Weekend Reading

This was a good one.  "Rurally Screwed" by Jessie Knadler -- check out her funny and informative blog Here.  The title is a little misleading, in that she doesn't live "off the grid" in the common idea of the phrase.  As in, she has electricity and running water, etc.  (Though not always enough heat!) But for a girl from Montana who was looking for something else, so moved to the big smoke, New York City, and then gave it all up to live a country life with her sweetheart, I'm sure she originally felt like she was off the grid.  Especially since her sweetheart is on the army reserve and when he gets called out, it's not just for a few days, and she's got to go it alone with the help of some very interesting neighbors.  Then add a child in there! It's a true-to-life (though edited), funny story of her trials and tribulations of getting back to the land.  I laughed out loud, and shed a couple of tears, too.  This book is for anyone who enjoys a good read, and especially for those of us who have given up a lot of the fancy stuff (i.e.: nice clothes, manis/pedis, clubs, generally being entertained and being able to satisfy any whim, within reason, at the drop of a hat) for a simpler existence.  It's not always easy, but there's almost always a story to tell afterwards.  As my daughter has said, "if you're going to laugh about it later, you might as well laugh about it now."

Wherever you go, whatever you do, Have a fabulous weekend!

It's OK to Play With Your Food

Sometimes it's a challenge to get veggies into the mouths of little people.  So you gotta make it FUN.  And Fun sometimes means playing with your food.  I'm OK with that, as long as they EAT the food they play with (and that their little grubby hands are clean)!

Usually, throughout the day, the daughter is very good at eating a variety of healthy things (she wasn't always that way).  The boy, on the other hand, is a worry.  Like, a whole day on just bread, pasta, and cheese.  Yeesh.  So, when I realize come dinner, that he hasn't really got much goodness into him that day, I often opt for a Face.  That being, a veggie burger (processed, unfortunately), with some funky hair and additional interesting body parts, which all come with a commentary.  Yes, I speak for the Face.  For example: little boy hand reaches for the "tongue" (a cherry) and pops it into his mouth, and my monologue will go something like, "Hmmm.  What a nice boy this is, looking at me all cute and smiley.  Wait a minute, what is he doing.  WHAT is he DOING??  Hey, that's my thon.  You canth eath thab!!"  At which time, little boy erupts into giggles and conspires which next body part to eat next.

Hey, we do what we can, right?

When Life Hands You Cherries...

You make

Cherry Jam!
And cherry pie, dried cherries, cherry ice cream, cherry popsicles, cherry sauce, cherry marinade...

The kids were so impressed with all the yummy things we can make with cherries, they went out and picked another 50 lbs.   I'm not kidding!  All by themselves!!

Happy Cherry Season everyone!

Musings

"I'm so busy" is a comment lament I hear from friends, family, overheard conversations.  Then, often in the very next breath, I hear these same people chat about the game they watched on TV, or what they saw in the mall.  A guy I was listening to today, listed no less than 3 sports games on TV he had watched in the last 2 days.  Really??  How can one say they are busy if they watch THAT much television?

We did away with cable about 4 years ago, and the set completely 3 years ago.  Haven't missed it.  Our days are so full, I can't imagine wasting a moment in front of  "the idiot box."  Granted, I do love the show "Grey's Anatomy" and watch it over the internet during the season.  So, 1 hour per week from October to May, and not while we are away in Mexico (often for 2 months in the winter), but I certainly wouldn't ever complain I was too busy, especially if I spend any time at all with my eyes on a screen.

If a person is wondering how to get more hours out of his/her day, have a look at how much time is spent with the TV.

Just sayin'.

Weekend Reading

OK, so it's not a book, it's another magazine.  A favorite in our house.  Mother Earth News is a wonderful read for anyone wanting to know anything about getting back to basics.  Whether it's gardening, preserving foods, keeping livestock, building stuff, eco-homes and all kinds of tips and ideas, Mother Earth News is the place to get it.  Yes, it's an American publication, but the advice is sound and the subscriptions are inexpensive.

Wherever you are, wherever you go, Have a wonderful weekend!

Turkey Trials and Tribulations... OR Turkey Math

I wouldn't say I'm out of my element.  I've raised turkeys before.  But, I've never had breeder turkeys who are hatching and raising their own babies.  This part is entirely new to me.

