tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25918600170365461792024-03-13T14:53:38.730-07:00AntB PotteryAnthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.comBlogger154125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-50457942219832361082014-09-19T13:00:00.001-07:002014-09-19T13:02:00.634-07:00Raspberries and Pumpkins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There are instructions on how to do everything from making a hay rack to butchering a pig.<br />
Great fun to look through!<br />
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<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-45630067267946675172014-05-28T13:14:00.000-07:002014-05-28T13:26:54.463-07:00Straw Bales in the GardenI was hoping to try some different types of straw bale garden beds this year, since I've read a lot about it and found the possibilities to be very exciting. I'm still in the beginning stages of my first straw bale beds and am a little more ambivalent about it now. But I'll start at the beginning:<br />
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This spring I put an ad on Craigslist asking for moldy or weathered straw bales. Since they grow wheat here, and many people use the straw bales as insulation around their foundations in the winter, I was hopeful that I would get some response.<br />
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I did!<br />
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First someone called for us to pick up eleven bales. When we got there, they even hefted the bales into the truck for us!<br />
This was wonderful, because while dry straw bales are pretty easy to move around for one person, these bales were soaking wet, decomposing and very heavy- I'm guessing they weighed about 100 lbs each, since I could barely lift one side and only could move them by dragging them.<br />
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We got them home and dropped them off the back of the truck where we wanted them to stay.<br />
This became the first two straw bale beds.<br />
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The first straw bale bed was just the bales, with the strings removed, and put into a 3' by 12' raised bed frame. That frame held 6 bales. Since the bales were already composting, I did not do the conditioning that many websites suggest before planting. I could tell the bales were composting because they were wet, heavy, growing mushrooms, smelled of decay, and were quite warm inside.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On top I put composted horse manure, and into this I planted some ground cherry seeds. This was at the end of April. Just as these were sprouting, the first week in May, we got a late hard frost, and even though I covered them, many died. So last week I put in some other seedlings I had- broccoli, cauliflower, brusssels sprouts, and some okra seeds. The okra is just now coming up, and the small plants are doing well. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To plant the seedlings, I used a small garden trowel to remove the straw to make holes about twice the size I needed for the seedlings, and put in compost and the plants. I put the straw I removed back around the plants in mounds, but not touching the stems. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The next bed I made with the remaining bales was a free standing bed. I found a source for as much free composted horse manure as I wanted, so the second bed was a compost well bed. The straw is the frame of the bed, and the 'well' inside is composted manure, straw, leaves and whatever else I had, all mixed and piled inside. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />I piled the compost, about half a truck full, on top and inside the bed. When it was first made, back in April, it was mounded as high as I could get it without falling off. Now at the end of May, it has settled and is lower inside than out. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />This bed was planted with tomatoes I had started from seed. These I put around the edges, over the straw bales. Inside I planted carrots. The carrots have sprouted, but have not grown at all. The tomatoes are slowly getting bigger. I just added a couple basil plants. I tried to put some herbs on the sides, but they died almost immediately. The stems of the herbs got thin and brown like they do with seedlings when they have dampening off. This happened overnight. However, the basil plants I put in on top are doing fine. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />The first week in May, another person was super nice and dropped off about 20 bales of straw that had been outside all winter. These bales got made into regular straw bale beds, and were planted with more tomatoes in two more beds, </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and some melon seeds in one bed and some squash/pumpkin seeds in another bed. The one remaining bale I planted with some peppers. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You can really tell the older straw bale beds from the newer ones, because the old ones are really starting to soften and slump. Also, the first beds I took the strings off and put stakes on the ends to hold them together, since I was told the strings had rodenticide on them. I left the strings on the last batch, since they didn't have treated strings. