Just another Day on the Farm

Happy National Cat Day

Posted on October 30, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Smudge.. The youngest of the Purr Pride

Just a touch older then Smudge (Half-Siblings) is Jimmy Kitten

LeeLoo is the next oldest.. she says I just turned one not long ago.. and I am still very much a teen kitty in all ways!

Next up is Patrick above, 3 coming 4 now.. and below is his littermate sister Faith..

A year old coming 5 is Sofie The oldest female on the farm.. she is a huge hunter but also the biggest flop, drop and roll.. but its all for show.. DO NOT PET THAT BELLY LOL

Next we jump over to our older boys.. Henry might be new to the farm having only been here a year this fall, since he was re-homed. But he is 8 this year..

Sunny Cat was 5 to 7 in age when we got him and that was 5 years ago.. man time fly’s so that makes him 10 to 12 in age this year..

This is a great balance for the amount of hunters we need on the farm.. different cats have different zones they hunt in and some are more garden hunters, pasture hunters, two others hunt the big barn and a number hunt the croft and around the house..

Posted in At the kitchen table | 6 Comments

Second Hand Stores “Finds”

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Anyone who has read the blog for long knows I love my second hand shops but there has been a few interesting things happening to them over the past years that is not being talked about.

So lets have a little chat on some of the myths of second hand shops

Myth 1- Cheap Prices

Depends on where you are live and where you are going.. you need to know your prices, you need to know your brands and you need to go often.. and know that the truly amazing items are cherry picked by the staff and by the first people that go into the store..

There is a reason that people are lined up half a block long on the first opening day at my local favorite shop and if you know you want a certain something.. you had better head there fast to see what you can find.

Price creep at the second hand stores is a real thing.. 15 years ago.. shirts were a dollar and this was two dollars and so forth.. now at our local stores, it will say things like shirts 2 to 4 dollars per shirt depending.. all of the items now have a “choice” of prices and you do not know what you will get until you get to the till and who runs the till really can change what the end price will be.

However the WORST price creep is in the city’s.. value village or the bigger run stores.. I have seen dollar store items costing more then there then the dollar store.. WT Bleep?

Now having said that.. there are still sale days to be had, bag day’s or super saver pricing can be found, you just need to watch for it and snap it up when it comes.

Myth 2 -It will always be there..

there is so much stuff that needs to find a home.. this was true before kijji and facebook market place.. and it depends on where you live again.. but locally in my neck of the woods.. the second hand shops that support amazing community programs are seeing drop off of donations..

This is coming from a number of different places..

first people are not buying the “cheap” one season clothing at the rate they used to be.. don’t believe me.. have a look at how many clothing stores that made their living off.. fast and cheap “fashion” clothing have closed down in the past five years..

There is a huge amount of people that are starting to buy higher quality stuff but this means that they want it to last, they look after it better and they are not buying new replacement gear and dropping off bags of things to the second hand stores.

We are seeing a lot of pulling back due to the unspoken recession we are living in.. you do not go buy new plates or new chairs or new “keep up with the jones” stuff when you are worrying about making your regular payments.. you keep what you have.. and that means much less donations.

They say that there are a huge amount of Canadian’s that are less then 200 dollars left in the bank between paychecks.. food is more important then keeping up with “the next fad”

Then you have the fact that those who do know the value of their items are doing their best to sell them in the marketplace instead of giving them away.. this massively decreases the funneling at the community thrift stores.

There are more and more estate sales or farm sales as instead of more being given away, the next generations do their best to get every dollar out of what was left.

Last but not least (and there are more I am sure) when you have the crazy housing crunch we are in and you have generations living together.. you are not combining multiple houses.. you are never buying or filling that next house..

Just as they are doing their best to keep elders in place at home, they are working hard and rightly so to keep generational wealth within the family.. which means less is being given away.

Myth 3- Older stuff is better quality

That is true and I know it, I have so many things in my home for that very reason.. but here is the catch..

Most of the really good stuff, the sturdy made, the made to last a lifetime items.. they are the most likely to be sent to market place, they are most likely be the things asked for by one of the grandkids..

The simple truth is that its getting harder and harder to find those type items at the second hand shops.. Its far more common now to see and find the cheaper items..

This is beyond cherry picking.. this is the new normal.. its been 40 years give or take since company’s turned one after another from being well built to being sent oversea’s to being made with plans that its only good for one year, five years or ten years..

