Year's End

The year's end is almost in sight and it is hard to imagine where the past 365 days have gone. I think it is a known fact that time passes way to fast for most of us. I have heard my parents state on more than one occasion, that as one ages time passes at an even faster rate. I don't think that it is an issue of time speeding up to some kind of a time warp. As much as we view the time we have before us as less, than the time that has already past. Making the years, months, days and hours before us even more precious. I am also beginning to see things in my life with a new relevance towards what is truly important. Choosing to spend my moments in time on worthwhile pursuits instead of the flighty things of youth. Reaching certain milestones in life will always prompt us to re-evaluate how we are living out our lives on a daily basis. Jump starting ideas towards goals, dreams and plans yet to have been realized. The last holiday of the year tends to prompt us in this same direction also. The next 24 - 72 hours will see many a soul making out new year resolutions for a varied number of weaknesses, disappointments, failures, hopes and unseen dreams from the year 2008. Only to be set aside or forgotten in the coming weeks of 2009.

For me the last day of the year started at an very early hour, not unlike several of the past couple of weeks. It appears at present that I am unable to sleep through a night without waking at a unhealthy hour. A situation that I am looking for a solution to in the new year. Today may be the longest day of the year for me and it won't be because I am out celebrating "New Year's Eve" either. As plenty of people are gearing up to party away the old year into the presence of the new one. I am planning to focus on some gratitude's of 2008 and drawing up some ideas for simpler living in 2009. I have made N.Y. resolutions in years past like so many others. And also like them most of mine have fallen by the wayside for lack of motivation. I believe this time around I have the needed "umph" to see a few of my thoughts through in the months to come. So many changes have already taken place around here that it is becoming the norm for me. Not to continue in making those needed to see our dreams become reality would be a step backwards. Once your foot steps out on a new path towards reaching a desired goal, it is hard not to see it to the end. Sure, there will be times when it seems like you will never reach your desired destiny, times when obstacles loom large before you, times that bring the fatigue from striving to be the only thing you can see, but to loose heart will be a sure step towards defeat.

Little steps are being taken, as parts of the whole are being considered. Like the few items I was able to get established yesterday. I have been wanting to make some soap for our personal use and to possibly sell at some future date. After using the natural soaps purchased from our trip to Perry. We have become new converts and enjoy using them over anything store bought. Finding the raw resources to use had been a hindrance to starting, till I took the time to do an in depth search on the web. Less than 30 minutes of time and I have my first package of supplies coming in the mail. Several websites are bookmarked for future research and to purchase from too. Increasing the sales of the girls eggs has been a topic of discussion for quite a while now. That too was handled in a short amount of time with an ad being placed on line with the Farmer's Market Bulletin to advertise them. Another web search led to an Ebay purchase of egg cartons needed for those future sells at a very good price. They too are in route to our home. Another decision was reached to increase the size of our flock for next year. With "Big Mama" brooding over her nest of future hopefuls, it made economical sense to raise our own instead of buying baby chicks to raise next Spring. All of which requires a Rooster in the hen house, that we at present do not have. A few calls placed and we found a couple of Dominique roosters for sale just below where we live at a good price. The individual really needed to find them new homes as she already has 11 crowing roosters at her house. WHEW, that's a few too many! Each of these steps fell into place with some focused attention and helps to bring the homesteading lifestyle closer to our door. So much uncharted territory lies before us. Clean as the pages of the new calendar sitting on my desk. A lot can happen on a year full of new pages. I am looking forward to making notations on them as we go along.

So as I sit and ponder over my options towards my needs and wants for the new year. I am reminded of the certainty of passing hours, days and months that will add up to make the new year that lies before me. How do I wish to spend them? What do I want to show for them at years end next December? In whom, what or where do I desire to invest them? I will be trading them for something, will it be something of value? The choice is mine to make. . . . what will 2009 bring into our lives? If it is anything like the usual normalcy of life, what types of struggle, heartache or loss will we face? The questions line up across a page easily, the answers remain unknown, waiting to be written on the pages of our lives by the One who put them into motion thousands of years ago.

Looks like a "wait and see" type of situation to me,

Deborah

Christmas and Family

Christmas and family, a great combination that leaves you with memories for years to come. With varied work schedules each year, we are faced with the question of how to get everyone together. It is not always possible to get my entire family together, as I have a long-distance sister living in Washington state. She and my brother-in-law had their own type of celebration this year as they were snowed in under 12+ inches of snow. Ooooh, A white Christmas! That is what Christmas carols, cards and movies tempt us with each year. We saw instead temperatures near the mid 60's. I guess a tropical Christmas is what the folks in Florida are faced with every year. I personally prefer a chillier version myself. But gathering for a holiday meal will always take your mind off the weather outside. We were all sure to eat our share of it too! Thoughts of potential holiday pounds to be gained forgotten for the moment

Our own Christmas angel. . . . Leah

Nothing can compare with the sparkle and excitement of children at Christmas. Their joyous abandonment is just as contagious as the flu. This year our granddaughter was of the age to begin to grasp the wonder of Christmas. Presents under the tree meant a lot more to her than last year. For she understood that some of them were for her. Waiting to open them on Christmas eve after our meal, quickly left her with no hunger for food at all.

