Tag: rambles

…And Half a Cup of….

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

I can’t bake. This really should shock no one, baking is a precision science and I’m far too blase in the kitchen. But it’s deeper than that you see, because even when I give it my best shot, with the small exception of a couple tried and true cookie recipes, I can’t bake. 

Seriously, ask me about the great fudge disaster that happened on New Year’s Eve 2019. It made for some lovely garden pavers. It single handedly cursed me to the the family’s “bad cook” reputation holder for about two years. I could not smokehouse mac and cheese my way out of that title, couldn’t homemade gnocchi soup my way out of it, even my fried pickles didn’t win them over (and yes I just used mac and cheese and soup as verbs, it’s legal….probably). It wasn’t until my cousin made some truly disastrous pumpkin pie bars that I was off the hook. Funnily enough she didn’t inherit the title… but I’m grateful nonetheless. 

Did I get weird looks for staging this photo of eggs? Yes, yes I did

Thing is, I still end up on the hook for a lot of the birthday cakes around here. Why? Because I’m friends with the bakery ladies at my grocery store. Aaaaand because I can zhuzh a box mix with the best. Lemme explain.

(For those staring at the spelling of zhuzh, I was mad about it too)

Box mix cakes ask you to use foolproof ingredients so that people like me, chronic baking failures, can still achieve a pretty, fluffy, tasty cake. It’s usually something like a little bit of oil, some water, and an egg. Mix it up, throw it in a greased pan, Bob’s your uncle. Nice, satisfying cake.

But! Water and oils do not impart much flavor, so we can swap them out with relative ease. Butter is, unsurprisingly, my favorite swap for oil, as it gives you that warm, rich, buttery undertone and sometimes can make for a better texture (in my opinion). The taste of butter really starts to matter in lighter flavored cakes, think vanilla or lemon, so make sure you like it before swapping it out as a permanent solution. Also, important safety tip, salted vs unsalted butters taste, obviously, quite different and can drastically change your intended flavors.

Swapping in milk for the water works wonders too. I remember Alton Brown saying on Good Eats, my favorite cooking show ever, that most of the time, water in a recipe is a good chance to swap in flavor. You’ll almost always find me swapping stock or broths in for water in cooking recipes (it’s life changing for rice) and milk in my cake mixes. Buttermilk works too, makes it creamier, but you gotta add more. And it requires you to have buttermilk on hand which I rarely do. I have a friend who subs in cream cheese sometimes, but I’ve never been brave enough to try it.

Real talk? I have one recipe I sift for, and I don’t use my grandma’s antique sifter. But, my little mesh thingy-ma-bobber isn’t as photogenic

I’m also a big fan of adding extracts! Obviously vanilla is a go-to, mostly for punching up the flavor in vanilla cakes but also for helping along the flavor in others. Chocolate loves vanilla, as does red velvet (basically chocolate on steroids) and caramel. Lemon seems to usually prefer lemon extract (i know shocking right?) But it does not hate vanilla.

Chocolate cake does well with so many additions, I think because chocolate cake can taste the most flat. Depending on my goals I’ll add anything from a little peppermint/spearmint or almond extracts, or if you have no one in your house with an aversion coffee (specifically espresso, but to be honest I’ve just added the last of whatever was brewed that morning), coffee is a fantastic compliment in chocolate cakes. It just elevates the richness in the chocolate, unless you add lots and then it lends its own flavor profile. It’s at this point we could probably talk about the solid flavorings like sprinkles and candies and things, but those require a whole level of know-how to prevent the sugars from burning, the chocolate from running to the bottom of the pan, etc. It’s generally something I’ve not played with because it worries me and I have a bad habit of walking away from the oven during cook time. While I don’t really have experience with solid mix-ins like chocolate chips or candies, and I know those can go terribly wrong, I do love a little food coloring to tailor a cake to its event. Obviously you’re more tied to vanilla cake at that point, but it’s worth it for the effect occasionally. You can get away with lemon if you are using warm tones for your colors.

The trick with all of these though, food coloring or flavoring, is remembering that you are adding extra liquid and to adjust other measures accordingly. Especially with red velvet cakes, you have to add a terrifying amount of coloring, and all that can throw off your milk/water ratios or risk making your batter too loose.

