January 26, 2015
I can't figure out why none of my pictures taken after December 23 are available to add to my blog posts. I gave even tried pasting a picture to the blog, but it doesn't show up. I have checked my privacy settings and it is checked to share photos. I am at a lost as pictures were available through December 23. After that, no new pictures are available. I am bummed.
Monday, January 26, 2015
Guineas
January 26, 2015
After a colder, drizzly Sunday, the weather is supposed to be sunny and 10 degrees warmer today. Next Wednesday should be 68 degrees then possible flurries on the following Saturday. Crazy weather.
Now for the exciting news...I think we may have 3 Guineas that are Buff colored or partial buff colored. Buffs are fairly rare. I hope at least one is a female so we have a chance to get some buff colored keets. I have orders for any keets we have this year. We have our original 4 Guineas and 9 of the ones the lavender Guinea hatched. The young ones move around like a giant amoeba . They just seem to flow as they move all close together. So funny to watch. The youngsters were raised with the 4 little chicks so when the chickens come for bread , here they come. The older Guineas try to keep all the others away from the bread, like it is something bad. Quite entertaining everyday as I feed some bread to the hens and Guineas. The bread store in Harrison sells shopping carts full of bread, some of which hasn't reached its expiration date, for $6.00 . It's an inexpensive way to supplement feed for the birds and Rosie, the pig.
Friday, January 16, 2015
Drywalling continues
January 17, 2015
It's a heat wave here today - 56 degrees! We spent the entire day outside. We met with a wonderful lady from the local USDA office. She came to the farm and evaluated the place for cross fencing, ponds, and pasture rotation, now called "prescribed grazing". We spent several hours with her and learned a lot. Since I am a woman farmer, and under served by the government, I was able to get free pasture insurance, which pays me for the loss of pasture should here be a drought this year. I
Joe and our son-in-law cut a fallen tree off one of the cross fences. We now have firewood stacked on the porch for the next cold spell. It felt good to cut our own firewood from a fallen tree on our property.
We are considering buying between 15 to 20 bred cows to get our little cattle operation up and going. I think we will try red angus or black angus cross cattle. Those seem to sell the best back here. We would like to sell grass fed beef to individuals as opposed to selling the calves at auction. We will see how that goes as it will take marketing on our part.
With the cold spell, we have just been working in the addition where we have the fireplace blazing and occasionally turn on the blast heater for a shot of extra warmth. Joe and I are the only ones working so progress is slow, but everyday we make progress. Half the addition is drywalled! Joe just finished blocking for the cabinets. I need to start cutting and hanging insulation so we can get more drywall up.
Having the big TV and the fireplace make it a lot nicer to work in the addition. Of course we watch DIY and HGTV.
It's a heat wave here today - 56 degrees! We spent the entire day outside. We met with a wonderful lady from the local USDA office. She came to the farm and evaluated the place for cross fencing, ponds, and pasture rotation, now called "prescribed grazing". We spent several hours with her and learned a lot. Since I am a woman farmer, and under served by the government, I was able to get free pasture insurance, which pays me for the loss of pasture should here be a drought this year. I
Joe and our son-in-law cut a fallen tree off one of the cross fences. We now have firewood stacked on the porch for the next cold spell. It felt good to cut our own firewood from a fallen tree on our property.
We are considering buying between 15 to 20 bred cows to get our little cattle operation up and going. I think we will try red angus or black angus cross cattle. Those seem to sell the best back here. We would like to sell grass fed beef to individuals as opposed to selling the calves at auction. We will see how that goes as it will take marketing on our part.
With the cold spell, we have just been working in the addition where we have the fireplace blazing and occasionally turn on the blast heater for a shot of extra warmth. Joe and I are the only ones working so progress is slow, but everyday we make progress. Half the addition is drywalled! Joe just finished blocking for the cabinets. I need to start cutting and hanging insulation so we can get more drywall up.
Having the big TV and the fireplace make it a lot nicer to work in the addition. Of course we watch DIY and HGTV.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Winter Advisory
January 10
A Winter Advisory has been issued for our area. We may get a bit of intermittent ice tonight on through Sunday afternoon.
Last night the temperature dropped to 12 degrees. Thank goodness we have a good little electric heater we keep running at night because we ran out of propane during the night! The little heater managed to keep the trailer 47 degrees. Our little 5 gallon bottle is only lasting a few days in these low temperatures. I keep two heavy Afghan blankets by the side of the bed . They were "Looking at Afghans" but last night! they became "Using Afghans". We stayed toasty under the covers. Muffin and I stayed hunkered down until Joe got back with propane.
Both of us are taking a break from much lifting today but will finish hanging drywall in the hallway and entry hall on Sunday.
Monday, Joe and Wayne should hang the last of the ceiling drywall! Let the mudding begin!!
A Winter Advisory has been issued for our area. We may get a bit of intermittent ice tonight on through Sunday afternoon.
