My Life on the Farm

Sweets

2012-02-12T09:58:00.004-06:00

I wanted to start using the strawberries that I had frozen from this past summer- both to enjoy the fruits of my labor (pun intended) and to clean out my freezer(s). I found a recipe for Old Fashioned Strawberry Pie and decided to try it for a dinner I was going to a few days ago. It was pretty darn tasty (if I do say so myself) and I brought home what was left so that Art could enjoy it, too. Because Art got home late, I went to bed before he finished his dinner (hey, it was 9:30 and I was tired) so I didn't get to hear how he liked the pie. The next morning, I found this note from Art on the kitchen counter:

Super Clean

2012-02-07T18:48:00.004-06:00

Because I had such a robust tomato crop this year (when I say "robust" I really mean "abismal") this is our very last jar of ketchup. Considering how much Art loves ketchup, this jar won't last long.

It was a fairly productive weekend for me, which is odd since I don't usually accomplish much other than the basics during the winter months. I washed the floors downstairs, something I have never actually done. I've swept, vaccumed, and dust mopped, but never actually washed. On my hands and knees. With a bucket. The floors were looking kind of dull, especially in the dining room around the wood stove. I won't even tell you how dirty the water was when I finished. But thanks to a little water and wood soap, my floors shine!

I also cleaned my dishwasher on Saturday. And I really do mean 'cleaned'. Because we have such hard water, rust builds up in the water jets so I cleaned those out (not naturally, but with the toilet bowl cleaner "The Works". Really great for getting into the holes but smells terrible and it kind of caustic, so be careful). I cleaned around the door seal and washed down the inside of the washer. I've always bought dish detergent and, over the years, it has left a hard soap/calcium build up on the door and along the bottom edge. I scrubbed all of that off and the dishwasher looks brand new (well, as new as a ten-year-old dishwasher can look). Along with the recipe I got for homemade laundry detergent was a recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent. I already had the makings from the laundry soap and I only had to buy some citric acid. I never liked using powdered detergents because they helped leave that build up on the door, but I made it, tried it, and loved it! I did add vinegar to the rinse cycle, and my dishes came out clean as ever without leaving any build up on dishwasher door or hard water spots on my dishes.

Here's the recipe if you're interested:

1 cup Washing soda
1 cup Borax
½ cup salt
½ cup citric acid

--Mix together and store tightly covered in a Mason Jar. Use one tablespoon per load. Add vinegar to the rinse dispenser for the best results.

I would absolutely reccommend this to everyone- it's an inexpensive alternative to the natural dish detergents and it still works really well!

Good-Bye For Now

2012-01-31T17:44:00.015-06:00

For the last six years we have always had chickens roaming around the farm. We've loved having fresh eggs everyday, enjoyed watching them forage and run around (if you've never seen a chicken run, it's pretty funny), and we've enjoyed hearing the clucks, cackles, and crows (well, not at 5 AM). We've had our share of preditors including rats, opossums, raccoons, and weasels, that have periodically thinned the flock. But no matter how frustrating they were or how many we lost, we always replaced them with new chickens. But the weasel was what finally did me in. After a summer of raccoons (raccoon casualty: 8) and an autumn of weasels (weasel casualty: 6), I just didn't have it in me to get new chickens as they only would have been bait to various preditors. So, this past weekend Art took our last three hens to our friends' farm to live with their flock. Our chickens weren't roosting in the coop (can you blame them? They witnessed the death of five of their sisters in that coop) and because of that we weren't sure where or if they were laying eggs. Plus, they always looked so sad and lonely, just the three of them roosting in the cow pen, bored. They'll be happier with the large flock our friends' have- they'll have friends and they'll have a new place to scratch and forage.

It's the end of an era for us and it makes me a little sad. I have this big idea that I'm going to fix up the chicken coop this summer. The walls have bats of insulation and plastic sheeting over them, but that allows holes for rats and weasels, so my intention is to close it in. I have always let my chickens range freely because I think it makes a happier, healthier chicken, but because of that they are easy prey for raccoons. When we first had chickens we fenced off the area around the chicken coop, but the scratched it dry so it was just a big dirt patch. I haven't decided what I'll do about that (or if I'll do anything about that).

One benefit of not having chickens around is that I no longer have to worry about them foraging in places they shouldn't. Last fall I planted a gazillion bulbs and, by the next day, those damn chickens had dug up every single one so that I had to re-plant them all. When I spread the old hay in my garden I always admire how neat it looks...until the next day when I find that the chickens of gone though and messed it all up. No matter how many times I would go out there to straighten the hay, those damn chickens would mess it up again. I also won't have to worry about them eating bugs off of my tomatoes- which sounds like it would be beneficial, but they actually take a piece of tomato everytime they pick off a bug, so I have chunks of tomato missing from each fruit. Art just added that there won't be chicken poop everywhere, so that's a good thing, too.

Since we've been getting eggs from the same friends who took our chickens, Art and I are sitting on the fence about re-establishing our chicken flock. Perhaps it will be like gardening and I will get a fresh outlook when spring comes along?

I just thought I would share some pictures of the chickens we've had over the years:

Homemade Laundry Soap

2012-01-23T18:41:00.003-06:00

Every time I buy laundry soap, liquid or powder, name-brand or off-brand, I cringe. It's expensive because I always have to use more soap than the recommended dosage because a) none of it is meant for hard water, and b) Art gets really, really dirty in his job. It doesn't seem to clean very well, so our clothes have somewhat of a shelf-life. I wanted to use something natural, but if you think regular laundry soap can be expensive, the natural soaps are triple the price for much less soap. I had toyed with the idea of making my own laundry soap, but had never found an easy recipe that didn't involve scouring eastern Iowa for lye. I'm also afraid of lye because I'm afraid it will splash on me and make me blind. A few weeks ago, I asked a friend to email me her recipe for laundry soap (she also included her recipes for stain remover, homemade Oxy-clean, fabric sheets and dishwasher detergent. That's my next project as every dish detergent we've tried leaves a disgusting amount of soap scum build up.) It was very easy and all of the ingredients cost less than $10.00. I had an empty laundry detergent bucket in the basement and the recipe made enough to fill it- about three gallons. If you are interested, here is the recipe:

1. Grate 2 cups worth of bar soap (I used Fels Naptha, but I've heard Dr. Bronner's is good, too).

2. Bring 1 gallon of water to a boil and add your grated soap. Wait for the water to come to a boil again and reduce the heat to low. Stir the solution until the soap is melted.

3. Remove your soap and water from the heat and pour the mixture into your bucket.

4. Mix in 2 cups of borax and 2 cups of washing soda (found in the laundry/cleaner supplies aisle). Stir until completely dissolved.

5. Stir in 2 gallons of water and allow the mixture to cool. Add 15 to 20 drops of essential oil if you'd like a scented detergent (I forgot this part).

6. Place a lid on your detergent and stir it before each use. Use 1/4 cup of detergent for each regular-sized load of laundry.

Don't use too much bar soap; I did and instead of remaining liquid-y, it became quite gelatinous. It still works very well, but if you don't want a lumpy-jello-detergent, use the recommended amount.

I washed all of our clothes with it this weekend and even Art's greasiest, dirtiest clothes came out cleaner than with the store-bought detergent. I had him look at them in case it was more a placebo-effect for me, but he agreed that his clothes looked and smelled much cleaner!

2012-01-12T18:27:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago Art bought a tool of some sort on Craigslist. Before the actual purchase, Art called the seller to ask him some questions and make sure the tool worked. Somehow they went from discussing the grease gun to discussing politics. This guy talked to Art for 30 minutes about Ron Paul and the 9/11 conspiracy. Did you know that on 9/11 there was a Vietnam vet standing (or, in my opinion, living) near the World Trades Center and he swears that planes never hit the Twin Towers? He said, "I was in Vietnam and I know what a jet plane sounds like and there was no jet plane". Apparently there was another building near the Twin Towers that actually blew up the buildings and the planes were photo-shopped.

When they got back on the topic of the grease gun and Art asked him how much he wanted for it, the guy gave him a price, but also said he preferred to trade and if we have any canned goods, ammunition or silver he would take that as a trade for the grease gun.

A few days later Art went to pick up his grease gun. He came home with a grease gun, several Ron Paul pamphlets, and four DVDs about the 9/11 conspiracy and other government secrets. He is now sporting a lovely Ron Paul bumper sticker on his pick-up truck. Art tried to talk to me about how awesome Ron Paul is but I just couldn't listen. Sure, Ron might have a couple of good theories, but that's all they are- theories. If he actually tried to implement them it would be a complete failure and I sometimes wonder if Ron Paul even knows how the government works. Art also tried to get me to watch some of the conspiracy DVDs. I've watched a lot of stupid stuff for Art- Predictor, Running Man, Point Break- but I drew the line at this. Luckily I had dinner with some girlfriends last week so he could watch one. I asked them how it was and what he learned and he said, "you don't want to hear it so I'm not going to tell you".

So if you see Art driving around in his beat up pick-up truck with the Ron Paul sticker proudly displayed on the back window, be grateful he can't vote.

Monthly Update

2012-01-12T18:06:00.003-06:00

I keep promising to be better at posting, but I never seem to fulfill that promise. Kind of like the New Year resolutions I stopped making years ago when it was apparent that I would never follow through and I decided to stop putting so much pressure on myself. Besides, how many (and what sort of) resolutions can a tweny-year-old make?

Sorry about the tangent.

Last weekend was gorgeous- forty degrees and sunny- a perfect weekend to cut wood. Art spent Saturday in a friends' cattle pasture cutting down a dead oak tree and came home with a pick-up bed full of wood. It was another beautiful day on Sunday, and since Art was going back to get the rest of the wood, I decided to go with him (I brought my Kindle just in case it proved to be boring). We came home with another pick-up bed full of oak. It won't be ready to use until next year, but it's always good to be prepared. The wood is sitting in a (massive) pile beside the barn and will need to be split before we put it away in the corn crib. I told Art that if this weekend is nice I will split wood, and while it's supposed to be sunny and in the low thirties, it's probably covered in snow from the storm that went through today. Darn.

We also burned horns last weekend. The three calves we bought are an Angus-holstien mix; they shouldn't have horns, but the older (the all black one if you look back in the posts) calf must have had more holstein in her because she developed horns while the other two did not (angus cows don't grow horns). We borrowed the de-horner from the vet and I held her while Art did the dirty work. It's a necessary evil and she was already starting to use the little nubbins to push the other calves around. Since we burned the horns she has stopped doing that so I will assume the other two are grateful.

The calves are doing very well and growing like weeds. They are still adorable and one of them is almost friendly. I still haven't come up with any names for them, though, and I feel kind of bad about that. I've just been calling each one "baby cow" but that's kind of like how I name each cat that shows up "Kitty", completely unoriginal and extremely generic.

We had the first real snow of the season today! I want to complain, but I feel like I can't because it's January 12th and the snow wasn't even terrible. I think we go around three inches and while the wind is terrible, it's not even that cold. I had thought about taking the RAV today, but when I looked out the window this morning it didn't look too bad. The Yaris did fine on the roads, but when I got into Coralville and had to stop at several stoplights, I discovered that the little car has no testicles. I'm used to stepping on the gas and moving- never in my life have I driven a car with two-wheel drive and I can't say as I like it (at least in the snow). When I left my office, I had to go a back round-a-bout way to get to the main street because I couldn't get though the snow drift in the driveway left by the plows. I also couldn't get up the hill on the side of the building. I've never had such a problem before and it made me miss my RAV. Art has it all ready for me to take tomorrow, though. I made sure that he drove it around a little today as there have been mice living in the glove box. Art said I don't have to worry about a dead mouse and I told him I wasn't; I was worried about a live mouse crawling up my leg as I'm driving down the interstate. This is a very real concern as Art took the RAV out a few weeks ago and saw a mouse run across the dash. It could happen. And if it happens to me, I cannot guarentee that I will make it to work as I will surely drive into ditch.

Hey- I never said I was a real country girl.

Fun Find

2012-01-02T13:16:00.005-06:00

I had the week off between Christmas and New Years and I always have high expectations that I will accomplish things I could never hope to accomplish in only a weekend; my house would be spotless, all the laundry would be washed and put away, closets and drawers cleaned out and de-culttered. About the only thing I did accomplish this week was the laundry- and that was on my final day. What I did with the other ten days, I'm not entirely certain, but they seemed to go by too quickly.

On one day I had lunch with a friend in Iowa City, and then we went to two eclectic shops around the corner- Artifacts and Modela. They're full of things, not quite antiques and some kitch-y, anything from lamps to fur coats to really odd knick-knacks to obscure books and prints. In one of the small rooms (more of an alcove, really) I found a milk box. These were aluminum insulated boxes kept on porches that the milk-man would leave fresh bottles of milk in on his morning route. I have always wanted one and apparently people know this and price them much higher than I am willing to pay. I found this one at the great price of $15. The label was worn or peeled off, but I could still see the outline of the original name- Home Town Dairy Food. I imagine it was so cheap because there was no label, but in a burst of crafty creativity, I first stenciled the original label outline in marker, then painted in the letters with black paint.

It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Once the paint dries I will use a razor blade to clean up some of the rough edges. Art asked me what I planned on doing with it (he suggested using it as a trash bin to which I didn't say anything, I just gave him a look) and I haven't decided yet. I'm thinking of putting all of our plastic grocery bags in it instead of in a drawer which, when it gets too full, always fall behind the drawer into a mouse-turd-abyss.

Redneck Christmas

2012-01-02T12:58:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Art and I didn't do much for the holidays but they seemed to go by quickly anyway. We stayed close to home and enjoyed the warm and still-green Christmas.

I just wanted to share a picture of one of my Christmas gift:

Art bought this for me! It probably doesn't seem like an exciting gift to anyone else, but I love it because this four-wheeler is our new wood-hauler. Before this, I would have to carry wood from our corn-crib to the house, but because I'm small and weak, I can only carry four, maybe five, pieces at a time. Art, being larger and stronger, can carry much more, but I feel bad making him carry all the wood. The four-wheeler can carry more wood than Art can and I will be able to drive back and forth easily instead of always bothering Art to bring in more wood (he says that I never bother him, but I think he might be lying a little.)

So it was a bit of a redneck Christmas present- but I love it!

Babies!

2011-12-18T12:31:00.003-06:00

Art's dream of having his own cattle herd is a little closer to fruition. Yesterday he picked up the newest additions in our cattle hauler (a.k.a Art's Jeep. Why buy an expensive trailer when you can load two at a time in the back of a Jeep? Sure they pee and poop all over the place, but you just have to leave the doors open over night and the next morning it'll smell like roses!). They are, so far, without names- it's hard to think of three clever and appropriate names for cows that have no discernable characteristic. The other cows we've had had definite defects (with the exception of Ferdinand, he's just sweet) and that made it easier. Since we are going to raise them to sell, perhaps I should just call them 'T-bone', 'Tenderloin', and 'Filet'. Of course, the person that buys them may want to use them for breeding, in which case I would have to think of something else.

They are heifers (girl cows) and they are an Angus-Holstein cross. They aren't as friendly as Ferdi, but that just makes it easier to say good-bye when the day comes that we ship them off to the stockyards. They're about a month old and super cute, especially this one:

The two smaller ones still need to be bottle-fed and the larger one (because she's a few weeks older) still drinks milk but from a bucket instead of a bottle. Normally we would wean them in a few more weeks, but because milk replacer is expensive, we'll just wean them when the bag is empty. Since we're feeding three calves twice a day, hopefully it won't be too long.

2011-12-11T12:47:00.003-06:00

We went to a Christmas party last night and a friend of mine gave me this fantastic pin:

Most of you are probably wondering why I would be so excited about a Head Girl badge pin but what most of you may not realize is that every year two seventh-years from each house (Gryffindor, Huffflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin) at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are chosen to be Head girl and Head boy. She found this pin along with some other vintage British pins and gave it to me, knowing how excited I would be to have my own Head Girl pin and be able to live out my fantasy of attending Hogwarts.

I realize that I'm nerdy and maybe a little bit crazy, but this pin might just be one of the best gifts I have ever recieved!

2011-12-10T10:28:00.002-06:00

Since we've been leaving the barn lights on at night and allowing the chickens free-run in the hopes that they can escape any nocturnal preditors, we haven't seen any signs of disturbance. Art even found three eggs yesterday and we were beginning to think that the weasel/mink had moved on to another feeding ground. When Art opened the doors to the barn this morning he saw a large scattering of feathers. He also heard distinctive chewing noises coming from his corner of sh*t (it's not really junk, it's just an area where he stores a lot of stuff including a motorcycle with no title) . There he saw the weasel chewing on the decapitated head of our rooster. He attempted to shoot it many, many times but was unsuccessful. Our neighbor told him it was most likely a weasel, but Art still thinks it's a mink because it's almost completely black, is fast and runs like a cat. All I know is that I'm down to three hens and if the weasel/mink can take out a large rooster complete with spurs, those hens won't be around much longer.

