Her name is Ginger!

Well fans and followers, it is a great day on the farm!

The temperature is lovely, the sun is shining and we have a cow of our own in the pasture!

Ok, so she has been in the pasture for a few weeks, but she is ours now so that makes it all different.

The previous buyer for her was not able to commit so Melissa offered her to us! She is a bred Jersey (bred to a red dexter bull that throws low birth weight calves). She is due in May, has had all her vaccines and tests, has a bangs tag and has had a little time on the lead rope.

This morning I closed her in the stanchion for her morning cow cookies and hay, and locked the other girls in another pasture. She seemed to relax after a few minutes of brushing, petting and cooing. In the pasture she will come for cookies, but is still a little shy about being touched in the field.

That will pass in time. ;-)

She is very sweet and I am on cloud 9!

Why I love gardening with black plastic!

The top pic is what I found when I uncovered a garden bed today to plant beans.

It looked a lot like the second picture the last time I saw it. Tall grasses and weeds, and in the heat of summer I did not have the inclination or time to weed it properly so I covered it with black plastic and weighted it down with bricks and old potting pots (it has been covered since early July). I did rake the soil once over to smooth it out just before the pic, but that's it! No weeding for this bed!

The second bed is the herb bed that I didn't cover because I knew there were little plants of oregano and lemon thyme still surviving under the jungle.

What I didn't know was that there was a snake hunting in that weed hide-away too!

See: Garden Adventure blog.

:-)

Garden adventure!

So, while pulling weeds today in the one bed I didn't cover with black plastic (didn't want to kill the oregano and thyme that was buried), I had a little adventure.

I am working along the bed (4 x 16') pulling weeds and basically baking in the sun. Max and Cooper are helping, especially Max because he wants to be right next to me in case I uncover a frog or bug that he needs to attack.

I am about 2 feet from the end and and I hear a weird little SQUEEEEK! sound. Max perked up his ears but that's all. I figured it was a frog I must have startled. Well, I stood up to stretch and what of all things but a snake head (triangular shape) sticks out of the chives about 6" from where my hands had just been!

I am really really really uneasy about snakes, and to overcompensate I gave a lecture at a staff meeting once about identifying them (not species specific just poisonous vs. non-poisonous). This guy was in my mind poisonous because of the shape of his head.

I backed away slowly a foot or so and reached for my new deluxe garden hoe. Once in hand I suspended it over him and prayed that when it came down it would find its mark (I closed my eyes for a sec). It did! I stunned him enough to drag it out of the chives (with the hoe of course, I am not going to touch a snake willingly)!

Then I got the hoe positioned on him and tried to push down hard enough to do the guillotine trick. The ground was a little too soft to allow this to work so I did the next best thing--stood on the hoe and took pictures of it to send to Dave (at work) so he could identify the species for me. I was positive it was poisonous because by this time I had seen it did not have a round iris, and the open mouth with fangs was a dead giveaway also. While I had it trapped Max proceeded to try and rip it apart from the tail end, thankfully he left the head alone. I succeeded in damaging it enough that I could get off the hoe and go get a better tool (loppers) to decapitate it. They were dull so there was no quick end to the evil critters life, but I did get the job done and the fang-y part away from the dogs. I let them have the tail end to whip around and kill in their own way.

I eventually got back to the chive area of the herb bed and beat the remaining chives down and around to make sure "where there is one, there are more" didn't apply.

Nope, no more snakes. I did find a couple of inches from where the snake had been, a freshly dead toad with all his legs stuck straight out--I am certain it was his SQUEEEEK I heard--that must have been when he got his dose of neurotoxin poison.

Yikes, I hope we don't see any more snakes this year, Max and I can't handle it!

Wow! I missed you all!

Wow, time has flown. I apologize that it has been so long (3 months) since I last blogged.

It has been a very busy time for us, I'll try to sum it up quickly:

*Job in the Florida region officially started June 1. I fly to Florida or Georgia nearly every week.

*House was on the market until the weekend before school started here-- it did not sell.

*We sold all livestock in preparation for the move.

