A whole lotta........Bull

There were a few things I was going to talk about today, but my end of the day just went to the top of my list.  Having a husband who use to ride bulls would make you think that the idea of the site of a bull would be somewhat mundane.  Not this ol' girl!  I love the majestic look of any bull from a distance, tonight however I would have  that up close and personal picture. While tending to my night time chicken routine, the dogs started barking at the back gate.  In general this barking could be due to Patty's goat, Suzie-Q or one of the other dogs next door standing their ground.  As I looked out to see, there was J.D.,that is short for Jack Daniels, the 1200 lbs pound Corriente bull just standing at the gate looking a little disturbed that the dogs were barking at him.  I went back into the coupe after telling the dogs to leave him alone.  About two minutes later they were at it again only louder and with a little more concern in their tone.  Okay, I said as I came out of the coupe only to come face to face with not just the dogs but J.D. who had determined that "he" needed to be on my side of the fence, that was,  after taking out the gate.  Did I say he was a bull?  With a very large rack.....that is horns for you non-rodeo readers.  Shouting, followed by my husband coming from the front only to realize that the bull was on our side of the fence, game on!  From this point on I just seemed to be running from one side of the property to the other while Brian quickly took down the gate and Blaine and I kept an eye on J.D.  At this point all I wanted was not to get run over by the bull because of course if anyone would get hurt it would be me!   What seemed like an hour, but only really 10 minutes, the gate was down.  Waving and hooting, alright, just Blaine and I were waving and hooting, Brian just seemed as calm as if he had done this before.  J.D. finally started back to Greg's, but not without the occasional stop to see if he could ditch out on some side path.  Those cattle dogs we have, they were no where in site, and Jo the best dog, under her chair-hiding, I think they need more exposure!   Well mission accomplished, with a little determination and of course a fearless husband J.D. was back on his side of the fence, without incident.   It made for an exciting ending to my day.  So why blog about it, well sometimes when you homestead, ranch, or farm, you get more than you bargain for not from your livestock, but from your neighbors.  Thanks Greg!  A good subject for the next blog.......how to maintain and select proposer fencing for your livestock.   See ya soon!

Priorities.............Which ones are important?

Sonoma Coast Sunset 1/1/13

Okay, it has been some time since I started this blog and suddenly I found myself lost.  Lost in the everyday ins and outs of life on a homestead and raising children, raising livestock and suddenly the days turn into weeks and weeks into months, well you get the picture.  So what do you do?  Well it was time for me to prioritize.   You would think that at my age, no I will not reveal that number, I would know how to prioritize.  Sometimes life keeps handing you things to do.  Most, realize what they can take on and say "no" to everything else.  Me, we'll let's say "no" is, or has not been present in my vocabulary for some time.  Top all of those "yes's" off with a two years ongoing medical issues with my arm and everything, that means, all that is important to me is on the back burner.  Fast forward to 2013, things are being shed, priorities are being set, and all that is important to me is taking a front seat.  So on with the blog.  I want this blog to represent all of the wonderful things that my family and I are doing to obtain self sufficiency.  Over the time that I have not been blogging I have been engage in others blogs of interest.  It is amazing how many of us blog, and how much we blog about. I have learned so many new things.

It is still cold outside here were we are so what is in the ground is limited.  However, we did take a big jump and plant several boxes of garlic.  We have a few beats left, and that is about it.  So what to do in the winter, this winter?   I have taken a tip from a relative and jumped into freeing my home of all harmful cleaners.  The first of hopefully several steps to getting back to basics.  My first project, LAUNDRY SOAP, yes, do not laugh.  I am, getting ready to make my first batch.  Now I tried Laura's laundry soap and really liked it.  It felt clean and smelled clean.  I am not one to waste though, so I have about 1/4 of a container of my regular soap left.  We have our wash water flowing out to do lawn irrigation, so what we are irrigating with is important, not to mention any flow of water attracts the chickens.   So recipe in hand, and armed with the ingredients I need; Borax, baking soda and my grated lye soap from http://store.mosoap.com/. I am ready to take off this weekend.  Oh you would like to join me?  Okay well stay tuned, the recipe and equipment needed are yet to come.  See ya soon!

Chill in the air.....

I really think fall has set in.  As I write this it is cool and crisp outside, but the sun is shinning.  The frost caught me off guard.  Most all of the winter garden did well, but we did have some summer favorites that were still hanging in there with us that did not fare the frost.  The basil was lost, but the peppers just lost the leafs but the fruit was still good.  Not everything is dying.  Sometimes even in the cold new life is arriving.   

