Chat Number 120

~ Carly Shetland ~

OHMYGOODNESS...can you believe it? Patrice is hosting Chat Number 120...although Wendell is a bit under the weather (is it possible too many carrots made him sick?) Her questions and my answers:

1. Have you baked any Christmas cookies yet?  No, but baking short bread is on my calendar for tomorrow. I want to give short bread to the folks at the auto repair shop, library and feed stores; they are so nice to me and I want to say "thank you" in a tangible way. 

2. Have you finished your shopping yet? Oh gosh, I finished most of my Christmas shopping months ago. Although, this year, I'm dong things differently. Family and I celebrated Christmas last weekend and I gave them baskets of home canned goodies, a few store bought goodies and a note that said a donation was made to The Gideons International in their name. Let's face it, all of us have everything we need (food, shelter, clothing) and most of what we want. I've reached the age when I want to share in a more tangible way, so I'm giving the gift of eternity. Most of my friends and I have decided not to exchange gifts as well; when we get together (whenever that is), we'll go out to supper or I'll cook for us. The gift of their presence is what I want; I can never get enough of good friends.

3. If you had reindeer like the story of Santa, what would you name them? Love, Joy, Peace, Kindness, Gentleness, Faith, Hope, Charity and Wisdom.

4. What was the most memorable Christmas gift you ever gave or received? In 1971, my parents sent me to Emmanuel Junior College in Franklin Springs, GA. Just before Christmas break, I was packing to go home and noticed Joni, a classmate from Hawaii, wasn't packing. It turned out, her family didn't have money to bring her home for Christmas so Mom and Daddy said, "bring her with you." On Christmas morning, there were gifts under the tree for Joni...a gift from Mom and Daddy. That's not only my favorite Christmas memory, it's also the most memorable Christmas gift I've ever given and received.

5. Please tell me something new, interesting, or funny. Also, Wendell could use some encouraging words to feel better, just saying. I was in my flannel nightgown, fuzzy socks and fleece mocs at 4:30 tonight. The oil man delivered oil (OUCH!) and as soon as he left, I locked the gate, gave a flake of hay to Carly, came inside and got comfy. Have I mentioned how much warmer the house is since plugging the foundation holes and sealing between the sun room and house?   BTW, Wendell, whenever I'm a little down in the dumps, I count my blessings and that always helps. Then again, so does a good cry every now and again. 

There are three water troughs on the farm and they all freeze; a de-icer is kept in one and that prevents ice but on the other two, ice forms. This ice isn't so bad, it's just a piece whereas sometimes it's a sheet, two inches thick, covering the entire trough. 

Once I drag the ice out of the trough, you can see how crystal clear the water is and, if you could taste it, you'd taste the sweetest limestone water in the world.  

Do you see this stealth 'paca?

Little sneaky thief! But...can't blame him because he didn't leave the gate open...it was someone with two legs 













and I don't mean these critters:

Have I mentioned how nice it is to have dust to dawn lights on the garage? 

THANKS, DONALD!

It's so cold and, this year, my old bones are feeling the cold so it's taking me a while to visit your blogs. Just be glad you're not here, the smell of muscle rub is quite intoxicating invigorating stinky.
Merry Christmas everyone; remember the reason we celebrate.




Blessings ~ Patrice ~ pure drinking water ~ egg nog ~ so much food to eat, I even have snacks! ~ warm flannel nightgown ~ guineas ~ a warm house ~

I Love My Garage!

~ fabulous driver! ~

Back in February, so much has happened since then! my pre-made garage was delivered. It was made by Mennonite folks down in Statesville, NC, Old Hickory Buildings, and it's been a gem! It's gone through some changes, for the better, and yesterday, Daniel and his brother David, came up and gave me some additional help. Farmer John has a dump truck and, a few months ago, he and I went across the mountain where I purchased several tons of gravel for the driveway. Eventually, more gravel will be purchased to fill in the empty spots and make it less muddy to walk from garage and driveway to the house.

