November 13, 2008 - Sunday
Farm life has been busy - with my husband nursing a broken collar bone, I have had lots of adventures on our huge Massey Fergusen tractor. I love driving it and doing things, which is some times a challenge. But it is also scary at times as it is so powerful but that doesn't stop me.
Autumn is full of colors this year. The trees are incredible, red, orange, yellow, purple, lt green, brown and ready to shed all of their leaves with the first hard freeze. In this life on the farm there are many things that are "just a part of life." Flies (that is why grandma had a pie cabinet to keep the flies off), ticks (they don't go away until a hard freeze), praying for rain - then praying it doesn't rain until you get the hay in, watching the local tv channels on days and nights of severe storms because they show the radar images down in one corner with alerts in case there are tornados in the area, making sure the weather radio is working after you go to bed as it will alert us of any tornado "watch" or "warning". A tornado watch means the conditions are perfect for one, tornado warning means that one tornado has been spotted. Accepting exceptionally dirty clothes from working on the farm, having slip on shoes and slip on boots at the front door, ready, for when you hear a noise or see something that has to be taken care of like horses broken out of the pasture etc.
Then in the winter accepting the daily sweeping that must be done in the house because of the wood bin, the wood stove and all that it brings besides heat. And accepting that living in the country brings dangers for you and your animals. Coyotes, Cougars, Raccoons, snapping turtles, vultures, eagles and wild dogs. The coyotes often take puppies and kittens if left out. Cougars take small calves, dogs, sheep etc. Raccoons can kill a dog by coaxing them into the water of a creek, lake or river then hold them down to drown. Sheep face the same dangers with cougars, wild dogs and coyotes.
We have just recently had to accept a loss - our two precious beagles. The lived in beagle heaven, hunting in the daytime after it warmed up, napping on dog beds in the afternoon, going for a short hunt late afternoon and then settling down for a nice nights sleep in their own space, in the laundry room, with all the food and water they want. They met a challenge last Sunday they could not overcome - Little Happy never made it home, and his girlfriend, Pretty Face, somehow crawled home only to die here. That is the REAL world of country living and surviving.
We have always taken in "dump dogs" who have been abused and/or dumped to wander and find another home, if they can. So two beds have opened up and we wait for God to bring us some little guys who need help. Meanwhile, their best buddy, Carver, a big Coyote Hound, who always ran with them, but age always brought him home early, is now desperately moarning their loss. He gets up early every morning and goes to their room, then goes outside and looks for them, then comes back in and searches their room then cries. It is so sad. I think he would have understood more if he had seen them dead.
So, I have stopped leaving the barn door open at night, thinking Happy might miracously come home. I know now he is dead. They are both missed. Our hearts miss them and I feel honored to have been a part of their lives and to have been trusted by them.
Well, it all sounds ugly and depressing and then I look up, out the window and see the bright red Cardinal coming in for his seeds. They are starting to feed as the fields get empty and the insects die from the cold nights. Soon, all 5 bird feeders will be full of bright red Cardinals. I am starting to straighten up my hobby studio where I have been
dumping all of the stuff, supplies for projects and unfinished projects. Now the day has come - JUDGEMENT DAY - when it is time for me to dig my way through the stacks of stuff I have not put away, have done projects, supplies and ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE. I actually love to organize but it has to be a cloudy, rainy, cold day in order for me to do it. Otherwise I am outside playing in the garden, with my mule or dreaming up more projects for the barn and other outdoor improvements.
Here are some of the projects:
*framing the hundreds of photos and many pieces of art
*playing with designing the frames myself as hate the standard frames
*finishing the kitchen curtains
*hanging the pictures
*putting in the rest of the flooring in the bathroom and studio
*clearing off the shelves in the studio and mark thing to go to the booth I have in a consignment store in town
*putting together photos of my precious 4-legged angels
*design and put together small barn front, complete with doors to hang on the wall and hold all the names of my 4 legged angels on it.
*start making up cookie dough for holidays and freezing it
Well, that is enough to give you a headache I am sure. No recipes today. Just a visit. Thanks for visiting and hope you come back soon.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Stewed Tomatoes - Go Figure
Well, my grandparents and great grandparents could have told me if they were alive today - Farming is a gamble with nature. I can't imagine what it must have been like to farm any crops without all the pesticides, John Deere tractors and equipment, watering systems etc. They had wagons and mules and mostly homemade seeders and plows. I count my blessings. Yesterday, I was proven wrong, once again. Remember how I complained that I had 16 tomato plants and hadn't picked more than 10 tomatoes all season and now we had a freeze two weeks ago and figured they were history. Well, I walked out to the veg garden yesterday to see what had to be done to take everything down for the winter and to my surprise, I picked a full 5 gallon bucket of fresh ripe tomatoes. YUP! No freeze rot or burn and the bushes were still full of ripening fruit. Last night we had another hard freeze so I am not sure if they finally got it or not but today.........my schedule is already laid out for today........it is canning those 5 gals of tomatos. I can't believe, canning in the last week of October. Go figure.
I am going to make "stewed tomatoes" as that is my husbands favorite and might make a batch of "salsa" also. Big ideas, but lets see what I turn out with. Now to dig out and unwrap the canner, dig out and wash and sterilize the jars, dig out and wash and sterlize the lids and seals, dig out the big enamel bean pot to boil the water to help skin the tomatos, pour a bag of ice into the filled sink of cold water so after scalding the tomatoes and seeing their skins start to split, dipping them out with tongs, thrusting them into the iced water which will make them peel very easily.
Once skinned, chopping them up and putting them in a big pot, along with chopped onions, some chopped green peppers (out of the garden, of course), celery salt, some sugar and a small douse of salt.
Here are the exact measurements and recipe: CANNING STEWED TOMATOES
4 qts skinned, chopped, cored tomatos
1/2 c chopped green peppers
1/2 c chopped onions
4 tsp celery salt
4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Place in a large saucepan/pot and bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionaly. Pack hot mixture in warm jars, remove air bubbles by inserting a knitting needle down inside the jar, forcing the air bubbles out. Pressure cook at 10lbs pressure for 15 mins for pint jars or 20 mins for quart jars. Remove, place on a doubled old bath towel and covering jars with another doubled old bath towel. Leave overnight and then check the seals in the morning to make sure they all popped inward. Mark your jars - "Stewed Tomatoes" and date.
There you go - get started. if you don't have a pressure cooker you can water bath the filled jars. If you want instructions on water bathing, send me a comment or email at mickipi2008@gmail.com and I will send you instructions for wather bathing.
That is it for today. Moving hay bales today and working with my mules if I have time. Plus canning - oh heck - well maybe we need to make this a 30 hr day.
FARMER'S WEATHER PROVERBS:
"Forked lightning at night, the next day clear and bright."
"If it rains on a clear sunny day, it will rain again the next day at the same time."
"When the sun sets sadly, the morning will be angry."
"When cattle remain on the hilltops, fine weather to come."
"If birds be silent, expect thunder."
HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR VISITING.
I am going to make "stewed tomatoes" as that is my husbands favorite and might make a batch of "salsa" also. Big ideas, but lets see what I turn out with. Now to dig out and unwrap the canner, dig out and wash and sterilize the jars, dig out and wash and sterlize the lids and seals, dig out the big enamel bean pot to boil the water to help skin the tomatos, pour a bag of ice into the filled sink of cold water so after scalding the tomatoes and seeing their skins start to split, dipping them out with tongs, thrusting them into the iced water which will make them peel very easily.
Once skinned, chopping them up and putting them in a big pot, along with chopped onions, some chopped green peppers (out of the garden, of course), celery salt, some sugar and a small douse of salt.
Here are the exact measurements and recipe: CANNING STEWED TOMATOES
4 qts skinned, chopped, cored tomatos
1/2 c chopped green peppers
1/2 c chopped onions
4 tsp celery salt
4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Place in a large saucepan/pot and bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionaly. Pack hot mixture in warm jars, remove air bubbles by inserting a knitting needle down inside the jar, forcing the air bubbles out. Pressure cook at 10lbs pressure for 15 mins for pint jars or 20 mins for quart jars. Remove, place on a doubled old bath towel and covering jars with another doubled old bath towel. Leave overnight and then check the seals in the morning to make sure they all popped inward. Mark your jars - "Stewed Tomatoes" and date.
There you go - get started. if you don't have a pressure cooker you can water bath the filled jars. If you want instructions on water bathing, send me a comment or email at mickipi2008@gmail.com and I will send you instructions for wather bathing.
That is it for today. Moving hay bales today and working with my mules if I have time. Plus canning - oh heck - well maybe we need to make this a 30 hr day.
FARMER'S WEATHER PROVERBS:
"Forked lightning at night, the next day clear and bright."
"If it rains on a clear sunny day, it will rain again the next day at the same time."
"When the sun sets sadly, the morning will be angry."
"When cattle remain on the hilltops, fine weather to come."
"If birds be silent, expect thunder."
HAVE A GREAT DAY AND THANKS FOR VISITING.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
I'm Finally Back!!!!!
