Tag: Critters

All God’s Critters

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!
This week on the farm we’ve basically been perpetually cleaning up after our wilderness friends and their poor life choices.
First, we had a coyote appear to get lost and end up in the corral. Why do I think he got lost? Well, the tracks tell a pretty good story because the snow has been freezing in the early morning hours and preserving the evidence of the nights shenanigans.
Looks like this little coyote crossed the empty canal and found a tiny hole in the chicken wire we have up on that fencing. He pushed his little body through, my guess is because he smelled Cordelia’s earlier travels, and suddenly realized he was face to face with two very angry mares. The evidence suggests a very panicked zigzag pattern that ultimately leads to a new, bigger hole in my chicken wire that I am pretty sure he punched out with sheer force of will.
It definitely stresses me out that a coyote crossed the canal into my corral on a whim and my sweet girls had to handle it, but I am sure, to a point, there’s tons of midnight adventuring that I am generally blissfully unaware of. The fact that the girls seemed entirely unbothered in the morning and the only reason I know about it is the broken fence and snow marks is definitely proof toward that assumption.

*MUNCH*
Mom, What?


We’ve also had some incredibly brave deer come down the driveway and into the pasture in broad daylight. I’ve known for a while that they didn’t fear us here on the farm, but they’ve taken it to the extreme and hang out on the nearby hill most of the day. Then in the evenings they come down to munch on my hay bale (for what it’s worth, we do not feed or actively engage, they steal it from my storage space since I can’t secure it yet). I’m glad they feel the farm is a safe place to come hangout, wouldn’t want it any other way, but I’m always worried they are going to forget that other humans are scary and should be avoided.
This week I watched as two deer calmly maneuvered around my hotwire and through the fencing on the hill and around the pasture, with a surprising amount of dexterity and problem solving. Then I continued to watch as their third friend just busted through as though the fencing didn’t exist at all. Long story short? He’s fine as far as we could see from a distance, and I gotta rebuild my fencing again. He literally just sorta did a Kool-Aid Man impression and totaled out the hotwire and everything secured around it. He also made a show of yelling at the fence in his little deer noises. Definitely don’t think it was his intention to make such an entrance.
We’ve also had a lot of birds move into the barn, which Nellie enjoys immensely as she is a Disney princess who loves all of God’s creatures. She’s been known to let birds ride around on her back as she goes about her day. I’ve even had to scrub bird poop off her back, which is a downside to being a woodland princess that no one mentions. Nellie doesn’t mind though, she’s never met a critter she didn’t at least try to make friends with.
Ro, on the other hand, is not even remotely a fan of birds. She ranges from begrudgingly putting up with the little ones that run out in front of us on rides, to a deep, angry fear of ducks and cranes. I’ve often had to come rescue her because there’s a duck on the path from the pasture to the corral. When the crane is around, she won’t use that little pathway at all. I end up either chasing the crane away or feeding a little extra in the barn itself. She will angrily yell at the pheasants when they pass through, but if you’ve ever heard a pheasant…well they make quite the ruckus themselves. We have one we call Freddy the Four O’clock Pheasant, who, unsurprisingly, cries out for his family about four o’clock every day during the summer, and Ro has some choice words for him. She’s fairly annoyed at the magpies as well but she doesn’t completely lose her mind at them.

Hi, Mom!
Mom, I’m a little busy, photos later


Anyways, the birds are making the kinda mess you’d expect birds to make in the barn, and it’s not really appreciated. I obviously wont kick them out, its winter time and all God’s creatures need refuge, but I’m not excited about consistently cleaning up the messes of a little nesting community. I hope they find more suitable nests in the spring, because last year I spent a lot of the spring being chased out of the arena by angry mama birds for accidentally invading their nests. Oh well, such is farm life.
I think I’ll wrap this up here, gotta go feed the girls and do a little deer spotting on the way.
Until we chat again, my friends!

Amanda Rants for about 300 Words, then She Rambles

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

How are we doing today? Well, I hope. It’s been a crazy week for us around the valley, with weird storms and family members visiting and the newfound knowledge that I am hosting Thanksgiving. We potluck it and I’ve hosted the last couple years so it’s not the biggest deal, but still a lot to prep for.

This year I’m getting wise and buying take home containers, because buying a new set of Tupperware every year is not financially workable and chasing down my shared dishes is a feat for dwellers of Olympus. The dollar store has these cute little containers that could be reused if treated nicely, or recycled if beaten up, and knowing my family, well, recycling is nice.

Because we potluck each year everyone has a dish or two that they’ve gotten pretty good at. I usually make the mashed potatoes, not because I am particularly amazing at potatoes, but they are an easy dish when I have my whole house to clean and childproof before the meal. (My house is usually pretty kid safe, but when there’s so many people around, I tend to take extra precautions like baby gates and locking the pantry door. One year my cousins then 6 month old, who admittedly, I didn’t even know had the kinda grip strength required for this feat, got into my junk drawer and was chewing on a lightbulb. How she got it open, as it’s a hard pull, and reached over her head into the drawer is beyond me, but I still hear about the lightbulb incident).