Art and I have decided to get out of the chicken business. We've lost more than twenty chickens in the last six months or so and we just don't have the heart to do it anymore. We've always allowed our chickens free-range because it's healthier for them and it makes the eggs taste better. But because of this freedom they became prey to raccoons. But now, even if we were to fence them in, they're prey to the weasel. Sure I could buy more chickens; laying hens are about $7 dollars a piece (which is pretty pricey when I would want about 10 hens), day old chicks are around $1.25 but it will take at least twelve weeks before they start laying. We have some friends that raise laying hens and it's all they can do to just give away their eggs, so at least I won't have to buy eggs from the store.

Art is going to set up a live trap to try and catch the weasel. If that works, perhaps we'll get more chickens in the spring. Until then, it'll be a little quieter around the farm.

2011-12-02T17:22:00.002-06:00

Ever since the weasel attack, Art has been leaving the lights on the in the barn and not locking the chickens in coop at night. His thinking is that if the weasel happens to come again, at least the chickens can see and have enough space to run and get away (chickens can't see in the dark). This has been working well, considering we still have all four chickens (three hens and a rooster), but we haven't gotten any eggs since the weasel- not a single one. At first we thought it was because they were traumatized, then we thought it was because they were out of the routine of laying eggs in the coop, but last night Art discovered the reason. An oppossum- as big as a raccoon- has been eating the eggs. He found it inside the barn near the door of the chicken coop and that was the end of the oppossum. We don't have any solid evidence that the oppossum eating the eggs other than previous experiences with them, but I'm hoping when Art comes in tonight he will have two or three eggs for me.

I have maybe six eggs in the fridge right now. Normally I several dozen and am begging people to take them. I have to do a lot of holiday baking over the next week and six eggs just aren't going to cut it; I'm going to have to buy eggs. For the first time in six years. But Art won't let me buy more chickens because of the weasel/raccoon/oppossum problems we've had over the last year so I might be stuck with store-bought. Gross. I don't know how the rest of America can eat store-bought eggs. Probably because they've never had right-from-the-chicken's-butt-fresh eggs.

So Long, Peggy

2011-12-01T08:08:00.005-06:00

For months we have been waiting for Peggy to show signs that she is about to give birth but the only thing she did was get fat. For awhile we thought maybe she was pregnant because she was so huge, but it turns out she just had a food baby, not a calf-baby. Art and I were were unsure of her pregnancy status until Ferdi started humping her, a sure sign that she was in heat. Instead of bringing another bull over and feeding her for another nine months on the chance she might contribute to Art's dream of having his own cattle heard, we decided to ship her off to the stockyards. I am sure many of you are asking, "isn't there a way of checking to see if she's pregnant?", and yes there is. It's quite simple- you call the vet, he comes over with a long, shoulder length glove, and performs a gynecological exam. Takes five minutes and it's fool-proof. But this involves paying for a service when waiting nine months is free of charge (although if you consider the amount of food she ate, it might have been cheaper to call the vet).

A guy came and picked her up this morning to take her to the auction; after he judged her as being 'old' (if you consider a two-year-old cow who has never calved 'old'- which I don't and neither does Art) he decided to put her in a different category; instead of putting her with the 'feeder' cows at $1.31 per pound, he will put her with the older cows where we might get $.66 per pound. I wanted to tell the guy that he was just the transportation, not the buyer and to mind his own business. After all, I certainly didn't comment on how old he was (and he is old. And moves quite slowly).

Ray was a wreck as they were trying to load Peggy onto the truck. When we brought Ray home, blind and ball-less, Peggy was the one to show him the ropes and the two have been inseparable ever since. But Art put Ferdi in with Ray in the hopes that he will be a nice companion for him.

Here are a few pictures to better remember Peg Leg Peggy:

Climbing her own poop

Her first day at the farm with her broken back leg

With the 'john' that didn't do his job

Bottle feeding

Contended cows

2011-11-30T05:39:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to post an update on Art's hand but just haven't gotten around to it. He hit the ten-week-mark yesterday and he no longer has any restrictions; the tendon is considered healed and at no risk of re-tearing. He does have quite a bit of 'brawny' scar tissue build up along his little finger (that was the physical therapists' term) so she would like him to continue therapy up to fifteen weeks. I told Art to just do it; fifteen weeks will bring us just to the end of the year, he's met his deductible so he may as well take advantage of it.

He can't quite make a fist yet so he has to work on that. Right now that finger sticks out kind of like the stereo-typical British tea drinker, but she thinks that can be improved some. The end of the little finger doesn't move much, about fifteen degrees, but she said that was about as good as it gets with this type of injury.

So he is doing very well and hasn't had any residual trouble other than he says that the pinky finger gets cold faster than his others. But if that's his biggest complaint I think we're ok!

2011-11-29T17:07:00.003-06:00

When we did the bathroom renovation a couple of years ago we bought a lot of the trappings at Menard's before it moved to its new location so we got some great deals on a new sink, faucet and shower head. This has worked out pretty well except for the sink faucet that recently sprung a leak. Apparently if you only spend $20 on sink faucet you can't expect it to last very long and it will actually crack along the neck of the faucet for no reason other than our hard water...which has posed many problems but never a cracked faucet. So about a month ago we bought a new, much more expensive faucet made by Delta (supposedly the best). Art finally got around to installing it yesterday and I'm not sure that I like it, but it's installed so that's that. It's just darker than I had anticipated so I feel there is too stark a contrast between the bright white of the sink and the dark of the faucet but Art said he liked it because there is so much more room to wash his hands since the faucet neck sticks out farther than the old one. While Art loves this feature, I do not; it's more difficult to wash my face now without hitting my forehead on the faucet.

I'm hoping that it will grow on me (and for the price we paid it will)!

2011-11-20T09:29:00.002-06:00

Last night, before we went to bed, Art went to the barn to check on the chickens and to see if he could find the weasel (we're pretty sure it's a weasel, thanks to Google). He had put the dead chickens in a barrel on the bed of his pick-up truck near the shop (until he could properly dispose of them) and went to check on those as well to make sure there were no other creatures skulking around. When he neared the truck he heard a plaintive meowing from underneath; a little kitten was sitting underneath the truck. The rest of this story is so adorable I almost can't stand it:

Art walked over to the kitten, bent down and opened his arms to the kitten in a gesture of, It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you. He said the kitten immediately leaped into his arms and started purring. Art put the kitten in the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, brought him (or her, who can tell?) inside and fed it some warm milk and sweet potato casserole. He then took the kitten to his shop with a blanket and made a bed for it.

This morning, Art went out to check on the kitten and found him (her) around the shop. He brought him/her inside to show me but to also heat up more milk and sweet potato casserole which he then fed to the kitten on my kitchen counter (which was cleaned as soon as the kitten was taken outside again).

It's a very sweet little kitten and Art said there is another one running around the barn, but it isn't as friendly. It's small but seems well fed and there is no sign of the mother, so we're not sure if they're 'real' farm cats or just cats that were dropped off in the country by some a-hole. I can't believe how often this happens; people think they want a kitten and then change their minds or get to a point where they can no longer have a cat, but instead of dropping it off at a shelter, they think they just drop them off in the country and think the cat will survive. I've said it before and I'll say it again- domesticated housecats cannot survive in the wild. 'Barn' cats are born and raised in barns, having been taught by their mothers to hunt for food. Just a little FYI- while animal shelters and Humane Societies are incredibly under-funded, many will accept animals without charging a fee.

I don't know what we'll do with this little guy; I don't want a fully-clawed cat in my house (although it would nice to have a mouser) but it's getting colder outside and winter is coming. Art had this idea of making it his 'shop cat'. I think he's disappointed that Buddy won't hang out in the shop with him- whenever Buddy is out there he trembles and is just generally anxious. So I think Art is going to work on that while I research how teach kittens to be self-sufficient.

2011-11-19T09:46:00.002-06:00

When Art went to the chicken coop yesterday morning he found a dead chicken up against the wall of the coop. Because it was one of our older chickens and quite scrawny, he assumed it had died of natural causes. As he picked the chicken up, he discovered that it was not just lying up against the wall, it's head and neck were inside the wall. Well, I should just say 'neck' as her head was missing. Yes. Her head was gone.

This is rather odd, as most chicken preditors will eat the entire chicken, not just the head. While I was suggesting witchcraft, devil worship or even chicken sacrifice, Art was thinking some sort of animal. We've had opossums in the coop before, but they have always eaten the eggs, not the chickens. A raccoon would have taken the entire chicken away, not just her head. Cats, again, would eat the eggs, not the chicken. Art thought maybe a rat, but we've had rats before and they just eat the chicken feed along side the chickens. So we were at a bit of a loss.

This morning Art opened the chicken coop door and discovered four dead chickens; One missing a head, the others had been killed but their heads were in tact. Art saw the culprit (and it wasn't the Devil)- a weasel/ferret/mink. He immediately ran into the house for the gun, but by the time he got back to the barn, it had gone. What ticks Art off is that, 1) he's only eating the heads, and 2) he killed the other three out of sport. We understand that living in the country and having chickens attracts a variety of hungry preditors. If you are going to hunt my chickens, at least take the whole damn thing- don't just take the parts you want and don't kill it if you're not going to eat it.

I heard some shooting just now, so hopefully Art got him. If he did I'll be able to tell you exactly what it is; All Art could tell me is that it looked like a ferret.

So I'm down to five chickens and a rooster. I told the rooster today that he needed to grow a pair and start defending his chickens. He's so useless...just like most of the animals on our little farm.

2011-11-18T21:27:00.000-06:00

There are very few movies that I will take the day off from work to go see, Harry Potter and the Twilight Saga are really the only ones. Today, the fourth movie in the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part1, opened and I took the day off to go see it. I hate crowds and I hate the noise that large groups of people make, especially in movie theaters. Sitting near someone who can't shut up for two hours with repeated requests from surrounding patrons is enough to ruin a movie for me. Or having a child continually kicking the back of my chair is another sure-fire way to ruin the experience. Now that the Harry Potter series is at an end, I have only Twilight to look forward to- and that's not a lot. I'm sure that most people would agree that the movies are terrible- entirely entertaining- but silly. I think the movies could have been much better had they not casted Kristin Stewart as Bella; She's a horrible actress. Horrible! Robert Pattenson is kind of cute (although I much prefer him as Cedric Diggory) but the excitement of seeing Jacob without his shirt has worn off (plus the fact that lusting after a well-built 17 year old makes me feel a bit like a pedophile). Breaking Dawn Part 1 lived up to all of my expectations: silly, b-movie acting (mostly by Kristin), but entertaining. Was it worth taking the day off? Not as much as with previous Harry Potter films, but it was a good excuse anyway. Will I take the day next year when part 2 is released? Most likely.

2011-11-13T05:09:00.000-06:00

Art and I have become those people- the people who spoil their dog, treat him like a person and let him sleep on the bed. We require very little of Buddy and, thank goodness, he is fairly self-reliant (which is why we don't have children). He only sits if you have a piece of cheese and I have no idea what his bathroom schedule is as he just uses the dog door as needed. Buddy refuses to eat just plain dog food- there must always be something tasty (leftovers, cheese, etc.) mixed in (and Art always warms it up in the microwave because God forbid his food be room temperature- or worse!- cold). He has to sit between us on the couch whenever we watch TV or a movie (seriously- in the middle. If I sit next to Art, Buddy just looks at us until one of us moves- which we always do). He has dog beds both downstairs and upstairs, which is somewhat unnecissary as he sleeps on the bed.

We are those people who will apologize profusely for the dog hair on the couch which will inevitabley end up on your clothes, but we will still let him on the furniture. Art complains about the dog hair on his comforter, but he never tells Buddy to get off the bed.

Unfortunately (for Buddy, at least) the sleeping-on-the-bed thing may have to end. We have a king-sized bed, which you would think have ample space for two people and a dog, but Buddy likes to spread out. It's quite normal for Buddy to occupy more space on the couch than Art and I (which we allow) and the bed is no different. When he isn't lying up against me and scratching or kicking Art with his feet, he's on my side of the bed, half way down so that I'm allowed only enough space to curl up in the fetal position. Last night, I tried to shove him over with my feet but he wouldn't budge, so I ended up just laying my legs on top of him. He still didn't move (Art slept wonderfully, though).

While I will feel guilty for no longer allowing Buddy to sleep with us, I have to remind myself that 1) he has a dog bed, 2) he can always go sleep on the couch downstairs, and 3) he's a dog.

2011-11-12T17:33:00.003-06:00

I forgot to mention one tidbit of excitement- as I mentioned, Emily's parents came to visit last weekend. Emily's dad was the person who renovated our bathroom a few years ago. While the bathroom was nearly perfect, we never had shelves in the shower. I tried the kind that suction to the tile but they never stay on very long nor do they hold anything heavier than a razor. I liked the style that had baskets on a pole and, like a shower rod, you twist the pole to brace it between the floor and the ceiling. The problem was that I could never find one longer than nine feet and I think our ceiling is twelve-ish. So we just got used to putting the bottles on the floor of the shower.

Pat (Emily's dad) had always intended for there to be shower shelves and this last weekend he brought us a wonderful birthday present- shower shelves! He installed them and they work beautifully. I suppose I should post a picture, but then I would have to go downstairs, come back upstairs and wait twenty minutes for the picture to upload. But I'm lazy and pretty sure no one really needs to see a picture of my shower.

2011-11-12T16:58:00.002-06:00

I've been lazy about posting and am terribly sorry. To be honest, nothing extraordinary has been happening but I've been recieving complaints so here is what has happened since my last post:

Last weekend my mom threw a birthday party for Art an I- his 40th and my 30th. We had so much fun and were happy that so many of our friends were able to come! One of the best parts was that it was over by 9:00. Our friends Joey and Emily and her parents came for the weekend to help us celebrate which was really wonderful! Art and I both agree that we don't feel any older; I was hoping I would wake up feeling like an adult and people would stop asking me if I had just graduated from highschool. So far I still feel like a child and someone asked me last week if I planned on going to college after highschool.

See? That's it. That is all that happened in the last two weeks. I will try and be more exciting in the future.

2011-11-05T11:09:00.002-05:00

I meant to post this last weekend, but time got away from me (that and I've been re-reading Harry Potter so my level of motivation after work is almost nill). I cleaned out what was left in the garden last Sunday; I picked and shelled the rest of the black beans and there were so many that I soon lost gumption so there are still a couple of bean-laden plants out there. I filled a large yogurt container with beans and that should last us quite awhile. Of course, chili season is coming up so it may not last as long as I think. Perhaps I should go out and pick the rest...
I also picked the four- count 'em four- butternut squash that grew. I was leaving them out there as long as I could to let them ripen (especially the smaller ones). The vines had all died off; two squash are ripe and two are still a bit green on the top. I was hoping for many more because we love butternut squash, but I have only myself to blame since it was a dry summer and I wasn't good about watering them. It's just hard carring buckets of water all the way to the other end of the garden, but Art said that next year he will buy me a really long hose and hook it up in the shop so that my lazy butt doesn't have to walk so far (my words, not his).

So the garden season is over. It wasn't my best year, but it was still good year. Sure I didn't get any tomatoes, but I have seven months or so to make plans and prepare for next summer's crop!

2011-10-30T11:37:00.003-05:00

Art and I went to a costume-required Halloween party last night and we had so much fun! I talked to my friend who was throwing the party several times prior to the evening to make sure our costumes wouldn't offend anyone (and also because there were going to be children about). Art and I decided to go as a redneck couple, our inspiration being our old neighbor Dallas and his wife Trixie, as well as many of the patients I work with. We were utterly inappropriate but a great hit.

Art wore his "Rambo doesn't sleep; he waits" t-shirt with camo pants, camo hooded sweatshirt, a long heavy chain dangling from his pocket, his Leonard Skinnard dude-rag and a cigarette behind his ear. Sounds pretty tame, right? But next to me, he was a perfect compliment. I wore the "Everyone loves a redneck" t-shirt he bought me in Bonneville, ratty low-rise jeans (whale tale exposed), a pillowcase stuffed with t-shirts for my pregnant belly, bad make-up and three pairs of large hoop earrings. I also wore a pair of high heels that are usually cute, but with the outfit came off really trashy. To top off the outfit I had a baby- a black baby. I looked everywhere in Tipton for a black baby but had no luck- probably because there are no black people living in Tipton who would need or want a black baby doll. So I had to go for the next best thing- a white baby with brown shoe polish. People thought this was hysterical and began calling her "Baby Jolsen". I started out the evening with the baby taped to my leg, but the stickyness wore off so she spent most of the evening laying on the coffee table.

2011-10-29T09:17:00.000-05:00

I saved these for a seperate post because it took me two days to upload all of the pictures in the previous post.

I'm a nerd and all of you are jealous that you didn't get your picture taken with various Hogsmeade and Hogswart characters with bad English accents.

With the Frog Choir

With a lovely wizard outside of Tomes and Scrolls

The conductor of the Hogwarts Express

Under the Griffindor flag

Butterbeer!

