Tag: fall

Rampin’ Up

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Hello friends!

We are officially in the “i really should move to phoenix” time of year. I am trying to remind myself of all the good things about winter time, but I AM COLD and being unnecessarily dramatic about it. I’m currently under two blankets, with Watson hiding between them, in front of my heater, hugging a mug of warm tea, and hunting and pecking at my keyboard in an attempt to uncover as little from the blanket as possible. Cold. 

But I have very, very exciting news. My trailer is back! It was living temporarily with a gentleman across the river while he built a custom ramp so Nellie Belle could have an easier time getting in and out. He did a fantastic job, I’m so so so pleased!

Isn’t it nice? It’s a little dirty here because I was standing out in some very severe winds. It was freezing but I was excited!

Currently there is one small, teeny, itsy bitsy little problem to resolve before it’s absolutely perfect. It weighs more than me and as such, I can lower it down, but it’s unwieldy enough that I can’t quite get it back up on my own. I kinda think it’s as simple as adding a second grappling point so I’m not trying to lift it straight from the ground to eye level, instead I can maybe swap to a better hand position half way through. But Dad thinks for safety it might be better to have a little bit of an assist. I tend to agree since in my last determined attempt I dropped it on my leg and I have some pretty serious bruises. But it’s a fixable issue, I’m wondering about a pulley assist or maybe something spring-y? We just haven’t puzzled it through yet, but the trailer is still very much work in progress and as we are getting colder I’m not in a huge hurry. (If anyone has cool trailer ramp lift assist ideas, I wanna know, share please!)

But overall I can not overstate how truly happy I am with this ramp, it’s so nice. The guy put a really nice non-skid mat on it for Nellie and the angle is perfect and he reworked the door handles and latch system so everything lays flat when it’s all closed up and it’s so perfect! I cannot even express to you my excitement. 

I have a couple more metal works projects I’ve been putting off on the farm so I fully intend to ask my “trailer guy” to help me out again (that’s the designation next to his name in my phone, does anyone else do that? I have “Name McName (New Farrier)” and “So and So (Grandma’s Friend with the Peaches)” for example). He was such a gentleman, first of all, which I really appreciated. While I consider myself a pretty independent human, I’ve taken to bringing my dad or brother with me when meeting with new people, especially guys, because so many don’t take a girl seriously (or worse, but we don’t need to have that conversation today). Around here it’s incredibly common for me to call a service professional only to hear “sure, but can I please speak to the man of the house?”. I hate that but I’ve also learned to roll with it a little more in order to get things done. My dad, for the record, is a total legend about that and when they ignore me to talk to him he just puts his hands up and says “talk to the boss, she’s in charge”, and refuses to answer the questions. I was a little more understanding when I was a fresh faced 20 year old trying to get stuff done, but uh, I’ve got some patina on me now, no one’s accused me of skipping class or truancy in a very long time.

We’re going to paint it for rust proofing, but I didn’t have the correct paint on hand yet. It’s on the list!

But anyways, got off topic, my trailer guy is such a polite human, and absolutely went out of his way to help me out. He even delivered the trailer for me when he was done because he felt bad it took a while, even though we had decided it was no rush whatsoever (because he was doing a big job for one of the GIANT ranches around here and that’s the kinda job you want callbacks and referrals from). I really wanna get him some cookies or a coffee card or something to show some extra gratitude (I’ve mentioned before on this blog how important it is to be friendly with your favorite tradespeople, they truly make this world go ’round and can do things this girl can only dream of) but I’m worried about stepping on boundaries since he’s new and not used to my loud personality. Maybe I’ll just wait until I call him for the next project and give him something then. 

Anyways, I’m off to go stare at my pretty trailer again, shout if you need me.

Until we chat again my friends!

Okay Google, How Do I…

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Hello friends!

It’s officially pumpkin bread season, as I have been reminded by my brother repeatedly. I haven’t made much this year yet because everyone was on and off sick for so long and frankly, it’s a lot of work if no one’s going to feel good enough to enjoy it. It’s literally the only recipe I sift flour for, I do not know if it helps, but it’s my grandma’s recipe and I don’t want to disrespect it so, we sift.

It’s also soup season, and while usually I have to beg, plead, and be sneaky about soups for dinner this time of year (I’m pretty much the only soup lover, my moms ambivalent, and the guys are generally more against it) this year the family has surprised me and have been asking for my soups more. This is doubly surprising since the weather is still absolutely lovely. Colder yes, but even in the afternoons it’s been totally livable outside. I’m not complaining though, soups and warm weather? I’m being absolutely spoiled over here. 

We’ve been digging egg drop soup around here lately because the mixins can make it an entirely different meal for each person. My moms a purist, she just likes the soup itself, sometimes with a little white rice. I like the soup itself a lot, but also I really like rice and some shredded seasoned chicken, a couple sprinkles of soy sauce and sesame oil. Dad’s favorite is whatever leftovers are in the fridge, so last time he added corned beef and some spaghetti noodles. For those who are freaking out, don’t worry, we keep our sauce and noodles separate for spaghetti, because yours truly can have lots of tomato based products, thanks to a latex allergy, and I usually make my own creamy Alfredo, so when I say he adds noodles, I just mean noodles. Christopher usually eats some combo of the above… or a pizza. He’s still my most stubborn soup holdout. But that’s fine, I appreciate that he tries every new weird thing I make, I don’t mind if it ends up not being his most favorite thing. 

