WARNING : Fall is coming...

Yep, it's true. Before we know it Autumn will be upon us...the wonderful scents of fall. The changing leaves...the garden giving its last of the harvest...pumpkins...and the trees putting on their colorful coats. Yes, Fall is near. I was walking from the barn the other day, when I came across this little jewel already!

This I took as my first "warning" that time is slipping away fast. It sure is pretty tho...so I just had to get a picture of it. Then, today as I was going into town, I noticed a few more bigger trees are starting to change already. Noooooooooo, I am NOT ready! We haven't even started getting the firewood yet. Oh, boy...I can tell we are going to be doing a mad dash at the last minute. They said on the news this evening, I believe there are 23 days until Fall. 23 days!!! That's just over 3 weeks!! Then the talk went to "winter predictions" Oh boy, I sure hope they are wrong. Seems we might be in for a heavy snow this winter. *sigh* I mean, I LOVE snow...it is so pretty...the land is hushed after a good snow...and everything is clean and fresh...and frozen! Like water troughs....and chicken waterers...which reminds me, I need to get my water bowl heaters out and make sure they are all working properly. I also need to get a load of straw brought in...so when the time comes...I can get fresh deep bedding for everyone. With the coming of fall....brings us to our Farm Festival. Every year, in October, we have a festival out here at the farm. A cookout .. crafts for the kids.. ( this year I think we will make roses from leaves.)

My grandson spent the weekend out here a few weeks ago, and showed these to me on you tube. He wanted my help making some for him mom. They turned out pretty good, and are EASY to make. They have that "fall scent" to them...and are just beautiful. I make wooden pumpkins on sticks and "plant" them in a pumpkin patch for the kids to pick and paint...there is a hay ride...a bouncy house...and finished with smores around the bon fire. So much planning...I need to get busy with that too! So, are you in a panic yet!? Fall is coming!

Monsters in the garden!!!!!

Good Sunday morning to you all. The morning weather is beautiful here. Sunny, 80 degrees, low humidity and a light breeze. After my morning chores..I decided it was time to start moving fence panels. Yesterday we took the 2 pigs off to "freezer camp" Yep, in 2 weeks we will be "swimming in pork" Eating "high on the hog" One of them weighed about 340, the other 250. Hams...bacon....chops...sausage...pork shoulder roast..Ohhhh, Drool!! So....moving fence panels.My plan is to clean up the area where the pigs were, and plant winter wheat in there. But, I needed to move the fence first! The one I really needed to move FIRST, was along the fence line between our little pygmy buck and the doe's. Oh, don't EVER let size fool ya!! Our little Fred can pack a wallup! I had to secure him to a fence post so I could get in there and get my work done. He was NOT happy! Took me about an hour to get the fence panel moved, and secured.Oh, Fred was in the shade, right next to his water trough, so he was not suffering....just upset that he could not get to me! Whew! Only 3 more to go. I decided to move on to something a little "easier" So I headed off to the garden. It is so peaceful in the garden...I was picking green beans...pulling weeds..listening to the bee's hum along flying from flower to flower...and listening to the gentle breeze..whisper through the corn, and the cicada's singing their warning that fall is coming soon, from the trees near by. Yes, I was loving life...the green beans are coming in great right now, and I am feeling blessed. I picked them 2 days ago, and got these today!

Thomas, my big orange tom cat was laying lazily in the rows, watching me and purring. ( lazy cat. He could have helped pull weeds! ) So I am moving right along...dropping hand fulls of beans in my basket...when I reached down to grab some weeds....WHAM!!! I screamed like a little girl that just saw a snake! It was Thomas...my "beloved" cat...grabbed my hand in a playful way...no claws...just scared the beejesus out of me. Then he rolled over onto his back, and purred. I took this as a hint to stop, and take a break. So, I sat down there in between the rows...green beans sitting on my right side...Thomas on my left...purring contently as I scratched his head and neck. He really is a great cat...as cat's go. He sleeps in the chicken coop every night, protecting my hens from those terrible mice! Here is the mighty hunter.....

As I was picking the beans, I noticed there were gourds on the volunteer plants at the edge of the garden. They are just ornamental gourds, but they will be great when it is time to decorate for our Fall Festival.

Then I moved on to the last of the potato's. I had this small basket that I planted just a few plants in. They were not the main potato's, just 3 little extra's I had, and wanted to see how they would grow in a basket. Unfortunately for them, and me, I was not very attentive to them...I only mulched them twice, and rarely watered them, however, when I pulled up the basket, I was pleasantly surprised at the yield.