2011-10-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

I arrived home Wednesday from a week-long meeting in Orlando. It was our yearly fall meeting and while it may sound like a vacation in the Sunshine State, I was mostly in continuing education courses from 8-5. This meeting was kind of a big deal because I took the board exam; 150 multiple-choice question test that, if I pass both the written and practical test (coming up in a couple of weeks), I will be a board certified ocularist. I have no idea how I did; I would be going along just fine and then hit a pack of questions that I was more or less guessing the answers. I won't know the results until the end of March but I'm not striving for perfection or even a high score, I just want to pass. I am perfectly content being mediocre.

While most people think that the main reason I went to the meeting was to take my exam and receive continuing education credits, it was actually to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

It. Was. Amazing. Best day of my life to date. You think I'm kidding? I'm totally serious.

Because the courses were ag in line we passed Hagrid's hut-

Then we took a self-guided tour of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (the pictures will make more sense to those who have read the books or seen the movies)-

We rode a simulated ride through the castle (which was awesome- parts were like an IMAX ride and other parts were live, complete with Dementors, giant tarantulas, dragons and travelling by floo powder). There was another roller coaster- the Dragon Challenge- but it was one that your feet hang and it goes upside down and I just don't do those.

When we got hungry we ate at the Three Broomsticks (which, incidentally, shared dining space with the Hogs Head) where you could choose from fish and chips, shepard's pie and other very British dishes. To drink, of course, we ordered butterbeers, which turned out to be something similar to cream soda with melted marshmellow that simulated beer foam. It was extremely sweet but awfully tasty. On our way out I noticed a cart selling pumpkin juice which I also had to try. It was even sweeter than the butterbeer and I could drink only a few sips before I felt like I was going into sugar shock, but it was still good and now I can say I had both butterbeer and pumpkin juice in Hogsmeade.

Some other shops we visited-

Zonko's Joke Shop

Honeyduke's Sweet Shop

Dervish and Banges wizard supply store

Ollivander's (which, technically, is in Diagon Alley in London, not Hogsmeade). There was a massive line outside of Ollivander's because you could actually have a wand chosen for you (or, rather, have a wand choose you). If I had had more time I would have done it- and I wouldn't have been the oldest person in line, either! While there were plenty of small children waiting with their parents, there were also grown adults waiting to buy a wand from Ollivander's.

The Owl Post, where a kindly witch would stamp and mail your postcards (not by actual owl, of course)

I went back again after I had finished my exam. Considering how I felt about the test, I thought I deserved it. So I pottered (a real word as well as a pun) around for a couple of hours, took more pictures and just enjoyed being a part of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Now, I realize that I am an adult and many people poke fun at how much I love Harry Potter, but those of you who have read the books can attest that, while the story is full of magic and fun, it is also an amazing work of literary fiction. J.K. Rowling has created a entire world with its own customs, traditions and language- right down to the smallest of details. Since visiting Hogsmeade and Hogswart I have started reading the series over (again). If you have never re-read these books, you should, because you catch so many more of the tiny details that make this series so wonderful!

2011-10-19T07:38:00.003-05:00

Last night was one of the coolest nights we've had this season. We tend to keep our thermostat at 58 degrees when we're not home and when I came home last night I noticed how chilly it was. Thinking it only felt cooler than it was because I just came from outside, I didn't even check the thermostat. When I didn't warm up or hear the boiler turn on, I checked it. 55 degrees when it clearly says that the holding temp should be 58. Remembering that I hadn't changed the batteries since last year, I put new batteries in and waited to hear the boiler click on. Nothing. I fiddled with it awhile longer before yelling at Art (who was outside) that the boiler wasn't working. I then went into full flashback mode of last fall when it took two months to have a guy come fix the boiler. Two of the coldest months in autumn when the temperature in my house never got above 45 degrees.

Art went downstairs to check it and found that a relay was going bad. He was able to turn the boiler on and he's going to have to find a new relay, but will most likely have to replace the whole electronic board. I just hope he's able to find the part and fix it before it gets much colder!

2011-10-18T18:05:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't been updating on Art but not much has changed; he is still in the splint, doing finger and hand excercises and going to physical therapy twice a week. Last night he had a great appointment (it was later so I was able to meet him after work). Up until now, the excercises he has been doing with his hand and fingers have mainly involved him taking his right hand and curling the fingers of his left hand down to the palm and holding it; he wasn't supposed to bring them down with his own strength and he wasn't supposed to extend the fingers more than forty-five degrees. Since it's been one month since his surgery his physical therapist said he can now start extending his fingers straight up with his own strength and bring them into a fist with his own strength. She didn't want him doing this before because it could put too much strain on the tendon and it could tear. She also told him that he will only have to wear the splint for another two weeks! Art was very excited about that. Now we just have to work on getting some of the strength in his hand back and not allow scar tissue to bind up that tendon. I had been massaging the area with vitamin E oil, but I had to stop because his finger is disgusting. Even the physical therapist said it was gross. Because his little finger and palm swelled and stretched the skin so much, that skin isn't able to go back to how it was...so it's peeling off. In huge chunks. I couldn't stand to massage the oil into his fingers because I couldn't handle the skin coming off and then, because the oil is sticky, sticking to my fingers. Ew. So Art's on his own until that stops. We still have to wrap his finger up to prevent any more scar tissue from forming and Art has to really work that tendon to make sure it doesn't get scarred over.

An interesting fact: Most people have two tendons in their little fingers; one that works the main joint, and another smaller one that curls the top two joints. Twenty percent of people are born without this smaller tendon and I found out last night that I am one of them! To find out if you are one as well, place your hand, palm-up, on a table (or counter or whatever) and hold your pointer, middle and ring fingers down. Then try to curl your little finger into your palm. Can you do it? Well, then, you are eighty percent of the population. If you couldn't do it, then you are in that special class of people born without that smaller tendon. Sure you can still make a fist, but you can't bring the finger in when it's isolated. I doesn't make any kind of difference, it's just interesting.

2011-10-16T17:27:00.002-05:00

Another busy weekend is almost over. Saturday was spent making pumpkin butter from the pie pumpkins I bought last weekend in Wisconsin. I only used fourteen pumpkins, as opposed to the thirty-five I used two years ago that almost killed me. Thirty-six jars later and my house smelled like fall- pumpkin with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Speaking of fall, it is officially here and not only because it's October. My lawn is coated with leaves (which I will not be raking), it's windy every day and I put flannel sheets on the bed. Wal-Mart was selling bulbs for a steal and (very unlike me) I bought a bag of tulips (36 bulbs), daffodils (24 bulbs), hyacinths (6 bulbs) and crocus (12 bulbs). I planted them by the back steps so that I can guage when winter is finally over by checking the crocus and daffodils everyday. That is, if they even come up. I don't have much of a green thumb when it comes to flowers and one never knows what they are buying at Wal-Mart (which doesn't stop me) especially bulbs at 50% off.

I also brought my plants inside. It sounds like we might get a freeze sometime this week so I figured it was time. I seem to have fewer plants than last year, but I don't remember anything dying this summer so I'm not really sure what happened. I also closed all the windows today, not because it was cold but because farmers are combining corn and soybeans all around us and the dust is out of control. My allergies, which I thought I was done with a month ago, have flared up because of all the dust. I also just remembered that I still have some clothes on the line that are probably getting a nice coating of dust as I write this. I had better go take care of that!

2011-10-10T18:37:00.003-05:00

I would like to add another skill to my list of 'random things I can do': grease wheel bearings. This is a two-handed job and Art need my two working hands to help him out yesterday. So I learned the proper way to grease a wheel bearing and how to check and make sure it's fully and properly greased. It's not a difficult job and I have to say I enjoyed sticking my hand in a bucket o' grease.

Day Trippin'

2011-10-09T16:55:00.000-05:00

For the first time in our almost nine-year relationship, Art and I took a day trip. We wanted to see the autumn leaves along the Mississippi in northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin. Art had never been to that area and I was excited to show him that not all of Iowa is flat. We left Saturday morning and headed up the Wisconsin side first. I love Wisconsin. If it weren't for their lake-effect winters, I would live there. They have cheese, apples, rolling hills and beautiful state parks. According to the fall color report, that area of Wisconsin was at its peak, but I think if we had waited another week it would have been even more vibrant. I drove so that Art could freely look at the scenery without driving us off the road so he was also in charge of taking pictures. It was so nice not having a destination; we just followed the signs for the Great River Road but took some detours when we saw signs like "Rustic Road" or whenever we saw a road that looked nice. I hate to say it, but I think Wisconsin is more beautiful than Iowa, at least the southwestern part. Because they have more dairies they grow more hay so there are more grass fields than corn fields. While I was admiring the changing leaves and the bluffs, Art was loving all of the dairy farms we drove past. We also stopped at an apple orchard that I remember visiting as a kid. I had told Art how great it was but when we got there it was just another tourist trap. Obviously I had no idea what a 'tourist trap' was when I was younger, I just thought it was awesome. We bought some apple cider and a peck (a large bag) of apples and were on our way. There was some complaining from Art; his argument being that a) we have apple trees at home and b) we should just drive up the road some, pull over and pick all the ripe apples that were just laying under the trees.

We stopped in one small town that had five wagons of pumpkins, sqaush, gourds and pie pumpkins for sale (payments were on the honor code) so I was able to buy pie pumpkins for fifty cents a piece! That's a deal! Combined with my now four pie pumpkins from my garden I will be able to make pumpkin butter! I love small towns.

We took the time to stop at scenic outlooks and a state park (where Art laid down to stretch his back and enjoy the 80 degree weather) which is something we never do. Whenever we go somewhere we are always busy just trying to get there. But yesterday we didn't have to be anywhere at any certain time so we just meandered through the country side. We crossed back over to Iowa in the late afternoon and drove through McGregor but we had to stop and decide if we were going to follow the Great River Road or the Scenic Bluff Road. It was getting dark by this time so we just followed the Great River Road and I finally was able to prove to Art that Iowa does have bluffs and hills. It was a beautiful drive, especially as the sun was setting.

The best part about the trip is that even though it felt like we had travelled far, we still made it home around 9:00 and got to sleep in our own bed. We had such a great time! I told Art I was almost glad he hurt his hand because otherwise I don't know that we would have taken the time (or Art wouldn't have had the time) to take this little trip. We decided that we would do this every year in the fall- and I'm going to hold him to it!

2011-10-06T07:50:00.002-05:00

Art had his two week follow-up this past Monday and the doctor was very happy! They took the stitches out (25!) and sent him on his way. I had told Art that it doesn't hurt too badly when they take the stitches out, but that night he told me it does when the nurse mistakes a piece of skin for a stitch. Repeatedly. His hand is still sore and swollen which is hard for him because it was doing so well before his appointment and now feels he's taken ten steps backwards.

Art has been able to stay busy working (a.k.a telling people how to do his job) and driving trucks. He's just grateful that he is still able to work and doesn't have to stay at home all day (which I don't understand because I would love for an excuse to stay home all day). But he's still limited and the list of things I need done is growing longer. I discovered a few months ago that our dryer isn't working. I didn't think much about it because I wasn't going to need it until November-ish so I didn't push Art to fix it. Well, he won't be out of the splint until probably December and I know I will need my dryer before then. Our dishwasher needs it's annual de-scaling; because of our hard water things get plugged up, but this involves taking the dishwasher out of its hole and reaching around into the abyss where mice and creepy-crawlies live to take off the tube and get rid of the rust and scale. It's gross, but it needs to be done because the dishwasher stopped washing dishes last night. Of course I did not discover this until I went to unload a very full load of dishes, which meant I spent the later part of the evening washing dishes. I hate washing dishes, hate it. It's why I have a dishwasher.

But I don't tell Art all of this because he already knows it needs to be done, but he also knows that it's hard to do with one hand. Could I help him? Probably. But it's gross and I'm a girl. I would rather wash dishes than accidentally touch something dead or have something crawl up my arm and into my hair. 'Cause that could happen.

2011-10-02T17:40:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful weekend! Yesterday I spent the morning cleaning the house while Art was off working somewhere. I am really impressed at how well he has adapted to working with one hand; he doesn't do as much as he did before, but he's getting along. He said his right-hand welding is really improving (even though he did come home with a burn mark on his splint). Last night I had some girlfriends over for an old-fashioned sleep-over. We ate pizza, watched a movie, had girl talk and even put someone's bra in the freezer (although we didn't wet it first so it didn't turn out to be as great a prank as we had hoped. I guess we're a little out of practice having not had a sleep-over in, like, fifteen years). We were going to play Truth Or Dare, but it was close to midnight by then and we were all sleepy. I know- midnight! Crazy times.

Today was a beautiful day- sunny and warm. The girls left after breakfast and Art mowed the grass for the last time this year while I took a nap to recover from my late night (I'm not fifteen anymore). I finished up laundry but mostly I sat in the sun and read my book, enjoying what is sure to be one of the few really nice days before it turns chilly.

I did spend a little time in the garden and even recovered another pumpkin! That makes a total of two pumpkins this year. I have one butternut squash that is almost ready and another that probably won't be ready before the vines die off. The green peppers are still going and I still have beans drying on the plants. I think the beans were my favorite this year because they required almost nothing from me; I weeded a handful of times but otherwise I just let the pods dry on the plant and picked them whenever I got around to it. Art felt really bad about the pumpkins and squash (mainly because he loves pumpkin butter and has grown to love squash) and said that next year he will hook up a hose from the shop to the pumpkin/squash patch so that I am able to water them easily everyday instead of carrying five-gallon pails of water once a week (if that).

2011-09-30T07:38:00.002-05:00

Art is doing very well! His physical therapy is going well and even the therapist is impressed at how much motion he has gotten so far. Art's been very compliant- doing his exercises every hour just like he is supposed to.

We got the rocker knife and plate guard yesterday! We had pizza last night so that he could try them out. Art said they worked pretty well, but you can see by the look on his face that it takes a little concentration to work it, especially using his non-dominant hand!

2011-09-25T16:36:00.003-05:00

Saturday was cool and rainy- at least it was at my house. I took Buddy to the vet to have his nails clipped and found out he has actually lost four and a half pounds since his last visit (six months or thereabouts) and now weighs in at a hefty 80.5 pounds. According to the chart hanging over the scale, Buddy is considered 'overweight' because his ribs and flank are not visible. With this weight loss he still overweight, but less overweight than he was. After the vet I got my hair cut and because it was still raining I decided to drive over to Mount Vernon for the Lincoln Highway Arts Festival. They closed off part of Main Street and several artists set up tents with their creations. Everything from photography and paintings to jewelery and pottery. I stopped by the tent of a friend- I believe I have mentioned her and her blog http://creativegeniusart.blogspot.com/. Her stuff is amazing- everything from painted windows to wooden signs to gift tags. I found a window that I instantly fell in love with:

It's pretty heavy and I had to have Art help me hang it because he's a man and can find studs and has things like wood screws and lag nuts. The last thing I wanted was for the window to come crashing down on our heads while watching TV.

I absolutely love it and even Art said it looked really great and was complimented by the yellow walls!

Happy Autumn!

2011-09-25T14:35:00.000-05:00

Autumn is officially here, and I don't just mean since Friday. The nights are cool and I've put away my shorts and tank tops for the season. There are pumpkins, gourds and squash everywhere (well, not in my garden) and the apple trees are ready to be picked.

I dug out my apple picker yesterday and picked as many apples as I could reach from one of the apple trees. We have three apple trees- Red Delicious, Granny Smith, and one that I have no idea- I think it's a Macintosh, but I don't really know. I picked a five gallon bucket-full of unknown apples and the Red Delicious aren't quite ready. I don't care much about those, though, because I hate Red Delicious. Hate them. The skins are thick and tasteless and the apples are too sweet. Give me a tart apple any day. My Granny Smith tree has never given me many apples and the ones it does are small and gnarly. I've read that Granny Smith apple trees need to pollinate with other Granny Smith trees, so maybe I'll plant another one next spring.

I made applesauce today- a modest 21 pints. I bought a foodmill this year and was reading and apple sauce recipe that suggested using a foodmill for really creamy sauce. I don't really care if my applesauce is smooth or chunky, but since I had just bought the foodmill I was excited to give it a try. The other reason the foodmill is nice is that I didn't have to peel the apples, only core them. I have an apple peeler/corer machine, but the peeling isn't entirely accurate and it always leaves peels on the top and bottom of the apples which isn't exactly wasteful as the cows love apple peels, but I miss out on a lot of apple. I used my apple peeler/corer machine minus the peeler part to core the apples. Then I just put them in a stock pot and boiled them until they were mushy, put them through the food mill and, voila!, creamy applesauce. The cows are missing out on a lot of apple trimmings, but they got the cores and apple mush that was left over.

This year the applesauce might just be the best I have ever made. It's creamy with a little spice to it (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice) and a bit of tartness. I don't like my applesauce overly sweet, so I don't add much sugar. I had a great time canning today- the first time since making dandelion and violet jelly- and I didn't realize how much I missed doing it as I didn't have any tomatoes to can. Since I only have one pumpkin growing in the garden this might have been my last canning day until next spring.