My Egg Drop Rice Chicken … thing

Christopher has been asking for my loaded baked potato soup again though, and I haven’t made that in so long; I’m really hoping I wrote it down somewhere. I’m really bad at making something yummy and then totally forgetting how I made it. I’m slowly getting better at that. Since I got a newer phone with a pen it seems easier to just scribble notes because I don’t have to bring a notepad with me. Downside is my handwriting is even worse than usual on a screen so deciphering my notes afterward leaves a lot to be desired. But I’ve always liked the tactile feel of physically ink writing over typing or tapping on a keyboard so this is a nice compromise for me. Just don’t tell my boss his software engineer just said she’s not a big fan of typing on a keyboard, that might not go over well.

I’ve been seriously thinking again about writing a little book of things for the family, in the event I’m or someone else is not around for a period of time for some reason. I’ve often thought about making notes like “here’s how to make [a specific food that Mom’s super into right now]” and “here’s how to doctor a minor dog wound and when to go to the vet”, Dad could add things like “which breaker is the microwave on” and “what to check in the basement in a rainstorm”. Those kinda things, ya know? Because I’m always striving to be as reachable as possible, but let’s face it, rural connectivity just fights you for no reason sometimes. I’ve been sitting at my desk, literally waiting for a phone call, and still missed the call because my phone didn’t ring. I’ve heard similar complaints from the boys. I sometimes think that maybe having a house “manual”, that everyone contributes knowledge to, would be a solid plan. Could also be a place for emergency numbers and health notices, that kinda thing.

The idea is not particularly new. When I initially moved out I created “Amanda’s Big Book of Adulting” full of things like how to check my car’s fluids and laundry tips and tricks. It’s analog and grossly outdated now obviously, but during its heyday it was an absolute essential that just lived in my desk. When Mom first started having issues I realized just how much I hadn’t asked her and simply can’t now, and I started to debate making a “dear future children…” book that explains things like taxes and how to license your car. Thing is, as time has gone on, I’ve become less and less certain I intend to have kiddos, and taxes have changed a little too. So, I’ve scrapped that idea until I actually decide if kiddos are happening. I think that’s probably the best course of action. 

Maybe a “How to Take Long Nose Photos?” Section?

Regardless though, there’s data that needs recording, and a manual is the best option I can think of to make that work. I’m thinking it’ll live digitally, always growing and changing, with a physical binder bound back up, and then every so often we will print the changes and update the physical as needed.

Sounds like quite the project though, wish me luck.

Until we chat again my friends!

Nesting

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Hello friends!

Well, it looks like everyone’s got the bug! Well, two bugs technically. 

That was a bad opening line, but look, sometimes we just need a little cheese in our lives.

Anyways, first bug: everyone sans yours truly has had some sort of cold. Poor Christopher suffered for a couple weeks with a pretty solid sinus infection. He was miserable, the poor kid, and had to take a little time off work. No shame in taking time off if you need it, but Christopher’s a lot like me, it’s only fun to take time off when you can enjoy it. Why waste sick leave on being sick, ya know?

Then Mom ended up with an ear infection and a sinus infection, plus pneumonia. It hit her really hard post stroke, because on top of just not being that strong normally, she just doesn’t have the wherewithal to take the basic steps to help herself, and being fiercely independent, she’s not a big fan of being babied. But she had a pretty nasty, very persistent fever which is never good for anyone, but especially not someone who’s been expressly told to not get too hot. One doctor’s appointment later and she’s one the mend.

Poor Dad has been a little under the weather now too, although he refuses to admit it. He’ll be okay though, I think his shakes out to a cold and caregivers fatigue. Hopefully some rest and peace and quiet will sort him out.

Me? I’m lysoling everything like my life depends on it, gloving up like I have surgery on the schedule, and making egg drop soup like I’m a bona-fide line cook. Side note, egg drop soup is great for colds, because it’s basically broth with lots of protein. Aaaaannnd it’s great because you can make a bunch of white rice, some garlicky chicken, chop some scallions and set out the sesame oil and soy sauce, tada, a full on meal for the un-sick of the house. Just add whatever mixins you’re feeling that night. To be honest, it’s rapidly becoming one of my favorite meals so it’s no hardship to make it a couple times a week.

The second bug I was speaking to is the room reorganizing bug. See, in late July, I decided my birthday gift to myself was to start changing my room from “a place where my stuff lives” to “a place where I am happy and comfy to work and sleep and craft, etc”. I wrote about it then, and I’ve been slowly ticking off to-do list items since. It’s a slow process because I really wanna make intentional choices towards making it work the way I want, but I can say for certain putting my desk behind closet doors was the best decision for work life balance ever. Still lots to adjust and do but I’m terribly pleased with how it’s shaping up.

