Winter is Here

Weather is still pretty cold here and there is a very heavy frost on everything.  Some sun is peaking through the clouds.

Christmas is over and we had a good visit and dinner and now  all is quiet on the home front......not a bad thing for this old girl!  We still have to dismantle the tree but DH will do that.

We had a near slight emergency before Christmas.  We decided to  finally buy new living room furniture after 30 some years and my requisite with the sales person was that there were to be no special orders.....I wanted  it delivered asap in time for the holidays (we had already given away our old pieces and the living room was bare).  I was promised delivery the very next week before the 25th." no problem" was his exact statement.  Cutting to the chase:  The following week, I called and was told  the chair and ottoman and new cocktail (coffee table to me) table  would be delivered but the sofa would be delayed for over a week from Christmas Day!  I shared my opinion of the sales man telling me differently and suggested that they better train staff if they wanted repeat customers or good word of mouth advertising.  He called me back within minutes and said they would bring me the floor sample to use until the new one was delivered (this Friday).  They did and we were very pleased with that arrangement.

Surprisingly, we both liked it very much in our living room.  I am always so worried about that.  Usually I wish I had picked another style......this time, I was happy.  I think it fits our style in that room nicely.

The pictures were taken before any finishing touches.  The delivery people had just left and I took some quick shots.


 It is now December 31, maybe I can finally finish this post.....

I am still getting my kitchen back to normal and emptying out the refrigerator of leftovers. 

Farm

DH is in winter mode of hay feeding and has moved the cows to another section of the farm.  Sometimes if it is very cold, he uses the truck to check cattle.  All is well so far.

Dogs

Some changes have been  made (after chasing puppies two and three times a day when they escaped their building).  We now have Sugar loose.  She is currently laying by the heater in the kitchen.  She is huge, makes me  think of a Great Dane.  The puppies and their mama now reside in Sugars large pen. They are growing rapidly and are almost impossible to catch once they get out. 

Chickens

They are keeping us in eggs but not laying heavily.  They still haven't lost all their feathers....maybe these hybrids don't. 

To Do

Make a batch of mincemeat for my Sis and me.

Clean the back porch (got to get ready for using the plant light stand for seed starting).  This will include getting rid of the tall file  cabinet that is filled  with papers that should just be burned. 

Organize and list all my seeds. 

Saturday on the Farm

Another gray day is looming.

We have only seen the sun for a few hours the last week or so. I don't like these kinds of days.

I think they are even talking snow. Well, it is December.

It has been a slow, normal week here. Daily farm chores and errands.

I finally was able to get out and do the chickens and puppies (morning only) yesterday. Then navigated Walmart for dog,cat  and people food.

Speaking of errands......we are  loosing our Dillons/Kroger store that I went to for all my baking supplies.  They carried a varied and extensive line.  I got all my King Arthur Flours there; Walmart carries only KA's regular unbleached flour.  I think the Bolivar, Mo. stores carries all of their products.  We will be checking them out next week when DH has to get his driver's  license renewed.

Puppies

The puppies are now being confined with just a small pen for sunshine. Mama B. wants to lead them to the road to go exploring. We haven't made permanent plans for them yet.

The two brown ones are very friendly; the black one (with a black roof of mouth) isn't, with me anyway. I am wondering Chow mix?

Chickens

Carolyn at Krazo Acres got me thinking about my chickens and molt. I know mine are not laying well and I just assumed they would be as naked and pitiful looking as her flock. I made a point this morning when letting them out to really take a look and take a few pictures. Mine are looking very good. I don't know if the molt is coming and they are not laying due to reduced daylight hours only or what. You should visit Krazo Acres; that title might give you a hint.  I love her writing and her sense of humor.

Here they are in all their delightful Hyline splendor:

I gathered my two morning eggs.  We will get a couple more later but one of the girls eats an egg now and then so I try to defeat her by taking them early. 

Gardening

Last year  I lost both my seed orders.....ridiculous, I know but I did.  I found one order earlier this fall and while cleaning my storage shelves where I keep all things computer, I found the other order.  I picked up a bubble envelope and heard it rattle.

Still I ordered a few more non-hybrid  things from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds yesterday.  I still forgot the Long Cheese squash seeds.  I brought in my old seeds and will check through them and then pitch everything else.  I am starting new!

Forgive the varied size and style of type.  I copied and pasted from Open Office Document and have failed  to correct it.