If you use pre-made icings, adding food coloring can actually be a much needed help to loosen them up a little. I don’t remember this being such an issue on the coast, although I didn’t bake nearly as much there, but for some reason here if I buy pre-made frostings they are for sure going to need some work before they are usable. So, food coloring and a little milk to make it spreadable, and extracts to lend flavor if needed. Otherwise it’s a solid sugar brick, regardless of brand.

Again, do I use my mom’s fancy stoneware measuring set? Not even a little bit. But let me pretend to be Joanna Gaines for a couple minutes and keep my well-loved hand-me-down plastic measures to myself

Otherwise, decorating is an art all of its own. I’m not terribly patient, so I tend to frost and eat, but I have tried little chocolate ghosts, and I oven dried some pineapple into flowers once. I tried a couple star wars themed cakes, we don’t need to talk about those, but they proved people like candy on their cakes. As long as you remember the crumb coat and keep a patient spirit (and your cake is cooled) you can probably get away with a lot more than you think. 

Alright, I’ve procrastinated enough, time to post this rant and go actually make some cake… or maybe cupcakes? Either way, I need some blue and pink desserts for a gender reveal and I’ve written myself out of time. Wish me luck!
Until we chat again, my friends.

Poppin’ and Snappin’

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

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

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

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. 

A Little Different

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

So! I changed up my work schedule a few weeks ago. I swapped to a 4 10s* schedule

(*Realistically I’m still never really off work, but that’s the danger of remote work, some people are just boundary stompers). I am loving it! I have chosen Fridays as my extra day off because that way I can still benefit from the Monday holidays and such.

I really enjoy it because, well, first of all, I was regularly working 5 10s, or 5 12s, and getting super burnt out and resentful by Friday. I know people do that all the time, and sometimes willingly, but I was not built to sit in front of a computer and do math for 12 straight hours. Heck, I’m currently typing this on my phone sitting under the trees in the pasture, because I couldn’t stand to be inside any longer. And also we don’t get overtime at all, nor do we earn any extra PTO, so it’s legitimately just free labor built on guilt. And making a big, team facing schedule change has allowed me to stick to my hours a little more diligently, because “I’ve already been here 10” sounds more convincing. I also don’t answer anything that isn’t dire or blocking on Fridays. Proud of myself for working on those boundaries.

It also means I get a little more sleep. I average 4 to 6 hours of sleep on a work night, and about 7 on weekend nights, so swapping one for the other is ideal. I get to sleep in a little, am much happier when I get up, and have more energy for Friday activities, like grocery shopping and little kiddo riding lessons. It also gives me an extra couple hours to work on hobbies. I’ve had an issue for a while with people needing “one more thing” after work, that hobbies in general got pushed to the side. I joke that my boss has a sixth sense for when I’d settle in to draw or write or whatever, and suddenly there’d be a slack message. It was uncanny. Now, I don’t stress about it so much, because I have more protected time on Fridays (unless I’m on call, which is a whole thing that I shouldn’t get started on because I have OPINIONS. Anyways).

Christopher has been really enjoying it because I’ve been doing a little extra baking. We’ve had another tres leches cake, some cookies, parfaits, and pumpkin breads are in the works. Let’s just say Fridays smell good in our house. It also makes me more likely to experiment with dinner, which has mixed results. But you never know until you try. You can blame the fact that I rewatched Ratatouille recently.

My mom has been liking the schedule because on Fridays she doesn’t have to wait for me to get off work to ask for help with projects. To be honest, I often pop out when I have a few minutes break to check on her, but we’ve tried to enforce the idea that at my desk is no different than at the office. But, for example, when we were in tears because we dropped one of our little knick knacks while cleaning, I found a little time while running a test suite to bust out the gorilla glue. But now she very cutely saves things like winding yarn balls, things that are still a little hard or frustrating, for us to do on Friday mornings over breakfast together.

Dad likes having another day where I can help on the farm earlier. Really good timing for all the winterizing happening. Plus it’s a nice way to kick off the weekend productively. And it means if we are rained out or stormed out Saturday it’s not the end of the world.

The horses and dogs like it because they aren’t battling work for my attention and I am not carrying around the annoying black box that beeps and buzzes. They don’t have to listen in as I answer a quick slack huddle or google hangouts call.

