So many seedlings

This is a photo of my greenhouse in 2020, this year it is too full to get inside. I started cold weather crops this year for the May early June harvest. And got my starts for summer going as well along with flowers!

The cabbages, onions, scallions, shallots and lettuce are all in the ground. I had no more room and even with 35 degree nights, they had to go in. They are doing great even with a few frosts we have had.

Next I have my cucumbers, tomatoes and melons started. They have filled the greenhouse being repotted into little red plastic solo cups. Which I re-use every year and ran out of this year. Next my herbs basil, oregano and cilantro all grown from seeds. You can grow multiple oregano from cuttings rooted from a single plant. I started several as I use a lot in my cooking. And it is a great plant to swap with.

I have had no luck with my pepper seeds this year. Going to have to figure out why, might be too cool and damp in the greenhouse. But that is ok, I will have more room for flowers. Sunflowers, gladiolas, cornflowers, dahlia and zinnia. And that is why I have no room in my greenhouse this year.

We also had the covid Moderna vaccine first dose this week. It gave me lethargy, not good when I need all my energy to plant. But after the second doe in May, we should be able to mask up and rejoin society. Been a very long time since we have done that. Grocery pick up, church on line, and delivery for the rest since 2020 began. Two Easters at home and many funeral that we could not attend. Luckily we both work from home and have a farm. It was a lot of work with lock downs, no shopping, no people. Hoping thing get better this summer for everyone.

 

Covid ops first dose

 Finally the state of Missouri opened the Covid vaccines for all ages. My husband and I got our Moderna shots done and out of the way. Have to wait one month then get the second one. The closest clinic was an hour drive away but no waiting. We scheduled a time slot and were done and done. Then had to wait for any side effects. Then got some lunch take out to bring home. So many in our small town do not want the vaccine based on hearsay and what they see on the news. I don't either, but getting the Covid virus is much worse. Hoping we stay healthy enough to get the spring planting done. Looking forward to a quiet summer.

No Milky

We have discovered that my husband can no longer tolerate milk. He was a milk-o-holic for years, two gallons a week. But we put him on Silk almond milk for weeks then he tried some milk, bam, back to pain and nausea. Back to Silk and he is fine again. We replaced his half and half and probably will remove cheese as well. But for now Silk and coconut milks make him happy. The cause? We are not sure, could have been from a tick bite but no one knows. I can have milk but for him it is a big no. His gall bladder attack feelings have stopped as well. The doctor and all the test have told us nothing. But for now his is on the mend.

Arctic Ombre Mujer

This years hair Wrath and Purple Rain

My hair has gotten super long over the last year. It is very healthy and though thin it is strong. I have been playing with home coloring and the gradation of color. I tried blue but that is not my color. But purple is! So I bleached my ends and tried out Arctic Fox purple for a year. Loved it! Then I bleached my whole head , level 6 and used wrath and purple and here is the end result. I loved the colors together. It looks great down or in a braid for full ombre effect. I can walk out of the house with no makeup on but I got the colors shining bright on my head and I love it. It is easy to add more color if it fades. It takes about three weeks to fade down. You just wash your hair, dry your hair then add the Arctic fox colors as you like, slap on a shower cap for 2 hours outside in the heat or sunlight and then rinse. You will need gloves though, this stuff will stain your skin. Just like regular hair color but no ammonia, no burning, just a sweet grape scent my husband loves. This stuff is super conditioning as well. I can clean up skin stains with a bit of alcohol and bleach the shower if it stains.There are a ton of youtube vids about Arctic Fox. I just learned that the key is to bleach out the hair, wash, rinse then put on the color. Very easy to do at home of your have the time. You can put on unbleached hair but the color has nothing to grab onto and will come off. Color last longer and stays vibrant if you wash in cold water. It is affordable and you can extend the color by adding conditioner. This was one of the cool things I did over this pandemic.

Before coloring

Last year ombre effect on the ends only

 

Planting Season

It has been a very busy March here on the farm. Our only piece of furniture for lounging - our futon -broke! You find out just how poorly made something is when it breaks on the welds. But we went to the hardware store and bought steel brackets and heavy bolts and together with a thick 2 x 4; we had made a new support in one day. With the price of things going up and up saving time and money DIYing ourselves works.

We had some freezes here in March so my seedlings had to get pampered at night. Onions, cabbages, lettuce, cold stuff was fine. But tomatoes, peppers, flowers and herbs needed heat mats and a bit of propane. Our last frost date is late April here in the Ozarks. I will have most covered and in the ground by then.