You can see the small basket in the picture. It is about 18 inches across...and like I said, I was not very attentive to them. So...I am not too displeased. There are enough for me to can about 3 or 4 pints. They will be great this winter in stew! So now I am inside, taking a bit of a break, drinking my water...getting ready to head to the kitchen and start canning beans and potato's. I hope you all are having a blessed day...

Catching up...a little at a time.

Since I worked the last 2 weeks, 12 hour shifts, things around here were sorta let go. All I had the time and energy to do was the bare minimum, to keep everyone alive and sorta happy. Today was another catch up day. Ran water hoses to the Guinea Hogs, filled their pool....then ran water to the barn and filled all the troughs out there. Then I got on the lawn tractor and spent the better part of the rest of the day, mowing. I still have about 2 more days worth of mowing to do...and potato's to dig....then green beans to pick and get canned. busy busy....summer is trying to slip away from me..and I am not ready!

Time flies....when your having fun...are we having fun yet!?

Where has this summer gone!? It really seems like just last week we were putting in the garden. It has been slow growing...however it is FINALLY coming in. Actually I am glad it took it's time....I have been so busy working out at MUTC again. Roll playing as a displaced citizen....after a nuclear explosion. It is a lot of fun for the most part....but it was hot..and we walked a LOT this year. Up at 04:30..out to the barn by 5 am...feeding, watering, opening doors, then in the house by 05:30 and on the road by 06:00. Work until 7 pm, home by 7:30 most days...chores at 8 pm, and not getting to bed until 12 or 1 am...after chores, shower, dinner, packing my bag for the next day...whew! The company we worked for supplied us with snacks, mid morning and late afternoon. Apples, Bananas, and peaches. Well....the last day we were told to take what we want. SWEeeeeeeet! I walked away with about 100 pounds of Green Granny Smith Apples.

The bag on top I made 8 pints of apple sauce and 8 - 1/2 pints of apple butter. That used about 20 pounds. I still have about 80 pounds yet to do something with. Apple juice, cider, jelly, PIE!! I also got about 40 pounds of mostly rotten banana's. I was able to put a few bunches in the freezer for banana bread later...and dried 5 trays of chips. The rest went to the pigs...and they were in HOG HEAVEN!

Now that I am finished working out there, for a while..I am trying to catch up on the farm chores that were let go. I was able to dig one row of potato's so far. Not the best yield, but I am happy with it. From a 15 ft row, I yielded about 25 pounds. One more row to go, maybe tomorrow. Our Concord grapes began to ripen fast! I picked one tray on day one...got about 5 gallons. This gave me 7 quarts of juice.

A week later I picked the rest, only about 3 gallons this time and got 5 quarts and a pint of juice today. I always leave some on the vines for the birds. Keeps them happy, and out of my tomato's! I also made up a small batch of tomato paste and started another crock pot of apple butter. I also had time to put up 11 pints of bread and butter pickles today. Whew! Busy in the kitchen all day today. I need to get as much done as I can, another job coming up soon...Whew!

OK, I want answeres...I wanna know...who.....

Opened the gates of HELL!?? WOW Has it been hot!! Temps in the upper 90s, humidity almost matching...real feel in the triple digits! This weather has been a nightmare on the animals. I have been working almost non stop trying to keep them alive in this heat...constant watering...fans..and every time I walk out to do a welfare check, praying I don't find one of our critters ....giving up the ghost. So far we have lost 3 of our meaties. GRRRRRRR THIS upsets me because I have put time and effort into raising meat for our freezer, only to lose it to the heat. On the plus side...the Guinea hogs like chicken. So, not a total waste...but I am not raising these chickens to feed the hogs! It is TOO HOT to even TRY to butcher chickens. Whew! Today we are supposed to get a few showers....and I believe I heard the weatherman say...temps n the 80's! Woohoo, I think I love our weatherman. So, last week..we had a kitten that had been injured...and she needed to be taken to the vet to have her little leg amputated. I named this little barn kitten... Little Foot.

She really is a sweet little girl...so sad for her. However, she didn't let it get her down. Too bad we as humans can't be more like the animals. The day of her surgery..she was still purring..hobbling up to me and cuddling...and when I picked her up she had the same upbeat attitude. What a sweetie! I was able to find her a great home after surgery....where she will be an inside spoiled baby girl. I am so happy for her. She deserves the best! The day I went to pick her up....I was gone most of the day. The vet we use is just over an hour away. Once I returned home...as I pulled in the drive, I noticed a little black "something" in the pasture with our 2 dairy goats. Now, I know they are NOT pregnant....so I brought the kitten inside to get her settled...and on the doorstep is a note...