When we received this generous gift of birds, there was 1 mom with 3 babes, 1 mom with 12 babes, another mom with 4 babes and then an orphaned babe called Sydney.  The mom with 4 babes ("Alexa") was traumatized during the 5 hour hot road trip and we were worried that she would abandon her little ones, so we put them in a brooder with little Sydney.  We also decided that the runty one of the 12 babes would do better in the brooder too.  So that made 3+11 poults outside with moms and 6 in the brooder.  The other night there was some commotion outside, we heard Big Wally go off a few times, and then nothing.  Upon waking and doing the ritual head-count, we discovered that mom with 3 babes ("Milly") was down to 2 and there was a raven circling.  (Why can't these birds just focus on eating dead things instead of baby things??)

Friday we came home after a few hours at the beach with some friends, and "Violet" (mom with 11 babes)   could only account for 8.  Sigh.  Then Saturday we came home and we could only find 7 of those babes and they were scattered all over the place, some even as far as the neighbor's yard.  After rounding these little ones up not once, not twice, but FOUR times this afternoon, we decided that this momma turkey can't handle the responsibility of raising so many, even with Auntie Alexa's help.  So the kids started rounded them up.  We thought that perhaps she could manage 2, so we left her with 2 and put the other 5 in the brooder.  Um. Ok, letsee, that's 11 in the brooder now, and 4 outside.  Ooops, wait a minute!  There's another one!  But this one was soaking wet, like it had fallen in the pond.  We warmed it with a hairdryer and then carried it around under our shirts for an hour or so, then put it into the brooder.  12 in the brooder, 4 outside.

Coming back to check on everyone that night, one of the little ones in the brooder (I can only assume that it was the chilled poult from this afternoon) didn't look so great.  So brought it in the house and tried to warm it, but alas.  Too late.  The sweet little creature died in my hands.  *Heavy Sigh.*  At least it wasn't alone.  In hindsight, we should have carried it around under our shirts for the rest of the day.  Turkey math: 11 in the brooder and 4 outside.

Sunday morning, my son came in to announce there was another dead one in the brooder.  Whew.  Removed it, said a few apologies to the little creature and buried it in the compost pile.  A few hours later, we check again, and 3 MORE had passed.  Gosh!  What the hell was going on???  I lowered the heat lamp, checked temperatures, changed their food, added ACV to their water (was only adding it sporadically before) and crossed my fingers.  Updated turkey math: 7 in the brooder, still 4 outside.  I can only assume now that the one we warmed actually survived and the ones we rounded up were the ones we lost.  Maybe they got too stressed being separated from their mom several times that one day, then permanently.  Maybe they got chilled in that time. I'll never know.

It's now Tuesday night and since that last catastrophe, we haven't lost any others.  Turkey math at 4 outside and 7 in the brooder still stands.

Will post more pics soon.

Weekend Reading

"52 Loaves" by William Alexander.
I didn't plan to read this book; I really wanted to read his other book, "The $64 Tomato", but our library doesn't carry it (yet), so I opted for this one.  Quite entertaining and informative, despite what you might think about a book that is about a guy on a quest to make the perfect loaf of bread, and takes it on, every week, for 1 year.  It's amazing the lengths he went thru to achieve this!  And the way the sections of the book are arranged doesn't become clear until the very end.  Very interesting. It's not just a quest for bread.  It's a spiritual quest as well.

Whatever you do, where ever you are, have a fantastic weekend!

The Farm is Expanding!!

Well, I certainly didn't think I'd say THAT this summer, and definitely not in the way it has.  My "plan " was to get my wooly sheep next year for sure, and bees shortly after that.  Hmm. Life doesn't always work out how you plan, does it?  I casually said to the family the other day, how I'd love to have geese again.  Our friend's parents, who live on a farm in Saskatchewan, raise African Geese, and we were chatting with them about possibly bringing out either some eggs for us to hatch, or some new goslings next time they came through town.

It wasn't even 5 hours later when we got a message that our neighbor wanted to speak with us.  "Oh No." We thought.  We already know he doesn't like our noisy rooster, Jagger.  We thought he was calling to complain or something.

Nothing like that at all.

Turns out, he has a friend who was looking for a home for some of his birds.  Story goes, that this guy's neighbor decided to put up a dog run right up next to his fence where he has kept several hundred (yes, HUNDRED) breeding turkeys and their families.  Long sad story short, turkeys stress very easily.  Poor guy came home to over 300 dead adult and baby turkeys.  He was absolutely heartbroken.  So rather than risk losing the rest of them, he put out the word.  And Our Neighbor suggested Us!  Unbelievable!  We thought he frowned upon our critters, but he says he knew we would be a great home for these birds.  Oh, wow.  Never underestimate someone, people.  You never know when they might surprise you.

So our new additions were delivered Sunday morning, after a 5 hour truck ride in the heat.  Yes, can you believe it??  He was so anxious to see them in a new, safe home that he delivered them, free of charge.  He just wanted to be sure his birds were going to be well cared for.

