#31 Days - Farm Animals all Atwitter

   

Since we are not vegetarian, in order to produce at least half the food we consume, we will have to have some animals on the farm.

Probably the easiest first animal to get would be the chicken.  (OK, ok, with my family - including two teenage boys - we're talking at least 6-12 chickens.  There is already a building on the property that used to be a chicken coop, but it's been used mainly for storage for, oh, 4-5 decades.  It's about six of one, half dozen of another whether it would be better to renovate the one we have or just make an entirely new one.

And if you see the date, this picture of over 7 years old.  The yard suffered some neglect in the ensuing years and things look a little...wilder now.  And there is a little less paint on the coop.  There is also a smokehouse (no picture available)  and a sizeable tobacco barn.

Chickens may be the only animal we begin to raise next year.  Although my father-in-law has expressed interest in possibly running some cattle between his place and ours.  I'd love to add cows (for milk), and sheep (for wool) and then reassess how things are going, homestead-wise.

One of the things we got with the house is a chest-style deep freeze.  It stands on the floor and comes up to my waist, and the freezer is long enough most people could make a bed on top of it and not have their toes hang over the edge.  

We are extremely blessed that we were able to buy this property and have the kind of land needed for a (someday) full-fledged homestead.  After the October challenge is over, I will have a series on how families and people living in cities and 'burbs can use some of the techniques we will employ to raise some of their own food, if they so wish.

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The October Daily challenge prompt for today, October 7th, 2013 is:

"Go without something (e.g. - phone, Twitter) for a day and tell us what it feels like."

That's a tough one for me.  I very seldom talk on the phone and really don't use Twitter all that much to begin with.  People who follow me on Twitter today, though, may disagree.  I was giving folks +K on Klout and had the option to post it to Twitter, which I did in each case.  That's 5 or so tweets today, which is what I've posted in some weeks before.

I can only say that going without something that is a usual practice would probably be like those first three days of quitting smoking cold turkey.  I'd be grouchy and my family would probably want to send me to a cave until I became human again.

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Have you noticed the "NaNoFundMo" button I made in the right sidebar?  I am going to be participating in "NaNoWriMo" (National Novel Writing Month) in November.  The idea is to write a 50,000 word novel (the first draft) in November.  People from all over the world participate.  You can too!

Anyway, the same people run a writing program for schools so that children and young adults who have already been bitten by the writing bug can have an outlet for their creativity.  If you feel so inspired, and are able, I would be honored if you would consider contributing to the money I am trying to raise for this program.  If it's not a possibility at this time, I more than  understand.

#31Days - Memory Garden Daily

      

There is a lot to cover today, so let's get started! :O)

5.  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

This verse gives me a lot of hope.  God loves everybody.  Even sinners.  Even people we don't particularly like.  Even us, in our 'less shining' moments.  He wanted and wants everyone on Earth to return to him when their life here is over.  But He doesn't control our actions.  He gives us the opportunity, like any loving parent, to make their own choices and mistakes.

6.  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

And then, like a caring parent, gives their children grace, mercy and forgiveness when we make choices that are not in our best interests for growth.  When we sin, we must repent; that is, to show remorse and to redouble our efforts to not make the same bad choice in the future.  And we are so blessed to have His grace, that when we atone for our sin, we are welcomed back with open arms.

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#31 Days

As I go through making my plans for next year's garden, I wanted to 'bring more God' into every phase than I have done previously.  To begin, I found the following Bible verse:

Jeremiah 29:5 - Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

I want God to be in the planning, the planting, the tending, and the harvesting of the garden; He should also be on our minds when we prepare meals to nourish ourselves from the 'fruit of the Earth'.  Sure, that's easy to say, but how to do I do it?

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The October Daily prompt for October 6th is:

"Dig out a childhood photo and share something you remembering happening during that the photo was taken.   You can post as many photos and describe as many events as you like." 

Well, all of the photos of my own childhood are in storage with the rest of the things from my mother's house out in Utah.  But I think I can 'dig up' some pictures of my kids as young'uns.

This is my oldest at 7 months of age.  He was a rock star at the photographers.  And as the first grandchild on either side of our family, everybody wanted pictures.  He was born in December of 1996 in a big snowstorm in Utah.  My mother-in-law flew in from San Francisco and rented a car to get to the hospital the day he was born.  No 'little snowstorm' was going to keep her away.  She actually got to see (and hold) 'Sir B' before I did, which made me wistful for years.  My own mother came to the hospital Sunday afternoon after church.  

Close to the time this picture was taken, he was crawling in our apartment living room, and crawled over the phone, which had a long cord so we could carry the phone into any room.  (Remember those days, before cell phones or even cordless phones?)  We hung it up and were playing on the floor with him, when we got a call.  It was Emergency Services asking if there was a problem.  I kid you not.  When our son had crawled over the phone, somehow he dialed "911".  (He's talented that way.  When he was a few months older, he deleted Windows from our computer.)

