Category Archive: farming
Then it was time fiber play time. My neighbor and I changed coats on some of the lambs (can’t take a photo while holding sheep) and then we were joined by these lovely people from the 2017
08/31
Category:
Bees
farming
food
Garden
Life
machine embroidery
quilts
Sewing
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Whirlwind August
What a whirlwind this month of August has been. I feel as if I have been chasing my tail. Today is the end of the month and I did finish 4 sewing/knitting goals, but two were left undone. A third,
is now put together with backing and batting, but when I have time, I’d like to add more quilting.
In addition to these projects, I have spent an incredible amount of time in the kitchen. Today again, there was more pear butter canned as well as more produce brought in. I have another dehydrator full of cucumbers for chips, the last batch of pear butter is condensing in the crock pot, the refrigerator is full of cucumbers waiting their turn. I gave up and gave some raspberries, blueberries, cucumbers, zucchini, and tomatoes to the neighbor. The grapes are starting to get ripe and the weather is so incredible, this scenario may continue for another month. We have started new beets and greens for the winter and they have popped their little heads above ground now. And we water, water, water, water. Usually it rains a day or two when school starts, but not this year.
Today a neighbor came over and we wormed 1/3 of the sheep for the winter. We will be dividing them and giving each group a suitor soon. Then we count out 5 months to start the baby business.
In between all this, we have made time for doctors visits and a very few staples to eat. (Today, I visited with the Geek squad so I could bring you this report – I love those fellows) And we have daily fed, watered, and cared for the bees, sheep, ducks, geese, and dogs – oh, yes, and for each other. I am loving this crazy, out of control summer.
Male & Female cardinal, bee suit and naan
This is the female cardinal paper pieced. It comes with two patterns and not thinking, I made the one facing the same as the male, so at some point, I will make the other so they can face each other. I am linking up with ELM STREET Quilts “One Monthly Goal”
I finished this male earlier this month
This is my bee suit. The bees like to crawl in right at the top of the zipper and sting me on the neck. NOT a lot of fun. So I took a piece of fabric sewed it to the neck of the head piece and it will Velcro to the body part. This is my effort to keep those bees out of there.
And then because I had time on my hands (and a bridge to sell) I made naan bread
to go with the apple butter that I also made. If you have not made naan bread before, you might want to try. It is super simple. Much easier than making bread. And the apple butter. Fill your crockpot with applesauce and add cinnamon or what pleases you and let it simmer until it is half the volume you started with. Yum.
Prevent Heart disease
![Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure by [Esselstyn Jr. M.D., Caldwell B.]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Fy9Q-E7VL.jpg)
This is the book that arrived today – the book we will be using for our eating program for the next year. You can look inside on the Amazon site and I highly recommend that you do. .
Meanwhile the work on the tanks will be halted for most of a week while the person in charge is on vacation.
I did get 7 pints of pasta sauce cooked and canned. Today was a cupboard and refrigerator/freezer inventory and removal of items that we can’t use.
So much is happening in our lives, these posts may become irregular for awhile. I do hope to get back to the studio on Sunday, but at this point it seems that my plans get changed faster than I make them.
Enjoy your weekend – the last one in August if that’s believable!
Septic tank and heart diet
This 500 gallon septic tank will allow us to put a toilet at the barn which will be a real convenience.
This first time down the hole wasn’t quite wide enough at the bottom, so they had to bring it back up and dig it wider.op
Now it fits beautifully and is covered. Next week we will tackle putting the propane and water tank into the ground.
Here the supervising crew is as close as they can get and still stay out of the sun and out of the way.
The heart disease diet is going to be a real challenge, but we’re going to take it on. We are looking to reverse this disease. I get more information tomorrow, but at this point, it is NO oils, no nuts or avocado, no sugars, low salt, and include 6 cups of cooked greens a day. Thankfully the cooked greens includes such things as Brussels sprouts and broccoli along with spinach type greens. And of course, potatoes, rice, lots of fruits and vegetables as well as legumes. So today we planted more greens in the hoop house, as we try to keep up with these requirements.
Expensive summer
This is turning into one expensive summer. Today the excavator was here most of the day digging. We need a ditch to go from the house to the barn for water and cable which is about 400 feet. We don’t “need” the cable, but with the ditch open, one might as well put any lines that could be needed in the future.
