Happy Right Where I am

It has been awhile since I have written because my computer was down. Since last time i have many new chicks, my Mohawk girl healed and is now back in the coop. We also had a Nor-eastern snow storm. Thanks giving came and I celebrated it by eating what I raised and being ever so grateful for all I have: my food, my friends, my furry and feathered family. I am in contact with people who are truly off the grid and BOY my heart yearns to be there also. No electricity, no cars, no big business, no PTA, no grocery store appeals to me. Can you hear it singing in my heart? The other side is I am old, there are things i should not be doing even though i thrive on the challenge. I am doing the splits but I think wisdom would dictate that I remain where I am and become more and more self sustaining and I can pull myself off the grid here as well. i have way too much money invested in fruit trees etc to ever leave. I have often thought that, God forbid, if anything happened to my home, I would build a tiny cabin right here and live.

On the subject of God and His Return

I do not know when or HOW He will come back but I do know where to find Him, He will be amongst the homeless, the prostitutes, the unwanted. He will be with that duck or dog or cat that has just been let out on an empty road to fend for itself. He will be with the child who has been bullied so long he has now given up hope. He will be with that wife left for a younger woman after enduring violence from the hand that promised to take care of her, He will be with the physically and cognitively challenged, the deformed, the sick and the abused. He loves the "throw aways"...we don't.. so look for Him there. He will not be in the Church, or in prayer groups, or a revival meeting He will be serving the throw aways, the cast outs, the forgotten, the unlovable.

Timothy

This is Timothy, he is 4 or 5 and he is half Japanese Shin and half Pekinese. He is a very good boy. He was sick today...not sure why but I think he has turned a corner now and I am hoping for him to have total healing by tomorrow. This little boy takes no guff from the large dogs. he can hold his own. He has a lion's heart.

It is worth it

This makes cold weather worth it. For me, there is nothing as cozy and warm as the heat from a wood burning stove. Come sit with me, bring your quilting and we will visit.

Jack

Jack AKA "Auchi Boy" is 9 and he is a black labrador Retriever. He is, by far, the sweetest boy ever. He would not hurt a fly. He is not needy or demanding. When Auchi was 2, he suffered a grand mal seizure and it was pretty severe. Scared me to death. I always believe in trying the least invasive thing first. I changed his food, I put him on grain free and he has never had another seizure. The first one left him with some quirks. He is slightly claustrophobic and hates steps...will not climb but I have been working with him daily for months now and he does come up the stairs without my being there now. I babied him for years and thought to myself, "this is ridiculous" so I quit. Looking back, I was enabling his fear and not moving him towards independence. Then I had my injury and things stopped for quite awhile. Jack is a darling, kind, loving, and playful. he is my buddy boy.

Gracie

I have 5 dogs. I love them all. They are family but I want to introduce each one separately because each one is very different. Gracie is now 10 years old. She is a chocolate Labrador retriever and a very good girl. She earned her AKC CGC and then her license as a Therapy Dog. When she was a puppy, she had some physical issues and had to have major surgery, I stayed up all night with her and comforted her the best I could. When I got my head injury, that night she poked me every couple of hours...at the time, I had no idea why she did that, but looking back, I know she was being my nurse. There were nights I had trouble sleeping and she would come and lie down by me, and, as always, I would wrap my arms around her, and she would begin breathing slow and deeply until I fell asleep. When she was about 2, I had pneumonia. I had gone outside because the garbage was going to be picked up and I wanted to get a bag out there. On my way back in, I had to cough and knowing how painful that was going to be, I leaned up against my car and began coughing. The very next thing I knew, Gracie had gone through the screen door and was at my side. Gracie is like a sister to me. She has common sense and a very big heart and; thank God, she loves me.

FRUSTRATION

I am really frustrated with myself and so I am going to talk about it so it does not grow and then I am going to end this specific blog with some cute chick photos to create some joy. I am trying really hard to be responsible and to be a good steward to all that God has provided and in doing so, I thought it a good day to empty the gas out of my chainsaw and weed whacker lest I muck up the carburetor. So I take the gas cap off the weed whacker, set it down and open the gas container and set that cap down and drain the gas from the weed whacker. I put the cap back on and grab my chainsaw and repeat the process. I am all done and turn to get the gas can top and it is not there. I look everywhere and it is nowhere to be found. I know it did not have legs and there was no one else around to blame, so I knew I put it somewhere "safe". Mind you, it was not just a gas cap, it had a long bright red and white built in funnel. How could I lose that? I did because I am "special". Long story short, I found it on a tool bench I do not even remember using. Grrrrr. Now, for some joy:

2 chicklets hatched this morning

Aren't they cute? They look like a chipmunk and a Persian kitty. LOLOL

Duck, duck..