See the issues.. its a simple math one..

Built to last stopped 20 to 40 years ago..

Most of the stuff in the thrift stores right now are made in the last 10 years..

Crap is crap no matter where its at.. regular stores, reduced store, dollar stores or thrift stores..

Now that does not mean that I am saying don’t go there.. go but lower your expectations and do not plan on counting on them in the future in the way we used to..

Bonus Issue..

Sadly more and more households are being totally wiped out due to climate issues, fires burning out whole houses, whole area’s.. Flooding taking out houses, whole streets, whole communities.

What can be saved after a natural disaster in terms of damage is very limited.. and when people are gifting out extra’s.. they are more likely to give privately

Those folks that do not have insurance or more likely was greatly under insured of turn to the market place and the thrift stores to help redo their homes.. While there is nothing wrong with this.. it does put another downward pressure on the system that at one point was used as a buffer for the low income families in our area..

That buffer is getting thinner..

Posted in At the kitchen table | 28 Comments

Lets talk about Health for a moment..

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Well, Its almost the end of Oct and I am still coughing.. Sigh..

I have had some very supportive folks, supportive comments but I have also gotten the “are you still sick?” Wow.. sick again? (uh, no, still sick..) and the boy you are sure sick a lot..

So I figured this post is a good idea to share some things and because I can NOT be the only homesteader that has had a bad health year or reduced health and how do you deal with it!

The first thing to talk about is the “cold/flu” or at least that is what I thought it was until I went to the doctor and its viral and they call it the 100 day cough.. 100 days is VERY long time..

when you have already been sick for three weeks and the doctor looks at you and says another 2 to 6 weeks before you really start to feel better, we can’t really fix it.. your body needs to.. here is what I can give you meds and inhalers.

Now for my hubby that means that he is still coughing five weeks into it and that he is tired but working and dealing..

For me however these is far more going on..

Body recovering from pregancy
Body recovering from Losing the wee one
Body hormones totally out of wack! (first period finally came and then lasted a full two weeks.. which was checked but still brutal and wearing)
Throw in some low blood pressure (better then high I know)
Then put the 100 day viral infection on it

If I am well in another month, I will jump for joy.. honestly though, it took months and months to change my hormones and it will take months and months to try and work to bring them back to normal.

Now lets talk about the other thing that is effecting me

weight gain

Its a factor, I know its a factor.. I had gotten down 3 sizes and I could really see how much it was helping me in so many ways.. I have gain back 2 sizes over the past year, between the back injury and the wee one.. I stopped losing and started gaining.

I feel it big time! and it must be dealt with.. One meal at a time.. one day at a time..

So I have cut out milk and most milk products for the past few weeks as it’s one of the worst food for making mucus. I really miss my milk but it has made a improvement in my cough and the critters loved getting it in different ways while hubby was gone and hubby has a very dry cough and does not seem bothered by the milk..

For about 10 days, I was at the point that what you eat makes a difference on how you feel.. its not until you are truly ill that you are reminded that different foods digest at different rates and some are much easier then others..

I really lowered my meat intake and increased my baked or mashed veggies or soup intake.. Some things just sit better when you are not feeling well..

I am lucky to have a mate that can do the main basic chores when needed but I am the full time farm worker and boy can you tell that I have been on part time for months now..

So many things need work done on them.. and its not hubby that needs to pull more weight, he already is gone for 12 hours total a day for his full time job.. One person can only do so much.

There are no children to help even on small things, no adult children to come home and give a hand and no grandkiddo’s for the same reason.. So often on many many homesteads there are many hands to make things work.. there are visits and helping hands given..

In my case I had called in a few work days and a few work projects from friends and I am grateful to the max that they came, they worked, they helped.. It got done!

However fall is here.. winter prep is here.. so much to do and I am not even truly well enough to be doing part time (I consider part time hours to be 2 to 4 work hours daily or at least a solid 5 days a week)..

I am keeping the house (barely) to and making meals.. the energy I did have went into putting up the food from the gardens, then the energy I had while hubby was gone was put 100 percent into making sure my critters care needs were meet.. Each day I would drag myself out and do feed out, water, haul, and such.. there were days where I could do one pen and then rest, then do sheep hay and then rest.. then do horse hay then rest.. haul the hose and a chair and rest..