So, introductions:
There's Waldo, king pin of the turkeys.

Yes, as in "Where's Waldo", because, if you clap 2 or 3 times, he'll "gobble gobble" no matter where he is and you'll find him, and probably most of his ladies too.

Violet

Violet with her 3 babes...

Chuckie the mama duck with 3 4-week old ducklings

Jordie (big white guy), Lucy (pretty brown/white goose) ...

There are a few more, (okay, several) without names yet.

So, in total, there are 6 adults Royal Palm Turkeys, 20 poults (baby turkeys), 2 chinese geese and 6 ducks.  Whew.  They are used to free-ranging and take pretty good care of themselves.  We've set them up in the backyard, which was quite lonely and desolate up until Sunday and we will eventually build them a winter shelter.  As they've been wintered in 100 Mile House, they are used to much harsher winters than we get here.  So, we are sitting a lot, watching a lot and learning a lot about these new arrivals.  And loving every moment.

More T-shirt Magic

Take a T shirt.
Cut it up.  I used a pattern from "Weekend Sewing" by Heather Ross.  I've actually used that particular pattern several times, for pj's for me and the kids, and several re-purposed pants for the boy-child.

Don't even worry if the child's legs are long and you have to use the entire length of the shirt and go up into the arm holes.  It makes a cool pattern on the sides of the pants.

Then:

Show them Off!

Yay to new pants!  It's like wearing pajamas all day long!

Weekend Reading

This one is HOT.  Like the weather.  Whew.
Prepare to take a cold shower:

"Fifty Shades of Grey" by E. L. James.

I'm not finished, but almost.  You've probably heard of it. "Everyone" is talking about it.  The back of the book advertises a "romance."  Ahem.  Well, I guess.  Sort of. Depends what your idea of romance is I suppose.  I'm about 3/4 of the way through, and though it's been very captivating, honestly, it's starting to get repetitive.  Hmmm.  We will see how it ends.  Ms. James has written two sequels to this one.  So, the jury is still out on this one.

I'll go back to my regular-type reading material next week.  Right now, my literary pursuits are matching the weather.

No Free Range Chickens Here

We've been selling some of our eggs at our driving range business lately, and the first question people ask us, is "are they free range?"  Hmmm.  No.

"No" in that they are fenced in. Most people think "free range" means that the animal is allowed to roam freely.  Not so.  According to government standards, to label an item, be it meat or eggs as "free range", the animal has to have had access to the outside.  This could easily mean a teeny tiny run with nothing but dirt to peck about in.

Now for a little story.  When our children were very small,  the youngest a baby, we did let our chickens, geese and ducks free range on our property, and occasionally, they even jumped the fence to our neighbors'.  Ahem.  The neighbor then began an extensive backyard renovation in which he totally leveled his land, first clearing all fences and debris.  That, coupled with our goats and llamas wrecking the fence to eat the same neighbor's trees, made easy access for coyotes.  In 2 early morning raids, 3 coyotes devastated our flock, killing over 20 birds in all, including our beloved toulouse goose, who was not only an expensive bird, but a lovely one.  After that, we gave away the llamas and goats and didn't have much for animals for a while.  The kids were keeping me pretty busy anyway.

After a couple of years, kids got a little older, and we missed our chickens.  So we started adding a few, here and there.  But THIS time, we not only fenced them, but we diligently lock them up, every night.

Instead of letting them free range now, we feed them the best we can.  They get a new garden planted just for them, every year, all of our organic kitchen scraps, and all the cuttings from the garden.

Now if they're not happy hens, I don't know what is!

From Shirt to Skirt

When we were in Mexico last winter, a store that caters to funky tourists had these awesome recycled T-shirt skirts, with the seams on the outside.  They were selling for about $25 USD each.  About $20 out of my budget! So, when I got some old shirts...

I made my own!!

Almost as easy as pie, I sewed the side seams together inside out (like, so you can see the seams) with a contrasting red thread and a zig zag stitch. And because t-shirt material is naturally so stretchy, it didn't even need an elastic waist.  I just hemmed the top and roll it down, or under.  So it could easily be a shorter skirt if need be.  Now, this was a first go and it was an old stained t-shirt, so I won't be wearing it "out".  It's a perfect, throw it on, run out to the garden or chicken yard, stretchy, comfy, hang around the house type of hot-weather skirt.  Which, btw, we are going to start getting as of Wednesday.  Phew!  I was starting to think summer would Never get here!    Hmmm.  I might need to persuade hubby to toss out a few more T's. "Sweetie, I'm SURE that one's stained..."