Here is DS2, also at about 7 months.  He's 15 now.  The late spring and summer of 1998 in Texas was STIFLING.  More 100-degree days of any year there since 1980.  I remember looking at an outdoor thermometer at our duplex at midnight one night and it was 98 degrees.  Thank goodness 'Squire B' decided to show up two weeks early (May)!  He was the only one of my children I got to hold right after he was born.  For most of his life, people have said he is the spitting image of his paternal grandfather at the same age.  His first year was really uneventful.  Again, his paternal grandmother flew in from San Francisco, arriving the day he was born.  

When he was born, his little ankle ID matched my wrist ID, and they both had some kind of chip in them so if either one of us crossed the electronic barrier of the maternity wing, and alarm would go off.  I don't remember anything like that the first time around.  I remember a nurse at the hospital going over hearing tests with me and said his hearing was very sharp, so if it seemed in the future that he had not heard something we said, he was really just ignoring us!  Mamaw used to say, "That boy don't care which way the wind blows!"  He is very laid back.

Here is my miracle baby (at 4 months); today she is 10.  I was 41 when she was born, and had had blood pressure and gestational diabetes with all three pregnancies.  She was born at 32 weeks, weighing 3 lbs .4 oz and was 13.5" long (or is that tall).  I got to see her 1-2 days after she was born.  At 2-3 days old, some elders from my church came in and gave her a blessing.  She was able to come home at 22 days (still 5 weeks from her original due date), and she did not even weigh 4 lbs yet.  But the doctors said she was healthy enough and they needed the space!  

She's the first daughter in several generations in my husband's family.  My mother and brother came down to visit about the time this picture was taken.  Mom was almost 81 and when we brought Tea out to show her off, my mother started crying so much, we had to help her to a chair and bring her a glass of water.  I was working graveyards at the FWPD at the time and my department threw her a wonderful baby shower, which is where the bunny hoodie towel came from.  Her brothers (4 and 6 at the time) adored her.  Both normally very active, they would sit stock still and 'coo' at their sister when it was their turn to hold her.

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So what is your best gardening tip?  This ole novice farmer-wannabe needs all the help she can get!

#31 Days - Herbs & Spices

  

I have scoured the Internet (well, not the whole thing but quite a lot of sites to find out basic herbs and spices used in cooking.  The following herbs and spices are included on the pantry page at Basic-Cooking.com:  

Basil, Bay leaves, Coriander, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme;

Cinnamon, Cloves, Cumin, Curry Powder, Turmeric

Curry powder apparently is a blend of various spices (which I never knew - and do I feel silly?  Eh.  I told you I was a beginner in the kitchen.) and there are about as many recipe combinations on the internet as there are bloggers!

Many herbs and spices can be grown indoors, and it is even a preferred location for some varieties.  One thing I'd like to do is get a garden window in the kitchen to accommodate some plants.

Those will probably do for the first year.  After that I hope to expand into herbs for some DIY home/hygiene products.  I'll have to check out slippery elm, because that makes a tea like no other when you have a sore throat.

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The October Daily prompt for October 5th is:

Complete the sentence:  "If I had a __________, I would __________."  You can make as many sentences as you'd like.

The first word that popped into my head was "hammer".  Does that date me?  Remember the song, 

"If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning.  

I'd hammer in the evening, all over this land.  

I'd hammer out warning, I'd hammer out justice.  

I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters, all over this land."

Here are a few more:

1.  If I had a million dollars, I would do our farm up right, then use the rest to help those in need.

2.  If I had a new Jaguar, I would drive a lot more.

3.  If I had a dinner engagement at the White House, I would probably wear a dress i/o my jeans.

4.  If I had a chance to live my life again, I would do things exactly as I did before, so my family would be the same as they are right now.

5.  If I had a(n) extra hour in the day, I would use it to strengthen my walk with God.

How would YOU fill in those blanks?  C'mon back to the porch tomorrow, when we start talking about farm critters. ;)

#31 Days - Fruits and First Days

   


Fruits we already have on the property:
Crab apples, blackberries, elderberries and some grape vines, badly in need of a revival.
For 2014, I think I will concentrate on a small number of non-tree based fruits and get to the fruit trees maybe the next year.  Luckily for me, this rather limits my choices.

And I'm going to move tomatoes and maybe pumpkins to my fruit list to enable asparagus and maybe artichokes to be added to my veggie list.
In the years to come, I'd like to branch out (pun intended) into having some fruit trees:  apple, peach, cherry, and pear with the option of more to follow a couple of years out.
So my 2014 list (for now) includes:
Bell Peppers, Canteloupe, Jalapeno Peppers, Pumpkins, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Watermelon
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The October Daily prompt for 10/4 is:

"Share your experience during your first weeks/months in blogging."