The garage was turned from facing down the driveway to facing the driveway. When I approach the building, I come up the driveway and turn right, into the garage. WOOHOO! It may not seem like much to you but, trust me, it's been doings around here! The dual lights are dusk to dawn...lovely...and Sam P. Spade, Secret Agent, approves...very important!

I've spent a considerable amount of time, putting things to order and...should I be ashamed to admit, my garage is in better organized shape than the house? 

Fiddle dee dee!

No, the building isn't listing but I was so excited and didn't take good care when taking the photo. My apologies. The shepherd's hook pumpkin is to let me know when I can, safely, turn toward, or away from, the garage. I'd hate to run into the concrete block wall and damage my vehicle. A garage was something on the "to-do" list Dave and I were constantly amending. Unfortunately, prior to his death, we never got around to it, but having it now is lovely, warm, dry and safe. My tools have a home, the car is put to bed every night, there's light enough for the garage, driveway and walk to the house. It may seem like a little thing but it's a huge thing...and I am so grateful!

Today's Miracles ~ perfect weather ~ I sat out a huge round bale of hay, safely ~ dogs and cats enjoyed the day as I did chores ~ simple pleasures ~ sweet, cold water ~ Daniel ~ David ~ John ~ 

Making Silage

Daddy John has been making silage which he'll feed his cattle this winter. He's grown the prettiest and tallest crop of corn in the valley; in some places it was 17 feet or taller. Field corn for silage is different than sweet corn for our table and while it's possible to eat it, it's tough to chew and not especially flavorful. The entire corn stalk is used in making silage and generally when the moisture content is around 30 to 40%, according to Virginia Tech.

Daddy John drives the wagon, pulling the machine to cut the corn. As the corn is cut, it's "chewed" don't you love my technical terms? smile into a silo filler and blown, via a silo tower, into the back of an open truck. Cutting corn for silage is a four person job...one person to drive the tractor and cut the corn, 

two truck drivers, here, a full truck leaving as an empty one pulls into place, 

and another man to drive the second tractor and pack down the silage in a silo which is, essentially, a pit, or bunker, built into the side of a hill. It has a bank on three sides, is open on the top and will sit and ferment until it's fed to the cattle. This is a quite different process from the horse drawn wagons and hand cutting that took place before mechanization. 
Silage is fed only to animals with four stomachs...cattle, sheep, goats. Horses cannot eat it as it will make them sick and possibly kill them. Silage is around 7% to 8% in protein and beef cattle need around 10% to 14%. According Mark L. Wahlberg, Ext. Animal Scientist at VA Tech, there are ways of increasing silage protein and I'm pretty sure Daddy John knows them but I won't go into them here. "Cause I don't -smile-  
Silage will ferment, it is after all, corn which is used to make alcohol all over the world. Dave never enjoyed the smell but I do; perhaps, it's because I know it's food for the cattle and that makes it attractive. Dave never liked the smell of wet wool on the sheep either but I told him, "I love that smell; it's the smell of money." Really though, I just like farm smells although I'm not crazy about poultry houses. That's a trifle too much nasty for my nose.
John still has pastures of corn to cut but it's raining this week, so, tomorrow, he's picking me up and we're going to buy gravel for my driveway and garage entry. I've spent two days leveling out the entry, moved half a ton of feed by hand...again!...straightened the garage, am in process of putting my tools away, and have moved wood and metal fence posts to a new storage spot. Tonight, Erik and his twin brother Austin, surprised me by coming by and smoothed my leveling job on the entry ramp. 
We're having a fierce storm from the south...high wind, rain and I've begun feeding hay to the horses and feed to the calves. This weather sucks the life right out of animals and I always like to feed a bit extra to tide them over a stormy night. 
Needless to say, this ole gal is whooped and all this physical labor is why I'm not blog visiting. I'm hustling to get the farm ready for winter and it's in winter I do most of my blog visiting. It will be nice to be able to use the garage; tomorrow is the beginning of the end of that particular chore. Thank God! It's going to be nice to have the car in storage.

