King Jack... Too Funny

We have several chicken feeders that came out of an old chicken house.  I use them for all kinds of things.  Well one got drug out into the yard and when my hubby was mowing he threw it over the fence into the goat pen figuring it would keep them busy.  Well busy it did.  My billy goat decided to crown himself!

I have no idea how he managed to get it on top of his head so perfectly, but he did!

Now we just need a couple painted tennis balls for the tips of his horns and some garland and we can have a Christmas decoration!

Representation or Dictation? Time for our country to evolve into the modern age!

Usually I stay away from politics but to be honest I am just getting sick and tired of all this nonsense.  I see surveys that I answer and the majority is completely opposite of what Obama stands for.

The most recent example was what the republicans are doing with the budget.  According to a survey on Hughes net 81% of the population agree with them

I have seen surveys that ask if obamacare should be repealed the majority says yes

Surveys on tighter gun control the majority says no

Surveys on if Obamas speech changed your mind on gun control that was an overwhelming 91% said no.

It seems as though the politicians have forgotten why they are elected.  To represent the majority whether it is what they personally want or not!

Obama wants his health care program that is a dictation onto the people, not a choice.  But yet overwhelmingly the majority of the population he is supposed to represent does not.  These politicians need to remember why they are chosen and to quit with their own personal opinions!

Maybe we should have voted on Obama care.

Maybe we should have voted on every single executive order!

With the technology of today every single person could use their Drivers license number and vote electronically and the time lag would be less than the senate and house voting.  That way we really would have a country that is of the people, by the people and for the people.  The reason our politicians and the electoral college were set up was because of the inability at the time for every one in the country to place a vote.  I think it is time to do away with it and move on to a more technologically advanced way to run our country without all the Drama politician's thrive on

They all seem to be just a bunch of whiny little girls that need their drama parties in order to function!~!!!!!!

There is my Nickel or dimes worth (inflation from 2 cents)

home made and canned barbecue sauce

I am tomatoed out!  I have been putting up tomatoes like crazy.  and then I brought in more!

The one thing that I buy but have not made was barbecue sauce.  I like mine thin to mop on rather than the thick sticky stuff so I usually buy Head Country and then "fix" it.  So I was on a mission.

First I halved, de-seeded and squeezed the tomatoes.  Then chopped some onions and bell peppers to go in.  Then on the stove to cook.

After they were nice and tender I put them thru the blender and then thru a sieve to remove any remaining seeds and bits of peel.  By not peeling them I save time and end up with more yield than I would if I peeled them.

What I had left was a nicely flavored tomato puree.  Back in the pot it went with some seasoning.  I had about 42 cups of puree so I added 4 cups of apple cider vinegar, 4 tablespoons Paprika, 2 tablespoons black pepper, 4 tablespoons salt and 4 cups Brown Sugar.

Then I let it simmer until it was the right consistency, while stirring frequently.  It still did not taste right and so I put on my thinking cap of what it is I fix sauce with so I added a small jar of prepared mustard and some maple syrup.

Ahhh ... Perfection... then

Then in the pint jars and with my Tattler lids of course.  I pressure canned it at 10 lbs for 20 minutes.  ( I could have water bathed it but I prefer to pressure everything I can)

I ended up with 25 pretty pint jars of barbecue sauce.  I won't have to buy any for a while!

Trimming Goat Hooves

Goats can be persnickety creatures.  They are smart and they are stubborn.  And mine HATE getting manicures!

I have been asked how to trim goat hooves.  Well here is how I do it. Goats have a outer hoof like a fingernail and they have a soft inner hoof for gripping.  If they were living with rocks the rocks would keep the outer hooves rubbed down.  But my pasture has no rocks so I have to trim them.  They also have a heel part that can grow up. 

First put them on a stand with some grain to keep them busy,

Then you will need a pair of trimmers.  They need to be sharp and pointy.  You can either go out and buy a pair of hoof rot trimmers which was kind of pricey or a nice pair of rose bush trimmers will work also.

In the next picture you will see the hoof which the outer covering has grown up and curved over.  That is what needs to be trimmed.  Also the heel gets a little long so I will trim that down also.

The next picture shows the hoof after the trim

You can see the light colored parts where I trimmed off the excess.

If you cut too deep you can hurt them and also cause bleeding the same as cutting your own nails too short.  So go easy and just take off a little at a time.  If you start to see any pink then stop.  Mine like to fight and argue.  Usually grain or soft words help.  I also will sit next to them and lean my back up against them while I do it.  This seems to have a calming effect on my girls.

I usually trim their hooves about every 3 months.

Pigging... What fun! Meet our 12 new babies!

Pigs do not mess around on the whole due date thing 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days and she popped! I knew she was due yesterday by the calendar so I went to go check on Monster our pig.  We had been pulling grass out of the garden and the girls had given her several loads of it.  That pig carried the grass all into her house and made a nest.