Shoot.  I have trouble remembering a couple of days ago, let alone a couple of years ago.

In my first post ever on this blog, dated Sunday, July 22, 2007, I started out with an enumeration of the various kinds of wicked:  wicked-funny (jokes), wicked-cool (snazzy paint job on a car) and wicked-evil.  Wicked-evil started out with the obvious options, and then settled in on a co-worker of mine at the time.

She was a know-it-all, telling anyone and everyone how to to do their jobs, including her organizational superiors and those in specialized jobs like nursing.  People did not take kindly to this.  So she was moved to another part of the house (at a residential facility for adults with MR/DD).  She followed co-workers around the facility trying to get pictures of them committing some 'wrong' on her cell phone.  She followed people home.  She got into co-workers cell phones and got private numbers so she could make accusations about affairs to their loved ones.

Then she was transferred (not by choice) to another home on the facility.  When she found out, she stormed out of the house, turning at the door with the ominous threat, "I'll get every one of you."  She began to make (unfounded) accusations of abuse/neglect.  When that didn't damage people's employment enough, she began to accuse house administrators of turning a blind eye or failing to report abuse/neglect.  At least one talented staff member, with a real heart for the clients quit because of this woman.

That's just one of a hundred stories about the place where I worked for 4-1/2 years.  It was the most fulfilling job I have ever had.  I loved the residents with whom I worked.  There isn't one of them I would hesitate for a moment to intervene when someone was hurting them or when they were hurting themselves, even the ones who swore at me on a regular basis or sent me home injured.  I would love to work with the same population again ... just not there.

On the whole, blogging is a lot safer.  So I'm here to stay.

Question:

What is your favorite job you've ever had?  (And yes, parenthood counts.  And yes, ministry or an un/paid outside the home job counts too.)

#31 Days - Vegetables and High School Memories

 

Possible Listing of Vegetables for Our 2014 Garden

(many thanks to PhotographicDictionary.com for help jogging my memory)

Asparagus, avocado, artichoke

Beans, beet, broccoli, brussel Sprouts

Cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumbers

Lettuce

Onions 

Pea, potatoes, pumpkins

Rhubarb

Spinach, squash, sweet potato

Tomato

Zucchini

Yeah, maybe the year after next.  As I want to include fruits, herbs, animals and grains, I should probably limit myself (arbitrarily) to 10.  Let's see how that goes.

Carrot, celery, corn, cucumber, lettuce, onion, potatoes, pumpkins, spinach, tomatoes.  Yeah, that's probably enough for the first year.

Next week, I will cover the supplies needed or useful for producing my above ten veggies.

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The October Daily prompt for the day is:  

share a high school memory that you will never forget.

Simple.  February 15, 1979, I was a senior in high school.  February 15, 1979, was the day my father passed away at the age of 47.

He had come home a week earlier from work feeling ill.  This in itself was unusual, because he was a nose to the grindstone kind of man.  He grew up in West Virginia in poverty.  He graduated from West Virginia University (where he and my mother met), a went on to get a PhD in Chemical Engineering.  He was very intelligent, but did not particularly care for his line of work, but it put food on the table, bought a house and allowed us to go on the odd vacation now and again.

By the day before, on Valentine's Day, I knew he would not make it.  He could barely talk.  He could barely move.  He looked as if he had lost 50 pounds in the week that he had been at home.  I had a dream about him dying that night, which I've always figured was a way from the cosmos to prepare me for the actual passing.

The next day, I was actually home from school.  I remember my mother calling to me from the bedroom, asking me to call a local Christian Science Practitioner.  When she came to the phone, she asked me to go back and read from the Bible.  I stood in the hallway because I had seen my father's face, and it was twisted in the 'grin of death'.  I can still see it to this day.

Someone came over to stay with my mother until the ME came out.  I had to get out of the house.  I went to a friend's house and we drove around for a couple of hours.  When I got home, my brother had returned as well.  Other than being in shock, my mother appeared to be dealing as well as could be expected.

My bedroom was across the hall from my parents' room.  When it came time for me to go to bed, I had to ask my mother to walk back with me because my legs wouldn't take me on my own.  When we got to my door, there was a gouge in it from where they had carried my father's body out on a stretcher.

I could go on for days about memories surrounding my father's passing, but I will stop here.  The story is definitely not finished, but then at the time, neither was his.

#31 Days - Site of Our 2014 Garden

   

  

OK, for Wordless Wednesday I try most often to be actually wordless in the body of the post, but this month that is just NOT going to work.