Puppies and a New Recipe

No point in doing a catch up post.  All my good intentions of blogging regularly have failed.

So I  will just do a post when opportunity and desire meet head on.

Our weather has been fairly typical of the Ozarks.  Warmer  than normal one week and colder and wetter the next.  We are in a cool period now with the highs expected to be low 40's.  The rains have stayed better than usual which is very good for the pastures.

We are now feeding hay but the cows can also graze.

The puppies are growing rapidly.



They are coming outside now and beginning to wander after Mama  Beagle.  In fact, Tito (the tan one with a blaze face) followed her all the way back to the barn lot where old straw  is stored.  DH couldn't find them so I went out out and began calling....soon Mama B came toward me and I could hear Tito howling and saw him back in the straw.  He came to me  as I got closer and I carried him back to the shed with the others.  We are worried they will follow mama out to the road so have to decide what to do.

Here she has drug up an old piece of stiff hide and they are fascinated with it.  I can watch out the kitchen window and see her 'training' sessions with them.

Food

I made a new recipe yesterday and we really liked it.  It was  from my Iowa Sis.  I forgot to take pictures drat it.

This could be modified by leaving out the wine but I included it even though mine was semi-sweet.  It did not hurt the taste of the sauce.  I also used dried parsley.

I served mine over brown rice with a plain green salad on the side.  I think the cheese toast would be very good too.

French Onion Salisbury Steak

Makes 4 steaks-total time 45 min.

For the Steak:

1 1/4 lb. ground beef

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

2 T. minced fresh scallions

1 t. kosher salt

1/2 t. black pepper

2 T. all-purpose flour

For the Sauce:

1 T. olive oil

2 cups sliced onions

1 t. sugar

1 T. minced garlic

1 T. tomato paste

2 cups low sodium beef broth

1/4 cup dry red wine

3/4 t. kosher salt

1/2 t. dried thyme

Cheese toasts

Minced fresh parsley

Shredded parmesan cheese

Combine ground beef, 1/4 cup parsley, scallions, salt, and pepper. Divide evenly and shape into 3/4 to 1 in. thick oval patties. Place 2 T. flour in a shallow dish; dredge each patty in flour. Reserve 1 t. flour.

Heat oil in a saute` pan over med. high heat. Add patties and saute` 3 min. on each side or until browned. Remove from pan.

Add onions and sugar to pan; saute` 5 min.. Stir in garlic and tomato paste; saute` until paste begins to brown, about 1 min.

Sprinkle mixture with reserved flour; cook 1 min.; stir in broth, wine, salt and thyme.

Return meat to pan and bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to med. low, cover and simmer 10 min.

Serve steaks on Cheese toasts with onion sauce ladled over. Garnish with parsley and Parmesan.

Cheese Toasts:

4 slices Italian bread cut diagonally 1/2 in. thick

2 T. butter at room temp.

1/2 t. minced garlic

Pinch of paprika

1/4 cup shredded Swiss Cheese

1 T. shredded Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bread on a baking sheet. Combine butter, garlic and paprika; spread on bread. Combine cheeses and sprinkle evenly over butter. Bake until bread is crisp and cheese is bubbly. (10-15 min.)

P.S.  On a personal note.  My knee is much better!  I am so delighted I am browsing Seed Catalogs again.

Feeding the Birds Again

It is a dreary drizzly day here, but not very cold.  Looks like the heavy rains may have missed us.

The chickens have begun their off season of laying, the molt.  We are getting 2 or  3 a day now which may keep just the two of us supplied but we may have to supplement from the store.

I hope I have enough for pies for Thanksgiving.

Our granddaughter got in Friday night and will be with us for a week.  They get a full week over Thanksgiving.  She is thrilled because she has very little homework for a change.  We won't see her much I am sure.

The puppies are growing, barking, growling and getting out of the nest.  I am already thinking of doing an impromptu wire pen outside the building so they can get some sunshine but not wander off.


I am trying to handle them each day so they will know what humans are.....

I put out sunflower seeds and the birds are visiting regularly.  I need to buy wild bird seeds for the small birds but so far, they seem to be handling the sunflower seeds.



The birdbath is very close to the feeder hanging outside the window over the sink.

From Birds of 2014

From Birds of 2014

Winterizing and Moving Puppies

Today has been slightly warmer so I decided to get  some  more winterizing  done.  DH is not really a detail man...................

