For the Love of God and All That is Holy PLEASE TURN UP THE HEAT!

Good Lord! (I say that as invocation, trust me) but could you please ease up a bit on the deep freeze? The past few days we felt like we've been homesteading in Antartica, and it's predicted to get worse. Before I drudge on, if indeed you are a homesteader in Antartica please feel free to leave a comment mocking my weak nature, I'm sure you've had it much tougher.

But for us wussy Illinoians who are used to winters that dip only now and then below zero, this double digit stuff below ought is mad I tell you. Mad.

Winds started kicking in yesterday and have been steadily whipping about for over thirty-six hours. Coupled with the snow we're getting on and off and now the horrific wind chills the temps outside are literally life threatening. In Chicago today fires had to be lit along some of the railroad tracks to allow the trains to keep running and huge ice blocks are forming in the river.

Tonight it is expected to drop to -23F with wind chills possible of -50 to -60F. Schools are closed all over Livingston county, many businesses have reduced hours or are not open at all and the United States Postal Service announced no mail delivery tomorrow.

Good for them. No one is going to die if they don't get their daily allotment of junk mail or subscription to Martha Stewarts Living delivered to them. I did however order a box of Barry's Tea from eBay which probably won't turn up until Thursday which will make me crabby but not terminal. I've already been out for two days. I guess it's Jameson for breakfast again.

Chores tonight were no fun a'tall.  Double socks, double gloves, double hat and double dogs! Our two guardian dogs walked on either side of me like they knew I needed the extra warmth. All our animals are doing ok though as Keith worked hard this am bedding everyone well. They are also getting extra feed and water to keep body temps up. So happy we have the small farm now and chore time takes less time.

Biggest concerns are for two of our sons who work outside. Middle son is employed by another farmer whose cattle herd is in the midst of calving. Most are inside a large barn but some are not and if their labor is not caught early enough to move them indoors, there is loss of animal life and risk to the farmers trying to get them indoors.

Oldest son works for a large utility company and is required to stay at his place of employment around the clock until Friday morning. As folks crank up their heat and more natural gas flows at higher speeds there are more breakdowns which is where he comes in. Sometimes the electrical repairs and programming issues take place in the office, and sometimes out in the field.

On the mad, mad, and more mad side, temps are predicted to go back up with a high of 45 degrees F on Sunday!

I might have to break out my shorts and tank top.

"I Don't Have the Time" and other ridiculous phrases.

People.

People. People. People.

You do say the silliest things.

Recently, an acquaintance said the following to me when I mentioned that I make my own soap, deodorant, and toothpaste. "Oh, I'd like to do some of those crafty things but I don't have the time."

I'm sorry (not really) to break this to you, all of you who spout this nonsense, but you do indeed have the time. You see, here's the kicker, we all have been gifted the exact same amount of time each and every day-twenty-four hours-no more, no less.

What gets in the way, is the Free Will thing. I have it and so do you, unless you are currently being held captive in some hippie freak commune just outside Podunk Pennsatucky. And if you are, get off the World Wide Web and take the next rutabaga truck out of there.

My point, is this. It's up to each of us how we spend our time. I chose to leave a well paid nursing gig, and a few years after that, we chose to sell our big farm. After purchasing our new farm and building our small grain bin house, we were left with minimal cash but tons more time. We now choose to spend this time growing much of our own food, building barns with recycled materials, heating our house with scrap wood that we gather and cut, and making most of our meals and personal care products from scratch.

You, on the other hand, may have choosen to stay within the proverbial rat race where you work hard for others every day, earning enough money to buy the food and personal products you desire at the restaurant or mega store of your choice. Because of your dedication you might choose to travel more, to purchase a newer car, or to buy the people you love nice things from Amazon. No one is holding my feet to the rocket mass stove fire or your Guccis to the corporate grindstone.

Every time I hear that phrase "I don't have the time" I want to flick that person hard in the middle of their forehead with my formally Cheeto stained fingers, as in,  Hello! You do have the time to do whatever you want, take accountability for how you spend it!"