Mom and Dad came down a few days before Christmas to spend some extended time with us. Leah enjoyed having them here and wasted no time sharing her joy over the tree with her granddaddy. Each of us in turn were called to come sit with her and comment about the sparkling lights and fascinating ornaments.

See that one?

Talking it over with Granddaddy . . .

Clutter will always abound when packages are opened but for a few minutes in time it doesn't really matter. We each enjoyed seeing her enjoy herself this year. It was hard for her to decide which was best. . . . . seeing what was inside of the wrapped package or tearing off the wrapping of another box. Her choice in seating for the fun was in my lap which allowed Mommy to video her antics and for others to take pictures.

It was a "girly" pink kinda Christmas

Cuddle time with Meme was enjoyed as well while looking through a book of pictures. Reading books are one of Leah's favorite things to do, a call that goes out for someone to join her in every few minutes. We have read plenty this Christmas season not unlike every other day of the year. I was thrilled to find a great hardback book entitled "You are my Love" to start her own collection at home, as a gift this year. Adding to them each Christmas will be a great treasure hunt for me through out the year.


We were and are truly blessed by the Lord this year. For it is all to easy to see the difficulties of others around us, of their pain, heartache, loneliness and lost right now. To not be thankful would be a lack of gratitude to the giver of all gifts. Especially the best gift for all eternity. . . . the gift of Christ.

Blessings,

Deborah

Hormonal Female

Hormones have been at an all time high here this past week. Demanding that they be recognized and dealt with quickly. You know how convincing the female persuasion can be at times. Lots of discussion has been shared on the pros and cons of how to deal with these raging hormones. NO, I am not talking about myself! If you will recall there are other females around here on Heartland Farm, besides the human variety.

Martha, one of our Barred Rocks. . .

My girls have been quite faithful to deliver their daily gifts of round orbs for our enjoyment and for sharing since they began laying months ago. Averaging 10-11 a day, every week all throughout Fall and so far this month as well. From all the chatter on the homesteading blogs, there are many it seems who are seeing a decrease in egg production. Even some friends at church have mention decrease laying in their flocks too. It makes one wonder just why we are being so blessed with an abundance of eggs. Not that I am complaining one bit. We are very thankful for the blessing of eggs and of their company around here also. Our customer base has slowly grown from 2 to 5, with room for more with the girls helping out so readily. Come Spring when the Farmer's Markets near by open back up for business I plan to make their free-range eggs available to shoppers.

The challenge of motherly hormones has been a situation we have never faced before, at least not of the feathery kind. Big Mama, our only Brahma pullet has felt the call of nature to reproduce her own kind. For over 6 days during Christmas she has faithful sat in a claimed nest trying her best to hatch an egg or two, along with a golf ball that resides there. Stubbornly refusing to leave the nest and growling at us when we reach to gather the eggs under her. Yes, chickens can GROWL, it is a sort of low rumble in their throats. Despite the fact that there is no Rooster on the premises to ensure fertile eggs, she has not wavered in the least. I don't believe she is the type of loose woman, to have been off visiting neighboring flocks either. Which left her in quite a predicament and with no way to satisfy her longings. We tried to discourage her from setting, by taking her out of the nesting box and placing her outdoors, only to discover that she quickly returns to her post. A broody mama has the perseverance to astonish even the faithful of heart. Dedicated despite the odds against her. I think we could all learn a valuable lesson from her that would serve us well when faced with what appears to be enormous odds against us.


"Big Mama"

We came to the conclusion that we either had to find a way to bar her from the nest or help her out in some way. Choosing the later we started our search for some fertilized eggs for this desperate mama. Success was found with members of our church, Kirk and Dede. Who own a small flock down the road and a very stately looking Roo. They were more than happy to give us some of their eggs for Big Mama to try to hatch out. Gathering 6 from their 3 different hens, a Rhode Island Red, a Black Star and a Dominique will give Big Mama an assortment of offspring, should they all hatch. Fred, as the man of their coop is referred to, hopefully will pass on his great qualities as father to the brood also. I didn't think to take my camera to capture pictures of the adoption process. But, if I had known how beautiful a specimen he was I would have. I am sure they won't mind me coming back over for a few snaps of him to add to a latter post. He is such a looker!

What dreams of Chicken mamas are made of . . .

Home again we took our fragile cargo up to the coop to slip the eggs into the nursery set up by Big Mama. Easy enough as she was off the nest, to our surprise as it was the first time we had seen her do this in days. I reasoned that hunger was playing a big part in her stroll outside. We all know how the hunger pangs of the maternal can be at times. Throwing down some "candy" or scratch grain as most people know it, kept her attention while I marked the fertile eggs and placed them in the nest. It only took her 5 minutes before heeding the call to be back on the nest. She seemed unconcerned that there was quite a few eggs where she had left an empty nest minutes before. Happily settling around them, moving them about to better fit between her feet and fluffing out her feathers into a canopy of warmth over them. From the look on her face I believe I even heard her sigh a little. A happy moment for a mother to be.

