Tag: fall

Busy, Busy

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello Friends!
It’s definitely not been very chill around here, but there’s not a whole ton of farm news.
We’ve been trying to rig up some hay covering, some of which you will see in an upcoming video, but it continues to be a thing, I think I am just going to have to bit the bullet and go spend a little money on the lumber I need, instead of just shimming together a bunch of pieces. I was hoping this would be a no spend project, but I’ve already had to buy a new tarp so that’s a long gone dream. Hoping in the next catch up I can tell you how we solved it. Eventually I am going to build a more permanent storage for hay but there’s a lot more planning and steps that need to go into that.
We also blew up a fuel line in the flatbed working on this, which was just such a fun little side quest. I’m pretty sure that truck really needed that new hose anyway, but the timing was comically wonderful and practically quite annoying. Again, that will be in the November video, since it happened after I had to post October’s.
We’ve had lots of house guests and visitors as of late, lots of family friends we haven’t seen in a long while, and it’s always lovely to have friends stay. It’s always a little awkward for me, because working from home means I sorta say “good morning!” and then turn into a hermit for ten hours, but everyone is pretty chill about it. I’ve said it a million times, and I’ll say it again, the pandemic was awful, no good, very bad, BUT the change in understanding toward remote work was huge and very helpful. So… silver lining.

We had (or maybe still have? technically all of this is unconfirmed) a mountain lion hanging nearby for a bit. Luckily I did not see it, I only heard about it from neighbors, but I was super on edge for a while. Then, one day, I was sitting on the porch after a morning of chores, and I heard a rifle shot. That in itself is not unusual, although not common, you usually hear the occasional shotgun or small handgun, but not rifles. Anyways, that already sounded odd so I stood up to walk over to the pasture, when suddenly I heard the sound of panicking yelling and screaming and THREE more rapid rifle shots! This is insanely unusual because, for one, a neighbor would have to be exceedingly loud for us to actually hear them, and rifles are not usually panic-fired around here, because this isn’t a hunting spot and … and you shouldn’t panic-fire any weapon. It unsettled me so I shouted for Dad and rushed the dogs in the house, and the horses took off for the barn, but in the panic the bicyclists that had been randomly going by our house had fallen/dove off their bikes at the noise and so I was concerned they were hurt (they were fine). Dad came flying out and we sorta checked everything the best we could, and I explained what I had heard, and Dad said it sounded very much like someone probably had to put down the mountain lion, which would explain the rifle, the shouting, and the weirdness of how it all went down. We don’t get a lot of more aggressive wildlife beyond coyotes and wolves (thank goodness) so it would make sense that someone was a little caught off guard. Again, it’s unconfirmed, but honestly, I like that better than what I was initially imagining (not that I love a mountain lion getting potentially murdered, but ya know, I watch a lot of true crime).
Finally, we’ve just had so much fun family stuff happening. My cousin blew up his transmission and was using our shed to fix it. That in and of itself is not fun, but the fact that I got to see a lot of my cousins after work each day for a couple weeks was fun. Another of my cousins got engaged! They’re a lovely couple so we are so unbelievably happy for them. They are such a cute little family already, I’m excited they get their ceremony soon. Another family member got a promotion and one got a new job so we got to celebrate those things, and the big one: we had a bit of a surprise wedding (and it wasn’t the cousin who got engaged)! Got a call to meet them at the courthouse, they think they might have a celebration later on when life calms down, but they wanted to be Mr and Mrs now. It was a fun little weekday celebration.
So, ya know, now it’s probably more evident why I haven’t gotten a lot done since we last chatted. Just so much family stuff! I love it, but when I tell you I am so far behind it’s unreal. I hope this blog doesn’t disappear unexpectedly because I haven’t done a back up in a hot minute, I really need to clean the tack room, and, ya know, fix the fuel line, and the hay storage. Lots to do, lots to do, and work just needs more and more attention. This adulting thing is hard!
Until we chat again my friends!

Let’s Make a List

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello Friends!

Well, it’s officially starting to feel fall-ish around here. It’s chilly in the mornings, and there’s harvesting in full swing. Although I will admit, in this part of the world, the weather was so uncooperative all season that a lot of my local farmers have already started packing it in for the year, it’s just been a really hard one.
Usually I just get a little bummed this time of year and try to hold on to summer as long as I can, in full denial until the snow flies. Sometimes even after the snow flies, feel free to ask Ro and Nel how often the three of us end up huddled in blankets by the burn barrel after a work session because I can’t quite commit to staying indoors. I’m a “It’s fine, it’ll warm up” kinda person until December.

