July is Almost Over

Sit down for a spell this one is long, so go ahead and pour yourself a cup of coffee to enjoy while you read.

The last few days have been quite busy. Seems like I have played the catch-up game since returning home from the mission trip to Honduras. That's what happens when you go out of town for a week. I have a lot on my heart and mind about all that I saw and experienced. As I process it all, I may post some thoughts about it in the future. Just know this, it was a good trip and I was able to be apart of something bigger than life. I am still physically tired from the challenges faced there, eating, sleeping in a different time zone and the long flights. But I am sure my energy will pick back up soon.

Last week brought blessings to our home. After the morning chores were done on Wednesday, we decided to cut down a few trees. In order to open up our view of the upper pasture and start clearing out the area for a future pond. Besides those reasons we also needed to start laying in a supply of firewood for our winter heating. I am sure it seems odd to most people for us to be thinking along these lines in this July heat we are living in. But in order for it to be cured out and have ready to burn logs by the time cold weather arrives, we need to start now. Ideally you cut this year for the following year use, but we have only been here about 4 weeks now. Our challenge is not in how to stay warm, trees we have. It is that our hours are limited, due to everything else that needs doing. Such is life on a farm.

Back to our blessings ~ my husband had to make a trip out to the repair shop this morning and on the way back home he was stopped to speak to our neighbor up the road. Who gave us a 5 gallon bucket of cucumbers from his garden. Along with an invite to stop by in about 2 weeks and help ourselves to his okra, then wait another two and come pick some green beans. One stop = one blessing now(cucumbers) and two in the future (okra & green beans). Another blessing arrived yesterday with an invite from another neighbor to come help ourselves to his blueberry bushes. So we did today, picking about 2 plus gallons. The bushes were loaded with the most intensely flavored fruit. I have never tasted berries like them, a true deep blueberry flavor. The kind you can't buy at the store, one that has been sun-kissed right where they grew from fertile soil. We have enough for a pie, fresh eating and to make some jam. We may even get the chance to go back for more if we have the time. Unfortunately all of my canning supplies are back at the other house (haven't move them yet).

God is being very visible with His provisions and it is a comfort to know that we haven't a need that He can not meet. These were not necessarily a need but they sure are sweet just the same.

My to-do list has been quite long since moving out to the farm. Finding time for familiar activities has taken some juggling. I have found a new time for journal writing, a favorite way of mine to capture my thoughts. I started taking my notepad out with me in the mornings while the goats browse. The quite morning hours are perfect for contemplation and dreaming. No interruptions to be had, just the sound of happy munching nearby.

One item on the list was accomplished easier than I thought it would. That being the unpacking of ALL the boxes of books for our bookshelf in the family room. I realized that I have a lot of books that I have read and a whole lot more that I haven't. At least I won't go lacking this winter for something to do. Looking over the titles I remember reading them, but can not recall the story lines. So I guess that means that I have double my pleasure in reading choices.

Another item marked off was the trim put back around the guest room's windows. So my job was to iron and hang the curtains to them. To have some shape of window coverings over them is a comfort to me. Even though the chance of someone looking in is slim to none. They look perfect and really add to the room's coziness. I love having open windows with light streaming in unhindered, but these are darling. It doesn't matter to me that they were our old living room curtains from 25 years ago. Hard to imagine that I kept them that long and they are still usable.
They had been tagged for a yard sale, but never sold . . . couldn't throw them away. So a blessing they have now become.

Saturday last week was a busy one despite that we had a special birthday party to go to. Our granddaughter had her celebration late in the day. Which gave us just a few hours in the morning for chores and small projects. A easy rhythm of chores has settle in around us. Milking in the cool early hours of the day is easy. We still have to take the girls out for browsing until we can get some fencing up. I would love to be able to just turn them loose. Problem is not that they would wander off. Just the opposite they won't stay off the porches or out of the hen house. Slipping off into the house for a moment brings them hastily up to the doors, searching and calling for me. As long as I am out in the yard where they can see me, they will wander some. While out that day I noticed the "fox grapes" are filling out, but I suspect that it will be fall before they are ripe. We have plans to put them on a proper trellis afterwards, so we can take better care of them an ease harvesting to a comfortable height.

My husband and I discussed the newly acquired turkeys and their need to forage some too. Decision made, we turned them loose. Just opening the gate, did not bring the response we expected. It took both of us instead to herd/carry them out the open door to freedom. We lost one of our Isa Brown biddies that day which brought our chicken count down to 61. That evening we were pleased to see that the turkeys not only stayed nearby but roosted with the chicken in the coop.

The day was long as it was late before I finished canning the fresh blueberry jam I had started. But I got 3 pints of dark blue yummy goodness to show for the effort. Visions of warm toasted bread or hot buttered biscuits with a slathering of jam is dancing in our heads.