So much has been happening. I went into my coop and one of my 4 Muscovy ducks had been pecked on by the chickens and her tail was bleeding. The problem is not a little blood. The problem is that chickens are carnivorous and will peck a thing to death...literally so I brought her into my house, washed the tail well and put some ointment on it and placed her in a crate just so she could rest. Later yesterday i went back into the coop and saw that her buddy, Lennox, was missing her terribly so I had to do something. This morning, right away, I checked her tail and it looked good so I went and put together a dog crate and made her a bed in it and brought her down where she could see Lennox but yet was safe. We are all happy with that decision. When there is no hint of blood at all, she will be allowed out. Bitsy, my little cochin bantam, is a egg laying machine...she lays pretty near daily. She is so small compared to all the rest, not to mention the ducks and yet she holds her own with them. No one messes with Bitsy. I have stayed busy making sure the coops got clean and the bedding winter ready. In the Spring, my female Muscovys will lay eggs and the duck numbers will increase dramatically...yay!

New life

I have new peeps at Willow Wood. They are adorable. There is one silver one and; if one can sex them by the wings, it is a little roo-ette and I could not be happier. It is obviously Ignasio's baby and I have hoped and prayed for a rooster from him. The light colored one is mothered by my favorite Easter Egger and I am overjoyed at its hatch. The dark brown one...well i am just not sure. So, without further ado...meet the the babies:

Trying hard

I am very happy because the new tire for my dump cart came and I was able to put it on and now I am ready to roll. This makes me happy for 2 reasons: 1. I was able to put it on 2. With my new saplings coming, it will save me time and effort to load the shovel, water, fertilizer etc., just once.

Also, One of the tires is flat on my wagon and; because God loves me. it turns out to be the very same size as the tie on my old wood carrier so i will be replacing that either today or tomorrow.

Kia is an OK car but the minivans in 2003 left much to be desired. One of the things that happens is the steering becomes difficult. It is tight and takes a lot of strength to steer. A few years ago this happened to me and one mechanic said i needed a $500 repair and the other mechanic went into the shop, came out with a can of spray lubricant and sprayed it and the problem was gone. Cost to me: 0 A couple of days ago, the steering was stiff and because my long term memory is intact, I remembered so i got on YouTube and there was a video on how to "fix" it. I popped the hood. located the joint that came out from the firewall, sprayed it with WD40 and I am back in business. It is a good day

cold weather, water pipes and a rise in confidence.

I have never been very good at problem solving and even if I knew the answer I would not know how to execute it. Homesteading does not allow for that. I get to learn something new. I get to problem solve and I get execute the solution. I never thought I could do this and I think the reason was because I did not have to. I have to now. Just today, as I am preparing for the better cold coming this weekend, I wanted to change a lightbulb that was on a trouble light that hung in such a way as to warm the U water pipe to keep it from freezing. I took off the panel of skirting found the trouble light and changed the bulb. Still it did not work, so i rain into the house and got my hair dryer and plugged it into the outlet to make sure that was working. It was so then I knew the problem was the trouble light...now what? I took a deep breath and tried to think of a solution. I had a clamp light but it would only take 40 watt bulb and a 40 watt bulb would not do the job. I wondered what I could use that might put off heat...just at that moment Zora chirped and there was my answer...a warming light. I took my extra one and ran it outside and clamped it on and viola!!! It worked. Then I had to find out if it was safe to do this so i Googled it and sure enough it is not only safe but recommended to keep pipes from freezing. I did it and now I have some confidence that I can solve a problem safely and effectively.

My non-traditional tradition

I have this new tradition, started last year, where I plant a fruit tree or trees on holidays. It helps me remember how old they are and it is celebratory for me. Last year, on holidays I planted multiple fruit trees so that I now have 17. In preparation for Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) I have purchased the following to plant:

2 peach trees (full sized), 2 elderberry bushes and 1 California plum. I am SO excited! Great life with great traditions.

"Accept the things I can not change..." and do it with joy

In light of the snow forecast, I was out putting a deep layer of mulch on the bases of my saplings and it was hard work...physically hard work and I thought to myself how much easier it would be if someone helped me. I thought about how much work and how much more yield i could get if there was someone else. Almost immediately i rememberd to accept the things i can not change and to change the things I can...meaning myself and I decided to go easy. I AM doing the best I can and that is all I can do. I try really hard and I get what produce I can. It has to be good enough and with that certainty, I have great joy.

