes to throw curves so we suddenly found our self without help to install the new pump. The regular is a truck driver and he had to get back on the road. DH went out and began working on hooking up the pump and he got as much of it done as he could. We called every plumber we could find and even had one promise to show up . . . I'm still waiting. I was chatting with a friend and she suggested that I post an ad on craigslist, I had nothing to lose so I did.

Last night I got an email from a guy whose name I immediately recognized, but couldn't remember why. He was a local and estimated that the job couldn't be more than an hour or 2 and left me his number. I called him and sure enough we did know him, his wife is a para at EE's school and I'm pretty sure he had come by when we first moved here to see if he could rent our pasture. Once he realized who we were he said he'd come over first thing in the morning before he went to work and take care of it. Again we were blessed. True to his word he showed up with some of his men that he was taking to a job site and they had it installed in 30 minutes. He charged us $20, we were so thankful.

So I told you all this to say, what's your preparedness plan? Do you know how you would get by if you had to go days or even weeks without water? The farmer's Almanac promises that this winter will be VERY cold, what is you plan if your pipes freeze? Have you stocked up enough water to get by and if so, for how long? Here are a few things to consider:

1. Most important is water to drink
2. Water to wash your hands is also important, winter is cold and flu season
3. Water to cook/wash veggies etc
4. make sure you have a way to collect grey water to be able to flush your toilets.
5. Water to wash up, obviously a bubble bath is out of the question but a quick wash is very doable.
6. Don't forget that your animals will also need water.

Please add to this list.

Not much to say

Well with just a few weeks left there isn't much to say but oh boy is there lots to do. The pigs are behaving, finally. The cows are . . . trying to, lol. Side note: Things are still not final with the Notch situation, she ended up dying after 13 days in their care and they are trying to pay us as though she arrived that way. Please pray for the situation as I believe they do not have insurance or are not wanting to file another claim.

On the upside I have been able to level out the pregnancy weight gain for this last trimester to at or around zero, yay!! If you're now joining the party this may sound horrible but I am quite overweight and it is very important that I keep it to a minimum, so as long an this little guy is growing well we do not have to worry. :) While I still haven't found a good alternative to sugar or HFCS, I have discovered that I don't need to have nearly as much as I had been consuming but it take a concerted effort to try to limit it. It is also difficult to try to pack the fiber in as so many foods are processed, thankfully fruit is there to save the day :)

I am really enjoying my time at home, it is amazing how quickly the kids grow up right before your eyes, I'm glad I won't have to miss it. My IL has hit her girly phase thanks to big sis HG and GH is following right behind. The child (like her sister) attempts at least 3 wardrobe changes daily, lol. She is a great person to send shopping with dh as she is always thinking like a mama, she doesn't pick out 1 piece of fruit for herself but the entire bag for everyone, lol. HG has that problem with making oatmeal too, she is great at 8-10 servings but clueless about single servings, lol. Baby girl (GH) is learning lots of new words daily, she is also very interested in imaginative play.

With dh's change in schedule AR has taken up most of the animal chores, with his ADHD he really needs the change up in his day and just being a boy he needs his outside time, lol. I am trying to learn more about football (American), though I only just sorted out the 2 Oklahoma college teams. We watched "the blind side" the other night and dh tried his best to help me understand who goes on the field when. I'll let you know if I ever get it. SL is far more likely to benefit from this but AR and I will just have to learn together.

EE is making some progress at school, though she still has too much control of the day. She performs much better at home than at school, but I demand quality work every time, no exceptions. I am still looking for an activity for her, but I do not want her to be disruptive to the rest of the group so it is a bit of a challenge. She is not very athletic either, since she has 1 leg slightly shorter than the other so . . . suggestions welcome.

Well, I guess I had more to say than I thought, lol. I'll quit babbling now :) SO what have you been up to?

