Books for Sale

Going through our library, trying to make room for new books.  I have these to find a home for.

1. The Growing Reader Phonics Bible-This is a Bible that I used to help both of my youngers learn phonics sounds.  It has had some use, and the binding is broken.

2. Sticky Situations-365 Devotions for Kids and Families- This book is like new.  Geared for children 6 and up.

3. Favorite Psalms by John Stout-  A nice book, but once read is ready for a new home.  Nice pictures.  It goes through the Psalms, but doesn't hit all of them.  Pictures are of the Holy Land.

4. Singer Science for You-copyright 1959-This is a first grade science book and has quite a bit of information in it at a first graders' reading level.  Interesting.

5. Better Homes and Gardens 1001 Full-Size Patterns and Project Ideas-Appliques, Painting, Woodworking, Stenciling, Embroidery-This book was never used.

Well if you're interested, please let me know.  They're yours for the price of media shipping.

Have a blessed day.

Doctoring Critters

Reading over at HandsnHearts yesterday about doctoring your critters, I thought I'd post about first aid kits for farm animals.  Our neighbor has saved one of our heifers by having sutures on hand when the calf had a shoulder split open.  He keeps a first aid kit and we're working on building ours up.

1. Bag balm-I use this for everything.  Perhaps overuse is a better word.

2. Iodine or iodine spray

3. Blood stop

4. Gauze

5. Tape

6. Leg wrap

7. Sutures

8. Antibiotic

9. Electrolytes

10. Syringes and needles

11. Keopectate

12. Thermometer

This is just a partial list.  These are the things that we find we need most often.  I'm sure there are more to add to this list so please feel free to do so.  I'd appreciate it.  Perhaps some aspirin?

   I do not call the vet out unless it's a life or death situation of an expensive animal.  I do have a vet I call and he'll help me over the phone for free.

I want to be a duck

Good Morning!  I was reading soneone's blog about how the birds greet the day.  They are out there right now singing away.  Where did I lose that gratefulness for a new day?  I wake up with all I have to accomplish on my mind.  It is a beautiful day out there.  It will be 75 and sunny today.  I sit here and think, the garden , the lawn, hay needs to be cut, hay elevator needs to be moved, oil needs to be changed, and oh the blueberries that need to be picked.  This is no way to greet the day. 

   Lord, help me to appreciate all you have given and to have peace that all things will get done.  Give me the assurance that I can do these things with your help and need not worry about them.  Help me to think of others and how You would have me bless them.

My life is good, but  I have become a worrier.  It's been a slow process, but a constant one.  God has never failed me.  Why do I think He will today?Stop worrying. I used to have people get annoyed with me because I didn't worry enough.  They said  everything just seemed to roll off of my back, like water rolls off of a duck.  Now I'm more like a sponge.    I want to be a duck again.

Help!

Yep, that's a picture of me this morning just finishing off my bath.  Don't get in my way!

Seriously overwhelmed this morning and no energy to get things done.  There's the regular stuff, house, meals, mow lawn, garden (serious work here), projects everywhere.  But I have a different schedule today and my days have had a lot of unscheduled tasks lately.  I need to put the hitch on the pickup and bring the trailer of old fencing to the dump.  Then i'm to cut hay -pray for my attitude on this one-.  Next arrange "stuff" for the rummage sale tomorrow.  Of course, take care of the animals, laundry, fix the septic line coming out of the house.  This is an attack.  I'm not handling it very well.  My honey was mowing last night and hit a pile of brush, that the kids were supposed to have moved.   Broke our haybine, still works somewhat, but not like it's supposed to and it's just a matter of time before it won't work at all.  We just started haying.

I need a refreshing.  I'n thinking my honey does too.  He has so much to do before winter.  This is my prayer request this morning.  I know many people have more serious matter that need prayer, but I know God has more than enough answers to go around.  Lord, change my attitude.  Help us to be-

Glory Farm

Homemade ice cream cones

I found this in my collection of information I have amassed over the years.  My 14 year old daughter made these last night to go with the homemade cheesecake ice cream that my other daughter made.  They taste great, but are a little hard to work with right out of the oven.