How this homesteader measures time

It is the 28th of October, 2014 and a dusting of snow is forecasted for this weekend. This means I have to cover my young saplings, bring in wood, prepare for that day. Homesteaders have a different kind of clock..I live and function by the seasons. They mark my time. They dictate my activities. It goes something like...."seed...time...harvest...and why I do it all". In Spring, I plant my seeds, then I give the seeds time to grow, and then I harvest my veggies and fruits, preserve them and then comes the cold and bitter winters where what I worked for I now enjoy. I plan my gardens and livestock for Spring, I quilt, I clean what was pushed aside while I was busy with gardening and preserving. I bring in wood, I shovel snow and I carry water to the livestock a few times a day. I am a homesteader and this is how I measure time.

The Untentional Homestead

When I first decided to homestead...which was quite by accident. I started off just wanting a few chickens (4) just for eggs. Then i found a photo of a chicken I thought was beautiful so I had to have a few of those because you do not send just one...chicks need each other for warmth. Then, I found Ameraucanas and thought they were the most beautiful chicks ever. You know the story now, I bought 10 of them. Then I decided a garden made so much sense and I believed that in being a good steward of what God had given to me, I wanted to use my land productively. I wanted to grow my own food. I wanted to be as self sustaining as possible and I can not afford to buy or keep a cow but I love beef and I heard that Muscovy ducks taste just like beef. I did not need to hear anything more. I bought hatching eggs and hatched me some. I have four. In the Spring, they will mate and I will have many many more. I was concerned, because my income is low, the need to plant seeds every Spring but then learned if I bought heirloom seeds, I could harvest my own from the vegetable...so I do. I have been able to bless others by sharing those seeds. So now, I had protein, and veggies...I was missing fruit. I bought 17 fruit saplings...peach, pear, plum. I planted one on every major holiday last year. Many are dwarf and I can expect them to fruit this coming year. I do have apple and pear trees that are heirloom and full sized. I hope I live long enough to see them fruit. I can plant the seeds of the fruit of those trees and germinate them and grow new trees. So that is the story of my unintentional homestead...way led unto way.

ability and wisdom...2 thought filters

The way my mind works... First I have to see if I am able to do a thing..can I see it in my head? Am I able to execute what I see? This is step one of my reasoning. THEN: I have to determine if it is sane, safe and wise for me to do it. These two steps are not always functioning concurrently for me. My most recent "schooling" regarded cutting wood. Can I run a chainsaw? Yes I can. Is it sane, safe and wise to do so? No, it is not. I am a proud woman and being strong is, for me, a good thing. Because I raised children, doing the impossible became normal and I came to expect that of myself. The part about sane, safe and wise did not function in me. Running things through that filter was a luxury i could not afford because I was so busy doing the necessary, thoughts of my own welfare really did not enter into it. Now, it HAS to...my safety depends on it. Part of true humility is truly knowing your limitations and accepting them.

New life

These are new residents of Willow Wood. The daddy is my lavender orpington, Ignasio, and the mama well...not real sure. The best part of homesteading is the new life I get to witness coming into this earth. It is an incredible life I live.

A GREAT and unexpected GIFT

i was in the woods, behind my house, looking for felled tree limbs for firewood and as I walked in, I could hear moving water and then I saw. A fast moving creek. I was beside myself with joy and gratitude because it is not only a water source but; no doubt, there are fish in there so it is also a food source. When and if the time comes when I need it, it is there. I do not think my kids read my blog and I know they think my need to be prepared for whatever may come is drama. I am doing the very same things my grandparents and great grandparents did. Gather food, preserve it, grow my own, raise my own, be aware of resources and develop skills so i will not need to call on anyone. Is this not what being self sustaining is about?

and then it rained

It has been raining hard since yesterday. I live way up on a hill where flooding should not ever be an issue for me and my livestock. I survived the 2006 flooding when I lived down the hill in the village and people lost their homes and everything they owned. It was awful. i remember when the clean up began the men from prison arrived in their green busses and were out there helping with the clean up. FEMA was in the neighborhood and the Mormons brought us pails of soaps and toilet paper and things with which to clean. People came to town and drove by to see the damage done by the flood. My home was the only one that survived unscathed. I digressed. My roosters are angry this morning, they hate the rain. I do not blame them. The barometric pressure drops and the pressure in my head builds until I can barely function but I have to function so I do. I swear on those days God sends his angels to physically hold me up. I am grateful for His help. I wonder how people are down in the village this morning. I hope they are safe.

