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Homesteader

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  1. Stopped by an older bachelor's place after church to chat, wish him a blessed Easter, and pick up some frozen rabbits from him. He said he was blood type A positive and swore off all kinds of foods because of it. We are the recipients of his butchered and frozen rabbits. He also offered me all kinds of perennials .... bee-balm, lovage, anise, garlic, nettles, and others that I can't remember. He's like a Eules Gibbons. I need to get back over there with my shovel and bring home some perennials. He said that he loves honey, so I'll take a quart over to him. Nice guy and terrific with the youth in the church.
  2. A few years ago, I created a monthly calendar that highlighted an ancient family member each month. There was a photo and paragraph or two on their life. My family has been bugging me to do it again. Now that I have countless totes of my deceased mom's photos and slides, I may just take up the challenge once again. Too bad genealogy sucks up months of my time.
  3. I like to mix my own seed-starting mixtures that include vermiculite/perlite/peat/compost. I have found that vermiculite is as rare as hens teeth this year. I don't like buying it in small bags but I may have to this year. The garden manager at Menards said that the vermiculite order for 2022 has been CANCELLED by its supplier. That's all he would reveal. It has difficult to find it online without paying extremely high prices, especially for vermiculite. Just a FYI.
  4. Little Bro has been dealing with two Scottish Highlanders that have escaped his rifle scope for over a year now. Every time the butcher-on-wheels arrived, the cattle went back up into the pine forest. Bro baited them with food and they finally started coming at regular times during the winter. He had friends come in early morning and late afternoon with their rifles. The cattle seemed to sense what was happening and would wonder off to the surrounding neighbors. He finally got desperate and found a former military guy with special equipment. It was now or never as the grass is starting to grow and the cows would head out onto the back forty for another season. Bro's new friend arrived after dark the other night with his equipment and told Bro to get his tractor ready. Bro laughed. He still did as his new friend ordered and headed to the barn. A few minutes later he went to open the big doors and was startled to see the former military guy standing in the service door with a ear-to-ear grin and shining his pearly whites. Bro said he had never been so startled in his life, and he's the adventurous type. The shooter had special heat sensing gear and a silencer. What took almost a year of terrible frustration and constant anxiety ended in less than 14 minutes. Come to find out, this special hunter was friends with my deceased brother. For the next hour, they laugh and told stories of their early days. After gutting and hanging the cattle in the barn, the hunter went home with a truckload of meat from previous butchering events and was tickled pink. Bro said that he's buying pastured beef from his Amish neighbors in the future.
  5. I almost lost DH about 30 years ago. He has stints and has been purring along ever since. It was a real eye-opener for both of us even though he was in terrific shape from construction career. God will see both of you through. When it's too much for you to carry, He will carry you through. It's a promise.
  6. We had more flat tires in Indiana than all other places, combined. It was explained to us that the RV industry is one of the culprits. RV Capital of the World, they say. Anyway, it seems that all those nails and screws that fall through the framework during construction come bouncing out when the completed rig is heading down the Interstates and onto their new owners. Sounds good to us because Elkhart was the worst on newer tires.
  7. I resemble that remark. You forgot 'everything Rodale Press'.
  8. Years ago (prob about 25), hubby found me a grain grinder that works with my Kitchen Aid. It's a great attachment on the front and has a dial that adjusts the grinder wheelie thingies. I haven't had to adjust the grind coarseness in 15 years. It's also great for oats, barley, buckwheat, rye, etc. I haven't tried beans though. I think they would be too hard. I do want to get a hand-grinder but haven't researched them since Mother Earth News days.
  9. I used to attend a radio training school in Leeds. I traveled down from Scotland and spent several weeks there each time. It was a great place. I remember the locals talking about Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood. Your cities are older than our entire country.
  10. Did you know that a great deal of our beef comes from other countries? It arrives as a carcass and is then processed in the USA. Because of this, the USDA allows U.S. sellers to mark it as "Product of the USA". The USDA does not have inspectors in those other countries but gives them the regulations and assumes those other countries are abiding by USDA regulations. That includes the testing of the cattle for Mad Cow Disease ... it's all on the honor system.
  11. Just listened to a Youtube video produced by McMurray Hatchery out of Iowa. They are a huge producer of poultry to US buyers. They found a bird that tested positive for bird flu. They have the Iowa authorities helping them sort, separate, and preserve many of the varieties that are not found anywhere else. They said that they want to fulfill the invoices of the bulk buyers, but mentioned that chicks should be available again NEXT YEAR for the average consumer. I just checked their website and no chicks were available through May. Lots of others like ducks and geese. No wonder I can't find chicks at our local feed mill or implement dealers lately. Not that I want to get back into the business of raising chickens anymore. There aren't enough mouths to feed around here these days.
  12. I would like to see the video. Please???? Don't worry, Dee. Once you let out all the hot air, she becomes much more manageable and lots of fun to be around.
  13. Actually, he sold his beloved boyhood penknife and bought some parts for his race car. I can still hear him laughing in his machine shop when he quickly carved Theo's final tomb with a bandsaw. Funny how distorted your stories become the older you get.
