Posts Tagged ‘Brianne’

Figuring Out Fall

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Daylight peers over the horizon on a breeze of hot August air as I lay in bed contemplating the coming fall. The plans I had for getting ready for fall have been put on hold, at least while the temps push towards triple digits. With Brianne moving to college and the loss of an extra pair of hands I’m nervous that all I need to accomplish won’t get done in time. Even though we often have Indian Summers that last into October I’m still scared. But, if I know one thing it is that you reap what you sow. If I concentrate on the negative instead of the positive only negativity will enter my world, so I stay upbeat about what I have done and what I can do to get ready for winter.

So, here’s where we are. The greenhouse has a floor and windows; a door and framed sides, but no roof, at least not yet. Every day, from the break of dawn until the temperature drives me inside I work on enclosing the greenhouse using clap board I found on Craigslist. Once finished I will have all my gardening supplies in one place and will start seeds for a fall garden.

A new batch of meat birds are scheduled for early September. A replacement for the ill fated early summer batch that went to the opossums or were put down for safety’s sake.

And, if all goes well this time I’ll have a freezer full of chicken before we celebrate Halloween and eating homemade pot pies when the weather changes.

On the firewood front—I have about ½ cord laid in, but need 3 more to keep my house warm and homey during the winter months. With Brianne taking her truck with her to school the process of getting firewood and transporting it will be slow, but like the tortoise, it will get done, eventually. Labor for heat, not a bad trade-off.

I am taking stock of my pantry and supplies laid by and plan to bring in more staples before prices increase. Staples are at the top of my list and I’m hoping to trade avocados and lemons for some pork raised by a friend.

Good news! looks like my hard fought for refi will go through, finally, decreasing my mortgage by several hundred dollars. I’m also reevaluating other expenses and crunching down where I can. We’re not hard up, never really have been, but I have future plans to move to a less populated place in the country (more on that as it unfolds). Anything I can save is money that stays in the bank, to pay off my house and work towards my own freedom. It may seem like dog paddling, but my head is above water and that’s success in its own right.

All these projects are slow to progress, but they do progress. It’s all figured out in my logical head in the bright light of day, but come the darkness of night emotions and uncertainty seep in, shaking my confidence. I try not to go there. As long as I put one foot in front of the other I feel in control. Everything will be done. I know it. I have family and friends to help with the big stuff and gladly they are willing to do so. I was feeling unsure last night, but I’m not going there tonight. I have me list, my plan and a nice cup of chamomile tea to carry me through.

I’m staying the course, folks. Nothing will slow me down.

Greenhouse Going Up

Saturday, August 18, 2012

My long awaited greenhouse is in full progress. When it is completed I’ll have a dedicated space for all my gardening tools and supplies, and a place to start vegetable and flower seeds.

Building on a sound foundation for a lifetime of growing and gardening. I can’t believe it only took two days to build the floor.

Old wood frame windows and an antique Victorian style door gives the greenhouse loads of light and the vintage charm I’m looking for.

Aged tin roofing will cover the outside walls below the windows and rough sawed pine clapboards covering the outside walls around the windows and all the interior walls will complete its shabby chic look.A recent hot spell and Brianne’s pending move to college has slowed us down a bit, but not for long. We should be back at it when I return from helping her move next week.

Planting shelves will be added, along with a sink and faucet for watering new seedlings, a soil mixing bin for seed starter mixtures, storage areas for small items, hooks for gardening tools and my collection of old sprinklers, and containers for seeds and other supplies. No more running from one place to another to find what I need.

The greenhouse looks west, out over the garden that is currently in transition. An added seating area will be draped in plush cushions and a table for evening respites.  The flickering light from lanterns and candelabras will bath the area in a soft glow.

Outbuildings such as this are as much about pleasure and serenity as they are about functionality. In a few weeks I’ll be kicking my feet up with a cold drink in my hand after planting flower seeds and my new fall garden, mark my words.

Moonlight Yoga and Moving On

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

I had the most wonderful evening last night. My dear friend, Anne, and I went to a moonlight yoga class at the beach. What a wonderful experience. We got to the park, over looking the ocean at about 7:45pm. The weather was cool and the fog was just beginning to roll in off the calm sea. The grass had just been mowed and the smell of sweetness mixed with the salt air made the evening even more relaxing. The class started out slowly with lots of easy stretches and deep breathing; just what I needed after these last few weeks of hectic schedules and preparations for Brianne leaving for college next month.