I’ve also started the very preliminaries of my Christmas shopping. A few family members hang out in this corner of the internet so I can’t really discuss it in detail, but it’s a nice jumpstart. I just really don’t want to be panicked, running around when the snow flies. Since we are such a big family, outside of our immediate members, the larger subset of extended family does a secret Santa, and it’s quite the spy game. Its especially difficult when you get someone you really don’t know. I’ve felt a little sorry for my person the last two years, my cousins son, a now 16 year old who came into our family around 2017 when she and his dad hit it off. He’s a lovely kid but very shy and so my gifts for him have always been an educated guess based on anecdotal information. I hope I at least hit in the ballpark of his interests.

It’s also that oh-so-wonderful time of year when “sportsmen” start making poor decisions about their hunting habits and try to hunt near my property. It’s such a weird thing, because I was taught that you do not aim or fire when you have an unsecured backdrop, which is to say, if you’re aiming at anything that you don’t explicitly mean to shoot at, you are doing it wrong. I bring this up because in the past we’ve had some incidents where I live with people using my farm as a backdrop, putting my family, both two and four legged in jeopardy. My neighbor has had bullet holes put in her home and come face to face with poachers, which are somewhat prevalent in the area because the roads are winding and dark. 

But all this to say, someone used my farm as a backstop again this week, and I swear it took years off my life because I was actively trying to bring the girls in for the evening, so I nearly got trampled, my family was outside in danger, and it was getting dark so visibility was going away fast. There’s no sad ending to this thank God, but there’s no resolution to this either as it was a lucky thing, he was a bad (or good?) shot. Point is, only aim at things you intend to shoot, and for the love of God, think about your backstop, bullets don’t just fall out of the sky if you miss.

Okay, rant over, please enjoy these cute little noses as a resting point, fuzzy horse noses are the best thing for a troubled soul

My Favorite Nellie Snoot to boop
My Favorite Ro Snoot to boop

In happier news, another of my many cousins, one of the last couple that don’t live here in the valley, has been put to visit. It’s been super fun to see her, as it’s literally been a couple years now, and so much has changed for everyone. We got together to have an Aldrich Family lunch. It’s a little sad she can’t make it to Thanksgiving, but I’m so grateful she got any time off to visit at all, as time off is a real battle at her place of employment.

So, all in all, a crazy busy week, especially when you add in torrential downpours and lots of work meetings. I was supposed to meet with my lovely farrier, but he was kind enough to let me push it out a week so I could dry out the corral and catch up to life a little (and frankly, remind my girls the pasture isn’t that scary after the hunter situation). 

Its beginning to look a lot like the holidays around here, which means I get busier than Santa Claus and need January as an entire “mental health month”. Could you imagine? A whole month off? I bet I’d go stir crazy

Until we chat again my friends.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

Well, it’s almost Halloween, and the trees have finally started showing their colors! You may have noticed the banner changing quite a bit on the site, that’s in large part because I simply couldn’t decide what I wanted it to look like and was having a hard time getting the colors to translate on the site. I wouldn’t be surprised, and you shouldn’t be either, if I end up changing it yet again.

My Two current contenders for new banner

We had the worst rain storms since I’ve moved here this week, although the old timers will tell you this was nothing. It started raining a little before 6 am on Friday and didn’t stop until Tuesday evening late. I know the specific start time because I told my brother he probably didn’t need a jacket, the rain wasn’t predicted until later and it was pleasantly warm out. Not more than three minutes after he drove off did it drop ten degrees and start aggressively raining. In my defense, there was a 7% chance, and the radar was clear! It was also 65° out at 5 am! How was I to know?

The other crazy thing was the wind. It started about 8 am on Sunday morning (I sent a text to my dad that my phone had a severe weather warning) and continued until about 4 am the next morning. So, the swimming pool that was once my driveway had waves. 

The trade off about living in the high desert is that while we don’t get really rainy, gross, cold days often, when they happen, they are total deluges it can cause flooding and damage. Last year in June I found out the hard way I needed a new roof during one of those major storms.

But compared to when I lived in the Puget Sound area, I enjoy the rain a lot more, as its the exception, not the rule. While the scenery is gorgeous over there, I certainly don’t miss being wet from late September through early may. Turns out I’m a natural desert dweller.

I’m gearing up for a low key Halloween on the farm. We don’t get trick-or-treaters, which I wholeheartedly support, please don’t take your little ones (or big ones) to a random farm house in the middle of nowhere. I’m lovely, and most of my neighbors are lovely, but the horror stories speak for themselves. Also no one buys candy because we never get trick-or-treaters so it’s a waste of a journey unless the farmhouse residents know you’re coming.

Generally, I spend most of Halloween watching my animals (especially my tuxedo cat who normally loves the extra familial attention but, of course, on Halloween feels stifled by it) and keeping an ear out for my cousins, safety first on Halloween. Sometimes in the afternoon before the daylights fails, we will have a family Halloween bake off in town, but this year with the new arrival, one on the way, and the consistently bad weather earlier in the week, nobody felt it was a worthwhile endeavor. We will probably do a Thanksgiving bake off instead. I’m still planning on some spooky snacks. I’ll let you know how it goes.

