Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Although not nearly as bad as my husband got it, I caught the virus from him regardless.  I do feel taking my 4 thieves, and drinking a good amount of water kept me from getting it as bad as him. However, I was unprepared for waking up ill, as far as food goes.  I realized, after resting for several hours, that I needed to go tend the hens.  It was the worst, cold and windy day outside as well.  Yes, I did it in pajamas and muck boots, but left the other chores for my husband after he got home. The only soup on hand was home canned tomato soup, but I did have broth.  I always make sure we have ginger in the freezer.  You can freeze it. How to Freeze Ginger (is in this post) I am out in the boonies, so to ask a friend to come by was out of the question, so it all got me thinking.  I also have a limited amount of family, and they all work full time.  It's not like I can get door dash either.   I need to be better prepared in regards...

The heater we borrowed is not working.  We do have cold water in my utility room sink, so I can water the chickens and goats and so forth.  However, no hot water.  No cold (or hot) water at all to the washing machine. Last night we heated water on the stove for washing dishes and washing up. ....just like camping.  

Two days ago, Tiger caught a mouse in my kitchen.  While we scr a mbled to catch both of them , without losing the mouse, my son and I fail ed.  The mouse ran off into the utility room.  Tige r sat there all day and night wai ting and waiting. Then the next day, one of the girls starts lau ghing, as Tiger had his head buried in my son's sho e.  We didn't think anything of it. ...and t hen the day after that, my son brings me his shoe.  In it, i s a dead mouse - HA HA HA HA!  Good kitty!  See my daughter's blog at : Li fe as Te en Farmgirl for a photo.  

In my state, " Littering is a serious offense, punishable by fines of up to $500 and 60 days in jail ." (source: http://ohiodnr.com/tabid/18283/default.aspx) These photos are just from last night's drivers.  There have been entire food boxes, cheese wrappers, birth control pill containers with their names on it, and more.  Even beer bottles thrown so far, they've almost landed on my front porch. It wouldn't be so funny to these people, if we set up a camera and had them fined.   One person has done this already (according to our newspaper).  I think more needs to be done in regards to those to litter.  This is just one draw back living in the country - irresponsible people think your yard is their trash can.  

Wolf Spider Grass Spider We get both of these types of spiders in our house.  Every time we come across one we call my son, who rescues it.  However, today, the grass spider got the shoe.  I had to borrow a photo on-line to show you what they look like.  They are not small either. I went to make my bed this morning and one was curled up in my bed covers.  The difference between the two spiders, is that the grass spider can crawl up things - ewwww is right. The other day, we discussed this, and I said to my 12 year old daughter, "just imagine what's in your clothes when you put them on." "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! she cried. I killed one the other day on the bedroom floor too.  We are getting more than we'd like inside this year.  I hope that's not a sign that we will have a hard winter.   I guess I better be cleaning down any spider webs there may be in here.  Sheesh.  I opened a tool drawer and there was one in there too. I g...

.................this is living life - taking time to see the early morning dew drip, while sipping hot coffee on the porch.

Well.  What's a farmgirl to do when she is stressed to the gills?   And.............   My favorite way to de-stress (and yes those are really my very own gloves)  I had a plan to box in a fight one time before I turned 40, but with moving twice, it never happened. Besides, this farmgirl needs to get back in shape.  I seem to have lost it over and over and need to find it again ( ha ha ha). Once we get back into a routine, we get right back out of it, due to "life."  All it takes, is hearing my kids make fun of my flabby arms and thighs.  And I'm back out working the speed bag until my arms feel like falling off.  Then again, every day "stress" sends me there anyway. Yesterday I took some of the kids to have a picnic and play-date in a park about 1/2 hour from home.  I sat under a picnic shelter, crocheting with a cool breeze coming through.  However, I should have been playing on the equipment with them.  After we get home, I ...

I can't tell you how many times we have removed the toad from my tree pots.  He/she has now made a home in the other pot.  We removed him/her from there and yesterday it was sitting on the edge of the rim. No matter where we put this toad, including way out in the vegetable garden, it finds its way back to my redbud tree pot.  I may have to replant this tree into another container, but that toad will probably burrow into it too.  Our best guess, is that this toad is a Mom, and has eggs buried in there.  I guess time will tell.

Another, much prettier scarf completed (knitted).  I have another skein of yarn, the same color, for another scarf also.  For the next one, I will need to make it a bit thinner on the width, so it will be longer. We also, thanks to extended family, completed several yard projects.  The ground over the septic is now flat again, and ready to re-seed the grass and cut down the pipe.  We also made our own cement cap for the distribution on the septic/leach bed.  The back hoe ran over it and crushed it in last year.  They run about $50.00, so making it ourselves was a smart move.  Now, it will interesting on watching the men lift it and move it, once it has completely set.  It feels good to see work get completed.  I have also been able to pick more wild black raspberries every day now.  I will soon be baking my first pie with them.  I never did get a picture of baking the quiche with milkweed flower buds, but will try to remember ne...