Heat oven to 400.

Beat 2/3 cup sugar and 3 egg whites with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.  Mix in 1 cup flour until smooth, add 1/2 t vanilla and 1/3 cup melted butter.  For each cone, scoop 2 1/2 tablespoons of batter onto the baking sheet.  Spread it thin into about 6 inch circles.  Bake for 7-8 minutes and remove from oven.  Work quickly, forming each cookie into a cone.  Pinch the tip to seal.  cool seam down on a rack.

By the way, the cheesecake ice cream is fantastic.  Very rich, though.

From Glory Farm

That's a fox of a different odor...

Seems that we may have had more than one predator in the chicken coop.  Set the trap two nights ago, when my honey was over the road.  Woke up yesterday morning to find the trap gone.  Couldn't find it anywhere.  So we let the dog out and he found it right off.  Seems the critter had crawled under our riding lawn mower and was right beneath the deck of it.  We tried to move it (it's one that doesn't work and was for sale at our rummage sale) and the aroma told us that we weren't messing with a fox!  UCK!  That skunk was still alive.  Pulled the mower over on it's side and my dear 16 year old daughter got it with the 20 ga.  She doesn't share m;y fear of firearms, good thing.  Tried to get it out of the trap, but couldn't do it, so tossed the whole thing in the woods.  Still waiting for that old fox to show up.  I'd like to get it over with.

Finding Nemo

Our hens have been very broody.  We have hens sitting everywhere.  And the fox....he's everywhere too.  We had a bantam hen setting on a large batch of eggs.  Two nights ago, the fox got her and her eggs except one.  My two youngest went out to do chores and heard a peeping behind the wood pile.  They tore it apart and found one chick that must have hatched that same night.  We put the chick with a hen that had hatched out a dozen chicks the day before.  We left her and her babies in the barn last night.  Big mistake.  Went out there this morning and 12 of her chicks are gone.  Only one left?  Yep, the bantam's baby.  We named him Nemo.  That old fox is pretty crafty.  Been avoiding our trap.  We are switching to plan B.  Let you know if it works or not.

Look at this-a wonderful blog!

Just one more thing...I don't know how many of you get Backwoods Home magazine, but I really like the magazine.  There is a column in there called "Ask Jackie Clay".  Jackie is a fellow Minnesotan and has an amazing amount of knowledge when it comes to homesteading.  So I'm plugging her blog- http://www.backwoodshome.com/blogs/JackieClay/ .  You can ask her all of your questions-gardening, canning, goats, etc.  So check it out.

The Dog, The Fox, The Scours

PTL! The dog (yesterday's entry) has found a home.  Actually, we had two choices!  A rescue about 50 miles from here said they would take her and then some people from the area pulled in, put her in the truck and left.  Yes!!! This is wonderful for our daughter who has been praying without ceasing that this dog would have a home. 

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The fox( yesterday's entry, also) hasn't come back, but we set a trap last night in hopes of catching it.  And....I shot the 20 ga.!  I don't think I can hit the broad side of a barn, but I didn't want my son, who is 11, to have to shoot whatever might have been in the trap and not dead.  Your children can be real motivators. 

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The calves that had the scours (few entries back) seem to be doing well.  One has some type of infection and we need to give her  a second dose of antibiotics today.  The electrolytes must have kicked in for the scours.  I was going through the vast amount of information in articles that I have collected over the years, we're talking a lot of years, and found an article that said that charcoal is good for treating scours.  I know that you can get it at health food stores.  Mix it with some water and make a paste.  Put in a syringe (no needle) and inject into the calf's mouth.  Just more options.  Also found an article about deworming cattle using DE.  I already use this to worm all of our critters, but it also said that Basic H is good for worming.  I guess Schaklee doesn't recommend it for this, but 1 cup for every 100 gallons of water is supposed to help. FYI

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Got a lot of the garden weeded yesterday.  Have a large area where the beans didn't come up and I think I'll replant with some cold weather crops.  Too late for green beans up here. 