Perhaps it seems an overreaction on my part, but this annoying phrase is indicative of a major flaw tearing through society's moral fiber these days, the avoidance of personal responsibility.  Kids who misbehave at school and their parents who pass the buck onto TV shows and video games is just one example.  Unplug you wee one once in awhile and/or monitor the shows that you use to anesthetize them, and their behavior might improve or perhaps...and this action is really out there I know...apply a little discipline when they misbehave. Take away some of the hundreds of toys/phones/screens they scatter all over your home, make them do regular chores, and require them to earn the money to buy items they covet. Hold them accountable. Hold yourself accountable. Use your time wisely.

The hourglass does not refill for any of us.

Another phrase voiced by yet another acquaintance when I gifted them some homemade soap for Christmas was, "Someone really has some extra time on her hands." Grrrrrrrrr. That one absolutely made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and wave the Bite Me flag.

 A simple "Thank You "would have sufficed. I hear that phrase often when one person gives another a gift of art, poetry, or homemade food. Obviously, that individual thought I had recently purchased extra hours at the All The Time You Need in the World Store. When I choose to make a gift for someone I am also choosing not to do something else, such as clean my bathroom, weed my garden, email an old friend or scrape dried sweet potato left on our bedroom floor. Don't ask. 

Regardless of which essential task I neglected in order to make a gift, so be it.  It was my choice. So, guess who will not be receiving handcrafted soap from me next year?

I'm sure I just won't have the time.

New Year, New Goals, New Stairs

As I write, we are in the midst of snowmageddan  2019. A one thousand mile swatch of snowy, icy weather has graced the Midwest. St Louis was hit the hardest last night with up to 14 inches of snow in some areas, while we here in central Illinois are dealing with 4-7 inches. Winds are moderate but drifting is rearing its ugly head and travel is not advised. This makes for a great excuse to stay inside and do some serious farm planning. 

We were gifted with several aerial farm photos over Christmas and we're thrilled to use them to complete one year, three year and five year plans for The Poor Farm. I was even more thrilled to see that from up on high, our piles of "inventory" were not so noticeable, nor did they consume as much land area as I thought they did.

It's good to put things in perspective. 

We'll be working with this main shot, which shows are entire seven acres, all  bordered by conventional (chemically treated) fields on three sides and one county road on the north side. Our grain bin house is hidden behind the evergreen trees to the far right of the driveway. The pig area is even father right. Our small pond is to the left of the drive, with yellowish tree cover, near the road. Family cemetery area is lower left.

Below is a flipped view (with north on the bottom) which shows our Grain Bin House and it's relationship to the other buildings. I used the Microsoft paint program already on my pc, for the lettering. Old dog, new trick. Woof.

On yet a third picture, which we had made into an 11 by 17 poster size, (thank you Vistaprint) we slid it inside a large plastic sleeve and used dry erase marker to plot out existing pastures, cow paths etc...It worked great, just draw and erase. Pink lines designate current pastures, black is our cattle path, black square in upper right is family cemetery area, and pond is in lower right. Once satisfied with our plan I'll take a permanent photo to use for future reference. 

Primary goals for 2019 include (but are never limited to)

-Complete the teardown of the 1868 house

-Complete new barn build (two enclosed storage lofts, one open hay loft and Keith's shop)

-Build picket fence to enclose kitchen garden

-Start hügelkultur area behind barn with wood from two large oaks we felled last year.

-Install small propane heater for studio so I can use in winter

I'll share three and five year goals and financial budgets later this month. 

Now, about that 50 foot by 60 foot barn build. Before this recent storm Keith had many mild days to work inside the barn. Stairs are nearly complete up to the loft area which will house the last of the stuff we still have in storage in the surviving half of the 1868 house. An end is in sight! Our shepherd/husky mix Ashland and Keith demonstrate correct use.

