Missing Mom

 A lot has happened since my last post, Mom went in for a routine procedure and her heart stopped, they got it going and transported her. She seemed to be doing okay in hospital but she passed the day after my birthday unexpectedly. This has been so hard for me to take, she has lived with jim and I for 11 years and needed my care 24/7. She was my Mom but I also was her caregiver, It's been 3 month and 9 days and I still feel lost, I miss her so much. One of the things that hurts (this may sound odd) but it's when I walk out the door and don't say Mom I'm checking on the animals be back in 10 minutes or grocery pickup be back in 30 minutes. Hope one day I can walk out my door without the ache I now feel.

No matter how Mom felt she always had a smile,, I wish I could say love you one more time.

I cut my finger off (almost)

I was fixing fence (December 4th) and my husband was also fixing fence but he was at the other end of the property. I didn't think about the size of the post hole driver I was using, Jim had the long one and I had the short one. To make a long painful story short, I hit a rock while putting in one of the posts. I moved the post back and forth then hit it another time.  It didn't budge so I (like I have many times) raised it up and slamed it down as hard as I could. Since I didn't think about using the short driver when I raised it high it came off the post and when it came down I missed the post. This caused it to run down the side of the metal post and catch my finger on top of post and with handle of driver smashing against it. I was wearing rubber gloves,  I knew it hurt really really bad but when I pulled my glove off I realized I had almost cut my finger off. It was hanging by a tiny piece of skin. So now (1/20) I'm still stuck with my hand bandaged up doctor says for at least another 5 weeks. If after the 12 weeks the bone doesn't heal the hand surgeon said they will have to remove that piece of bone. I am lucky though, my husband has been within a few hours of home, so no motel stays and my son has been feeding the cows and sidney takes care of the other animals. After all these year I can't believe I did this.

Cowboy Candy, made with jalapenos and nalapenos

 I have been canning for a good number of years (at least 30) but I ran across something different that I just had to try this year. Of course with most things on the internet I ran across tons of different ways to make it. This got confusing until I realized I just needed to add the ingredients I new my family would like.

One major thing is we like hot but not to hot....I grow jalapenos  and a less hot nalapenos so I went with a 50/50 mix. I also thought my family would like chopped instead of sliced (thought would be better for mixing with cream cheese etc for dipping).

The finished product was really good! Jim even likes it on his morning eggs. Next year I think I'll try one batch with just jalapenos, since the 50/50 is so mild, just curious.

The recipe I used was (so I don't forget) 

1 1/2 pounds jalapeños 

1 1/2 pounds nalapenos 

6 cups sugar

3 teaspoons garlic powder

2 cups apple cider vinegar 

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Next year since we are using more as a condiment than dip I think I will slice them.

I also left the seeds in because most of the heat comes from the membrane inside the pepper.

I just put the last of the canned jars in the root cellar yesterday and the turnips and sweet potatoes go in today, then I'm done.

Can't believe I got out the seed catalogs to look over already, but can't wait for next year :)

Root Cellar (summer project)

 

This is always the most exciting part for me, breaking the ground for the start of a new project! I was surprised at how deep he actually had to dig, ended up about 6 foot (there will be 3 foot of dirt on top). We were lucky though (or I guess hubby was) that he didn't encounter any rocks so this part of the adventure was accomplished in a day.

Molly's dirt pile, she became really comfy there over the weeks (almost a month) because

After we got this poured it rained and rained for almost a month

Finally it dried up enough that we could start pouring again

Felt good to see it start taking shape

Here it is all finished with the vents and door in and the paint sealer on, dried and waiting for hubby to start back filling

Jim was making one of our ponds deeper so he used some of that dirt for the cellar top also. We had more rain so we had to stop for a few more weeks.

But when all was said and done (Jim had cellar covered), Mrs Molly got her dirt pile back. This is her go to spot now, she sets on the small hill and looks down onto the lower field and barks. Since this area is downhill past the creek she has a fairly good site advantage.

Molly, my protector, my friend

 This is my (every morning) quiet time, its after Jim leaves for work and before Mom and Sid wake up, its almost 2 hours. My time to read a book on my kindle or just think, its always so calm setting on the couch with only the light coming from the fireplace. Well this morning I had a lot to be thankful for mainly my Molly.

Molly is my Great Pyrenees, she is just always here, she seems to know everything that goes on. I never really realized how good of a thing that can be! Yesterday I was walking/checking/repairing fences, we have about 3 miles of fences to keep up, so I had walked a good ways from the Polaris. I know this sounds odd but all of a sudden I got this "I'm being watched feeling". I should not have, but I ignored it and went back to removing the tree from the fence, but I couldn't shake the feeling. I stopped working and slowly started fanning the trees, looking, I didn't see them at first but when I made eye contact my first thought was my Polaris is way to far from me and also they are between me and it. It was 2 big dogs looked about 80 pounds each, boxer mix, beautiful full of muscle dogs, at least as big as Molly. 

I turned to slowly walk away but they started forward, I turned back and again made eye contact and slowly started walking backwards to the open field behind me. But with each step I took so did they, they were keeping their distance, not growling but not waging their tails either. On the way I found a stick and slowly picked it up (just in case) , I'm not saying they were going to hurt me, I just couldn't tell. I finally got into the open field and slowly kept walking still backwards. The dogs both stayed in the tree lines, but as I'm walking up the field (sideways now) they are walking still in the trees. The house is farther away but the Polaris is still between me and them, so I start to walk slowly toward the house.

Then I heard barking in front of me, and out of the trees comes Molly, I was so happy to see her! She ran past me and into the upper field, all I hear is animals running. My legs were so wobbly I just stood there trying to catch my breath, in just a few minutes Molly comes running back to me and we both walked home. Like I said I'm not saying the dogs were going to attack, they may have been acting this way because they were afraid/curious of me. But all I could think of at the time was I have lost two 4 month old calves to something in the last 10 days....

 Setting here now looking at the fireplace and listening to the rain hitting our tin toof, I can't help but think I may have just gotten really lucky. I learned a few more important lessons (even at my age), don't get to far from the Polaris, dont ignore a funny feeling, and always keep a stick near. Remembering yesterday I thank God for my Molly, everyone needs a gentle giant that would protect you no matter what.

Around the farm

 

Doing one of my normal daily chores, riding around and checking/counting the cows and looking the fences over. 

King of the tiny mound...this is one of the calves

This is Ruby, she will be my milk cow next spring, just turned 3. She is such a beauty.

Its nice to see the water still trickling in the creek beds, with all the rain we got off and on this year none of our creeks dried up. But all to soon everything will be icy.....

Nigerian dwarf goats

Meet Buckie and Dot, I have never had this breed before but from what I’ve read they have a higher milk fat content than some breeds so next summer I guess I will find out.

They are the cutiest little things! Their personalities are adorable, they make me laugh every day.