Sunday, January 23, 2011

Happy Birthday, Mady!


Our babygranddaughter turned 4 years old today! Where is the time going to??She is definately Grandpa's sidekick at this stage in her life! I don't know somedays who's babysitting who! Jeff says she watches him very closely during the day and can even tell when he's having a bad day with his back-and will try to help him with whatever he's up to on that day!
It's been really cold here this last week-we've gone through LOTS of firewood! We still are on the lookout for some pigs to buy-but that will have to wait until next month's check! I've been working on our IRS return-now just waiting to get the last of Jeff's info in so I can get it filed for the year and out of the way! We spent over $2000 in feed this year-but when I add it up-I really begin to realize what we don't spend in the grocery store for meat that doesn't taste right anyway!! We are SO blest to be able to put healthly meats on our table!
Jeff is feeling bad again-he's got another cold-he got wet last Thursday-so I hope he doesn't relaspe into what he had before! And Kaytlynn does have what he had-Alana took her to the Doc on Friday and now she's sick with this other stuff-fever and sore throat. She stayed with us this afternoon so Alana could go into town and get her some medicine. She seems to want to stay close to me when she's sick-sure hope she doesn't give it to me!!
I intended to cut the brocoli this afternoon-but didn't get around to it-maybe after work tomorrow! It sure grew into larger heads quickly! I've got to start thinking about what to get planted where in the garden-it's just been too cold to even think about getting out there. But it should be a little warmer this week-hopefully! Have a good one!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Last Week

Fozzie Bear-he is filling out and looking great-just wish I could get his papers in order!


Glory & Diesel-he is getting so big-we had him cornered up in the barn this morning-almost talked ourselves into banding him-but I don't know that Jeff & I can handle him by ourselves-better wait until we have more help!


The broccoli is starting to make heads-can't wait to see how big they'll get! Yummy!



Our BIG weekend project!! Jeff had pulled EVERYTHING out of our closet when I got home from work on Friday. I had been putting this off for WAY too long. Our closet had never been completed when we moved in on Dec. 23, 1983 and I think the last time I had everything out was in 1998 when Julie married and moved out. I had my reasons for not wanting to go in there too far-I really was scared of it!! No, really!! Well-it now is sporting paint-for the first time-a new closet bar and shelves-it looks so good-gotta take some pics of it!




We had some really cold weather this last week. Then it got all rainy and cool. The sun was supposed to come out today-and finally did-an hour and a half before it was time for it to go down! The pasture is So wet and soggy. Jeff did butcher the last hog this week-150 lbs of sausage plus pork chops and ham steaks. The freezer is stuffed-I can't even put in a loaf of bread-but what a wonderful feeling-so blessed! We are currently looking for more pigs-though. We thought we'd look into getting GOS-but they are going to be out of our budget level. We did go look at some hampshires yesterday-but he wanted a little more than we were willing to pay. We are finding out really fast that they aren't as easy to find as in the past. Jeff has just about decided that he is ready to get a sow and boar and start raising them again ourselves! The feed stores don't even seem to know who has any anymore!
I weaned a litter of 5 bunnies today-the other doe is due in about 10 days. The hens still aren't laying-Jeff let them out a few times this week-but a neighbor dog has his eye on them-so we have to almost sit outside and watch them to keep them safe.
Julie starts her college classes this week-her Thursday class got canceled-so she'll only be gone on Wednesday nights now-the other class is online. The girls will have to stay us on those nights. Alana will find out on the 28th what the baby is-we are all hoping for a boy! And Randy has started doing leather work and has purchased a building to work out of. He's doing some really nice work and is enjoying it! Have a great week!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

First Canning of the Year


We had 6 gallons of tomatoes in the freezer-so we decided to make picante sauce today. Boy-did this batch turn out good-but it is HOT!!! We made 11 pints-but it won't last long! It will greatly be enjoyed!
Been another busy week-with Jeff getting REALLY sick-he ran 103 temp for 3 nights-took him into see the Doc on Wednesday-wasn't strep-he didn't know what was wrong with him-so gave him a BIG penicillin shot. He finally felt better by Friday.
Went and had breakfast with some old friends on Saturday morning at their house. Viv and Bob bought a tractor the day before and wanted us to come check it out. They have chickens and some really beautiful turkeys. They have a few hogs that are ready to butcher, also. Our weather has turned off really cold-so Jeff is planning to butcher our last hog sometime the middle of the week and then possibly go help them with theirs-Another reason I had to get the tomatoes out of the freezer!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!!

Here is a pic of our big boy, Jordan, who has now lost 3 of his teeth-He's about to break the tooth fairy here at the holidays!! He is SO sweet! And here is a pic of the bed we treated ourselves to-We upgraded to a queen size-we've always had a full size. It also has a footboard with a cross engraved in it. We bought a new memory foam mattress set too-it felt pretty good sleeping on it last night!

Another busy week-but I go back to work on Monday-maybe things will settle down and get back to the normal routine. Shorty and Mom are still needing alot of our time-his blood sugar has been way over 400 today and Mom had to call in his home health care nurse. He has an infection and hasn't been taking the antibiotics prescribed to him and really giving everyone a hard time! Mom is improving daily-but is still stubborn about doing somethings on her own. She has a check up on Thursday afternoon-Jeff will have to drive her-we'll probally stay with them the night.
We put another roll of hay out this morning-we've been feeding bale hay for the last few days-but it's a little colder today and the next few-so we put out a roll. The hens are still laying only 1egg every other day-but lots of combs are beginning to turn red-so I'm looking foward to more eggs anyday now. Jeff brought the welding machine home-so with help will soon be starting on the squeeze shoot. We were planning to work on getting more firewood today-but that hasn't happened either. We got to bed around 1:00am from the New Year's Eve party at church-we had a good time-although I really had no intention of staying til midnight-I had a really great time-we played Taboo with a group of 10 people or so. Jeff and I aren't game players-but this was fun and a change for us.
The garden is looking great-we've pulled some onions-ones that the cows haven't reached through and ate the tops out of-and the broccoli is starting to make little heads. It'll be time to start tilling and getting the beds ready in a few weeks! We've got several cardinals and lots of little wrens coming to the feeders.
Well the day is coming to an end-not the typical way we spend New Year's-but it has been a little quiet today and we needed that!! Have a great one!!