As the class progressed I could feel the tension in my body drift away. I have to admit I did think about my ability to move the next day, but frankly didn’t care I was having too much fun. The sun began to set and the fog thickened as we moved into longer and more difficult poses. We breathed in the damp air, looked out over the horizon and watched the stars get brighter. The moon began to shine, hanging low over the horizon. It was amazing…cool air, stars, moon, crashing waves. By the time the class finished darkness had fallen completely. We laid on our mats for a few moments longer, not wanting to leave this quiet place.

When I woke this morning I had none of the feared aches and stiffness I expected. I was refreshed and rejuvenated, eager to start a new day and a new way of living. This is my beginning of a life that does not revolve around sheep and shows and a daughter.

And, I am beginning in earnest. My long awaited greenhouse now has a floor and the walls will be finished by the end of the weekend. I will post pictures as we go. I’m excited about all of it. I can now keep my gardening supplies all in one place and the planned for patio on the front will be a nice place to sit and look out over the garden area. There’s so much I want to do there doesn’t seem to be time for it all, but I’m having fun making plans and setting projects in motion.

I’ll raise a glass tonight as I enjoy a country western swing concert followed by our annual fireworks display. Here’s to moving on into a new stage of life!

Chick Arrival!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

baby chicks

Actually they arrived early yesterday morning. My friend and fellow poultry raiser, Angela, was kind enough to let me tack on my 15 to her order. So, yesterday morning more than 50 peeping, fluffy chicks were delivered by the US Postal Service to the Post Office in our area. After they arrived, Angela and her kids set about the task of removing each chick from the shipping box and making sure they got a good drink of water and something to eat. They were then nestled in the warmth of their brooder box until each new owner picked them up. Angela left me a message that our future dinner entrees had arrived, but work and meetings and errands and dinner with my daughter prevented me from picking them up until late in the evening. Read the rest of the story »

Ending on a High Note

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Bakersfield Victorville

Well folks, we did it. We finished our last show of Brianne’s 10-year sheep showing career this past weekend with a two-day show and we ended it on a high note. She won 2 Reserve Champions with each one of her lambs and placed second to the top showman in the state in showmanship both days. I couldn’t have asked for better.

It seems like only yesterday that this shy little girl stepped into a livestock show arena for the very first time; untrained, unsure, unaware of how this livestock show thing worked. But, over the years she has gained confidence, knowledge about raising livestock, skills in presenting her animals to their best, respect from fellow competitors and made a ton of friends along the way. We have traveled thousands of miles over the years, shown in some of the worst weather California could throw at us and come out the other side strong, committed and even more dedicated to what we were doing. It isn’t all about buying lambs and winning prizes. It’s about building a foundation for what Brianne wants to do in her adult life, and clearly that will include raising sheep.

Bakersfield Victorville Sheep Show

yosemite

At the end of the weekend our friends took one of the lambs north and delivered it to its new owner, a friend up north whose daughter will take it to the state fair. The other lamb came with us and was dropped off to its new owner, a friend who will show him at our county fair. It was strange though, coming home with an empty trailer, no lambs to settle back into their home, no equipment to unload, clean, reload waiting for the next show weekend, and when 6pm rolled around we hardly knew what to do with ourselves. We usually feed at 6 then work on showmanship in the cool of the early evening, but not this night. It was oddly quiet. Sure there where chores we could have done, projects we could have worked on, but our routine was out of sorts, broken. The block of time set aside each night for sheep related tasks was empty and silent.

But, life is all about change and we have to change with it or become stagnant. So now Brianne is going in her direction…an internship with an agricultural company, then off to college in August. After that who knows what the future holds. She wants a farm of her own, a flock she can hold on to and not sell off after each show season that much I do know. She is already connecting with large breeders she can work for while in college and hopefully work with when she is finished.

In the short term I’m taking back my farm starting with a new batch of meat chicks and a greenhouse, then moving forward with new garden areas, fruit trees and more vegetable beds, and raising a pig for the freezer. There are plans in the works, laying the foundation to move from my little suburban homestead to a larger farm, but for now those are only plans rolling around in my head. When I look at the horizon I see a world of possibilities, not next weekends show. How quickly we change and move on.

It’s been a long ride, folks, and a good one. I wouldn’t have changed it for anything.

27-Days of Change – Week 2

Friday, May 4, 2012

WEEK 2:

PHOTO HERE

We had a bit of a rocky start to this day and ended it with a kitchen disaster. Such is life!

Brianne jetted out the door at the crack of dawn to a cattle showmanship workshop and I was right behind her an hour later on my way to a garden tour. Needless to say our morning of French toast and homemade sausage never materialized.