Yesterday I rewired the heater for  the chicken waterer.  Those things never  last over a few years and they are grossly expensive  for what they are.  It was sort of  an unlovely fix, but it works.  No frozen water  this morning.  I also drug the long outdoor  extension  cord out to the chicken house so both the  heater and a light could be accommodated.  Of  course, the hens thanked me  by cutting production in half!!!

I bought a heat lamp for the puppies and we got them relocated today to the east sheds.  The brown one with white on her face seems to be the most lively so far.  They are beginning to get  their eyes open when they aren't squinting them....and are  more active.  I hope they don't wander out of the box/nest.   DH says Mama will see to them.  I hope he is right.



This one once disturbed decided to find a snack,



and had great success,



I had a busy morning before it warmed up enough to venture outside.

I made a batch of peach  and  strawberry jam for the kids.  I  also made a small apple tart for us.

From Food

The skimmings are always reserved for the chef....and her mate:

The foamy stuff is a little tarter but  very tasty.

From Food

and the tart,



I was out of frozen crust so I made up the batch of Nathan's  Never-Fail Recipe (6 crusts) so I now have my crusts in the freezer for Thanksgiving.

I am finished for the day.

Tomorrow I will move  some potted things I didn't get planted to the Milk Parlor for the winter.

Winter May be Here

We are going to be much colder than usual for the next two weeks, even down in the 20's at night. Brrrrr!  Glad we filled the propane tank a couple of weeks ago.

The  leaves are  still falling.  I love how the west yard looks when it is covered.   The best that  I will do and that is a maybe  is mowing them into a windrow throwing next to something that could use the mulch.  I don't  rake and I don't bag.  I often think it is good that we live on a farm and have a 'farm' style yard.  No neighborhood organizations  to remind me  of how untidy I garden. 



The Red Maple is just showing color on one section ??? hope it finishes.

The Pin Oak has a good color this year:



and I have one burning bush left after the front ditch renovation.  This is a seedling nearer  the front tree and  shrub  border in the front  yard.



and the redbud has no leaves but I like the looks of all the seeds.  You can see why it sprouts up all over the yard.



CHICKENS

I was happy to see a nice difference in the yolks of the eggs when I was able to let the range  for a while.  Even DH could see the difference.  I believe  the darker the yolk the better for you the egg.

Of course that little project  came to an end when one of the 'gifted' chickens began eating an egg a day in the nest.  DH thought he knew which one and tossed her  feathered fanny out into the grassy pen.  The problems seems  to be resolved....then yesterday the eggs were dirtier than usual so now we are wondering.  This morning I am going to make a little alley to the back of the larger pen so the main flock can graze again.   Grazing will soon be over because of the freezing temperatures.

This area is now almost bare of green things.  It is amazing how much they can eat.

Puppies are thriving.

Pasta and Puppies

It is a very cool and wet day here on the farm.  We got a lovely l.25 inches of rain yesterday.  Today will be a high 50's day.

New events:  The Beagle had her puppies!  3 little butterballs

I treated myself to the pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid Mixer.  I know it is silly for just us but I have always wanted a  pasta machine.  I did economize and bought it from Amazon  Warehouse at about $60 discount.

First the puppies.

She had them about4-5 days ago.  It took me two days to find them.....she kept coming out of the big barn so I followed her in and  found them in the far north stall snuggled down in a nest of straw.

I didn't  touch them the first time but took a few pictures.  She seems to be a very good mother.



I took these this morning.  I enlisted my grumbling mate to hold them for me....he wanted me to do it but I was afraid I might list sideways and drop one (uneven footing isn't good for me with the knee and dizziness) so I played my poor me card and he did it.

I see he picked up the same white faced brown one twice.  The second brown one has no spots and you can see it (don't know sex yet) in the group shot.  They wiggled and sounded like little kittens the whole time we were fooling with them.  The mama was not overly concerned which was good.



Puppy No. 1:


Puppy No. 2


Puppy NO. 3 is the solid brown with no white on its face.



and now the kitchen fun: 

I got the flat roller, the fettucini and the spaghetti cutters.

I used the recipe in the Kitchen Aid book that came with the set....made a lot of pasta.  I probably won't do that again, but the entire process didn't  take long from start to finish.