BUT!

I have decided this year to try to embrace Autumn. Don’t get me wrong, I fully intend to hold on to the hot weather for as long as I can, but I am also going to try to enjoy the feelings of fall as much as I can. So, I’ve decided to make a list of things I want to do this Autumn that normally I would ignore until it’s too late. Maybe my list will inspire you too, or you can add to mine with your great ideas!

To start, I wanna embrace the cozy. So, on the list goes “read a mystery novel with a warm bev by the window”. Admittedly this is a thing I already do sometimes, but I want to make a point to slow down and recognize it as a joy of the season. Full on, just like in the movies, curled up with a blanket and the dogs, the whole shebang. I want to bake a cobbler or pie, which is easy enough because my uncle loves my cobblers, and I do love the smell in the house. I intend to make lots of cookies too, but that’s less of a fall thing and more of an all the time thing because I really like cookies. I also want to try more soup recipes, because as the boys get older they are more willing to put up with my soup dinners (we are a meat and potatoes kinda household) and I want to take full advantage. Like, veggie soups, chicken noodle, potato, all the soups.

Outside the house, I would like to take some fall walks. I was hoping to get into walking this summer but work sorta demanded more time than it had a right to, and I sorta let it happen, so we are kinda just rolling over a goal here, but I think it would be so pretty as the leaves change. I also would like to go apple picking, I live 5 miles from a U-Pick orchard, you would think I would take better advantage. I have been peach picking once, but I LOVE apples so I would love to go picking for snacks. Thing is, I absolutely hate apple desserts, so I really only need to pick a handful.

Full Disclosure, I literally wrote this, immediately went to the farmers market and got peaches, came home and made a peach cobbler. So… list is working!

I do love apple cider though, and since coffee is no longer a thing I can have, I intend to fully indulge in warm apple cider… and hot chocolate, all Autumn long. It’s only fair since I’ve had to give up my mint coffees for Christmas. I want to find a yummy mint tea, but that’s more of a long term goal.

I want to pick a good fall tv show to curl up with too since I’ll be inside more, and pick out a puzzle or two, and I think I need to pick up my crochet projects that have been set aside this summer. I have to finish Watson’s sweater, my Mom’s gloves, the large blanket (that I started two years ago, oops) and I wanna add to the pumpkins I was making. Some cozy activities for when the winds blow too hard.

What else? I really want to decorate for fall. Cute leaves, lots of oranges, PUMPKINS, cornstalks. I don’t know how successful I will be, and I have to defer to our decor queen, my mom, for most of it, but I feel like the only true way to defeat the autumn blues is to make it an exciting season. 

What’s on your fall list? Share with me so I can unabashedly steal your ideas! Steal mine! Let’s try really hard to give Summer a good send off and Fall a warm welcome!
Until we chat again my friends!

It’s a Busy Home…

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

My house smells so good right now! One of those rare moments when I wish the blog had smell-o-vision (although, etymologically speaking, shouldn’t it be tele-olfaction? …anyways). Usually you probably wouldn’t want to smell the blog, I’m guessing it smells a lot like horse manure, eau-de-farm-doggie, and diesel. Just a hunch. 

But, for real, we made almond butter cookies and my house smells like a hallmark movie. It literally smells like a good day in here. It smells like christmas! (It smells like warm vanilla, almond, and unsurprisingly, butter, but let’s be poetic for just a moment).

I generally don’t super enjoy baking, and admittedly Christmas cookies aren’t an exception, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE eating Christmas cookies so I will do my part to get the reward. Love almond butter cookies. They are a bit involved so even though every year I say “I should make these more often”… I don’t. 

It’s been a crazy week on the farm. We had a water pipe go south on us that required digging up a part of the yard and calling a plumber. Then calling a diagnostic imaging company because they couldn’t find the pipe. THEN calling back the plumbers when we found the pipe four inches from where they dug the first giant hole. I’ll attach a photo of the yard now, because you can only dig a hole so many times before it turns into mud. I’m not exactly sure why it happened, something about a nylon joint going bad, but I’m just so grateful it wasn’t the septic system. It also put it on my radar that I should really have the septic system serviced in the spring. Added to the planner.