So as the day went on I went to check on her every little bit.  The kids and I started trying to dig some potatoes one of the times we went to check on her we found her laying down breathing hard and looking miserable

Now mind you we have never had a pig give birth and did not know really what to expect.  So I got on the trusty Internet and looked up the process for farrowing.  It said 30-90 minutes from the time they lay down and be still.  Well at 2 hours I was getting worried and still no pigs.  I decided I would give her 30 more minutes and then go get my neighbor who used to work in the hog farms. 

30 minutes later I went out to check on her and this is what I found

Twelve year old daughter got called out to help we got the birthing bag and put pads down behind her to contain the mess and those baby pigs just started coming out.  One every few minutes.  We were wiping baby pigs down as fast as we could!  They are feisty little buggers when they are born.  We did not expect them to be running around the pig shed as soon as they were dried off!

I like this one.  It has some interesting colors on it!  And it is a girl so we are probably going to keep this one to replace her mother!

Monster is a good mom she was being careful not to lay on any.  If she heard a squeal she moved.  Except they were only squealing because two wanted the same nipple!
We ended up with 12 little piggies in all.  7 girls and 5 boys! 

Our pigs are mutt pigs so we ended up with an assortment of colors!

Monster is going to the butcher when we wean these babies.  That was always the plan.  Our pig is sweet and loves scratches and her tummy rubbed but she is just too big to handle anymore so she will have to go.  We will all miss her but we also know that is why we have them.

My neighbor is going to come and help in about a week or so to castrate them.  I can do castrations with a band and I have assisted with human castrations (worked as a RN for 20 years) but I have never seen or done pigs and the have to be cut.  So I am thankful for the assistance and guidance.

We are going to keep 4 of the barrows (castrated males) to raise for the freezer and two of the cute red females for breeding and probably sell the rest to pay for their feed.

We have been out of pork for about 2 months so we will be glad to get some bacon again!

Pork chops in the making!

Life on the farm and random pix

It has been crazy around here.  The grass grows faster in the garden than I can pull it.  I had the garden totally pretty a couple weeks ago and now I have trouble finding my plants! 

We butchered 12 chickens and are doing 7 ducks today.  I hate plucking them so I made a plucker.  It cost me about $20 to build and we can pluck a chicken clean in about 2 minutes.  It took us 3 hours to do 12 chickens that averages 15 minutes a bird for killing, dunking, plucking, cleaning and packaging.

If anyone wants to know how I made this plucker then write a comment and ask and I will put up a post detailing the way to make this yourself.

We have been canning and putting up the harvest nothing fancy is why no detailed articles.  We have had a bountiful harvest and feel blessed by God for all the rain!

onions

mixed berry jelly and pickled beets

Roasted Tomato Soup
 

The pig is due to have her piglets in 2 weeks and she keeps getting out!  As soon as her babies are weaned she will have a date with the butcher and our freezer!  One of my doeling Alpines is terrified of the pig.  She gets up on the spool and will stay there for as long as the pig is out!!!

Birds everywhere

I found this guinea nest in the field there were about 100  eggs

We got 2 new furbabies for the house.  The Dog sons are named Freddy and Hoyt.  They are wonderful and getting spoiled already!

My oldest daughter finally got pregnant after ten years of trying (and two adoptions)  so we are working on finding baby things.
I picked this treasure up at a yard sale for her  for $10.

My neighbor makes beautiful hand carved spoons and stuff.  He gave me these for helping out his parents and they are food safe to use.  But they are just too pretty to use!  If anyone is interested in some I can get you hooked up with the family that makes them!  The top thing for those who don't know is a dough cutter.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. 
Keep your garden growing and your powder dry!

What is in your first aid kit?

This is my first aid kit.  It is the one I use if there is an emergency.  It is what I take with me when we go on a trip and it is also the one I would take if we had to bug out of our location in a hurry for any reason.   Mine might be a little more comprehensive than most because of my years as a trauma nurse.  I just wish I had an AED to add to it and an Ambu Bag.
Left to right starting at the top:
Kerlex
4x4 gauze pads
gloves
Chlorhexadine surgical scrub
lidocaine and a syringe with a 30 gauge infiltration needle
Antifungal spray
tampons
kotex
Ace wraps
cotton balls
Field surgical kit (pen light, clamps, scalpal, needle holders, explorers, scissors)
scalpals and sutures
Bandaids
broad pectrum antibiotic
nasal spray
albuteral tablets
tylenol
ibuprofen
benadryl
triple antibiotic ointment
benadryl cream
cortisone cream
tape
alcohol preps
carmex
hydrogen peroxide
2 x2 gauze pads
Coban (for making splints)
albuterol inhaler
steroid inhaler
alcohol gel
eye drops
long cotton swabs
chest rub
18g needles for picking splinters or lancing boils
airways for all sizes from neonate to adult
non stick pads

Also not shown
Blood stop powder
trauma shears
dental floss
oragel
temporary tooth filling
super glue
blood pressure cuff
urine dip sticks

For at home use and prepping purposes I have a large plastic set of drawers with much more in them. Of course if I had to bug out then a bag of our prescription medications would also go with us!

