Our neighbor works so fast building his addition, we said it must be elves doing. We joke but the truth is he is doing it all himself. We did get to help put in his 6 inch wide doors, they were heavy, just ask the spiders. Now he can put in the insulation and drywall in air condition comfort.He can work on the decking he has planned for the addition. He will need the help of his deck elves soon.
Coco be the name for our new kitten. She is named after a high end cutting horse mare from the stable. Coco is sweet and adores human contact. She talks all the time so there must be some Siamese in her from long ago. She has pink mouth from the antibiotics she is getting for her sneezing. She is very thin and needs fattening up before she can go outside. So for now she is an indoor beast. She had tapeworms so that also caused her weight loss, too. Now she no longer has worms nor fleas. Life is good for Coco on our farm.
Around the Ozarks the old timers are predicting a long cold winter. We used up our wood pellets last winter and needed to stock up. The price went up for pellets this summer. We just now got to get our order of pellets before fall sets in. It was our first time picking up our order in our used farm truck. It worked out and we got it all home safe.
My horse trainer is moving away from the facility near my home. The owner is moving back in and my trainer, her horse, tack and barn cats must clear out. So she asked me to find homes for the barn kittens. Kittens are very plentiful here in the Ozarks. Feral/barn cats are a big problem on a farm since they can kill the local wildlife and reproduce very quickly if not fixed. Today was her last day and I picked up one of the social kittens. It is a female, a talker about 3 months old. She looks like a 1 month kitten since she is so skinny and under weight. She will see the vet tomorrow for shots and worming. We will schedule a neutering ASAP so we do not have any kittens. All of our cats are fixed so we do not make unwanted kittens a problem for our neighbors and the wildlife. We need a name for this female kitten. We currently have Tom, Daisy, Poppy, and Pepper used our current adult cats.
We watched the DVD, Food Matters, a documentary about cancer and foods that heal. While I disagree about some of the "detoxifying procedures" they mention. I do agree with the superfoods and vitamins they recommend we add to our diet. They are strong advocates for eating raw foods and I could not agree more. Since I started more eating salads, green smoothies, sprouts and live foods; I have more energy. Fresh foods that I grow or buy Organic are the key. They are full of minerals your body needs to heal itself. I wanted to get the word out about nutrition and your health. Instead of doctors and Rx's you can eat to your health. I know several people who are going though cancer. Yet their doctors never talk about nutrition. These cancer patients eat jello, pudding and bread in the hospital, no wonder they feel bad. They need high quality nutrition and vitamins and not filler foods. This DVD is worth taking the time to watch and learn from. And pass along to your loved ones who might want to improve their health. And this good nutrition is a change in your lifestyle as well. I grow sprouts, wash and process veggies. This means I take the time in my kitchen, evaluate my foods and make room for all these fresh foods. I no longer buy packaged nor canned foods, too many chemicals. I can my own foods so I control what goes into them. I am responsible for my health and well being.
This is what I see every morning on our farm. Three of our four horses waiting for grain. The white one is Luna. The long white blaze is Maple and the short red one is Bean. Bean and Maple are Fox Trotter yearlings. They still have a year to go before we begin riding training. Maple and Bean get ponied along when we ride their moms. They get to see the world beyond the pasture and farm on these rides.
It was a guinea Monday over at our farm. The high pressure and the cooler air got our five guinea worked up and feisty. They attacked the ducks and the chickens and investigated my camera strap while eating breakfast. The horn on their head is very warm to touch. They have excellent vision and can spot predators better than the dog. They are just very vocal about anything and can make loud calls that make your ears hurt. We have them because they are great foragers. They eat ticks and all other things that crawl or fly around them. They will chase down a snake and ride and peck a snapping turtle. They are brave and pushy birds to have around the farm.
A cold front came in the night last week and it stopped over the Ozarks to drop sheets of rain. The lightening was fierce and the rain was saturating. The storm knocked out the tv and computers to our dentist office. The staff apologized many times for the tv being out. It was fine by us since we don't have tv we would not miss the noise. The staff however were a bit unhinged over the loss of the talking box. I enjoyed the peace and quiet while getting my teeth cleaned.
We are watching and learning as our neighbor adds a mud room to his back porch. He accidentally bought doors that are 4 inches instead of the 6 inch width he needed for the addition. The windows looked great for anyone shorter than 6ft tall. The windows design puts a plastic partition right where a tall persons eyes would be, not a nice view. The solution to return the doors for the wider ones. The windows were cut apart and spaced upward for better wall design. These are setbacks today but by next week the changes will be for the better. At least the hummingbirds still have the open window to feed from; keeping my neighbor company while he works.
My husband worked hard making our truck cage for our F-350 flatbed. We needed containment for hay, feed and building supplies for the farm. Things can fly off a flatbed and this cage gives our truck more usability. I stained the pine with chestnut deck stain to keep water from rotting the wood. The entire 3 sides are removable if needed, but they are heavy. We road tested it delivering our recycling from last winter into town. Nothing flew out of the truck and the cage stayed put. It feels good to make something safe for the farm and roads.
There is a 100+ year old dairy barn needing to be removed here in Summersville, MO. The owner wants to put up a new barn as this one has lost its roof. The huge 150ft x 90 ft barn is made of oak and pine boards and beams that are 12 inches wide! The barn needs to be removed by January of 2012. By that time all the hay should be gone, fed to the cows. Under the hay are huge oak floor beams that were hand hewn in the 1900's. If anyone would like to buy and remove the barn wood, please leave me your info in my comments.
We are adding wooden sides and back to our flatbed truck. We need to haul stuff and not have it fly out of the truck. Things like straw and hay bales, our recycling, auction stuff, groceries and lumber. After my husband finishes this, I will deck stain it for a longer life. This give our truck a more "farm" look too. And now our truck can hold more stuff safely on the roads. We got the idea after seeing other farm flat bed trucks added to this way. And if need be we can remove these sides in no time.