Handi-Capable!

2011-09-24T16:09:00.005-05:00

Do you know how hard it is to cut your food with one hand? It's damn-near impossible. I have been making mostly soft things like pasta, fish and soup just so Art doesn't have anything to cut up. We had pizza the other night and he tried to cut it himself, but after much swearing and pizza sliding off his plate, I took over. I certainly don't mind doing it, but I think it makes Art feel that much more useless. He's having a hard time with this one-handed thing and not just because he can't work as he is used to, but because even the simplest tasks like tying his shoes and showering now require help. He's doing really well with working while not using his hand; he just instructs others on what to do (which isn't too bad, he says, unless he's working with idiots which what is happening today).

As we all know, Art loves to eat. Loves. It. Because I'm getting tired of soft foods and because I know Art would like to be a little more independent I bought him two presents today (don't tell him because he doesn't know about them yet!). The first is a plate protector; it snaps onto the edge of any plate and prevents food from falling over the plate edge while he's cutting or scooping food onto his fork. But how does he cut his food? That's present number two- a roller knife that is specifically designed for people that have the use of only one hand. It's amazing the products you can find online! Who knew there was such a market for them? I don't know that this knife will cut steak, but it will cut pizza, cheese and vegetables- all of the things I cut up for Art, now he should be able to do himself.

The plate guard

The rocker knife

I also looked at shoe-tying aids, but to be honest, the plate guard and rocker knife were kind of expensive so I decided to spend the money on what would bring Art the most joy. Besides, he doesn't mind asking people to tie his shoes for him (and the clippy things that attach to the shoe laces looked complicated, anyway). And if he doesn't want to have someone tie his shoes, he can always wear his rubber boots!

2011-09-23T16:50:00.003-05:00

We just returned home from our first physical therapy appointment. They removed Art's thick surgical bandage and replaced it with a splint. You can see it has navy blue straps, but I just want everyone to know that I wanted the neon pink straps as they would have been more festive.

Art says that the splint feels better than all the bandages; his hand can breathe now and it's not as tight. He also has some excercises he has to do. He has to bend each finger at each joint with his right hand every hour (or thereabout). This will help prevent scar tissue from forming and allow his full range of motion to come back. The physical therapist said that the motion he already has in the pinky is "fantastic" (that was her exact word). Art is so afraid of tearing that tendon again (as he should be) so he doesn't want to over-work it. He will go back to the physical therapist three times a week for the next few weeks and she will give him more exercises to do as well as adjust the splint as needed.

*T.M.I. ALERT*

Art decided to stop taking his percoset, which is fine because his pain isn't bad and he does just fine with ib profen (plus, the ib profen won't make him constipated). He's also not keen on the antibiotic even though I have been giving him acidopholis to help with any stomach upset. Well, I forgot to give it to him the last two days and last night he had some trouble. He said it was like he "...was constipated and had the sh*ts at the same time." I don't know how this is physically possible, but that's what he said.

2011-09-21T15:02:00.002-05:00

I am a horrible, awful person.

When I woke up this morning I went downstairs to get some crackers and two pain pills for Art. I went back upstairs and put them by his bed; he was awake (as he had been on and off the entire night) so I told him that he should eat a couple of crackers and take his pain medication. I went back downstairs to shower and get ready for the day but when I walked into the kitchen I was greeted by a fast and low flying bat. In proper fashion I hit the floor and stayed there, cowering in front of the refrigerator. The bat finally landed on the kitchen wall above the doorway to the dining room. What I should have done was put on my big girl panties, retrieved our new bat-catching net and used it to capture the bat; it wasn't even flying around at this point, it was just hanging on the wall.

I didn't do this. What I am about to tell you is shameful, absolutely shameful.

I went upstairs and got Art. Yes, he was in a lot of pain; yes, he didn't sleep well because he was so uncomfortable; yes, I am a whiney bitch.

Art used the bat net and it worked like a charm. He then made some eggs, took some pain pills and went back to bed.

I am ashamed of myself. But, honestly, I would do it all over again.

Another One...

2011-09-20T18:11:00.003-05:00

The night before Art's surgery we took a little road trip to the Atalissa Truck Stop (about fifteen miles away) to pick up this little beauty:

Yeah, I know. It's a pick-up truck. You know, when you own four pick-ups and a total of nine vehicles (not counting motorcycles- three), what's one more?

I would like to tell you a little bit about the truck, but seeing as Art is sleeping off the Percoset I can only give you limited information:

He bought on Ebay

It's from Southern Colorado so there is one single spot of rust on the door panel and that's it. The underside is in perfect, rust-free condition

It's from the '70's...early '70's if I remember correctly

It came with another set of really cool wheels/tires- free (apparently the guy just wanted to get rid of them) and will look great on the Charger

Did I mention there is no rust?

Do you know when I found out about this little purchase? Friday night in the emergency room while the doctor was stitching up Art's hand. Perhaps he thought I wouldn't make a scene if there were other people in the room...

Art assures me he can easily double his money by selling the truck. But he also said it would be really easy to stick one of his (many) diesel engines in it. I told him I don't care if he converts it or not; if he wants to keep it, he has to sell one of the other pick-ups. He thought this was a fair deal but hasn't decided yet what to do. I can't blame him- it's hard to think in a narcotic-enduced haze.

Post-Op

2011-09-20T17:35:00.002-05:00

Art's surgery went very well! We arrived at 7:45 this morning and were taken back to a room where Art got to change into the ever-attractive standard hospital garb. They gave him a lovely pair of diarhea-colored grippy socks to wear as well that complimented his farmer's tan. Because the surgery was going to take 2-4 hours he also had to wear compression socks to prevent blood clots, but because his legs are so long the had to put him in the thigh-high length instead of the knee-high size (the knee-high only went mid-calf on him). I didn't bring the camera because I knew Art would not want to remember this, but just picture this:

A tall man with skinny legs dressed in a hospital gown (back loosely closed), flowered hospital robe with very tight white thigh-stockings, brown footie socks, and wearing a blue surgical cap. Sexy, don't you think?

The surgery took about two and a half hours, but the doctor said it went very well and he was able to repair the pinky finger tendon as well as the damaged nerve on his ring finger. The doctor also found a tear in the tendon of his ring finger but was able to repair that as well. When the doctor came to talk to me after the surgery, he said that Art was coming out of the anesthesia faster than he had expected and that Art was being 'very social'. Apparently Art told one nurse how pretty she was, told the doctor how much he loved him and gave thanks to all the nurses and saying how wonderful they were and how they treated him like he's 'f--king gold'. He was still quite happy when they wheeled him from recovery to the post-op room where I was waiting for him. When one nurse asked him if he goes by 'Art' or 'Albert', Art said "Whichever, just don't call me 'ass-ole'." After getting him settled in the chair and a few more praises from Art, he promptly fell asleep. He woke up a couple of times to eat some applesauce, a nutrigrain bar and to take a couple of Percosets. We finally left around 3:00 with a very wobbly, very hungry Albert.

We stopped at Perkins for breakfast/lunch and then headed home. I put him in bed as his arm was starting to hurt and it took a little while to get the right number of pillows in the right position where he could sleep comfortably. I'll wake him in a few hours for some dinner, a Percoset and right back to bed.

2011-09-19T18:12:00.000-05:00

We went to see the orthopedic hand surgeon this morning. I trust him completely because he was born and raised in Ontario before moving to Michigan in highschool. I love Canadians and who better to fix the hand my Canadian husband?

Art is all set for surgery tomorrow- we have to be at the Ambulatory Surgery Center (which is just off the Interstate so we don't have to go find parking downtown. Best part? Free parking!) at 7:45 with his surgery scheduled to start at 9:00. The doctor said it could take 3-4 hours so I'm prepared with my book as well as my study guide for the board exam I will take next month. Art will be under anesthesia- a first for him- and he is not happy that he won't be able to eat and drink anything after midnight. I told him just be thankful your surgery is first thing in the morning or else you would have to go all afternoon without eating.

The doctor said Art should make a full recovery as long as he does what he is supposed to do, like not push it with work. With the tendon damage there is also some nerve damage in his ring finger. The doctor is hoping to repair that, but as it's only on the inside of the finger between the ring and little finger he's not too worried about it. It's an 8-12 week recovery which Art balked at, but the doctor put it plainly telling him if he pushed his hand too hard, he'll feel that tendon pop and then we have to do the surgery all over again. I think Art heard him, but I'll be sure to stay on his case. Art will also have to do some physical therapy, but a lot of the excercises he can do at home.

So Art went to work this afternoon to try and tie up some loose ends. He figured he couldn't hurt his hand anymore and even if he did, they will just fix it tomorrow. I couldn't really argue with that logic so I let him go.

2011-09-19T17:44:00.002-05:00

Here's a list of things that are hard to do with only one hand:

Tie your shoes

Button your pants

Cut your food

Carry more than one item at a time (i.e a plate full of food and a glass of milk)

Washing your hands

Squeezing shampoo out of the bottle- sure you can squeeze it out, but on to what?

Squeezing toothpaste on to your toothbrush without the toothbrush falling off the counter

Talking on the phone and taking a drink at the same time

Tucking in your shirt

Art's contribution: Wiping your butt with your non-dominant hand

Loading/unloading the dishwasher (maybe that's just Art regardless if injury)

Drying dishes

If it's your dominant hand, writing

Hanging clothes on the clothes line

Welding (Although, that didn't stop Art from trying. He has the burn holes on his splint to prove it, too)

Drying yourself after a shower

Shaving (it's dangerous with one hand let alone using your non-dominant hand)

Using a pitchfork to feed hay to cows (this may not apply to many people...)

Changing sheets on the bed

Blowing your nose

I'm sure there will be more added to this list, but this is just what we've come up with in the last three days. As the next 8-12 weeks pass we'll add more things, I'm sure!

How Not to Clean Your Phone

2011-09-19T15:04:00.002-05:00

If you have ever felt that your cellphone has gotten dirty, do not put it in the dishwasher as this will most likely damage it. Somehow, my phone fell out of my sweatshirt pocket and into the dishwasher without my knowing. Normally, this would have been fine, but I had decided to run the dishwasher that night...so there you go.

I put the phone in a bowl of rice in the hopes of drawing out some of the moisture and it actually worked fairly well. The ringer doesn't work, but it will still vibrate so I will know when someone is calling me. It also doesn't work unless it's plugged in, but that's just an inconvienience and I can deal with that. I ordered another phone from Ebay for $10 so when this one well and truely dies, I have a back-up.

So. The lesson is this: do not put your phone in the dishwasher.

2011-09-18T11:14:00.004-05:00

With the cooler weather we have been having more bats in the house. Art has been getting pretty good at getting rid of them- he hardly screams at all. Last week when his parents were visiting there was a bat flying around and Art had thought he had gotten it. After I had gone to bed I heard a lot of commotion downstairs so I opened our bedroom door asking what was going on. Art said, "I guess I didn't get the bat and we're trying to get it now." So Art and his parents (because I wasn't going to help- I'm afraid and a princess who needs her sleep) managed to get the bat outside with much shouting and laughter. I would have joined their party if there hadn't been the chance that a bat would get stuck in my hair. The next day Art's parents presented us with a wondful gift- a bat catching net (well, it's a fisherman's net, but the idea is the same). We had been using blankets to herd bats outside or to catch and release them, but we had to be quick because bats are fast (as a side note- when I say 'we', I really mean just Art). We haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I'm sure we will.

Last night when we went to bed I noticed something in the window fan:

In case you can't guess what that curled up shape is, it's a bat. It's gross that there is a dead animal in my bedroom, but what makes me even more uncomfortable is that it hasn't been there very long. I pass by that window fan every night and every morning but last night was the first I noticed it. What upsets me about this is that there was a bat flying around my bedroom and I didn't even know it. How many bats are in my house every night, flying around my head while I'm asleep? What if I were to wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and one flew into my face?? This is unacceptable. I just wish I knew how they were getting in. The attic door has been closed for weeks and the windows are all shut by the end of the day. My only guess is that they are flying in through the dog door, up the stairs and into the rest of the house. Do I close the dog door and make Buddy hold it until morning like a normal dog? Or do I continue to pamper him and leave the door open on the off-chance that he might want to actually go outside alone after dark?

Oops

2011-09-17T10:53:00.003-05:00

Art had a bit of a mishap yesterday- while working on an auger he sliced his hand open on one of the blades. The Tipton Mercy Clinic called me at work yesterday to tell me he had cut himself but that he should really be seen by a doctor in Iowa City. I knew it was bad if Art actually went to the doctor. A friend of ours drove Art to Iowa City and I met them at the emergency room. It was kind of a hard process for Art as he hates hospitals- I means hates them . I don't know if it's the smell or the sight of sick people, but he stays away from them at all costs. He did well yesterday, though, and it helped that it was a quiet afternoon in the ER. They took x-rays (no broken bones) did a nerve test (all intact) and the doctor did some motility tests. Turns out, Art severed the tendon on his little finger and can't move it. The ER doctor spoke the orthopedic hand surgeon and it was decided that we would go see him Monday morning with surgery probable on Tuesday. Then the doctor stitched up the skin- I don't know how many stitches but the cut was 5 cm long- and sent us on our way.

Art's doing fine- his hand throbs a little but he sure likes the Hydrocodone they gave him. He is getting along pretty well but needs help tying his shoes and buttoning his pants on. Art said he never thought about how much he uses two hands without even thinking, but now that he's down to one it makes it a little tougher. Unfortunately it is his left hand and he's a lefty. I had to sign all of his paperwork at the hospital because they couldn't read his signature when written with his right hand.

Art did say this couldn't have happened at a better time as harvest is going to be starting in a week or two and all he will have to do is drive a truck for a month. He is more concerned with the money aspect than the fact that he is going to have surgery in a few days. Art was really ticked off yesterday because I had just sent in my last payment from my ER visit a year ago. I just told him that at least we have insurance and that's why God created interest-free payment plans!

Contented Cows

2011-09-15T18:35:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Art put Ferdi in with Ray and Peggy instead of letting him run free around the farm. I prefer this because as tame as he is, he is still a cow- and a young one at that. I don't want him wandering into the nearby fields and either getting lost or having a farmer yell at us for letting a cow run free. If Art doesn't let Ferdi out, he starts to bawl and will continue to do so until night falls. I kept telling Art that Ferdi is probably lonely and/or jealous when he sees Peggy and Ray in the pasture. So Art finally agreed with me and let Ferdi into the pasture with the others and we haven't heard a peep from him since.

Don't they look happy?

Wedded Bliss

2011-09-13T17:58:00.002-05:00

The wedding was a huge success! The Celebration Barn was a beautiful setting and the day couldn't have been any more lovely. Friday night we had the rehearsal with dinner to follow at the Airliner in downtown Iowa City. I hadn't been to the Airliner since college and I was usually hung over while eating dollar slices on Sunday night. It was wonderful to catch up with people that I hadn't seen in many years. But being downtown made me feel really old (Art said it made him feel ancient). With college in session it was busy with students out for a night on the town. It was a warm evening and the girls took advantage of it with skimpy tops and even skimpier bottoms completed with staggering high heels. I don't remember dressing as trashy when I was in college. I knew I was getting old when I passed one scantily clad child and all I could think was, "Go home and put some clothes on!".

We started early Saturday morning at Hotel Vetro with coffee and bagels. My friend, Kristi (she owns a salon in Tipton- Trends and Traditions) did hair for the bridal party. Then it was time for make-up. I haven't worn make-up since my own wedding and that was four years ago. I actually did a practice run-through on Thursday to make sure I knew what I was doing. Once I finished everyone exclaimed at how beautiful I looked and that I really should wear make-up more often. What they don't understand is that I am so completely lazy and the last thing I want to do is spend an extra fifteen minutes putting on make-up.

After we were all dolled up it was off the Celebration barn for pictures. Everything went smoothly and everyone looked fantastic. The ceremony started and it was my favorite kind- short and sweet. Emily was breath-taking and Joey looked so dapper in his suit. I'm not the type to cry at weddings, but when the pastor introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. Deeney I choked up. I was so happy that two people that I love were so happy and in love. Don't worry, I had water-proof make- up on so I didn't ruin my flawless face.

The party after was wonderful- the food was phenominal (if you ever eat at the Cottage Bakery in Iowa City, order the cheesy mashed potatoes) and fun was had by all! Being the matron of honor I had to give a toast- I didn't mess it up and it went off without a hitch.

We ended the evening and started again early Sunday, cleaning up the barn, returning the cans and bottles and taking a nap. I should have taken Monday off as well because I was exhausted!