Of course you would need the knowledge of how to use everything in your bag.  And you would always want to seek real medical attention if it were available!

Am I missing anything?

Rutabaga... Easy to grow and yummy when cooked

I planted Rutabaga for the first time.  They did wonderfull!!  They are an easy to grow root crop and the root bulbs are easy to cook.  The goats love them too!!!  I pulled some of mine yesterday to thin them and this is what I got

Now the big question... What to do with them!!!

Okay so I peeled them and then cut them into cubes.  Doused them with olive oil, added some italian seasoning and some garlic salt then put them into the oven at 375 for about 45 minutes and this is what I got

Even the picky kid liked them! 

Johnson Grass in the garden

I had about 2 weeks that because of things going on I did not get out into my garden to weed and with my oldest working she could not come and help me.  Now I have a beautiful garden, if you can find it under 3 foot tall johnson grass!

You can see the stand of grass in the back ground.  I have mulch (wood chips) and cardboard down on about half of it and that has definately helped but there is atill a LOT of grass and weeds.

The trailer is how much grass came out of one row

My daughter is coming over today to get busy on finding the rest of the garden!!!

If anyone has any wisdom in how to battle and hopefully defeat this stuff please let me know!

A new addition to our family

We have a new addition to announce.  This time it is not a beastie although around about age two they are all beasts it seems... LOL

Please meet Joseph (my new grandson) born June 20th 2013,  9 pounds 1 ounce and 20 inches long

Doing Laundry with no machine

I have to admit the SHTF here at my house in my laundry room.  Our washer died (it is a pricey front loader, high efficiency with all the bells and whistles and only 3 years old!!!!) and with no way to immediately replace it I went into survival mode for this matter. It was a good learning experience for my kids and a way to test survival methods before everything comes crashing down!  It is my desire to have a manual wringer washer before that happens...But if I do not get it than I can manage this way!!!

For centuries before a washing machine laundry was done by hand.  Initially it was done by only using the hands and rocks and then the wash board came along.


Washboard image from Bing images

Then came wringer washers, which I wish I had one of!

Wringer washer image from Bing images

Then there is my way of doing it!  A plunger (Cost $5.40 at the local Ace Hardware) and three wash tubs which are re purposed barrels from the local Little Debbie factory (Cost $8 per barrel used 1 1/2 barrels)  Total cost for survival washing machine $17.40




The first tub is wash water with laundry detergent, the second is rinse water and the third is a final rinse with Downy.  I put them on the tailgate of my truck to make it easier on the back and also the black bed helps to warm the water on a sunny day!

3 tubs, you can barely see it because of the sun but I have a 5 strand clothes line right behind where the tubs are

First you put water into the wash tubs, add your soap (The cheap non-HE works best for this or you can grate home made lye soap to use) and fabric softener to the respective tubs.  Put your dirty clothes into the wash water and using the plunger with an up and down motion agitate the clothes well.  Any spots are rubbed out with extra soap and knuckles (wish I had a rub board for that!) Then wring out well and put into the rinse, repeat agitating and then wring and into the final rinse.  After the final rinse wring well and hang on the line.  I wring them out using a twisting motion but it is still very hard to get the water out by hand especially large towels and jeans.  So it would be unwise to put them in the dryer like that as the weight may damage it. Hang them on a line until they are dry.  If you have the convenience of a dryer then when the clothes are just damp you can bring them in and place into the dryer to finish drying and "fluff" them.

And there you have it a way to do laundry without a machine, or power.  I am just thankful that I have a well pump and a garden hose to fill the tubs!!!  It actually only took about 3 hours to do about seven loads of laundry and it would have taken the washer over 7 hours to do all of it, and the clothes are cleaner and smell better.  But the work was tiresome and my 12 year old and I both were exhausted after completing our task!

Mama's and their babes

One of my ducks hatched out 5 babies all by herself.  They are about as cute as can be all following behind her.  I have had to rescue a couple.  One tried to go thru the wire of a cage and I had to save it.  It is too funny to watch her.  Our Great Pyrenees decided to check out the babies and that Momma duck told her just how it was.  A little tiny duck up against a huge dog.  Well the duck won and the dog left!

I wish more humans were as protective of their children.  If so we would not need child protective services!

The rooster and Guinea started fighting too close to her babes and she broke up the fight. 

Aren't critters great?