StarzAbove

Our first calf on the property was born this morning – on BooHopper’s birthday, to boot!
So far, I haven’t gotten close enough to confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt, but it looks like we have a heifer! (baby girl cow) This is awesome! We want lots of girls – we only need one bull (boy cow).
We have another cow that looks like she’ll deliver soon, too.

We recently lost another duckling (M&M was distraught once again) and we are down to 4 of them – 1 pekin and 3 others. It’s goes with the territory – losses as well as gains.

The garden is going quite well. It’s 90% built, we are in maintenance and replanting-as-we-harvest mode, for the most part. I haven’t been able to finish it with all that’s being going on lately.

We had a great surprise when Dad & Melodie showed up for a long overdue visit. It was so awesome seeing them. Too bad we still had to work while they were here, and then I was pretty sick the 2nd week they were here. After visiting us for a couple of weeks (tho, they stayed in a town 20 minutes away, not here on the property with us) they headed out to D.C., N.Y. and Vermont, where they are still now, so far as I know. How I wish they lived closer, out here somewhere, like on that 50 acres down the road from us, even part of the year…. we’d all love it!

The sheep were shorn this past Sunday- FINALLY! Our shearer is VERY busy, since he covers several states while holding down a full time job in the construction industry. Sheep shearing is a bit of a lost art, I suppose.

We were surprised with a couple of lambs again this year. The ram escaped about 5 months before Mother’s Day. We know this since he has seldom escaped, and both Mama Cleopatra and her daughter Starlight lambed that day – one early in the morning and the other late in the night, on Mother’s Day 2010. Mama C had a ewe lamb, and Starlight had a ram lamb. They are both black – no surprise there.

We’ve fenced more pasture for the cows and horses, but we still need more.

The garden is almost done. I’m looking forward to just maintaining it – no more warring with weeds, we are doing square foot gardening this year! So far we have planted:
tomatoes (many)
cucumbers
beets
broccoli
cauliflower
carrots
green onions
radishes
white radishes
bell peppers
jalapeno peppers
cantaloupe
marigolds
nasturtiums
parsley
basil
stevia
tarragon
oregano
rosemary
thyme
lima beans
bush beans
cilantro
white, yellow & red onions
garlic
sweet snap peas
pumpkins
watermelons
corn
strawberries
grapes
raspberries
blackberries
chives
potatoes
popcorn
several varieties of lettuce

I think that is most everything…

And I’ve got some flowers started and seeded, some in pots, some in a small garden in the front yard that I did last year. I’m also going to do a bed in the back yard – I hang out there more anyhow, especially since the garden is out back.

Our house is at a standstill. Many small projects to be done – or to be finished.

The guys have finally been able to start getting firewood for next year.

He bought me a pair of turkeys, but they died. We lost most of the chicks that we bought this year. We started with a dozen Araucanias, a dozen Buff Orpingtons and a half dozen cornish-X hens. We have only 4 of each variety left – but they seem to be doing well.

M&M has her ducks. She’s lost several, but we have 5 left – a pekin and the rest I ‘think’ are Rouen’s.

More later…

Yes, I am currently one of the statistics. I am uninsured. He was laid off last year and was forced to take a job without insurance benefits. Insurance is expensive. Unfortunately, I am unable to see how the health care reforms that were passed are going to help me at all. It would be cheaper for me to pay the fines for NOT having insurance than to buy insurance. How does that help?

There are several great things in that bill – but there are more things that don’t make sense, don’t help or are just really bad things. It struck me as very sad that they kept touting the great achievements known as Social Security and Medicare – both on the verge of bankruptcy. I fear for the future of our great nation, I really do.

Enough of that – the whole thing gives me a headache. It was just fresh on my mind since we just watched the bill pass a few days ago, and also because of my experience at the doctor’s today when I went to restart my allergy shots. They get you coming, they get you going and OH the price they get you for is quite horrible.

We have chickie babies – Angel finally picked up a dozen Buff Orpington’s and I picked up my dozen Aracauna’s (Easter egg laying chickens). They are both beautiful birds, too. We also added a half dozen Cornish crosses – they grow to full-size, ready for the pot, in 8 weeks!

Wow! Where does time go?