Last night the temperature dropped to 12 degrees. Thank goodness we have a good little electric heater we keep running at night because we ran out of propane during the night! The little heater managed to keep the trailer 47 degrees. Our little 5 gallon bottle is only lasting a few days in these low temperatures. I keep two heavy Afghan blankets by the side of the bed . They were "Looking at Afghans" but last night! they became "Using Afghans". We stayed toasty under the covers. Muffin and I stayed hunkered down until Joe got back with propane.
Both of us are taking a break from much lifting today but will finish hanging drywall in the hallway and entry hall on Sunday.
Monday, Joe and Wayne should hang the last of the ceiling drywall! Let the mudding begin!!
Friday, January 2, 2015
New Year 2015
January 2, 2015
Joe and I hope everyone had a joyful Christmas! We wish everyone a Happy New Year foe 2015.
We are excited that we are getting so much closer to having the plumbing and drywall in. Mud and taping may be challenging, but we have made it this far so believe we can also tackle that job.
The weather has been quite cold the past two weeks and even colder weather is predicted around January 5. Thank goodness most of the work is inside for now.
Joe and Wayne got the soffits and trim up on the high end of the roof lady week. We had to hire a tractor with a lift to reach that high. They wound up putting a ladder on our scaffold strapped to the lift to reach the peak! Thank goodness that part of the soffit is finished. We probably won't put up anymore soffits or siding until warmer weather. The house is wrapped in Tyvek so it is water tight.
As soon as we can get the HVAC guy back out to finish the last vent and connect the system, we will have heat and air in the house! Miracles never cease.
My granddaughter, Meghan, and I are visiting my son and his family outside of Memphis. It is my grandson , Jackson's, 3rd birthday on January 3. So happy to be here for his birthday. Little Evan who is 1 1/2 years old is such a character and so glad to get to spend time with him also.
I hope our Red Wattle sow, Rosie, waits to have her babies until I get back home as I would like to be there to see the babies. Joe is great at helping with animal deliveries if need be.
The 12 foot sheets of drywall for our walls were delivered Dec. 31, so we are just now ready to start hanging it. I can help Joe with the walls as that drywall is so much lighter than the ceiling drywall.
Joe and I took a two day break and went to the Chateau Resort in Branson. So wonderful to have room service and rest. Really recharged the batteries to keep us working on the house. Muffin and Freckles even went to stay at a dog retreat in Branson so we knew they were safe and cared for while we were away.
I decided to make some time to paint a 4 ft tall soldier to go by our front door for Christmas. Callie and I made peppermint star shaped tree ornaments one day. I misread the cooking time and our first batch cooked for 30 minutes, not 3 minutes! That made pretty pink blobs , but they were not star shaped ornaments! We worked out the kinks and finally made some darling ornaments.
Happy New Year and may your dreams come true !
Joe and I hope everyone had a joyful Christmas! We wish everyone a Happy New Year foe 2015.
We are excited that we are getting so much closer to having the plumbing and drywall in. Mud and taping may be challenging, but we have made it this far so believe we can also tackle that job.
The weather has been quite cold the past two weeks and even colder weather is predicted around January 5. Thank goodness most of the work is inside for now.
Joe and Wayne got the soffits and trim up on the high end of the roof lady week. We had to hire a tractor with a lift to reach that high. They wound up putting a ladder on our scaffold strapped to the lift to reach the peak! Thank goodness that part of the soffit is finished. We probably won't put up anymore soffits or siding until warmer weather. The house is wrapped in Tyvek so it is water tight.
As soon as we can get the HVAC guy back out to finish the last vent and connect the system, we will have heat and air in the house! Miracles never cease.
My granddaughter, Meghan, and I are visiting my son and his family outside of Memphis. It is my grandson , Jackson's, 3rd birthday on January 3. So happy to be here for his birthday. Little Evan who is 1 1/2 years old is such a character and so glad to get to spend time with him also.
I hope our Red Wattle sow, Rosie, waits to have her babies until I get back home as I would like to be there to see the babies. Joe is great at helping with animal deliveries if need be.
The 12 foot sheets of drywall for our walls were delivered Dec. 31, so we are just now ready to start hanging it. I can help Joe with the walls as that drywall is so much lighter than the ceiling drywall.
Joe and I took a two day break and went to the Chateau Resort in Branson. So wonderful to have room service and rest. Really recharged the batteries to keep us working on the house. Muffin and Freckles even went to stay at a dog retreat in Branson so we knew they were safe and cared for while we were away.
I decided to make some time to paint a 4 ft tall soldier to go by our front door for Christmas. Callie and I made peppermint star shaped tree ornaments one day. I misread the cooking time and our first batch cooked for 30 minutes, not 3 minutes! That made pretty pink blobs , but they were not star shaped ornaments! We worked out the kinks and finally made some darling ornaments.
Happy New Year and may your dreams come true !
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