By 2pm though, we were back at the house and using last night’s lamb and leftover greens to make a delightful salad.

I was so inspired by the tour and our new commitment to eat local that I swung by the farm stand on my way home to pick up mushrooms for an onion, spinach & ‘shroom quiche. I’ll use the extra spinach and mushrooms to make a spinach salad and toss it in vinaigrette made with avocado oil, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and onions. I got the recipe from a friend years ago and it has been on our summer hit list ever since; perfect on a spinach salad. Oh – and the egg for the quiche and spinach salad? Our girls of course.

By the time the quiche was out of the oven, 35-minutes later, the dishes were washed and in the drying rack and the kitchen was pretty much cleaned of our cooking experiment. It’s time for dinner, putting my feet up after a long day and relaxing to our homemade meal.

Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll get my French toast.

Oh—great news on new finds in our county. Just over the hill is an organic honey tasting room; I’ve passed it for years, but never had a chance to stop…until now. I was able to taste about a dozen different kinds of honey, from citrus to sage to wild buckwheat. It was amazing the difference in strength and color seeing side-by-side. I bought a jar of citrus, which will taste great in tea and when used in some of my baked goods.

I also found a small farm business on the other side of the county that presses their own olive oil. The drive would be a bit far (almost 40 miles) to buy the occasional bottle, but happily they sell at the Thursday Farmer’s Market. So far I’ve sourced milk, honey and oil locally. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Onion-Dijon Spinach Salad Vinaigrette

2 Tbsp onion, grated

4 Tsp Dijon mustard

¼ Tsp pepper

1 Tsp salt

4 Tbsp white wine tarragon vinegar

1 cup avocado oil

9 Tsp lemon juice

After grating onions place all ingredients in a food processor and blend well. Chill before using.

27-Days of Change

Monday, April 30, 2012

WEEK 1:

So far the first week of our 27-day challenge has been an easy one thanks to a well stocked pantry and freezer. The trick has been to use what we already have in new and interesting ways. New marinades, different seasoning combinations or interesting cooking methods can bring new life to routine meals.

For breakfast Brianne and I have poached eggs on toast. The eggs are collected daily from our own hens and the bread is baked from ingredients I have on hand. Brianne eats an extra piece of toast with blueberry jam, canned last summer from berries picked a few miles up the road. It is the perfect start to our morning (and our challenge).

I contacted my friend Angela who buys raw milk from a private dairy. It’s not in the county, but I think it will be within a hundred miles; still waiting on a response.

Lunch has been egg salad sandwiches on baked bread with sliced peaches canned this past fall from our own peach tree or chicken salad made from broilers we raised by hand, processed ourselves and frozen to sustain us throughout the year. While running errands to the feed store we snacked on Grandpa’s homemade venison jerky, made last fall from his wild harvest, and lemonade made from my neighbors lemon tree.

One of our dinners this past week was grilled lamb chops with an Asian marinade, sticky rice and cucumber salad drizzled with rice vinegar. The cucumbers were hydroponically grown and came from the farm market. The lamb was home raised and harvested last fall, and the rice and other marinade ingredients came from the pantry. We washed it all down with a refreshing glass of mint tea, fresh picked from the garden right before brewing.

All-in-all this week has been a great start to our 27-day challenge.

Asian Marinated Lamb Chops

1 pound shoulder chops (any chop will work)

1 cup soy sauce

1 Tablespoon fresh minced garlic

¼ cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

½ Teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 Scallion, sliced thin

½ Can crushed pineapple

  • Combine all ingredients except lamb chops to make marinade.
  • Place chops in baking dish and cover with marinade. Cover and let sit for 3 or more hours.
  • Grill until about medium doneness, but still pink in the middle.
  • On stove, cook down marinade for topping on rice.

The Duck Diaries

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Coming Soon!!

On Friday I will be picking up my new batch of meat ducks. I’m so excited to be starting this new venture in meat production. We will pick up six Pekin and six Rouen ducklings on the way to one of Brianne’s last sheep shows of her career. It’s sad to think of this coming to an end, but the addition of the ducklings will take our minds off the close of this chapter. The long drive north will be broken up by stops to feed stores to replenish sheep feed with the main stop being Metzer Farms.

I spent part of the morning gathering up the supplies I will need to make their long journey to our homestead a safe and comfortable one. A large plastic storage bin will serve as a temporary brooder box. Inside it I packed heat lamps, a one-gallon waterer, a feeder, a roll of paper towels to line the bottom of the bin so their little duck feet won’t slip, potentially causing injury. I also packed six pounds of Quick Grow Kracketts, a high protein starter mash specifically made for new chicks, ducks and turkeys. All is loaded in the back of the truck. Now we just wait for Friday to arrive.

