Blackberry Me

We finally had a huge harvest of blackberries all around our farm. It was so worth putting on layers of jeans and long sleeves, gloves and boots to collect these sweet berries. I got all set up and spent the day in my kitchen with my harvest. I got a rolling boil, hot jars and lids all ready. I pulped and screened out the seeds and got the berries boiling in pectin and sugar. What a pretty purple color it made. After the rolling boil I poured in all my juice and capped the jars then a hot bath for 10 minutes. The results was 8 jars of Blackberry syrup. I did not boil long enough and shorted the sugar, ending in a syrup. But friends all were all happy to take home a jar of my home grown and handmade blackberry syrup. Next year I will jam better for my berries. Now on to corn!

Why I Love Machines?

I had forgotten how much I love to work on machines. But new neighbors moved next door and I felt that old familiar thrill of the old machine. He works on cars and makes them purr. As a child my grandfather put me on the engine of a 1965 Ford Galaxie and showed me how to fix her. He told me one day she would be mine. That Ford was my first love. But moving around the country and youth separated me from her and I have always been looking for her big chrome grin and teal body. So I have moved to farm tractors, wow what wonderful creations. They work, rust and fall apart but they will always be waiting for you to get them going again. They do not judge, do not have loyalties, do not gossip and won't hurt you on purpose. You can paint them any color and add what you want to them. They will perform as hard as you make them. Machines like tractors and cars are so much better than a Barbie doll for me. Give me grease, chrome, oil and gas and find me in the garage. A machine can't hug you but it can purr for you! Long live the machines.

Saving Baby Birds

Late summer and storms bring a lot of bird nests down around our farm. Recently our tabby upended a nest and scattered the chicks. So in the dark of night I gathered them and put them in a nest of shavings and hay and placed baby birds and in a plastic gourd with 2 sized openings. I hung the nest high in a spruce where I heard the parents birds chirping for their chicks. I made sure both holes were open for the parent birds to get in. Most plastic gourd openings are for slimmer martin type birds and my chicks were a larger breed. The next day I observed the parents taking turns feeding the chicks in their new gourd. Nature finds a way to take care of itself. And chicks have a better chance of making it if the parents raise them. Birds do not care about if your scent on the chicks, if they can hear a chick they will seek it out and feed it. The main concern is timing, get those chicks outside next to the parents as soon as possible. Otherwise the parents will begin a new nest/brood. Hand raising baby chicks (or wild animal babies) is a messy full time job and ends in the death of the animal most times.

Ducky Day

Our young ducks are growing up fast. They still cannot fly yet, but they have doubled in size. They eat a lot of duck food along with bugs and worms they dig up. We are hopping they will fly to our pond to cool off out of the heat wave we are having. They still use the toy tubs I set up for them as ducklings.

Old Tractors

We were in Springfield, MO at a farm store looking at old and new tractors. Something about old tractors makes me stop and study them. So much more interesting that the slick new modern ones. I just love to see how they are worn and kept together after so many years. Many have new coats of paint and new seats but most have a coat of rust. All have worked hard out here in the Ozarks.

The Last Vacation Day

On Thursday we wrapped up the family visit in Springfield, MO for lunch and goodbyes. We sent them off with several dozen farm grown eggs and memories. After they left we went to look at what else, farm equipment. Alan saw a huge tractor tire that had been turned into a hay holder. We think the best part of the trip was just relaxing on our deck at sunset watching the fireflies.

First Ride

Here is our niece, Zoe, getting ready to ride Dolly for the first time. Dolly is a great mount for new riders and she loves kids. Osa, our dog, is in the background running around keeping track of all of us. Alan's folks got to sit back and watch Zoe's first ride around the pasture from our deck.

Cool Park Visit

Here are our family and visitors from Louisiana seeing the clean rivers and springs we have in Missouri. Alley Springs Mill is a great place to cool off in the summer heat. Cold spring water churns around you and trees shade you. Water crest and otters swim about in the cool shallows around the old mill there.

Happy Trails

Here we all are taking a break to have a picnic after helping our friends and neighbors move. It has been a very busy week at both our houses. Here are the Clayburns and the Royers and us in the mix. Moving and visitors make for a lot of energy doing so much in this heat, but still getting it all done. We are sad to lose the Clayburns to TN, but happy they are going to into a great future there. And we will be getting new neighbors as well. Lots of change - but all for the good.

Arena Riding

Our young guests got to wake up at 6am for an early morning riding lesson. During the summer our trainer gets to work at 3 am to beat the heat. That way the cows and horses do not overheat. So this was the middle of the day for her. Both children got to cool down the horses after the cow cutting training and got instructions on western riding.

Fishin'

Here are our visitors with their catches of the day. After catching a few perch on a sunny and windy afternoon a bass was finally caught then released. A great day of fishing on the pond here in Missouri.

Sage and Jill

Our young rider Sage got to ride a top notch cutting horse, Jill, today around the arena. She got instruction from Angela Ball a seasoned cutting horse trainer here in Missouri. Angela is great with all levels of riders. Sage is learning western riding basics for the first time. She normally rides English.

Visitor Rides

We have had visitors from Houston, TX visiting us on our farm this week. The kids wanted to ride our mares so off they went. Dolly and Luna got a workout this past Monday. Both kids had a blast on our mares riding our fields. We will have to keep smaller saddles around next time for our smaller guests.