Gotta Love Those Snow Days

We have been snowed in for 5 days now.  I have been working on taxes, cooking, cleaning, and of course doing laundry.  To me that is part of cleaning and automatic washers and dryers make it easy. 

I was raised on a  600 acre grain and livestock farm.  I remember ringer washers, renting a freezer locker at the local butcher shop, canning everything you can raised, coal stoves, hand pumping well water, butchering on the coldest day of the year, smoke houses, raising chickens for meat and eggs, peddler wagons and outhouses.  We did have electricity and party line rotary dial phones.  Eventually indoor plumbing, bathrooms, chest freezers, automatic washers and dryers, and oil heating stoves were installed. I do not regret the way I was raised but I do love all of our modern day conveniences.   My Father was one of 13 children raised in a 2 bedroom log cabin.  He and two brothers stayed on the farm, bought it, and more acreage.  As children we could safely walk gravel roads to Grandma's house, pick berries in the summertime, ride bikes for miles. When I think of some of the things that were thrown out over the years I cringe.  I guess everybody tossed old items they considered primitive for the newest shiny possessions.  My husbands Aunt told me she regrets throwing all her crocks out when Tupperware started being sold.  Hindsight is foresight.  Everyone has fond childhood memories of live being simpler, mainly because as children our parents worry about the household we don't. 

It does seem like in Southern Indiana our winters are not as extreme as they used to be.  Last winter was really mild, but then we had a very hot dry summer.  If this snow keeps up we may just pull out of the drought. 

We do live pretty far out in the country on gravel roads.  I still practice what my mother always stressed about keeping at least a 30 day supply of every in the house for winter just in case of bad weather.  I don't shop I stock up.  

In the winter I make soup bases and freeze it for quick lunch time meals.  Yesterday I used all of the turkey and chicken broth I did not use over the holidays to make chicken vegetable soup base to freeze.  I will make noodles and freeze them in small quantities to add to soups and stews, tomorrow.  Pork barbecue was made last Thursday and it was also packaged and frozen.  Boring food makes for a long winter, so we strive for a variety in meals here. 

Definitely Snowed In More Snow On The Way

Christmas was not white with snow this year, but we did get 10 inches starting at 3:00am on the morning of December 26.  We are snowbound even 2 days later.  Our road will be the last one that sees a snow plow or not at all.  We were prepared for a big snow so we will just do daily tasks and enjoy the quiet time.  My husband is keeping the farm related tasks done, takes a while wading snow with a ton of cloths and shoes on.  So far I have not had to break out my Carhartt polar bibs and insulated boots, but I will if he needs help. This will be a good time to get my taxes organized before January 1. 

We are supposed to get rain, freezing rain, then snow tonight so we will see what tomorrow looks like.

Christmas Day was really nice.  We all met at our Daughter and Son-in-Laws house Christmas evening.  We had too much food as usual, but that is what Christmas is about.  I took about six pounds of fudge for all the grand kids to enjoy.  All the grand kids were happy and had fun unwrapping their gifts and that is what is important. 

Our pets, several cats and One Spoiled Rotten Dog do not like the snow.  Snow does not phase the cattle, they just go about their business, eating hay, feed, hitting the water tanks and just milling about.

My seed catalogs are still coming in and I have found several new things I want to add to the garden this year.  All those beautiful Sunflowers will be hard to resist, so several new varieties will find their way into the garden.

Almost Christmas and Another Easy Bake Oven Wrapped

It is almost Christmas again.  All Christmas gifts are wrapped and it is not Christmas Eve, it only took 40 years plus to accomplish this task.  All the candy is made and everything I could possibly get partially cooked or organized is done.  Just doing laundry and cleaning.

We were lucky and only got the wind and rain out of the storm that went through Thursday night.  There was a light dusting of snow on the ground Friday Morning and the wind was still howling.  I helped my husband put out round bales of hay yesterday.  I am the official gate opener.  Wasn't too bad I just made sure to keep the wind at my back.  The cows do not seem to mind the wind and cold, it think they prefer that to flies and heat.