2011-09-09T15:19:00.002-05:00

My bestest friend in the whole wide world, Emily, is getting married this weekend! I am the matron of honor- a first for me and I am so excited because I get to give a toast! We started the festivities off this morning with a girls-only mani/pedi. I have had many manicures before, but have never been brave enough to try a pedicure for two reasons:

1. My feet are really, really ticklish. And not, "I'm laughing so hard I could pee my pants!" ticklish, but "I'm going to involuntarily kick you in the face" ticklish.
2. Feet are gross. Along with my many idiosyncrasies, I have a deep hatred of feet. Not my own, of course, because they are super cute, just everyone else's. I can't even stand Art's feet. Once, he had a sliver on the bottom of his foot and because he lacks any kind of flexibility (or because he's so tall) he had to beg me to help him. I did, but he said I had a look of pure disgust on my face the entire time. My issue with the pedicure is watching other people having pedicures. (And yes, I do realize that I am unstable)

So I braved the pedicure...and it was nice. They soaked my feet, trimmed my nails and gave a bit of a foot massage- all the while I was gripping the chair arms and willing my feet to stay still. All I can say is that it was a good thing the woman working on my feet didn't talk to me (perhaps because of the language barrier...) otherwise I don't know that I would have been able to concentrate enough not to kick her in the face.

The one thing that made me laugh was when she pulled out this tool to scrape off the dead skin- it was a cheese grater (or a micro grater to be specific). Seriously, I almost lost it when she started using it because all I could think was, "they could also use that to make hash browns."

After the mani/pedi we went to lunch downtown and then it was time for me to go home and get ready for the rehearsal that is happening tonight. I am so excited I can hardly stand it! The wedding is going to be so much fun and since it's two people that I love it makes even better! Also, it's not my wedding so I get to sit back and have some fun!

2011-09-07T18:47:00.002-05:00

The third and final cut of the season is finished! We baled the final cut of hay this afternoon and got two wagon loads (about 130-ish) of pretty good hay. I suppose we'll unload it tomorrow sometime; that's the part I hate most about hay- unloading it. I can only hope that Art didn't make them too heavy.

I spent this morning at my mom's house weeding her flower garden. I know, I know- I hate weeding- but it's not my garden and it's flowers, not vegetables so I don't have to be as exact. If I accidentally pull out a flower, it's not going to affect her ability to eat. My mom's arthritis and herniated disc has gotten the better of her in the last couple of months so she hasn't been able to weed it and asked if I knew of anyone she could hire to do it for her. Since I had this week off I offered to go do it for her for the price of a diet Sunkist. She ended up being off today, so she was helpful by telling me which plants were weeds and which were flowers since I had no idea and some of the prettiest flowers were weeds. I ended up pulling a very large pile- about five feet high and five feet wide- of weeds. Her front flower garden is pretty extensive and I wasn't able to finish it as my allergies kicked in, but I made a good dent in it. My arms and legs are aching, but it's good for me.

Once I finished that I headed home and baled the hay. Now I'm looking forward to a quiet evening on the couch as I have some gardening of my own to do tomorrow and (hopefully not) unloading hay.

2011-09-07T14:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday when I was at my mom's I saw her very tall tomato plant. Every year she plants one tomato plant and hopes that it makes it (sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't). Every year I plant twelve tomato plants and hope that they make it. What makes her plant different than mine is that my mom abides by the simple law of Only The Strong Survive. This means that she doesn't cage her tomato, she doesn't stake it in anyway, and just props it up against the deck railing. She doesn't water it, doesn't weed it and doesn't even rotate her planting. I rotate my tomato plants every year, water them, weed them and cage them. Guess whose tomato plant did the best this year?

This made me so mad that today I pulled up all of my tomato plants. I figure if they haven't given me tomatoes yet, they aren't going to start now. The bottoms had started dying off, anyway, so it was only a matter of a few weeks before they would have to come out anyway. I just started the garden clean up a little early this year, that's all.

My pumpkin vines are dying off faster than I can water and weed them but I do have three butternut squashes growing! I know it's only three, but it's something. The green peppers and black beans are still going strong. I'm not getting as many peppers as usual, but I've been hearing that from everyone so I will not count that against myself.

I think I will head to the Tipton Farmer's Market tonight- I've never been- and see if anyone has a lot of tomatoes I can buy. Perhaps they will have pie pumpkins as well- I'm almost out of pumpkin butter and that needs to be made this year. I only have to buy, like, ten, as opposed to the thirty that I grew a couple of years ago. Ten will be enough. I think.

We Shall Call Him Killer

2011-09-06T10:33:00.002-05:00

While I was mowing yesterday, I noticed Buddy running around the compost pile. When I saw him next he was trotting towards the house with something dead in his mouth. He dropped it when I got close and found that he had killed a rabbit. A baby rabbit, at that. Whenever Buddy chases after something (whether it be a cat, a bird, or a rabbit) we always joke that he wouldn't know what to do with it once he caught it. Well, he proved me wrong... kind of. He knew how to kill it, but I don't think he knew what to do with it after that, so he just carried it around and finally dropped it by the fence and went along his merry way. I wish he were a better killer and go after the moles and rats, but I'll take what I can get it. Honestly, I'm just glad to see he has some instincts.

Labor Day Weekend...

2011-09-06T10:07:00.003-05:00

...Or week since I took the whole week off. I could really get used to not working and instead sleep in and putter around all day. Well, I could do it in the summer when I have things to keep me busy; if I didn't work in the winter I would just sit around and get fat.

We have had a busy couple of days- Saturday we didn't do much except watch 2+ inches of rain fall on our hay, but the weather turned around on Sunday and while it was cool it was perfect weather for drying clothes and wet hay. I spent some time in the garden, or what's left of it, and debated about whether or not to dig up the tomato plants and just be done with them. There are a few green tomatoes still on the vine so we'll see. I pulled out the corn stocks and gave them to the cows; if I had been more crafty I could have used them to create a fall-inspired something-or-other, but I didn't. I mowed the yard- and I mean the whole yard- we have about three acres of yard to mow, but because we have so many trees it takes a lot longer and the yard is usually mowed piece by piece. There are parts that don't get mowed very often, but I got it all done yesterday. I enjoy mowing more when I can wear shorts and a tank top and work on my tan but it's cooled down quite a bit and the winds have come. We always know when summer is over because the winds pick up and blow continually until next spring. The nights are cool and the sun isn't quite as warm.

Art raked the hay yesterday and said it will be ready to bale today. He told me that we would have it round-baled because he didn't want to waste his time square-baling really crappy rained-on hay. When he raked it yesterday he said it wasn't too bad- it didn't smell as fresh as it should, but the clover and alfalfa still had their leaves. Art said what saved us was that he hadn't raked it before it rained, so essentially it only rained on the one side. So I guess we're going to bale it later this afternoon. I hope it warms up so I can work on my tan- right now I'm in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I even had to put socks on this morning! It certainly doesn't feel like Labor Day weekend weather and while I love autumn, I'm not ready for it.

Trash

2011-09-03T18:21:00.002-05:00

We woke up this morning to the sound of thunder and black clouds gathering in the west. At first it looked as though we might not get any rain as the clouds were headed north, but we didnt' get that lucky. It started raining at 9:30 and it hasn't stopped. It would have been a nice, soaking rain if we didn't have hay laying in the field. The good news is that it's supposed to clear up tonight and be beautiful for the next eight days- perfect drying weather!

I look forward to baling up really sh**ty hay later this week. The thing is, Peggy will love it. We give her the best, greenest hay and she won't eat it, but if we give her brown, lower quality hay she loves it. She's our white trash cow who would rather eat three-day-old convienence store hotdogs than a steak and lobster dinner.

2011-09-01T18:14:00.003-05:00

After carefully checking the weather yesterday Art cut hay- the third and final cut of the year. It was supposed to be beautiful for the next eight days with only a slight chance of rain on Saturday. This afternoon, however, the forecast changed and it rained- at least in Iowa City (Art wasn't home to know if rained or not in Tipton). Tomorrow night we are supposed to have wide-spread thunderstorms. Well, that's just great. I just don't understand how a weather forecast can change in less than 24 hours. Someone is sleeping on the job, I'm sure of it.

We're having summer's last hooray today- 98 degrees. By Sunday it's suppposed to be 71 degrees and I'm not ready. It's only the first of September- I'm not ready for lows in the forties until at least October. Summer came so late and I haven't had enough yet!

2011-08-30T06:22:00.000-05:00

Still nothing from my tomato plants. There are a couple of green ones, but otherwise nothing. The green pepper plants have really started going so at least I've had some improvement in the garden. My neighbors have been tomato canning fools the last couple of weeks and I can't tell you how jealous I am. I drove by neighbor's house this weekend and what I had thought were bushes, were actually tomato plants. They had to be at least seven feet tall- he used the six foot tomato cages and they had grown over top of them by at least a food. Seriously- it looked like a tomato plant forrest.

My neighbors have been really great, giving us tomatoes so we can at least have a small taste of summer. I had plans to make ketchup and can tomatoes for chili, but I'm thinking I might just go to the farmer's market and see if I can just buy a load of paste-style tomatoes. I don't know if it would be cost effective, but considering I haven't been the Iowa City Farmer's Market all year (I know- I'm ashamed of myself, too) it's a good reason to take a look.

While my pumpkins are slowing dying off one vine at a time, my butternut squash appears to be doing wonderfully. It's not a very large patch, but there are several green butternuts growing and that is all I can ask for.

I still have black beans coming, but instead of picking them, I'm going to let them dry on the plant so that I'm able to store them in the pantry instead of freezing them. A couple of weeks ago we bought a half of a side of beef and all of my freezers are packed to the gills. We actually had to store some things in friends' freezers until we ate enough to make room. I was almost in crisis mode this weekend when I cut up about 3/4 of the onions to freeze but it's ok, I found some room. Last year we stored the onions in the basement and while they lasted a few months, they started to turn mushy and sprout before we could eat them all. So this year I peeled and halved the onions, put them in gallon freezer bags and put them in the freezer. We use them in chili, gratins, spaghetti, etc., and can't even tell they have been frozen.

I just have to keep reminding myself that the garden wasn't a total loss this year- quite the opposite, really. The strawberries were great, onions, garlic, sweet corn, black beans, and green peppers all did well and the butternut squash is well on its way.

I will not let my dismal and disappointing tomato and pumpkin crop overshadow the rest of the garden! That will be my mantra until I pull the last plant out of the garden. Besides, there is always next year and I have many months to plan and research next years' planting!

2011-08-29T17:56:00.002-05:00

Another weekend has come and gone but this one was spent with friends. My friend, Emily, came Friday night so that on Saturday morning we could do a practice run on her hair and also meet with the woman who is doing all the flowers for her wedding (St. Bridget's Flower Farm). The rest of Saturday was spent by taking naps, reading but mostly chatting. Her fiance, who had spent Friday and Saturday with friends (celebrating the end of bachelor-hood) came Sunday, when he promptly took a nap to help recover from so much celebrating. Art was working Sunday evening when the three of us took a walk around the farm. Neither Emily or Joey had met Ferdinand and we discovered that Ferdi must be part goat as he tried to eat Emily's dress, Joey's pants and would lick various parts of Emily's car. While we were out walking around we watched Peggy walk through the fence- literally, she just walked through it. Art had turned off the electric fence earlier to get the tractor and forgot to turn it back on. With Joey's help and a bucket of corn we were able to herd Peggy back into the barn and all was well again on the farm. We need to replace that part of the fence but have been debating about whether to do it ourselves or hire someone to do it. As long as the electric fence is on the cows stay away from it, but Peggy just got lucky last night.

Art has also been letting Ferdi run around unsupervised. I know, I know- you'd think we had learned our lesson when we lost Helen and Keller for six weeks, but Ferdi is different. You call his name and he comes (like a dog) and he just hangs around the fence line or the edge of the pasture. Neighbors have stopped by in a panic at seeing a cow out walking around, but it's ok, Ferdi is trustworthy. The only problem is that Ferdi is at a stage in his development where he wants to play, but he doesn't realize that he is bigger and heavier than I am. He gets a little pushy; his favorite game being that he will walk behind you and suddenly shove his head into your backside. This doesn't hurt me, but I did warn Joey to be careful as Ferdi has rammed Art's boy parts on several occassions. Ferdi walked around with us and we ended up near one of the apple trees. There were a few that were overripe and buggy, so I pulled one off and gave it to Ferdi. He licked it, but showed no interest. The other cows love apples- L-O-V-E them- so I broke the apple in half and showed it to Ferdi, thinking he would eat it. He sniffed at it and darted away. Thinking it was a fluke, I tried again. Again, he sniffed the piece of apple and, again, darted away like he was afraid.

There you have it- Ferdi is afraid of apples. I knew something would have to happen; Ferdi was the only normal (if entirely useless) cow we had ever had. Now he's the cow that's afraid of apples. Apples.

Pictures from Bonneville, etc.

2011-08-25T08:00:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures from Art's trip; I won't include captions because I don't know where they were taken (aside from the obvious Salt Flats). Art is trying to catch up after being gone for a week, so we haven't had time to sit down and look at them together.

My Husband Went to Bonneville...

2011-08-25T07:53:00.002-05:00

...and all I got was this t-shirt.

Art asked me what I wanted from his trip and I told him nothing (and I really meant it- not 'I don't want anything but I'll be pissed if you don't get me anything'). He told me he would get me a t-shirt; my mistake being that I did not specify what sort of t-shirt I would like. I was expecting something from Bonneville or one of the states they drove through but instead I got this:

2011-08-24T17:44:00.003-05:00

What can you make with one pumpkin and five tomatoes? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I don't know what the hell is happening in my garden. My green pepper and tomato plants look great, but I've gotten very few green peppers and even fewer tomatoes. My pumpkin vines are dying off and I dont know why- they've gotten enough water and there is no mildew that I can see. I'm supposed to make ketchup! And when I've made enough of that I'm supposed to have so many tomatoes that I can make canned tomatoes! I should have frozen enough baggies of green peppers that will last me through winter but instead I have five. Five. Small. Baggies. My neighbor was nice enough to drop of a few tomatoes for me and my other neighbor is bragging about how amazing his tomato crop is. Right now, I should be bitching about how I have so many tomatoes I don't know what to do, but instead I'm bitching because I don't have any tomatoes to do anything with.

Maybe my garden soil is tired. I 'til in good compost every fall and rotate my garden plantings every spring, but maybe it's not enough. Then again, all the plants look beautiful, they just aren't putting out (that's right: putting out).

Once, when we were watching The Sopranos, Tony was growing beautiful Roma tomatoes but he had them staked in such a way that they grew on a lattice. Yes, I realize I'm attempting to figure out what's wrong with my tomatoes by referencing Tony Soprano. But perhaps that is the answer- my plants get so large that they topple over the cages and the vines grow so long that I have to add extra cages between and around the plant. Maybe they would bear more fruit if I had a set-up like my fictional friend Tony.

On a happier note, I'm glad to report that when I planted my pumpkins and butternut squash that I did, indeed, mix up the seeds. Where I thought I had planted pumpkins I had planted squash and vice versa. The butternut squash looks great (right now I'm bitter enough to say "probably not for long") and I even have little butternuts coming!

2011-08-24T14:22:00.005-05:00

Ragweed season is here with itchy eyes and constant sneezing. It's unavoidable as I live in the country surrounded by 'giant horseweed' (aka ragweed) and it lines all of the fences and ditches (including my own). Art has stopped saying 'bless you' every time I sneeze; a couple of days ago he told me "I bless you for all future sneezes". I'm really not complaining because my allergies used to be much worse and I would suffer from the first bloom to the first hard frost. Whether it was my years living in Florida or if I have just grown out of them, but my allergies only bother me from about the end of August through mid-September. Better four weeks than seven months!

I used to take prescription allergy medicine, but since I only have allergies for one month out of the year it doesn't make sense for me to spend all that money for a doctor and a bottle of pills that I might use for a month. I've tried the over-the-counter drugs but the 24 hour medicine gives me heart palpitations (ok, probably not palpitations but it feels like my heart will beat right out of my chest), and even the 12 hour stuff guarantees that I won't sleep for 24 hours. This is why I could never be a meth addict. Benedryl works well, but I can't take it during the day or I would fall asleep, but it's my nighttime friend.

My uncle has worse allergies than I do and he suggested taking the herb, nettle, everyday. I tried it for the first time last year and while it doesn't completely cure my allergies, it certainly curbs many of the symptoms. Instead of breaking down into a fit of sneezing, my nose is just a bit itchy. My eyes still itch, but it's more of an annoyance as opposed to the constant need to scratch out my own eyeballs. If you have ever suffered from itchy allergy eyes, you know what I mean. Once you start, you can't stop because it feels so good- it's almost orgasmic how wonderful it feels. I have prescription allergy drops that are from 2007, but they still seem to work fine. I realize that is not the most responsible thing to use, but I only use them a couple of times a week so I'm fairly sure I won't go blind.

Peggy the Six-Teated Cow!