It is time

As summer begins to wind down it is time to cull the herd and plan for the next year. This year we have opted to sell all the cattle, dairy included. Winters are hard for us as there are lots of extra expenses and well everything is tougher in the cold, lol. We may buy a few cows before spring but we'll see how that goes. As of right now we have a more pressing need and that is to get a van. We have found one that we like so now we must get the money as we are not willing to finance anything more, as Pa (Ingalls) would say "cash on the barrel". We have other debts that need to be paid and it would be nice to ring in the new year without them hanging around our necks. No we're not selling the farm, we're just downsizing the winter operation and trying to get back to a better financial place. It is not likely that we will be doing milk again, except for our own home use, frankly it's not worth the effort on our part. We will likely move to a grass fed cow/calf type model and work on fencing a pasture for our pigs. Sustainability is very dependent on the ability to adapt quickly and the winds of change are blowing in this small farming environment and throughout the country. God willing we will follow where He leads and adapt as needed.

The clog

DH was not able to get the pipes unclogged yesterday and there was a HUGE mess, on the upside the yucky carpet will be replaced a lot sooner than anticipated. By nightfall the kids and I were in camping mode as this house only has 1 bathroom and it was completely out of commission. Thankfully, my mom reminded me of the chamber pot concept and suddenly we transformed a 5 gallon bucket (with lid) into a portable potty.

I called every plumber in the big town close by and was shocked to hear the prices, we seriously need to get in on this plumbing gig, these guys charge $100 per hour, parts and mileage extra. SERIOUSLY!!! DH heard that there maybe a local guy that could help but of course we weren't able to reach him, in his defense, we believe that he had a funeral to attend this morning so it is likely that he was with family.

We talked for quite a while debating our next move, we couldn't afford the plumber but we couldn't afford to go without indoor plumbing either. My sis had mentioned that some hardware stores rent industrial snakes for a lot less than a plumber. We had already tried 2 different types of hand snakes so this seemed like the best option. I called the hardware store and sure enough they had one, $24 for 2 hours, $45 for 4 hours and $60 for 6hours-overnight, there was also a $100 deposit. This was perfect.

DH left early to get the snake and on the way noticed an equipment rental store, he stopped in and was able to rent the snake for $35 for 4 hours, SWEET! He came home and get straight to work, it took a little time but finally he announced that he had gotten it all cleared, YAY!!! He would still need to pick up a ring to put the toilet back. He got out to the truck to get the ring and sure enough it wouldn't start, he was (understandably) frustrated.

Since there was other things to be done, namely cleaning the snake, I recommend that he do that and allow the truck to rest a while longer. We had lunch when he was done and he went out and got the truck started. He left it running (just in case) and left to return the snake, no point in risking no being able to get it back. The Focus is still parked at my work since I had him come get me 2 days ago, we'll have to pick it up in a bit.

He did attempt to free the kitchen sink drain, but he couldn't get through, so for now it remains a slow drain. I can live with that I guess, at least until tax time and I get the pipes replaced. :) All in all it has been a good day thus far, though we will need to get the truck looked at, the starter may be going out. Everything in time.

Oh, on a homeschooling note. I highly recommend the game word rummy, to help reinforce spelling. My mom found it and brought it when she was here and the kids love trying to beat me, lol. I have added it the links on the sidebar of books etc I recommend, it is less than $8 and a great way to have a little fun with the family. :)

Irritation

So we got our septic pumped a few days ago and the guy says "you didn't need to get it pumped yet, you probably could have gone another 6 or 9 months". Turns out there is a clog in the line somewhere between the house and the septic tank and though he tried to snake if for the septic side, he was unable to reach it. :( DH was able to borrow a snake and is working on trying to snake it from the other side. This process is long, slow and ewwww :( This is where I get to be thankful that we only have 1 bathroom I guess . . . I'm still working out that pep talk as you can tell.

