Happenings around the farm and home

Wow, things have been a bit busy around here lately. School is officially in session although for us it is never fully "out" of session. The little one is doing well with her reading lessons and the older one is busy with high school, getting ready to take the ACT and thinking about life after high school. We are gearing up for the fair and trying to finish those fair entries that haven't been finished. The little one is working with her bunny for the rabbit show and both girls have decided that they will be showing goats next year. Not really sure how I feel about that since I maintain a closed herd and that blows that out of the water. I guess I will just have to get over it. We are anxiously looking forward to some rain this weekend as it has been really dry lately. It has been a crazy summer as far as the weather goes. Cooler than normal with rain everyday for weeks and then hot and dry with no rain for weeks. Fall is definitely setting in though and I am closing up the majority of the garden while working on getting the winter garden planted. Since I have decided to downsize the garden to fit just our needs I have the berry patches ready to plant in the spring and am getting the orchard area ready to plant. Sweet potatoes will be ready to harvest soon also and that will wrap up the summer harvest. This week has been busy putting up pears. I put up 36 quarts and 10 pints so far and the trees are still loaded with pears. I think I will be making some fruit leathers this weekend for the children. I took my Mom to a great little candy shop the other day just for a fun little outing. You can also get ice cream there and sit on the nice wide front porch. We had fun and brought home some fudge which everyone is enjoying. I am trying to get her out of the house more and take her to some places she wouldn't normally go. She can't travel far from home because of her pain issues so it can be a challenge coming up with places to go. I have been cleaning out and organizing the house to prepare for a relatively easy housekeeping winter. It will be enough of a chore keeping the fires going in the woodstoves and keeping that area clean without having to deal with extra "clutter". We almost have the run on the chicken coop finished so by next week we should be able to lock up the chickens permanently so that we can figure out who is laying and who isn't (most of them). That way we can determine who goes to the freezer and who doesn't. Right now we are getting very few eggs and it is a pain and an inconvenience not having eggs for breakfast. I admit it I am an egg addict. So that is really just about it for right now. Really not much going on other than getting ready for winter and trying to take some time to do things that I enjoy.Hope you are all having a blessed fall. Kat















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Curing Homestead Burnout

Like my last post said when I got back home from vacation, I got pretty depressed because the one thing that I realized was that my life consisted of work...work...and more work. Never having time to really enjoy the fruits of my labor or anything else for that matter because I was always working on something. Well, that is the past and now here is the present and future. Farming is not my life...it is part of my life and I am working now on developing other aspects of my life. I have done some major cleanouts lately and gotten rid of clutter not only from the house but from the barns. I am so OCD about clutter that when things are cluttered and untidy then I feel cluttered and untidy. We had piles of "might use someday", my get repurposed someday" and "might get fixed someday" all around the farm. Most of those are now gone having either been scrapped, given away or taken to the dump. What was left is now neatly stacked and stored under the shed. We have just about finished cutting up and clearing away one tree and even though we have several more to cut up and clean up this one was nearer to the barn and so the barn area looks much better and tidier...happier me. The house has been given another going through and probably will have another one in a couple of months. Part of how we accumulated so much is that same "depression" mentality that my grandparents had. My grandparents both grew up during the depression and saved everything (I mean everything) because it might be able to be used someday. My husband and I have always struggled with living on a tight budget to say the least and disposable money to just always buy something when we needed it has not been there so most times we have had to make do with what we could scrounge, build, or repurpose from what we already had around. This meant that we always kept something around. So all this decluttering and freeing ourselves of those "someday" piles has really been liberating for me. I have done some more work on my front porch and in my front yard. I have always loved cottage type decorating and have really done a cottagey number on the front porch. It is now my retreat and I am enjoying starting my day on the front porch with my coffee, the computer and being able to watch the chickens run around as the sun comes up. This is what country life is supposed to be like. Morning chores are simplified and streamlined so that they only take an hour of my life now. Keeping the house daily takes about another hour. Schoolwork is done in the morning and the afternoon is spent enjoying my children and working on hobbies that bring me pleasure. I hope to soon get back to that painting that has been sitting on my easel for 4 years (yes I said 4 years). This Friday the children and I are going on a short road trip to see some sights and end the day with an art walk in another town. Life is good again here at Whisper Wind. The garden is under a major re-haul with the excess that we used to grow vegetables being transformed to grow berries and dwarf fruit trees. The whole thing is being mulched heavily so that I don't have to worry with weeds, but the space is being made use of. We won't be doing a CSA anymore and have decided more fruits and berries is much more lucrative than selling vegetables. Hope you all are having a good summer, ours is getting much better and I have a feeling this is going to be a good year. Blessings, Kat