Current Desk Setup State
My latest rough sketch

And it seems it’s catching. Just about everyone in the house is thinking about how to readjust their personal spaces so they work better. In some cases, like with mine, the pieces I’m slowly gathering are relatively minor, so my “reno” is pretty inexpensive, mostly a case of rethinking how to better use what I have. In other cases, like my brother, he’s slowly realizing the furniture from his youth is all bite sized and it’s causing a bit more of an issue. The boy needs a full sized dresser, he has no room for socks. He needs room for socks, it’s as simple as that.

He also really needs some bookshelves, he’s quite the collector of vintage and current video gaming memorabilia and his collection is starting to outgrow his space. A beautiful way to display those things is just what the doctor ordered.

Dad’s been redoing his den too. It’s sorta a den by accident, he started out in the front room, then got evicted from there when we needed the dining table back, then he worked at my grandmother’s antique desk in the master bedroom, but we recently decided that was the more accessible option to make into mom’s little craft corner (plus it weighs more than my horses so there’s no way it moves… probably ever again haha). We decided it was probably wise to get all his paperwork out of the bedroom anyway, so he wasn’t staring at it while trying to sleep. So now he’s down in the basement, which he’s made super cozy with lamps and memories. The wifi…. It almost sorta reaches, enough to check email and such if you’re patient, so it works for him, at least until we can get a reliable extender. He is slowly organizing it; we gifted him a set of shelves and a cute corner desk, and a fancy phone charger organizer thingy, so he’s feeling quite official. He’s also super excited he can have his music up as loud as he likes and we won’t complain (he listens to great music, he’s just losing his hearing so… ya know).

Watson likes the new desk space too!
Since I can’t exactly show you the other office spaces since they are private to my family members, here’s Joe trying to convince me to blow off work

And, of course, you know what’s next: mom’s slowly making her little craft corner. I don’t think she has a plan quite yet, but the teacher in her is happy to be collecting her pens and stationary, and her yarn craft supplies all together. When she sorta works out what she needs, I promised a trip to the office supply store. She’s quite excited.

I’m pretty sure most of this is a natural response to the colder weather. We’re all just nesting so we have a cozy space to hide out in the winter. Won’t stop us from slowly going crazy with cabin fever by February, but we can try haha.

Until we chat again my friends!

Poppin’ and Snappin’

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Hello friends!

Little Ro-Ro had a chiropractic adjustment again. She always loves a little pampering in that way and this time she really needed it. Seems like she’s got a set of stubborn ribs that like to occasionally pop out of place and while she’s a total trooper, speaking from experience, after a while that nonsense gets old. So when she starts telling me her ribs are sore, or acting out during schooling, I call McKadee. We love McKadee and her lovely dad, who was my farrier for a long time and will be again, when I can get my trailer together (he stopped traveling, which he’s totally allowed to do, but I had to find someone else in the median. Our new guy is nice too, no shade here, and with time I think he’ll get better at working out what my girls need, but Jimmy was just absolutely amazing and I miss him).

Ro gets a spa day any time McKadee comes out, and I usually get an education because I am incredibly nosey and generally will make a nuisance of myself if allowed, especially when it comes to learning how to better care for my horses. Little 16 year old Amanda gave her trainer and her mom each a heart attack when the vet asked if I wanted to “help” with a tooth grinding and was then allowed to fully put my hand in the horse’s mouth and learn about tooth spurs and the medical tools to take care of them. I also have a baby horse tooth as a result of a similar situation. Never ask me if I wanna shadow you unless you mean it, I’m down to try almost anything once. Except for diving out of an airplane, I feel like I’ve learned enough about gravity from the horses, thank you. But learning a new skill? I’m all here for it. As an aside, if anyone wants a marginally annoying, overly excitable, relatively clumsy shadow while welding, lemme know. I really want to learn to weld. But I digress. 

McKadee has studied equine massage and chiropractics and she is crazy knowledgeable about the biomechanics of a horse, which I love because I used to be in judges training, which means I have some knowledge of what “preferred” or “correct” movement should look like, but not nearly as much as I would like about what creates that motion. She can usually tell by what I describe just what’s up with Ro, and if I’m not making a lot of sense, she can tell by feel. 

This time poor Ro was all sorts of crooked and out of joints. She had super sore spots in her withers and back, and those had started to cause sore legs and neck from moving incorrectly. I’m really excited to see the changes it makes. You could definitely tell that Ro wasn’t pleased with the amount of scary popping and snapping, but by the end of it she was moving more freely, and she even went trotting her way out into the pasture, which she hasn’t done in a while. 

She wasn’t really showing signs of discomfort until just a few days ago when I called McKadee. Or perhaps I should clarify, I’m really used to drama queens (mare and gelding) so when Ro very subtly says “hey Mama, I’m a little sore” I don’t always catch on right away. I’m working on it. I write down her and Nellie’s behaviors during our interactions each day, so that I can spot patterns quickly each time there’s a sore spot. Luckily sore muscles and out of whack horses aren’t super common here on the farm because we take life at a leisurely pace. But my little girl is also a trooper who would rather have fun than be on pasture rest, so I think sometimes she toughs it through when she certainly doesn’t need to.