2011-08-23T08:47:00.003-05:00

Our farm could be aptly named "Home of Misfit Cows". Let me give you a run-down in case you aren't familiar:

-Helen- half blind, mean, prolapsed uterus
-Keller- half blind, parasitic
-Ray- completely blind
-Peggy- broken leg
-Ferdinand- cute but entirely useless

I thought we were headed away from misfits and becoming real farmers (totally kidding. About the 'real farmers' part, anyway). Sure Peggy broke her leg, but it healed well and I thought that, finally, we had a normal (useful) cow. Until yesterday when I noticed something odd...

Peggy has six teats. Yes, six. What's normal? Four. Only. Four.

This is not a big deal, really, the biggest issue would be to prevent mastitis when she gives birth and her calf starts drinking milk. Each teat has it's own quarter (because there should only be four) but if there is an extra teat, you have an extra quarter. If that quarter doesn't get used by the calf, then the cow can develop mastitis, which is basically a yeast infection in that section of the udder. Worst case scenario, that section will no longer produce milk, but who needs six sections to an udder? It would be like having four boobs- completely unnecessary.

So Six-Teated Peggy and Poor Blind Ray make a happy pair. I feel like I should start running a carnival side show using my livestock.

It's Only a Show...

2011-08-23T08:33:00.004-05:00

For those of you who haven't seen Showtime's "Dexter" let me give you a brief synopsis: Dexter is a serial killer but he only kills bad people; a justified, perhaps vigilante, serial killer. Yet he follows a code and tries to be normal, going so far as to get married and have a baby with his wife, Rita. Now, if you haven't seen last season I'm going to spoil it for you- Rita dies. She is killed by another serial killer who, in turn, is killed by Dexter and that is how the season ended.

Fast forward to yesterday when we received "Dexter" season 5, disc 1 from Netflix and Art saying he didn't want to watch it. Art had a really difficult time with Rita's death and for weeks after watching last season's final episode he would randomly comment, "Rita's really dead." He is still upset that Rita died because even though she was annoying, she meant well and was really good for Dexter (to paraphrase Art).

I've explained to Art that "Dexter" is only a TV show, it's not real life. I think he understands that, but for whatever reason is having trouble accepting it. I've even suggested that perhaps Dexter will find someone just as cute but far less annoying than Rita and maybe even find a little happiness. Art's response: "I'm just not ready." Seriously, that's what he said.

Whatever. I just want to watch "Dexter".

Road Trip

2011-08-20T18:21:00.003-05:00

Art and Mike arrived safely back from their road trip yesterday afternoon. They left last Friday, but I didn't mention it because I didn't want creepers showing up at my house. Every year in Bonneville, Utah they hold the world speed races on the Salt Flats. People come from all over the world to try and beat the world land speed record (which I believe is 750 miles per hour) in custom cars (many that look like cigars) and motorcycles. They left Friday afternoon and instead of heading straight to Utah, they took a round-a-bout way through Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. They stopped at junkyards or any time they saw a cool car for sale, camped in state parks and were even able to follow parts of old Route 66. The races started Saturday and ended Thursday, but by Tuesday they were still in New Mexico. When I asked if they were going to make it Bonneville Art said, "yeah, I'm pretty sure..." They arrived in Bonneville Wednesday morning in time to see several races, roam around the Salt Flats and meet people. Art, being the kind of guy he is, of course made some new friends. One guy from Phoenix drives an old car (Art told me the make and year like it was something I would remember) and after the races he was heading to South Dakota and then on to Indiana. Apparently he is going to stop and camp at our house on his way through. Art also offered camp space to another couple that would be driving through sometime this summer. Hopefully they aren't sociopaths, but Art assures me they are really nice people. That's what people say about serial killers, too.

Art and Mike roamed the races for most of Wednesday and then hit the road Wednesday night. They took I-80 home and were able to see Wyoming (and had some close encounters with rabbits and wild horses). When I talked to Art on Thursday he driving through Nebraska. He said it was the worst state, by far, that he has ever driven through and it took all day. He also said that Nebraska serves no purpose and that it should be dropped from the United States. I've heard this from everyone who has driven through Nebraska and I hope to always avoid it.

They got home Friday afternoon and I think Art was glad to sleep in his own bed. He loves camping and sleeping in a tent, but now he doesn't have to worry about the threat of Tarantulas and Copperheads finding their way in to his bed. That was an actual sign at one of the state parks they stayed in (New Mexico, I believe), "Beware of Tarantulas and Copperheads". Made him very nervous.

Art took loads of pictures which I haven't even looked at yet but I will definately post them later (probably not until next week when I'm at work, since I don't have highspeed Internet. Yet.). Art is also considering selling our place and moving to New Mexico but I told him that I have already lived in a trailer and I don't want to do it again (especially in a desert. I don't care how beautful it is) so he will just have to settle for a vacation. He's already planning a road trip for the two of us down there. I told him I would love to go, but we're not stopping at junkyards and I don't want to stop every twenty miles to check out an old car on the side of the road or in someone's yard.

The boys had a wonderful time and even though they didn't spend as much time in Bonneville as they had originally intended, I think the trip was all the better for it. Neither one had seen the Southwest and since they are both the type that can just drive without a specific destination in mind or have to follow a schedule (unlike me) it couldn't have been a better trip! I am glad Art's home, though, as I was the one in charge of the farm. I had to get up early every morning to do chores and I had to do them again in the evening. Before he left, Art told me that if I lost the farm while he was gone, he was going to have to fire me. Luckily everything ran smoothly so I didn't lose my job.

Not that I don't love my husband, but I enjoyed myself quite a bit while he was gone. I watched "Love Actually" (twice. I can never get enough) and because I don't grill very well I ate mostly carbohydrates while he was gone. When I say 'carbohydrates' I mean specifically chicken flavored Ramen noodles. I know, I know, it's totally poor college fare, but I love themI LOVE chicken flavored Ramen noodles and nothing you say will change that for me. I don't eat them often but every now and again I will get a craving for them and it just so happened that the craving came upon me while he was gone. I enjoyed not having to cook, I loved being able to go to bed at 8:30, and I just enjoyed being with myself. Buddy also loved being able to sleep on the bed. But by Friday I was ready for him to be home (plus, I needed some protein in my diet).

Welcome to the Future

2011-08-17T17:34:00.004-05:00

It's finally happened- the 21st century has come to 175th Street! Yesterday people came and laid fiber optic cable from someplace near the road (could be the electric pole but, really, I have no idea) to the house. Do you know what this means?!? I can actually have high-speed Internet! No longer will I have to bring a book with me to the computer and read as I wait for a page to load; no longer will I be unable to check Facebook at home. I will be able to upload more than two pictures at once, and it won't take 45 minutes!

I haven't checked with Clarence (the nearby town whose telephone company put in the cable) about prices, but I did ask Art how much he was willing to spend for high-speed Internet. He said, "$9.95", which is what we spend for dial-up Internet. I told him it would be more expensive than that and he began to waffle about actually getting it.

For years I have been cursing President Obama, who promised me and rural America that we would have a faster connection to the World Wide Web. It took three years, but better late than never!

Weekend in Review

2011-08-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

It was another full weekend- I meant to post earlier, but life got in the way.

Saturday I cleaned the house, top to bottom, as it was gross. Not dirty (well, kind of dirty), but we are dog sitting for some friends (you'll remember Nesmhe- she's the really smart one) and it's amazing how much dog hair two dogs can shed throughout a house. I spent the morning vaccuming, cleaning bathrooms and dusting (which is strange because I only dust when people are coming over, but I was in the zone). Saturday afternoon was the memorial for Paul. It was a beautiful tribute; there were several posters with pictures of Paul as a kid, teenager and with his own kids. There was an absolutely wonderful slide show that brought back so many memories. Many people came to support us, many of whom I hadn't seen in years. While it was wonderful to catch up and to hear some hilarious stories of Paul, the reason we were all gathered together was never far from our minds.

Sunday started out early (7:00!) as Nesmhe needed to go outside (for as smart as she is, she hasn't quite grasped the concept of the dog door). I picked the sweet corn, sat on the porch, and shucked just over five dozen ears of sweet corn. I blanched the ears, cut off the kernels and froze them for later. Most of the ears were full- better than the first picking we had! I just may grow more next year...

The rest of the garden is coming along; the green pepper plants look great, but they aren't producing much. I think they are too close to the tomatoes and aren't getting enough sun or nutrients or something. The tomatoes are also doing well- I haven't had too many ripen yet, but there's a bunch out there! I don't know that I will be able to make salsa this year, but we've been going through ketchup like crazy and I like the stewed tomatoes for chili, so there won't be any waste. I picked the rest of the onions and I'm still closely watching the damn pumpkins/butternut squash.

Sunday afternoon was taken up with the Kitty drama (see previous post) and dinner and a movie with girlfriends. Before I knew it, the weekend was over and it was time to go back to work!

Heartbreaker

2011-08-15T07:46:00.005-05:00

Living in the country we have our fair share of cats that show up periodically. Sometimes they stick around for a while, sometimes they're gone as quickly as they showed up. This cat showed up Friday afternoon (although I didn't see her until Sunday). Art had left the boot room door open (as he has a habit of doing) and, later, found her trying to claw through a bag of dog food. She hissed at him and ran away, but Art figured it was just another feral cat. Sunday afternoon, I was sitting outside when this cute, loveable calico came up to me, meowing. Everyone knows I can't stand a hungry animal so I gave her a little bowl of milk. Afterwards, I was petting her and I could see that she had been through a few fights (not uncommon with feral cats) and that she was bone-thin. There wasn't a scrap of meat on her which is unusual. Feral cats might be lean, but they're not boney. It was then I noticed that she did not have her front claws. I was incensed. It was obvious someone had dumped her out in the country instead of dropping her off at a shelter. I suppose it's possible that she ran away and got lost five miles from town- we've all seen that movie with the two dogs and a cat who brave forrest and mountain ranges to get back to their families...but it's unlikely.

Here's the thing- domesticated housecats that have been raised inside and are without their front claws cannot survive in the wild. They are not barn cats that are born in a field, ditch or barn and are taught how to find and kill food by their mothers. Housecats cannot defend themselves, they don't know how to hunt and would have difficulty killing without claws. By dumping a housecat in the country you are only insuring that it will die from starvation, dehydration or killed by a preditor. I'm generally not a religious person, but I sincerely believe that animals are God's creatures. Never is an animal born evil, it is the people who supposedly care for them that cause it and it breaks my heart to see it happen so often. Whoever thought it was a good idea to dump this poor cat in the country is an a**hole and I wonder if s/he will dump their kids in the country if ever they tire of them. But I've gone off on a tangent so let's get back on course...

After several calls around Cedar county- the vet, animal shelter and police department (all of which were closed. FYI- Tipton police don't work on Sundays, so you just have to leave a message and hopefully they will get back to you eventually...). I finally contacted the sheriff's department and spoke to a lovely lady who told me that, apparently, Cedar county doesn't have 'animal control' but she would try and find someone to pick up the cat and take it to the shelter. I decided that I would just take Kitty (as I began to call her- I'm not too creative when it comes to naming cats) to the shelter and save them some time, so off to Walmart I went to buy cat food, litter, and other sundries. I put her in the boot room, made a make-shift bed and litter box, hoping she would remember how to use it (she did!) but layed out some puppy training pads, just in case.

At this point I had to figure out what to do with her. While I like cats I'm not really a cat person and, judging by the way she hissed at Buddy, she was not a dog person (er, cat). I couldn't think of anyone who would want to take a mostly-starved-but-cuddly kitty. The best place for her was the local shelter, Friends of the Animals, but they weren't open until Monday morning. This is the same place where we found Buddy and Linda and I won't go anywhere else. I borrowed my friend's cat carrier and asked my kindly neighbor if she would drop her off in the morning along with the bags of cat food and litter (I didn't have use for them and I know the shelter would). All went well and I hope that they are able to get her back to healthy and that someone will see her and take her home. So, if you are on www.petfinder.com in the next couple of weeks and see a female calico with a scar between her ears, go get her because all she wants is for you to love her.

2011-08-12T08:21:00.004-05:00

This has been a rough week. My not-by-blood brother, Paul, passed away, and while it wasn't entirely unexpected, it doesn't make it any easier.
Paul's mom, Patti, was my babysitter from age two until I got my license and could drive home. They were my second family and their sons, Paul and Harry, my big brothers. Paul was always the really annoying older brother, the one who would torment me. He had the quickest fingers- he could lick them and stick them in my ears or wipe them on my glasses before I could even think. He would tickle me and tackle me and bug the hell out of me and I loved every minute of it. He was my family and my oldest brother. He could always make me laugh and I will miss him more than I can even express. The only saving grace is that I know that he is finally at peace, fishing to heart's content with no pain.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are
crushed in spirit

An Iowa Staple

2011-08-08T19:09:00.006-05:00

We harvested a few ears of our sweet corn last night:

It's not the prettiest corn, but it's corn all the same. Art asked a friend of ours why so many kernels were undeveloped and he said if I had a lot of weeds around the stalks (which I kind of did) that it can mess up the pollination of the ears. So there's a lesson for you- keep your sweet corn well weeded.

We had some last night and it was pretty good. Here's the thing- I have a secret. I'm a little ashamed. You'll accuse me of being un-American and rightly so:

I'm not a big fan of sweet corn.

I know! It's horrible to admit and I can't believe I was born and raised in Iowa, but I just never feel the urge for sweet corn. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I don't like it enough.

This is why I don't grow sweet corn in my garden (well, that and it always dies).

Beans

2011-08-07T12:45:00.003-05:00

After four hours of shelling beans yesterday, I looked to Google to figure out what to do with them. At some point (several months ago) I thought I had read that once the beans are shelled, lay them on a cookie sheet and allow them to dry. I have no idea where I got that because that is not how you dry beans. I was to leave the beans on the plant and let them dry naturally- many of which did, but they were all mixed in with beans that hadn't been dry and I wasn't about to pick through them. Another option would have been to string a thread through the pods and hang them and allow them to dry that way. Another viable option, but as I had already shelled the pods it was too little, too late. My final option seemed a complicated process of steaming the beans, then placing them in a 150 degree oven, slowly decreasing the temperature over a course of many hours. Well, my oven doesn't go that low so that wasn't going to work. After a little more research I found that I could blanch the beans and then freeze them. My freezers are full to the brim since we just bought a half of a side of beef, but I didn't have any other choice. Art asked why we can't just eat them and I told him he was welcome to do that so long as he didn't plan on sleeping in the same room with me.

Just FYI- a cloth grocery bag full of bean pods equals approximately six cups of beans. It hardly seem worth all the work, but at least I can say I tried it!

Bats

2011-08-07T12:27:00.003-05:00

Last night as we were watching our new favorite show, "Swamp People" (if you haven't seen it yet, do it quickly. It's captivating.) A winged devil flew into the living room. I immediately cowered on the couch, pulling a throw blanket over my head, while Art just sat on the couch. He said he was watching the bat to see where he was flying, but I think he was afraid. When he could find no sign of the bat (although he didn't look too hard) we started watching our show again, only to be interrupted by a swooping and diving rodent. I assumed my position under the blanket and Art resumed his weak searching. Again nothing. So, again, we continued watching our show only to be interrupted (again) by the bat. I returned to my safe-haven under the throw blanket while Art used another throw blanket to usher the bat outside. All was well.

How did the bat get in, you ask? The same way they always get in the house- the attic door. Every year Art deems it a good idea to leave the attic door open to allow the heat to rise out of the house and every year I tell him that bats will get in the house. Surprise, surprise, every year we have bats. Considering that I am useless around diving bats (sonar or no) and that Art screams like a little girl each and every time he tries to shoo them out the door, one would think that he would learn not to leave the attic door open. Apparently he forgets.

If you're curious as to what Buddy's reaction was to all this, it was nothing. He layed on the floor in the living room, all the while I was under my blanket, Art was screaming and a bat was diving to and fro. Buddy was either completely oblivious to what was happening around him or else he just didn't care. I'm going with the latter.

Amazingly enough, Art did not open the attic door today.

%&!^?*$ Squash

2011-08-06T17:31:00.008-05:00

I planted butternut squash this year and was so excited to see it blossoming, thinking of all the possible ways to prepare it. I went to check on it this morning and this is what I saw:

Now, in case you're confused, here is what a butternut squash is supposed to look like:

So you can see why I'm upset. Art, always the optimist, said there's a good chance they will lengthen and pale in color, but I'm sure they won't.

The problem is that I already planted pie pumpkins on the other side of the garden. Art thinks I may have switched the plants around- and he's right, it's possible. The other squash/pumpkin plants have just started blooming, but their leaves look alarmingly similar to this 'squash' plant.

God help me if both patches are pie pumpkins. All of you know how OCD I can be (if you forget, look back to Pumpkin Madness or when I made strawberry jam last year) and you know that I will use all of those damn pie pumpkins and will have pumpkin butter and pumpkin puree coming out of my ears and ass- yes, that's a lot of pumpkin.