Today, July 27 brought a few things marked off of my list as well, before the day ran out. Here's a rundown which makes me tired just listing them. I emptied 2 more boxes in the kitchen, mopped it and the dinning room, canned 14 quarts of pickles, cleaned off a portion of the carport of remodeling debris, burned the household trash, made a batch of hummingbird food, talked with both of my parents, vacuumed the hardwood floors, straightened the house, washed rugs, talked for over a hour with my cross-country sister (lives in Washington state), washed 2 loads of clothes and had a front porch visit with a neighbor down the road. That was beside all of the everyday farm/animal chores. Talking about a full day, I don't think I could have squeezed in another thing other than going to bed.

Loving the country life,

Deborah

Changes on the farm

Yesterday brought much needed changes to the temporary living quarters for the chickens. Lon and I worked all day cleaning and re-working the pens, fencing and roosts for our flock of 62. Can't believe the number has grown so fast. Should of known when we kept having to go to the feed store for more food! They definitely have more scratching room here on the farm than before. Increased bug hunting should help with the feed bill. The biddies, all 14 of them were added to the free-ranging girls. They have grown so fast and we needed their play area for the 27 babies, who had bulged the sides of their pen beyond endurance. This group of Isa Browns and White Lace Wyanadottes were quite happy to run around and stretch their iddy biddy wings for the first time in their short lives. You would have thought it recess time on the playground for a bunch of kindergartners. Funny the biddies had been standing and looking out of the fenced in area at the hens and roosters out in the wide open world. But yesterday they stood and looked into their once enclosed area that the babies now occupied puzzled.

The building now looks more like a barn than before and all seem quite happy with their arrangements. Making the switches helped to make things easier for us to lock them up at night for their safety. Letting them out and serving breakfast each morning is a breeze too. Thanks dear one for all your hard work yesterday. The girls and I love it!

Amber and Sugar have continued to adjust and are getting use to our new surroundings and routine. Although they were determined to be where we were yesterday and pushed over the gate to their pen. Sitting at the table for lunch we decided that Amber's voice was being to easily heard. Only to be surprised a moment later to see her and Sugar's face pop up in the glass of our back doors. They love to be where ever we are and seem to think that they should be allowed indoors too. (Note to selves, re-enforce gate to goat pen.) They have discovered the plum tree in our yard and have scarfed up all the fallen fruit. Which has had me to scramble a few times to get the ones still good for our snacking. This morning Amber discovered that if she looked up there was plenty more of her sweet treats still hanging on the tree. Now I will have to go check the tree each morning before milking to gather in what is ready. At present we are gathering on the carport for our daily milking times between 7 and 7:30. Rain showers are not a good companion to successful milking. Though since moving the milking stand to it's new location we haven't had a shower to speak of. Uhmmm? I enjoyed milking her down in the pasture area under the shade trees. But staying dry was important too and now refrigerating her milk is a lot easier being closer to the house. Sugar spends her time tethered to a nearby tree with a pail of her own grains to munch on till we are done. Then all of us are off for our twice a day stroll around the property looking for the tasty leaves that they enjoy topping off their meals on. With so much space they have lots to pick from and with time we will be able to cut back, clear and open up even more browsing space for them. I know once we can get some permanent fencing in place and turn them out into their own space to play and nibble to heart's content, they will really begin to live the goat's life they were born for.

We do not have much to show in the way of producing our own food crops yet. As we had not moved in before planting time for a Spring garden. But we did put out 6 heritage tomato plants called 'Beefsteak" and two grape tomato plants that are looking good and already have small round orbs hanging amongst the yellow blooms. Six pepper plants have joined them on that side of the garden. An area that was broken up by a fellow fireman who came to do the much needed work on our driveway. Which is now void of humps and holes and is smooth to drive on. He even used his tractor to opened up the area next to it where the creek crosses under it. It looks so inviting, Thanks Mike!

Hopefully over the next hundred years we can remove the rock garden that occupies the space at present where we plan to plant a Fall garden. One thing for sure the sweet potato plants are growing strong and Lon says that I planted enough for the whole community of Woodland. If all 18 plants produce, I just might have. ;) Though one of my newly met neighbors up the road has a large field of corn. Mr. Palmer has already said I could get some of it when it comes in and I don't know for sure, but I would bet he would love to trade for some sweet potatoes too. I wish I had been able to capture a picture of him plowing his fields. It is a sight to see, as you don't find many who still work them with a hand plow and horse/mule power any more. Traveling back and forth to work on the house before moving we often saw him in the early or late light of the day working one row after another. I will have to keep my camera in the car and start driving by from time to time and to see if I can catch him in the fields for a snapshot. It's a priceless sight.

My to-do list continues to grow instead of dwindling as new projects are discovered now that we are living here. It still does not seem quite real, with each day bringing a new sense of peace to our lives. Hard work is not lacking around here, but it is satisfying work. Helping to flesh out a dream into reality for us. So much adventure to be discovered on our place, times to be shared and memories to be made. It is a joy to experience.

I have missed posting about our activities and had so much I wanted to share about the renovations on the house, funny happenings, set-backs and the challenges we faced. But busyness coupled with fatigue kept me off the computer. To try to go back and get caught up would be a HUGE undertaking for me. As I can I may sneak some before and after shots of the process if I can get the pics transferred to a usable file. So instead I have decided to let history be just that and share what is fresh and new in our lives here at Heartland Farm. It is no longer a farm lived out in our hearts and minds, but has become a farm lived on the land that was birthed in our hearts.