Here’s the hole, for context, I’d disappear if I walked into that quick sand. My 5′ self would have no chance
Here’s the pic I took a little while later, when the snow had frozen the mud and I was hiding in the barn before making a run back to teh house

Second thing that happened was two of my lovely cousins, who are skilled tradespeople (or skilled tradespeople in training) came over to put in an outlet for me. So my cloffice is official! I have power! Now to get shelves and such. I need to paint, because the wiring in this house, and the wall covering too, is a thing of its own. So we had to punch a few holes, and accidentally turned the power off on my dad mid shower, but it’s in and other than the color differences there’s no sign that plug in wasn’t always there. It was so cool seeing my cousins work, and my cousin who did the electrical is an apprentice, so she was really excited to do a solo job. I had to wash everything because I traded plaster for sheetrock in those holes, and both create just the most invasive dust. (Side note, there’s some potentially very dumb cleaning content headed your way, it made me laugh too hard to not share, so you’ll all have to cringe along with me next week).

My room is currently a pretty, but faded, green, and I like it a lot, so I might try to match it, BUT, I’ll add a couple pictures of the room as it is currently, and if yall have ideas I’m all ears. I’ve also, occasionally, had the urge to do some fun paint or wallpaper tricks, so I’m open to those, but wallpaper, even the peel and stick kind, is seemingly out of my price range for now. And honestly, paint feels a little less like a serious commitment, and I don’t know if I’m looking for a long term relationship with my decor choices. I don’t want to feel bad doing a refresh a couple years down the line, ya know?

Slightly older pic because it’s super stormy and dark this week and when I take new pics they keep looking grey
Slightly older pic because it’s super stormy and dark this week and when I take new pics they keep looking grey

The snow of course made both of these things a little harder, since windows couldn’t be opened and the ground was frozen. So obviously paint will be waiting for warmer weather. But thinking about it now will prepare us for spring. And it’s just kinda fun to day dream. I’m also minorly entertaining the idea of painting the cloffice a soft pink. Of course with that thought came my brain replaying that scene from steel magnolias on loop:

“My colors are blush and bashful”

“Her colors are pink and pink”

Might be fun though.

Until we chat again, my friend

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

I am once again calling on your expertise! It’s Christmas time officially and I need some no cost holiday fun ideas for little kids. We’ve been a house of busy working adults for so long that we sorta have our Christmas spirit in batches, and the kids are losing their minds about it.

I also need some very inexpensive but very fun Christmas gifts ideas for these kiddos. Santa is really broke this year because they’ve literally tripled my food and utilities costs and I wasn’t exactly pleased with the budget beforehand. Gotta love when a single tank of gas is your entire commute budget for the month. But I digress. 

The boys have been loving napping under the tree

I plan on making some reindeer snacks for Christmas eve (and the reindeer will enjoy them sometime after the kiddos go to bed). My parents always made it look like the reindeer were super messy eaters, and I think this year that sloppy reindeer might just make a comeback. Carrots and apples for sure, and cookies for Santa.

I was planning on involving them in the cookie making process if they wanted. We always make almond butter cookies instead of sugar cookies, they have a little bit of a deeper flavor and are just a little less sweet. I’ve never heard any complaints so I think the kiddos will like them, and they make up very similarly to a sugar cookie and can be decorated just the same. We usually make a batch of chocolate almond butter cookies too, as well as a couple specialty cookies. Although I learned my lesson a couple years ago with red velvet cookies. It’ll be a while before I try those again. Messy and gross to boot. I think I messed something up, but frankly you have to use so much dye there’s not really a second chance. 

I’ve added a new sweet treat to the mix since I’ve taken over the cookies portion of the holiday. We now also have no baking peanut butter chocolate bars, a recipe given to me by a friend of my grandma’s. They take about ten minutes to make and about an hour to chill (you melt and reset some chocolate) and then you have super cute little snack sized bars to eat. They are super rich but super addictive, so I always have to put them somewhere out of the way to help prevent calamity. I love little treats like that though, because for the most part, I almost always have the ingredients on hand and, other than the small scale crisis caused by attempting to measure peanut butter, they are really easy to make. Same principle as keeping premade cookie dough in the fridge, you literally never know when you might need a sweet treat.