As you well know, I have been gone for awhile. Life on the farm does not make life simple. It can destroy a routine in just one day. Summer was scorching - the hottest summer we have ever had, quote the locals. My garden - well my garden didn't produce much accept some cucumbers and spaghetti squash which is still to be picked. My tomatoes decided they would make an appearance, much to late, and as of last week the 16 bushes were full of green tomatoes and some starting to ripen. OH GREAT!!!! "A day late and a dollar short" as my grandmother used to say. Woke up this morning with 27 degrees outside. Anyone interested in "frozen green tomatoes"?
I took 3 1/2 days off from the farm 2 weeks ago. Left on a Sunday afternoon in my truck, pulling my big horse trailer, loaded with my Foxtrotter mare, Cory, and my big wonderful Ugly mule, Denver. Drove to an 800 acre ranch north east of here, "Eagle Ranch" where you can camp, ride the trails and just enjoy. The weather had cooled so we had a wonderful time. I say "we" because a couple of friends went along with their horses. We had a great time.
Arrived home and went to kiss my sweetheart husband and found his right arm was in a sling. The day I left, he tripped over a curb and broke his collarbone. When I had called while on my trip to check in ,he did not tell me because he didn't want me to worry or think I had to come home. Goodness.
Well, that is why I haven't been blogging. And this next part of the blog is especially for the Kim Kardasian's of the world. Good gravy!!! is all I have to say each time I see her reality show where she won't even sit on her bedspread/comforter because it is some special silk. This real housewife of rural Missouri had to step up to the plate. Winterizing has to be done. What is "winterizing" in Missouri? Dust off the wood burning stove and make sure it is clean and ready to go. Get out the wood splitter, call one of the son's and grandsons and have them come to help cut wood, split wood and stock wood in the barn. Next, make a wood bin inside near the stove so I don't have to go out as often to bring in wood. Cleaning off the wood stove turns into a "Chinese Puzzle" in my house. The beautiful plant that was enjoying itself on top of the wood stove, basking in the sunlight all Spring and Summer long now has to find another place. Of course, the place where this plant sits in the winter has been taken up by something else. Long story short......it turned into reorganizing the front room. Then, Kim Kardasian, when you start moving furniture around, if you live in a barn and in the country, you have to dig out the vacuum and begin vacuuming all the dust, feathers, dog hair and whatever that has been hiding behind that piece of furniture.
Okay, chain saws are screaming and cutting up logs, logs are being split, then thrown in the back of a pickup and brought into the barn where they are then being stacked neatly. Then we have to winterize the gas driven machinery = putting in an additive in the 4 wheeler, the mowers, cars, trucks and various other pieces of farm machinery so when the temperature dips, the gas won't gel. Then our hay field has grown up and ready to be cut for our 2nd cutting of hay, which will partially be our feed for the winter for the horses and mules and the rest for our hay customers. In order to get ready for the cutting of the hay, I hooked up 2 garden carts to the back of the 4-wheeler (ATV). My husband could operate the 4 wheeler while I sat in the back wagon, leather gloves on and loppers (branch cutters) in hand. We drove out into the 40 acre field and drove up and down looking for Black Locust suckers and more debris from the tornado last May.
You ask, "What the heck is "Black Locust suckers?" Black Locust is a tree that grows in this area that has very long and sharp thorns. The thorns are so sharp and strong that the thorns on the young sucker trees can go right though a leather sole on a boot. The mature trees are full of thorns on their trunks and many on each branch. The thorns easily get to 5-6 inches long. So finding these young trees or "suckers" is necessary as I don't want them cut and end up in our hay bales. Trees out here grow like weeds. I am always cutting down or lopping off or digging up trees where they are not wanted.
We filled 4 wagons full of these suckers - it is a long, hot and tedious job taking many hours. I would love to issure a special invitation to Kim Kardasian to join me next time.
Next, after the hay is cut and raked (they rake it into "wind rows") they then begin to bale it. This process takes about 3 days in all. After the baling is done, I then will begin bringing in the hay from the field. If it sets to long in the field it kills the grass underneath the bale and leave dead spots. These bales are round and weigh approximately 1500 lbs. I have to put the hay spikes on the big tractor then go out and spear each bale and bring it in. You can leave the round bales out in the weather which is just fine. The hay is rolled and wrapped very tightly with a netting so when it rains or snows, the rain and snow runs right off of it instead of soaking into it. Each bale is equivilant to 16 square bales of hay, approximately.
Okay, moving on - Bring in all the Humming bird feeders as they are all gone now. Put out and fill all the bird feeders for the Tit Mouse (bird), Cardinal, Sparrow and Blue birds. I have 6 feeders that hang outside of one livingroom window and we love to watch the birds feed, fight, play and just rest all winter long. I also have to make warm places in the barn for the barn cats. I set up boxes covered with old throw rugs and filled with an old towel or rug. We have a tub of water for them in the barn so I set the heated water tub we have their water won't freeze. Also I have to install the water heaters in the horse troughs and take off the automatic waterers which would automatically fill the troughs all Spring and Summer long. During the winter we have to haul out garden hoses and fill them ourselves. Now, we make sure the horses have a place to get in out of the ice and snow and wind. I have a large stall inside the barn which has a door that opens out into the pasture and I open up that door, place a water trough in it and a salt block. The horses will filter in and stand for awhile. The little horses (minatures) have a separate pasture and have a leanto barn which has tarps attached to the sides to stop the wind. The Minature horses have exceptionally heavy thick coats unlike the large horses so they are able to handle winter much easier. They probably all do just fine without the stalls or the leantos but this mom would suffer more just worrying about them.
Lastly make sure the generators are dusted off and ready to go when asked to perform as we have several power outages during the winter from trees limbs falling on power lines etc. NOW WE ARE READY - except digging out the winter gloves, if I can remember where I put them, dig out the winter jackets and coveralls, the Muck Boots and heavy socks and flannel sheets. It sounds overwhelming but I love every minute of it. The colors in the trees are incredible right now - announcing winter. Then we will get a very hard freeze one night and the next day within one hour, all the leaves on the trees will fall. REALLY, it happens that fast.
Thanks for visiting and hope I didn't bore you - Please come back.
FOLK LORE: You can tell if you are going to have a hard cold winter if you check to see where the squirrel nests are. If they are built close to the trunk of the tree, winter will be hard. If they are farther out on the branches, it will be a mild winter.
COUNTRY RECIPE: Fried Corn - Fred Davis
2 - 3 corn cobs
2 Tblsp Butter
1/4 c of milk
salt and pepper to taste
touch of sugar if needed
Cut the corn off the cobs, then scrape the corn cops to remove the "milk" which is the juice of the corn - scrape all into a frying pan.
Add butter, milk, salt and pepper and sugar, if needed. Cook and stir for about 20 minutes. This is very good.
HAVE A GREAT DAY!
I took 3 1/2 days off from the farm 2 weeks ago. Left on a Sunday afternoon in my truck, pulling my big horse trailer, loaded with my Foxtrotter mare, Cory, and my big wonderful Ugly mule, Denver. Drove to an 800 acre ranch north east of here, "Eagle Ranch" where you can camp, ride the trails and just enjoy. The weather had cooled so we had a wonderful time. I say "we" because a couple of friends went along with their horses. We had a great time.
Arrived home and went to kiss my sweetheart husband and found his right arm was in a sling. The day I left, he tripped over a curb and broke his collarbone. When I had called while on my trip to check in ,he did not tell me because he didn't want me to worry or think I had to come home. Goodness.
Well, that is why I haven't been blogging. And this next part of the blog is especially for the Kim Kardasian's of the world. Good gravy!!! is all I have to say each time I see her reality show where she won't even sit on her bedspread/comforter because it is some special silk. This real housewife of rural Missouri had to step up to the plate. Winterizing has to be done. What is "winterizing" in Missouri? Dust off the wood burning stove and make sure it is clean and ready to go. Get out the wood splitter, call one of the son's and grandsons and have them come to help cut wood, split wood and stock wood in the barn. Next, make a wood bin inside near the stove so I don't have to go out as often to bring in wood. Cleaning off the wood stove turns into a "Chinese Puzzle" in my house. The beautiful plant that was enjoying itself on top of the wood stove, basking in the sunlight all Spring and Summer long now has to find another place. Of course, the place where this plant sits in the winter has been taken up by something else. Long story short......it turned into reorganizing the front room. Then, Kim Kardasian, when you start moving furniture around, if you live in a barn and in the country, you have to dig out the vacuum and begin vacuuming all the dust, feathers, dog hair and whatever that has been hiding behind that piece of furniture.
Okay, chain saws are screaming and cutting up logs, logs are being split, then thrown in the back of a pickup and brought into the barn where they are then being stacked neatly. Then we have to winterize the gas driven machinery = putting in an additive in the 4 wheeler, the mowers, cars, trucks and various other pieces of farm machinery so when the temperature dips, the gas won't gel. Then our hay field has grown up and ready to be cut for our 2nd cutting of hay, which will partially be our feed for the winter for the horses and mules and the rest for our hay customers. In order to get ready for the cutting of the hay, I hooked up 2 garden carts to the back of the 4-wheeler (ATV). My husband could operate the 4 wheeler while I sat in the back wagon, leather gloves on and loppers (branch cutters) in hand. We drove out into the 40 acre field and drove up and down looking for Black Locust suckers and more debris from the tornado last May.