I kept one long flat sheet out and cut it with my pizza cutter for large egg noodles.  I sprinkled it with flour and folded it in thirds and cut it very quickly.  I cooked them for lunch and was really satisfied with the taste and texture.  It seemed that every time I made them by hand, I could never roll them thin enough.



I also (as  you can see) bought the cheap version of a pasta rack.  It works fine  for me.

This is one of those things that you do not need in the kitchen, but it was a lot of fun.  DH even came in and watched me.

Now what I need to find out is the best way to preserve the extra pasta.  I dried it and they broke a lot when I slipped them off the rack to bag....If any of you do this, please let me know how you manage it......or am I the only nut in the kitchen!

A Cooking Good Day

Good Saturday morning.  Today is supposed to be much warmer  than normal.   It is rare we in the Ozarks have 'normal' weather. 

I had great plans yesterday to go with the farm manager (DH) when he went to check the cows.  Of  course that didn't fit with his plans.....the old ATV needed gas, needed air in the tires, etc.  I told him to get it ready asap.  We will see this morning how impressed he was with that request.  I haven't been out on the farm in a  very long time. 

I went back to turn the chickens out and found my temporary fence was laying flat.....it looked like something had pushed it in toward the chicken pen.  I did not turn them loose.  I think  we may give them  free range  of the back gardens today.  I want to observe the Beagle to be sure she won't bother them first.

Kris was talking about comparing the fresh, free- range eggs with penned chickens and we could see the difference.  Mine have been confined to bare dirt since our "helpers" quit.  So they really haven't  been exposed  to grass for more  than 3 or 4 days  but I tested this morning and Max could pick out the grass ones over  the others!  I know the penned ones are absolutely fresh and free of drugs, but I feel sure the darker the yolk the better for you the egg will  be. 

OK,  since I couldn't survey the farm, I went back inside and  made chicken and rice soup with the last of the thawed broth and some other leftovers including rice from the evening before's stir fry.

It was very simple.  I diced a remaining chicken breast (from the evening before), tossed it into the soup pot with the broth and rice.  I diced a carrot and a potato and let all simmer until  done.  I am so proud of myself for using leftovers.  I did toss in a few peas right at the last.



While the soup was cooking  I made a small batch of Pear Honey.  I have a Kieffer pear tree and about  all it is good for is making pear honey!  It is a tart and very hard pear.  It is also supposed to be very blight resistant and it is not!

I picked 6 very large pears and let them ripen inside for several days.

Pear Honey

4 cups ground pears
1 cup crushed pineapple (not  drained)
l cup sugar for each cup of fruit.
I also added just a tad of the pineapple juice left in the can to get it started.

Put all in  a heavy bottomed pan and cook very slowly on low or simmer until clear and soft.  It will be thickened by this time.  It takes quite a while.  I used my smallest burner on the gas range with a  simmer plate and just stirred occasionally.

I don't remember it being as pink as this batch was but it turned out nicely and we had it for breakfast on frozen biscuits from yesterday morning.  I always freeze half the biscuits uncooked.

I used my maslin pan.  I don't know how I managed all those years without it.



Once cooking began: I see it is clear here, don't know when it turned pink......



 and finished product.  (Note: I have lost my jar lids so I
 didn't actually seal these but refrigerated them instead) Yes, one jar is half empty after testing yesterday and breakfast this morning.



It mounds nicely on the biscuit,


The only other thing I did was start another bottle of vanilla.  I bought my beans from a new source (Martha Stewart recommends them so they must be good, right?)Beanilla.  I just ordered two packages of 10 each.  The other bulk order didn't last the year  they were supposed to even sealed tightly in a jar.  I had to toss several that were very slimy and  soft!  At the price of the beans, you don't want  to do that often.
 

Lost my Cooking Groove

We are still having  nice fall weather; no killing frost yet.  Most days are sunny but yesterday was a dreary cool, misty day.

I didn't realize about the mist until I went out to harvest more peppers that I had spied during my mowing escapade.  I picked a Walmart sack to bulging full.

Speaking of 'cooking groove', I have had this happen several times in my later years.  When I related it to my older Sis she said she had had the same thing.  What happens is I cook my normal recipes and somehow they don't turn out well.  The first was biscuits that I have made l,000's of times.  I know the recipe by heart.  I knew the dough was too soft but  I kept kneading in more  flour......to no avail.  They tasted fine but  were flatter than they should be and looked really strange.  My last batch of bread made a few days ago weren't top notch.  Yet, I had measured carefully and kneaded as always....bread was not lovely inside.....tasted fine but not primo.  I had better sense than to attempt a cake or pie crust!