It doesn't look like it in the picture below, but floor to ceiling height in the upper loft is seven foot. This  area will be walled in with a door and windows to keep out birds, rodents and the occasional free ranging horse. 

Piggies Moving Up in the World

Christmas was wonderful with lots of great food, (many thanks to daughter-in-law, Chef Tab, who made us a scrumptious breakfast) special time with family, and gifts that were extremely thoughtful and generous. 

But as happens every year, December 26th comes along and farm work beckons. Pigs needed bigger housing. 

Our current crop of feeder pigs are now four months old and growing unlike weeds. Weeds tend to grow UP while these little porkers are growing WIDE, as intended.

They are a group of five Red Wattle crosses we purchased outside of Springfield, Illinois back in September. The cost was fabulous at just $20 each since full Red Wattle feeders can easily run $100 per head. This group was a bit underweight and we were prepared to lose the smallest one, but still we were willing to take the chance since the price was good. 

We got them home, put them on organic ground grain and raw milk from our lovely cow Liz. Within two weeks these babies were thriving. Even the smallest one rapidly gained ground. He is in fact now, our second largest, the gray hog in the picture above. We attribute this positive growth and robust health to a few things: lots of room outside in the fresh air to run and dig, organic feed (free of GMO grains, antibiotics or hormones), deep bedding for warmth and comfort, and raw milk for protein. 

Today we moved our larger Hog Condo into the pigs lot, as they are outgrowing their original petite hutch seen above to the left. Keith used our Kubota tractor and heavy chains for the task. This larger home has been used as a farrowing hut for our full grown sows back in the days when we had our "farrow to finish" operation on our old farm. One sow and her litter would get this larger condo, thus the "Maternity Ward" labeling. Now we just buy feeder pigs at 6-8 weeks, in both the spring and the fall, and raise them for our own meat and meat for a few family members. 

You can see that this larger hutch has had some serious use over the years. Just after I took this picture Keith boarded up the holes on the side and added a large piece of plywood along the bottom to keep winter drafts out. The hogs never seem to mind that the wood is a mixed variety and recycled. 

 In a few days, after this group gets used to the upgraded digs, we'll fence off the area around their old place, clean up that area, pull out posts and store everything until the next group comes in this spring. We like to move each group of pigs to different areas of the farm so as not to spread any possible parasites from one group  to another. They also do an excellent job of tilling and fertilizing the earth of any new site, and getting it ready for whatever crop we might put in that area after they move on.  

Soon we'll contact the locker and make a processing date for these five, probably end of March. This is a good thing, because we are almost out of pork chops and bacon. 

A Couple of Day Trippers

 She was a day tripper, a Sunday driver yea
Took me so long to find out, and I found out

                                                                                        -The Beatles  1965



Just like Paul, Ringo, John and George, Keith and I are big into Day Tripping. Our lifestyle no longer allows us to go away for weeks at a time so we settle for the shorter, less expensive day trips. This past weekend we stayed OVERNIGHT at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Illinois. It was for us, a big hairy deal. It was also our pre-planned Christmas present to each other. 

We did chores early Sunday morning and made it up north by noon. Our son Jason did the evening chores for us and we did them late Monday morning when we got back. The cows milking schedule was off a bit but she's very accommodating. We don't call her "Laid Back Liz" for nothing.

The lodge itself has been around since the early 1900s and has a beautiful open lounge area with huge fireplaces and a rustic log interior. Decorated nicely for Christmas it boosted my soul to see all the lights, ribbons, packages etc...I was hoping for snow on our trip, this area is gorgeous with the white stuff, but no such luck 





There was however, a rare sighting of the sun when we arrived and the weather was super mild, in the high 40's. Perfect for a two mile hike in the hundreds of wooded acres up there, just as the sun was setting. Paths were a tad muddy but nothing as deep and sloppy as the cow path at home. 

We were both amazed at how much plant life was still thriving in late December and how colorful the area was. Of course we've been living in fog and deep clouds the last few weeks so any sliver of light was basically blinding to us. Mushrooms were crazy abundant on the fallen tree limbs and shaped like blossoms. 




