Three Days of Absolutely Beautiful!

~ home sweet home ~

I'm participating in Vicki's Grow Your Blog Party here and have giveaways.

Just yesterday, the weather report said three days of absolutely beautiful! Today, tomorrow and Wednesday are supposed to be warm, sunny, bright and, totally, un-February. 

Wrong.

Today is rainy, chilly and absolutely not clothes hanging outside to dry weather so no laundry today and not even thinking about it. January and February have been bone crushing exhausting and mostly spent on the road, tending to business which, for the most part, is almost caught up. The South Carolina Cherry Grove condo was made ready for Canadian snowbirds (hi John and Rosie) and then for the season ahead.  The website has yet to be updated but VRBO is, mostly, updated.

In between trips, it's been farm work with time taken for drinking in the beauty. I never want to allow myself to be so busy that I forget to take time to enjoy this moment. Recently, my brother asked if I remember something and was surprised when I said, "No, I've got maybe half dozen memories of the last three years. For the most part, it's a blur." That's what grief can do to a person's mind and body; it can wrack you with such emotional pain that you simply lose huge swaths of time. Never let someone force you into how you should respond, what you should do after the death of a loved one. Thankfully, due to God's mercy and grace and the positive actions and prayers of many, I was able to come through to this side mostly whole. It takes as long as it takes...

The dogs and I did a pasture walk to clear out the water trough, pick up trash and take photos. Please note, all the work was done by the one with actual working thumbs as the dogs are moral and love support only. ahem. 

This photo was taken from the far corner fence line, in the alfalfa field and the house is seen, barely, in the distance, to the left of Morris Knob (at about 3400 feet, the tallest point in Tazewell County), where the copse of trees stand. 

On the upper hill, hay needed to be set but I have to wait until the afternoon sun has come 'round and heated up the stable door lock so it can be unlocked. (Ain't nothing ever easy, is it?) It's difficult to tell but the tractor is on a slight hill, facing downward, so I always raise the front end bucket to offset the weight of the 1100 pound round bale being picked up behind; the tractor is in 4-wheel drive for added security. I spend a lot of time thinking things through in an attempt to do my part at preventing accidents but pray and rely on God to do the actual preventing. Although, as Daddy says, "There's no such thing as "preventing an accident". I believe he's right, basically, it's just an oxymoron. So, I spent a lot of time thinking about safety and then following through.

With the tractor in reverse, I floor it, just a tad, to shove the rear spear into the hay bale. For me, this is a tricky part...the three prong spear has to be in the right places in order to pick up the bale and you can see snow on the ground so it's a trifle slick. The three prongs are one on top and two side by side below, somewhat forming a triangle. 

Usually the round metal hay ring is frozen to the ground and I'm beyond the point in time where I could physically break the ground hold then move the feeder. The round feeder weighs close to 250 pounds so the tractor is put to good use by using the front bucket to lift the feeder and break the ground hold.

Before putting the ring around the hay bale, I remove all the twine that was used in baling the hay. Others have told me they don't remove the twine but all I see is a vet bill should the horses eat the twine and it gets wrapped around their intestines. It takes all of a minute to accomplish this step, lessens my anxiety and is safer and healthier for the horses. 

Once the ring is broken from the ground I, physically, lift it from the ground

then walk it so the flat side is toward the hay bale

and drop it over the hay bale.

The last step is positioning the ring so it's even all around making it easier for the five horses to eat. 

The dogs help by providing entertainment...Daisy on the left, Sadie in the middle and Sam on the right...chase, jump, bark and generally have a high ole time. Sometimes I join in and then we all take a toes up on the pasture to enjoy heavenly scenery. 

And in the "whoever said God doesn't have a sense of humor department"...you might remember when, first of January, I was bemoaning the fact my wood supply was, dangerously, low. To some folks I mentioned I wanted a supply of black locust because it has the best BTU's of any wood around here, burns cleanly and leaves few ashes. I also mentioned that to God but on the next to last day in January, I figured He had other plans for me. ... Until I remembered Charlie's son had a small business selling wood. In nasty weather, on the last day of January, B. and his friend, delivered a load of wood, directly to my back porch! The wood rack had three pieces of spongy, sorry looking wood.