A huge praise: DH is getting to move to an earlier shift and will once again be home before bedtime, YAY!!! Of course it also means that his days off are now all wonky and are no longer together (at least for a couple months as a co worker is on maternity leave) but, it will be nice to have him home at regular hours again :)

I feel old, hear me out, I have entered my 3rd trimester and the few days a week that I do go to help out at work are killing my back. Yesterday I was barely there 7 hours when I finally had DH come get me, almost 24 hours later and I still feel it everywhere :( Oh what I'd give for a nice whirlpool tub right now . . . I'm going back to bed.

It's that time of year again

That's right. It's time to get the septic tank pumped. JOY! I called a company in a neighboring city and once again I am hoping that he shows up. It's more like praying he shows up, given last years experience it will be nice to pay the regular rate instead of twice the price just to get someone to come out.

On the upside, Dh was able to get the truck out of the ditch thanks to some kind neighbors, though it did involve a lecture about encouraging us to fraudulently enroll our children in the local school. Don't get me wrong, I pay pretty high property taxes around here and it would be nice to see that money stay local, couple that with the fact that we have the largest family of school age and/or soon to be school age children and I can understand the position. I only have 1 teansy little problem with it, and really it's so minor it could easily have been missed . . . it's wrong. Good now that we've cleared that up.

Meg seems to be having trouble with the recent heat wave, pray that she can hold out for the vet who comes back from vacation tomorrow :( I have been having DH and AR hose her down every few hours to keep her cool and we have mixed up a mini electrolyte replacer for her to drink (she really seems to like it, but that might be the molasses flavor). She is drinking very well, and even eating better, her breathing had been labored at the start a few days ago but is not anymore. She still isn't going out with the others but is getting up and around to eat and drink. This summer has been brutal, I really wish we could do more. The heat makes it so hard for them to eat and keep their weight on :( So many have died this year that it is scary. I am thankful that we haven't lost any but they are thinner than I'd like them to be.



I have added a Reviews tab to the blog, be sure to check out my latest review of last week's giveaway item. I made some curry chicken in one like it last night :)

Summer is never complete without

A good "truck stuck in the mud" story. That's right folks after 2 years of living on the farm we have successfully gotten every vehicle we have owned stuck in the mud at some point during the summer. This summer the truck is stuck in the ditch by the highway as a couple of our calves decided to take the scenic route to get back home. Dh and Ar got them rounded up and back home, in the mean time a passerby (must have been a city dweller) panicked and called 911 thinking there had been an accident.

You can just imagine Dh's surprise when 3 sheriffs showed up to check out the accident, lol. They made sure he hadn't been drinking and no one was hurt, then had to call off the ambulance and fire truck. On the upside, it's nice to know that we have such a great response time out here, lol :)

It all worked out to be for the best, God has a very funny sense of humor, I had parked my car earlier that evening at DH's job and we took the truck to Wichita. We were tired so we came straight home, which is when DH discovered the calves we loose. A co-worker picked Dh up for work and he was able to get the car home :) All's well that ends well :)

To answer a few questions I've gotten on the living room remodel: yes this was a DIY project, my sis, her hubby, my mom, AR and DH worked for 2 days painting and getting the floor done. The week before DH and the kids got the carpet up and the tack strip and staples removed. Curtains are still in progress and furniture is tbd :) The black ceiling fans will be replaced with white, likely from another room in the house as we have many.

Spider Who?

Name this spider please, he is currently hanging outside one of our windows. Has anyone else noticed how much bigger the bugs are in the country? Seriously and what's up with this web pattern?

on a side note: The feeder pigs are finally ready to go to new homes. We have relocated them to the trailer.

Missy looks to be pregnant, we'll soon find out. Pinky and Mama do not seem to be able to get along :Read Pinky is a real . . . Pig, lol: Soon we'll know who's preggy and whose not and will have lots of bacon and pork chops, lol.