You ask, "What the heck is "Black Locust suckers?" Black Locust is a tree that grows in this area that has very long and sharp thorns. The thorns are so sharp and strong that the thorns on the young sucker trees can go right though a leather sole on a boot. The mature trees are full of thorns on their trunks and many on each branch. The thorns easily get to 5-6 inches long. So finding these young trees or "suckers" is necessary as I don't want them cut and end up in our hay bales. Trees out here grow like weeds. I am always cutting down or lopping off or digging up trees where they are not wanted.
We filled 4 wagons full of these suckers - it is a long, hot and tedious job taking many hours. I would love to issure a special invitation to Kim Kardasian to join me next time.
Next, after the hay is cut and raked (they rake it into "wind rows") they then begin to bale it. This process takes about 3 days in all. After the baling is done, I then will begin bringing in the hay from the field. If it sets to long in the field it kills the grass underneath the bale and leave dead spots. These bales are round and weigh approximately 1500 lbs. I have to put the hay spikes on the big tractor then go out and spear each bale and bring it in. You can leave the round bales out in the weather which is just fine. The hay is rolled and wrapped very tightly with a netting so when it rains or snows, the rain and snow runs right off of it instead of soaking into it. Each bale is equivilant to 16 square bales of hay, approximately.
Okay, moving on - Bring in all the Humming bird feeders as they are all gone now. Put out and fill all the bird feeders for the Tit Mouse (bird), Cardinal, Sparrow and Blue birds. I have 6 feeders that hang outside of one livingroom window and we love to watch the birds feed, fight, play and just rest all winter long. I also have to make warm places in the barn for the barn cats. I set up boxes covered with old throw rugs and filled with an old towel or rug. We have a tub of water for them in the barn so I set the heated water tub we have their water won't freeze. Also I have to install the water heaters in the horse troughs and take off the automatic waterers which would automatically fill the troughs all Spring and Summer long. During the winter we have to haul out garden hoses and fill them ourselves. Now, we make sure the horses have a place to get in out of the ice and snow and wind. I have a large stall inside the barn which has a door that opens out into the pasture and I open up that door, place a water trough in it and a salt block. The horses will filter in and stand for awhile. The little horses (minatures) have a separate pasture and have a leanto barn which has tarps attached to the sides to stop the wind. The Minature horses have exceptionally heavy thick coats unlike the large horses so they are able to handle winter much easier. They probably all do just fine without the stalls or the leantos but this mom would suffer more just worrying about them.
Lastly make sure the generators are dusted off and ready to go when asked to perform as we have several power outages during the winter from trees limbs falling on power lines etc. NOW WE ARE READY - except digging out the winter gloves, if I can remember where I put them, dig out the winter jackets and coveralls, the Muck Boots and heavy socks and flannel sheets. It sounds overwhelming but I love every minute of it. The colors in the trees are incredible right now - announcing winter. Then we will get a very hard freeze one night and the next day within one hour, all the leaves on the trees will fall. REALLY, it happens that fast.
Thanks for visiting and hope I didn't bore you - Please come back.
FOLK LORE: You can tell if you are going to have a hard cold winter if you check to see where the squirrel nests are. If they are built close to the trunk of the tree, winter will be hard. If they are farther out on the branches, it will be a mild winter.
COUNTRY RECIPE: Fried Corn - Fred Davis
2 - 3 corn cobs
2 Tblsp Butter
1/4 c of milk
salt and pepper to taste
touch of sugar if needed
Cut the corn off the cobs, then scrape the corn cops to remove the "milk" which is the juice of the corn - scrape all into a frying pan.
Add butter, milk, salt and pepper and sugar, if needed. Cook and stir for about 20 minutes. This is very good.
HAVE A GREAT DAY!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Weather is a changin'
The weather is a changin'. Yes, yes, today it is raining. We so needed rain. The fields were burning up like they have never done before in many years. We needed the rain so our grass will grow - we need hay for the winter and we have sold all of our hay rounds to the struggling cattle farmers in Oklahoma. We will need 50 rounds to feed our horses for the winter. A normal harvest for us is 140 rounds. We normally have two harvests a year and in a very good year, we get three harvests. We will be lucky to get two this year.
The smell of the fresh rain is indescribable, the grass which was turning grey and wilted is already perking up as if reaching for the rain. There is a soft wind blowing and I can hear the rain drops on the roof of the barn. No worries about watering the young trees, the orchard or my vegetable garden today or maybe tomorrow.
I am happy to say my cucumbers are beginning to produce. I picked 10 cucumbers last evening and already have about 20 in the refrig under wet towels. So, today they will be introduced to their new home, a jar with a wonderful tasty brine poured over them and they heated and sealed in a very nice jar, cooled and placed on the shelf of honor - the canned goods shelf in the kitchen to be displayed and then chosen at a certain time to be opened and bring joy to someones palette.
My neighbor shared with me the joys of drying her freshly washed clothes on her clothes line outside. She claims they smell so good, like no other added fragrance you buy in the store. BUT I will also caution you with a small drawback .....it seems while the sheets are waving in the wind, soaking up the sunshine and all the wonderful fragrances of the surrounding wild flowers, grasses and woods....there can sometimes be a slight disappointment or challenge. It seems that sometimes that wind, fragrance and warmth from the sun in also enjoyed by a wonderful little birdie who sees such a nice perch waiting for him. He decides to take a rest of all that flying around seeking bugs and lites on this cloth covered line. Well, seconds run into minutes and all those bugs take a toll and force the little birds system to move at a faster pace than normal. Well, when it comes time to bring those wonderful clothes and sheets in from the line, she noticed that there was a strange stripe down the middle of one of her white sheets. it seems it is green and white in color and only runs halfway down. "CRAP!" That was Gale's exclamation and CRAP it was. So that particular sheet had to be subjected to another swim in the washing machine.
Nuff said for today -
FARMER'S HOME REMEDIES, WISDOM AND HINTS: Sharpening your knives
You can sharpen your knives on the bottom of a red clay flower pot.
COUNTRY HOME RECIPE: Cornbread with Okra
*now I must say most folks don't like okra even though they have never tried it but this recipe is delicious.
1 box of cornbread mix (prepared per the instructions on box)
1 can of drained and chopped tomatoes
1 - 2 cups of cleaned and chopped okra
Mix all together and bake as directed.
Hope you enjoy it.
THANKS FOR VISITING AND DO COME BACK AGAIN.
The smell of the fresh rain is indescribable, the grass which was turning grey and wilted is already perking up as if reaching for the rain. There is a soft wind blowing and I can hear the rain drops on the roof of the barn. No worries about watering the young trees, the orchard or my vegetable garden today or maybe tomorrow.
I am happy to say my cucumbers are beginning to produce. I picked 10 cucumbers last evening and already have about 20 in the refrig under wet towels. So, today they will be introduced to their new home, a jar with a wonderful tasty brine poured over them and they heated and sealed in a very nice jar, cooled and placed on the shelf of honor - the canned goods shelf in the kitchen to be displayed and then chosen at a certain time to be opened and bring joy to someones palette.
My neighbor shared with me the joys of drying her freshly washed clothes on her clothes line outside. She claims they smell so good, like no other added fragrance you buy in the store. BUT I will also caution you with a small drawback .....it seems while the sheets are waving in the wind, soaking up the sunshine and all the wonderful fragrances of the surrounding wild flowers, grasses and woods....there can sometimes be a slight disappointment or challenge. It seems that sometimes that wind, fragrance and warmth from the sun in also enjoyed by a wonderful little birdie who sees such a nice perch waiting for him. He decides to take a rest of all that flying around seeking bugs and lites on this cloth covered line. Well, seconds run into minutes and all those bugs take a toll and force the little birds system to move at a faster pace than normal. Well, when it comes time to bring those wonderful clothes and sheets in from the line, she noticed that there was a strange stripe down the middle of one of her white sheets. it seems it is green and white in color and only runs halfway down. "CRAP!" That was Gale's exclamation and CRAP it was. So that particular sheet had to be subjected to another swim in the washing machine.
Nuff said for today -
FARMER'S HOME REMEDIES, WISDOM AND HINTS: Sharpening your knives
You can sharpen your knives on the bottom of a red clay flower pot.
COUNTRY HOME RECIPE: Cornbread with Okra
*now I must say most folks don't like okra even though they have never tried it but this recipe is delicious.
1 box of cornbread mix (prepared per the instructions on box)
1 can of drained and chopped tomatoes
1 - 2 cups of cleaned and chopped okra
Mix all together and bake as directed.
Hope you enjoy it.
THANKS FOR VISITING AND DO COME BACK AGAIN.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF.....The Last Day of August
Well, we have a reason to celebrate - it is the last day of August. July and August weather has been brutal. Gardens failed, corn crops failed, soybean crops barely survived. I am generally canning 3 times a week at this point - tomatoes, pickles and beets. I have 16 tomato plants and am picking 1 - 2 tomatoes every 3 days, am just starting to pick 2 cucmbers once or twice a week. My spaghetti squash is growing and it seems like there are some young ones on there so maybe by Christmas. Ha! I may be able to do some more pickles but it isn't looking very good for tomatoes. I guess my Grandma Lucas's garden failed sometimes also.