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />The plants are doing OK. Not gangbusters, but surviving. Besides the dampening off problems of the herb plants, the seedlings planted on top didn't look healthy after about a week in the straw bales. They started turning yellow from the bottom leaves up, and generally looked peaked. This meant they weren't getting enough nitrogen. I thought that the large amounts of manure on each bale would be enough to feed the plants, but this obviously wasn't the case. I started pouring on organic fertilizer., mostly diluted fish emulsion every day. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />Each application helped a little. Finally I cleaned out both chicken houses and put all the litter and chicken poop in batches into a large rubbermaid container, added water and put the resulting wet slop and liquid on the plants. This fresh chicken poop tea would have burned most plants, I think, but the straw bale plants loved it, and started looking fully green and healthy for the first time in weeks within a day or two after the chicken poop tea treatment. They may actually be willing to grow a little more for me now. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />I'm not sure what to do to keep them going with such high nitrogen requirements. The chickens only poop so much. I have some blood meal I could use next, I suppose. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've read that many people use Milorganite, as an organic fertilizer, I don't think I will. While it is organic in the sense that it is not a chemical fertilizer, it is not Organic, as in Certified Organic. It is treated urban people poop. I'm not against humanure, but I don't trust what people might put down their toilets along with the poo, like cleaners, old meds, and so on, to be good for my garden. I have a well, and try to be careful of what goes into the soil, since I'm going to be drinking whatever perks through it. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />And I think Straw Bale Gardening in general would be hard to do organically. The straw, to begin with is probably not organic and the nitrogen requirements are very high, and since the gardener is providing all the plant's nutrition, not the soil, I'm not sure the plants will provide a broad spectrum of nutrition themselves when I eat them, unless I provide that nutrition along with heavy amounts of nitrogen I dump on each bale. I may break down and buy some good quality GardenTone or something. It seems odd that I have lots of compost from rabbits, chickens and horse manure available, yet this isn't enough. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />While people say that straw bales are the easiest way to garden, I am starting to feel like Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors. I feel like they are constantly calling, "Feed me, feeeed mee". </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />At least they all came so thoroughly soaked, rotted and wet through that they don't need watering more than once or twice a week. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />My only other consolation is that I'll probably get wonderful compost from them for next year's more traditional raised beds. </span></div>
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Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-35464971158634511532014-05-28T11:45:00.002-07:002014-05-28T11:45:50.253-07:00Progress in the GardenAs I've mentioned, this is the first summer at my new place. We moved in at the end of summer last year, and were so busy getting things set up, that the garden was put off. All I did was buy a few leftover scraggly tomato plants on sale at the tractor store, and tucked them into slits in the yard. I think I got maybe a dozen green tomatoes to fry early in October. My plan was to work through the winter preparing the soil for a real garden this year.<br />
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An almost constant three feet of snow stopped me. Winter started early, dumped tons of snow, and stayed late, with snow at the end of April and frosts well into May. Even now, at the end of May, I relish each warm day because of the recent memory of cold nights and frosty days. I actually only put away my long johns last week, at last sure we wouldn't get any more freezing nights for a while.<br />
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So I started this garden year with almost nothing done. I wanted to start what I hope will be, in a few years, a very large garden in part of what is now an unused pasture. I want to have mostly raised beds, since the soil here is a clay and silt mix that I find difficult to work in. When it is wet it clumps into reddish grey masses, and when dry it is yellowish, cracked, and powdery, and the clumps are like rocks. There are dogwood sprouts, thistles and ragweed all over the pasture, as well as huge dense patches of wild onions. The thought of plowing or tilling that all up and weeding it all is overwhelming, so starting a handful of raised beds and adding some each year makes the task seem less daunting and more reasonable to me.<br />
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My daughters built me nine 3 feet by 12 feet beds. Two are only six inches tall, and the rest are 12 inches tall. While the wood was all purchased so the beds would be uniform, I didn't want the garden to be super expensive, so I am determined to get the stuff to fill them all as cheaply as possible, or free if I can.<br />