I won’t even attempt to post all that’s passed under the bridge since my last post in OcToBeR of LaSt YeAr!? But I am posting that we are still here – alive and kicking, homesteading, working, playing, learning, etc.

We’ve added cows and more chicky-babies to our little farm, and we’ve lost our sweet horse, Cheyenne. Sister and her crew are headed back out and here is proof of that (and the fact that we’ve been BUSY!!).
From this:

to this:

in only about 2 weeks time (3 weekends and 1 week in between!).

We’ve added the outside walls, and the roof trusses are stacked on top ready to be setup, since these photos were taken (and downloaded).

So exciting!!!

And my next big, side project will be the garden and greenhouse.
Which leads me to this link:
http://www.heirloomseedswap.com/

It’s a brand new site, that I hope to promote and use. It’s been started by a couple of pod casters that I’ve been listening to, The Self-Sufficient Homestead

Today's focus will be on starting the job of finishing up the insides of our addition. It's getting colder! Much wiring, insulation and framing will ensue!

First we have to do some shifting-of-the-stuff, since we are using the addition as our bedrooms already. Then, after a trip to town for supplies He will start framing in a wall and loft around our room. And then will come the wiring and insulation.

Next week we'll make another supply run and probably do more insulation and then start with the drywall to cover it for now. Eventually we'll have self-milled wood paneling on our walls, but that takes time. That kind of time will also see the temporary linoleum replaced with hardwood flooring.

Next on the agenda will be the joining rooms, a room-size breezeway and 2 bedrooms, to join the 2 cabins into one house. It'll still be a 'Little House on a Big Planet' but it will be enough for us!

I’ve been adrift the past couple of months. It almost looks like I blogged myself out at the blogathon, and barely made a post in August, but that is not the case. Things have just been topsy turvy with plenty of turmoil.

My hope is that now that my favorite season is here, things will resume a natural state of chaos once again. Why? Because winter is fast approaching.

This means, so far as the farm, that we need to get a move on and finalize all of our preparations for the cold months, and now! There is wood to be gathered, split and piled. There are pastures to build and others to secure. There are shelters to build. The garden needs to be turned over and a greenhouse constructed and then planted. And so much more…

School is also back in session around here. Mostly. That routine is comforting, although some adjustments still need to be made, for sure. I’ve got a senior to graduate and get ready for college, another high schooler to get ready for SAT’s, and two middle schoolers to carry on. If only I had more time with them….

I’ve been knitting again – finally. I finished a wavy lacy shawl for Julianne, and have almost finished a baby boy sweater for Julianne’s grandbaby-boy-to-be. I hope to finish it today or tomorrow and get it sent her way. This will be her first grandchild – she is my age – ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! The baby is due in October some time. I also hope to knit him some booties, a hat and maybe a baby blanket.

I’m also hoping to get my spinning mojo back, as well, but I’ve figured out that I really need a little more space for that to happen. We’ve set the date for a week from tomorrow to merge our two cabins, therefore increasing our living space dramatically. We’ll actually have a living room/office/school room separate from the kitching/dining room. It will be so nice! We’ll still be well under 1,000 sq. ft. but will have a pantry/bedroom, 2 bedrooms, the livingroom/schoolroom, 1 bathroom (with another one in the works), and the diningroom/kitchen. Two storage lofts are in the plans, too. We are trying to make it work so that we get most of the outside work done before the cold season, and then we can work on inside projects all winter. That is the plan, anyway.

I’ve been working quite a bit lately. Sister and I are working together and it’s been a good partnership. We are also getting others working independently by subcontracting to them, and that’s a good thing, too.

It’s time to go listen to an audio book and knit, before sleep time. I’ve been listening to Nicholas Spark’s ‘The Choice’ but after getting about halfway through I’m not sure I’m in the mood for it. I added a new book to my iPhone today – maybe I’ll switch to that instead. Any good book suggestions out there?

Here are a couple of our ducks:

And here is the garden:

We’ve been enjoying tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, squash, radish, cilantro, parsley, and bell peppers, so far this year. And still to come are basil, carrots, beets, pumpkins, onions, corn, watermelon, cantelope, peas, beans and popcorn.
There isn’t anything quite like fresh veggies from your own garden!