We are starting to have a cooler day ever so often so I am starting to ride again. I have plans to put up panels to make my small arena/lg round pen. For those of you who don't know what "panels" are - they are made up pipe - they are about 12 ft long and 4 ft high and hook together to make a portable fence or corral. I have to move them with our tractor and chains as they are heavy. Best done on a cool day. Once they are up then I can start doing some "ground work" on my horses and mules. "Ground work" means I run my mules and horses around in a fenced area and make them do what I want them to do, not what they want to do. I then ride them and work on different skills - teaching them to back up, side pass, etc. My young mule, Johnny, just needs me on his back and riding him. I love working with them. I love having an arena where I can contain and control them.
The hay pasture is doing okay but we sure need rain. When we get rain, the pasture will grow which means we will have hay for winter. We need hay for winter. We have sold all of our Spring hay. Normally we have hay left over from our Spring cutting but this year, folks in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas have been calling and buying all the hay they can find. So we sold all our hay to them, hoping it would help them out. Now we need about 50 round bales (1500lbs a pc) to get us through winter. Round bales = you have probably seen square bales. In Calif. square bales are "3-wire bales" meaning they are bound with 3 strands of hay string (used to be wire) and weigh approx 90-120 lbs. Out here in Missouri, they have 2 wire bales weighing approx. 40-60 lbs. Round bales are equal to 16 2-wire square bales. It is wrapped in netting and can sit out in the weather because of the way it is rolled. The rain will run off the sides, whereas square bales just assorb the rain as they don't have anyway for the rain to run off. Farmers, years ago, would bale their hay, stack it in a pyramid then cut their dried corn stalks and lean the stalks against the side of the hay and hope the rain would run off.
Round bales of hay have to be moved by a large tractor with a steel spike on the front. You drive up to the side of the bale and stick that spike through it, lift it and move it where you want. When we are feeding our round bales, my husband brings in the round bale, I open the gate to the pasture, use a carpet cutter to cut the netting and unwrap it from around the bale, my husband drives into the pasture, lowers the bale, the horses rush up and they are happy and set for about 3 days, depending on the weather.
When we first moved here to the ranch, we didn't have a big tractor, only a small one. We had baled the whole 80 acres which gave us 3500 square bales of hay which filled our new barn. Our first winter arrived with gusto. My husband built a lift table for the back of his little tractor and would pile up 3 - 4 bales of hay on it, drive through the snow into the pasture, use a long rake handle to push off the bales for the horses. The horses have no trouble getting at the hay, even with the hay string on them. We had to do this twice a day, all winter long. It was so cold, we had to wear two layers of gloves, padded overalls, two layers of socks, Muck boots (water proof), ear muffs and warm hats. Even with all the clothing, you still got cold.
Since we had just arrived, we didn't have our water troughs set up for winter like we do now. Now we have trough heaters so the troughs don't freeze over. That first winter, we had to go out every 4 hours with a sledge hammer and a hay fork, break up the ice then scoop it out. Horses need water in the winter no matter how cold. Sometimes they will come up and stick their hooves in the trough to break the ice to get the water, if we don't get there soon enough.
It was a true adventure that winter. We moved our 5th wheel trailer into the barn in one end and I bought a used washed and dryer and set it up against a wall in the barn. I didn't have a hot water heater so cold water washing was what I had to do. BUT, when I finished washing, I had to undo all the hoses for the washer and let them drain, then run the washer to get the water out of the motor, unhook the dryer. We then put shop lights underneath the washer and the dryer, along with one inside each of them to keep all the mechanical parts warm and not freeze. One morning, after a snowy night, I came out of the trailer into the barn to do laundry and instead of the washer and dryer, there was just one big snow mound. The wind had blown so hard it blew snow underneath the edge of the barn and made a wave of snow which entirely covered both of the appliances. Oh my! Just another adventure.
It was a long first winter with much to learn coming from California. Our neighbors, Dale, Gail and Nadine watched over us, calling everyday, coming over and helping us learn how to live in the country in the winter. My California horses were wide eyed and trying to figure out why mom put them in a freezer. They learned about snow, ice, how good grain tastes when it is real cold and how to walk on "high heels". YUP high heels. You see the snow and ice build up under their feet and they will end up with 2 - 4 inches of ice/snow on each foot, trying to walk. I went out and knocked most of it off their feet - lets see that is 4 x 14 = 56 feet. Hmmm my back sure knew it was 56 feet. We don't have to do that every winter because that was an exceptionally cold and wet winter. I do keep watch and help them out if I see them with their high heels on.
Well that is it for today. Glad you could come and read my dribble.
FARMER'S COUNTRY REMEDIES AND HANDY HINTS: Lots of Cucumbers?
If you get lots of cucumbers, this idea will help in cleaning them.
Just put them in your washer filled with cold water and some ice. Put it on
"gentle" and, of course, NO SPIN DRY. It does the job well, fast and easily.
COUNTRY RECIPE'S: "Settler's Beans"
8 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 teas ground clove
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup ketchup
1 reg. can light red kidney beans
1/2 lb hamburger, fried and drained
1/2 teas garlic
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 reg. can butter beans
1 large can pork and beans
Preheat oven to 350 deg. Combine all ingredients and put in a very large casserole dish. Bake for 45 min. until bubbly.
Thank you for visiting and hope you enjoyed your visit.
We are starting to have a cooler day ever so often so I am starting to ride again. I have plans to put up panels to make my small arena/lg round pen. For those of you who don't know what "panels" are - they are made up pipe - they are about 12 ft long and 4 ft high and hook together to make a portable fence or corral. I have to move them with our tractor and chains as they are heavy. Best done on a cool day. Once they are up then I can start doing some "ground work" on my horses and mules. "Ground work" means I run my mules and horses around in a fenced area and make them do what I want them to do, not what they want to do. I then ride them and work on different skills - teaching them to back up, side pass, etc. My young mule, Johnny, just needs me on his back and riding him. I love working with them. I love having an arena where I can contain and control them.
The hay pasture is doing okay but we sure need rain. When we get rain, the pasture will grow which means we will have hay for winter. We need hay for winter. We have sold all of our Spring hay. Normally we have hay left over from our Spring cutting but this year, folks in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas have been calling and buying all the hay they can find. So we sold all our hay to them, hoping it would help them out. Now we need about 50 round bales (1500lbs a pc) to get us through winter. Round bales = you have probably seen square bales. In Calif. square bales are "3-wire bales" meaning they are bound with 3 strands of hay string (used to be wire) and weigh approx 90-120 lbs. Out here in Missouri, they have 2 wire bales weighing approx. 40-60 lbs. Round bales are equal to 16 2-wire square bales. It is wrapped in netting and can sit out in the weather because of the way it is rolled. The rain will run off the sides, whereas square bales just assorb the rain as they don't have anyway for the rain to run off. Farmers, years ago, would bale their hay, stack it in a pyramid then cut their dried corn stalks and lean the stalks against the side of the hay and hope the rain would run off.
Round bales of hay have to be moved by a large tractor with a steel spike on the front. You drive up to the side of the bale and stick that spike through it, lift it and move it where you want. When we are feeding our round bales, my husband brings in the round bale, I open the gate to the pasture, use a carpet cutter to cut the netting and unwrap it from around the bale, my husband drives into the pasture, lowers the bale, the horses rush up and they are happy and set for about 3 days, depending on the weather.
When we first moved here to the ranch, we didn't have a big tractor, only a small one. We had baled the whole 80 acres which gave us 3500 square bales of hay which filled our new barn. Our first winter arrived with gusto. My husband built a lift table for the back of his little tractor and would pile up 3 - 4 bales of hay on it, drive through the snow into the pasture, use a long rake handle to push off the bales for the horses. The horses have no trouble getting at the hay, even with the hay string on them. We had to do this twice a day, all winter long. It was so cold, we had to wear two layers of gloves, padded overalls, two layers of socks, Muck boots (water proof), ear muffs and warm hats. Even with all the clothing, you still got cold.
Since we had just arrived, we didn't have our water troughs set up for winter like we do now. Now we have trough heaters so the troughs don't freeze over. That first winter, we had to go out every 4 hours with a sledge hammer and a hay fork, break up the ice then scoop it out. Horses need water in the winter no matter how cold. Sometimes they will come up and stick their hooves in the trough to break the ice to get the water, if we don't get there soon enough.
It was a true adventure that winter. We moved our 5th wheel trailer into the barn in one end and I bought a used washed and dryer and set it up against a wall in the barn. I didn't have a hot water heater so cold water washing was what I had to do. BUT, when I finished washing, I had to undo all the hoses for the washer and let them drain, then run the washer to get the water out of the motor, unhook the dryer. We then put shop lights underneath the washer and the dryer, along with one inside each of them to keep all the mechanical parts warm and not freeze. One morning, after a snowy night, I came out of the trailer into the barn to do laundry and instead of the washer and dryer, there was just one big snow mound. The wind had blown so hard it blew snow underneath the edge of the barn and made a wave of snow which entirely covered both of the appliances. Oh my! Just another adventure.