Pretty sure we are going to have something akin to a white Christmas. I don’t know if it’ll snow or have a lot of accumulation specifically over those days but I definitely think that the conditions will be there and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was. Last year it was -2 degrees Christmas morning, we had around a foot of snow, and it started snowing more that afternoon. Made it difficult to feed the animals but it was really quite beautiful. 

It was really funny though too, because, and I think I showed you guys in pictures, the little walkway that I throw food into the barn from was completely covered in snow. There was a large pile from the roof to be climbed every time we wanted to feed in the barn. I definitely fell off that pile several times and the horses definitely laughed at me several times, which…fair.

This year so far the snow has been… mushy? Not structures building snow so it doesn’t build into drifts or create those wind balls. Kinda just gets everything wet and muddy. I think the kiddos would like it a lot better if it was the fun fluffy stuff. 

I’m somewhere in the realm of 80% done with my Christmas shopping. I’m one of those weirdos that starts planning in October and as soon as we get Halloween squared away I start slowly enacting my plans. Doesn’t always work, I definitely still have to do the December 23rd quick trip. But I’m getting more organized each year. I have to, my holiday season is packed, have you seen the size of my family? I have events every weekend of November and December and lots of weekday craziness too! This year there’s a color-coded spreadsheet. You know I’ve hit full first born, obsessive planner mode when I bust out the excel formulas. Putting on our serious Santa hats.

(It’s really quite pleasant to see all those pretty little cells though, you gotta admit).

Until we chat again my friends!

Calling All Recipe Sharers!

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

The weather is really starting to get to me. Anyone have any good tips for cabin fever? Bemoaning old man winter is becoming a hobby in its own right and I don’t think I like the person I am when I’m stuck inside haha. Grumpy is an understatement. People are crossing the street when they see me. My RBF is strong this time of year.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty, but I think it’s a textural thing for me, I despise being wet for no good reason. Swimming? Fine. Bathing the animals? Fine. Watching the rain from a  window or porch? lovely! But I despise being soaked because of the rain or snow. And I cannot deal with being cold. I’d flourish in the tropics…maybe.

The girls haven’t been loving it either. The blankets are heavy. While it’s better than shivering and being cold soaked, it’s still not ideal. They have a place to go and stay dry, but sometimes I think hell will freeze over before we get to that point. They would rather stand out in a blizzard than go into the warm barn, and I’m pretty sure if I forced it there would be a small scale mutiny. Nice, warm, cozy barn with multiple heat lamps? Nah, we have a random stretch of fence to guard tonight. Nellie sometimes decides she’s simply not having it and spends the evening, or overnight if she prefers, without a blanket because she is bigger than me and some battles are just too dangerous still. She’s got a pretty nice winter coat so I figure she’s old enough to know if she’s not interested. Doesn’t mean I don’t spend the whole night worrying about her. 

Joe is also a big blanket fan

Honey officially has all her initial shots and blood work and is properly spayed. She was such a good girl for the whole ordeal. She was pretty upset in the car and during the initial checkup understandably. I was really worried after being locked up for fasting, left at the vet, and then being on bedrest for a couple days (starting in the Joe sized travel kennel and then in the woodshop) that as soon as she got her freedom she’d take permanent leave of us. But she’s such a sweetie, she marched right up to Christopher and demanded some cuddles. She’s definitely his cat, or more accurately, he’s her person.

She might have a small meltdown when she realizes that she needs a booster shot very soon. But it’ll still be a lot less traumatic than the whole surgery thing. She’s a trooper.

In other news, I’m in need of cost friendly, large scale dinners if anyone wants to share. The kiddos that moved in with their dad are all growing like weeds and eating me out of house and home. I’m over here trying to not go broke and still make sure they are getting all they need, I’m trying to teach myself to coupon, and I’m upping my bulk buy game. 

I’ve been making some pretty wild leftover “casseroles”, which just sounds better than “threw things in a pot and hoped it worked”. I hit on a pretty good one yesterday, leftover taco chicken, garlic rice, frozen spinach, and some cream of mushroom soup, plus a little seasoning. Topped it with some fried onions and let me tell you, it sounds weird but was quite warm and tasty. It was a big hit in our house, and wasn’t hard at all. I’m pretty brain dead after work, so easy is the name of the game.