The day after a chiropractic adjustment Ro is usually a little crazy pants and this time was no different. She ran and ran and worked herself up into quite the lather yelling and bucking and racing. I finally made her slow down because It was hot out and I was getting a little worried. Then I made the decision to hop on in usual form, with no tack. Less of a statement on my riding skills and more one about my lack of self preservation skills. We both survived and then she got hosed down and I got a half shower by proxy. Nellie looked on with curiosity until she got a little close to the hose and decided being wet without consent was a crime. She flounced off pretty quickly, but I made it up to her with some scratches and a good brushing. She’s very opinionated about such things though.

Gotta go hug some horses now. 

Until we chat again my friends!

Withdrawals

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Hello friends!

Welp, I’ve had to slowly move our morning rides to the midday. It’s not a bad thing per say, I just absolutely love our morning rides, it’s the most wonderful thing to enjoy your time with your horses as the sun is coming up and all is pink and lovely. It’s a special summertime treat. 

But now we get to have autumnal work. Wind whipping around makes warm horsey hugs more special, we bust out the coolout blankets for after work, and everyone starts wearing an extra layer or two. There’s warm beverages to be had, and slightly later starts on the weekends, all good things. The only rough part is knowing we are on borrowed time and after the first snow It’s really up in the air how long we have to work until we have to call it for a couple months. Unfortunately I just don’t have the infrastructure to keep my girls in activity over the winter, no way to cool them slowly enough to not shock them after work, less than great footing when wet (when things aren’t Just straight under water), and no wind breaks, which around here is a big deal. Winds are quite the thing in our little corner of the valley.

I’m really hoping that the weather is milder this year, last winter everything was very wet and the daytime temperatures were well below freezing for a good portion of the winter. I lost a bunch of the plumbing for the barn and had to literally chip gates open. I really want a milder winter, preferably one where we can keep riding and using the arena space for longer into the season before it starts to turn into a lake.

Mom’s got the house all decorated for fall. She absolutely loves decorating for each season and holiday, although we go a little lighter on the Halloween stuff since that’s not really a holiday we celebrate. We maybe watch Ghost Hunters reruns and I might make a spooky dinner, but nothing major. We keep it low key for Halloween, and we never get trick or treaters (for good reason, please don’t drive your kids out to the country to trick or treat unless you 100% know the farmer and know they have candy. It’s a dangerous game otherwise. I know yall are too smart for that nonsense, but it’s worth saying, it is the internet after all). But we get pretty into the fall themed and harvest fest stuff. I think it helps stem off the inevitable blues that the end of summer bring. Not that the other seasons aren’t great, but it’s hard to start slowing down when you just wanna be outside for forever. So we make sure it’s a warm and cozy time. But not christmassy yet. We don’t do Christmas stuff until after Thanksgiving and we are careful about it until the 13th, because my dad is a December baby. Don’t wanna step on his birthday. I’m lucky, I’m a July girl, so no overshadowing major holidays for me, and I get fireworks. Truly the best. 

Isn’t he the cutest!? I had to show you, also, please ignore the shaky camera, Joe was actively pushing me over

Winter season also brings out the excuses in me. My eyesight isn’t the greatest and there’s no streetlights this far out in the country, so I always try to excuse myself from events where I have to drive after dark. I also staunchly avoid driving on snow and ice if I can, so I spend a good amount of cozy nights curled up with a book and warm drink. Sorry, I can’t make it, I’m too chicken. 

My warm drink game is a little off right now. See, a few months ago my headaches started getting even worse, and I finally had to do something to figure it out. See, I come from a long line of headache sufferers, migraines, tension headaches, weather affect, you name it, and unfortunately I’ve definitely got one sensitive head. Luckily because this has been a forever thing, normally, unless it’s a particularly bad day, I can muddle through with relative success. I just warn people that I’m one bright light or loud noise from getting irrationally angry and I occasionally  treat myself to an early night in. But a few months ago it got a little crazy. We’re talking midday naps everyday because I could not cope. I tend to have some form of headache around 4 out of every 7 days, I’m told that’s pretty typical, so everyday all day was a lot. And pain meds wouldn’t touch it at all. I actually cried about it a couple times, and I don’t generally cry about medical stuff. On a whim I started cutting things out of my diet and, long story slightly shorter, it was coffee. Not caffeine mind you, I can still drink soda, but specifically an intolerance to the bean. Doc says it’s probably because I lived on coffee for so long my system finally just said no. He also thinks that with time, and a lot more moderation, I can probably go back to coffee eventually. But for now it’s a special planned treat. For example, I really wanted to try the mint chocolate coffee at the candy store, so I got it on a day I knew I could go straight to bed if needed. It was absolutely delicious by the way.

Most days I’ve switched out coffee for warm broths. I’m not much of a tea person but I have a couple I like. But broths also can have a nice little nutritional kick so I tend to reach for them. And I don’t reach for them first thing in the morning, I wait until others are up, so I’ve also kicked the morning march to the coffee maker habit. 

It wasn’t such a big deal over the summer, but as we are going into fall and winter, I am missing my coffee a little more now. There’s nothing quite like a warm cup on a frosty morning.

In any case, I think I’ll survive, pretty sure there are worse fates.

Until we chat again my friends. 