The doggies got haircuts this week, so they’re looking all spiffy for the fall again. They always look so much better and are so much happier than when I try to groom them myself, so they go to the local pet shop. Funnily enough, since moving here, I’ve found the dog grooming community to be incredibly judgmental. I’ve had people tell me I’m abusing my dogs because they don’t get daily baths, that I need to have weekly grooming appointments, that its mean to have a poodle on a farm. Which is silliness because a lot of people use poodles for hunting dogs. My animals are always well cared for, admittedly this time of year the wet, musty dog smell is a constant battle, but I’m obsessive about their health and wellness. My only sin is that their fur gets a little too long in between visits, but that’s mostly because it’s impossible to get ahold of the only groomer in the area who is open more than once a week and I can’t always schedule them. Beyond that lack of pho places, this really is the only consistent frustration I’ve had with the place since moving here. 

But honestly, really, I guess I can see why they are easily upset, the turnover for assistants is high, I’m sure the pay is less than ideal, and I’d imagine they do see their fair share of underwhelming care situations. But I promise you, my critters are fine, they are just like their mama, a little sassy, big fans of the midday nap, and constantly in a state of getting dirty playing in the mud. But currently? For the next 36 minutes (until the next potty break) they are looking quite dapper.

Anyways, I digress. Have a safe Halloween, a fun weekend, and I will talk at you soon.

Until we chat again my friends 

Homecomings

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!
I have a new family member! Little Hazel joined us shortly after the blog went out, she’s a beautiful, healthy little girl born to a healthy proud mama. We are all very pleased. She’s absolutely perfect. Her older sisters and father are over the moon as well, excited to get to know their new person.
The beginning of this week was a little rough, as I have been battling an on again off again cold. It’s very annoying when you feel ill, but not quite ill enough to justify calling out of work or backing out of chores. Especially when you work remotely, it can feel really hard to call out, since I can work from under a blanket and make as much warm broth as is necessary. But such is the time of year, the unsettled weather tends to cause at least a few days of gross feelings and low immunity.

Hazel isn’t old enough to make her debut online, so please enjoy Nellie scratching a good itch instead


My sweet mama has been decorating the house for fall. She loves getting the house all pretty for the different seasons and holidays. When we were kids, the house was always so magical, especially at Christmas time. There were so many Santas and Jesuses and garlands and bells it was borderline hard to move around, but just about as cozy as you could get. As adults who moved home, we’ve politely asked for a little reining in solely so that we can go to work and move about without waking the dead. My sweet mom, while making leaps and bounds towards recovery, doesn’t always have that 3rd person perspective, so usually at least once I have to gently move a nativity or pumpkin array from the threshold of my door, so I don’t inadvertently kick the baby Jesus.

Mom asked that I wait until shes done decorating to show off her work, so stay tuned for that, and enjoy a pic of Ro from my pasture picnic


The coyotes have been very close lately, I’m thinking I’m going to need to spray for them again. I buy wolf urine and occasionally spray key areas around the farm in my best attempt to mark my territory in a spooky way. It’s one of the most nauseating jobs on the farm, but it helps a little. When we first moved in the coyotes were so bold, they would shout insults from the pasture fence when you came out on the porch, so about 20 feet away, and a couple times I was late to my job at the time because I’d have to wait for the pack to mosey on. They don’t fear humans around here much, but at least for now, they seem to fear wolves still.
Which leads me to an exciting turn of events that you know probably nothing about. Our sweet Juliet returned home!
For some context, Juliet is one of our barn cats, she was part of my parents buying the farm, so we joke that she was a very expensive cat, and we got the land for free. Either way she’s a sweetheart, if not a little entitled and needy sometimes. I love her to bits when she’s not intentionally trying to trip me or knock whatever out of my hands. I love her then too, but with more colorful language.


But mid last week she stopped coming to morning roll call, and we got a little concerned, because of the aforementioned coyotes. She’s disappeared before for a few days, it’s no secret she’s got food bowls filled by some of my neighbors too, but I am also aware the nature of barn cats is that you can’t totally keep them safe. Their roaming nature insures it.
But we weren’t ready to start mourning yet, as her sister seemed sure she’d come back, and Cordelia was right, Juliet came back after about three days, and we are quite happy to have her. She’s no worse for wear so we’re working on the assumption she holed up in a neighboring barn or something until the coyotes moved on.
Although admittedly, moved on is a strong phrase.


The neighbors felled a tree a couple days ago. Jury’s still out as to whether it was intentional. They had a tree trimming service out, and apparently the tree was supposed to come out eventually, but it chose its own timing, deciding it wasn’t pleased with the new haircut, I guess. All I know is there was a whole heap of cracking and then a very loud thud when that giant tree hit the ground. It was very old and very tall, an ash I believe. I happened to be out by the arena gate when it fell. I watched the sudden flurry of activity while getting some chores done. (I checked, no injuries, I’m not completely useless in a potentially emergency situation, promise)
Overall it’s just been a pleasantly mundane week. Got a lot of little pre-holiday projects done, since I know once we are entrenched in the season emails get forgotten, updates go unscheduled, and generally things get left unfinished, so I’m trying to prevent some of that this year. Theoretically.
Real talk? Stuff will still get missed. Joys of adulting.
Until we chat again my friends! 