It was a long first winter with much to learn coming from California. Our neighbors, Dale, Gail and Nadine watched over us, calling everyday, coming over and helping us learn how to live in the country in the winter. My California horses were wide eyed and trying to figure out why mom put them in a freezer. They learned about snow, ice, how good grain tastes when it is real cold and how to walk on "high heels". YUP high heels. You see the snow and ice build up under their feet and they will end up with 2 - 4 inches of ice/snow on each foot, trying to walk. I went out and knocked most of it off their feet - lets see that is 4 x 14 = 56 feet. Hmmm my back sure knew it was 56 feet. We don't have to do that every winter because that was an exceptionally cold and wet winter. I do keep watch and help them out if I see them with their high heels on.
Well that is it for today. Glad you could come and read my dribble.
FARMER'S COUNTRY REMEDIES AND HANDY HINTS: Lots of Cucumbers?
If you get lots of cucumbers, this idea will help in cleaning them.
Just put them in your washer filled with cold water and some ice. Put it on
"gentle" and, of course, NO SPIN DRY. It does the job well, fast and easily.
COUNTRY RECIPE'S: "Settler's Beans"
8 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 teas ground clove
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup ketchup
1 reg. can light red kidney beans
1/2 lb hamburger, fried and drained
1/2 teas garlic
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 reg. can butter beans
1 large can pork and beans
Preheat oven to 350 deg. Combine all ingredients and put in a very large casserole dish. Bake for 45 min. until bubbly.
Thank you for visiting and hope you enjoyed your visit.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
A Day In The Life of................August 27, 2011
. Okay all you Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Atlanta, New York City etc, I know a "bad day" for you is when you go to a cocktail party and someone else is wearing a dress like yours or you find out that someone else is using your personal hair stylist and you hate the gabby broad who is puttin' some trash out on the streets about you or you break a nail as you get out of your limo to go to brunch with Mrs. Whoever. WELL........us Real Housewives of RURAL Missouri have our normal challenges too. I have had "Murphy's Law" hangin' out with me yesterday and want to share with you what "an imperfect day" looks like in the country.
Yesterday, I got up at...UGG...4:30am to go ridin' with a couple of buddies of mine. I haven't been ridin' in 3 months because of the heat. We finally decided to try and ride early to beat the heat. Ya....great idea but I didn't think so when that danged alarm went off. I had caught up my mare, Cory, the night before along with one of her buddies and put them in a small trap. (Def - small trap = small little section of pasture, fenced off with hot wire, in most cases). I have had trouble in the past catching Cory when I wanted to go ridin'. For some strange reason, I can approach her and love on her in the wide open pasture when I don't have a rope in my hand, BUT.......when I have a rope she takes off a runnin' and I spend from 20 minutes to 2 hours catching, cussing and threatening to do terrible things if I catch her. Hmm do you suppose she is trying to tell me something? Like, "Hey I don't want to haul your big butt up and down canyons and hills for most of the day only to get a stale carrot at the end of the day!."
Well, so I put her in a small trap with her friend to keep her entertained for the night and she would be easy to catch the next morning at 5am. The alarm goes off = BUZZ! Coffee = check, boots = check, neck scarf = check, ridin' bra = check, comfy cotton shirt = check, favorite ridin' jeans = check, spurs = check. Out to the pasture IN THE DARK and with a rope in my hand. The mares start trotting back and forth, running circles around me. They are both sorrel (red) and both a little fat so it is hard to tell them apart, especially in the dark. They ran and trotted and ran and trotted and I refused to get mad at 5am in the damn morning. Okay, got them cornered and figured out which one was Cory. Started to walk up to her when Sancie, her buddy, reared up and broke through the hot fence which opened into a big beautiful green, dark, not moonlit pasture. She took off and Cory stood for a moment, looked at me as if to say, "See ya later!" Well you know the rest of the story. Now my horse, my precious Cory, my, now, ex best buddy, is racing into the night, laughing all the way and I am without a horse for my ride. CRAP! Go wake up my poor happy sleeping husband. "Honey, Honey? Are all the gates closed around the big pasture? The mares broke through the little pasture and are in the big pasture and I am afraid if the gates aren't closed they will get into the hay pasture." A moan comes from under the CPAP mask and the next words I hear are - "A Honey, everything is just fine - go ridin' and have a good time." What a great husband, even at 5am. In reality, he can't remember if he shut the gates but he doesn't give a hoot and just tells me what I need to know to get me out of his room so he can go back to sleep. Do I know this? YUP but I want to believe him, so I go off with some peace of heart and will blame it on him if I come back and they are in the hay pasture.
Okay, I am not going to let this ruin my day so......I turn around and see Raindancer, my paint gelding (male horse with nuts cut off). "Here Raindancer, here Raindancer!" "Do you want to go with mommy today and have fun and get a carrot?" And he is saying, "Shit, here she comes and she wants me to haul her big butt around today when I am so enjoying this cool morning, crunching on this fresh grass, Shit!" Well he only has shoes on his front feet. They are supposed to have shoes on all feet to go ridin' but it's a long story so I won't bore you with the details and riding him with just two shoes will be fine where we are going. He is such a BIG, I mean BIG sweetheart. He is about 16.2 hands = that interprets to a long damn way down to the ground if you don't stay on top and this ole girl needs a step stool, a big log or rock to get on him.
GOTCHA!!!! Good boy, Rain. Okay, still dark, coffee in mug with fancy creamer in the truck and hot. Rolled flour tortilla with peanut butter, cut in half for lunch and stuffed in saddle bag along with gloves and knife and a bottle of gatorade. Everything loaded, horse loaded.......lights.....action and I put it in drive, grabbing my cell phone and trying to plug it in, opps! Windshield fogged over, turn on wipers, fogged on inside, turning on defogger and..................OH CRAP...........where did that damn tree come from......slam on brakes. I am not even off the ranch yet.. In all my early morning foggy confusion I drove up on the center lawn and was about to the end the life of my beautiful 12 foot silver maple. HA!
Okay dummy, pay attention, defog your windows, drive off the lawn and around the tree. Wonder what my husband will say when he gets up and sees the big tire tracks on the center lawn? Okay, open the gate with the remote........oh.....it's the remote is not working, of course. Maybe it doesn't function very well at 5:30 in the friggin' morning either.......so put the truck in park....get out and open the gate.
OKAY, now we're finally on our way. Wait a minute-----what is that RED LIGHT???? There is a red light shaped like a battery on the dash, blinking! Hmmmm I am going into the wilderness and if this light means trouble, I will be really unpopular if I have to call my husband to try and come find us when I am 60 miles away. OKAY....OKAY... turn around.....go back through the gate that won't open automatically like it is supposed to. Park the truck and trailer.......HONEY? HONEY? There is a funny red light on the dash. He groans, as only a tired husband can without cussing. He takes off his CPAP mask, puts on his slippers and undies and trudges......I mean trudges out into the cold dampness of 5:30am. "Well, it could be an alternator, but you can go ahead and go on today and I will look at it when you get home. "
Off I go, down the road, radio on and me sipping on my coffee with fancy creamer. No more troubles. I am runnning a little late but that's okay. Got to Jeannie's house across town. We loaded her saddle and tack (all the other stuff you need to ride a horse), her beer cooler, lunch, her big HUGE tankard filled with coffee and her horse, "Tomar". Shut the trailer doors, climb in the truck, turn the key and all I hear is = Errrr, Errrr, Errrrr, clickitty, clickitty, Errrr, Errrr. CRAP! The truck won't start.
Okay so we unload both horses, unload the saddles and tack and load everything into her truck and horse trailer and off we go. As we turn onto a road, the sun is coming up and very intense and shining straight into our eyes, so bright you can hardly see where you are going. There is something on the inside of the windshield which is preventing her from seeing the road. I roll down the window to keep her from driving off into a ditch. I find a neckerchief and try and clean it - there is some oily substance on the neckerchief which makes it worse. During this attempt, the big tankard of coffee Jeannie had set on the seat, turned over and spilled into my purse - RIGHT INTO MY PURSE - wallet, cell phone, tortilla/peanut butter sandwich .......YUP! Okay, I pour the coffee out of my purse, rescue the cell phone. It's okay. Set the tankard down on the floor between us as we limp towards the highway where the sun will be from a different direction and we will be able to see better. We continue down the road with me using a different wipe, trying to clean the windshield. It is clearing up. We turn onto the highway and...........the Jeannie's tankard of coffee, which didn't empty out all the way, NOW turns over and spills into her purse. YUP that's right. Ah...now it's empty.
I told Jeannie, I think God is trying to tell us we shouldn't go riding today. A few minutes later she notices her tank is running on empty. Conveniently there is a gas station at the next road. We turn into the gas station and gas up. Now we are an hour late to meet our friends, who are now on the trail and riding and the day is heating up fast. Jeannie looks at me and says, "God just doesn't want us to ride today, let''s go yard sailing".