She is the beauty in the middle . . .

Future chicks in waiting . . .

Maternal instincts. . .

So the countdown to motherhood has begun and unlike us of the human race, she will hopefully hear the peep of her adopted offspring in about 21 days. Not a long wait for the feathered mother to be, but oh, a long one for us adoptive grandparents. Placing the birth announcement on the nest to assure that no disturbance or gathering of the anticipated babies has everything in place for now. We, Big Mama and ourselves need only to wait for the blessed event to transpire in the middle of January. Not the best time for hatching baby chicks naturally, but who can argue with a determine female, high on hormones. I feel sure if she can hatch them she will be more than capable of taking care of her adopted children. We are now hoping with fingers crossed that one of them will take after his father and become a handsome Roo for our flock next year.


Picture says it all . . . . Waiting on nature,

Deborah

Ready, Set, Go!

Today wrapped up my preparations for Christmas and with 4 days to spare. Yahoo! I can't recall at present ever being ready this early before. Might have in past years, as I always sought to be done early in the month of December. My success this year is probably due to the scaling back and simplifying of our idea of what Christmas should be about. For the past several weeks I have felt freedom from the preconceived notions of past expectations and what is being pushed by the media. To hear other people talk about their shopping excursions, baking, decorating, etc. only fueled my resolve to kept it simple this year. A challenge for myself on several occasions, as I would think of a particular decor item not being displayed or activity engaged in. Then the old "I need to get that put up" feeling would creep into my thinking quicker than a heartbeat. I am glad to say that I resisted each temptation and told myself "enough is enough". Reminding myself that what goes up, has to come down later. I did not want to create more work for myself than the enjoyment of the idea would bring.

A room by room clean-a-thon freshened the house today. From end to end and side to side, every room received what it needed. Working for 15 minutes and then resting for 15 minutes helped me to accomplish the tasks at hand and allow me to stretch my energies so that playing through out the day could also be accomplished. After all this is suppose to be one of my off days. Something cold to drink and catching up on my emails was a large portion of play time for me. Reading a favorite blog was a special treat as well. The fact that I have had the house to myself for 48 hours since Friday morning was a plus in getting everything finalized. No one was under foot, not even Tigger, our cat. Lon and Jason both have been on duty, due to each of them working an extra shift on each other's scheduled day.

Christmas shopping was completed and all packages were wrapped last evening. The tree now sports a fluffy skirt of colorful packages. Grocery shopping for the house and our Christmas dinner was also completed yesterday as well. It helped to have leftovers in the fridge to eat for my dinners these two days, instead of having to cook. Another blessing towards getting done what I needed to. So here I sit with all in readiness to start the count down to Christmas next week. Tomorrow we will have our Christmas musical at church and all that will be left is to enjoy Mom & Dad's visit. They arrive tomorrow afternoon to spend the week with us and other than some cooking for our Christmas dinner, I have no other plans than to relax and chat.

In the midst of cleaning this afternoon there arose such a cladder that I had to spring to my feet to see what was the matter. No, it was not a jolly figure dancing on my roof. It was not even someone come to spread good cheer. But destruction instead! Instantly, I recognized the distress call from one or more of our girls. Quick movement down the front steps revealed the visitor was not at all welcomed and was intent on some Christmas dinner for itself.

A small Marsh Hawk had one of our chicken in a tissy and pinned behind the azalea bushes out front. As I called to her if flew to a nearby tree, intent on trying to recapture it's meal. That is until I made a ruckus myself, convincing it to move on to find other hunting grounds. Capturing the frighten hen was of little trouble, as she collapsed behind a bush and allowed me to pick her up. Missing and ruffled feathers off her back and wings spoke of a struggle to get free. Whether they were removed by the hawk or the tangle of limbs under the bushes, it remains to be seen. She did receive an injury to her right eye, that was bleeding. But for now it is hard to tell whether she has any internal injuries that I can't see. Placing all the girls back into their play yard for safe keeping for the rest of the day, hopefully will persuade the chicken thief to look else where for a free meal. Upon inspection tonight as I closed up their coop, she was sitting quietly with the injured eye closed, which for now is a good sign. Earlier she was only laying on the ground not moving, but now she was up on the roost for bedtime. Tomorrow morning her activity will let us know if she will recover or not.

All the warm, wet weather of the past week has been unseasonably for this time of year. A trend that does not lend itself to keeping the Christmas ideal of frosty window panes, carolling in the snow, heavy coats, scarves and mittens, Christmas sweaters, mugs of hot chocolate and stockings hung by the fire. All may change tomorrow if the weather forecasters are correct in calling for a big dip in our temperatures, with highs in the 40's and lows in the 20's. The change will require a flip not only of the outside thermostat, but the inside one as well. For we have been having temperatures in the 70's for several days now. A chance to cuddle up in front of the fireplace may be in our future after all.

I'm ready, all set and waiting to go.

Deborah