Navigate this Blog

Today's Quote


“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Mosquitoes, Fire Ants and Blow Flies

We are now going on our 8th day of rain. Every single day rain. heavy rain. Everything is a mess with the muck and the mud everywhere. I am tired of the rain and I am tired of the mud. The weeds is my garden are a nightmare. I suppose I could pull weeds in the rain as long as it isn't thundering and lightening, but goodness I have to change clothes enough just tending to the critters. by the way they are tired of the rain too. Even the ducks are tired of the rain and I am finding them more and more in the goat barn. And with all this rain with the humidity comes....mosquitoes...fire ants....and blow flies. I have had 6 rabbits die of fly strike and the others weren't looking so well so the other 7 were killed and put in the freezer for the dogs. The dogs are eating well. Which stinks because several of those rabbits were ready to process and I was looking forward to some rabbit. The blow flies are terrible around here right now and I am trying to check critters everyday and keep things as clean as possible, but when the rain runs right through the aisleway of the barn carrying mud and muck with it it's hard. The chickens are staying fat and sassy though, but there are even more than they can eat. My local feed store will be happy because with the amount of fly spray that I am using around here daily to try and protect the critters, especially from the blow flies. The mosquitoes are breeding like crazy too...apparently they don't take a break while it's raining. I was in the garden yesterday trying to pick what I could, but the mosquitoes were eating me alive. And if the mosquitoes weren't eating me then the fire ants that have popped up everywhere were. you would think those suckers would drown with all this rain and the ground soaked as it is. Oh well, we are getting a good amount of school work done but it isn't easy having to keep Little britches in the house so much. She really is an outside girl. Oh well, gotta put on my mud shoes and slog through the mud to take care of chores. If I get stuck I hope somebody will come to my rescue. Have a great day, Kat

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Pretty Quiet and Wet

Well, it has been a pretty quiet week around here. With the loss of BC and the rain we haven't been doing much. We did get the summer shower finished with the exception of a few minor tweeks last week. It was nice to get that project done. I have been teaching little britches to swim this summer and she is doing quite well. I am looking forward to my trip to Maine. I will only be gone a few days, but it will be nice to have a break. I don't get them often. I am often amazed at how our life has pretty much fallen into quiet routine when I can remember not so very long ago that I was completely overwhelmed and always felt and is I was fighting a fire. Most major projects are done, the things for critters settled and built. Now, we are just in a routine of maintaining and keeping. It is kind of nice actually. I suddenly feel like I have all this free time and I often find myself looking for that fire ad feeling guilty that I don't have one to put out. Of course, there are always weeds to pull and seeds to plant, but I don't stress myself if my garden isn't completely weed free. The horse barn has been mostly redone and now all that is left is for the barnyard to be graded with the tractor. If we can get the tractor going then we will do that in the next couple of weeks, hopefully. So, I think I might be ready to start thinking about pigs again, just feeders not breeders. I won't be going into the pig breeding business anytime soon. I have to admit that I don't really like having pigs around all the time. I enjoy them while they are here for a little while and then I am glad to be done with them. We have had a rainy summer which has been nice for the garden. It has been cooler than usual also which has been nice. You would think living this far south all my life that I would be used to the heat and humidity by now, but I simply am not nor will I ever be. We are supposed to get more rain today so that might wash out my gardening day. Saturday is typically a day that I spend a lot of time in the garden. That way I don't feel like my garden is suffering if I don't get much done during the week. I am planting through this year for a continuous crop since the weather has been a bit strange so I have more planting to do. If I can't get in the garden because of the rain then I will probably clean the refrigerator. I hate cleaning the refrigerator but it must be done. I guess I had better get started it is really dark out there and doesn't look like I have much time before the rain settles in. Blessings, Kat

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Goodbye BC

This is a hard post to write. It was a rough weekend. I had to put my beautiful horse BC down. A bad case of colic that turned worse. he was dying and in pain, no longer able or willing to make the effort to get up. I suspect that he twisted a bowel, but I didn't do a necropsy to find out. He was thrashing pretty hard in the pasture when I found him. He was 15 years old and I have known him since the day that he was born. I have owned him since he was about 18 months old. I have trained him for the most part since he was 10 months old. He was my boy, my partner and he owned a part of my soul. He had so much heart and such a willingness to please me. I feel a huge loss and I miss him terribly. I had a hard time going to the barn yesterday. We were working together again and it was magical. I was so proud of him and he was gorgeous. Horses are so much different than other livestock and those horses that become your true partner and soulmate are much different than anything else. I have been privileged to have 4 of those such horses in my 30+ years with horses. Gumby, Scampy, Gully and BC. They were all special and amazing. They all still hold a special place in my heart and I would give every other critter on this farm just to have them back. BC was even tops of that short list. He was the one who always came to see what I was doing and offer his "assistance". He was good at inspecting every project. I rebuilt his stall just a short time ago with his "help" as he stood in Thunder's stall with his nose in everything. He was so good with the children, especially the little ones. Of course, they always had treats and he was ever so gentle taking those treats even when little fingers made it difficult. I feel as if I have lost a part of myself. When Gully died so tragically, BC was there for comfort. The other two are not so good at that so there isn't anyone to comfort me over his loss. No one to fill that hole that he has left behind. I miss you baby boy.