I hesitated, about.....5 seconds and agreed. We turned around, went to Jeannie's unloaded the horses, took her other truck and went lookin' for yard sales and junk stores. Leavin' my dead truck and trailer behind, my horse in onen of her stalls in the barn. We found some good deals for stuff we didn't need, ate some great pizza and had a COLD beer. We arrived back to Jeannie's 4 hours later. I called my hubby and he directed me on how to jump my truck using Jeannie's truck. I hate jumper cables, they spark at ya and scare the heck out of me. Well, I did it and the truck started. I loaded ole' Raindancer and we headed off home. Everybody was happy. I got good deals for some great junk, Raindancer was happy because he got some good hay and got to flirt with a pretty mare.
NEXT DAY - Today
Going to try again, as a friend of mine is celebrating her birthday with a horse ride. SOOOOO up again at 4:15am. Coffee smells so good. I handcuffed, hog tied, bound up and tied down Cory in a barn stall so she would be there when I came to get her. Not really. I did put her in the barn with her favorite buddy, Denver! Denver is a 15 yr old UGLY (he is so ugly he is cute) buckskin mule. He is in love with Cory. They spent the night together in the stall. She was there when I went to get her and I am ready AGAIN. We put a battery charger on the truck the night before to recharge the batter. I put on my jeans, boots, spurs, favorite ridin' shirt. Got my frozen bottle of gatorade (it melts and is slushy by the time lunch rolls around), loaded my horse, unhooked the battery charger and hoped the truck would start. IT DID!!!!! Off I go......on time, no RED LIGHTS and runnin' smooth. As it grew lighter, I noticed it was overcast with dark clouds which looked threatening. Who cares! Arrived on time, picked up Jeannie, her husband and son and their horses and away we went. We were in the saddle by 7:30 and happy as little clams. We had a grand ride and I think the horses did too. We do spoil them with lots of carrots and rub downs. The butterflies were everywhere, the beautiful woods and vines were so green, the spring was running and thick with watercress (a delicious plant you can eat and put on salads and only found in fresh running streams). Cory is a Missouri Fox Trotter which means when she trots you don't bounce, it is so smooooooth. She is what they call a "gated" horse. We all ride gated horses so we were "gating" 1/2 the time and had a ball.
It was a glorious day! Thank you God.
FARM HOME REMEDIES: Recipe for cough syrup
This recipe is even safe for toddlers. Slice an onion very thin and alternate slices of onion and sugar. Place a bowl or plate on top of the layers and squish them down. Soon there will be juice forming which is very soothing for a cough. Best of all there are no medication side effects to worry about.
COUNTRY RECIPES: Mrs. Bleeker's Waffles
1 qt. of milk, a little sour if possible
butter - a piece the size of an egg
lard - a piece of lard the size of an egg
4 eggs
Mix well with flour enough to make a stiff batter. If the milk is a little sour, enough soda to cover a five-cent piece will be sufficient to raise the waffles; but if it is fresh, a teaspoonful of soda must be used. a teaspoon of salt,
Bake a quickly as possible (she doesn't give the the baking temp)
THANK YOU ALL FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT AND CAME AWAY WITH A LITTLE SOMETHING.
Yesterday, I got up at...UGG...4:30am to go ridin' with a couple of buddies of mine. I haven't been ridin' in 3 months because of the heat. We finally decided to try and ride early to beat the heat. Ya....great idea but I didn't think so when that danged alarm went off. I had caught up my mare, Cory, the night before along with one of her buddies and put them in a small trap. (Def - small trap = small little section of pasture, fenced off with hot wire, in most cases). I have had trouble in the past catching Cory when I wanted to go ridin'. For some strange reason, I can approach her and love on her in the wide open pasture when I don't have a rope in my hand, BUT.......when I have a rope she takes off a runnin' and I spend from 20 minutes to 2 hours catching, cussing and threatening to do terrible things if I catch her. Hmm do you suppose she is trying to tell me something? Like, "Hey I don't want to haul your big butt up and down canyons and hills for most of the day only to get a stale carrot at the end of the day!."
Well, so I put her in a small trap with her friend to keep her entertained for the night and she would be easy to catch the next morning at 5am. The alarm goes off = BUZZ! Coffee = check, boots = check, neck scarf = check, ridin' bra = check, comfy cotton shirt = check, favorite ridin' jeans = check, spurs = check. Out to the pasture IN THE DARK and with a rope in my hand. The mares start trotting back and forth, running circles around me. They are both sorrel (red) and both a little fat so it is hard to tell them apart, especially in the dark. They ran and trotted and ran and trotted and I refused to get mad at 5am in the damn morning. Okay, got them cornered and figured out which one was Cory. Started to walk up to her when Sancie, her buddy, reared up and broke through the hot fence which opened into a big beautiful green, dark, not moonlit pasture. She took off and Cory stood for a moment, looked at me as if to say, "See ya later!" Well you know the rest of the story. Now my horse, my precious Cory, my, now, ex best buddy, is racing into the night, laughing all the way and I am without a horse for my ride. CRAP! Go wake up my poor happy sleeping husband. "Honey, Honey? Are all the gates closed around the big pasture? The mares broke through the little pasture and are in the big pasture and I am afraid if the gates aren't closed they will get into the hay pasture." A moan comes from under the CPAP mask and the next words I hear are - "A Honey, everything is just fine - go ridin' and have a good time." What a great husband, even at 5am. In reality, he can't remember if he shut the gates but he doesn't give a hoot and just tells me what I need to know to get me out of his room so he can go back to sleep. Do I know this? YUP but I want to believe him, so I go off with some peace of heart and will blame it on him if I come back and they are in the hay pasture.
Okay, I am not going to let this ruin my day so......I turn around and see Raindancer, my paint gelding (male horse with nuts cut off). "Here Raindancer, here Raindancer!" "Do you want to go with mommy today and have fun and get a carrot?" And he is saying, "Shit, here she comes and she wants me to haul her big butt around today when I am so enjoying this cool morning, crunching on this fresh grass, Shit!" Well he only has shoes on his front feet. They are supposed to have shoes on all feet to go ridin' but it's a long story so I won't bore you with the details and riding him with just two shoes will be fine where we are going. He is such a BIG, I mean BIG sweetheart. He is about 16.2 hands = that interprets to a long damn way down to the ground if you don't stay on top and this ole girl needs a step stool, a big log or rock to get on him.
GOTCHA!!!! Good boy, Rain. Okay, still dark, coffee in mug with fancy creamer in the truck and hot. Rolled flour tortilla with peanut butter, cut in half for lunch and stuffed in saddle bag along with gloves and knife and a bottle of gatorade. Everything loaded, horse loaded.......lights.....action and I put it in drive, grabbing my cell phone and trying to plug it in, opps! Windshield fogged over, turn on wipers, fogged on inside, turning on defogger and..................OH CRAP...........where did that damn tree come from......slam on brakes. I am not even off the ranch yet.. In all my early morning foggy confusion I drove up on the center lawn and was about to the end the life of my beautiful 12 foot silver maple. HA!
Okay dummy, pay attention, defog your windows, drive off the lawn and around the tree. Wonder what my husband will say when he gets up and sees the big tire tracks on the center lawn? Okay, open the gate with the remote........oh.....it's the remote is not working, of course. Maybe it doesn't function very well at 5:30 in the friggin' morning either.......so put the truck in park....get out and open the gate.
OKAY, now we're finally on our way. Wait a minute-----what is that RED LIGHT???? There is a red light shaped like a battery on the dash, blinking! Hmmmm I am going into the wilderness and if this light means trouble, I will be really unpopular if I have to call my husband to try and come find us when I am 60 miles away. OKAY....OKAY... turn around.....go back through the gate that won't open automatically like it is supposed to. Park the truck and trailer.......HONEY? HONEY? There is a funny red light on the dash. He groans, as only a tired husband can without cussing. He takes off his CPAP mask, puts on his slippers and undies and trudges......I mean trudges out into the cold dampness of 5:30am. "Well, it could be an alternator, but you can go ahead and go on today and I will look at it when you get home. "
Off I go, down the road, radio on and me sipping on my coffee with fancy creamer. No more troubles. I am runnning a little late but that's okay. Got to Jeannie's house across town. We loaded her saddle and tack (all the other stuff you need to ride a horse), her beer cooler, lunch, her big HUGE tankard filled with coffee and her horse, "Tomar". Shut the trailer doors, climb in the truck, turn the key and all I hear is = Errrr, Errrr, Errrrr, clickitty, clickitty, Errrr, Errrr. CRAP! The truck won't start.
Okay so we unload both horses, unload the saddles and tack and load everything into her truck and horse trailer and off we go. As we turn onto a road, the sun is coming up and very intense and shining straight into our eyes, so bright you can hardly see where you are going. There is something on the inside of the windshield which is preventing her from seeing the road. I roll down the window to keep her from driving off into a ditch. I find a neckerchief and try and clean it - there is some oily substance on the neckerchief which makes it worse. During this attempt, the big tankard of coffee Jeannie had set on the seat, turned over and spilled into my purse - RIGHT INTO MY PURSE - wallet, cell phone, tortilla/peanut butter sandwich .......YUP! Okay, I pour the coffee out of my purse, rescue the cell phone. It's okay. Set the tankard down on the floor between us as we limp towards the highway where the sun will be from a different direction and we will be able to see better. We continue down the road with me using a different wipe, trying to clean the windshield. It is clearing up. We turn onto the highway and...........the Jeannie's tankard of coffee, which didn't empty out all the way, NOW turns over and spills into her purse. YUP that's right. Ah...now it's empty.