Oh boy! I ran out to the barn...and yep, they did!! SOMEONE left this little guy in the pasture. LUCKY for me...they can't tell a Billy from a whether...and they were wrong. He is a whether! YAY....at least I didn't have to worry about "that"

I was concerned however, that he might be ill...or have worms...and could make my dairy girls sick. I had to wait until the hubby got home to get him in the barn, and corner him....I needed to do a good check over. We only chased him around the little goat cabin about 10 times before we FINALLY got him to run into the barn...GOTCHA CORNERED! HAHA! I was finally able to get my hands on him, and throw a collar on him. He looks good! Eyes are clear...gums, clear...good weight....just needs his little feet trimmed. So I am thinking now...I have to put up another small "paddock" for "drop offs" to ensure diseases are not spread. *sigh* Better safe than sorry tho.....right? So we have named this little guy...Moomoo. Once the weather breaks I will tackle the job of trimming his hooves...and finding him a forever home. I am thankful they didn't toss him in with my billy goat, Fred. I know Fred would have put a hurt on him. Speaking of "hurt" This heat is taking a toll on the animals. One of our blue butt pigs went down. She would not eat...just laid around and looked miserable. I was certain she was a gonner. I tried to get her to eat a hot dog bun with jelly...nope..she looked away. Now I KNOW she was sick. I offered her fresh warm goats milk...nope. :( All I could do was keep water on her..and hope for the best.Getting her medicated was a chore...I had to put the meds in a syringe and force it in her mouth. After about 3 days...she was up and looking for food! YAY! Yesterday when I went out, she greeted me with a "bark" and she ran up to the fence to greet me. Whew! That was close. Farm life can be so challenging some days. Today I will replant green beans..the first crop I planted is struggling to put out beans. :( Hoping now that the weather is cooling down a bit I can at least get some new beans started and will have a good crop. So, another day on the farm...it is HOT HOT HOT...I am headed out to run water hoses again...all day.

Baby, it is HOT HOT HOT!

IF you have been blessed to have AC in your home...and you are sitting inside waiting on this heat to break, don't forget, those critters outside are still HOT! By 10 am today, i was already changing into my second set of clothing. The first set was drenched in sweat. Yes, I have AC in my home..and it is WONDERFULLY cool in here. However....my animals come first. After all....THEY are who I am. Running water all morning....wetting yards...making sure the fans are positioned just right. Mowed the back yard before I could put laundry on the line....second load hanging now...third waiting to go out. Whew! The heat and humidity can be killer....so be safe...work safe....hydrate....hydrate....hydrate!!!!! Take breaks...no need to rush through those chores. For me, I am going to get my last load of wash on the line...do a welfare check on the critters...then take instruction from them..I am going to lay low for a few hours. It is too hot to be out there running around. Maybe I will get out the crock pot, and get something going for supper....something easy that will not heat up the kitchen.

Poison Ivy--Oak--Sumac....

So, remember I told you how last Monday I went out, and all by myself, I put up more fencing? The new area I fenced in for the pigs was thick brush...wild roses, wild berry's, trees....and....POISON IVY! Or, Maybe it was poison Oak...or Sumac....whatever it was....It is now covering about 75% of my body. From my knees down, 100% coverage, even in between my toes..and on the bottom of my feet! It is starting to come out on my thighs now. Both of my wrists and the back of both hands...covered...places on both of my arms, and starting up my neck, and face. Tomorrow I am going to Urgent Care...and praying they will give me a shot of SOMETHING to make this itch go away!! My legs are so swollen that my socks are tight! I am seriously wanting to skin myself!! I have swollen blotches all over...and I am miserable! I have gone through a whole bottle of Ivarest...and a whole bottle of spray on Benadryl. I have made it a point to try not to scratch...but I am not in control when I sleep! Next time you go out to "pull weeds" or put up a fence..be careful. This strange weather is apparently making this stuff grow CRAZY! I know 2 other people that have had to go get a shot to make it better....so far this year. I have been trying to stay busy, to keep my mind off of it. This weekend my brother and his daughter came to the farm to visit for a few days. My brother lives in town now and truly misses the "farm life" Every time he comes...we get a LOT done here. Saturday we spent 4 hours cleaning the barn. Moving "stuff" upstairs, moving the hay and straw...cleaning stalls, and getting the "feed and tack room" back in order. The old barn looks great, there is now room for the Tractor too! Today we spent time in the small garden. Pulled the last of the beets and peas. I canned the peas, even tho there were only 3 pints and weeded it. Once the rain stops...hubby will get in there with the tiller...and I will replant beets. We really could use a week of NO RAIN! There were so many weeds...we took armful after armful to the Guinea hogs. By the time we finished...the pigs were just laying there giving us "the look" Like.."SERIOUSLY!? We just CAN'T eat any more." I hope you all are getting a lot done out there....and if you are, be safe..look out for those poison plants.