This morning, I made biscuits again just to see if the black cloud had passed.  Thankfully, it had and the biscuits were up to my usual standards.


It is such a simple recipe:

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 + cup of shortening (I use lard)
1 cup buttermilk

Cut shortening into flour mix until size of small peas.  Add milk.  Stir until just moistened.  Knead about four times.  Cut into size you like.  Bake at 425 to 450 degrees for about l0  minutes or until brown and done inside.

I talked to my Sis yesterday evening and she had the same cloud in Iowa.  She was making a  chicken casserole and wan ted to double the recipe of 2 cups of chicken broth so she added 4 'cans' instead of 4 cups.......then had to try and drain (after mixing the ingredients) the excess; add more bread, etc.  It was tasty but not as it should have been.  I told I jinxed her by telling  about my issues....Sisters are wonderful.  We often even cook the same  foods on the same day.

Update on the Mower:  We now have a new $55 tire.  The hole was beyond repair.  All that is left is to air up the front tire.  DH even got the tire back on and drove the mower up to the shop......he did warn me  about not driving it until he checked everything out.   My mowing days could be coming to a close (not really).  I do need to finish the area behind the garage before winter sets in.

Along the same Sister lines....two months ago she drove their mower into the mini horse panels (cattle panels) and BIL had to remove the panel to unhook it from the mower.  You could call us the Lucy twins.

Food:

Cooking yesterday was stir fried chicken over rice for DH and fried chicken livers with the same sauce over rice for me.  I sauteed my normal onion and green peppers (fresh from the garden last harvest) with the addition of leftover cooked carrots and broccoli cuts.

I also made my Sis's recipe  for bread pudding only to find DH wasn't too impressed.  The only difference  is it called for  stale white bread instead of Mom's recipe using stale biscuits.  I think I like the biscuit better too.

A Day in the life.........

Well, I got very little done over  the weekend.  I decided to try to organize the upright freezer...........egads.  That led  to taking about 6 Walmart bags of stuff out to the chest freezer.....then, of course, I had to reorganze that one so I would know what we had and where it was located.  I actually made an inventory list and diagram of location.  That will last about a month...........
After standing on concrete for a couple of hours I was done for the day.

Our resulting  lunch was interesting to say the least. I thawed two mystery packages.  One was a favorite spaghetti/cheese bake and the other was some sauteed garden veggies (tomatoes, onion, peppers, squash, and corn).  That last was a nice surprise.  It was as good as fresh.  My Iowa Sis had told me she does that with excess squash because they don't freeze well alone.  I will do it again.  DH even ate his share.

I also thawed three containers of  chicken broth so will  make  a large pot of some soups today.
Pulled a rack  of baby back  ribs out of the chest freezer and will barbecue them in the oven today too.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

I made the soup, minestrone, the ribs, and still have enough broth to do another soup....maybe chicken and rice. 

I decided to do some mowing yesterday afternoon and was delighted that it was not painful.  I  mowed the chicken yard  and around the west end of the garden when disaster struck!  The mower bogged down; I thought it was buried in mulch and tried over and over by turning and backing and pulling forward before I gave up and checked to see what was happening.  The rear large tire  was off the rim and the front one was flat.  I don't know what happened....I did see a broken bottle I got too close  to near the lagoon and I brushed way too close to a steel fence post....My mate was not happy.....This morning we  will take the wheel off and hope that it can be fixed.  The front will just (I hope) need air.

Along the lines of 'when it rains; it pours', I decided to put the 25 gallon sprayer on the the back of the old ATV so I could spray a fence row.  I was told it wouldn't start.  I am hoping a few hours on the charger will take care of that problem.  I need the pressure  of the big sprayer to do a good job on those Elm sprouts.

The next pictures are the results of the neighbor's scroungy  bull getting over on us many times.  They will be sold quickly.  I sure don't want those horns passed along.

Beautiful Saturday Morning!

and it truly is.  We are having perfect fall days and cool nights.  We don't have  much color here yet but we haven't had a frost yet either.  I think our normal date is l0/20 or near that.

I took my first tour of the yard yesterday in probably a month or  so.  I also took the camera.

These are growing all over the yard because of our wonderful rains:



I counted 20 clumps.  I was told by a dairy nutritionist that was a sign of fertile soil.  I hope he is right.