While the young men were working, I asked, "I'm not good with wood but that looks like oak, is it?" B. stopped working, turned to me, looked me in the eye and said, "No ma'm, it's black locust we cut out of a fence line about four years ago so it should be plenty dry. We really appreciate you buying wood from us." 

I started laughing, raised my hands to the ski and said, "Thank you, God!" The young man grinned and looked at me. I said, "First of January, I asked God for a load of black locust and, honestly, figured He'd forgotten but this proves me wrong! I bet there's laughter in heaven right about now." (Truly, I know God doesn't forget but sometimes it's easy to confuse myself.) 

I ordered three more loads and will, probably, order more before summer. I like having wood stored in the barn; makes me feel like I've got a hold on winter before it gets here next year. This young man is impressive! He shows respect by stopping his work, looking me in the eye, listening and responding with beautiful manners. Several times he said, "Thank you for buying wood; we really appreciate it." Pick me up off the floor! Charlie, you and K. have done a fabulous job; I love this boy...may I have him, please?

Using the Polaris Ranger and an old metal bed spring, I drug the yard to distribute horse manure. Lightly has been allowed to graze the yard and her manure means I don't have to spend money on chemical fertilizers (as if!). Next time, I'll use the tractor as this job was a bit too hard on the Ranger. (Daddy John did warn me...)

What's on your back porch? 

If you've surmised my computer woes are over...they are, at least for the here and now but who knows how long that will last? For a lot of years, there have been no computer problems but, since October, that's changed. Hopefully, I'll have a spell where I'm able to visit around so act surprised when I show up on your blog, although, it'll be slow going for a while. Yesterday, I dropped a ladder on my right hand and the pain level is such I'm forced to go slow; thank God my hand isn't broken.

Blessings ~ days of beauty ~ safety ~ round bales of hay ~ dogs ~ black locust wood ~ another day above ground ~ I'm ready to go but I'm not homesick ~

Farm Life Scenes

~ Queen Anne's Lace bud ~

Daucus Carota is a biennial belonging to the carrot family, is also known as Queen Anne's Lace and, along with Protea, my favorite flowers. Legend has it Queen Anne of England (1665-1714) pricked her finger and a blood drop fell on the white lace she was making.

~ Queen Anne's Lace flower ~

Queen Anne's Lace, the flower, was eaten by the Romans as a vegetable and the early Colonists boiled the root with water as a drinkable treat. That might sound bitter except Queen Anne's Lace sugar content is second only to the beet in root vegetables. Other folks such as Irish, Jews and Hindus have been known to use it to sweeten their food and the open flower heads may be tempura fried or, raw, tossed in a salad.

~ millet ~

The area around the bird feeder has grown up into a mare's nest but I like it that way. Once winter has arrived, the weeds will be pulled or cut, but the millet will be left to re-seed and provide cover for the birds. Most folks think of millet as only bird seed but it's also a delicious grain that can be prepared roasted, creamy like mashed potatoes or like rice. It's heart healthy and has goodly amounts of copper, manganese, phosphorus and magnesium. This site says magnesium is known to reduce the severity of asthma attacks, lower blood pressure, reduce frequency of migraine attacks and reduce risks of heart attack. Not bad for "bird seed"!

~ chickory ~

My mother-in-law called these little blue flowers "blue bonnets" or "blue bells" but they're also known as chickory plants. The roots are roasted and added to coffee while the above ground portion may be eaten in salads or as a veg. Mrs. B. also said the reason Bluefield, WV was called Bluefield was due to the early Anglo settlers. When they arrived to the area, they could see hundreds of thousands of these flowers and exclaimed at the blue fields; thus the name.

Days begin early around here, sometimes before 5:00 a.m. but it's, usually, lights out by 9 or 10 at night. From one day to the next, I make sure the horses are on their feet with food, water and shelter so if I do sleep in until 6 or 7, everyone should be all right. I gave up sat t.v. in January and thought I'd miss it dreadfully but I don't, there's simply too much that fills that time.

~ Sadie and Tom ~

Sadie has no clue how big huge she is and can hardly ever understand why the smaller animals don't want to play with her. The cats, when they see her coming, will simply lie on the ground and wait for Sadie to lose interest. I've often wondered at the courage and faith it takes for such a small animal not to panic when they see their natural enemy, weighing ten times more, rushing at them.

Sam weighs a little less than half Sadie's weight so is more evenly matched...at least more evenly matched than the cats!

