Snow Day!.....in April?

 

 

 

 

Hope you are enjoying your spring. Ours appears to have been postponed

Blessings.

Happenings on the farm...

It is spring here on the high desert. We have had some amazing days. Warm, beautiful sunshine, blue skies, sunny days.

Ahhhhhh.

In the garden the spinach, lettuce & radishes are all up and growing strong. I have several seed start trays tucked into my cold frames. We'll see if they take off. The strawberries are all weeded & starting to perk up. It looks like we will get enough asparagus to harvest this year .

I got the peas planted last week but yesterday our evil hens scratched them all up . We have instigated Pullet Prison for the hens who insist on flying over the fence into the yard. We will try to rehabilitate them but if that doesn't work-- it's chicken & dumplin's.

We are borrowing a tiller tomorrow & will work up the big garden. I hope to buy black plastic this week & then I can plant the rest of my cool crops: carrots, onions, brocolli, cauliflower etc.

I am really looking forward to it all.

In the barnyard the twins bucks are growing strong. We need to band then this week. Bummer for them .

We moved our meat birds into a 10x10 dog kennel. They had totally outgrown their brooder. The kennel is backed up to our pumphouse so it blocks the wind & they have a dog crate to sleep in with a heatlamp right outside. They seem to be doing great in there.

The 4 pullets (that we got free when we bought the meat birds) are still in their brooder but we need to move them into a larger cage within the henhouse. This gives them the chance to adjust to no heat & for the other hens to get used to them before they are turned loose. It tends to help lessen the pecking order when you ease them into it.

We bought 4 turkey poults yesterday. They are in the brooder in our shop staying nice and warm. They will be our holiday meals. I love turkey poults--they have so much more personality then the chicks. Maybe it is just because they are too dumb to be scared .

We had a litter of bunnies born on Friday. We think 5 or 6 but haven't looked too hard yet. Another litter is due anyday now.

In other news I had a good day at the Goodwill yesterday. I found a stainless steel meat clever for $4.99. A 9x13 pyrex pan to replace my FAVORITE baking pan that, um, went MIA at a church function . I also found two pretty plates for .79 each. One with holly berries that I will probably give away (full of cookies of course) come Christmas time and one with a pretty strawberry pattern that I just liked. My daughter found a pretty dress, The Little Man got a cowboy shirt & I found some flannel pants for my 13 yr old (he lives in them). I also found a white sweater (the purpose for the trip) that I can wear to my sister-in-laws wedding. A good day all around.

The wedding is coming on full-steam ahead. My daughter will be playing the music --even the wedding march! She has been practising like mad for months now. My hubby will be doing the ceremony. The color scheme is purple so we bought the boys all purple ties, my daughter has a new dress with purple flowers & we finally found a dress for me online (please,please, please let it fit). We still need to find a tie that meets my hubbys specifications & then we will be all set. My oldest is driving up for the wedding & is aware of the color scheme so I am hoping to get some fabulous family pics.

Well, that is life for now on the High Desert.

Blessings.

Who knew?

Those little goat babies eat  a lot.

We have been sharing the milk with the twin bucks for the last month.

We were limping by on a quart a day .

This weekend I decided they were old enough to be locked up at night so we could actually get some milk.

The last 2 mornings she gave a GALLON .

Those little kids are porkers!

Blessings.

Music Video

A few weeks ago, before life got crazy, our church hosted the "Community Sing".

Here is a video of my daughter playing "Down at the Cross". I missed the beginning as, um, someone's baby was crying & drowned out the music .

Blessings.

 

The Dirty Dozen

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away"

We've all heard that one right?

Apples are a wonderful food.

Easy to store.

Easy to take along with you.

Most kids love them.

They are good & good for you.

Or are they?

Have you ever heard of  "The Dirty Dozen" ?

No, not the movie .

"The Dirty Dozen" is a list compiled of fruits & vegetables with the highest pesticide content.

These are fruits & veggies you would buy at the store, take home, wash & be ready to eat.

Apples are #2 on the list .

Here is a link with the complete list http://www.foodnews.org/fulllist.php

Here is a link showing how they came up with the list http://www.foodnews.org/methodology.php

Here is a link showing how to reduce our exposure to these pesticide laden foods http://www.foodnews.org/reduce.php

The single best thing we can do is to eat organic.

One of the things I really like about this list is it shows you where to spend your money.

The foods that are relatively low on the list, with little to no pesticide residue, go ahead & buy from the grocery store.

The fruits that are the worst--peaches, apples, strawberries-- spend the extra money & buy organic.

Does it bother you as much as it does me that the foods we count on to be the healthiest are loaded with deadly poisons?

Does it bother you that the fruit salad we made for a healthy treat may give our children cancer?

Does it bother you that the big, green salad full of fresh veggies is full of pesticides as well?

It bothers me.

A lot.

As 'homesteader' we strive to grow much of our food. But we live in a area with a short growing season & tempermental weather at best.

We do end up buying  fruits & veggies to supplement what we grow.

And most of what we buy is on the "Dirty Dozen" list.

Grrrrrr. Frustrating.

So we have decided to try & buy as much as we can organically.

We have a few grocery stores in town that carry organic foods.

We can also order some fresh foods from http://www.azurestandard.com/

If you have never checked them out you should. They are 'local' to us here in Oregon but they ship to much of the west.

I'm not writing this to make you feel guilty or to drum up business for anybody.

But to give you the information you need to make knowledgable decisions about your families health & well being.

Blessings.

Long week...

Oy.

What a long, difficult week.

Monday, we lost Papa.

Tuesday we ran around town finding new dress clothes for the boys. Both for the funeral & for Easter.

Wednesday my husband had to head down to central California for work.

Thursday the kids & I packed up & headed down to California. We were lucky with the weather. It stayed clear for most of our trip.

We checked into a motel & waited for my hubby to get back from his meetings.

He made it to the motel about 1am.

Friday morning was the service. It was at 10am at their church.

It was pouring.

The service was very nice. They had a slide show & music. My husband read some scripture & shared memories of Papa.

Many of Papa's friends & co-workers shared stories & memories of him

My husband & the other grandsons were pallbearers. They all looked so handsome in their suits.

The graveside service was an hour away in the mountain town where they had lived for 30 years.

As we started the drive it was pouring, pouring, pouring.

The further we went up the mountain the worse it got.

Soon it was snowing, snowing, snowing.

We saw a truck upside down on the side of the road.

We saw 2 more banged up & in snow banks.

At the cemetery it was cold & windy & snowing.

The service was short because of that. Poor Grandma was so cold she was shivering.

We headed back down the mountain to the family wake at Grandma's house.

It was still snowing, snowing, snowing.

We actually witnessed 3 wrecks on the way.

We finally headed home early that evening, in seperate cars.

Thankfully the weather had eased off a bit.

We made it home around midnight Friday.

We headed back down to California Saturday night so we could take Grandma to church Easter morning.

We knew if we didn't go, she wouldn't go. So we went.

We got to a motel around midnight.

Sunday morning we picked up Grandma & took her to church. Poor Grandma, It was really hard on her.

The Easter service was nice. Beautiful music.

After church we went back to Grandma's house & a bunch of the family came for lunch.

We finally headed home in the afternoon.

The weather was awful. It took us an extra hour to get home because of all the snow.

But we made it. And I am glad we could be there for Grandma.

All the kids are fighting colds. Too much stress & too much travel.

I'm hoping for a quiet week. My husband has to travel back to the California coast this week & then fly out to Houston early Sunday.

He will be gone for a solid week .

I will be glad when we can get back to a routine

A boring, calm, steady routine.

Blessings.