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The snake bite

Last night the children found a snake in the bedroom headed to the dining room. They called for Dh and then came to get the camera. Husbands and children seem to love this particular brand of excitement, I opted to pass. Sure enough Dh reached for the snake and received a bite for his trouble. Baseball bat in hand he proceeded to try to crush the snake. The snake appeared dead and he took it outside. I have obviously not impressed upon him the make sure it's dead theory, ie cut off it's head. From the picture it was difficult to tell exactly what type of snake it was and he was able to go take a look once more to verify the shape of the snakes head was not diamond. When he went the second time the snake was gone. Either the chickens got it or it was still alive, I dislike those odds. Either way, we called the local ER just in case, they had no clue and don't even stock anti venom, they would have to transfer him to Wichita if it was necessary. We called the ER in Wichita and they were unable to provide much help except the number to poison control. The lady at poison control became concerned because of the pattern on the snake, it could be a gopher/bull snake or Massasauga, the latter is venomous. They told us what signs to look for and said that they would call back in 2 hours to check on him. He had a small muscle spasm in his hand and then it began to itch but both subsided. We were grateful that it wasn't serious but were able to find a hospital closer that carried anti venom (just in case) by that time. All in all it was an eventful night. *Pic to come as soon as I find my card reader :(

Click pic to see larger:


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It's a . . .

Baby #7 is a BOY :) Our pattern continues, lol :) We are all really thrilled, though I will need to work on getting boy things again as our last boy just turned 5 last week :)

In other news the meat sale was a hit, 4/5 feeder pigs were sold and 1/2 calves were sold as of this post :) Mama sow and babies are all doing well, they have migrated to the big barn with the cows. Jack and the girls are restless, they long for the freedom mama and the piglets have, we will be evaluating the housing this week.

The storm brought many branches and limbs down, rendering the electric fence useless. We are workingto get it back up.

We're still here

I meant to update sooner, thank you to all who emailed, we are fine the tornado was a few miles sw of us and continued moving east until it had past us an then crossed the border about 6 miles east of us.

I have been really tired, to the point that I physically ache :( Hoping the dr will have some answers next week. Thankfully it does not inhibit homeschooling :)

We have had a steady increase in demand, we are thankful for this and I have ordered additional jars to keep up. We thank you for you continued prayer for the success of our farm.

This week we discovered that the first grasses of Spring are not the best for dairy cows as the wild onions/wild garlic and mustard grasses, affect the taste and smell of the milk. We have since pulled Mag off the pasture and bought her some alfalfa and fresh hay. She LOVES the fresh alfalfa, the bright green bales were enough to even lure Quinn out of the pasture for a taste, lol. Quinn appears to be coming along quit nicely, he goes to the butcher next Friday.

Well not a whole lot else going on, we are going to work on getting this old farm house fixed up in time for my moms visit this summer. :)

A pleasant day and stuff

Today we had the pleasure of hosting a homeschooling family. The weather was cooler than it had been the past few days but all in all it was nice. The kids were cold and clung tightly to their mother as the wind blew cold. The sun was out but did little to offer much warmth. We brought Meg out onto the front lawn so that they could meet her and pet her. The chickens made a brief appearance but opted to take cover in the barn. DH brought out some pickles for the kids to feed to pigs, but they preferred to watch. Being such a small farm there really wasn't a whole lot to see but we did get to chat for a bit, which was very nice. We lost all rack of time, the kids enjoyed playing with the cat and puppy and finally we said goodbye when DH mentioned the time. It was to be able to show them around, hopefully they had a good time too :)

In other news, I am really pleased with Mag's condition and will definitely be ordering again from the Co op. It is Amazing how much cream she produces, we thought Treva made a lot but Mag makes a whole lot more. Of course to be fair Mag produces 4 gallons a day and Treva was not up to that production before she left.

The pregnancy is progressing, it appears my thyroid is going to be an issue this time and I likely be put on medication. Since this runs in my family I am not terribly surprised but it will be a new chapter in my life as this will be a life long issue. I'm off to do more blood work for it today and am hoping that if medication is needed, that it will help with the weight and exhaustion.