The garden seed catalogs are starting to greet me at the mailbox along with Christmas Cards.  I always spend hours going through them and make lists of what I want to try new.  One catalog had a starter Cheese making kit, definitely going to order one of those.  I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas this year.

I did buy my third easy bake oven this year.  So far it has been in this order, our daughter, oldest granddaughter, and now the youngest granddaughter.  I am going tell the littlest granddaughter, my easy bake oven was a tin can and a candle.  I just love the little ones they still believe what I tell them really happened.

Winter Wood Supply Stacked, Covered, and Dry for Outside Boilers System.

My husband started working on our winter wood supply last March.  The way we were raised, you start on winter early in the spring.  You can never be too ready for winter.  It takes continually checking inventories, short term and long term planning.  I do help some with the wood, if it is warm, and he helps with my garden. 

We have an outside boiler system that is really super efficient.  We thought it would take at least ten years to see a pay back, but it payed for itself after 2 years.  We installed it the summer before energy costs soared.   The brand of this system is Hardy.  It is surrounded by a water jacket and the water is heated and pumped  underground through pipes to 2 buildings, our house, and supplements our household hot water usage.  We heat 3000 square feet with it. 

There are three stages to his plan, first immediate use, back up, and the next season wood supply.  Cutting, splitting, and stacking has to be done by July because of the extreme heat here and then start back to work on it the last of September. It is recycling trees.  There is always someone calling that has a downed tree to be cleaned up, a woods they have logged, or a fence row they have cleared out. We never just go out and cut down healthy trees. We utilize waste wood.

With the drought we have just gone through I hate to see how may trees may be dead next year.  Floods, drought, harsh weather is just Mother Natures way of correcting things.

As you can see by the pictures below our grass is just pretty green for December.  We have had some cold night and a couple of snow flurries but prolonged cold has not arrived.  Next week is supposed to change that and winter is supposed to set in.

Wood boiler




Wood under roof for immediate use

Back view of wood under roof

Back up supply covered

3 racks side view



Next wood to cut

Next wood to be cut

Flu Season Here

It is cold weather, not my favorite time of the year.  I wear flip flops as long as I can. Now it is shoes and jacket weather.  I can handle sweat shirts but when you have to break out down jackets I am not pleased.  Why we haven't relocated to a warmer climate I can not answer that.  Home is home. 

Everybody we know either have the flu or are getting it.  Maybe it will come and go quickly. 

Needless to say my baby sitting duties have increased over the last few days.  I have tons of stuff to get done, but time is limited.  I just adjust to the changes and tend to not get too excited about it.  My grand kids are only going to be little for a short time.  I love the age that they are now, they still like us and think we are wonderful.  Soon they will be grown and gone and I do not want to miss any of the trusting cute times.  They can say and do the cutest things.  Our oldest grandchild grew up so fast it is hard at times to cope with.  We feel like she is the perfect grandchild.

They all love the cows, our gardens, so they are pretty special little kids.  Easy to entertain, just let them play in the dirt. 

Still waiting on snow for Christmas. Then after New Years we will be ready for Spring!!!!!

How many types of cold medicine are there anyway?

Garden has been put to bed, Fall calves are here, except one independent old girl.  It has been non stop since Thanksgiving.  I thought I was ready for winter, but looked around and still found several things to finish up on.

Our weather has been beautiful and mild here all Fall long.  Too mild in fact.  I don't know what kind of winter it will be,  I guess we will know when spring gets here how our winter was.

My husband and I both came down with cold about a week ago we have been taking over the counter allergy medicine.  I went and got a stronger medicine a few days ago.  To make a long story short, I did not read the label and we were only taking one a day for four days.  Well I finally stopped and read the label today, and guess what it says to take 2 every 4 to 6 hours.  I now understand why we still are barely functioning. 

Note to self always read the label, all cold/allergy medicine are not the same!!!!  

You Can Grow Cotton in Southern Indiana!!!!!!!

 Here is the proof, Cotton can be grown in Southern Indiana. I just think it is just fascinating to watch it grow it is a beautiful plant with really pretty flowers. Even the leaves are pretty.

How To Make Cracker Crumbs

I had some saltine crackers that were getting stale, so it was time to make cracker crumbs.  I do this with bread also.