It’s a Dog’s Life

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

Well, it’s cold, it’s gray, and it’s been intermittently smoky for weeks. Seems to me it’s definitely fall. Although, I must admit, the Grey thing is not something I am used to here. In Seattle sure, but generally we still see the sun around here. But there’s been lots of overcast days. I wouldn’t mind if they produced rain, which would help with fires and smoke, but these menacing clouds are mostly just for show it seems, or potential disaster. 

We had one angry stretch of dry lightning a week or so ago that nearly burned down the high school, because it burnt the hills up behind it. To my knowledge nobody lost any structures, but I know a few people got close. Chicken Hill burned too, and I guess during the microsburst people thought some of the windows, especially the big ones in businesses, were going to shatter, either from wind or the severe crashing of the thunder. They had to call in the three surrounding jurisdictions to help because there was just so much on fire at once.

We were very lucky to be on the outskirts. We got a side hit of the wind, but nothing was damaged and only one tarp attempted to take leg bail. The thunder crashing upset the doggos, but cuddles and good crates calmed them down. The dog equivalent of hiding under the covers is a properly cozy den space, tailored to the dog, available all the time. Mine are, of course, spoiled rotten but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Joe has a plush mat, open walls, a blanket and a toy, Scooby has a gel cooled, memory foam mat, closed, rounded sides, and a very light blanket, and Watson has a little closed den with enough blankets and bedding that sometimes I truly wonder how he fits in there. All doggos get extra blankets/comforters when it starts getting cool but other than Watts, I generally have hot dogs. Especially Scoobs, sometimes I think he’d be happiest in the arctic. 

It should surprise no one that they also have an involved nighttime routine

Although, that’s not entirely true anymore because I have now seen, since moving here, how much he truly detests snow. Does not like being wet, does not like that it sticks to him, that it’s hard to walk in, and honestly, I can’t blame him all that much.

Scoobs has been learning lots of new things lately. Since he’s lost his sight, he’s learned to navigate the house by feel. Unfortunately he’s also learned to wail at all hours to get attention. The vet says he’s fine, he just has a hard time differentiating between day and night and when he decides it’s morning there is no convincing him otherwise. Even if it’s one a.m. The vet suggested trying to have a really solid bedtime routine and lots of busy work during the day. So he gets lots of wander and explore time outside until the weather turns cold, and I’ve been taking him down on a leash with me to feed in the evenings (don’t worry, there’s always a fence between him and the other critters, I wouldn’t put him in danger even if he could see. I also usually bring a buddy, so he has a dedicated seeing eye person too). He seems to really enjoy it but it’s a lot of walking on little legs so we are worn out by the time we make the porch again. It’s hard work being small.

I think he also likes it because it’s something special that just he gets to do. We haven’t been bringing his brothers down because generally I don’t want the dogs to get used to that area being a space they can go to on their own. They occasionally come down when I am working on a project down there, I bring the doggie play pen down and they hang out, but in general, Scooby has been the only one to get to walk down there every night. It also allows us to go at his pace, and he can stop and explore or take a breather if needed. It’s a pretty thinky experience too because he isn’t used to the gravel down there, or the hay on the ground, or all the new smells. Now that he’s not as reliant on sight, he’s got lots of exploring to do. So it’s good exercise too.

I don’t know how the horses feel about it though, because it definitely slows down the feeding process. Generally, they see me start the evening trek to the barn and they come hauling tail in from the pasture, but now they have to stand patiently waiting at their spots instead of being met with food. I am not as quick to get down there. But they still get snuggles and sweets and goodnight kisses so the result is the same. Scooby chills out by the door so he can take a breather while I move the hay around.

Speaking of hay, it’s time for me to pull down a new bale, and I should probably do that before it starts raining today or all the bales will get wet, so I better sign off for now.

Until we chat again, my friends!

A Very Busy Day

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Hello friends!

You’ll never guess what I got to do last Thursday. Let me set the scene first, because it was, in fact, a very fun day overall. 

So we had planned to pack a whole lot into our Thursday evening, the to-do list was immense. Had some grocery shopping to do, had to run to the dollar store, needed to swing by the vet, and stop by the local mart for a few things. On top of it, we were battling smoke from a local wildfire. Something we are still doing but I digress.

I was already feeling super accomplished by the time I got to the little used bookstore in town that I love and try to frequent whenever I get the chance. I was looking for two specific books, one a fairly new release and one a very obscure topic, so I knew I was probably out of luck, but I ended up finding something a little different, a murder mystery that had been recommended to me but I’d never read. That means I still need to find those two books, but I got to support a local business regardless. I was definitely trying to sneakily read that book when we stopped to eat at our local drive-in and it’s sitting on my nightstand, waiting for a break in work or a late night binge.
But that’s not what I am excited about, although I am actually super excited about getting another book, it’s legit an addiction at this point. No, what I am excited about is what happened at the farmer’s market. 

So we got there a little early, and at first we thought we would just walk down to the thrift store to wait but it turns out that thrift store doesn’t really exist anymore. I’m not in town nearly as much as I used to be so I really don’t know when that changed, but there’s a new business planning to move in soon. I’m hoping it’s something cool. We shall see. Anyways, because that was kinda a flop, I was walking around the little park area trying to find some shade and take some pictures of the historic train depot that serves as the centerpiece for this park (and town, if we’re being honest). The historical society has done an incredible amount of work restoring the building in the last couple of years and it really shows. So I was admiring the exterior of the building in all its restored glory. 