The farm is picking up. We are selling our excess and I am hoping to be able to sell all so that I can help bring in some income. We are right now selling 25-30 percent, but we have had a few more inquiries that I am hoping will pan out. I have ordered jars in the meantime in preparation. (Side Bar Note: I have created a fan page for the Farm on facebook, please join us if you want more info about what we're selling and our schedule).

Well I've got to get to the lab. Toodles, lol :)

ideas

The nice part about doing taxes in a small farming town is that you gt to talk to lots of farmers. Today I was explaining the challenges I was having trying to find someone to seed my pasture, given that every farm around me is so huge. It is amazing how many acres these families are in control of, but I digress. Mr Farmer asked about the number of cows I had, then scratched his head. He had 2 suggestions: 1. in February go out and broadcast the seed during the time that the soil is warming and cooling continually, and 2. go out and broadcast some seed now and then run the cows over the area so that they can plant it for me. :) I really like this guy, I may have to pick his brain again in future. :)

What I learned from little house on the prairie

We have really come to enjoy the Little house on the Prairie (LHOP)show and books. I have even bothered to google the people in the stories as it is loosely based on the life of Laura. I remember when I got to the book "Farmer Boy" it seemed so odd to have it placed in the middle of the other little house books. I mean there was nothing about the Ingalls, but it was wonderful. That book teaches more than any of the others, if you want to be a sustainable homestead/farm.

It was talking to my boss one day that it really clicked. We were talking about all the rains in Oklahoma last year and how it destroyed the beautiful wheat crop just before harvest. I felt like I was inside a scene from LHOP, I could just see it, Charles is looking out at the wheat as it is ripening and he is making plans for all the money that it will bring, the week before or a few days before the harvest the rains come. The entire crop, formerly golden and glistening in the sunlight, now broken and unusable. The farmers here suffered the exact same fate and from talking to a few people it is a continuous struggle every 3 years.

I began to look at the life of the Wilders, they had so much success and why wouldn't they, they had their hand in just about everything. There was no room for failure when you diversify. I went to wikipedia and looked up Almonzo Wilder (Laura's husband) and it turns out that he began their married life doing just as Charles (and most farmers today), with a single crop. After years of failure, debt and illness they had to give it up. I think it is fortunate that his family had moved from New York to the Midwest as was able to spend year with them to recuperate.

After the move he began to farm the Wilder way, he diversified and was able to find success. No one is going to get rich off of farming in a hurry, but diversifying ones farm (no matter the size), is the only way to grow it and make it sustainable. Well, I'm off my soap box now, lol. There are still more changes to come around here, we are growing this little operation as we can get the money :)

The new herd

Well we've been trying to find the right way to take the farm and after lots of prayer we have added beef cattle to our herd. We have added 2 more bred angus cows, 1 bred hereford cow, 1 charolais cross heifer, 1 simmental cross heifer (not the surprise calf) and 1 hereford heifer. We will have 5 more calves this year and plan to take 5 calves to the sale barn this fall, once they are up to weight. Next years goal is 10.

The sorting process of buying beef cattle is interesting if you opt to buy unregistered/cross bred stock. The 3 heifers came together and were among 5 that we went to see. 1 was an obvious (at least to me) jersey cross with jersey conformation (trending toward dairy rather than beef) and the other seemed thin for her age (compared to the other calves being seen and Eva). Those 2 did not make the cut. The hereford is such a sweet calf, she is like a pet. She follows us around, she is so adorable. The guy who had here had bottle fed her and kept her in a separate pen from the others, she even had her own "room" in the big barn, lol. We call her Pretty. The other 2 calves are Coffee (she had a cough) and the other is Patches.

The big girls, AKA bred cows, are Notch (she has a notch on her ear), Pickle (born in her bag and her mama worked very hard to get her bag to break, she looked like a pickle) and Dolly (another hereford that tugged on the heart strings of her previous owner). These girls come from a farm that is selling out and their other cow friends will be on the sale barn floor tomorrow. We looked at the bull who was there and he had been dehorned very young, he is a big boy but though he looks VERY angus, he is an obvious cross with jersey. It isn't that he looked the part, it is that all the calves that he has fathered have a very definite Jersey look (white ring around the nose and a variety of tan, red and brown coloring, mixed with their black fur.