Enjoy your day. . . . . . I am,

Deborah

Life At Heartland Farm

Began in earnest on June 26, as we spent our first night here at the farm. After moving all of our furniture that day, we laid our heads on quickly applied sheets before the midnight hour struck. We had been waiting for this day for quite awhile and it was quite a day to be sure. The Lord sent an "angel of mercy" to help us move when He sent our son home from a job site in New Jersey, just hours before the move began. After driving 12 hours and arriving at 5am, he jumped right in with no sleep and little to nourish his body for the task ahead. Lon and I knew that we only had each other for this move as everyone else was working. He was truly a gift from the Lord to us that day. Thank you Jason, for going beyond the duty of a loving son to help your parents move. Fifty-three year old bodies just don't move like they used to. (no comments from the peanut gallery) Without you we would still be trying to move the heavy stuff like the bookcase. LOL.

The next day saw the animals moved in two trips back and forth and being placed in quickly erected housing made ready for them. All of them came out but the biddies who stayed one more night with Jason till we were set up and ready for them. We even had 2 turkeys in tow, as we had acquired them literally just a few days before we move. Given to us by a sweet couple we had became friends with at church. Thank you William and Sue. We are going to miss you. Come out and see the turks in their new surroundings and hear their sweet calls again.

We are officially here! YEA! ! ! ! ! !

Spending my first night alone on the place came quickly as we only had two days to get stuff moved and stacked around before Lon was due to be back on duty. After moving an ump-gillion boxes and shoving furniture into place all day. I was too tired to worry about being out in the middle of all this space alone. Black except for the security light on the power pole, quite and peaceful as it was. No worry though~ Tigger, my cat of 14 years kept me company at bedside. Due in part because he wasn't too sure where I had brought him to and wasn't too keen on checking out the place. He will have his own adjustments to make in the days and nights ahead. New sights, new smells and wide open spaces greeted his twitching ears and dilated eyes that first night. I have heard you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but can you teach an old cat a new way of living?

The first Sunday after the move we attended a small church just down the road, less than 5 minutes from the house. It felt funny waiting around till time to leave, as we have never had that much spare time on a Sunday morning before. It was our second visit to Bethel East and was just as warmly welcomed as we had been the first time. We received an invite from one of the families to come over to their place and pick fresh blueberries. An activity that I have not been able to do as of yet, but plan to. I see a fresh blueberry pie in our future. The very next week I had visitors on 3 separate occasions. A friend's mother and one of the ladies I had met from the church came to pay us a call, bringing a sweet gift of homemade chocolate chip cookies baked just that morning. The second visit came with a return of Mrs.Marlene to purchase 3 dozen eggs from me and to bring me a lovely teapot to add to my collection as a house-warming gift. Our third visit that week came from our cookie baker and her husband to "welcome us to the community and say how glad they were that we had moved into the area". Mr. Tracy and Mrs. Janice brought a house-warming gift of a couple of ripe tomatoes from their garden and a jar of pickles that Mr. Tracy had put up. Yummy, yummy! You just can't beat the homegrown hospitality found in the the country life. Everyone we have met is friendly and ready to help if the need should arise. Phone numbers were exchanged using only the last 4 digits, 2499, 6333, etc. There is no need for a 10 digit number to be shared or recalled as there are so few living in the area to warrant using it. Names, faces and numbers are easily memorized and called upon. Folks just being who they are and sharing what they have with those around them. Try to find that in the city life of multitudes.

There is so much I want to share, but I need to gather my thoughts first. That is after I unpack the mountain of boxes still waiting on me. I only have one short week before I will have to be re-packing for another adventure. One that will take me hundreds of miles from home to the country of Honduras. The mission trip will be here before I can turn around and find a place to sit down for a rest. My hubbie will get to experience the farm life in it's entirety while I am away for a week of mission's work. Coming home will be filled with surprises I am sure, as he will have completed some loose ends on the house and the chicks I know will be twice their size. It is a home-coming that I am looking forward to.

When ever you can, stop by for a visit.
There's room on the front porch for another chair and a great view awaits you.

Till then,

Deborah

Missing in Action

I discovered some MIA's last evening as I went up to close the chicken coop up for the night. After putting the biddies to bed in their own safe housing, checking on the 2 determined broodie hens, I realized there was a fewer number on the roost. Counting heads revealed that 6 of our hens were missing. The first of our flock, given as part of my birthday present last year. Two Orphingtons, 2 White Rocks, 1 Rhode Island Red and Martha was not to be found. I hoped that they were holed up somewhere, being caught by the late shower right at dark. I also wondered if someone had taken them, as they are the calmest ones and quite friendly. Walking right up to you for a free treat if you have one. Martha would even ask to be picked up by pulling on your pants leg.

A search of the property next door this morning answered the questions in my heart. I found 1 pile of Orphington feathers and the body of Martha a few yards away. None others to be found and the worst outcome revealed. They were killed by something in broad daylight, either a dog or possibly a hawk. I did not see any signs of the others but at this point it seems futile to look.