I told Jeannie, I think God is trying to tell us we shouldn't go riding today. A few minutes later she notices her tank is running on empty. Conveniently there is a gas station at the next road. We turn into the gas station and gas up. Now we are an hour late to meet our friends, who are now on the trail and riding and the day is heating up fast. Jeannie looks at me and says, "God just doesn't want us to ride today, let''s go yard sailing".
I hesitated, about.....5 seconds and agreed. We turned around, went to Jeannie's unloaded the horses, took her other truck and went lookin' for yard sales and junk stores. Leavin' my dead truck and trailer behind, my horse in onen of her stalls in the barn. We found some good deals for stuff we didn't need, ate some great pizza and had a COLD beer. We arrived back to Jeannie's 4 hours later. I called my hubby and he directed me on how to jump my truck using Jeannie's truck. I hate jumper cables, they spark at ya and scare the heck out of me. Well, I did it and the truck started. I loaded ole' Raindancer and we headed off home. Everybody was happy. I got good deals for some great junk, Raindancer was happy because he got some good hay and got to flirt with a pretty mare.
NEXT DAY - Today
Going to try again, as a friend of mine is celebrating her birthday with a horse ride. SOOOOO up again at 4:15am. Coffee smells so good. I handcuffed, hog tied, bound up and tied down Cory in a barn stall so she would be there when I came to get her. Not really. I did put her in the barn with her favorite buddy, Denver! Denver is a 15 yr old UGLY (he is so ugly he is cute) buckskin mule. He is in love with Cory. They spent the night together in the stall. She was there when I went to get her and I am ready AGAIN. We put a battery charger on the truck the night before to recharge the batter. I put on my jeans, boots, spurs, favorite ridin' shirt. Got my frozen bottle of gatorade (it melts and is slushy by the time lunch rolls around), loaded my horse, unhooked the battery charger and hoped the truck would start. IT DID!!!!! Off I go......on time, no RED LIGHTS and runnin' smooth. As it grew lighter, I noticed it was overcast with dark clouds which looked threatening. Who cares! Arrived on time, picked up Jeannie, her husband and son and their horses and away we went. We were in the saddle by 7:30 and happy as little clams. We had a grand ride and I think the horses did too. We do spoil them with lots of carrots and rub downs. The butterflies were everywhere, the beautiful woods and vines were so green, the spring was running and thick with watercress (a delicious plant you can eat and put on salads and only found in fresh running streams). Cory is a Missouri Fox Trotter which means when she trots you don't bounce, it is so smooooooth. She is what they call a "gated" horse. We all ride gated horses so we were "gating" 1/2 the time and had a ball.
It was a glorious day! Thank you God.
FARM HOME REMEDIES: Recipe for cough syrup
This recipe is even safe for toddlers. Slice an onion very thin and alternate slices of onion and sugar. Place a bowl or plate on top of the layers and squish them down. Soon there will be juice forming which is very soothing for a cough. Best of all there are no medication side effects to worry about.
COUNTRY RECIPES: Mrs. Bleeker's Waffles
1 qt. of milk, a little sour if possible
butter - a piece the size of an egg
lard - a piece of lard the size of an egg
4 eggs
Mix well with flour enough to make a stiff batter. If the milk is a little sour, enough soda to cover a five-cent piece will be sufficient to raise the waffles; but if it is fresh, a teaspoonful of soda must be used. a teaspoon of salt,
Bake a quickly as possible (she doesn't give the the baking temp)
THANK YOU ALL FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT AND CAME AWAY WITH A LITTLE SOMETHING.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
A Day In The LIfe Of.........August 21, 2011
Well, Howdy!
I haven't written in a couple of days - been busy outside as the temperatures dropped briefly to in the 80's so out in the garden I go. This Real Housewife mowed her garden (the grass around the vegetables), pulled weeds, retrained the vines of cucumbers and spaghetti squash, prayed over the tomatoes as they are only producing 1-2 tomatoes a day compared to 40-50 a day in a good year. So no cannin' goin' on at this Missouri Housewives kitchen. Called a friend while having my coffee and asked another Missouri Housewife what she was doing? "Just pickin' ticks off my dog." Launa came to pick up a big round bale of hay and as we loaded it in the back of her pick up, my husband noticed a large 3 foot plant in the back of her truck bed. He told Launa as he loaded the hay that he hoped he didn't hurt her plant. Launa started to giggle. She said, "Well the truth is, it's growin' in the bed of my pickup, I haven't cleaned out the old hay since last winter." Sure 'nuf it was growin' all right - it was rag weed. Only in Missouri and only with Real Housewives of Rural Missouri.
Jane, Missouri
Me and my horse ridin' buddy, Jeannie, went for drive a few days ago. Goin' for a drive in rural Missouri is always fun and interesting. Drove into the town of Jane, Missouri - tiny little town with a couple of old gas stations, post office, a diner and a little grocery store. That's about it as far as thriving businesses. There are other old buildings with two or three signs on them of past businesses, boarded up, vines growing up the front, junk stacked up in front or on the sides. As you drive through town, which takes about 4 minutes, you pass a beautiful little shady cemetery, sitting off to the side of the road by a stream. As we pass you can tell it is an old cemetery as some of the head stones are just that, stones. We decided to stop and look around. What we found was so moving. About 1/3 of the cemetery was filled with head stones of Civil War heroes. Some of the headstones were just big rocks stuck in the ground with no carving, some fallen over. A few of the head stones were so old and grown over with moss, that you could not easily read the name or the date.
On one of the graves was a man's name, Mr. Tom Kirkpatrick, with his birth and death dates. Then there was a much smaller head stone right next to him "Wife of Tom Kirkpatrick" with no dates. Another headstone read "Mrs. Heddy Rowe" no dates, but very old. As we wandered through this beautiful area we noticed many "death dates" of 1918 and a family of headstones all with that date but some days apart and some months apart. I did some research and the Spanish Flu had been the culprit. It was so sad to see whole families wiped out. You stand there in the shade of these beautiful trees, a soft breeze blowing and almost hear the stories of families. There are several family plots which were so old and had antique decorative cast ironwork fences around the plot. I wondered if any of these families had anyone left to visit the graves. Had the families been wiped out with either the Civil War or Spanish Flu or other illnesses that swept through when there was no medical way of treating it?
We spent over an hour and could had spent more as we drifted through families and tried to figure out their stories. Some graves had headstones with fishing rods and reels engraved on them, some with deer antlers carved on them, others with big logs indicating a timber man.
We left there with many thoughts about those families went through and maybe our families also. We wandered down the road, mostly with old wood sided homes, flowers in the garden, large trees and vines, curtains in the windows. Folks have lived here for a very long time. As we were leaving town we spotted a small store which sat all to itself on the curve of the highway. It was a very old building - dog trot style. "Dog Trot style" is a style of building and homes they built in the 30's and 40's which is a bungalow style. This store had a large big window. The front of the building was all done in old barn wood and the sign was made out of old barn wood with the letters "The Jane Store" painted in red. Writing on the front window advertised sandwiches, home made pies and cookies, good coffee, antiques and enamel ware.
We decided to stop. As we opened the old wooden screen door, which was controlled by a big spring, we were hit with the smell of fresh berry pie. The wooden screen door slammed behind us with that old familiar sound from when I was a kid. I used to sneak in the back door and sneak into the kitchen and get a handful of Oleo. Oleo was margarine and mom would leave it out on the table and it was soft and good. I loved it and it was responsible for many scoldings from mom.
We were met by an older (in her 80's) lady, Mrs. Pecks, dressed in a dress and big flowery apron. She immediately announced, "Howdy girls, I'm just baking some fresh berry pies and have some apple pies going in the over after that. Also have fresh cookies, tell your friends." She was so adorable, her hair all permed, shiny white and in place. The store had the old oak wooden plank floors, an old wooden counter with a register. There were shelves of antique this's and thats, which I love, and had to have that candle board - looks like a bread board with a handle and 3 metal candle holders on it so when you had to carry a candle through the house in the evening to light your way- you had 3 instead of 1.
In the center of the store were 3 little tables with 4 chairs each. The chairs were all those chrome style with vinyl backs and seats from the 50's. The tables had table cloths which were old handmade quilts covered in a thick clear plastic covering so they would not get stained. Absolutely beautiful! Mrs. Pecks said she had lots of quilts just layin' around so she decided to display them by putting them on the tables. Then the opposite wall of the little store had every color of enamel ware you would wish for. For those of you who don't know what enamel ware is - your grandmother most likely had a big popcorn bowl that was enamel ware - most likely black and white specked or blue and white or maybe even red and white. Before plastic, this was the cheapest ware for mixing bowl, baking pans and Honey pots (potty pots w/lids beside the beds at night so you didn't have to go out into the snow to go potty).