Can you tell the 4 10s is a big ol’ game changer? Can you tell I’m really excited about it? I worked 4 10s at my very first big kid job and I adored it and haven’t been able to get that schedule since. I was honestly shocked when my boss not only signed off on it but said he hoped others would also be interested. I did a happy dance. Much needed after a hard few months at work with lots of frustration and growing pains. I know 4 10s doesn’t solve everything but somehow being frustrated 4 days a week is a lot easier than 5. Go figure.

Anyways, we will be back to our regularly scheduled farm content next week. I just wanted to gush a little today, and I think sometimes a little real life context helps understand why this blog is the way it is.

Until we chat again my friends!

**For those who maybe haven’t seen that terminology 4 10s is common slang, at least in my field, for 4 days a week, 10 hours a day, whereas the usual salary work schedule in a large portion of America is 5 days a week, at 8 hours a day. Sorry for the potential confusion.

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

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

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

Summer Days

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

Can you believe it’s September already! I cannot, where did the summer go? I swear it was just July but now suddenly the kiddos are back in school.

Lots of things are signaling its fall and back to school season. A big one being the August 20th flip. When I moved to the valley full time my great uncle told me about August 20th. My great grandmother had told him, her father had told her, it’s a little trick you learn from living here to track the seasons. I’ll be honest, when I first heard it I called shenanigans. I thought they were funning me. No way it happens on the same date every year right? Welp, so far every year I’ve been here it’s been right. It’s subtle. But you notice it. The morning is crisper on the 20th, it seems like the sun takes forever to rise, the critters are suddenly starting to prepare for winter. The last of the garden starts giving its harvest, everyone is wearing a light sweater, and it really starts to put the idea of pumpkins in your head. 

Don’t get me wrong, daily highs are still between 90 and 105 for a bit before declining, so it’s still the dog days of summer, but you can tell something is coming. Your carefree summer days are in limited supply.

But there’s still plenty to do before summer ends, especially for the kiddos in the family, or the kiddos at heart. 

We recently hosted an outdoor movie night in the backyard as a way to celebrate the end of summer and the start of a new school year (admittedly, I was always a little down at the end of summer, but my cousins are all amazing little weirdos who love school). We themed the whole thing like a 50’s or 60s beach party and watched Beach Blanket Bingo. It was a huge fun success, even if most of the kiddos fell asleep before the end of the movie haha. We had a little windstorm issue but the homemade screen held up nicely for the most part, we had super minimal tech issues, and lots of food. Hot dogs, candy and an obscene amount of popcorn. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and we are already planning the next one, granted I think we are going to wait until the sun sets a little earlier and the high for the day isn’t 107. 

Look at he show God put on for us too!!
We started a little before the lighting was perfect

I even got my hands on some drive-in movie style hot dog baskets and some theater style popcorn bags to make it feel really authentic and we settled out all kinds of beach towels and blankets and pillows under the tree! I found some old school movie adverts (think the drive in during Grease, with the flipping hotdog), and compiled an oldies playlist so we were professional, ya know? That said, we are also tentatively planning a trip to the drive-in near-ish by, when they show more kid friendly movies again.

We also got to go to the fair! My mom loves going to the fair, she has since she was little, and she definitely passed that on to me! It’s kinda fun, because I have such fond memories from my state fairs growing up, both as a little fair goer and during my 4H years, but the fair I went to as a kiddo has grown up and is very commercialized. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that but I miss the dirt walkways and slightly grungy animal barns, the possibly questionable food stalls and the weird, random, amazing exhibits. The fair near me definitely still has that small fair charm, while still having enough to do to feel busy. We went on a Sunday, it wasn’t terribly busy, but there were lots of folks around to make it feel full. We got to see the quilt exhibit, lots of animals, and even caught a couple shows.

We got to see Loop Rawlins, a guy who throws a pretty mean lasso, and lit a bull whip on fire. I tried to get y’all some video but lots of people were walking in and out and I am short. Got a photo though. Apparently he’s been on America’s Got Talent, I’m not super familiar with how that show works but it sounded impressive. We also got to see the K9 Flying Dogs, which was basically just a guy who was having lots of fun with his working breed dogs chasing Frisbees and showing off. So much fun, he had a role for all his critters, young and old, and you could feel the love. 

My sweet parentals!
It’s a rough photo, but I did get one!