Playin’ Possum

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

Wow-wee, it got cold this week! And blustery and rainy and goodness, fall is starting to feel very much like early winter. I’ve gone ahead and changed the site to fall colors, I’ll probably end up changing the banner again if we get some colors, but that cute little tree in the pasture might just about it. Which I’m grateful for, don’t get me wrong.

Its feeling really odd for fall, which seems to be the theme of the year, because it’s alternating strongly between “it’s still summer!” And “if you blink there will suddenly be snow”… but as for fall feelings? Not a ton of those. It really can’t decide if it’s like to be a long summery slope into a brisk autumn or a free fall plummet into winter. Seems like each day it changes its course.

We’ve been winterizing where we can around the farm, it’s a little difficult when one day everything desperately needs water to stay healthy in the midday warmth and the next, you’re worrying about overnight freezing. We’ve pulled the irrigation pump setup for the year and emptied the system. Seems like no matter how well we winterize the system each year, there’s one little brass fitting that fails every single season, so this year we pulled it completely off the pump and it has pride of place on a shelf in the warm basement. We shall see if that fixes the problem. It’s a pricey little piece to lose every year, and also, it’s just ridiculously annoying to fix again come springtime.

The house irrigation is a fancy mess that we have someone come help us with. It’s a computer run system with fancy automated valves, and it has never consistently run right, so we have professionals come handle the winterization for us. I don’t want to accidentally flood my basement because I thought I had the system shut down properly. In fact, he came out yesterday to winterize it since we are officially under freeze warnings for a while.

We plowed the remains of the garden under, hopefully any nutrients left will return to the soil and it will prevent the opossum from finding our farm a habitual resting place. It’s like fighting an angry tenant at this point, he regularly goes in and chases the cats away from their food unless we leave the shed lights on, will sneak into the equipment workshop and throw every tool and stored item on the ground, and will now taunt the chickens from the mesh roof of their run, since we leave the lights on in there as well, and no longer easily come in. I’ve been looking into lower cost lighting for the outbuildings, which I needed to do anyway, but it’s a priority now since darn near every light has to be left on to protect the farm animals. And honestly, our sanity, since it’s really disheartening to have to clean up thousands of nuts and screws off the floor every time that crazy rodent goes in and rips the shelving units off the walls. Did I mention he’s easily pushing 20 lbs? He’s gotten quite comfy helping himself to my produce and unfortunately, several of my chickens. The jerk. He even scared off the sprinkler guy for a while. I thought I was going to have to break in a new one. Do you know how hard it is to find a good sprinkler guy? Ugh. The best part of all of this craziness is the little guy is no longer afraid of us, so the tables have turned, and we’ve developed this odd sentimentality towards him that is absolutely not reciprocated. All in all, a very weird situation.

If you can ignore that I am incapable of selfies, I thought you might enjoy my “proof” for the tack store, so I can purchase dewormer sometime in the next couple weeks. Not pictured, Nellie nearly wiping me out seconds before we got the shot because she got too excited about selfies.
I had to “convince” her to hold still for me, she was really focused on eating some grass and I was blocking the way

I managed to make some cinnamon rolls since I have been craving them for about a week. They weren’t from scratch or anything, didn’t have time for that, but they were very tasty and lasted in my house less than 24 hours. My family is very strongly hinting at my making them again, but I’m running low on baking supplies and need to make a grocery run first. Especially because every time I use powdered sugar it goes literally everywhere and gets into everything. That particular product runs out very quickly.

As of the writing of this blog, we are still awaiting the arrival of a new family member, my cousin is having another little girl and she’s set to make her arrival any time. This will be my cousins third little girl and she is so excited to be growing her family again. Her older two are four years old and five years old and little spitfires to boot. They love coming out to the farm and playing with the animals, “helping” in the garden, investigating whatever new toys I’ve put in the toy boxes, and generally getting so dirty that I feel a little badly putting them back in their mom’s car.  Not all that terribly though, because clothes wash but childhood farm memories are forever. Trust me.

As a protip, if you live on a farm, dollar store toys are your friend. Let’s face it, balls will pop, dolls will take dirt baths, crayons will get mashed into your fences and porch railings (my fridge is partially purple because apparently even goof-off can’t remove crayon from a textured white fridge. I dunno, I think it adds something to the kitchen). The dollar tree in my area gets a lot of my business because at least twice a year I go a little crazy on the toy section to refill our stock (and update it as the girls get older and new arrivals join, age-appropriate toys are a must). And I pick up new toys here and there all year long to replace or improve. Usually in the spring I walk out with a whole load of balls, jump ropes, chalk, hula hoops, and whatever yard games I can find, and in the winter, I restock on crayons, little dolls, and those plastic food and utensils sets. The girls absolutely love those. I like that it saves my pots and pans a little wear and tear from rambunctious play.