Here is the propane tank which will be put underground and there will be a large water storage tank going in up there as well. The hole for this tank has been dug, but the excavator wasn’t large enough to lift the weight, so the fellow that dropped it there, will have to come back and put it in the hole that is now there. We will be working on this again tomorrow and then next week sometime.
Boredom?
Boredom? Doesn’t happen here!
This knocked me off my chair late last night. I really thought he would never find the right woman. He’s nearly 40 now, so he’s met a few and no one appealed to him enough to make him pop the question. Now he has done it! And we are happy for them. No date has been set yet.
I took Beau (dog) to the vet this morning to get the stitches out and he gets so excited with all the new smells, it is difficult to hang onto him. We came home from that and Bill and I went to the grocery store. I had a short list, but, even so, they didn’t have half the items on my list.
The UPS man dropped these 40# boxes off at the gate to the barn instead of at the front door. When DH went to get them, one of the dogs slipped by and did a neighborhood walk about. So I put the boxes in the back of the car and then went dog chasing. And this is why I go to the gym 3 days a week.
I made stuffed Rigatoni for a company lunch tomorrow. I simmered the tomatoes to half the amount and added vegetables to that. The filling for these is a vegan ricotta/spinach filling. Then I did get some basic house cleaning done and 5 pints of green beans canned.
When I went to feed the sheep, I found one with his head stuck in the fence and he didn’t want to pull back, so I called a neighbor to have him help me push the head back through. How is it these sheep can twist their heads to get to grass on the other side of a fence, but can’t twist it to get back out? Boredom on a farm? It doesn’t happen. Sometimes I wonder what I did for entertainment when we lived in the city, and then I remember. We had little children and music lessons!
Every day this week, I had allocated the afternoon to sewing, but every time an afternoon came, there was something else more pressing. I only have a week and a half of this month left and still have not completed any of my August sewing/quilting challenges, though some are started. The knitting challenge is finished. I just looked at next weeks and find that Monday, we go to the heart doctor and my helper that usually comes for 5 hours on Monday is taking the day off for eclipse reasons. Tuesday, the people are coming with the excavator to dig the hole to put a large water tank and a propane tank. Lines will be dug to connect the water to the house as well. Maybe Sunday, after I water the gardens, and Wednesday I can work on some of these projects. I don’t do well missing sleep, so that is not an option.
Boredom? I don’t even know what that is.
Right now, I’m ready for the Sabbath rest. You are welcome to join us.
Errands and food prep
Errands and food prep took my day. As soon as my helpers got here this morning, I had them unload the 4’x6′ stall mats that I had purchased. These are made from recycled tires and are they heavy! Each weighs close to 100 pounds. We put them down in the stalls which the former owner decided needed concrete. It keeps the moisture and cold from coming up through the concrete. That way our babies will stay a bit warmer when they are very young.
As soon as they were unloaded, I drove off to the feed store for a dozen bags of grain. Home again and unloaded. I took a brief half hour to make and serve lunch and went back to get the other stall mats. That was a lot of driving around.
These little shell socks are finished. I love them. Plus this yarn is so good about being tossed in the washer and dryer.
I made a batch of tomato sauce (including processing) with the tomatoes and zucchini in the garden. The string beans are cut and ready to cook. There aren’t enough to run a canning batch, so I’ll just partially cook them and put them in the freezer. There was a pound and a half of blueberries and another huge bowl of cucumbers wanting to turn into pickles, so tomorrow – maybe. I have been sharing the zucchini and cucumbers as much as I can. I really do love all the fresh food from the garden, but I think I just plant too many after a long winter.
The geese love their fresh drinking water. Remember how small they were this spring.
Little shell sock progress;
I am loving the way these “Little shell socks” have turned out. They are ready to have the toes knit in and finished off. They have been on the needles way too long. My goal was to finish them this month and that should happen.
These sheep now have permanent residence here. The hay wagon helped me get a bit closer to them. There is a saying in sheep and some other livestock “stranger danger” and until they get used to me being the one bringing food, that’s how they will think. They have luscious wool and about half are lambs. Most of them are colored, which is also sought after. So I am a happy shepherdess today.
When I was picking blueberries, I saw this beautiful dragonfly on one of the leaves.
Too much excitement
Today has been filled with too much excitement. I was blending some tomato sauce when the lid flew off. (no photo) The kitchen is a bit cleaner now. Then went out to put something in the freezer and found this freezer – which was over half full – has died. A quick transfer of ingredients to other freezers in the house saved the ingredients. Now all freezers are full and there will be more food coming in.