This year I am planting more peas and flowers. I planted way too much stuff we do not eat as often. Too many cucumbers, okra and peppers. This spring will be cold flowers, tomatoes, half as many cucumbers, melons, lettuce and herbs. Three kinds of basil for us this season cinnamon, lemon and thai. Along with growing our own food, I will be canning again for all three growing seasons. Our green beans and our tomatoes all canned and saved many a grocery bill.

We are waiting to get the Covid vaccine. In April everyone in Missouri can get the vaccine, finally. So my husband will get his first then I will go. That way one of us can care for the other if there are problems.

The churches and area schools are mostly back to the old normal. Everyone is trying to return to before the pre pandemic times. I would rather move forward instead of backwards. I am working hard enjoying farm life and so happy not to be in the big cities. I do miss my beach time and I miss felling the wind on my face. I do not like the mask wearing. I do not have to wear a mask on my farm and that is wonderful.

 

Stone breakers

                                                         Chanca Piedra- herb "gale of the wind"

When the doctor gave us the results of my husbands colonoscopy, the good news, no cancer, all test normal, all biopsy normal. But some narrowing of his esophagus possible allergy. So the eoe was given an Rx of an allergy spray. But the side effects of the Rx were terrible and not worth continuing. 

So we were back to square one. Why was he not hungry and in pain. His sister thought he might have gallstones (no history of gall but kidney in his tree) but not enough showed up on the scans for the doctor to worry about. So then what? The doctor said eat more fiber, take some peppermint oil and get some exercise.

I decided other people must be having this same issue and I was right. Gallstone type of attacks but too small for the doctors to do anything about it. So I dove into the rabbit hole and discovered after 3 days of reading everything I could, stonebreaker supplement/herb came up. It is an OTC you can get for breaking gall and kidney stones. Does it work? Yes, he is no longer having pain in that region, no nausea, he is hungry again and has his energy back. His stools are normal again and he is not running to the bathroom all the time. So I think his sister was right gallstones just too small for the doctors to deal with. And that is ok.  This stuff works. I took it first to make sure it had no side effects on me before letting him take it.

 You should never take multiple herb supplements along with other meds or prescriptions. I think that is where people go wrong. They are taking all kinds of mood pills, prescriptions and supplements at the same time. But many things counteract with others. You have to read up on what you take and what you add to your body -whether food or herb. And read every part of the paper you get from your pharmacy about what you are taking. Side effects are put there for a reason. 

I am looking forward to when my husband does not need this supplement and can return to normal again. He is only 46 and way too young to have these problems. But now he is feeling better again. 

Weenter Break

This is my youngest and largest cat Frosty. He had the right idea these few cold weeks, naps and lots of them. I was busy keeping my poultry from freezing. I raised their roost bar to 3 feet above the floor of the coop, tons of straw and shavings, kept regular light bulbs on 24/7. I hang several chains on each light to prevent falls on to the straw. That has worked for years with several new lights to replace the old dusty spidery non working ones. All my chicks hatched under their hens in this artic freeze and I have very early chicks for this new year. 

The snow melted into ice then to mud. February mud is weird. It is very slippery as the ground is still frozen under the dirt. So boots and cleats in the mud for now. We have a warm up in the 50's here and that means duck puddles abound. We have rain a snow predicted by next week again. So I am potting up seedlings and getting ready for spring planting of young starts. Broccoli, peppers, rosemary, celery, lisianthus and some carrots. I am looking forward to getting things growing again.

 

Balls are Back!

 

Your local stores should now have canning jars again. These were spotted at a local big box store. The prices are what they were originally before 2020 so that is nice. Still hard to find rings and flats for future canning but at least the jars come with.

Here's Weenter!

Today on this high of 12F degrees we ran out of wood pellets for our upstairs pellet stove. So we drove to town carefully on the icy roads and picked up one ton of pellets. We normally have mild winters in the Ozarks and use about one ton a year. But with this cold winter we have had it was time for one more ton. The main highways are clear but our back roads are hilly and solid ice. We did a few running starts to get over hills on our return trip and we did slide a bit on a curve. But you turn into the slide and keep from hitting the breaks. We also split and stacked firewood for the main woodstove downstairs. We are all set for 4 inches of snow on Sunday Feb 14th and Wed Feb17th are expected in our area. Animals are well fed and warm. In this photo that is solid ice in the driveway. Having four wheel drive, good tires and heavy vehicles a must out here in the Ozarks. 