Blessings ~ beautiful weather to cut, transport and store corn ~ my garage ~ level ramp ~

Rural Thursday Blog Hop #1

~ my garage, built to order ~

oops...forgot to say, if you're looking for the Thankful Follower give-away post, look here; you have four more days to comment.


Nancy, Rural Journal, and Lisa, Two Bears Farm, are hosting a blog hop today and invited me to join them. We're supposed to blog about rural living, recipes, homesteading tips, animals, photography... essentially anything having to do with country living. As I'm writing my post, I make number 30 and cow's tail. What can I say? It's been one of Those Days. This morning I had to go to town for yet more meetings with my Wonderful Lawyer...and I mean that sincerely, I do luv my lawyer!...meetings with other folks with whom Dave did business, library to make copies, post office to mail all those pieces of correspondence and topped off by going to WallyWorld to get an oil change. Yeah, yeah, if you don't like big box stores, do us both a favor and keep it to yourself. When I've got a time crunch, there's nothing like being able to grocery shop, pick up 'scripts and then rest my rear while my car is being serviced. When I'm not in a time crunch and when the weather is mild enough for me to sit outside, I go to our local small business auto shop. Unfortunately, those folks smoke and I'm allergic to cig smoke so big box store it is a lot of times. 


Anyhooooo...I got home in very late afternoon and thought I'd blog about my garage being delivered. Dave and I never had a garage though we have plenty of barns, buildings, sheds and the like but never a garage. A garage would have been So Handy while Dave was sick. I shudder remembering the times when it was blowing sleet, snow, ice and rain and I had to get him, his oxygen gear and his previous frail self out of the house and into the car and then to the doctor or hospital. Of course, all of that was after I started the car so it could heat up enough so I could get the windows scrapped and then move it to the back porch to load Dave, etc. Mercy!

~ brilliant truck driver! ~

Daniel and I were talking one evening about garages and I told him I'd seen a shed that looked like someone was using it as a garage. He told me about a company "down on the 4-lane", as they call Rt. 460 around here, and I went to investigate. Yes, they did sell ready made and made to order buildings and they did deliver and set up. So, I ordered a 20x24 building with a roll up garage door, two three foot x three foot windows and a metal door with nine windows. It also has an eight foot loft inside for extra storage. 

~ putting into place ~

The driver delivered and set the building level and all within a couple of hours; amazing! He told me to let it set for about two weeks so it could settle. We've had a lot of rain and the ground is really spongy so sitting for a while is a good thing. In time, I'll have a wooden drive ramp built so I can drive right into the garage. 


Okay, you folks who have garages may not understand my total excitement but this provides shelter for my car as well as security for me. Daniel is going to put up a couple of motion detector solar lights at the front and rear and, in the spring, he's making plans to have a trench dug so I can put electricity in the garage. My nephew is a licensed electrician so it will, naturally, be to code. 

~ way bye-bye to the nice delivery man ~

Come to find out, there are a lot of folks who are in this type business and a lot of them are Mennonite or Amish. Construction varies but my building has six by six skids while other companies only have four by four skids...Very Important. My floor will hold 10,000 pounds so everything from my car to my truck will not only fit but be held securely. I paid a bit extra for more blocks to be set under my building; so none of the skids are touching the ground and even though all the lumber is treated, I still opted to pay the extra money for the extra blocks. The metal roof is screwed on, not nailed on...again, Very Important with all the crazy wind we have in this valley and all doors and windows lock. There's more good stuff but they aren't paying me to say anything so I'll shush.


If you're interested in who made my garage, it's the Mennonites of Old Hickory Buildings out of Statesville, NC and, thus far, I couldn't be happier! This post might not be perxactly what Nancy and Lisa had in mind but, trust me, it's making my rural life a lot better, a lot safer and a lot more secure. Good things, all! 

Blessings ~ made to order garage ~ Mennonites ~ Nancy ~ Lisa ~