Mrs. Pecks daughter was tending the front of the store while Mrs. Pecks was baking in the back. Great conversations. At one point I asked if I could use the restroom. Mrs. Pecks heard me and said, "Yes, girl, go out the front door, take a right and go out into the woods and there is a white cement brick little building." Okay so I did as she said, out the door, took a right, and looked to the left. There out in the woods was a little white cement block building, the size of a wooden outhouse. This one had a old rusty tin roof and an old wooden door with chipping white paint. The old copper doorknob worked and the cement floor was painted white and covered with leaves. The wind had blown in a storm last night and guess some got stuck in here. There was a very old white porcelain pedestal sink with very old handles and a faucet which, of course, was dripping. At the base of the sink was a long hose which was to long so it looped several times before it hooked up the back of the old toilet. Well I found out what the hose was all about - when I flushed the toilet the hose started jumping up and down and looked like it was alive. Hmmm guess it was the water for the toilet.
Back in the store, filled with delicious smells, we bought some homemade still warm cookies. So good. They sold Amish jams, homemade pies and cookies, homemade sandwiches and real good country coffee. We will be going back to The Jane Store soon.
So for all those Real Housewives of Orange County, New York and where ever - this is what life is really like for "Real" housewives.
HOME FARM REMEDIES & HINTS: Bee stings, Hiccups and Hot Pepper burning/hands
Bee Stings - A slice of onion placed on a bee sting will take the pain away
Hiccups - Eat a spoonful of peanut butter to get rid of hiccups.
Hot Pepper burning - If your hands burn and sting after handling hot peppers, pour rubbing alcohol on them.
COUNTRY HOME RECIPES: Fried Oatmeal
For that leftover oatmeal try this!
Pressed cooked oatmeal into a cake pan 1/2-inch thick. Cool until firm.
Cut into squares. Fry in butter until browned, turning once.
Serve with syrup.
It's good!
Thanks for visitin' and come back soon.
I haven't written in a couple of days - been busy outside as the temperatures dropped briefly to in the 80's so out in the garden I go. This Real Housewife mowed her garden (the grass around the vegetables), pulled weeds, retrained the vines of cucumbers and spaghetti squash, prayed over the tomatoes as they are only producing 1-2 tomatoes a day compared to 40-50 a day in a good year. So no cannin' goin' on at this Missouri Housewives kitchen. Called a friend while having my coffee and asked another Missouri Housewife what she was doing? "Just pickin' ticks off my dog." Launa came to pick up a big round bale of hay and as we loaded it in the back of her pick up, my husband noticed a large 3 foot plant in the back of her truck bed. He told Launa as he loaded the hay that he hoped he didn't hurt her plant. Launa started to giggle. She said, "Well the truth is, it's growin' in the bed of my pickup, I haven't cleaned out the old hay since last winter." Sure 'nuf it was growin' all right - it was rag weed. Only in Missouri and only with Real Housewives of Rural Missouri.
Jane, Missouri
Me and my horse ridin' buddy, Jeannie, went for drive a few days ago. Goin' for a drive in rural Missouri is always fun and interesting. Drove into the town of Jane, Missouri - tiny little town with a couple of old gas stations, post office, a diner and a little grocery store. That's about it as far as thriving businesses. There are other old buildings with two or three signs on them of past businesses, boarded up, vines growing up the front, junk stacked up in front or on the sides. As you drive through town, which takes about 4 minutes, you pass a beautiful little shady cemetery, sitting off to the side of the road by a stream. As we pass you can tell it is an old cemetery as some of the head stones are just that, stones. We decided to stop and look around. What we found was so moving. About 1/3 of the cemetery was filled with head stones of Civil War heroes. Some of the headstones were just big rocks stuck in the ground with no carving, some fallen over. A few of the head stones were so old and grown over with moss, that you could not easily read the name or the date.
On one of the graves was a man's name, Mr. Tom Kirkpatrick, with his birth and death dates. Then there was a much smaller head stone right next to him "Wife of Tom Kirkpatrick" with no dates. Another headstone read "Mrs. Heddy Rowe" no dates, but very old. As we wandered through this beautiful area we noticed many "death dates" of 1918 and a family of headstones all with that date but some days apart and some months apart. I did some research and the Spanish Flu had been the culprit. It was so sad to see whole families wiped out. You stand there in the shade of these beautiful trees, a soft breeze blowing and almost hear the stories of families. There are several family plots which were so old and had antique decorative cast ironwork fences around the plot. I wondered if any of these families had anyone left to visit the graves. Had the families been wiped out with either the Civil War or Spanish Flu or other illnesses that swept through when there was no medical way of treating it?
We spent over an hour and could had spent more as we drifted through families and tried to figure out their stories. Some graves had headstones with fishing rods and reels engraved on them, some with deer antlers carved on them, others with big logs indicating a timber man.
We left there with many thoughts about those families went through and maybe our families also. We wandered down the road, mostly with old wood sided homes, flowers in the garden, large trees and vines, curtains in the windows. Folks have lived here for a very long time. As we were leaving town we spotted a small store which sat all to itself on the curve of the highway. It was a very old building - dog trot style. "Dog Trot style" is a style of building and homes they built in the 30's and 40's which is a bungalow style. This store had a large big window. The front of the building was all done in old barn wood and the sign was made out of old barn wood with the letters "The Jane Store" painted in red. Writing on the front window advertised sandwiches, home made pies and cookies, good coffee, antiques and enamel ware.
We decided to stop. As we opened the old wooden screen door, which was controlled by a big spring, we were hit with the smell of fresh berry pie. The wooden screen door slammed behind us with that old familiar sound from when I was a kid. I used to sneak in the back door and sneak into the kitchen and get a handful of Oleo. Oleo was margarine and mom would leave it out on the table and it was soft and good. I loved it and it was responsible for many scoldings from mom.
We were met by an older (in her 80's) lady, Mrs. Pecks, dressed in a dress and big flowery apron. She immediately announced, "Howdy girls, I'm just baking some fresh berry pies and have some apple pies going in the over after that. Also have fresh cookies, tell your friends." She was so adorable, her hair all permed, shiny white and in place. The store had the old oak wooden plank floors, an old wooden counter with a register. There were shelves of antique this's and thats, which I love, and had to have that candle board - looks like a bread board with a handle and 3 metal candle holders on it so when you had to carry a candle through the house in the evening to light your way- you had 3 instead of 1.
In the center of the store were 3 little tables with 4 chairs each. The chairs were all those chrome style with vinyl backs and seats from the 50's. The tables had table cloths which were old handmade quilts covered in a thick clear plastic covering so they would not get stained. Absolutely beautiful! Mrs. Pecks said she had lots of quilts just layin' around so she decided to display them by putting them on the tables. Then the opposite wall of the little store had every color of enamel ware you would wish for. For those of you who don't know what enamel ware is - your grandmother most likely had a big popcorn bowl that was enamel ware - most likely black and white specked or blue and white or maybe even red and white. Before plastic, this was the cheapest ware for mixing bowl, baking pans and Honey pots (potty pots w/lids beside the beds at night so you didn't have to go out into the snow to go potty).
Mrs. Pecks daughter was tending the front of the store while Mrs. Pecks was baking in the back. Great conversations. At one point I asked if I could use the restroom. Mrs. Pecks heard me and said, "Yes, girl, go out the front door, take a right and go out into the woods and there is a white cement brick little building." Okay so I did as she said, out the door, took a right, and looked to the left. There out in the woods was a little white cement block building, the size of a wooden outhouse. This one had a old rusty tin roof and an old wooden door with chipping white paint. The old copper doorknob worked and the cement floor was painted white and covered with leaves. The wind had blown in a storm last night and guess some got stuck in here. There was a very old white porcelain pedestal sink with very old handles and a faucet which, of course, was dripping. At the base of the sink was a long hose which was to long so it looped several times before it hooked up the back of the old toilet. Well I found out what the hose was all about - when I flushed the toilet the hose started jumping up and down and looked like it was alive. Hmmm guess it was the water for the toilet.
Back in the store, filled with delicious smells, we bought some homemade still warm cookies. So good. They sold Amish jams, homemade pies and cookies, homemade sandwiches and real good country coffee. We will be going back to The Jane Store soon.
So for all those Real Housewives of Orange County, New York and where ever - this is what life is really like for "Real" housewives.
HOME FARM REMEDIES & HINTS: Bee stings, Hiccups and Hot Pepper burning/hands
Bee Stings - A slice of onion placed on a bee sting will take the pain away
Hiccups - Eat a spoonful of peanut butter to get rid of hiccups.
Hot Pepper burning - If your hands burn and sting after handling hot peppers, pour rubbing alcohol on them.
COUNTRY HOME RECIPES: Fried Oatmeal
For that leftover oatmeal try this!
Pressed cooked oatmeal into a cake pan 1/2-inch thick. Cool until firm.
Cut into squares. Fry in butter until browned, turning once.
Serve with syrup.
It's good!
Thanks for visitin' and come back soon.
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