While there is nothing wrong with crossing a jersey and angus, it is not practical to buy a calf that trends this way as it takes more to get them beefed up. We will have to keep looking for an angus bull to make the herd complete. The key to this however is trying to find one at the right price as we did for the females we got, as the saying goes "buy low, sell high".

On a side note: my son has just completed a practical course in investing, he took his birthday money and invested it, he didn't buy at the lowest point in the market but he was able to buy low enough that he trippled his money when he sold his stock today. To say the least he is very pleased with this and is making plans for his new found wealth, lol.

We will be having both pastures hot wired, with a path leading from one side to the other, thankfully we found someone who could do it at a good price. I am hoping that this will end the annual fencing nightmare. We have also ordered more hay to act as a supplement. This year we will be deworming and vaccinating the cows, as we do not want to risk losing any this year.

We were so thankful that the truck was able to handle the weight, the 3 cows are rather big and we have never hauled so much weight before. We were very concerned but it did beautifully, though we will not haul such a heavy load in future with a 1/2 ton truck, we will need something heavier. There was one point where we got stuck on someone's property while trying to turn around and thankfully their neighbor had a 1 ton dually 4x4. That guys truck is VERY NICE, it is both manual and automatic, but boy is it expensive to buy something like that. Everything in time . . .

As you may have noticed we are moving more towards working on the farm over any other ventures. The "business" didn't work as it was supposed to or as we had understood it to be and we have walked away from it. There are issues there that I would please ask that you keep us in your prayers. God has been good, He is truly faithful and we are continually blessed.

PICS:

Pretty


Patches and Coffee


Coffee again


Spot and her new mama :)

More pics to come soon, it is pretty dark out so no pics of the ladies yet.

Cold weather and farm animals

One of the best features of this property was the outbuildings, I cannot tell you just how much I love them. The HUGE barn is technically 2 as it is divided into 2 distinct sections. The pigs live on the small side with access to an outdoor pen and the cows live in the large section. The barn is such a nice warm place to come out of the cold/freezing wind that can come with cold weather. Tonight they are predicting a storm with several inches of snow, I am not too worried as my animals are nice an cozy in the barn, including the barn chickens that roost in the warmth of the barn on the high perches. The Coop birds have a cozy set up right now as we have some doors blocking all the wind from them. We also pack it on the inside with hay so that they can snuggle :) Since the cows tend to have some hay waste (stuff they wont eat really), this provides a great source of hay for the coop. As for us mere mortals, we have gotten our firewood cut and ready for the next few days. Stay warm everyone. :)

Catching up

Lots of changes round these parts. Eva has been moved to the small barn and is in training. She has been haltered and is learning our touch and voice. She is not terribly excited about this, especially since Treva is only allowed to visit twice a day for morning and night feedings. Treva was initially quite upset about this arrangement however, she seems to be enjoying her new found freedom. The other cows were given an opportunity to move freely however Lot and Quinn decided to take a stroll and they were sent to the arena. Judd was given a reprieve, until he decided to "steal" my milk, lol. He really missed his mama and will have a chance to get to know Eva a bit better when winter comes, they will be penned together. Buttercup seems to have gotten past her mustang phase and has settled down rather nicely. Dh left the cows in the garden and when he went to round them up (they left said garden area as I told him they would and were on my front lawn), she went very easily back into the arena.

Lot will be off to the freezer next week, a little sooner than expected but we are hoping to at least sell half, we'll see. Looks like the pigs will be going to the freezer in mid-November as we need to lighten out load during winter while we try to get things going. The chickens have been cut off of their feed ration and are now 100% free range as we no longer have our Wichita sales to justify the feed expense. It has been quite an adjustment for them. Right now we are trying to ride out their severely low production due to this diet change.