~ sunny and cloudy ~

Today, it's really cloudy and the keeps playing peek-a-boo. Some of the animals and I have already been to the pasture to chop thistles and one water tank to clean. I took photos of the hay bales John and Daniel bales and rejoiced there are 22.5 of them.

~ hay pasture with house on hill ~

Sadie and I took a break and I sat on the ground and she sat on my lap...she prefers my lap when I'm available...and you can see how the wind was blowing because her ear is lifted.

When I'd return from a trip to the grocery, Dave would ask, "Did you get the dogs their seegars?" The dogs take their chews and carry them around the farm as we do chores. When hanging out of their mouths, they resemble cigars...yes, small humor but clean humor...counts for a lot, doncha know?

I finished a boatload of paperwork this week...that's the good news and the bad news is...there's a boatload of paperwork left to finish. I also have to go across the mountains to buy cream to churn for the county fair on Thursday. Faith and her sister are helping me and then they're going to wander the fair for a bit...it should be a good day...please God! Right now, I'm going to close out this post, go get the mail and then...attack paperwork...charge!

Blessings ~ dogs ~ cats ~ hay ~ flowers ~ birds ~ farm life scenes ~

CrAzY Busy, But Aren't We All?

"Do you think I've gone round the bend?"

I'm afraid so. You're mad, bonkers, completely off your head.

But I'll tell you a secret.

All the best people are."

~ Alice in Wonderland ~

Thanks be to God I found a farrier! He's Jared Brown and a graduate of the Heartland Horseshoeing School. If you're in southwest VA and need a farrier to trim or shoe, send me a note and I'll give you Jared's phone number; his e-address is jb_farrier at hotmail dot com. He's excellent at his work and, already, my beasties are showing signs of improvement. They'd have to because they've had me trimming their feet and I'm not a farrier. My work was shoddy but it was better than being lame...not much but still better than being lame. The mare above is Meri Go Lightly, an American Curly horse, who showed her behind while Jared was working on her. I told Jared, "I'm going to the house for water, back in a minute". While I was gone, Jared said Lightly jerked, twisted, reared and, finally, threw herself down on the ground in a petulant fit. My only comment was, "Did you take 3 seconds to kill her?" 

That's the rule...when a horse is being stupid, you've got 3 seconds to "kill" them. Usually, 3 seconds is all it takes, along with a lot of noise and jerking of the lead rope. I take excellent care of my animals but I refuse to put up with any foolishness...not the least bit. They're huge, I could get hurt in a NY second and it's not above me to get a horse whip and use it. Jared has my permission as well but he's a lot stronger and it doesn't take as much for him to control a horse so what I do is get out of the way...quickly!

Jared has us on a schedule and comes every 6 to 8 weeks. In the past, Lightly has foundered and her feet grow wonky but Jared is confident he can restore her to wholeness, given time. I'm grateful he's put us on his schedule; it helps him and it helps us...a win win for all!

Before he comes, I have the horses with halters on and have cleaned their feet. He doesn't require it nor expect it but it's a small kindness I can do and it pleases me to work with the horses. 

 First, he takes nippers and trims off the excess around the hoof. In a horse that's foundered, that's a delicate job and requires skill, expertise, knowledge and education to do correctly. 

The hoofs in the two photos above belong to HayJ, a Curly x Percheron. At one time, HayJ was the only black and white Curly x Percheron stallion in the world...then I had him cut or castrated. He's about 18 hands, about 72 inches, and around 2,000 pounds and, with hormones, he could get a little frisky. Best to nip that in the bud, so to speak; as it is, if he doesn't want the halter on, he will raise his head and look down at me. Thank God he's a gentle giant! 
After trimming, Jared uses a rasp to file the hoof smooth. I always had to use gloves because the horse would, invariably, jerk their hoof and the rasp, or file, would scrape across my hand, leaving a bloody mess. When that happened, I'd finish up, come to the house and wash the wound with tea tree soap then pour alcohol over the wound and finish with peroxide. It might sound extreme but better a little sting now than septis later.

One of these days, HayJ will be trained to pull a cart, wagon or Meadowbrook; I want to drive!

The bluebird box can be seen from the barn and Mrs. Bluebird is doing her duty.