The Magical Fruit

2011-08-06T17:13:00.004-05:00

This morning I spent in the garden picking black bean pods. I wasn't sure when to pick the pods and, for once, Google failed me. I probably waited a week too long as a lot of the pods were dried, but from what I can tell, it shouldn't make much difference. I picked a cloth grocery bag full of bean pods and got medium-sized bowl full of black beans. It took most of the afternoon to shell all the beans, but I think it will be worth it. We're a big fan of black beans here on the farm, and I'm excited to try them since we try to grow a lot of what we eat, whether it be meat, eggs or vegetables, because you just don't know what you're getting at the store. But since we can't afford to buy organic everything (who can?) I still get quite a few things at the grocery store. I just thought that black beans would be one less thing I would have to buy. Although, I will have to be better at planning my dinners as the beans have to soak overnight, but that's the small price you pay for growing your own.

I have to dry the beans on a cookie sheet, but I can't remember for how long or how warm so hopefully Google won't disappoint me again.

Tree Frogs

2011-08-05T05:25:00.000-05:00

I keep hearing what I think are raccoons in our trees, but everytime I look I never see anything (not to mention that it's usually late afternoon when I hear them, much earlier than when raccoons are usually out and about). This was vexing me as we solved our raccoon problem not too long ago and was not in the mood to deal with them again. I finally decided that it had to be a bird of some sort, but my knowledge of birds and their sounds is not great. I attempted to Google "bird that sounds like a raccoon" and I found some suggestions from different forums: nuthatch, woodpecker, and my favorite- a screech owl. Really? This person must have been on crack because even I know that a screech owl does not chatter like a raccoon, it screeches. I mean, it's right there in the name.

Anyway, I remembered that we also have a variety of frogs around. I had one in the dining room and a friend told me that it was an Eastern Grey tree frog. So I Googled the name and found a youtube video. Sure enough, that's what is making the noise in our trees. I'd much rather frogs that eat the bugs than raccoons that eat my chickens.

Just Like 'Nam

2011-08-04T17:13:00.002-05:00

Tuesday night we had our own less violent version of Vietnam. The crop dusters had been flying around for the last couple of weeks and this year, along with airplanes, they have been using helecopters. It was a helecopter that was spraying the field across the road from our house. I couldn't begin to guess what kind it was as I have no knowledge of any kind of helecopter, but I can tell you it looked like the long, beefy ones you see in old Vietnam war footage.

The night was hot and extremely humid, and with every pass the helecopter would fly low over our farm. The cows were skittish and bawling, the chickens ran into their coop, and Buddy was trembling as much as the trees. And the noise! It was so loud that even when we went inside it seemed as loud as it had been outside. We felt like we were in Vietnam, but without the death, bugs, and Agent Orange (although some would argue that the fungacide being sprayed is just as bad).

My Baby's Learning His Steps

2011-08-02T07:50:00.004-05:00

In the evenings we let Ferdi walk around the yard- he doesn't go very far and stays within the confines of the backyard. I've taken to feeding him his bottles from the back steps as he gets a little pushy if I don't have some kind of barrier. Normally he would wait on the grass next to the steps (impatiently) for me to fill up his next bottle, but as you can see, he has figured out how to walk up steps. If you think it's cute now, just wait until he's 1100 pounds...

Pretty Kitty

2011-08-01T06:15:00.000-05:00

Art and I have seen this kitty around the last week or so:

Art's been giving extra feed to the chickens, knowing that the cat goes in and eats from their feeder. S/he doesn't seem to bother the chickens, though, and it would be nice to have a cat around again to curtail the rats and mice. I'm debating with myself whether to buy some cat food, but s/he is skittish and will run as soon as s/he sees me. I don't want to just leave a dish of cat food out for her/him because the chickens/mice/rats/raccoons/rabbitts will eat it before s/he gets to it.

We're hoping s/he'll hang around for awhile and get her fill of rodents!

The Weekend In Review

2011-07-31T13:15:00.007-05:00

What a weekend- it went by too quickly!

Saturday was another busy day full of mowing- when you have three acres of yard spotted with trees, it doesn't usually get done in one day. But I started early and managed to get everything looking clean and I didn't even mow over any trees- big success!

In the spirit of mowing over things that bother me, you may remember the little patch of flower garden near the house that I weed from time to time. It's bordered by phlox and looks beautiful in the spring- all whites and pinks and purples. Here's the thing, how the hell do you weed it? I had so much grass, dandelions and creeping Charlie growing through it that when I pulled out a weed, phlox would come with it. If I didn't weed it, it looked terrible and messy. So as I was mowing yesterday I just mowed off all the phlox. Yes, I know I will regret it next year when there is no pretty border, but perhaps I will find something else to plant there instead. Or perhaps I will just keep mowing over it, who knows?

I weeded the garden and am ticked- those damn rabbits have eaten another green pepper plant down to the stems. I have a raspberry patch about eight feet away and I've read that rabbits love to eat the raspberry branches. I found this out shortly after I had planted them, but three years had come and gone and no sign of rabbits. I'm tempted to mow down the raspberries just to keep the rabbits out of my garden. If Buddy were of any use, he would get rid of them for me, but so far he just runs after them until he gets tired. I doubt he would know what to do with it if he caught it. He probably doesn't even know how to catch anything, anyway.

Art was busy last night and again this morning spreading manure and lime on the hay field. Buddy took the opportunity to go and roll in it, so he's relegated to the basement. Sometimes I feel bad for Buddy; he tries so hard to be a farm dog- running after the tractor, following us when we drive out into the field- but he just doesn't have the constitution for it. He's afraid of loud noises, things that move, and anything that might come at him quickly. Plus he's lazy, so that puts a damper on his activities as well.

Art spreading manure- the dark cloud to the left is poop being scattered

This weekend also appeared as a throwback to 1950's farm life. Art was busy cleaning out the barn and spreading manure on the field, while I was doing laundry and making sure he had supper. One of my clotheslines broke (while full of clothes, no less) so I hung all new lines. Why is this tidbit blog-worthy, you ask? Because my clothesline had three lines, which in the summer isn't quite enough as Art, ever conscious of not being smelly, goes through a lot socks and t-shirts. Well, as I was hanging new lines I discovered that there is a spot for a fourth line! I know! I was excited, too! I told Art and was not as excited as I was, only asking "Do we need a fourth line?" He has no idea.

Last night I had my 11th year high school reunion (we weren't on the ball for a 10 year). Amazingly enough, it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. I caught up with several people (especially Maureen!) I hadn't seen in 11 years and it was nice to see them in real life. There were times I found myself asking people what they had been doing for the last 11 years, even though I already knew via Facebook. Although it was a nice evening, it made me feel old- I don't feel as though I've been out of high school for 11 years and I'm afraid I don't act like it sometimes, either. Oh well, at least I'm enjoying myself!

Lastly, I forgot to post this picture:

Last weekend our friends, Pat and Patti, stayed at our place before we all headed up to Waukon, Iowa for my friend's bridal shower (my friend, their daughter). Because we do not allow people to just 'visit' at the farm, we put Pat to work in order to earn his meals (just kidding). He started putting up the steel on the walls of Art's shop and it looks great! There is still a lot more to put on, but it will get there.

Tomatoes!

2011-07-28T15:17:00.003-05:00

Here are the first tomatoes! They are fairly small and there are only five of them, but I always crab about the lack of tomatoes early on; in a week or two I'll have more tomatoes than I will know what to do with. I'm hoping to make salsa this year and possibly freeze the rest of the tomatoes. I still have quite a bit of ketchup in the basement, but it does go fast so if I absolutely cannot find another way to use them, I'll make ketchup.

Something is eating on one of my green pepper plants. I think it's a rabbit because many of the leaves have been chewed off and there are holes in the peppers still hanging on the plant. It's times like these that I wish Buddy were useful. He's not. If he happens to see a rabbit he'll chase it until he gets tired, but he doesn't see them very often. Well, it's hard to see them if you never go outside. Depending how the green peppers turn out will depend on if I make salsa this year. I suppose I could try putting cages around the green peppers, but I've heard this crazy rumor that rabbits can dig holes and tunnels...

Peppers

2011-07-21T08:28:00.003-05:00

Before we started unloading hay last night, I spent some time in the garden. It's been dry and hot for the last few days that I actually had to water some plants- crazy, I know. My butternut squash is doing really well, but the pumpkins don't look great so I watered them and hopefully they will make a comeback. I also watered a couple of my tomato plants that were looking a little dry as well as the Brussels sprouts that I planted last weekend. I wasn't sure if I would be able to get them planted as the garden was full and the tiller was trapped behind a pile of barn beams that Art came home with a few weeks ago. But, since I harvested the garlic last weekend, I had a free row and in they went. Brussels sprouts are a late vegetable, anyway, so it isn't too late to get them in the ground. If all goes well I should have sprouts sometime in October and if it doesn't go well...well, Art won't have any sprouts for the winter (which is ok because I think cooked Brussels sprouts smell like something died under the 'heat dome').

I also got my first green pepper last night! The plants are doing fairly well- not a lot of blossoms yet, but I'm hoping with the cooler temperatures (eighties and low nineties) and some rain that the plants will start pumping out peppers.

More Adventures in Hay

2011-07-20T22:12:00.000-05:00

You know what even more fun than baling hay in this temperature? Unloading hay in the temperature!! I know, you are all so jealous that I was sweating my ass off last night lifting fifty pound bales. Tell you what, we only unloaded one wagon so you can come over and unload the other wagon! It won't be as fun, though, as the 'heat dome' (that's what they are calling this heat wave) is moving on so it will be much cooler. About thirty degrees cooler, according to my thermometer.

This is the smaller of the two loads that we unloaded last night- about sixty bales.

And this is the larger load-170 bales that you are more than welcome to come and unload. We decided to unload the smaller because there is a possibility of rain tonight and we don't want the hay to get wet. The larger load fits nicely in the shop, so it can stay there until we get around to unloading it. Art just moves it out during the day and puts back in at night. We'll probably get to it sometime.

The clean field

Adventures In Hay

2011-07-20T07:49:00.003-05:00

Yes the thermometer does read 115 degrees, which was slightly cooler than when I got home and the needle had maxed-out past 120 degrees. You know what's really great to do when it's that damn hot?

Stay indoors? No.

Go swimming? No.

Bale hay? Yes!

That's right, we baled hay in 115 degree heat. It was awesome. People thought we were crazy. Here is a sample conversation:

me: "We're going to bale hay tonight"

people: "That's crazy! You should wait!"

me: "Until when? It's ready now."

people: "Until it cools down!"

me: "You mean after it rains? Because then it's ruined."

At this point they would just shake their heads and walk away. I can't say as I blame them because I thought we were nuts, too. Thankfully we had a friend helping us. I had the easy job of driving the tractor; I can sit out in the heat all day long, it's only when I actually have to work that I really feel the effects. Art and our friend, on the other hand, had the labor intensive job of grabbing the 50 pound bales and stacking them on the wagon. We took several breaks and I made the boys get under the hose and drink water. We made it through with no sign of heatstroke.

There were about 230 bales and some of those will need to be fed right away because the hay wasn't completely dry. That's the hay from that back section that never, and I mean never, dries. One wagon is sitting in the shop (with 170ish bales on it) but the smaller load (60ish bales) will have to be put up in the barn tonight when I get home as it's supposed to rain tomorrow night. So that should be a fun way to pass the evening.

At least second cut is done, though, and third cut- usually in September- isn't usually as hot. Of course, it's never been this hot when we've done hay before so anything can happen, I suppose!

Baby Corn

2011-07-17T17:17:00.011-05:00

For four years I attempted to grow sweet corn. The first year it grew about three feet tall and died; the second year it grew to about four feet tall and sprouted three-inch ears; the third year it didn't even bother to come up and the fourth year I had four-inch, bug infested ears. So I gave up on sweet corn, content to buy it at the corn stand in Coralville. But this year Art brought home some sweet corn seeds and begged me to plant them and so far it looks pretty good. Except for this:

This is just one plant out of a row and a half of plants, so I'm not getting too upset about it...yet. This is a pencil-sized ear of corn, already with tassle. Really?! Are you kidding me? I can almost taste defeat.

But like I said, It's only the one plant...so far.

My black beans are doing really well, but I noticed that they have some leaders coming off of them, like they are supposed to have some sort of support (i.e. a bean pole). The package said nothing of this and I'm finding more and more seed packages give very few instructions on how to grow said seeds. I bought the seeds on the internet (amazon, if you can believe it- really good resource for random seeds you can't find anywhere else!) and never in the description did it say that it was a climbing bean. Whatever. It's not a big deal. Art helped me put some hog panels against them so they now have something to grow on. It's not pretty, but it'll work. He did make the comment about how I didn't know that these would be climbers, as green beans are usually climbers. I had to remind him that I have always grown bush beans and never climbers so he can just keep pounding that post in and keep his opinions to himself.

First Harvest, Second Cut

2011-07-17T11:48:00.009-05:00

It was another hot weekend- just how we like it. I spent most of Saturday in the garden doing some weeding (but not too much thanks to the thick layer of hay) and digging up the garlic. We got a pretty good harvest, too! I planted the Chinese Purple because it was the only varietly left. We haven't tried any yet, but I'm hoping to soon!

Art cut hay today- second cut. It's supposed to be nice for the next six days- so here's hoping! I went a few rounds with Art and I noticed that a lot of the alfalfa was turning yellow. Art told me it was because of the aphids- they eat the plant until it dies off. And here I thought how pretty it was with all the little butterflies around. Apparently this happens every year, I just haven't noticed it.

Art said he might just round bale it again (yes!) but he isn't sure yet. I'm sure we'll end up baling it ourselves, though, because the small squares are easier to feed than the big rounds. And since we don't have the storage space for round bales, we may as square bale it and store them in the barn.

If the weather stays this hot we should be able to bale by Wednesday. Hopefully it won't be too humid because it won't dry very well if it is.

Trapped

2011-07-15T16:39:00.003-05:00

While the rat problem has abated some (in that they are no longer eating the eggs or tearing up the insulation in the chicken coop), Art still sees one around from time to time. We've kept the bait box loaded but have forgone the glue traps because they kept disappearing. I don't know where they went or if there was something attached to it, but they're gone. Apparently there was one behind a large piece of something-or-other that Art moved. Did he pick up the glue trap so that the curious yet dumb chickens didn't get caught? Nope. Art told me he had meant to do it, but then got side-tracked- which is pretty much the story of his life.

I tried to help the rooster out, but he kept running away from me. Part of the trap broke off so there was only a square that was firmly attached to his foot. He ran into the barn and it sounded like he was wearing flip flops when he walked on the cement.

Storm Damage

2011-07-12T17:39:00.002-05:00

Monday morning a storm blew in, and while we didn't have near the damage other parts of Iowa did, there was some marring of my beautiful garden. Most of the sweet corn stalks were lying on the ground or on other plants. When I came home Monday night I just stood there wondering what I was going to do. I have tried and failed countless times to grow sweet corn but this year- this year!- was going to be different. Prior to the storm the stalks were growing tall and looking healthy. But I had Art pound in some steal fence posts and I strung wire down both sides of each row, top and bottom. Art didn't think I could save the rows, but even he was impressed with my work. I only had one stalk that was broken and the rest were intact if just a bit flattened. However, they are already coming into tassle- meaning that they will pollinate and start growing ears soon- and I'm hoping they will be ok. The stalks are only about four feet high which I think is a little short for tassle even if it is sweet corn (which is shorter than the corn you see in the fields).

If it doesn't turn out I hereby declare to never attempt to grow sweet corn again.

A Tight Spot

2011-07-11T06:34:00.000-05:00

I couldn't resist taking pictures of Art fixing our friends' hay baler yesterday. He was fixing the knives or something, I'm not sure what, and the only way to do it was to crawl inside the baler. It sounds like a bad design to me; why they didn't build it so that the top can flip off for easier access I'll never know. It was a tight squeeze for someone who is 6'3"! I offered to go in the baler for him, but I had no idea what he was fixing so I wouldn't have been much help.

A Bad Day For Ferdi

2011-07-10T19:15:00.005-05:00

Poor Ferdinand. He's so cute and even tempered but he had a very rough day. It started with having his horns burned- he didn't fight too much but he squirmed and moo-ed and we could tell he didn't like it. Then he was banded, which basically involves putting the worlds smallest rubber band around his testicles to cut off the blood flow so that they fall off. I took him for a little walk to the hay field and treated him to some clover and alfalfa, but on the way back he just gave up. He was so tired and his head hurt and his balls hurt so he just layed down.

I was able to coax him back to the barn with a bottle of milk (well, milk replacer- it's pretty much just powdered milk mixed with water) and get him settled in for the night. He was already asleep when Art checked on him twenty minutes later.

This will probably live in his memory as the worst day ever.

Sunday in Summer

2011-07-10T16:50:00.008-05:00

It was a hot and busy day! I helped Art fix a hay baler- it belongs to the dairy farmer that sold us Ferdi and apparently he and Art did some horse-trading- Art fixes his baler, we get a cow. I think we are both benefiting from this deal. As I walked back to the house from Art's shop I noticed that the raspberries were ripening- this is the first year that I have gotten more than two raspberries. So far it's not much but I can see there will be many more that will ripen in the next few days. I'm hoping to make some raspberry jam (preferably jam that gels and doesn't mold on top) but I'll be happy just to eat them. Art isn't a big fan of raspberries which is just fine because he eats all the strawberries before I can get any.