I don’t care how sad it looked.. what I care about is that everyone was feed, watered and pens and such kept up.. that is what mattered to me..

Now I need to focus on feeding and moving my body back to health.. I will keep you posted on how it goes.. I am aiming for a general update say every two weeks or once a month..

Anyone ever been told they have low blood pressure, while they are running a few more tests, they believe at this time its pregnancy related and hormone related.. I hope they are right as there were a few more things on that “low blood pressure” list that were a touch more worrying.. any advice anyone would like to share about low blood pressure, I would love to hear it! Send me links, tell me about your own journey.. share this or that? I am all ears?

On with the day.. on with the day!

Posted in Health | 14 Comments

Pumpkin Carving From The Bottom

Posted on October 27, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Once a long time ago.. the lovely lady that writes this blog and I were collage roommates.. I still remember that halloween with her.. I have never seen anyone as excited to clean and roast and eat her pumpkin seeds..

This post brought back such a warm feeling to my heart know she is sharing that joy of this season with her littles..

Read on for a great treat and tip on how to make your pumpkin this year!

Different From the Ordinary

This is a picture of my daughter cleaning the guts and seeds out of a pumpkin. You probably can’t tell by looking at this picture, but she’s cleaning it out from the bottom end, and not through the top, as is usually done.

I learned this little trick years ago and it’s saved me from COUNTLESS moments of burning my fingers trying to angle the lighter so as to light the candle wick instead of my fingers. I don’t care what anyone says – this sort of task does NOT improve over time and practice!

However, if you cut the pumpkin from the bottom, you can make a place for your votive candle (by scooping out some of the shell) so that it sits safely. When you place your completely carved pumpkin over the bottom piece, it’s a bit of a challenge to line it up *just right* so that…

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Posted in Life moves on daily | 3 Comments

Reworking Kitchen Garden Plot 1 and 3..

Posted on October 27, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Yesterday was one of those perfect fall day’s, sunshine, light cool but not cold breeze, falling leaves and a willing husband who wanted a full day of physical work. I on the other hand, wrapped myself in way to many layers, hauled a chair with me so I could sit and took to short walks and then leaned on things.. but at least my mouth moved and was helpful in the work process. (I also cooked and prepared meals etc)

The first order of the day was to finally finished moving the last of the natural cedar mulch, there was 18 wagon loads of it left to be moved.. because I wanted it moved to the very front paths of the kitchen garden pathways.

This is the view of Kitchen Garden Bed 1 on the left in the photo..

It meant that we needed to fix the issue with kitchen garden bed 1.. Now I put so much soil to level this bed out this spring and it produced like a house of fire.. But the soil leached on the yard side.. with no real break between the bed and the pathway.. they were already blending in a way that I knew was a issue and would continue to be a issue.

So edging is the answer.. 4 six foot older pulled posts were laid into the ground to create a bed edge.. the pathway was cleaned out, at least a dozen rooted out strawberry plant runners where taken out and that pathway was refilled with a number of cedar mulch.

Then it took 4 wagon’s of well done rabbit compost added at the rate of a 1 inch layer over the whole bed.. And then 8 wagon’s more top soil over top of the compost to finish filling up the KG Plot 1.

I am still struggling how I want to cover that new soil.. I am not keen on having it left bare for the winter.. leaves I think will be the answer.. we will see.. This plot has been worked, feed and prepped to be a root garden next year. I am hoping to work it as a two season garden.. I want two plantings out of it..

Below is Plot 3 (my widest plot of all of them and the back side is done with a wood stopper to level out the bed.. This bed is a full 6 feet across and 22 feet long.

Kitchen Garden Plot 3 had a wood chip cover on it that will need to be turned into the soil and does not make plot 3 a good choice for fine seed planting next year.. however plot 3 was a multi-growth plot.. It produced a massive amount of food and its sheltering a large number of little shrubs in the back row that will hopefully live to be moved next spring into their prepared more full time gigs.. The big row of pinks are still flowering and so I have not pulled them yet..

Still 4 wagon loads of well done rabbit compost was placed on the bed on both sides of the flower row, and once they are dead and pulled out, we will turn it in to the whole plot.

We also added rabbit compost on top of the rhubarb plant in plot 2 and on top of the strawberry bed, once it dies back a bit more.. It also needs soil top up.. The pathways around plot 1, 2, 3, circle garden and rock garden all got full re-bedding down.