The dollar store is also great for basic stationary supplies, holiday decor, and some kitchen accessories and baking supplies. I’m a big proponent of the “buy cheap and if you break it buy expensive” rule for kitchen gadgetry, and honestly, some of the stuff I’ve picked up at the dollar store outlived my nice utensils. The holiday decor is great as long as you get there early, in my area the Halloween stuff is out and picked through usually by mid-August.

Well, I think that’s all there is for me this week, as we get into the colder season, I’m going to have to get creative about the work on the farm, and I guess I should start working on all the indoor household projects that I’ve been putting off. Time to get organized for the colder months, I think.

Until we chat again, my friends!

Where the Watermelons Grow

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hi friends!

Been a lower key week, except for work, but I’ve been working on a big feature launch so longer hours are required for now. Luckily it came about after the busyness of Labor Day, so the few weeks on long days are slightly more tolerable. I just get antsy sitting in one place for too long, but the work is fun for the most part.

The garden is in full swing! We have the last of the okra, a ton of beans, lots of pumpkins, and finally some eggplant are starting to grow! I am so excited! I think we planted the pumpkins a little too early, I really don’t think we have a good chance of having Halloween pumpkins, however that’s no real bother because pumpkins can be enjoyed at any time. The eggplant are just starting to come together, so now it’s time to find some good recipes! Let me know if you have any yummy ways to cook eggplant! I personally like it roasted, with a little seasoning, and in baba ghanoush! I want to try homemade baba ghanoush this year, so fingers crossed I get some good eggplant for it.

The animals have been pretty good lately. Scooby has developed a concentrated apathy towards the rules and a disdain for any correction, but that really shouldn’t surprise me. Joe had a birthday earlier in the month and while the calendar says five years old, the energy says puppy dog. He’s been a little touchy as a lot of the wildlife have come back down from the hills with the colder temperatures, and right back onto the farm. Watson is slowly but surely becoming more comfortable with being the smallest dog, he will always be mama’s shadow though, I think.

Ro has been fighting an intermittent injury, I think I have it pinned down to some weaker muscles in her topline, so we are trying to find our best solution to that. She’s also been testing the waters a little to see how much she can push her mom before she gets in trouble. Turns out it’s cantering away from the mounting block uninvited. That’s my breaking point haha, and we practiced calmly standing for mounting and dismounting as the remainder of our ride. Here’s hoping she got the hint, because a bareback canter before you’ve settled is very much not ideal. Miss Nel is coming up on her Gotcha Day, which we are very excited about! Three Years an Aldrich as it turns out, and what a busy three years it’s been. We had a guest this week who hadn’t seen her in a couple years and was absolutely shocked at the outgoing, sweet, bubbly little personality she was, considering she hid for his entire last visit. Her leg is looking worlds better too, and I am now starting to feel more comfortable putting her back into some work. Seems like it’s mostly a product of the heat, but very annoying nonetheless, so I’m glad it’s solving itself.

One of the workers from the local research post stopped by while we were out in the garden a couple days ago and gave us three huge watermelon! The station has a little community garden for its workers, and they grew more produce this year than they could eat! Honestly, those watermelon were so big I ended up giving one to my grandma and one to my uncle, so they could enjoy as well. I made a watermelon feta salad one night and it was so good! I think I’m going to grill some tomorrow, and maybe make watermelon slushies.  Going to be soooo tasty! I also want to try the salad again but with different methods. I sort of made it up as I went along and it was tasty, but the finesse wasn’t there, my chives were too big, and my mint probably should have been muddled. But hey, that’s learning for ya.

It’s getting colder around here now. I saw my breath for the first time this morning, and I don’t imagine I have many warm afternoons left, it’s always a little melancholy to lose the last of summer, even though the holidays are fun. This summer baby always needs a couple days to mourn the sunshine and endless sunsets. I have officially pulled out my little space heater to set up by my desk, it is in fact running as we speak. It’s not even that it’s so cold yet outside, but I live with one of those confounding humans that feels the need to live in the frostbitten north all year and when the temperatures drop and the AC is still running, it’s no longer Amanda friendly in the house. So, workspace is now a doors-closed, heater-on, warmth-capturing space, and you better come in and stay awhile, because standing in the doorway letting out my heat is a grievous crime.

I think it’s work-from-under-the-comforter time, so I’ll leave this here. I hope you are all warm and cozy, with sweaters and ciders and all the warm, bright trappings of the early fall.

(When the leaves start changing around here, I’ll update the site banner again, sticking with our seasonal changes)

Until we chat again my friends!

A Little Late Summer Ramble

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hi friends!

We had the briefest respite in the heat, and I am riding that high for as long as I can. Although it does look like the cooler (think high 80s low 90s) will become the norm more and more. I’m not quite ready to give up on summer, I am a summertime baby and relish my warm lazy summer days, early sunny mornings, and the smell of fresh cut alfalfa. That all being said, I am learning, in my advanced age (I jest), to look forward to the trappings of each season. I think it helps that the seasons are usually really distinct here. I love the PNW, don’t get me wrong, but we had four seasons there: rain, heavy rain, just sunny enough to get your hopes up, and the two warm weeks where literally everything was under construction.