Two weeks ago our friend Melissa brought over 3 bred cows to eat down our pasture, we are so thankful for that assistance and for the blessing of being able to watch cows again.

Not long after, Dave said we should get a few hens so we can have eggs again. He got the coop up to snuff and I found some on Craig's List--we now have 6 hens!

A couple of days before I was at the feed store buying feed for them and decided on a whim to buy a couple of tomato and cilantro plants. It was not long before I had a whole bed planted with lettuce, kale, celery, garlic, radish in addition to the plants I bought.

The hens had been here almost a week when Dave said "I think you need your own cow"! I had been turning over in my mind for a couple of days how to tell him I desperately needed a cow again! He is so intuitive and sweet.

So fast forward to today, 4 garden beds are planted and we are on the hunt for just the right cow for us. I feel so much better than I have in well, months.

I have not been handling the stress very well, and didn't even realize stress was an issue until about 3 weeks ago when I was getting to the point of snapping at people and feeling tense all the time. The headaches and gastric burn should have been a clue also.

The gardening and re-committing back to the farm has helped me so much. For so long I had distanced myself emotionally to be able to sell the house and it really was beginning to take a toll. In all honesty I don't know what the future holds. I would like to be very close to the Atlantic, and have a small farm so we can have our cow and a garden. I am just that kind of person, I need to be creating in the kitchen, tending to the animals and garden. If we were only a few minutes from the ocean I could use that kind of relaxation too.

The job has been a source of stress, but only on my part with adjusting to the new region and learning to be a hardened traveler. I am certain I could not do this for the rest of my career--the travel part. I am gone from home 2-4 nights a week and often my flights don't get in until very late. This is the hard part--I want to see the kids as much as possible since they will both be gone in 20 months.

And for the record, Dave and the kids seem to be handling it all fine--it must be a mom issue!

So, the plan is to put the house back on the market in Feb or March and see if we sell next summer. If we do, the cow goes with us, if we don't the cow stays.

That's what I call a win-win!

I have some gardening stories from today, but will put those in a different post.

Thanks to all our friends and family for their support!!

Wonderful weekend

It has been a wonderful weekend at home.

Thanks to a dear friend supplying me with milk we not only had the best milk to drink, but I was able to make butter and then make wheat bread with the buttermilk. I have missed cooking and especially cooking with wonderful fresh dairy products!

I also made salsa, it turned out fantastic! Basic recipe:

In a large saucepan, sauté diced onion and garlic in olive oil.

Add to saucepan: 2 quarts diced tomatoes, 1-2 cups of chopped cilantro, 2 TBS chili powder, 3 TBS lemon juice, salt to taste, one jalapeño (chopped and seeds removed), 2 cups banana peppers (or bell) chopped. Heat through, stirring and sampling as needed! Serve warm with tortilla chips and a frozen margarita. Ole'!

The homemade granola, well lets just say it will be repeated!

4 cups oats

1 cup flax seed

1 cup roasted sunflower seeds

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (mine were pre-spiced, leftovers from holiday baking)

1 TBS cinnamon

2 tsp sea salt

In a large bowl mix all the above ingredients (may add a couple TBS of brown sugar, ginger or some shredded coconut, if desired).

Heat slightly until well mixed:1 cup honey and 3 TBS olive oil (or butter melted)

Toss dry ingredients with honey/oil, spread on large baking dish covered with parchment paper.

Bake at 300 for 40 minutes, stirring and rearranging every 10 minutes.

Allow to cool for 20 minutes and mix in 2 cups of dried fruit (raisins and cranberries in mine).

When completely cool store in quart jars for up to 3 months.

In other news, I looked at 4 rental houses while in Fla last week; all were doable, and one was spectacular. We have dropped the price on the house again and hopefully the Realtor is on the same page for getting a contract in the next 30 days. Otherwise, we will be here for another year. School starts in Florida on August 9th--not much time for messing around!

Our anniversary is this weekend, we have the same debate every year "is it the 26th or 28th?".

This year we have decided to celebrate it all weekend and wish each other happy anniversary every day. Quite romantic! Dave surprised me with the most beautiful, gorgeous suitcase I have ever seen! It is red leather(ish) and matches my red leather work bag. I feel like a princess!