Here is an interesting one.  I did know the name but it escapes me.  I tried to find a  similar one using Google search.  I found one similar but not in this stage or not this exact one.



I still have some nice patches of self-seeded annuals hanging on.  Have you noticed that the salvias get a much deeper and intense blue with cooler weather.



See the pure white strain?  I hope to save seeds but it will probably reappear next year.

This is a wider view of this happenstance clump of self-seeders,



and the dahlias......I planted these bargains from Lowes about 5 years ago and never lift them,



These blooms recurred even after I clipped them back earlier thinking they were done for the year,




I mentioned this little thing last post.  It is another stray that the neighbor called us about.............need I say more.  She is a female who has had at least one litter and I am highly suspicious she may be having another....Oh well, we have never had puppies before.

and a gift for the girls in the henhouse:



He is quite ancient so I don't think he will bother  them to excess.  Our neighbor was moving and she had three hens and this old standby.  She is the one who located our latest batch of Hi-Line hens and didn't want to move hers so gifted us  with them.  Of course, if you know chickens at all, you realize  that this threw them into a turmoil and our production dropped quickly.  I think they are about to get used to each other now. 

Chickens are so funny.  I cleaned out the nests yesterday and before I finished, 3 hens were trying to get into the same nest....with two vacant ones on the same shelf.

September 29 to October 17

I am far behind yet  again.  I haven't  even been doing a private journal.  I  need to get back in my routine of doing it the first thing when I get up.....with my first cup of coffee.

Nothing of real significance to report.

My arthritic knee has not been kind.  I think our cold, rainy  weather could be a contributing factor. I have an email in to the rheumatologist asking how much off-label nsaids and what combination I can take.  The pain is tolerable but it sure  cuts into my doing much extra work.

Enough about that.......

The rains have been wonderful, coming down slow and steady.  I think we are up to about 4.5 inches in the past week.  It still hasn't been enough for fill ponds to overflowing but it sure is making the Fescue grow.

We have put together another of those wood shelves that I like.  I now have them side by side on the porch and have moved all my home canned goods out there.  My next project is to make three more gingham curtains to cover the fronts of them.

I almost have the back porch organized.  I still want to empty a file cabinet and burn all contents and get it off the porch.  I have things from 30 years ago and certainly aren't necessary to keep.  I am a pack rat.

Max is doing all the outside chores now, even milking the cow.  I just go out on days I want to save milk for our  use.  He gets along better with Willow than I do.

Another little (well not  so little if you consider the cost!) irritation. I have new  glasses  and have tried to convince myself for about a month  now that they are working well.......they are not!  I have the graduated bifocal kind which is all I have ever had.  I simply  cannot  find  a  good spot for  clear reading.  I have been getting by with the Kindle but  now have a library book and I can't adjust  the size of the print....I  am calling today! 

Today is bread day.  I always look forward to that.  I have a new  routine and a new recipe.  I am making a 2-loaf recipe of white buttermilk bread for DH and a three-loaf recipe of a whole  grain bread for me.  He will eat both but prefers the white.

Here is  what is popping up all over the yard due to our lovely rains,




and maybe a new dog,

September is Almost Gone

and where did it go?

To be doing absolutely nothing of importance, I am amazed at how fast the time goes.

Life is running pretty smoothly on the farm. We have had lots of fall babies born.  More are showing their Holstein genes this year.  There can't be much Holstein blood left in them, but I was told many years ago by a neighbor that it could flare up out of the blue and that seems to be happening.

I had DH do some pictures for me.  I always enjoy what he takes.  Usually he has a different perspective from mine.

These are of Jewel, the Jersey milk cow and her "baby" that should be weaned very soon1



and Jewel,



This is a shot of the silo and the blue sky above to old barn.

and I will leave this one just to show how we are doing better about piling debris back here.  We now just pile it on the trailer and then we can remove it to the back of the farm,



This is the west end of the Milk Barn (freshly painted) It is just east of the garage where DH was standing,



The chickens are still laying nicely.  They haven't begun to molt yet.  Surely they will and then production drop quickly.

I talked with my Sis yesterday and she was talking about expired driver's licenses....I told her I had never let that happen.....something told me to check.....My license was due on my birthday 9/22/14!  Egads.  Usually the state notifies us; not this time.  Guess where I am heading today!!