I am excited to decorate for fall, it is by far the coziest season. And late summer has such good veggies at the farmer’s market. Ideal for soups and sides. We are hopefully going to have some of those delicious veggies for ourselves from the garden pretty soon. I love the pumpkins and the warm afternoons but chilly mornings. When the seasons are distinct and have their own flair, about the time you start needing a change, the weather complies.

Jury’s still out on winter. Unless it’s Christmas morning your girl is not snow friendly. I’m trying… but I don’t do cold very well.

Work has been absolutely nuts, and when you combine that with my elbow (and the absolute glacial pace at which it has decided to heal), my poor girls have gotten lots of cuddles, but not a whole ton else. I feel so bad, I did get to hop on sneakily Saturday before my little cousin’s riding lesson, only at a walk, and only for a few minutes because I am trying to follow most of the rules. It made my heart happy, so it was worth it. Ro doted, though, like a worried mother after, which was adorable, but also a little inconvenient for teaching purposes.

Just one of many photos off my phone where I’m plopped in the grass and the girls have decided I’m boring and wandered away

June is doing so good, by the way, and I’m thinking I’m going to need to brainstorm some puzzles and games to play while we learn. She’s got balance, and she pays really good attention. We work for about 20 minutes, I don’t push it much past when she starts rubbing her eyes and yawning, because that’s a lot of thinking for a Saturday morning and we want to always end on a happy note. At least while they are young, and I can control that. Her favorite games right now are red light, green light and round the world. She asks her Uncle Jeff (my dad) and Nellie to come out and be a team for red light, green light too, which is really good for Nel as well. Last lesson her little sister came out and she and my brother were a team as well. Junebug grinned from ear to ear. It’s a family affair.

Been doing some work on the house. I’ve got some friends coming into town (don’t worry we are being covid safe) and I needed to get the guest space in order. It’s amazing what finally getting a light fixture and moving out some clutter can do to a space. Even just adding bedsheets to the bed can totally make a room feel finished. I’m mostly just finishing up cleaning the clutter, picking up some extra towels, and adding some doodads like extra power strips and scent diffusers. They are coming for the weekend over Labor Day, and I literally cannot wait! I haven’t seen these friends in three years, thanks to moving states unexpectedly and then the plague. It’s going to be so good; we always get up to shenanigans and they’ve never been to this part of the world. I am planning a couple rural exclusive activities like meeting a cow and a couple small town exclusives like going to our semi-famous candy shoppe.

I also started a new book… and finished it in one afternoon. It was really good! I haven’t been much of a reader since Highschool (funny how all that homework can kill reading for fun… hmmm) but have been slowly making use of the amazon prime reading books. It was called Murder at the Breakers by Alyssa Maxwell and it’s the first in a series. I’m now seriously debating purchasing the next book. I saw some complaints that the descriptions are long-winded and the story predictable, but, especially when I read mystery (my fav genre by far) I’m not looking to be wowed by the most elegant writing skills ever, I’m looking for a cozy book with just enough suspense to make me jump if a shutter slams, and that the bad guy gets justice served in the end. This book ticked all those for me and I highly suggest you give it a go. It’s a little less than 300 pages according to Kindle, so not a huge commitment even if it isn’t your jam. It’s a historical piece incorporating some real-life people with fictional characters, really neat stuff, perfect for back porch reading on a Sunday afternoon.

This image has nothing to do with anything except that Joe is ridiculously cute and I needed you all to see how he sat across from me whilst I did a puzzle this weekend. Heavily vignetted because my house is a disaster of in-progress DIYs. Also, accidental photobomb courtesy of Christopher

Time to go ice this elbow again, patience is not my virtue, so I’ve been typing as though it isn’t a banned activity. I miss the good old days when I bounced. Now when I fall, I apparently splat.

Advice for the day? Padding, always err on the side of padding.

Until we chat again, my friends!

Garden Days!

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

Still stuck in the sling and getting progressively more annoyed at it by the moment. It’s my own stupid fault, but that fact isn’t helping me be any less whiny and overdramatic about the whole thing.

Watson is my editor this week, and some good moral support

So, shorter post, but I did take lots of garden photos! I think we are probably a couple weeks out from getting some okra! I have never grown okra, but from what I’ve read and been told, the little pods grow upwards and when they’ve laid over and point towards the ground, that’s when they are ready to pick. If you have them, send me your best okra recipes, because I have never tried to cook them, and had only middling success with eating them. For those who have never experienced an okra, if not prepared correctly, they get slimy…. Very very ick.

Okra!

We also have eggplant growing now! Five healthy plants, no blooms yet but I think they are a later veggie, so I am not too concerned. I love eggplant and cannot wait to enjoy some out of the garden. My mom used to make the yummiest roasted eggplant; I wish I had gotten her recipe. We talk a lot about the foods my mom used to make, and how if any of us had paid attention we’d know what was up. I often threatened to follow my mom around with a pencil, because she was an eyeball-it cook, now I really wish I had.

Eggplant!

Anyways, I think the peas have given their all for the season, and the beans are just starting to bud, so we know summer is in its height. It’s still warm here, but manageable. Still smoky, but also somewhat manageable.