This nice gentleman, who has been scurrying around the place, accidentally walks right into my photo. He apologized, I told him it was absolutely no worries at all, I was just admiring the beautiful building. I assumed he was part of setting up the farmers market, not that it would have bothered me either way, it’s a public space, I can’t expect to monopolize the whole exterior of the building. He agrees it’s a lovely building, casually mentioned that he was on the board that helped restore it, and then ASKED IF I WANTED TO HAVE A QUICK PEEK INSIDE! To say I was excited was an understatement. I haven’t been in the building since long before its restoration and never have I gotten to be inside when it was just me (and a couple family members, I’m not looney enough to enter an empty building with a stranger alone, I watch true crime). The restoration team did a beautiful job! The woodwork was stunning and everything was so tall! For reference, all these photos were taken from my eye height, which would put them just a little under five feet off the ground. He let me take pictures of all the historic information laid out and shared some of its history. He reminded us of the very dated green everything used to be and how hard the team had worked to bring its glory days back after it had fallen into some serious disrepair. It was a wonderful treat, I could have walked around in there all day!

After we let the gentleman go back to his duties (I was right, he was actually helping set up the Market, but not as a vendor, he was helping run electrical from the depot to the vendors as needed, working on behalf of the depot. He also briefly employed my cousin at his shop in town, which is neither here nor there, but it shows how small small towns can be sometimes), we did in fact walk around the booths. I bought a honeydew that was borderline too big. I should have captured a picture, but it was 107 degrees and that melon barely hit the counter before we indulged. It lasted us a couple says though, and was the perfect late summer treat. 

I also bought some sweets from a little lady I know in town. She’s been struggling since her husband died and she had a stroke, and she is very proud of making her living on her sweets at various markets. Unfortunately, I had to bin those, because while I’m sure she makes delicious sweets, they did not appreciate the heat and were not exactly…. safe to eat anymore. Luckily, in that situation, you don’t buy things to actually get them, you are supporting a neighbor. The sweets would have been a bonus, but it was money well spent either way.

I also met a very cool guy selling lavender products from plants he grows, and I may have worked out what some of my Christmas present plans are. I like to buy locally when I can, so if I know you well enough to get you a gift, you can probably assume it’s something from a small business around here.

Also bumped into my neighbors from the orchard down the way. They had a booth, but were sold out of my favorite jam, so I’ll have to swing by the orchard itself later on. 

Welp, now I’ve made myself hungry and want something fruity and cold to snack on, so I’m headed to the kitchen.

Until we chat again my friends!

To-Dos

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

Let’s chat about winterizing since it’s starting to look like that may be next on my plate. I’m really not ready to see summer slowing down but that’s all part of the deal I guess, gotta explore all the changing seasons. And I do really enjoy that part of it. Fall is a lovely time of year. 

What does it look like at your place when it’s time to start thinking about winding down the summer? I’m always curious, because every place is different. My aunt and uncle have a lot more acreage so they have a lot more to think about. My neighbors’ fields (where the research station workers lease ground to grow their experiments) are already being cleaned up. They’ve been pulling down the netting and veggie cages already. 

I’m still mostly trying to pretend summer has a long run left, but I have been thinking about gathering the winter supplements for the horses, pulling out their blankets and checking the buckles, and bemoaning the fact that at some point I gotta climb up a ladder and check the heat lamps in the barn and coop (Cordelia has one in her cat condo too, but it’s at chest height to me, much easier). Dad’s thinking ahead about winterizing the irrigation system and the sprinkler lines. 

I was so surprised when mid winter last year Nellie tried on her first ever winter blanket and absolutely loved it. Turns out the key to my girl’s heart is cookies and cozy blankets and really, I can completely respect that. I’m also swayed by sweet treats and a warm blanket. I had avoided blanketing in the past, choosing to let their thick winter coats grow in and letting them do the job. And in the past it’s worked just fine. But we are having progressively more extreme seasons and the winter coats just won’t do against -10° and freezing rain. The old timers say it’s cyclical and we are due for some extreme weather. Record setting highs and lows. Can’t say I’m particularly keen on it, but we will figure it out as it comes. That said, my uncle tells stories of tying a rope to the ranch house porch and the barn door because the snow was so thick they were afraid of losing the kids in it. I’m hoping that was mostly just a story, but my uncle usually has a fair amount of truth to his tall tales. Oh boy.

On top of the winterizing chores, I’m slowly thinking about all the fun fall things I wanna do. Soon it will be time to go peach picking, and make cobbler from the treasure. I can’t wait to put up the fall themed decorations and have pumpkins on the porch, and their seeds roasting in the oven. I absolutely love roasted pumpkin seeds. I am excited about pumpkin bread, and maybe even some pear bread if they look good this year. 

I should get back to crocheting my little pumpkins, and Watsons sweater. I started them before my fall way back last year and consistently found that the repetitive actions of crocheting were the easiest way to aggravate my injured elbow. Doc said I should just let it be for a few months and come back when other things have stopped aggravating it too. Sorta fell out of the habit, so it’s worth a shot now. Worst case scenario, I hold off a little longer

please excuse the awkward crop, I am strategically removing as much of my screens as possible. I also have no idea why my sleeve and hand looks that dusty…..