During the hike I convinced Keith to pose for our very first selfie together. It took me a bit to make him understand he'd have to get close to me for it to work. 

It took a bit but we were finally successful in capturing a decent enough shot. I wanted to try for a few more reminding Keith how one never knows when one might keel over dead, (my years a hospice nurse totally warped me) and how the gks would appreciate having more pics of us, but he lost interest and wandered off. 

And kept wandering off.  

He came back after I put the smart phone away.

This Blogger Should Be Flogged

I should be publicly flogged and have my blogging license revoked. I'm so all over the road lately. I blog every couple of days and then not for over two weeks. I read other blogs but forget to comment. I comment in public when no one has asked my opinion. I'm full of excuses for this errant behavior, but I have not a single good reason. 

The sun wasn't even in my eyes. Too cloudy and foggy for that.

At least when the fog freezes, as it did this morning,  we are graced with some botanical art. 

Our early winter continues, even though it's a good two weeks before the calendar officially deems it so. Temps at night are usually in the teens. A few days have been warm enough to turn the frozen ground into soppy wet divots which then freeze and threaten to snap this homesteaders delicate ankles whilst doing evening chores. 

The good news is, my ankles are far from delicate, and the evening fires we build in the rocket mass heater feel that much better when the air outside is cold and damp. Still, I hate that it gets dark so early when I haven't yet cleaned up the garden debris, let alone put a few garden chairs away.  We take the high road on this and tell folks we purposely leave the garden littered with last summers' vines, seed heads, rogue weeds  and collapsed kelp, all in the name of feeding birds and providing shelter for wee critters. But the truth is, we haven't made it a priority.

I still have a bag of fifty  tulip bulbs hanging in my mudroom waiting to be planted. Perhaps when it thaws in February I'll get those in the ground. Just in time for a 2020 bloom. 

Anyone else out there way behind in their Fall work while busy dealing with the Early Winter of Our Discontent? 

Yes. I've Already Decorated for Christmas.

I see you judging me. Stop it.

We have a tradition here in the US; no Christmas decorating until AFTER the turkey is gobbled. Unless of course you are a retail store who is now putting some Christmas items out in August. Heathens. But generally, the average American puts off  pulling out the totes and bags and trees until the Pilgrims and Indians are stashed away.

Or as one four-year-old member of our family called them years ago, the Pig-rims and the Idiots. She may have been talking about the table top figurines or her immediate family, we'll never know.

This year though I broke the rules, mixed up the routine, challenged the décor gods and put up Christmas Crapola (my mothers' words not mine) two weeks ago. Not all of it of course, too shocking, but a doorway here and a window there. The flannel valence below  was a thrift shirt I cut up and hot glued. My mother didn't call it 'crapola' for nothing.

The Lone Door Through Which All Must Pass

The Door Into Our Mudroom

Inside the Looney Bin. 

The Barn Picture is currently up for sale on eBay if interested 

But since we only have one doorway into the Looney Bin, it was still an impressive start. I blame the grandbabies for this, and the aging process, and the aging process going on within the grandbabies. It all rolls back to that blog I wrote recently about time going by too fast.

I also blame the Three French Hens Holiday Market, visited recently by myself, my daughter and my two daughter-in-laws. Below are pics from that wonderful event in Morris, Illinois. I was-how shall I say -inspired. I mean after all, we have 90% of this type of inventory all over our farm, all I have to do is gather it together.

Like the sign my daughter saw that read "Yes, we know you can make it yourself, but will you?"

I decided that when the GK's come to visit each Sunday this next month, I'd like them to have a bit

more Santa/Angel/Snowman/Reindeer folly to revel in. The season is short. The babies grow up too fast.  The parents will continue their eye rolling behind my back.

Besides, the dreary, gray, rainy, snowy, November weather continues and I needed some additional lighting effects and the proverbial red bow, to lift my spirits.