Bad RoundUp

Again we the public have been lied to by our government and corporations. RoundUp is very bad stuff. And here is the proof: It never breaks down and it never goes away. It harms you, your plants and all living things it contacts with. It does not wash away and will leach into your groundwater.Do the future a favor and do not use Roundup. Just boil some water and pour it over the offending weeds. Just miss pouring it on your toes.

Spaghetti Night

Here is our game hen, Whitey, our best brooder eating spaghetti. It was given to us as leftovers and is a favorite food of our hen. She ate all this by herself then went broody over 8 eggs. She is due to hatch her"Whitey Wacker II" chicks soon this month. These will be her second bunch since February. Her winter clutch gave us a rooster and a hen. We are hoping for more hens this round. Whitey was my least favorite hen, but she is a great mom and is the roosters best gal. She might be pushy and noisy but she gets the job done in the hen department and that makes me happy to have her.

Growing Up

This is our "almost a yearling" gelding, Bean getting some pasture time. He is going through the ugly stages of a growing horse. He has a big head and small thin neck and body with slight parrot mouth. Our Vet said all male horses go through an ugly growing period. We just have to wait and see.

Rose Tea Making

We have had a lot of rain in May giving me abundant roses this year. I wanted to enjoy my roses all year long. I love to bathe, eat, drink and scent my house with roses. To make rose tea you must have fresh roses that ARE NOT SPRAYED. This is very important -you do not want to drink bug spray nor preservatives from store bought. I do not spray my red roses ever. So they are safe to harvest, rinse, open and dehydrate. After drying overnight add half a jar of petals to half a jar of your favorite tea. I like to use Assam or Oolong with my rose petals. It is great with a pinch of sugar and milk. Makes a nice cup of tea that tastes and smells like roses.

Why the Glass Jars?

I have been buying 1 gallon old and used glass jars all around town. As people respond to my ad in the paper, I go and seek them out. And everyone wants to know why the glass jars? They are old, heavy, and have rusted tops. Well, plastic gives off bad stuff into our food. And if you store food like us, that is a lot of time your food gets exposed to toxins. Old glass jars do not have any of that and they can be washed and reused over and over. And the old lids can be fitted with the new canning lids. Sun brewed tea taste divine from a glass jar. Fresh whole milk from a glass jar is just the best and old timers know this. Our kids today have no idea how good food can taste when not stored in plastic. So the photo is my moving brewers yeast from plastic into a jar older than me. Out with the modern and back into the past. Somethings are just worth going back and doing over. And by limiting my exposure to foods in plastic I hope to gain years of longer good health. And I will get muscles moving these heavy glass jars around, too.

Four Duckies in a Tub

Here are our 4 baby ducklings getting some tub time. They love the water and dirty it up fast. Now they are older we can let them stay outside in a large enclosure among the chickens. They have sun, food and their tub all day long. They still do not have wings yet, just nubs. They will need the wings to get away from predators. Mainly the foxes, hawks and turtles will try to hunt our ducks. They get to forage on grass with the chickens and eat bugs. At night we take them back into the coop to sleep among the chickens.

Our New/Used Farm Truck

This past week has been crazy busy for us. We purchased a used 1 ton flatbed truck. We needed a heavy duty truck to move feed, hay and building supplies. We were tearing up our city cars with all the country roads and heavy loads. Then we drove several times into town to get the inspection, license and tax stuff at our county seat. Now the only hold up is new AC and parking break repair. And I need to learn how to drive a stick. I have avoided this type of vehicle all my life but am married to a die hard stick driver. I guess I knew this day would come and I'll have to learn. At least we have a huge field I can practice in. Going to be easier to have a heavy duty truck around the farm for a change.

May Hails

Today we had our weather radio on warning us about possible hail. We had 2 hail events in one day. A light one then a heavy one that rained down ice. Luckily no tornado was formed on this huge system. So after the hail stopped we walked around taking photos of the hail. One did hit our birdhouse damaging it. But the cars, our house and our animals were unharmed. These hail balls were very cold and had many layers. Never seen the jagged ones before.

Luna Moth

I caught a shot of this rare moth on the screen at a local shop in town. It was drying its wings and avoiding the rain.

Jar Journeys

We decided to replace all our plastic food storage containers with glass jars. This way we know nothing is leaking into our food we don't want. We eat a lot of grains, seeds and legumes and store them in the kitchen. We also drink a lot of tea and it is just better in glass.

I need several 1 gallon jars for this and they are hard to find; everything is made of plastic. Also, the shipping for new jars is more than the purchase price of the jars. So I placed an ad in our local paper and have gotten several calls about used jars.

I have had calls from people from all walks of life. I never realized buying old jars would become a journey into so many peoples lives. Everyone has a story to tell about these old jars they have saved for so many years in sheds, closets and kitchens. People out in the Ozarks save things for years. And everyone has a story to tell. And that makes the purchase of these jars special. You would not get a story from a jar you bought at the store. But each jar I pick up locally, comes with its own unique history. And I get to sit and talk to all kinds of people and listen to their story. Some jars were minnow traps, milk jars, penny pots and saved after the depression. Some jars held coffee originally and were saved for their unique decoration. Many jars have tops that have long rusted away. But all have been carefully stored away until needed. I never thought such a simple request for a jar would open up so many lives.

May Ducklings

Our ducklings are now 2.5 weeks old and growing fast. They are losing their baby fuzz and getting small feathers. However, their wings are still just nubs and have a long way to go. They are a lot of fun to hold all feet and bills.

Log Splittin'

We finally went to a farm auction in our town. Having lived here for 2+ years we never had the time to go to one. Everyone in town goes to these things. It is a place to socialize, look at other peoples stuff and bid on stuff you need around the farm, like a log splitter. We have borrowed our neighbors and now we have our own. We have been cutting dead trees all winter and now we can get our wood split and stacked for the next winter. This is a real time saver around the farm. And it is hooked up to our tractor and ready to split wood anywhere.

Jack be Big

Jack is the name of my friends 4 year old fox trotter gelding. He was broke to pull a cart but has since outgrown the cart. She wants to having him saddle trained and used as a trail horse. So she has offered to lend us Jack to ride after he is saddle trained. Jack is a huge fox trotter. He has a great calmness and loves to please people.