Watson is already cold and the days are still really quite warm, he’s just so little he doesn’t maintain his own heat very well. He would very much like his little sweater to be done soon. I picked a cute soft green in a different yarn texture than I am used to. It’s a slipperier yarn which is annoying to work with but it’s less scratchy than the traditional red heart that I use most of the time. I wanna find two oversized buttons for the closure for easy on and off. Since I’ll be the one putting it on and my hands are usually a disaster of band aids and bruises, I’m sure I don’t want tiny fiddly buttons to do up every morning. 

Farrier has put us on a slightly longer schedule too, since going into winter the horses hooves don’t grow quite as fast, sometimes, like this last winter when it was incredibly cold, they hardly grow at all. I assume it’s a survival thing, I just like that it’s a pocket book thing. Our new farrier seems cool, admittedly juries still out for sure until I see him work on their feet a few more times. But he seems patient and fairly understanding, so that’s a huge win.

Well, admittedly, all of this was a bit of procrastination before I actually sit and make a plan. To quote Game of Thrones, winter is coming, and around here that means there’s work to be done.

Until we chat again, my friends!

Why I Have Grey Hairs

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

So, my neighbors think I’m nuts. This is not necessarily a new development but I am reminded of it fairly often and just recently it happened again. So, my sweet Ro, a relatively steady, bombproof little mare has opinions on birds that range from “these wee things annoy me” to “this is clearly a horse eating monster”. Most of our resident birds, like the magpies and robins, fall into the annoying category. Quail are suspicious, as is our little chicken friend. But ducks? Ducks are horse eating monsters. Ducks are pure evil put on this earth solely to torment and abuse Ro. That’s their entire purpose. Ro loathes ducks.

So, I’m sure you can imagine how well our schooling session was going after our first trip to the far side of the arena was interrupted by an angry flapping duck. To her credit, Ro stayed very calm in the face of great mortal danger, she just skittered away and refused to walk by the bush. Problem was, suddenly every noise, anything that moved weird, every critter around looked a lot like that duck just waiting for us to let our guard down. Ro has to be alert and on top of it because clearly her mom was simply not understanding the true gravity of the situation. Didn’t understand that surviving the ride meant keeping our heads on a constant swivel, even if it meant not paying attention to moms riding cues.  A sacrifice Ro was willing to make. 

We kept at it and continued on with our work, but it was getting progressively less productive with each passing minute. Finally as we passed the chicken coop again she decided it was too much and let me know we may have to make a run for it. I wasn’t really annoyed at her, I understood that she was just worried, but it was making it difficult to get the focused work I had been hoping for and something had to change. 

So, I did the only thing I could think of, I loudly marched over to the bush, hoping to scare away the duck beforehand, grabbed my lunge whip, and proceeded to make a big showing of dramatically whacking at the bush, just to ensure any and all horse eating monsters were thoroughly chased away. Ro watched with concern, then growing interest, and finally walked over to investigate. I must have convinced her that I was scarier than the duck because I was able to hop back on and we managed some pretty good work by the end of our ride. She’s a very good girl.

This 100% is not the only reason my neighbors think I’m nuts, but probably one of the more recent offerings. I also lost my mind at the dogs the other day, but it was justified. Here’s how this went down.

I was running the farm mostly solo for a couple days, no big deal, Dad took Mom on a little getaway like they used to and Christopher was trying to help but he’s been buried in work. Like I said though, no big deal, I got the irrigation all going, let the chicken out to wander for a while, let the girls out in the pasture (they got a couple days off during this since it had been a while since they’d had a vacation anyway and when I’m the only one on the farm, a couple of my family members get really squigged out by the idea of my riding without a spotter in the same county, we haven’t worked out a compromise to that yet).

Then I let the dogs out to play for a bit and set up my desk temporarily on the porch. I do this often in the mornings so the dogs aren’t locked inside while I work, although when it starts to cool for fall we will inevitably have to quit because I’m chicken. Anyways, I realized I needed to go move the hose in the garden from the last of the tomatoes to the very last of the potatoes and I thought, my senior guy Scoobs is asleep on the porch, Watson and Joe have been underfoot all morning, I’ll have them walk down to the garden with me so they don’t pester Scoobs. Joe gets to go on adventures like this occasionally. He loves to help on the farm (he can’t just be out all the time as he hasn’t met a plant he doesn’t want to eat, a critter he doesn’t want to befriend, or a car/tractor/implement that hasn’t magically stopped for him and therefore lives blissfully unawares of the potential vet visits just lurking about). Watson almost never goes on adventures because he is very tiny and gets nervous in the big wide world. 

