Flu Zombie

On Monday I was a ball of pain, in bed trying to rest. But my head pounded like an anvil and a gorilla and I got no help from meds. On Tuesday I was at least upright and doing far chores. Today I am a phlegm coughing zombie with no energy, but chores are done. Now my husband is a flu zombie trying to survive the onslaught of illness. At least we have meds, fluids and each other. Only if the farm could feed itself on these type of days. We are doing the right thing by keeping away from other people and not spreading the bug around. Hope to get well soon.

Ah Quilts I have made

It is fun going through my old digital photos to see what I have made. Out of all of these I only have the yellow and blue scrappy top still. I hope to add enough border to make into a king quilt. It started out as a round robin for myself of scraps. It just got bigger as time passed.

All the rest have been gifts, jobs or donation quilts. I think it would be fun to make a cowboy/boot quilt next.

Fussy Cut Quilt

Here is a quilt I rarely do, fussy cutting. Where you cut out particular shapes from the various parts of the fabric, a lot of waste. This was a half yard of frogs fabric, I cut just the frogs from. I was never going to use the fabric in its entirety, too busy. But set off with these colors it focuses the frogs well. I am having fun going through all the quilts I have made in the previous years. Just never took the time to review.

A Little Quilting

A lot of friends are using the wintertime to clean house or organize, like me. One thing I get asked a lot is what can you do with small pieces of scrap fabrics? Most people throw them away but I save them. You'd be surprised how easily a quilt can be made from small scraps of fabric. This blue 9 patch is really a set of 2 throw sized quilts and 2 pillows. The key is to fill in with even more scraps. That is what our quilters in the past used to do. Fabric is now almost $10 a yard. Might as well use what we have and make the most from it. The nice thing is that these scrappy quilts are a great to give warmth to anyone in need.

Food and Your Health

Since moving to the Ozarks and having a farm we have become educated in what our food has changed into. Though we were city folk and shopped in grocery stores, that has become an unhealthy and dangerous thing to do. Too many foods today are filled with unregulated and undisclosed ingredients that can harm you. I could rant all day about this topic, but many friends or family are apathetic, lazy or too scared to open their eyes to the truth.

People feel our government would never allow harmful stuff into our foods, air, water - but it does. And becoming an organic farmer has become an illegal thing to do, yes I said illegal. Seed saving- you are talking serious crime. All I can do is post the links, "teach a man how to fish...".

At least some fellow bloggers are catching onto the truth.

Here are some food links:

http://www.americasfoodrevolution.com/obama-kills-farmers-organic-gardeners-now-terrorists-hr875-and-s425-farm-nationalization

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/december242010/monsanto-food-ch.php

http://www.hoax.com/videos-follow-up-hr-s-criminalize-organic-[eeWVkTU1s1E].cfm

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2209163750

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/

http://truefoodnow.org/

What am I doing? Growing a garden. Was it hard to do, yes at first. I got dirty, things don't grow, bugs are tough. But we got peaches, blueberries, lettuce, yams, potatoes, tomatoes and I got to can my own harvest. I am thankful for the knowledge, strength and bounty from this new healthy way of living. Oh and I used to have a 6 x 6 garden in the heart of the city year round, it can be done people.

Almost Easter?

It almost feels like springtime and Easter if there is a bunny and eggs, right? This is Rose getting her walk outside to nibble and explore the "winterscape". The eggs are a single days haul from my chicken coop. My chickens can deliver the payload even in winter. They are so happy to have heated nesting boxes, freedom to roam and warm water.

Cold Outside

It has been very cold here in the Ozarks. This early morning I got a call asking if I could feed my trainers horses as her truck was not starting. I dragged out of bed got dressed in my winter jumper, snow coat, gloves, ear muffs and into my frozen Volvo and made the short drive to the barn. The barn is not heated and it was like working in a freezer. The water hose froze as I was using it to fill water buckets. That happens when it is 10 degrees outside. The frozen hose popped a hole and it started to snow in the barn thanks to the fine mist and cold. The horses were not impressed and went back to munching on hay. I was glad to come home and sit next to the wood stove. Getting around in heavy layers is a chore in itself not to mention the tasks you need to do as a wadded piece of beef in winter. At least there are no horseflies this time of the year.

Bad Monday Morning

This morning my trainer called and told me someone had opened several horses stall doors overnight including the mares and a stallion. The stallion spent the night with my mare and one other in the barn. The barn was a wreck from the horses walking around. Luckily no horse got into the feed and none were hurt.

My mare, Luna might have been covered by the stallion. So this morning we are dealing with the choice of whether to abort or not the possible foal. We are looking into the side effects of the abortion choice verses the cost of raising another foal. This is not the way to start off the new year.

UPDATE: We learned about the shot of Prostaglandin vets give cows and mares to stop a pregnancy. We talked to our vets, trainers and horse friends. It causes severe pain for the mare and she might colic from the pain. So we decided to let her keep the foal if she is pregnant. We will know for sure in 20 days.

Luna Training

Today, I walked my mare, Luna the Tuna, to the training barn. She has been out to pasture for a month weaning from her colt. She will be evaluated by my trainer. Luna has not been evaluated by any experts since we bought her last May. She has been a broodmare until today. Now she will become a rideable fox trotter. And she will be put on a diet and get fit through training. I can hardly wait to see her in action. Going to be a busy winter for her.

My Animals

My husband got a shot of our chickens listening to me and the entire ark following me. You can see the guineas, chickens, weanlings and Osa following me to the barn. Osa has her coat on and is running fast to my right. The guineas want the oats and corn in my bucket for the horses. Chickens and horse all eat the same thing on our farm. Almost all the animals get along on our ark in the Ozarks.

The Great Sandy

Here is my trainer working with a neighbors green mare. Sandy is a very large young mare for a quarter horse. She never bucks but needs to submit to the bit. So she is being taught the basics. My trainer is working with her daily to get Sandy to a level safe to ride. Sandy wants to please and is a model student. Her owner plans to use her for cattle work instead of a broodmare.

Snow Guinea

Our Guineas are now 3 months old and had their first taste of snow. They run about chasing each other and squawking. They follow me around the farm talking to me and eating everything as for the first time. They are routine birds that can't function if there are changes to their life. Nerdy birds. All things must be studied, talked about then posted on Facebook before they go to roost at night

The Farm Mouser

Our "farm cat" has finally found his worth, mouser. Poppy is now 1 year old and loves to mouse hunt. He loves to hunt down the mice and voles and brings them home for me. He has tried to run into the house with his latest kill. I toss the vermin to the chickens or our German shepherd. I am amazed chickens will eat anything. I have lost count as to how many Poppy has eliminated. On the farm mice, voles and moles are destructive to feed, plants and livestock. And a cat is safer than using poisons. Poppy is a great Ozark born cat.