When I decided not to replace the Sebastopol gander we lost last year I called Metzer Farms and asked if I could trade the value of the gander for an equal value in meat ducks. They were happy to oblige. I’m excited to be visiting them again. It’s so wonderful to see the pastures of breeding stock roaming around and the large brooding houses are quite something. If we leave early enough in the morning maybe we will have time for a short tour. One can hope, right?

There are three main breeds used for meat duck production – Pekin, Rouen, and Muscovy. After some research and reading I decided to raise the Pekin and the Rouen because of the quality and flavor of their meat; and, because the Muscovy are a little freaky looking with the caruncle’s on their heads. I know, sounds wimpy of me, but I can’t help it. The thought of eating an animal that looks like that is just too, too off-putting. My selection was good for another reason…Metzer only sells Pekin and Rouen.

There you have it folks! In just 49 days we’ll go from ducklings to dinner entrée as I post the whole process here in the “Duck Diaries”. So, stay tuned!

3 Days to Food Security

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Food security

On Friday, Brianne and I drove to a nearby horse farm to collect a load of aged manure to fill the raised beds I made back in January. It was a horrible day for working outside, another wind storm blew through our area, kicking up dust and dirt, making it hard to breathe let alone see. But, no progress could be made on the garden until the beds had been filled with a mixture of manure, compost and soil. We don’t produce enough compost so I always need to augment what we have, and given the chance I’d rather shovel for free than buy what I need. As the wind howled, we shoveled rich black composted manure, straw, shavings and hay into trash cans we loaded in the back of the truck.

When we returned home each can was unloaded and dumped into two 4×12-foot raised beds, 3 cans per bed. Afterwards, each manure pile was raked level and large clumps were broken up, then a layer of mixed compost and soil was added and the whole dirt, compost, manure pudding was mixed up and re-leveled.

By the time we finished the wind was blowing about 50mph. Brianne and I had so much dirt in our eyes, on our face and in our hair we could have planted seeds on ourselves instead of in the garden. We put our tools away, brushed off the dirt and headed into the house for a hot shower and a warm meal.

The next day I pulled out all my seeds to sort and organize. I’m usually not one for throwing seeds away, but this year I decided a good seed box cleaning was in order, so I sorted the seed packets by the year they were packaged for, finding several dating back to 2001; anything older than 2009 will go into my compost bin garden. Appropriately named because any time I throw seeds into the compost (which isn’t often), they end up growing, which is why I hate throwing out seeds. Read the rest of the story »

The Storm that Never Came

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The storm that was supposed to arrive last night never materialized. It skirted us and headed south; a sad turn to be sure. Our rainfall this season has barely reached 6 inches and with our wet season almost over this can only mean one thing…we’ll be watering sooner and more often than usual this spring and summer.

Not music to my ears, I can tell you. Our water rates have already gone up 5 times in the last year and another rate hike is slated to begin next month. This coupled with an increase in property taxes, medical insurance premiums and of course gas prices have this farm girl looking down at a pretty thin pocket book. All will turn out well I know. It always does. Anytime I’ve needed answers, they come to me when and how they are suppose to.

But, I won’t just be sitting around waiting for Manna from Heaven though; we’ll hunker down, pair down and keep an eye on our spending until we weather the storm. But, I have to say, I’d rather be weathering a rain storm instead.

An early spring means getting seeds into the garden sooner which is happy news. Brianne and I are picking up a load of free composted manure on Friday. It will fill the new raised vegetable beds. Hard work shoveling and a morning in the sun is a small price to pay for rich soil and an early harvest of lettuce greens, beets, carrots, radishes and spinach. I’ll plant early maturing crops first, and if time permits, I’ll start cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower in 4 inch pots. The tomatoes I planted last month are almost 3 inches tall now. In another few weeks they’ll be transplanted into larger pots until they are big enough and strong enough to withstand being planted in the garden.

Our rainless day was cold and blustery with winds that howled and cold that seemed to blow right through you. We spent the day at home with a warm fire and a pot of soup bubbling on the stove. There’s no better smell to fill a warm house then that of a hearty soup simmering away; except maybe for bread baking. On days like these I feel like cooking more than usual. There’s just something about being in the kitchen, creating, cooking, feeding a family. I thumbed through my notebook of collected recipes, rumpled from use and splashed from exuberant cooking sessions, and found one I haven’t made in a long time. Read the rest of the story »