The hardest thing about doing this is washing the food processor.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.  Spread your crackers on a cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool.

Place crackers in food processor with the blade attachment installed.  Process until crackers are to the crumb stage.  You can leave plain or add seasonings of your choice.  Store in a zip lock bag or an air tight container.

Place on cookie sheet and bake

Cool and place in food processer

Processed to desired stage

Pictures of New Hereford Calves

Baby sitting while mom eats (born 10/18/2012)

Resting a few hours old (born 10/18/2012)

Dirty nose from playing in dirt (born 9/15/2012)

Still getting a bath a few hours old(born 10/18/2012)

I am clean mom (born 10/18/2012)

Finally I can sleep (born 10/18/2012)

After nap and bath (born 10/18/2012)

Lets play (back calf born 10/8/2012-calf in fromt 9/15/2012)

 OK I"ll move (born 10/8/2012)

We are bored (Calf on left born 9/15/2012-calf on right born 10/8/2012)

Time out (calf born on 10/18/2012)



These pictures were taken on 10/18/2012.

Heifer--born 9/15/2012
Bull calf born 10/8/2012
Bull Calf born 10/18/22012

New Herford Calf, Fall Garden clean up

Since I last posted we have been busy getting everything finished for winter.  Needless to say the fall house cleaning came to a complete standstill.  We have been trudging along trying to beat the fall rains.  When I woke up and it was raining I was thrilled that I can catch up in the house.  I even had to schedule grocery shopping around all the work.  Thank heavens I keep stocked up on food.  I feel that if I have a 30 day supply on hand going into winter we won't get slammed with a blizzard.  We will have to see if that works out again this winter.

Every day has been spent picking gourds, gather what has been left in the garden, and gather hickory nuts. My gourd drying racks are almost filled, the last of the hickory nuts are picked up, and the vegetable garden is done.  I pulled down the last of the tomato plants yesterday.  I have two more days picking gourds and I will be done for 2012.  That will give my husband time to get lime spread on the hay fields, garden, and pastures.

October 18 we had another calf born.  He is a big one, we stayed with her for two hours that she was in hard labor.  My husband was 5 minutes from calling the Vet in when here he came.  I named him Bruiser because he was so big and he probably bruised her on the way out.  I felt so sorry for her, but she is fine and so is her baby.  Here is a picture of him he after Mom cleaned him up.

We have done several other projects in the last twelve days and I will post more about that later.  I need to get back to work.

 

 

 

 

 

Do Herford Cows Wear Raincoats?

We babysat for 4 of our grand kids last weekend.  The main topic of conversation for the two youngest ones was "Do you Cows wear rain coats when it rains?".  Of course my answer was "No they like to stand in the rain".  Then came the "Do they wear winter coats, hats and boots when it snows?".  Again the "No they like to stand out in the snow ".  Finally after every weather question they could ask, they were satisfied.  That is our job as grandparents to answer all the seemingly obvious questions we all take for granted as adults.  I grew up on a farm and just understood how things are. After we have returned to this life in our retirement year, now is our job to share all this with our grand kids.  We enjoy them and all their questions and I just hope we are giving the right answers and they are learning about this way of life.  Grand children are the greatest joy there is, and you do not understand how much joy you receive until you experience them.

Speaking of joy, yesterday was clean out the barn and spread lime day.  We had borrowed a skid steer form the neighbors and it really wasn't a horrible job.  My husband was operating the skid steer and spreading the manure on the pastures with hos tractor and spreader, I was the boots on the ground with all the hand tools person.  I am definitely experienced with these and the day went just fine. It was a long 10 hour job, but we beat the rain and it is done till spring.  Of course it was impossible for me to stay clean but unlike last spring I didn't fall in it.  When that happened it was up half way to my knees when I was pulled to ground the only option was to roll out.  I thought it was solid ground and it was a nasty experience.  None of the cows got out and everything ended up just fine.

We do have one calf that is really fun to watch.  The little heifer that was born Sept. 15 of this year chases cars.  She runs the length of the fence on the road side chasing any car that pasts.  We may have to watch her, she may end up a jumper and we will be calls in the middle of the night she has escaped.  Keeps life interesting.