I am making the wheat rolls and honey butter mainly for him--two of his favorite things he has not seen in many months!

I am looking forward to getting moved and settled for many reasons, but this weekend has reminded me how much I have missed cooking with real food.

After harvesting 20 more pounds of cucumbers, I pulled the vines out and covered the bed with black landscaping fabric. The bean bed (pole beans that are not setting fruit) is next on the list, and then the carrot/weed bed after I harvest the carrots. Slowly but surely the garden is getting put to bed, and the number of beds that need to be weeded is reducing! The Roma tomatoes are not far behind, they are a determinate variety so once they are finished setting fruit in a couple of weeks that bed will get shut down too. The cherry tomatoes that looked so horrible at the start of the spring are now enormous and producing well. The melon patch that we planted in the old pig pasture is doing very well. It must have been fertile soil! The produce is such a blessing and I am constantly wondering what our next garden will look like.

This week and next is the official break between semesters. Thankful for that too.

Wishing you all a great week!

Wow! Time flies!

Two weeks since I have posted, good golly!

I have traveled to Florida the last two weeks for work, and it has been great. Getting to know the facilities and all the people is a challenge and a lot of fun too. Driving from Central Florida to North Miami last week we went past miles and miles of orange groves. The crops were almost all in, and the last of what was being picked was for the orange oil production. On a medical note, seems the hospitals see a fair number of people with chemical burns from it. We also passed the Florida Orange Growers plant where the majority of orange juice in the US is produced. The weather there is about the same as in TX, just more breeze and less humidity. The daily shower helps to cool things off too. I have found a source for farm goods when we relocate, that makes me very happy!

No contract on the house yet, despite lowering the price significantly.

The kids are enjoying being out of school, Josh spent a week at ROTC camp, Charlye is looking for a job.

The garden is in full production. The bounty collected today must have weighed close to 50 pounds between the 4 containers. It was tomatoes, cucumbers and banana peppers.

The squash has never really come back from the squash borer attack, so I will pull it all out and cover that bed (no weeds!).The carrots and garlic are begging to be harvested, I hope to get to them tomorrow.

Dave is teaching me to shoot a handgun, a 9mm. I got it to qualify in the concealed handgun class. I thought about buying the pink model, but it was a double magazine size and was too thick in the grip.

How does the garden grow!

Ok, I admit it, what you all already know...I am not a daily blogger.

So, here are the highlights for the last week:

*I worked my last day from the Houston office, bittersweet.

*We have started on the process of loan approval so when we do sell our house we will be ready to buy without having anything holding us back!

*The house we loved has a contract on it, so it was not meant to be for us..but it served its purpose of helping us decide what we do want!

*The garden survived without us, though the yellow squash looks like it could have used a little more water. The plants are catching up and putting on new green growth.

*The tomatoes are laden with fruit. Some were laden with bugs so we dusted again. The slicers grew so fast and so big that they became cage bound! We have started picking any as soon as they have the merest amount of color to ripen inside away from bugs. The cherry tomatoes are looking and growing much better. We have tomatoes of all sizes and shapes on almost every surface in the kitchen.

*We are harvesting a basket or two daily of various items, I am trying to remember to cut herbs every few days to dry and store.

*The hot peppers are fruiting, cayenne, sweet banana, Tabasco and jalapeño. Ole!

*The blackberries have come on full tilt and besides enjoying them from the vine, I made 6 pints of jam. Max is a berry stealer, carefully using his front teeth to grip and pull a berry at a time off the canes, he only likes the ripe ones too! Thankfully he can't reach them all.

*The Memorial Day weekend is quiet here, a time to catch up on gardening, reading, homework and being with the kids. I miss Dave who has had to work the whole weekend.

Remember those who died in the service of our great country and have a safe and wonderful weekend!

Peace!

Florida Trip

We traveled to Florida for 4 days to see the area, spend time with a Realtor and see some friends. It was a great trip! Friday we looked at several houses and areas, mainly to decide what part of the island we would like to live on, or what neighborhoods. It was invaluable to be able to do this. We found a house we love, and of course now are under the gun to sell ours!