I woke up at 4:00am to the sounds of tornado winds.  After taking inventory on outside barn cats, checking the barn doors, and porch furniture, the power went out.   In my mind ,I quickly took notes on things we need to be better prepared for disaster, and for self-sufficient living. 1.     Generator 2.     Wash tub 3.     Well with hand pump (so water will be available when the electric cannot run the pump). I am very prepared at drying clothes without a dryer or electric, but I do not have a back up plan for washing clothing.  The well and hand pump would provide water for us, and the farm animals, and would not require electricity.  The wash tub would come in handy year round, and the generator would be a way to keep the food in the refrigerator/freezers cold/frozen. I think the kids will realize that taking showers promptly, and not waiting until the last minute has its benefits.  Luckily, only one was to...

Yesterday, my husband and I started to build a split barn door, to replace the one that is basically hanging from the barn.  When we moved here, the bottom door was missing.  Here is the “before” picture. We are trying to keep the original barn frame vs. tearing it all down and starting over.  It has housed many animals for many owners over the years. My husband took this photo of me putting the screws into the backside of the bottom portion of the door.  It’s a bit out of focus, but the good news is, we have a new camera.  Pictures after these were taken, should look a lot better. And yes, I used the table saw myself.  We work together 50/50 on most work such as this.  All women should know how to use these types of tools and build items from scratch, or re-purpose items to build from. We are making progress, but these things just don’t happen as fast as you think.  We still need to frame the outside it, and attach it to the existing hing...

We found this guy in our driveway.  The rains must have brought him out of his hole.  However, he soon became bird food and was snatched away as fast at we found him. He was about 5-6 inches long.

~Misty~ 1 week old La Mancha doeling ~ Orion ~ 9 month old La Mancha buck Orion only has one horn, because the people who originally had him, dehorned him.  One horn grew back.  A woman rescued them and we are blessed to add them to our farm.

We did a lot of shoveling yesterday.  We got some snow, and today we have the glory of frozen pipes.  Luckily, I have spare jugs of drinking water, spare jugs of water for the pets and the chickens, and spare water to flush toilets.  I'm feeling like a real pioneer woman, only without the outhouse.  Although, right now, I wish we had one - ha ha ha!

Woke up with a migraine this morning.  We have to split more wood tonight and I am hoping I get over this before my husband arrives home.  I have to share with you that our oldest dog ran after a buck the other night.  We had a laugh over it, because we are wondering what he's thinking he'll do if he ever catches one. Ha ha ha! We are also experiencing night poachers around our property.  It's bothersome to know that they are out there, as we walk our dogs nightly, and in the dark some times.   We are not sure what they are hunting, but the gun shots are pretty much a clue they are hunting deer.  This is just one of the things we have to deal with by living in the country.  People that can't follow the law are the people who encourage the government to place more restrictions on gun ownership and freedom to protect oneself.

Most of the surrounding corn fields have been harvested, but a few remain.  Yesterday, as I was enjoying my "porch time" I was lucky to see a deer across the property, walking along the edge of a corn field.  I called for the kids to see and they too enjoyed the moment.  Later in the evening, while my 16 year-old was working on the computer, she screamed for me.  I was too late, but two of the kids saw two doe up close and personal.  They came right through our property, from the woods, and crossed the street.  They were not little either.  I caught a glimpse of the backside of the second one running away. I hope we don't have to bring our porch furniture in too soon this fall, because we are really enjoying the beauty we see out here.  Our barn cats even come to the porch when we have our "porch  time" alone or together.  They seem to enjoy the company. The chickens however, are getting pretty naughty.  They have discovered the...

We are enjoying more delicious wild black raspberry pancakes today.  Made with preservative free whole wheat flour of course. If we can muster up the energy to pick 8 cups of berries, I will make homemade jam for the first time ever.  The weather is sweltering hot today.  My eight year old was covered in sweat, picking berries, before 10am.  The humidity is horrible today, so rain should be on it's way.

Today is a hot and sweltering day.  I have not completed any writing other than here on this blog.  The kitchen temperature is reading 90°F and we are continuing to go without air conditioning.  It will cut our electric bill in half from last year. For dinner we enjoyed homemade whole wheat pancakes made with hand picked wild black raspberries.  Very delicious!  It was something inspiring for, the two kids who went out to pick them, to enjoy eating them.  They saw their hard work was worth it.

I'm posting a photo of a berries we found growing on our property. I am hoping my Farmgirl Sisters can help identify this plant. Edible? Poisonous? Ornamental?