On a side note that is my husband and he is feeling a lot better. What he did was give up milk and cut back on sugar and coffee. He is taking several herbal supplements I found for gallstone breaking, is taking soluble fiber, and getting some exercise. He works at his desk for long hours and does not get up and go outside as much as I do. But he is feeling hunger again, no nausea and may be getting over whatever has been ailing him for the last year and half. I am so glad I dove down the herbal rabbit hole to get him relief. His doctor recommended the fiber, exercise and peppermint oil for him. I found that Chanca Piedra an herb helps break up stones in the body. Looks like it is working for him.

 

Coffee level up

During this pandemic we watched youtube vids as we do not have TV. One thing I noticed was fellow coffee lovers pouring their coffee. All kinds of rules and pots, cups, holders you name it. So I found a cheap small set of instruments to give it a go. And it was not half bad. I also discovered Geisha coffee beans from Ecuador, Costa Rica and South America. It is Ethiopian beans not Japanese type of coffee bean. It is quite good in any way you brew it. I prefer coffee and chicory but this geisha is quite nice. And wildly popular with the rest of the world. The price for geisha beans is double the cost of normal beans and is hard to find. It is fun to try a new brew and learn a new technique.

 

I see weenter

It has been ice and snow for the past few weeks here in the Ozarks. This February 14th should be high 17 F and low of 0F. It has been a challenge but the farm animals are doing well. The poultry have heat and warmth and the horses have hay and shelter. The dogs have two shelters and a heated tent. But the dogs  end up in the basement at night when the temps go below teens and after farm is tucked in. 

I had two clutches hatch last week of chicks.The third was abandoned by the hen. All chicks survived under three hens who are now teaching them how to go in and out of the coop. In spite of the cold these chicks are thriving.

On the human front my husbands scopes looked normal and we are waiting on samples taken. No cancer was seen. This means we still do not know why he has no hunger, mild nausea, and pain. Might be a blocked gallbladder duct but images looked clear. So I am trying non surgical otc stone buster herbs on him. It takes weeks to see a doctor and the weather/pandemic is not helping. He had to have the Covid test and was negative. It was his first going under surgery. That was fun. He thought he had not had anything done to him and that he was fine. But he had no memory after returning to the room, dinner nor anything after. He recovered after sleeping a full night and we ok the next day.

We were blessed with a friend who came to our farm twice a day to tend the animals. It is getting harder to find people willing to take the time to do this even out here in the Ozarks.

I am grateful for our life out here and would not want any part of city life. I love that I can plant food and live off what we grow. This year I am adding more flowers for myself and for the bees to pollinate.

Flowers make me happy. 

 

Happy New Year 2021

 

Last year we had planned to be in Japan. But like everything else, plans changed and we stayed on the farm since February 2020. Since we both work from home we were used to that. Going out for church and supplies was not an option. We only went out for grocery pick up, dentist and yes, jury duty for me, ugh.

But we survived and have not gotten the virus yet. Several people at our church did and so far are ok. We did a first, church from home and continue to do so. And now we are dealing with doctor trips and that mean a lot of time in the truck. Our new updated plan to grow our own veggies on fabric worked too well. I was busy all year long putting up our pantry. It was a great project to do together, fabric, irrigation and fences. Very prolific growing year for us and no weeds. All grown from seeds I saved and dirt I had delivered.

My bold idea of making masks for everyone failed. No one wanted to wear them at our church nor in town, that was a big surprise, so I stopped sewing and donated the rest.

This year after we find out what is ailing my husband, we are planning to take a trip as I am sure the whole world is, too. Some beach, waves and water would be nice. Meanwhile I am planning on next years garden. Flowers, peppers, tomato, beans and fabric to keep out the weeds. 

I am working on beading and beadwork that I miss doing. I love all the colors bead provide on jewelry and embroidery. I will still do fiber restoration as projects arise. I need to make a new quilt for my husband. The one I made him 20 years ago is fraying and needs to be replaced. I have advanced my skills since then. The repairs of repairs can no longer be subjected to the water.

The virus is still a big problem in the Ozarks. People are still dying but life goes on. They still only wear masks in the big cities not out here. 

I hope 2021 goes better than 2020. I hope this time next year people will be thriving instead of getting sick. I hope to have been to the beach again :)

Silver and fur

Since it was cold and we needed a break we stayed indoors this new years eve. I rested with my two boys Melon and Frosty. This is Melon under the tinsel tree, it is a small tree and he is 18lbs.

This is a rare event as I hardly ever rest on the futon. My two big boys got lap time and fireplace heat.