The perk of Plot 2 is that its all come backs.. other then trimming some of them down, and splitting in the spring to give them extra space and to have splits to move to other parts of my garden.. its done for the year as well.

One plot at a time it will get done and next year.. I am very hopeful that we will have much more of our normal garden on the go!

So are you putting your garden’s to bed.. how much compost do you like to put on them in the fall? What improvements are you working on? Did you have a new area that you did this year? what did you like about it? what did you find needed improvement? What is your plan on getting it to work harder for you in 2020?

Posted in Gal in the Garden Series, Garden | Tagged compost, garden plots, Herbs, Homestead Medical Plants, Kitchen garden, preparing a garden area for root veggies, putting your garden plot to bed in fall, rabbit compost | 4 Comments

Eggless Butterless and Milkless Cake Recipe

Posted on October 26, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

This is a old fashioned Wartime cake.. That is a lot of sugar but most of the older recipe call for so much sugar in them.. however it helped preserve the food at that time.. Plus people were working harder physically then.

Posted in canadian wartime recipes | Tagged Butterless cake recipe, canadian wartime recipes, Eggless cake Recipe, milkless cake recipe, old cake recipes, wartime recipes | Leave a comment

Meat Chicken 2019 Overview

Posted on October 25, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

I now know why people raise White Rock Chickens.. Yeild and returns!

Now I have to own up to a few things.. before I get to costs

I over grew them.. I fully admit this.. I would have had less weight if I had butchered them on time but I was hurt and could not butcher them in mass. instead. I would do four or six.. then four or six.. and repeat.. This meant that we went from the nice little 3 to 4 pound chickens to the point that I had single breasts coming in at over 2 pounds on its own.. that would over 4 pounds of breast on the biggest males butchered before you even got to the rest of them.
I did not send them out to be butchered, this is reflected in the final pound per price cost. If you have to add in the cost of hauling, the cost of butcher per bird, the price per pound would go up.. on the other hand, it would have been done in a way that you could sell a few as farm gate and recoup some costs if you wanted to do that.
I cut feed costs once they reached size by limiting their growth rate( I can not even imagine how big they would have gotten without this limiting) I used lower protein grains, garden and farm fodder and I also feed leftover cheese making whey or milk based clabber.
I cut costs because I cut them up and used either the Reuseable Tupperware freeze its or I canned them, or I made broth and canned either broth or meaty chicken bits in broth for future soups or stews.. This means I also removed “single ” use costs of freeze paper(lowest cost) or the shink wrap bags (cost a touch but still good in price but bad in single use and folks its heat melted plastic on your homegrown meat) or vaccoom sealed (most costly plastic wise and at least its cold plastic on your meat as the air is pulled out and into the freezer. I have already invested in the jars and only have lid and power costs (but they are in the canning costs for the year) and I have already invested the full output for the freeze its..

So that brings me down to the nuts and bolts.. The chicks, feed and bedding cost me a total “hard cash” output of 320.50.. I am not at all sure how to count the farm output. so I am not.. those things are extra’s and if they did not go to the birds (as we did not have a pig) then they would have gone to the compost and not given me a meat yield return as well as a manure yield return.

They gave me a crazy (overgrown yield of) 276 pounds of chicken when averaged out between the average normal butcher size, the overgrown butcher size and the last four that where like small turkey size… which breaks down to 1.16 cents per pound..

So that would have put my smallest birds at the 4 pound weight which is the standard roaster in the store at 4 to 5 dollars vs the 12 to 18 it costs in the store at the moment.

The big guys.. even if you just look at the breast cost.. the weight to the weight in the store.. one bird alone was producing two breasts that weighted as much as a 4 breast package in the store which depending on the day ranged between 20 to 28 dollars per..

Bottom line.. I expect the Meat Chickens to be the lowest end cost of meat per pound out of all the meat raising plans for 2019..

We will get meat birds again next year.. and ideally I will butcher at a better timing on them..

Posted in farm, frugal | Tagged Meat chickens | 4 Comments

46 years is in the rearview.. 47 is in front of me!

Posted on October 25, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

Yesterday was my birthday.. I asked for and got the birthday present I asked for.. I asked for Jason to take the day off work and spend the day with me on the farm. I also got a big fuzzy warm blanket.. Perfect!