Saturday morning we woke up extra early to drive to the beach for sunrise coffee time (Atlantic/east coast). It was so beautiful and peaceful. We saw many fishing boats heading out and several schools of dolphins out fishing as well. Afterward, we headed west toward Tampa to see our friend Marty. That evening we had dinner with Marty in Dunedin, Fla and watched the sun set on the Gulf/west coast of Florida! Overall, it was a great weekend; seeing friends, basking in the oceans and views, couple time and finding what we hope will be our next home!

Cooper's Big Day

Well, it had to happen eventually. The sweet adorable baby boy had to go to the vet for his big boy procedure. Dave had to practically drag him in on his belly. It must smell or sound really bad there. I think some dogs are more sensitive to it than others. Max trots in happy go lucky, and Cooper is absolutely petrified! He is now neutered, micro-chipped and has had his next set of vaccines. The poor baby had a lampshade collar on when I went to pick him up. He was hugging the floor and quivering. He would not look up at me so I had to bend down to get in his lampshade view, he gave a wag but was not interested in moving. He followed to the car and let me lift him in, looking back I think he was in shock. He has such a different personality from Max. Cooper is much more guarded and seems to take everything personally. After we got home Cooper cheered up remarkably! After he ran into the door frame with the lampshade twice and my leg three times with the not-so-soft plastic edges I took his degrading collar off. I was instructed to leave it on for 2 weeks until the sutures dissolve or "until he doesn't bother them". I watched him after I removed it, he is not licking at the incision so he will remain free of the collar.

So, in case the pics are not self explanatory: Cooper in the dreaded collar, Cooper out of the collar (happy face), and my version of Cooper's limited visibility (in this case the back door).

Hug your dog (or cat) today!

milestones in their lives

Charlye and Josh celebrated birthdays in the last week! Char is 17 and Josh is now 16, oh my gosh where does the time go? I am so proud of them and stand in amazement at the wonderful young adults they are. The future is definitely their oyster! Love you both! Mom!

snake story

Working in the garden on Sunday was wonderful, except for the part where I found a snake.

It was a Rough Earth snake, basically harmless, especially at only 12" in length. It was probably very content in the garden bed nestled under the weeds. I took a brave approach when I found it (did not squeal like a girl), grabbed it with my gloved hand, being mindful to grab it just behind its head so it couldn't bite me no matter how small its mouth is.

I carried it over to a gravel patch on the driveway, the dogs-as-saviors bouncing alongside. The snake did not have much response initially to being carried, remaining rather limp and relaxed. As we got closer to the intended drop site it started to contract and curl up my hand and around my fingers. I was not ready to release it yet because we were still over the grass, the last snake I pointed out to the dogs they took to the grass and it escaped (learning curve). This could be the same snake--it is too much to think there may have been two snakes in my garden!

So as it contracts and I can feel it wriggle, even with a garden glove on, it begins to bother me. In a shivery, almost squeally, horrible, scaley, slimey sort of way. By the time I reached the gravel I could barely stand anymore and pitched it unceremoniously on the ground for the dogs to play with. The great part was the automatic shiver and near snakey-dance jig (was not the all out total-body snakey-dance I am capable of)--and the fact that the last 20 seconds is the part Dave witnessed. I am certain he got a pretty good laugh at the pantomime!

Is there a tomato doctor in the house?

Here are the tomato beds: slicers, romas and the sad cherry tomatoes. The leaves are curled up and I don't know why. I treated with BT first, then 5 days later with insecticidal soap; yesterday I limed and fertilized their bed. The leaves are curling tightly up into themselves. I hope it is weather stress and not a virus, bug or fungus.

Any suggestions?

Update: I found this site: http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/diagnostickeys/TomWlt/TomWiltKey.html#Verticillium

Happy Mother's Day

It was a wonderful, low-key kind of day here! I didn't get out of my PJs until after noon, planted some flowers, puttered online, and we all went to an early dinner/movie date!

Happy Day!