We no longer make deliveries to Wichita as the transmission on our expedition is going out and we don't have $2500 to get it done. We will try to get the Focus out of the mud next week, we were able to contact the farmer and he said that he will help us while harvesting the milo. This is a big blessing as it will allow us to resume business and except for the expense of getting a new battery it will allow us to sell eggs and the white stuff (lol) again. So much is going on, keep us in your prayers, we are still out of propane and the cold weather has begun. We are paying bills as we can but . . . things could be a lot worse. We are thankful for all of God's blessings during this time and always. Thanks for checking in with us, I'll try to be more regular.

Oh, homeschooling is going well, the kids are really enjoying it. It is amazing how many resources there are available for those on a super tight budget. I highly recommend the core knowledge series, Iknowthat.com, brainpop.com, hoodamath.com as places to start. There is a ton of others. The local library is not really practical for public school kids but works out to be awesome for homeschoolers who are available during their limited opening hours. :)

"Love", CHAOS and a dream

It's that time of year again, apparently, you know the time when all bulls fall in love, lol :) Lot is back in "love" with Treva he carefully busted his way out of the arena and was resting in the barn with her and Eva when we woke up this morning. Thankfully he didn't do too much damage and we were able to fix it easily. We are still deciding if we want him to breed her but we probably will and then he's off to the butcher.

CHAOS: Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome - yup there is a name for it and there is help. Thanks to FlyLady there is help for people like me. My mom "blessed" me with a need to have a clean kitchen always if I am to function properly. When you have sucky (yes it's a word, ok I made it up) plumbing like mine and your kitchen sink is almost always stopped up, that becomes an impossible task.

The problem is that once the kitchen goes downhill, so does the rest of the house :( It's a horrible cycle but I'm working through the flylady steps and trying to find creative ways to keep my sink shining. Once we get it done I hope to take 1 room at a time and really get it set up nicely. It's going to be quite the challenge for me but I am determined to do it.

In other news, I have defined my ministry with this little farm. I know what I want to do and I am looking for other area farmers who share a desire to feed others affordably. Farm Fresh/Organic/Healthy shouldn't be cost prohibitive to ordinary people. I plan to have an event to kick it off, anyone interested please email me for more info. Ideas and suggestions welcome :)



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Living within our means

This weekend I did a lot of baking to keep us stocked with bread a real staple at this point. Tonight for diner I wanted to do something different as I was a bit tired of the bread, beans and cheese routine. Dh told me that I could make whatever I like as long as I only need what we already have. The menu consisted of sweet potatoes w/brown sugar, Home-made Scalloped potatoes and baked fish. I was out of butter but I had skimmed cream yesterday. I used most of the cream for the butter and kept some for the half and half. Dh loves it in his coffee. :) Life with 2 toasters ovens is a challenge but totally doable. i also discovered that my crock pot can cook fresh meat in 2 hours or less as long as I don't get too fancy with it. It's been interesting, so what have you guys been up to?

Productive day and school irritation

After my not so great day yesterday I decided to bake cookies (WW Chocolate Chocolate Chip), I also made chocolate chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast (not as great as I'd hoped). Several loaves of bread were baked and 8 chickens were butchered for the freezer. It was a very productive day. :)

I was all happy and excited until I get the mail and there was a note from the local school. We inquired about getting the kids in for Music and PE, they have no issue as long as they get their money or it's a no go. I don't have an issue with that but it was the next paragraph that ticked me off. The principal wanted to let me know that he had informed the county attorney that my oldest would not be attending their school this year, though he knows I have elected the homeschooling option, his letter claims that he is "required" to report this. Funny, I was not required to tell them anything since they were not enrolled, but whatever. I really don't trust those people. We have reconsidered the music and PE and will be opting to find that outlet for the kids elsewhere.

So is it time to start working on a fall garden?



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