‘Joe and Chicken surveying their home

So, off to the garden we go, Joe did great, his heel and general recall is really coming along, Watson hung pretty close all the way down too. BUT then, Watson saw his opportunity and pulled a sneaky hide away from his mom. In the half second it took to move the hose from one line to another he disappeared from my view, so I called for him. No recall, no noise, no sign of him. I call a few more times then start to panic, Joe seems wholly unbothered but Joe regularly underestimates the level of concern necessary in the room. Finally, after I’m at near screech hollering for Watson he emerges from under a weed pile, then, realizing mom’s having a panic, takes leg bail for the arena and finally out into the neighbors field. At this point I’ve gone from screeching to the tone I reserve for scaring some sense into those around me, and he finally tucked his tail and slowly walked back toward me. I scooped him up, we made a beeline to the house, Joe being a good boy and naturally following in heel, and Watson spent a little time thinking about his life choices from inside the house. My neighbor texted me a little bit later asking if I needed help, she had seen my struggle but had her grandbabies around so she couldn’t engage. I told her we were all good, but Watson for sure took 10 years off my life. Crazy little bean.

He’s stayed pretty close since then, he’s usually not a runner, that was always Sherlocks trick, so I dunno what got into him. I always get a little suspicious of a change in behavior after little Sherlocks sudden departure but I think this was more just “cool things” overload followed by not wanting to be in trouble. Which to be fair, he wouldn’t have been if he hadn’t run, and even then, 10 minutes inside without his brothers and a stern talking to was all he got. 

Scooby slept through the entire upheaval. Had no idea. 

Until we chat again my friends

Giving Thanks

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!
Happy late Thanksgiving! Oh, my goodness what a day it was. Our extended family growing and growing, and I’ve started to joke that we are going to need to have holidays in shifts if we get much bigger. We’ve debated asking to utilize the church’s event space, but it’s not very cozy so I’m never very keen on that idea. And honestly, its heaps of fun to get everyone together for some food and fun, no matter how squished we all are.
We got to meet our newest little family member this Thanksgiving. Kamila joined us a couple days before Thanksgiving, rather unexpectedly, since she was expected to arrive middle of December. We were all a little on edge, but mama and baby are happy and healthy, Kamila just wanted to join in on the Thanksgiving festivities.
She spent a fair amount of Thanksgiving sleeping happily in various family members arms, happily kicking her little feet while dreaming about who knows what. I think everyone had a different idea about what sport she was dreaming of. I personally think she was riding a barrel horse to a new pattern record, but others thought maybe track, soccer, or gymnastics. All fair guesses, but not as cool as mine (can you feel the bias?).
This was the first year I was not terribly stressed about Thanksgiving, and it was actually a very pleasant, chill holiday. This is my third year hosting so I’d like to think I’m getting better at it, or at least as a family we are finding out collective stride. Got everything done fairly early, took a “whatever happens, happens” approach to the food, and even slept in a little (the joys of everyone only needing to bring a dish or two, no one is up at the crack of dawn heating an oven).

Now I wish we had some of these left
Pretty cute for a panicked last minute pie


This year we had a turkey, a ham, about 7 pounds of carnitas. It was amazingly delicious, but as a family we devoured that fairly quickly. I think next year we are going to need to add a second Turkey back into the equation (we did so last year and had a few more leftovers). We did however have so many pies that I’m freezing a few and my grandma is freezing a few for our Christmas brunch (don’t worry, that happens usually the first full week of December, the pies will hold over). My mom and I attempted homemade pumpkin pie because we couldn’t make it up to Costco this year. I will usually stand fiercely by my Costco pies and say nothing tops them, but as of this holiday that’s a whole lie. These pies were delicious! Our only concern was the recipe we were working from called for two pies, and we ended up with three, so I had to pull in a prebaked pie crust i had planned for something else. No biggie though, my little pudding pie would not have been nearly as good as the pumpkin ones. I was really concerned about sticking a prebaked crust in the oven, but it worked out pretty well. We got lucky.

We also celebrated my cousins 10th birthday and played lots of Nertz. Sneaky card photo as proof.


The night before Thanksgiving, during all the baking and prep work, our houseguest arrived. He’s a childhood friend of my uncles, basically my grandmas fourth son, and a great help around the farm, so I definitely didn’t mind putting him up for the weekend. He’s also just a lovely human in general so he’s always welcome. I do always feel bad though, when a guest comes around a holiday, because they get a couple days of slightly crazy, anxious Amanda, followed by a couple days of comatose, post craziness Amanda. Neither are my finest look. I always tell people to come back in the dog days of summer, when I’m too busy basking in sunshine and summer activities to be crazy or comatose.
After Thanksgiving I cleaned up my house, made an ill-advised attempt at riding in our soggy arena (which is now frozen, joy of joys), and tried to catch up on some sleep. While I love having Joe around (yep, my houseguest shared a name with my dog, yep, it was as confusing as it sounds) weekend visits are hard because they are long enough you need chill out time, but short enough you feel like you’re wasting time if you sleep in. It’s a little bit of a catch-22, and needless to say I’m running on empty this week. Got a pretty busy weekend though, the light parade (and building the float for that), as well as Kamila’s baby shower, which is now a post baby shower, or something.
Anyways, I have so much to chat with you all about, but starting a new topic here might make this post a mammoth, so I’ve started a list of things and can’t wait to start writing the next post (don’t worry, intermixed with the catch up will be stories from float building, baby showers, and of course, the farm updates, got to keep yall up to date).
Until we chat again my friends!