New baby French Black Coppers

We just had some new babies hatch.  We lost a few but the rest were hearty and made it.  The goat are feeling quite frisky.  We have decided not to breed the girls this season.  Taylor has had her allergy test and although we knew it  would be positive, she is allergic to her goats!!!  Next 4-H year I think we will switch to hogs, and the goats will go back to be with their original herd.

The blog has been a little slow due to the surgery I just had on my right wrist.  Boy it is hard to get anything done without your dominant hand.   Stay tuned.......

You want how many dozen???

Yes, it is that time of year when baking and eating become a comfort.  It is cooler outside and the thought of a hot fresh coffee cake sounds too good.  The only problem is it is time for the girls to SLOW down, and slow down they have.  We are fortunate enough to have folks clamoring for our rainbow dozen.  I just wish on these days of gathering that I could just squeeze those girls for a couple more.  Yet all I can do is look at the 22 little ones running around the yard, and know that once the days get longer the egg count will get larger.  So for now my loyal customers, do not count your eggs until they are hatched.  I will do my best to keep them coming!

OH Honey!

As the day light hours get smaller and smaller I say to myself how am I to get it all done each day.  We moved back chore time 1/2 hour.  Now we go out at 5:00pm instead of 5:30pm.  Soon it will be 4:30, it is a shift.  A shift to start winter things.  Baking and canning and stewing.  The winter garden is in and the new garden fence and trellis (pics to follow) are so inviting.  I want to spend even more time in the garden.  But it is time now to put things to bed.  We started with the bees.  We were able to harvest 3 frames of honey, about 9 pounds and oh my it is to dye for!!  We were not sure that

we would have any, but after a hive inspection, it was decided that 3 frames would be fine.  Some of the area was not totally filled but we picked frames that would be easier for the bees to refill, i.e., we would spin our the honey and put the wet frames back in.  For those non-beekeepers, that means that the bees will get back the same frames so they just have to refill the comb and not rebuild it.

Frames after they have been removed from the hive

Once the frames were removed it was off to Ettamarie's to extract.  Blaine was a champ!  I was a little afraid to let him use the hot knife, but he went after it like a pro.

See that liquid gold on the right, yes that it, FIRST PLACE!!!  He had to compete with adults that have been doing honey much longer than he has, what an accomplishment! 

I can not wait to harvest in late spring early summer.  Blaine has decided to add 2 more hives.  Those of you lucky enough to have tasted the first batch......stay tuned.  I think that Blaine's beekeeping is here for the long run!

Where have you been?



Taylor and Judges Randy, Scott, and Cathy
At the California State Fair with her Golden Bear
winning rabbit

Blaine at Sonoma County Fair Auction with his Reserve
 Champion Meat Pen

I asked myself that same question as I crawled out of my little hole.   The summer just took me over.  The kids and the fairs and the running.  Do not get me wrong the summer with the kids was great.  They did more with their animal than they ever have.  They won more than they ever have.  Wow what a summer.  Well now it is time to get back to work on the FARM.  I will trying my best to keep up weekly with my blogs.  Thanks for sticking around!

Rain Rain Go Away........

Organic Circus Circus Carrots

Well, I am not sure if it will or not, but I am hoping the gardening and growing season is not like last year.  It seemed everything was late.  I am sure my new plants are loving this late in the season storm, but I am a bit cranky.  It is hard to plant, harvest, feed, milk, feed, and feed some more in the rain.  I do it because it needs to be done, but I love to do it when it is sunny.  Okay enough with my whining.  Just before the rain, I harvested the first seasons organic "Circus, Circus" carrots.  Now you can see why they are called that.  The orange carrots are like your traditional carrot.  The white are a bit sweeter, I think.  The purple are very woody tasting and my daughter Taylor does not like them at all.  My number one farmer, Blaine, who with the help of his sister, harvested all 50 carrots, loves them all.  Now you might notice in the picture that our orange carrot has "2" legs.  Have you ever seen a carrot like this in the store?  Of course not!  That would be........Unnatural......??  I was on another blog that I visit and the author was writing about how her lettuce had "holes", and how she has grown to accept the "natural" appearance of produce grown with NO chemicals natural or man made.  I loved it!  Real food is not perfect.  Carrots have two legs and lettuce has holes.  If the bugs like to eat it then my gosh so do I.  I love it that my kids get to see real food.  Produce that is not perfect, and animals that give their lives so we can eat.  Next time you are in you local health food store or chain supermarket, try to find some real produce............Until next post.