Another Hereford Calf Born

At 7:15 pm Monday, October 8, 2012, we had another addition to the herd.  A little Hereford bull calf was born.   We are awaiting the arrival of 2 more before fall calving is complete.  He is a little cutie, but all babies are cute in my book.  Mama was a 2 year old heifer, but she calved easily without any help from us.  We always leave them alone and let them handle it.  We have been very lucky with the girls, one set of twins a year and all live births without any calves being rejected.  Yea, no bottle feeding yet!!! 

These pictures were taken yesterday at around 2:30 pm so the calf is approximately 20 hours old.  We are very pleased with the little fellow. 

With all this going on trying to get every thing wrapped up before winter gets here I am at the point of total disorganization at the moment.We will get every thing done somehow. 

I am slowly trying to clean up the rest of the garden, we had frost on Monday and Tuesday Night so the garden is done.  I am fighting a weed patch trying to get gourds pick to dry.  We have to clean the barn (scoop out with the tractor and loader then spread manure on the pastures), spread lime in the feed ways of the barn and the holding pens (yes I will be helping with this).  I have fall cleaning to finish, store all canning supplies, store potatoes, do some mending, make a blanket for youngest Grandson's Birthday, clean my workshop, continue to gather Hickory Nuts(they should be done soon), and I probable will find more to do. 

Here are pictures of Mama and Baby Boy.

The Joy of Gardening, Cutting Hay, and Fall Cleaning

Last week we received 5 1/2 inches of rain.  My garden is on sand and drains well, but this week we are getting more rain.  I am not complaining because we need rain now to have a garden and crops next year.  I will not even complain about snow and severe cold.  In short we need a normal rainy fall and a cold snowy winter.

I still have quite a bit to harvest in the garden, but I did manage to get all the potatoes dug before the rains started.  I do not think I will be making anymore tomato juice this year.  If I do get enough tomatoes to juice and can, then that will be wonderful.  There are still gourds, lima beans, peppers, and cotton to harvest.  Yes I planted cotton (in Southern Indiana) to see it grow.  It has beautiful flowers and I am still waiting to see the cotton to appear. 

My husband cut hay again last Saturday, rain was not in the forecast until Tuesday.  Well it is wet and will have to be picked up with a pitch fork.  We have two pitch forks so I guess I will be helping. 

All these little things make life interesting.  We definitely do not get bored around here.

Since it is cold and has been raining since Saturday afternoon, I have tackled fall cleaning.  I am thrilled to say I have 2 rooms done, from top to bottom, closets, drawer, and rotated clothes.  After all the house is cleaned I am setting a goal to deep clean one room a month so it doesn't have to take so long twice a year to get it done. It will make normal cleaning a lot easier and hopefully I feel like I am always behind.  Sounds like a plan to me, I will keep you informed if it works out.

The good thing about any type of cleaning and or organizing you find things you forgot you had or those misplaced items.  It's an a-ha moment when you find things.  I am looking for a land line phone I bought last spring to use when we loose power,  just a plain jane, no bells or whistles.  I know I bought two of them, but I can only find one of them, the one that is plugged in.  Its is here somewhere, along with a big flashlight.  Sometimes I put things up so my grandkids don't play with them and then I can't find them.  I found a stapler after six months of looking for it.  You just have to love grandkids, they tend to keep us on our toes.

 

How to Replace Knit Cuffs, Collar, and Waist Band on a Denim Bommer Jacket

Jacket Waist Band

Jacket Sleeve Band

Jacket Waist Band

Jacket Collar

My husband asked me to fix his Denim Bomber Jacket that had severely frayed cuffs, collar, and waist band.  It his favorite fall and spring work jacket. As you can see from these pictures it definitely has seen better days.   I love to deconstruct, repair, and reconstruct garments.  I even like to put new zippers in jeans.  You can really learn allot on garment construction from repairing (mending) garments doing this.  If I loose you on any of the steps detailing this process contact me and I will explain.