While getting the horses ready for Jared, in addition to picking their feet, I brushed them, cut some manes and then combed some manes. Everyone enjoyed the attention but, after working 6 horses Saturday, yesterday I took it easy. Sam like to hide under my skirt and peer out at the world; he's a funny little feller. Sam and 

Sadie took it easy with me. 

Today, Gypsy helped with laundry. By noon, there were six loads washed and hung on the line; last week was rainy so no laundry was washed. What was meant to get done today...taxes and bills...will have to be moved to Wednesday's to-do list because tomorrow is going to be a repeat of today. 

Evening plans were to shower and go to bed at a respectable hour but that's not happening. For a good reason though...someone blessed me with Tennessee tomatoes that have to be canned. These tomatoes are fresh and some still have their stems attached! When the phone call came, I thought it was going to be enough tomatoes for a dozen quarts or so, but it's two huge boxes, about a bushel, and I've already got the first seven quarts on the stove. They should come off in about an hour, time enough for that shower and a cup of chamomile tea which has a variety of good things but especially to aid sleep. 

I was down to my last quart jar of tomatoes so this is a huge blessing. I'm going to can seven quarts to give to the woman who remembered me with this gift. She's not able to can this year, I am able and want to say "thank you" in a tangible way. When the snowballs fly, is there anything that says "summer" more than a quart of home canned tomatoes. I think not.

Blessings ~ a bushel of tomatoes ~ Jared Brown ~ horses with trimmed, cleaned feet ~ Mrs. Bluebird ~ Sam ~ Sadie ~ Gypsy ~ canned tomatoes ~ sweet dreams ~

A Week Gone

~ Izzabella and DaniGirl ~

Although colder temps still linger, the snow has melted and daylight hours bring a modicum of warmth. The wind still has a decided bite but, dare I hope, spring creeps ever so diligently closer...day by day, and, as of today, spring is ten TEN days away...be still my heart! Due to illness, this last week has been spent doing the basics and not much more. It seems all that spare time available since Carly, Harry and Sophie died, wasn't going to be spent doing fun stuff. Oh No! It was spent taking antibiotics and Sambucol, drinking copious amounts of water, eating (somewhat) healthfully and sleeping. At least sleeping during the night; I'm one of those people who find it difficult to sleep during the day but I can crank out eight to ten hours a night, depending upon exhaustion level. Even so, it would be boorish of me to complain about being sick as the last time I was ill was Dec 2010 and, even this time, it wasn't dreadful. Just enough to make my wagon drag and suck energy like Al Gore's house. 

Water troughs still have ice but one sunny, warmish day the dogs and I opened gates for Daddy John. He was feeding silage and having a gate opener decreases both the amount of work, energy needed and speeds up the job. 

John uses one tractor to load silage into a loader which will disperse the amount he wants to each individual cow herd.

I'm standing beside the open gate, watching as the cows watch the tractor. It doesn't take long for the animals to associate the tractor sound with food!  If I remember correctly, he put about 6,000 pounds of silage on the ground for these cattle then we moved to the adjacent pasture.

After John finished feeding, I closed the gate and went down the road to take pictures of the new lambs. 

Last week, I put out round hay, a task that I do very slowly, extremely carefully and not without a bit of trepidation. It takes the men fifteen minutes to sit out hay; it takes me thirty, or more, depending upon weather. The hat lots are on a slight incline and backing the tractor on a hill takes extreme concentration on my part.

After moving bales away from the fence, I ended up pushing, not carrying, hay because my summer help put the hay too close to the fence; the result being, HayJ and Bo leaned across the fence, broke it down and started munching. The hay was too loose to pick up and carry so I pushed it into the field and left it.

I was annoyed at my summer help because it was his fault but my responsibility to see the job was finished correctly so am paying the price of having some hay wasted. There's, ultimately, only myself to blame.

HayJ doesn't seem to mind; he's the black and white Curly x Percheron and is a huge horse. He's so tall, he can raise his head and I can't get his halter on him so I trick him. I put a bucket of sweet feed on the ground and make him put his head through it in order to get to the feed. As Queen Victoria said, "We are not amused"...but I am and chuckle anyway. When you're 5'5" tall and your horse is about 18 hands tall, tricks are allowed. 