I ate so much good fair food, my favorite of which is always the Elephant Ear, and we got to see many of the 4H and FFA exhibits. We got to see the flocks: turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks, and on and on. I got to say hi to Stanley as he was out meeting and greeting with his adoring public. We also got to see the llamas and alpacas which is always my mom’s absolute favorite. Don’t be surprised if one day you tune in and we are suddenly an alpaca farm. It’s truly just a matter of time.

Stanley

My favorite, of course, was the mule show, for very obvious reasons, and the antique tractors. I love old machinery and the history of farming, and it’s even more fun when it comes to life.

Behind this section were a whole bunch of pre-and post way vintage tractors, which were super cool too!

But, I also picked up a pretty solid sunburn, so I am going to leave this here to go find some aloe.

Until we chat again, my friends!

*Low Flying Airplane Noises*

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

So first of all, look at this super cool video my dad took! I’ve never been this close to an aerial applicator doing their job, it actually spooked me the first time they went past and I decided to stop and wait for the next pass so we could get a cool video (don’t worry, i was the only one on my aunt and uncles mile long driveway so I wasn’t being unsafe). Only thing I would have done differently? Slow rolled as they went by so I could maybe stay with them just a little longer, you can probably tell I put my foot in it a little trying to keep up but for obvious physics reasons there’s no way that was ever going to happen. It was really cool to see it that close in any case.

Why did I refer to them as aerial applicators and not the more traditional “crop dusters”? Well, many reasons. One is, I’ve been told by a couple pilots they prefer aerial applicators, and two, they don’t really dust crops anymore, they more “mist” them, the mixtures are, in general, significantly different than even a few years ago so dust rarely comes into play anymore.

Cheesy Dad Joke incoming! Also, please ignore how dirty my car is, Clifford the Big Red Dodge has been lovingly washed since this was taken

That said, I’m totally guilty of coding switching here, depending on who I’m talking to I’ll still use crop duster, because when your 90+ year old dining companion refers to them as “crop dusters” it’s generally not worth it to correct them, and might come off disrespectful. So, if you hang out with me for a while, you may hear both. I’m guilty of that with a few things. 

Especially because I live in a very old community generally. 

(To clarify, this does not apply to rights issues and the like, I still correct all the “-isms”, I don’t entertain racism, ableism, misogyny, homophobia, etc regardless of who I might offend in the room, because if I offend you, I probably don’t care to be your friend anyway. In the same vein, if you feel the need to discriminate, you can feel free to close this blog out as well, we don’t put up with nastiness here, thank you.)

We’ve had the weirdest weather here. I live in the high desert, right, so it’s, generally speaking, dry here. Dry is nice because at 110° that’s the difference between “it’s far too hot to be outside” and “it’s far too hot to exist”. Humidity is a game changer. We recently had a string of four days of over 80% humidity. This is way too sticky even when you live in a humid place. The girls got a few days off to help manage,since it can be dangerous to work in conditions of heat and humidity that you aren’t used to. It also stormed a lot which makes sense when you consider the humidity most likely came from that monsoonal moisture coming up from the southwest. This time of year they have to deal with lots of flash flooding and storms as well. I’m very grateful we haven’t seen a lot of flooding around here but some places in the southwest got obliterated. 

We mostly just tried not to melt. Everything was damp and sticky, and it’s amazing how quickly some fungi and molds and things pop up after a few days of 80+ humidity. Even my old dead wood pile had little green patches. We had little white mushrooms pop up in the yard and several of my plants just sorta wilted under the dampness. Desert plants aren’t humidity proof. It was also weird because the grass and pasture was all weighed down so no mowing or trimming could be done effectively, the bugs were really bad, and all the the normal characters, like the field workers next door, the early morning joggers, and even the delivery guys were all absent or nearly absent trying to avoid working in the 100° weather with 80% humidity. I totally get it, no judgment here, I was also hiding out, but it was slightly eerie. 

Joe before…
…and after
plus potatoes

Not much else has happened around here. We’ve been slowing down in the garden, something ate my last two kohlrabi before they came ready, but we’ve gotten lots of potatoes. The dogs tried a new groomer out and I think we like her, I just hope she lasts a while. We’ve had a string of bad luck in the area, groomers come and go with alarming speed. There must not be a lot of business here. So fingers crossed this one works out.

Until we chat again my friends.