I had to put tomato cages in between each of my tomato plants. Considering we haven't had rain in a week and a half it's amazing how well they are doing! I don't want the branches laying on the ground, so the cages between the plants will keep them off the ground and (hopefully) away from the blight. I'm so happy with the garden this year. Because of the hay I put down I have had to do very little weeding and it has definately saved my sanity. I haven't mowed over anything in a fit of rage and I intend to put down hay every year from now on. The garlic is almost ready, the beans and green peppers are blooming, the sweet corn looks wonderful and I should have tomatoes coming in the next two weeks or so.

Ferdi spent most of the day tied to a tree in the yard, enjoying the shade, breeze and chewing his cud. We have to keep him seperate from Ray and Peggy until he's been weaned off the bottle (another two months or so) otherwise he will start suckling on Peggy which could cause her to prolapse (push her uterus out) or try to deliver her calf early. We're fairly sure she's pregnant and though we haven't had her officially checked, she's getting pretty round. Plus it's nice for Ferdi- he doesn't have to be cooped up in the barn all day while the other two are out in the pasture. I'm sure people drove by wondering why we have a calf tied to a tree, but that's ok. Art and I do things they way we want no matter how strange or different they may be. We burned his horns off this afternoon, which wasn't pleasant for any of us (least of all Ferdi) but like I said earlier, it's a necessary evil. If we left his horns intact they would grow quite large and he could do some serious damage to the other cows or, worse, one of us. Since he is now a pet cow and we plan to keep him purely for our own enjoyment, the horns had to go. He wasn't very happy with us after, but Art assures me he'll come around in a day or two.

Small Town Americana

2011-07-10T10:24:00.015-05:00

Last night Art and I went with some friends to the truck and tractor pull in Wyoming, IA. I had never been to a tractor pull before and I can honestly say I wasn't looking forward to it as I couldn't see the fun in watching trucks and tractors pull a heavy 'slider' (that's the technical term for the thing they are pulling) down a dirt track. It's very masculine; large, loud machines that billow smoke as they attempt to pull a longer, heavier machine- complete with weights and plow- farther than anyone else. Thank God for ear plugs! What I found interesting is that there are people who take these tractor pulls very seriously and there is even a circuit- a person could compete nationally if they (and their tractor) are good enough. I'm surprised environmental groups aren't protesting at every pull, considering the amount of smoke that is being emitted. One of the friends who took us told me that those trucks and tractors will use four or five gallons of fuel just to get down the track which is only about 400 feet.

It was much more entertaining that I had thought, though, but now that I've been to one I don't feel the need to go to another.

Because of the weight and power, many of the tractors' front end would lift as they went down the track

Some guys- usually the ones that were hardcore- had tractors with a roll cage, safety seat, seat belt and wore helmets and protective clothing.

Introducing Ferdinand

2011-07-09T15:39:00.008-05:00

Today we brought home a brown Swiss bull that we bought from some friends who own a dairy farm about a mile away. Art happened to be over there the other day helping them unload hay when he saw him. They were going to sell him as they don't need bull calves and Art offered to buy him. He is the sweetest calf I have ever met. All he wants is for you to pet him- he's basically an oversized dog. I decided to name him Ferdinand after the children's book "Ferdinand the Bull" by Munro Leaf. All Ferdinand wanted to do was sit under a tree and smell the flowers, he didn't want to fight. That's a perfect description of our Ferdinand ('Ferdi' for short). We tied him up to the tree for the afternoon before putting him in the barn and I sat in my lawn chair reading to keep an eye on him. He bawled a lot, until I went over and started petting him. This went on for most of the afternoon (I accomplished nothing today) and it was pretty damn enjoyable! Tomorrow we'll band him and burn his horns- both of which sound inhumane, I know, but if we don't band him he'll get to be too rough to handle and if we don't burn his horns they can become dangerous to us and the other cows when he gets older.

That's right- we brought him home in the back of Art's Jeep

He's so cute and sweet; even the our friends the dairy farmer said they've never seen a quieter calf. Art and I both admitted to each other that we will never be able to put him in the freezer so he is now a perminent resident with no discernable purpose. Kind of like Buddy.

Not Losing My Cool

2011-07-02T10:44:00.009-05:00

It's been pretty warm here the last few days- some might even say hot. We live in an old farm house and somehow survive without air-conditioning. When I tell people this, they always say, "but you at least have a window unit, right?" and they are usually appalled to find out that I do not. No one really believes me when I tell them that it's actually cooler out in the country because we don't have as much cement and asphault keeping the heat in and no tall buildings blocking the breeze. Sure it gets warm in the house, but I just open the windows and turn on the ceiling fans and it cools right down. Since heat rises the upstairs can get a bit toasty, but with the box fan in the window there is a nice breeze that keeps us cool at night. Yesterday I bought a thermometer and, just for funsies, put in our bedroom to see exactly how warm it got. 89 degrees upstairs, 86 degrees downstairs. It didn't feel that warm, but $1.97 thermometers from Walmart don't lie.

Since I haven't lived in air conditioning for a few years now, I find that I really dislike being in it. It makes me cold and I miss the fresh air. I just don't think it's healthy to be cooped up all day- people need to get outside, it's good for them to sweat a little. I found this excellent book by Stan Cox, "Losing Our Cool; Uncomfortable Truths bout Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer)". It talks about the history of air-conditioning, how urban sprawl has led to hotter cities, and how air-conditioning is a big factor of obesity and the lacking of social skills, all without being preach-y. I rarely read non-fiction books but I loved this because I felt like I was communing with a kindred spirit. So if you are looking for something that's an easy ready but still teaches you something, I would definately reccommend it!

Sunny Sunday

2011-06-26T19:52:00.000-05:00

It was a nice turn-around for the weather today- sunny and warm. Art and I took advantage of it by spending most of it outside doing the things we couldn't do in the cold and rain yesterday. I did the laundry and finished placing hay around the plants in the garden. Originally I had just placed it around the tomato plants to prevent blight and also around the onion and garlic because they are a pain to weed. I have never covered the entire garden because I felt that would be taking the easy way out. I would always tell myself, "Don't be lazy!", but usually by August I have mowed over some plant or another because I'm so burned out on weeding. So this year I took the easy way out to prevent any kind of frustration fueled destruction. It's not pretty, but it'll do the job and save my sanity.

We also burned the mustard pile this morning- I know Google tells me to place it in a paper sack and burn it, but you tell me where I can find a paper sack large enough to hold a three-foot-high pile of mustard, so we just burned it in the open. I'm sure mustard seeds are floating in the air, just waiting to land and take root, but it was a south wind so it'll end up in the neighbors' corn field. They use herbacides, anyway, so it won't matter.

We also split some of the wood from the tree that fell a few weeks ago. Art cut up the trunk and I know we'll have even more to split next weekend. Art has become a wood snob, though. When we first started burning wood to heat the house, we used cotton wood that he got from a friend of his. Once he discovered oak and hickory, well, that cotton wood just didn't cut it because it's a softwood. The maple we split today is also a softwood and Art just didn't know what to do with it. Since it's not hardwood oak or hickory, it's not quite good enough for him. I told him that if we were living in Russia during WWII he would be thanking his lucky stars for any kind of wood, let alone hardwood. Sometimes I think I must have had a hard life in some past life the way I think. We stacked the inferior softwood in the corn crib and we'll use it in the winter. Art is also planning on putting a wood stove in his shop, so he could use it in there, too. A lot of people think he's crazy for putting a wood stove in his shop when he has the in-floor heating, but we only have the tubing in, no boiler. To actually hook up the system for the in-floor heating is expensive and since we have all the free firewood we want, for the time being it's far more cost effective.

I was so productive in the morning that I spent the rest of the afternoon in the sun reading my book and drinking iced tea.

Mushrooms

2011-06-26T14:44:00.004-05:00

We discovered these mushrooms growing all over one part of our yard:

This is the first year they have come up and I have no idea what kind they are. I'm not a big fan of mushrooms unless they are stuffed with a lot of garlic and cream cheese. I also don't want to try them in case they kill me, which would really put a damper on my weekend. If you know, please tell me. Not that I will do anything with them, but it would still be nice to know.

Little Friends

2011-06-25T17:52:00.006-05:00

This week we've been dog sitting our friend's miniature border collie, Nesmhe (their last name spelled backwards. Rhymes with Nestle) and she has had a wonderful time (or so I like to think). She's been exploring, she saw her first cow and met her first chicken and didn't even try to kill it! I think she drives Buddy a little crazy because he's been spending his days in the basement instead of the main level with her. Other than that, they get along just fine. Nesmhe makes Buddy look extremely mentally challenged, though. She listens to all sorts of commands like 'sit', 'stay', 'lay down' and my favorite trick, holding a treat on her nose until you say 'ok'. Buddy will sit if he has some incentive like a treat, but other than that he's pretty useless. Nesmhe is going home tomorrow and I think Buddy will be glad for the silence. I think that if we could hear her talk she would be jabbering all day long while Buddy is more the silent type.

It was a rainy day Saturday and after I cleaned my house I sat down to watch season three of True Blood. While watching hot vampires fight with hot werewolves I noticed something hopping around in the dining room. Somehow a very tiny frog or toad (I don't know which) found its way into my house. I panicked for a moment because I'm a girl and Art wasn't home. I knew he wouldn't drop whatever he was doing to come home and deal with it. Several scenarios went through my brain:

1. Leave it in the dining room until Art came home- which might not be for a couple of hours and Nesmhe might eat it before then and then she might die.

2. Pick it up with a towel- but then I was afraid that I would squish it or that it would get out and hop down my shirt.

3. Kill it- which seemed mean and unecessary.

I ended up taking a container and more or less slamming it down (from about three feet away- it was a bit of a stretch) over the frog/toad and slid a thin piece of cardboard underneath it. I then picked up the entire thing, being very careful that the cardboard stayed firmly under the container so as to prevent a variation of scenario number 2. I set him free outside where I'm sure he's much happier and there is less risk of one of the dogs eating him and then said dogs dying.

You can just barely see him on the rug- he's just down from the dark spot, in the third ring from the outside

Preparedness

2011-06-19T19:36:00.013-05:00

This weekend was all about preparing for the future (i.e. winter). I spent Saturday in the garden weeding around the plants and picking strawberries. I froze another two bags making a total of four gallon-sized bags of strawberries in the freezer. Because I'm OCD I would have kept on picking them through June and ended up with more strawberries than I could eat in an entire winter. But my neighbor mentioned that she would like to take some because they are going to try and make a strawberry-rhubarb wine (they're big into making wine). So I gave her the rest of my strawberries through the end of the season. I'll pick them, but I won't mind because I won't have to do anything else with them- I'm just the supplier.

Last year Art cut up an oak tree trunk and put the sections on our wagon rack. Now that it's summer and it's hay season we knew we would need that rack in about a month or so and we decided that it was a good day to split some wood. Yes, it was a humid 96 degrees, but we enjoy the heat so it didn't bother us at all. Of course, my only job is to flip the lever that makes the splitter go back and forth so Art may think differently about working in such heat. Each section of log was about 150-200 pounds. We saved the biggest for the last as Art couldn't quite lift it and instead rolled it from the wagon to the splitter (the one in the picture- Art estimated that it weighed about 350 pounds. How he got it from the field to his truck to the wagon rack I'll never know). We got all the wood split- about six weeks worth of wood for the winter. The worst part, in my opinion, is putting it all away. We stacked most of it, but then decided it was getting late and the rest will stay until another day.

Pictures from Canada

2011-06-17T08:54:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Canada

Instead tinkling glasses to make the newlyweds kiss, you had to go up and act out a charade. Art went up, picked out his piece of paper and promptly told everyone, "I'm supposed to do a moon-walk" and proceeded to do said moon-walk. He didn't understand that he wasn't supposed to say what he was going to do (he's never played charades before. Apparently he grew up in a cave.)

Ray looking confused at who he married

Now he's happy with his new wife, Darlene

Art's brother Steve and Carly doing their best Jazz hands

Art and Ray

Strawberry Season

2011-06-14T18:40:00.006-05:00

Considering what a long drive it is to and from Canada, I have learned to take a day off between when I get home and when I go back to work. We got in around midnight last night and slept in late this morning. Before we left I had weeded around the plants in the garden but with four days of rain and warm weather, the plants were already surrounded. So I spent most of the day weeding and placing a thick layer of old hay around the tomato plants to prevent blight and also around the garlic and onions to keep the weeds down because they are a pain in the butt to weed. Everything is coming up beautifully; the tomatoes look great and it will be another bumper year (hopefully!). The green peppers look great- all except one that I think a rabbit has been eating the leaves off. The black beans and sweet corn, onions and garlic, as well as the pumpkins and butternut squash are all coming up and I will probably have more produce than I know what to do with, as usual. But I was smarter this year and planted the rows farther apart so that I only have to weed around the plants and take the rototiller through the middle of the row.

The strawberries started coming in and I picked the few that were ripe the Thursday before we left. The strawberries, being June bearing (meaning they bear fruit only in June as opposed to the ever-bearing varieties) always keep me busy. There were loads that were ripe and I had three full bowls by the end of my picking. I'll be out there every day for the next few weeks picking but I'm freezing them this year instead of canning them. I still have at least fifty jars of jam and sauce in the basement and, considering the issues I had last year, I'll just stick them in the freezer or give them away. The berries are really good this year- they aren't as big as the ones in the grocery stores (because they aren't packed full of fertilizers) but they taste so much better! If you want some strawberries, come on over, they'll be here all June!

Oh, Canada!

2011-06-14T17:54:00.003-05:00

This last weekend we drove over to Canada to visit Art's family and to attend the wedding of a friend of ours. We were really excited to meet our new niece, Annika, too. The weather wasn't bad, a little chilly for my taste (fifties) but at least it wasn't snowing! The wedding was a blast and we were able to see everyone. It's a long trip- 12 hours, but we took the Yaris and loved it. 40 miles to the gallon on average isn't too bad! Even though it's small, Art was very comfortable and was happy that I could share in the driving. In the past we would take his truck and I would refuse to drive it after a small incident of breaking wheels, tires, steering box and other parts that I don't even know occured a few years ago. Driving in Canada is kind of exciting, which is dumb to say because they drive exactly the same as in the US except you drive on 'lines' and 'concessions' instead of 'county roads'. We drove up Friday and came home Monday which makes for a short weekend, but we still had a great time.

Me and the cows

Art and Annika

I have a lot more pictures, but I'm at home and don't have the patience to upload them all, so I will try and do it at work tomorrow!

My Husband is Funny...

2011-06-09T17:31:00.003-05:00

The main door we use to go in and out of the house is just off the kitchen. When I came home tonight and opened the door into the kitchen I smelled something subtle, but bad. I knew it couldn't have been the garbage as I had taken this morning so I kept trying to place the smell as I put the groceries away. I looked in the sink but the drains were clean; I looked in the microwave because I had made Art Brussel sprouts last night and thought maybe he left them in there. I think the Brussel sprouts smell like something that's died and that thought triggered the source of the smell. I checked the mouse trap under the sink and, sure enough, there was a dead mouse. Now this is not unusual, so I called Art and told him that there was another mouse under the sink and that he should come home immediately (it wasn't really an emergency, I just like to use any excuse to get him home before 7:00). He said, "Is that what smelled in the kitchen?" when I told him it was and that I had smelled it as soon as I walked in the door he said, "I smelled it this morning and thought there might be a mouse down there, but I didn't think to check."

I don't even understand this. He smelled the dead mouse this morning, assumed it was a dead mouse in the trap under the sink, and he didn't think to check it?

That he knew the source of the smell and didn't take care of but instead let it ripen all day makes me laugh because it's just something Art would do!

Kudos!

2011-06-09T14:48:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to pass along a great website http://naturalfamilysupplies.com/ . It's my new favorite website where I can get everything from natural art supplies to laundry soap to skin care. I love it and am always checking it out to see what's new. She turned me on to using GladRags (possibly too much information for you) and I have never looked back! They also have this laundry soap, Charlie's, that the owner was nice enough to send me a sample of and what I loved is that it worked really well. As many of you know, I have great difficulty finding laundry soaps that work because I have such hard water. It didn't clump or leave a residue on my clothes and it doesn't have the chemicals in it that will give me cancer later in life, so I'll be ordering some soon because it's far more affordable than a lot of natural laundry soaps out there. I'm very tempted to pick up a set of wool dryer balls to help with my static problems, but I only use my dryer in the winter so I have some time (hopefully!). Everything she carries is just great and super affordable.

I am also in love with her way of life and have begged her to let me come live with them in their mountaintop cabin. You can check out her blog at http://mountaintoptribe.blogspot.com/