The pumpkins have gone off like gangbusters, all though some are looking a little sadder than others. I really dunno what’s eating at them, since there’s no signs of rot, bugs, or drought. Maybe it’s just a phase, or they hate the heat, or a wild critter I haven’t met yet. Haven’t laid eyes on the opossum in a while, but I know he’s still around, because others on the farm have seen and interacted with him. He’s not subtle about leaving a whole mess. He’s made an unwelcome menace of himself, going so far as to come onto the porch and hiss at us through the windows.

I do wonder if we’ve had some other unwelcome critters eating in the garden, because I’ve seen signs of things hunting around the farm at night, we’ve heard noticeably more coyotes, and the deer have returned unseasonably early. I wonder if there’s a new fire pushing them out of the foothills. Not something I really want to consider.

I got my hands on some buddy stirrups for June and she worked a little off lead on her own this last lesson. Ro was very clearly still listening to me, because June’s legs are just not long enough to do any cues that Ro understands. She will get there in time. Right now, we are all about balance, confidence, and paying attention. Eventually we will be tall enough to learn equitation and all the other fun nonsense that comes with riding. Her smile is my favorite thing on a Saturday morning though, and makes it easier to give up sleeping in.

Although I do really miss sleep.

Until we chat again my friends!

Open for Baby Cow Photos!

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hi friends!
I have new baby cow photos! Not many because obviously the mamas did not want me anywhere near, but baby cow photos nonetheless!

Honestly, do I even need to write a post this week? What could I possibly say to top baby cow photos? The all black one is a little 5-day old boy, and the other is a little 3-day old girl. Such cuties. My uncle is the absolute best too, as soon as I stepped out of the flatbed cab because goes, “You have to go see the new babies” because he knows me so well. He also knew I’d forget while we were talking and loading hay, so he made a point to lead me up to the correct corral so I wouldn’t miss them.

My biggest piece of advice? Surround yourself with people as excited about baby animals as you are.

Anyways, its still hot, and unfortunately a lot of the west is on fire, so photos and working outside have a new element of hazard. But the sunsets have been very red and gorgeous, so that’s the only brightside. This time of year is a little sobering, because I live right next to brushland, and realistically, I’m one cigarette-carelessly-tossed-out-a-car-window from a very, very, very bad day.

I don’t talk about work on here much, and I prefer to keep it that way, but I will say that I work for a very news centric company (which is a blessing/curse for a news junkie like myself) and the amount of fire warnings and evacuation alert notices that are popping up is just borderline unbelievable. It’s not a cloudy day out, but it’s smoky enough it feels like a rainy day. Honestly, just in the time it’s taken me to rough out this opening set of paragraphs, I’ve lost sight of the surrounding hills and mountains. The smoke is getting intense.

We had the farrier out to see the girls. I don’t know if I have talked about Jimmie before, but he is one of the loveliest humans you’ll ever meet, and I count him more as a friend than just my farrier. He does absolutely wonderful work on the girls, I keep them barefoot, and he keeps their toes able to do that.

He has also pulled me out of a couple scrapes, sold me a lovely trailer for too good a price, and allows me to pick his brain constantly with horse questions. I absolutely adore him, and I love weeks where I get to see him.

Honestly, some weeks just feel so magical, when I get to see family members I don’t normally, and friends I haven’t chatted with as well.

Speaking of, due to the heat and smoke, it’s almost been like wintertime in terms of being stuck inside, which at first threw me way off because I like doing outdoor things, but it has now settled into building out some projects and getting a few things done. Not anything helpful like laundry or dog-grooming (which I am trying to work out how to do myself since this area seems to lose groomers faster than they can be hired), but things like cleaning up the DVR and organizing the spices. Busywork.

My favorite thing though, since my outdoor work has to be severely limited and mostly finished my about 10 am, is that I have been able to find more time for game nights with friends. We used to play almost every night in college, but adult life has knocked us down to once or twice a week. Which is still supremely better than not playing at all, since I was out of luck before we had a decent internet setup. We used to play mostly board games, whereas now we play online (although tabletop simulator has helped, virtual board games for the win).

We have so many new pumpkin blooms and the plants have mostly merged together into one ginormous plant, which hopefully means lots of pumpkins. One of my little plants is struggling, and I am really not sure why, just overnight he seemed to get really miserable, but I am hoping he will come back and join his siblings.

My peas are just about ready to eat, in fact we may end up picking some for dinner tonight and the lettuce is looking fantastic too! We should have some wonderful summer salads soon. I know we planted some other things, but I’ve lost track of what is where, so I’ll have to consult Dad on how the eggplants and tomatoes are doing. I am hopefully for the watermelon and eggplant, as those will be fun to cook with. We also have a volunteer mystery veggie, I think it’s jalapenos but I am not sure.

Nellie had some more fun with a swollen leg, but I think we finally got it under control. It’s just the extra strain on that bad leg of hers, but she’s so happy-go-lucky that she forgets to be a little careful. I really don’t know how to tell a 900-pound animal not to jump for joy when they are happy. So instead, I just call the vet and ask for the equine equivalent of ibuprofen and they laugh and write me a prescription. Speaking of my sweet girls, we are having a serious fly issue and I’m massively unimpressed with the fly spray I purchased, so if anyone has a preferred brand they can suggest or a recipe for effective homemade fly spray, please share, I would love to hear about it.