In the closet

Some of what I do on the homestead has to be done silently because people really do not understand. Harvesting my own chickens, protecting my flock against predators are topics that ignite battles. It is best not to mention them. I guess we all know it takes place but somehow it is not fit conversation. I do not get it. Pictured below are muscovy ducks...they taste like beef and they also will be a meat source along with chickens.

Resolute

When I bought my homestead, it was so lovely I had to give her a name. Her name is Willow Wood Homestead and Orchard. My orchard boasts 17 fruit trees, some raspberry plants and strawberry plants. My fruit trees are pear, peach, apple, and plum. Last year, I celebrated each holiday by planting a fruit tree. I would hope that one day, they will produce so abundantly that I can offer fruit to those who have families and can not afford to buy any. That is my most fervent hope. As I am blessed, I want to bless others. In the Spring, I am going to plant ground cherries. Never ever heard of them until recently but they are prolific and make great pies and jams. Willow Wood breathed new life and hope into me and it gave me the courage to do what was in my heart to do. I wish the same for you.

No pick and choose

This is my experience. If you sign up to homestead then you sign up for it all...the good and the bad...the clean and the dirty. If you raise food,you harvest it...veggies, meat...whatever. If you heat with wood, you cut it and split it and stack it...as much as it is possible...at least the large limbs. If you hunt it, you eat it. You give and you care and you respect life and land.

"I Get By With a Little help From My Friend"

This homesteader could never do what I do if not for my trusty partner, buddy, significant other, best friend, helper, Kya von der Sable Rock...grand daughter of the great Frankie Anribri. Kya's dam is Piphy Anrebri who is the daughter of Frankie. Kya's father is INT CH. Penner von Sachsenring who's lineage is every bit as impressive. She is Czech/German but most importantly, she is my friend. She helps herd the chickens, she watches over the newly hatched, she protects me and the homestead. I am always in her sight. She would gladly give her life for me. KYA von der Sable Rock

it is about more than food

This homesteader wants and strives to become self sustaining. I garden, I can, I freeze, I harvest meat but being a homesteader is more than about food. It is about being independent. Doing things yourself...not looking for someone else to care of you. it is about making repairs, using tools, and sometimes it is scary...very scary because tools are load and you can get hurt using them. When I bought my homestead, the pervious owners left all their tools and machinery for me so I have a lot of stuff that makes a lot of noise. Most are bulky, cumbersome and difficult to control without some practice. A firebrick in my wood burning stove broke and it had to be replaced. I bought a brick and brought it home only to find out it was a couple inches too long. I took it back in hopes of exchanging it but that was the smallest size. When i asked what my options were, i was told I could cut it myself with a masonry blade on a circle saw. Luckily a circle saw was among the left treasures but there was a problem, I did not know how to remove a blade. I love You Tube because I no longer can read directions and understand not since my head injury...I have to see it in my head to do it and YouTube offers a wealth of how to videos that clearly demonstrate a skill. I was able to switch blades and began cutting. The dust was blinding. I could barely see or breathe and I am sure the next time I sneeze, little round bricks will fly out of my nose probably killing whoever is standing before me. The brick got cut and it is now installed and I am ready to safely light a fire. Homesteading is about growing and stretching your limits and finding your own way and doing it scared. It is about so much more than food.

Despise not small beginnings

I am beginning my second year here on Willow Wood homestead and in that first year, I began with 4 chickens and now have almost 40. I had 2 Muscovy ducks a couple of months ago and now I have four. I began with no fruit trees and I have now planted 17...pear, peach, apple and plum...most of them are dwarf but I do have 4 that are full sized and heirlooms. The first year here, I did some container gardening this past Spring I had a garden tilled 15x30 but it did prove to be a bit much for me so next Spring I will try square foot gardening. Small beginnings. Though they may be small, they are beginnings none-the-less and not to be despised.

A day in the life

It was a long day today. I found a fallen limb and dragged it up to the house to cut into lengths to burn for heat. I replaced a firebrick in my wood stove and I closed up both coops after the chickens got a chance to forage. They like fending for themselves as do I. My zucchini plants continue to yield and my sugar pumpkins are ripening. I boiled and froze 15 pounds of potatoes today...preparing for the frigid winter ahead. Three roosters will go to freezer camp as soon as I can get to them. I do not enjoy taking a life but when I decided to live this lifestyle, I accepted it was part of it. The last mowing of grass for 2014 was done today and tomorrow is the final hedging. When i was mowing, I was hit by a sudden and intense sense of gratitude for my little homestead. Many homesteads are vast but mine is just a couple of acres,small but it is beautiful...my sanctuary and my dream.