Supper was homemade Chinese.. fresh veggies and home grown chicken in a touch of sauce.. It was lovely! Not fancy, not rich.. just right

I am going to copy what I wrote on my personal facebook yesterday.. I can’t say it better today then I did there..

“Today I turn 47.. My 46 year was truly a bitter-sweet year.. illness, injury, unexpected joy and deepest sorrow. Jason Sharp has been with me though it all.. I raise my glass and my heart to you dear! I am so grateful to have you in my life.. Beyond words..

There has been the unexpected in making new friendships that I hope to enjoy for many years to come.. There has been a deeping of friendships for which I am grateful for from folks both near and far.. Hugs!

There have been so many amazing moments, There have been firsts, first meetings, and there have been renewals.. all of which hold a special place in my heart.
.
there is a renewed sense of closeness with family and dear friends.. this is a OUTSTANDING BLESSING!

I am happy that 46 is in past and that 47 is wide open waiting.. I don’t know what it will bring.. Each day is new again.. Each day a blank page waiting to be written, to be filled, to be felt..

To be Lived!”

Posted in Life moves on daily | 12 Comments

In memory..

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Just another day on the farm

https://www.connelly-mckinley.com/obituaries/verla-sharp/

Jason is still in Alberta and today is his mothers funeral service.. Details listed above.

Hubby headed to the walk in clinic yesterday as he has the same cough and sickness as I do, the doctor says that its viral, and he got a inhaler and other meds and was told 2 to 6 week more of coughing to clear it..

I have been so sick this week.. I also needed to get some care and I am also on inhalers and meds and have been told another 4 to 6 weeks to shake the cough fully.. At least the doctors know what it is and that is making the rounds..

The coughing, lack of sleep, fever and more just take what energy I have left after chores, I must get to town but I have just not been well enough to do so..

On one hand there is nothing I “need” in town, I can manage on the farm and the pantry for ages really..

But I do need to get to the bank, the post office and such.. I have people wanting for things and I am aware of it.. I hope to be strong enough to get to town today.. We will see.. I have had a few very bad coughing fits but the chores are done. I hope to have a rest and then see if I can go into town this afternoon.

The critter are all good, the pasture critters are fully on hay at this time.. We got rain for the last day and half and the land really needed it.. I am not sure that working in the rain was helpful to me at all while being sick but I got it done.

Its been a week of sickness, a week of working behind the scenes getting everything ready for today for the hubby, a week of being mentally drained..

I hope your week has been good.. Despite everything going on..

I have stopped and enjoyed the fall colors outside my window, the reds, the yellows.. I adore fall, Always have.. Always will..

I have stopped and enjoyed watching my chickens in the yard.. such happy colorful birds.. the little chick that snuck though to be hatched and raise by its chicken mom and turkey grandmother lol is a girl.. so she will have a home here for life..

I have been grateful for phones that allow us to keep touch with loved ones, facetime is wonderful to see each other.. quick little texts to keep in touch and make sure I am back n the house safe and that the next thing on hubbies never ending lists have the next thing done.

I have been so grateful for dogs that cuddle in and press themselves close and seem to shove healing thoughts and love towards me.. for purring cats, there is something so soothing about the purr..

I am so grateful for Dezbot who has been outstanding as working dog this week.. she has stepped up.. I have not needed to do more then stand and give her commands.. its like she knows I am not well and she looks to me for directions but does just what I have asked..

I am grateful for well trained sheep that let my little sheepdog boss them around lol

I am grateful for a warm house, a clean bed, steamers, EO’s and air cleaners..

I am beyond grateful for hot running water, washing machines and heat on demand ( I have never forgotten being sick by myself in my cabin way back in the woods with my wood stove and hauling in water.. I often think if not for my dogs on each side of me on that little bed that I am might have just froze.. I learned that lesson well.. living alone while living rough can be scary as it gets when it comes to being sick)

I am so blessed with the pantry I have put up and built.. the ability to just pull things and heat soup or stew, eat fruit and more.. I have not “cooked” in days.. and yet I have been eating healthy.

I am grateful for the friend’s that the few times I have reached out, are right there for me..

I am grateful for the friends that understand that I need to cancel and they will be there for when things calm down without resentment.. bless you!

I am grateful to be here and now..