Mornings begin with dogs and I piled on the sofa and me having devotions. Gray Tom likes loves to curl up next to Sam, long suffering Sam, and the day begins gently. Tonight, it's going on 11:00 which is hours past my bedtime. Have I mentioned how much I despise hate daylight savings time? I want to know what's being saved 'cause it's sure not anyone or anything I know. Farmers, generally, hate dst and with good reason. It's light at 7 p.m. and by the time I get back inside, feed the cats and dogs, feed myself, get ready for bed, check e-mail it's past 9. If I want to update the blog, it's late...going on 11:00. grrrr! It's time to put the dogs out for their last toilet, more meds for me then sleep for all. 

Sweet dreams to you.

Blessings ~ good health for years ~ being helpful and useful ~ animals who love me and each other ~ good hay ~ warmer weather ~ 

It's All Good

Nancy, A Rural Journal, is hosting Random 5 Friday; here's my take.

1. Lately, I've been on a Jeeves and Wooster kick. You may remember Hugh Laurie, on this side of the pond of House fame, was Bertie Wooster and Stephen Fry was Jeeves, his valet. I am in a snit fit to buy Hugh Laurie's new blues c.d. called Didn't It Rain and his rendition of St. Elmo's Fire is, probably, the best I've ever heard. The white boy can do some blues, now, and his tango ain't shabby either.
I adore Fry as Jeeves, his ability to express himself so succinctly with a simple (ha!) raise of the eyebrow. The old queen is still going strong.
Next tangent is Lord Peter Wimsey which I'm re-reading and am going to order some DVD's. Dorothy Sayers is among my favorite authors, is always delightful, is always verbose and veddy, veddy British. The Dorothy L. Sayers Society here celebrates her life and writing. As an aside, she was, I believe, the only female member of the Inklings, with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien also members during their Oxford years.

2. This scene brings me to my knees, weeping tears of joy. There's NO snow, NO ice and the wind is still. O Dear God...thank YOU!  There's lots of rain and the temps are chilly, in the 40's so it's not sweater weather yet.

3. Today is the 21st of February and next month this date, it's SPRING! In celebration of that fact, I enameled my nails neon tulip pink. Granted, no one knows because I'm still wearing boots but I know and that counts. A lot.

 ~ Sadie ~

~ Sam ~

4. In my last post, It's a Good Day to Die, I mentioned Sadie and Sam were 3 years old. Yesterday, going through some papers, I noticed they will both be 5 in March. Somehow I missed a year or two, sorry babies! To the left of Sadie is the rug I'm putting in the sun room...hopefully today but as I still need to get my sorry self to town...deliver shortbread to vet's office, return books to library, mail GYBP gifts at post office, get a hair cut and then a mad dash to Bluefield to buy pink yarn to knit Kinsley a hat. BTW, it should be mentioned the name, "It's a Good Day to Die" is from, I believe, an old American native saying. It goes...It's a good day to die but tomorrow would be better." Yes, yes, it would.

5. Yesterday I downloaded to my Kindle this delightful book, Knitting by Faith. It's not that large, I think ten chapters, but well rounded in thought and theology. At ninety-nine cents it's pure treasure and highly recommended.

6. An extra...are you familiar with Dogs on Deployment? Watch here and be amazed at love.

That's my Friday and thank each of you who have been praying; truly, your prayers and God's answers have kept me from injury during this bad patch of winter. It would be lovely to have you visit but, trust me, your prayers are a lot more necessary and welcome because that's what's holding us all up. Dr. Anne, my vet, and I were talking while we were putting down Harry and Sophie; she said, "It would frighten people if they knew how close to the edge a lot of us are." She's so right! Every time I leave the farm I see folks who are dangerously close to the edge; exhausted beyond weariness with despair and almost completed overwhelmed by life. When we pray for each other, it brings both of us into the presence of God. Every time I read a comment, I stop and say a prayer for that person...for you...to be overwhelmed by God's grace, mercy, tenderness, love and kindness. For God to allow you to be restored, renewed, refreshed in Him.

Lately, there have been a few folks who have, during private netversations, been on the receiving end of my total truthfulness and they have left and, thus far, not returned. Which only goes to show, there's no unconditional love other than the unconditional love of Christ. We fail Him, He still forgives; bless His name forever.

Blessings ~ rain to fill the water table ~ knitting ~ British comedy and mystery ~ shortbread ~ warmer temps ~