New Year Stuff

This is a boot holder a friend made me for Christmas. It was perfect timing and we have lots of chore and cowboy boots by the back door. I even like the color of the primer.

Now our boots can get dry and warm by the wood stove. And we can turn them upside down of they need to drain. Best gift ever!

Daisy and Melon taking in the wood heat on top of horse blankets.

Little bird hit our window and needed to warm up safely. Was set free to join the wild flock again.

The Big Blue

After many interruptions, chores, obligations, visitations and farm life, I finally got this quilt done. It will be given to its new owner soon.

She picked this pattern from an older McCall's Quilting magazine, with changes to the color, pattern and border.

First manipulation of the blue blocks and border ideas.

Stars fabric was not liked and was removed then not used. In the end I was very happy with the final selection from the client.

Christmas Eve Doings

Poppy supervising the holiday baking in the kitchen.

Curly dominating the front door and protecting the buckwheat hulls. And leaving tiny little brown tic tacs all over my rug, ugh!

Getting a quilt order done for the holidays.

My Farm Pats

I think this cartoon sums me up on my farm. I always pat my animals, any animals and feel great. My husband always points this out, that I pat the animals. I do not hug and pet them, just pat them and make sure they are taken care of. Anything more will result in a messy cleanup, fur and feathers everywhere,broken heart and mourning for their loss when they go. Some get sick, some get eaten and some just grow old. A pat is best for them and for me. I wish I could pat people, but they do not like that very much and prefer hugs and kisses. Resulting in fur everywhere, broken heart when they die and mourning their loss. At least on my farm, a pat is best.

Cranberry Compote for Christmas

 A good friend of mine makes this every time we are over her place for dinner. It is so tasty and a good side to any meal. Here is the recipe: Cranberry Compote
1 cup of sugar (or honey) I used half since sugar is not the best thing for you, 1 bag of cranberries half thawed if frozen, 2 large sweet naval oranges or 4 tangerines, 1 cup chopped pecans, all the orange skins without the pith (white stuff).

First you wash the cranberries. I soak in water with 2 sprays of white vinegar, rinse in water to kill off any bad things on the skins and dirt. Rinse, remove water and wash your oranges too!

Now I chop my cranberries in the food processor until chunky. Put in a bowl, then chop the pecans chunky, add to bowl. You will be hand  mixing all the chopped stuff.

Next, I remove the orange skins from the pulp, chop well in the processor or by hand, your choice.

Now here is the trick to make this so fresh tasty and not bitter. Remove the pith (white stuff ) from the orange skins with a very short sharp knife. Cut along the pith, away from you and just the skin remains. The pith makes the food taste bitter over time. So I carefully cut this away from the skins. Put the skins in the processor and blitz until finely chopped. Add to bowl along with your sugar or sweetener of choice. Hand mix the mess. Cover bowl and set in fridge at least 1 hour before serving or overnight is best. 

Looks like a mess, but is oh so tasty. We eat along with lunch and breakfast. Note: you can add a few drops of lime juice for a zing if you like. Enjoy.

First Snow

Starving Mailmen

Ok, here is my soapbox speech for today. About 3 months ago our church was visited by a very emotional mission priest telling us about the starving poor in Guatemala. I know this is true, I have mission friends who go there many times.He told us of how the Food For the Poor, Inc can take our money and with just 6 cents a day save 1 starving child. They even mailed me an American nickle and a Canadian penny in case I needed a visual aid. Every week my mailbox is stuffed with mail asking for more donations for the Poor of the World. Well, I am disgusted by the hypocrisy of this organization. The cost of mailers, flyers, coins, and the like could feed a family, many families, here locally in the state of Missouri. And we do not need paper mailers to remind us. We just have to open our eyes, open our hearts, roll up our sleeves and get to work. And I do not need a mailer to tell me that every week.

Death and Chokes

This is part of my harvest of Sunchokes. There are so many, I have left them out under the dirt for later winter treat.

My Melon taking a cat nap.

Last week a friend of mine died in a head on crash.  In the other car two people inside also died with her. Everyone died and I got that horrible call from my friends adult daughter, the police are here and my mother is dead, please come. We did and helped make plans. We went to the salvage yard to retrieve her mothers personal items saw what was left of her car, called the church and funeral home and got her mother buried. Now we are there as my friends daughter goes through the grief. It takes its toll but I did find out many people here are helping. We have a great small town and everyone is helping. So different from the city life I left behind. The last photo is the night after the wake. We were invited to a hayride under the stars in the cold in the woods. We sang songs and had a huge bonfire and tasty vegetarian foods made by several guest. It was a nice break from the grief. If you ever get an invitation to a hayride, go. It is a lot of fun.

Upside Downs

This is my bantam rooster with his neck turned upside down. I had the vet look at him and the neck is fine. But a friend noticed his ear was filled and smelly. I cleaned it out, treated it for mites and waited. After 4 week of daily cleaning, he is no better. The ear still fills with puss, I clean it with peroxide and wait. He has been in our house for almost a month. This week he is eating less and has taken a down turn. I will give it another week then cull him myself. It is a shame since he is a great little rooster.

Duck dinner

Here is one of two male ducks I raised Cayuga and Khaki Campbell mix. I have way too many drakes this year and happily gave away two. They dressed out nicely and I am waiting to hear about their flavor from my friends. I was also given five roosters which three I culled and two I watched. I finally saved one of the five for my flock. The rest are in my freezer. This November I brought two egg eater hens to auction and three more Easter Egger roosters. Just can't see feeding them all winter and have them fighting. Since my freezer was full, to the auction they go. I am learning it is wise to sell off  or cull the flock before winter. Saves money on feed all winter and new start in the spring. But I have bred some great poultry and hate for that to go to waste. So I save the best overwinter and hope for spring chicks to hatch in the new year.

A chicken a day

No, this is not a chicken. But I had to title something for my blog. Yes, my dogs get an armadillo a day sometimes. But this week it has been a chicken a day dying. First was a bantam hen, another hen stomped her and she never recovered and died on Sunday. On Monday my blind rooster did not return to the coop at night. Next day my shepherds brought his corpse to the back door. They are trained to not kill poultry. Owl attacked the rooster, head was missing. Last night my husband put up the chickens and this morning a red hen was dead by the back door. Could not find cause of death for this hen, no sign of missing feathers. And this morning there is a large predatory mountain lion nearby. So my farm is on high alert and on edge.I could use a break on all the chicken deaths. 

Hay Ho We Go

After all the rains we have had, we finally got our first cutting of hay for this winter. We usually get these in June/July. The wet conditions prevented the farmers from baling until very dry. Then there was a backlog. We are testing string bales versus net baled. We were loading and unloading bales until 9pm Monday night. We did not have dinner until 10 pm. But it was worth it, the horses are set for the winter. Now we turn to chopping dead trees for firewood.

No Deere! Oh Deere!

I think everyone should read about what John Deere the company is doing. This is not just about tractors: Here is the link:

John Deere is making it illegal to work on your own tractor, and I hope it hurts their sales. If this farmer had changed his belt sensor on his own tractor, he could have been put in prison for five years or fined a half million dollars under the DMCA law.
If you think you have nothing to worry about because you aren't a farmer, consider that this same scheme is being used by a number of manufacturers. When you buy a car, do you ask the salesman if you are allowed to do work on it, and do you believe his answer? Who really owns that car or tractor after you buy it?