Haha so ya know, not a big ask, just super cheap, super tasty, super easy meals to feed 9 people. Simple! Easy! No biggie!

(If this suddenly turns into a cheap eats blog, you know I’ve officially lost my mind. Also, if you have a favorite cheap eats blog, send me links! This girls gone full on frugal).

We do have some very cute elementary school art projects on the fridge now, the littlest one came flying in from school yesterday to tell us all about it, so it’s all worth it. I’m a sucker for a happy little kiddo. And these are some ridiculously cute kids.

All in all, I think it’s going to be an interesting holiday season. I had planned my holidays this year around the idea of relaxing calm, since last year’s holiday season was crazy busy and stressful. I definitely don’t think it’ll be calm anymore, I don’t think my house will be calm for a while, but I think it’ll be fun!

Until we chat again my friends

Talkin’ Turkey

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello Friends!

Happy Thanksgiving! I know it’s a day late, but I was in a food coma for a good portion of yesterday.
How was everyone’s Thanksgivings? Did you see family, or get to have a friendsgiving? Or if you don’t celebrate, how was your Thursday? Hope traffic wasn’t too bad.

Per usual, I had a crazy amount of people in my house for the holidays, although it was a little shorter than usual as there’s now lots of couples who need to split their time between houses. Honestly, as much as it was a little bittersweet to see them go, having my house cleaned up and put back together by midnight was a novel concept. Usually I look at it after everyone’s left and go, “eh? Tomorrow”.

Due to the fact that all my Thanksgiving Photos have family faces in them, please enjoy some artsy décor instead

We always potluck our Thanksgivings because there’s just too many people for one person to take on the brunt of the cooking. I got desserts this year so I made our usual Gork, a peach cobbler, and a whole host of pies (I did not scratch make the pies, I worked all week and didn’t have the time or the patience for that). Each family member picked a side or a few dishes to bring, and we always try to break it up so it’s easy, for example, since I am hosting I got desserts because there’s a lot of wiggle room in that job (whoever invented premade freezer pies deserves sainthood). Usually we make sure the new mamas don’t have to bring anything, or if they want to, we set them up to bring drinks and such. Easy peasy things that they can do without cooking. My uncle almost always does the turkey because he likes to fry it, and the rest is sorted out as it comes. A lot of times I’ll get a text beforehand asking me to preheat my oven, and someone will bring a hot dish that needs a little assembly, or stovetop fixings that can be made on site. It’s always so fun to be busy setting up and making food in the kitchen with my cousins, but also it’s super nice because ninety percent of it is done ahead of time so no one is majorly stressed out.

This year we had four youngsters and their dad with us, so they got to be a part of the festivities. I think their dad was a little confused about our non-traditional holiday, but he caught on quickly, and the younger kids thought it was great because they are the perfect ages to hang out with my little cousins. Honestly, it made me so happy to see them laughing and playing out in the yard (it was absolutely freezing, but sunny, and very little stops a little kid from playing in the sun). The older two slot in more with the teenagers, but obviously that’s a little more awkward, because everything is a little more awkward at that age. I was really hoping the oldest girl would find some fun in chatting with my cousins, and I think that might have happened, but everyone in that group is so painfully shy, the world may never know for sure.
The kiddos had the whole week off school for Thanksgiving, and at first I think they had planned to spend a good portion of it here with me while I was working. Thing is, I had a million things to do and I am not against chores for wee ones, so they had some light things to help me with (like sorting out the toys that needed repair, testing some of the lighting decorations, sweeping, nothing major, just little helps) and I think they realized it’s a lot more fun to go hang out with their Dad in town. Totally understandable, I would be the same way. 

My cousin Abby deserves a full knighthood after showing up at my house Wednesday morning while I was working, with mop and vacuum in hand. By the time I got off work my big brick fireplace and floors were cleaner than I’ve ever seen them, she is a wonder worker. I want to find a little something to get her as a thank you, I was thinking maybe a little gift card to a nail salon, or maybe to the coffee shop. She saved me hours of work when I signed off and I was able to get the pre baking done and dinner on the table with none of the pre Thanksgiving stress. She’s amazing!

Well, anyways, I’m going to go have Pumpkin Pie for breakfast and discuss christmas lighting plans with Christopher, as is tradition, so, I’ll talk to you next time.

Until we chat again my friend!