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Haying is starting.  We have the haybine working and will use the square baler until honey can finish rebuilding the big round baler.

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Off to water the garden.  Have a good and Godly day.

Fox in the Hen House

Doing laundry this morning I heard the chickens start making quite a racket.  It didn't sound like the usual "Hey look at me, I just laid the biggest egg." racket, so I ran out there.  Scared up a fox coming out of the coop.  As far as I can tell, he (she) didn't get anything.  The hens are still on their nests. I haven't seen the chicks, though, I hope they're still out there. I think it's time I take a gun safety course.  I have never shot a gun in my life and I really never wanted to.  But if I need to defend my animals, I think I'll have to try.  I let our "good for nothing" dog out of his kennel in hopes that he really is good for something.  He likes to bum when he's free, but I explained the situation to him and what I expect.

Also, last Thursday, a stray dog wandered into our yard.  She's a young black lab who has been all around the neighborhood.  Probably someone dropped her off.  Our neighbor has been feeding her and evidently she wasn't getting enough, because she came over and got herself a chicken.  We chained her up so that she couldn't do that anymore, and my honey said he'd have to shoot her.  Dd started in and begged for a chance to find her a home.  Honey caved and now this chicken killer is chained to our extra doghouse.  (Probably in cahoots with the fox.)  Well my daughter has really been trying hard to find this dog a home, even pushed her at our rummage sale, but no takers.  She's a nice dog, if you don't have chickens.  Young and friendly.  Today is the deadline.  No shelters will take her.  Sheriff's dept. says to shoot her.  We should have gotten rid of her on Thursday, now dd is attached and this will be  hard.  Anyone have any advice?  Anyone want a dog?

Milk Cans and Coconut Oil

I have a couple of questions maybe someone could answer. 

First-I have two old milk cans and I would like to use them somehow.  I know I could paint them and then?????  They work good as decor, but is there anything more practical I could do with them?

Second-I only use olive oil and coconut oil when I cook and bake.  Well, I usually get my coconut oil from Wal-Mart and the price has jumped from $4.25 to $6. 98.  Has this happened all over?  Does anyone know of a place where I could order it for less and maybe get my wheat berries and other commodities?  We don't have a food buying co-op around here and I'd have to put in a $400 order and go all the way to Duluth for pick up if I used the only one I've found.

Well that's it.  I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  We have a nice, hot day with thundershowers promised tonight.  We're just wrapping up a rummage sale.  It went pretty well.  It would have been nice to get rid of everything, but anything at all is better than nothing. 

From Glory Farm

Garden woes and treating scours

You know how everyone takes the before and after pictures?  When they redo a room, loose weight, revamp some clothing-well I thought maybe I should do that with my garden.  It would be "Where is it?"  to "Voila!"  The weeds have gotten the best of me and my life has been so full lately, I haven't been out there as much as I should.  I did find the potatoes and onions.  I'm working on the herb plants, but if I don't get to the corn and swiss chard soon, I may never see them again.  I'm afraid to have the kids do too much, because it's so hard to find the plants.

Anyways....wild strawberries are done.  I like to  pick enough for at least one batch of  jam.  My tame ones are starting to get done, also.

We went to Duluth yesterday, our daughter has a heart murmur that requires a checkup every year.  Thank the Lord, it isn't any worse and we're done until next year.  Today, we're going back to Duluth, to take my brother to the airport.  He flies home to Floriday today.  It's so nice to have him here.  My whole family is trying to talk him into moving back up here, but I don't think it's going to happen.

Question---Those of you with young critters, have you ever dealt with scours and how did you treat it?  We have three calves that could use some help.  We gave them plenty of electrolytes, but they still aren't well.

I hear the garden calling.  God has given us a near perfect day and I'd best use it.