Iron Seam--Lint roller

Use Snips to remove Stitches

First disassemble the garment in the areas that need to be repaired.  I use a pairs of sewing snips to do so.  Seam rippers will also work. After all items to be repaired (or just one item a time) are removed, press all seams and remove all loose threads ( A lint roller helps). 

Pin Collar on Fold use Old collar  as Pattern

New Collar before Pressing

I used a flat stretch knit for all the pieces.  New cuffs are available in larger fabric stores, for this work coat, I used what I had on hand. Cut the pieces positioned with the greatest stretch of the fabric which  is the horizontal stretch.  For example on the collar you see the greatest stretch on the fabric will be on the length of the collar.  Also for the waist piece and the cuff.  I always start with the hardest part to do first, then work my way to the easiest part.  You can do this in any order you want.

                                                        



New Collar after Pressing

Collar Pinned Ready to Sew

Collar Pinning Center Back

Fold the collar in half length wise and press. Fold the collar to find the center back, place pin.  Fold shoulder seams of jacket to find the center back, place pin. Match the center back collar and center back jacket pins and pin together. Pin the end of the collar on the left and right side of the jacket finish pining collar across the left and right side, fold facings back into position and pin those also.   Depending on the way the jacket is constructed you will probably not be able stitch all the way to the ends. There will not be stitches all the way across the facing, you will be able to correct this when top stitching. (See picture below for details of before and after top stitching.) I used a regular straight stitch because I was stitching knit to denim.  My machine was set on the stitch length setting of number 5.  I then surged the seam but you can zigzag the seam to finish it if a surger is not available.  Press the collar seam you just stitched on to the garment toward the back of the jacket to make it easier to top stitch you will see the original pressing seam.  I matched the previous top stitch color so it will  match the existing Top Stitching and  I used thread to match the jacket color in the bobbin; then I stitched exactly the way it was, across the left and right collar facing also.



Before Top Stitching

Before Top Stitching




Before Top Stitching

Before Top Stitching




After Top Stitching




Back Waist Band

Side Waist Band

Next do the waist band using the same method as the collar.  I measured the old waist band (long ways) and added 1 inch to the measurement doubled the width because you will fold this in half to make the new waist band. For example the old piece was 18 inches long and 2 inches wide, cut one piece that is 19 inches long and 4 inches wide.  You will be folding this in half pressing, the new piece  will be 2 inches wide and 19 inches long (just an example).  Remember to fold the waist band and the jacket to find the center point of the back. Pin waist band to the each side of the jacket and keep finding the half way points of the jacket and band, pinning together while stretching the waist band to fit, until evenly distributed across.  Work your facing pieces like you did previously with the collar. Stitch across, surge or zigzag to finish the seam. Press seam up. Do the top stitching changing thread colors like you did for the collar. 





New Cuff and Jacket Sleeve

Jacket Sleeve

Now the cuff--measure around the old cuff at the top,  add one inch to the measurement. If  the old cuff was too tight now is the time to correct that and add desired amount to correct this.  Measure the width of the cuff and double that( you will be folding the cuff). For example your new cuff needs to be 10 inches around and 2 inches wide.  You will need to cut two pieces 4 inches wide and 10 inches long.  You need one new cuff for each sleeve. Sew one piece of the cuff together the right side of the fabric facing each other.  Now sew the second cuff  the same way as the first one. Carefully press this seam.  Now fold in half so the seams are on the inside of the cuff you will now have 2 separate tubes that are 9 inches around and 2 inches wide(your measurements may be different).  Carefully press these 2 new cuffs.    Fold cuffs in half place pins at the top of the cuff(raw edges of fabric) fold again and pin again (left top picture). Pin the sleeve of the jacket the same way(right top picture).  Now put the new cuff on the jacket right side matching and pin in place match all the pin placements, stretch cuff to fit sleeve.

Sleeve With New Cuff

Stitch like the collar and the waist piece.  You will not have any facings to work with on the sleeves and top stitching on a sleeve is usely not done.  Surge or zigzag the seam to finish it and press sleeve up toward the inside of the sleeve away from the opening.

Finished Jacket with new Collar, Cuffs, and Waist Band.