Vacation Depression

So, I finally got to take a small vacation after 7 years of not having one. The children and I went to maine to visit my sister. I was only gone for a few days because the farm simply couldn't go too long without me. Hubby stayed home to take care of the critters. I had a wonderful time so wonderful in fact that it really made me re-evaluate things when I got home. While at my sister's house I actually had time to read a book which is something that I love to do. however at home I am typically way to tired and fall asleep trying to read while I am still on the first page. When i got home I realized that I am burned out. I never thought I would be in this position. I have seen others there and because of my blinders and my daily grind to finish projects and keep going I simply couldn't see the forest for the trees. So for the first several days of getting back I was pretty depressed. Well, I can't stay depressed and mopey for long before I start thinking about what I am going to do about my situation. I have to make some changes around here so I have some time to have fun. Having time to have fun and enjoy ourselves has been put by the wayside for work, work and more work. The first thing I am doing is moving to a smaller garden. I am cutting my garden in half and by doing so will eliminate doing a CSA every year. It will eliminate some income from the farm as well, but this year has really taught me that I "make" more if I put up everything that I grow. It has been such a poor year that most of the vegetables from the garden went to filling CSA shares and now I am spending money buying from other farmers just to have something put up. So in the long run I haven't made anything except extra work in keeping up a bigger garden area. We will be butchering off one goat this year. She has never given me a baby and I keep holding on to her because she is gorgeous and I keep hoping. her sister is an awesome milker and the hope has always been there to have two of them milking in that manner. I probably could get her pregnant, but that would cost money because I would need the vet. Resources being used that could better be put to other use. I am taking down some cross fencing simply because moving livestock takes up time and then pastures aren't getting the amount of grazing that they need to stay healthy and useable. I have gotten rid of a good amount of stuff over the past couple of weeks and cleaned out those piles of "do later" things. I am streamlining the taking care of my house and putting my foot down with the children about taking care of their areas. I tidied and decorated my front porch and now I have a wonderful place to sit and rest, read a book, or even do some artwork if I like. I have noticed the past couple of days that even with me just being out here on the porch the children tend to want to come outside more. So, I am working on getting more "fun" time. I am making a list of projects that we have been working on and deciding which ones are really necessary and which ones are actually spinning our wheels. I think my biggest issue is that I simply had too much on my plate and was working constantly towards too many goals. Things that really were not all that beneficial. Sometimes it's good to take a step back and re-evaluate things. Sometimes you are so in the thick of doing that you can't see that your whole life is work and there is no fun time. We are now planning a vacation for next year in which the whole family can come. It will take some doing finding someone to hire to take care of the farm, but if things are pretty streamlined it should make that part easier also. Hope you all have had a great summer. Blessings, Kat

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

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

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.

Bringing a Horse Up from Pasture (Back to Work)

As I am sure I have mentioned previously the horses have not really been worked in the past several years. When we decided to start farming it took every little bit of time to get where we are and get into new schedules with all the new critters, gardens, food preservation etc. Now that we have settled in somewhat I am ready to start working with my ponies again. I didn't realize how badly I missed that until I started helping my friend with her new horses. Since this isn't my first rodeo with bringing an unfit pasture ornament back into real work, I thought I would pass on my handy dandy tips. So here they are. First start slow. Don't just throw a saddle on your horse and go out for that half a day trail ride. If you do that poor horse won't hardly be able to move for a week. When a horse has been in pasture for any length of time muscle, tendons, ligaments and bone must be strengthened back up for the workload expected of them. I like to start with a refreshment course in stable manners. Stand politely while you are groomed, fly sprayed etc., don't be pushy...those sorts of things. Make sure that you have taken care of the basics such as attending to their health and their feet. If they aren't in that great of condition then either start giving them more calories, slowly or start them on a bit of a diet, slowly. A horse in poor condition by being either underweight or overweight will have more trouble getting back into shape. The next thing I like to do is work on the lunge line which will help to build and strengthen muscles without the added weight and strain of a rider. It also puts the horse back into the frame of mind to work. Some horses don't particularly take kindly to being brought in from vacation and this gives a nice transition without too much fuss. When starting the horse on the lunge don't just let your horse run willy nilly in circles around you. I like for the circle to actually be an oval (yes this means you have to work too) as it is easier on the joints and tendons that are out of shape. Start by walking, lots of walking. Then you can move into periods of trotting mixed with walking. Depending on how long the horse has been out of work will determine how long this period is. My best advice is not to rush it. If you and the horse need a change of scene then pick a different pasture or area to work in. Work both directions to work both sets of muscles on the horse. You can start with 20 minute workouts and work up to one hour. As the time period gets longer then increase the trotting time within that time frame. You can introduce some walk/trot/walk transitions which will help to balance the horse along with building muscle along the back and rear. Once the horse is comfortably lunging for an hour with little signs of fatigue then you can start riding. Start by walking for about 30 minutes and build from there. Just the act of carrying a rider is fatiguing to an unfit horse and most horses out in pasture have weak back muscles so take the time to let those back muscles get stronger to prevent back injuries. A horse with a bad back is not fun to have around. I rode one for a trainer for awhile and it seemed like more days than not I was tending to a bad back rather than being in the saddle. So don't feel bad for just walking...you are doing valuable muscle building and training which will save you a lot of heartache in the future. Next you can add some trot work and hills into your walk to build even more muscles and exercise those tendons and ligaments. Once the horse is comfortably handling a good hour to hour and a half of walking and trot work then you can begin to move into whatever discipline is your chosen one. If you even or jump you can start some canter work and work over cavaletti's. If you do barrels then you can start some canter work and work around your pattern. Whatever you do take the time to recondition the horse slowly, it will save lameness and other problems in the long run and make for a much happier willing partner. If the horse associates you with pain (sore muscles, bruised tendons, etc.) then they are much less likely to be happy to see you when you head out with the halter. BC has been out of work for years and I know that I have to take it real slow with him. We have been working on the lunge for a couple of weeks now. At first a 30 minute walk had him in a real sweat. Now, he is handling an hour of walk/trot work on the lunge with less sweat than he started with. He is also balancing himself much better which tells me that the muscles are getting stronger and more used the work being asked. Next, week he will go in loose side reins and then the week after we will start with slow saddle work. I expect it will be this fall before we really start any serious dressage work and even then eventing fitness. However, BC has been out for much longer and it will be slow going. I have to say though it feels good to just be working with him and spending time with him. Blessings, Kat