  14. Just remember. He's the one who hollowed out the book that sent Theo the toad back to you.
  15. I tried that once. The chickens threw them back at me so I fed them to Ed. He loved them.
  16. I am so hungry now that I'm going to eat my way through Iowa, on my way to Georgia. One of my KitchenAid pasta makers was given to me by Dar during a visit in Miami. My hips prove there's nothing more tasty than homemade noodles.
  17. A friend of ours is a govt inspector and a veterinarian. They have had to kill millions of chickens and eggs this past month on a commercial farm. By the time the inspectors are called, the disease has ravaged the flock. All birds/eggs are disposed of in large pits and then covered. They think, because it's a seasonal flu that follows sporadically with migrating birds and not spread from farm to farm, that the feathers from the migrating birds may be a big culprit. I'm not sure about the droppings. I've listened to many You-Tubers say that the government is coming in and doing PCR tests on the birds and just destroying them. They point to the faulty PCR tests as the catalysts for destroying healthy birds. In actuality, by the time the inspector is called, there are thousands of dead and dying birds everywhere. They don't need a test to see that the flu has already hit the flock. I hate fear-mongering from those who have NO IDEA how the medical system works on farm animals. (Sorry, Ice Age Farmer is at the top of my list on this one). I also hate click-bait. All birds are destroyed even though many have no symptoms. Our inspector friend agrees that more testing should be done to isolate variations in immune systems among the birds. The govt is afraid that removing birds from infected farms might spread the disease as many birds may only be carriers, similar to what we were told regarding Covid-19. Everybody get the shot and the virus will go away. My concern is that future chicks may be vaccinated without us knowing what is going into their bodies. What a great way to compromise them and us. Rant over.
  18. I picked out some floor planking yesterday at the board store. They have plenty in stock and I can get a 10% military discount. Will pick it up this weekend. DH and I will install it, but it is a for complete level in the house. One room at a time, and we have guests arriving the end of April. Their bedroom first. We have been in construction mode for about 45 years between four house moves/remodels, so all our friends know to use a flashlight at night for the potty room. Thankfully, DH can do all the work. I just have to keep him happy and fed. We do have a carpenter friend who knows that we can use his skills at anytime. Time and material (and free lunch at our kitchen table). He just lets us know a week ahead and we pick up the supplies for him. He hasn't had any lag time in over a year, so he's doing very well in the construction industry.
  19. We are experiencing the same problems with our weekly food pantry. I started working it about a year ago in order to get out of the house and fellowship with many of the other volunteers from our church. Got hooked. We are running out of more food as the months go by. We have increased the need for shares by almost a hundred each week. Meat is scarce. Some of the food is past distribution quality (wish I had some pigs and chickens to fatten up), and eggs/milk/bread usually run out before the cars in the driveway. I can take any extras at the end of weekly distribution that are close to expiration date. I'm usually busy canning or dehydrating the following day as our refrig isn't very big. Eventually, I'm going to run out of canning jars, even after scouring all the charity shops around the area. I wish I had enough time to hit those auctions of older folks. There's usually a treasure trove of jars to be had. Thankfully, I only volunteer once or twice a month. Food prep is a lot of work, especially as the garden begins to call my name.
  20. I'm from Iowa and most of the family stayed there. Me thinks that spring planting will be mid-April for the farmers. Hybrid seeds have changed so much over the decades that they don't have to tear up the fields to gain an extra week of planting season. God-speed!!
  21. I had that with our credit union, too. Aldi was busy (three checkout clerks), which means shelves weren't being restocked. I don't shop Wally World. Had to wait for a gas pump at the cheapest station yesterday. I also realized that it's the first of the month and many families may have just received assistance checks. Don't panic, just keep to your plan.
  22. I found that sourdough needs feeding regularly. Because there are only two mouths to feed here and no animals, I've learned to toss the jar of sourdough in the refrig and give myself a break for a few days or weeks. It's several years old and was started around the time of the virus coming to our shores. I freeze plenty of yeast, but the sourdough sounded like extra insurance. And like Dar said, the bake goods are easier to digest.
  23. I was gifted with a case of baby carrots so dragged out the dehydrator and went to work. This is 16 pounds of carrots. Sure doesn't look like much. Just a small handful will make a large pot of stew, though. They are in a cold dark room so should last several years, if I'm stingy with the amounts. I'm not.
  24. Homesteader

    Funnies

    My SIL decided not to take the family vacation to Oahu last week. Her first husband, my brother, was stationed over there and they had their first child at the military hospital. She has wonderful memories as we have all been there many times. My dad was stationed there and also taught a course at the university one year. This year, she declined to go with her second hubby and his family from Washington State (think ultra liberal ). They all had to have all three shots (including the children) and the passport before heading out on the airplane. Everywhere they went, the passport and masks were required. She chose to stay home instead of enduring all the shots/booster so that she could tag along, masked, with a super liberal family. Thankfully, her hubby understood totally. He had lost his first wife to MS and had memories that he wanted to remain the same with the first love of his life. SIL stayed home those ten days and we had wonderful memories and laughs over the photos we had taken over the years on Oahu. We sure looked a lot younger and tanned.
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