We are officially in the lazy days of summer, which is always fun, although admittedly not usually this warm, so we’ve taken lazy to a whole new level. But the kiddos are starting to worry about the next year of school (they go back in August here, and get out in May, which is so weird to me because I always started in September and got out in June), we have a brand new college student in the family who is very nervous and excited to get started, and generally we are settling in for those pretty sunsets and sweet tea and cozy mystery style evening… assuming it cools down.

And while I am not inviting it in any way yet, as I am still enjoying the summer, I am starting to mentally plan for the fall, which will bring baking and decor changes and lots of holidays and harvest activities. This is my favorite time of year, the calm before the winter-based storm.

I did also finally (very late) get the blog turned to summer theming, it took a while to get a decent photo and the colors right but now everything should be pretty and yellow! Hopefully you guys like the change, because I sure do! I am already thinking about the fall theme so I can get ahead, but that will obviously need to wait until the farm is dressed in fall colors.

Until we chat again my Friends!

It’s Getting Hot In Here

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello Friends!

How are we today? We survived another week, so that’s cause for celebration in my book. It’s been 100+ degrees for a while now, ranging up to about 109 so I can say with certainty that surviving is a massive accomplishment.

I have garden pictures this week! The beans are taking off like crazy, only to be outshone by the pumpkins! I can’t wait to roast some yummy garden fresh green beans and I really, really can’t wait to see if the pumpkins come in completely. I’ve not been able to get pumpkins to grow in this soil, although I did have some luck when I lived in the PNW. If we get enough pumpkins, we are going to let the little ones in the family come pumpkin picking, which will be super fun. So hopefully they come in plentifully.

The weeds are coming in plentifully, that’s for sure. My poor dad is out every morning weeding the lines, they come back so fast it might be a losing battle. The chickens are helping too, they love weeds, but they also love the veggies so we have to be very watchful.

Chickens never stop moving! Phone cam + hyper subject = blurry photos

Ro and Nellie are slowly getting used to working first thing in the morning. It’s definitely not preferred, neither of my girls are morning critters apparently, judging by the amount of yawning coming from the loafing area this morning. They take after their mom, I am not a morning person at all.

The other morning there was a miscommunication and the girls got to be out in the pasture super early in the morning before exercise. Ro came running in when she saw me, and she was actually super excited to work, which was great! But she also came in ridiculously muddy since the pasture irrigation was on. She was so, so, so proud of herself. I just had to laugh and take some pictures. We had a spa day Monday, so the girls were especially clean and nice for that muddy morning run. Can stay clean for too long, you see, it’s a cardinal sin.

Look at this smug pony!

The heat has officially pushed the limits of our air conditioning units these last few weeks. We have what are referred to as “room units” in the front room, living room, and master bedroom, but in general they do a pretty good job at keeping the whole house livable. It’s just not fair to judge them when it’s 108 outside and every room has huge windows. We also have some ceiling fans constantly running (here’s your reminder to switch your ceiling fans so they are spinning the right way for summer, because I forgot) to help move air around. Also, keeping blinds closed where we can and working early in the morning helps. But still, I’m fully over it. I miss my warm but pleasant 80s.

It’s also officially mosquito season, which is officially the worst thing in the history of ever (it’s not, it’s absolutely not, but I’m feeling incredibly dramatic today, so bear with me). The county does spray for them usually, which helps somewhat, but they just hired a new guy and he’s not quite up and running yet. In the meantime I am living in bug spray and trying to figure out how to de-mosquito the barn. Also, I bought these super odd bug traps that I need to put up that I am hoping will help, but I just scrape 5′ tall so I need someone taller or a ladder to put them up.

The bug spray is so drying, my poor skin is suffering. I am not the queen of skincare routines to begin with but it feels like I really need to step up my game this year between the glaring sun, insane heat, and aggressive sprays. I’ll let you know if I find something magical, or not so much. I also have a fantastic farmer’s tan going on, and as it is July I think the chances of my actually getting to wear shorts in public are rapidly plummeting. I know I could theoretically sit out in the sun to even the tan, but I burn and I’m way too busy to just sit and not feel guilty. Unless I have a good book. If you all have book recommendations, I love murder mysteries, so anything Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes is a big ole win for me.

Otherwise, it’s still kinda slow, the heat really slows things down. They did pull the bales out of the alfalfa field across the canal, and did so in a wind storm, as luck would have it. They only lost two bales which is about average I think, if you are rushing to pick up bales in a windstorm. Major bummer though because obviously split bales are hard to sell, if you can find someone who wants them at all. But he didn’t really have a choice because we have had a ton of wind lately, so things can’t just stop and wait forever. In any case, it’s tempting the local wildlife, and some of the local livestock too, so I am curious what they will do with those giant broken bales. Did I mention they are big one ton bales?

Anyways, I think I’ll leave this here. I hope you guys are having a wonderful day and are having a great and safe summer!

Until we chat again my friends!