In the foreground of the picture is an early shot of our 2013 garden.  Back when there was still hope for the tomatoes.  Back when there weren't even flowers on the pepper plant at the end (from which we actually got several usable peppers - yay!).  Back when you could actually see the dirt around the pumpkin plants and their little cardboard sprout cups had not yet disintegrated.

In 2014, we will have pretty much the entire field - a couple of acres if we need/want it.  Where our property ends, my FIL's begins.

We're hoping to put in a variety of vegetables, fruits, herbs, some grain and some animals.

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The October Daily Challenge prompt for the day is:

"Get a certain or favorite lyrics from your favorite song and tell us how it inspires or describes you."

"Amazing Grace" 3rd verse:

"Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home."

I'm  52 years old today.  I've been through some things, and done some things that ... well, didn't make the world a better place; let's put it that way.  But I'm here, and I'm learning.  Plain and simple, if not for God's grace, I would not be here.

Also, I like a line from "Sweet Hour of Prayer" -  "...that saves me from a world of care..."

On my rebel side, I love Little Big Town's "Boondocks":

"I feel no shame, I'm proud of where I came from,

I was born and raised in the boondocks.

One thing I know, no matter where I go,

I leave my heart and soul in the boondocks."

In fact, I like that song so much, I went and watched in on YouTube.   Check it out here if you like.  Don't be surprised if your toes 'commence a-tappin'. 

I like the song because it expresses who I am and how I feel about that.  Now some people, if they are rich enough, or educated enough or high enough on the social register might look down on a simple country woman like myself.  Their loss.  I know who I am and these days I quite like me. :O)

Thanks to blog recipe challenges and the like, I'm developing a like for and comfortableness in my kitchen.  And although I hope to have animals on the farm for eggs, wool and even some meat, I don't think I'll ever get comfortable with 'cleaning' them myself.  And I love live theatre, ballet and opera ... which is something of which we don't get a lot around here.  But when my plays start being produced on Broadway, my compensation package should include a helicopter ride to the top of the theatre building, cause Mama doesn't do big city driving.

So while my practices may be simple, I am far from it.  I'm like a patchwork quilt - bits and pieces of a lot of different fabrics, stitched to God (my backing) with a lot of love.

Question:

How would you describe yourself in terms of your favorite craft or hobby?

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And, as it is the first Wednesday of the month, it's time for the IWSG (Insecure Writer's Support Group), hosted at Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog until the dedicated site is up.  See/use the link button to visit more ISWG-ers (Insecure Writer's Support Groupies). *lol*

The hardest thing for me about writing is sitting down and starting.  The negative voices start in early, and continue to haunt me in constant 'psycho-babble'.  For instance, I am not satisfied with this post.  I think it conveys the idea(s) I intended, but the writing is not 'tight'.  And right now, I'm not sure what I could do to make it better.  But, as my 11th grade English teacher once said, "For every great line of poetry you write, you will write at least one line of utter garbage."  So I'll keep writing.

2nd Breakfast - 2nd October Challenge

  

Well, I felt kind of bad about posting my October 1 post on September 30, and not posting  today, so I decided to make another post so my writing every day in October goal did not fall apart on the first day.  And the first thought that came to me was "2nd Breakfast" , as a nod to those hungry little hobbits in LOTR.  The second thought that came to me was ... as long as I'm already going to be blogging every day in October, why not add a 2nd challenge?

As it turns out, the Creative Writing challenge for the 1st has not been posted yet, so I will keep watch and get to it when it comes out.

The above "31 Days in the Garden" button goes back to my master list post, which will contain a new link each to each day's post for that challenge.  And from a link on a blog to which I subscribe, I found "The October Daily" challenge, hosted by my new blogmiga at Secret Obsession.

TOD (The October Daily) prompt for the day is "share at least 5 reasons why you blog".  In no particular order:

1.  It's cheaper than therapy.

2.  Blogging is a creative outlet.  I get to dig my arms up to the elbow in the treasure chest of the English language, and let the gold, silver and gems drip through my fingers onto the keyboard.

3.  I can share what I know and/or who I am with other people.

4.  I can get information I need from people I know and trust.

5.  I can engage in my 'secret obsession' for making up new words, like "porchervations" (an observation made on a porch) and "blogmigos/as" (a friend with a blog).

6.  I can encourage and be encouraged.

7.  I can provide and find laughter.

8.  It helps me plan out my life goals - like producing half the food we consume in our garden/on our farm.

That's probably enough of that for now.  One day I'll have to do a List of 100 on reasons why I blog.

Come back tomorrow when the planning and information on my quest for the "Ultimate Dogwalk Garden 2014" begins!

Oh, and notice the new button in the right sidebar for Butterman Time Travel Inc, a link up on October 16th where participants will answer the question "WHEN in the world will you go?"