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First, the neighbors, for years, have spread their raked fall leaves in the pasture I now own. They bring them over in wagons pulled by their lawn tractors. I told them to continue to put the leaves on the pasture but to leave them in large piles, near the front of the pasture. One farmer drove over and over the piles with a large mower to chop them up for me and we raked them back up and let them compost over the winter. What started in the fall as three piles three feet tall and maybe five feet wide, by spring were just wet masses by the end of April.<br />
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Two garden beds that have raspberries planted in them were filled with these. I ordered raspberry slips from Stark Bros, and they were just put into slits we managed to dig into the soil. The rotting leaves we mixed with free composted horse poop from a neighbor, along with some wood ash from a bonfire to keep the leaves from making the mix too acidic. This filled up the six inch high beds.<br />
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The raspberry plants went mostly into the ground, but a couple inches out into the compost mix- mostly because I couldn't get the holes any deeper. Most of them are doing really well. Three died, possibly because of the late frosts we got, and nine are getting new growth like crazy.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ByWLfasvUYI/U4YsMsn9aqI/AAAAAAAAA64/aqgRm_4T-I8/s1600/IMG_6244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ByWLfasvUYI/U4YsMsn9aqI/AAAAAAAAA64/aqgRm_4T-I8/s1600/IMG_6244.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a>To keep the aforementioned weeds and bushes from growing back around the raspberries, I used a moldy straw bale (they come apart in layers) as a sheet mulch. This is one of the raspberry beds. The other bed has not been sheet mulched yet, and is too weedy to be presentable.<br />
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I'll soon put four fence posts in the beds, one at each corner. I'll string clothesline wire down the length from pole to pole as the bushes grow, three or four times at different heights and keep putting the branches inside to keep them up. Since I have two beds, I'll cut down one bed each year, alternating beds, so each year one bed will have berries getting ready on the one year old growth. I chose primocane berries so I would get two small crops each summer, rather that just one.<br />
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I'll be pulling out the dead bushes and putting new ones in ASAP, so I may get a few berries later this summer!<br />
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I am so looking forward to the first raspberries!<br />
<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-88279363207738391042014-05-22T16:23:00.000-07:002014-05-22T16:23:42.130-07:00This is the Dawning of the Age of Asparagus!The first year garden in any new place is tough, a gamble, and a series of small miracles.<br />
I planted 25 asparagus roots, and they are starting to come up. While they won't be harvested for at least three years, this is truly the dawning of the age of asparagus for my garden.<br />
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<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-58573891614767732822014-04-30T07:35:00.002-07:002014-04-30T07:35:36.116-07:00Winners!Jaloola and Heather RP Taylor!<br />
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And BlameVyvyan won her pick of mugs in my shop!<br />
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THANK YOU for all the comments, pins, posts and everything you guys did! YOU are wonderful!<br />
-AntBAnthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-17281033030581703202014-04-17T06:33:00.000-07:002014-04-17T06:56:23.368-07:00Spring Giveaway!I feel the need to celebrate Spring with a giveaway.<br />
Winter was tough, and lasted long after the calendar said that Spring was here. We had snow this week, but today is supposed to be in the 60's, and I saw a violet in the yard, so I'm celebrating!<br />
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You can win either the 11 oz rabbit mug (It had carrots inside and a leaping rabbit on the back) or the meditating sloth mug. It has the word "Namaste" inside, and a sloth hanging form a branch on the back.<br />
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To enter to win, just comment below. That is one entry. If you want more entries, pin an item on Pinterest, or Wanelo, or Tumblr from<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/antb" target="_blank"> either</a> of my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SecondChanceCeramics" target="_blank">shops</a>, and mention it in your comment. You can also tweet an item or post it on your facebook. Whatever social media you prefer, you'll get an entry for each thing you post or pin or tumble.<br />
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I'll use a random number generator to choose the winner from each of the entries.<br />
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If anyone REALLY wants to post a lot, the first person who does 50 off-Etsy pins/posts/ tumblr/ FB posts will get to pick any mug from my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SecondChanceCeramics" target="_blank">secondchanceceramic.etsy.com </a>shop.<br />
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The contest goes until April 27, and the winner will be posted on April 28.<br />
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So, HAPPY SPRING!<br />
And thank you so much for reading this blog!<br />
<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-71555682806975724082014-03-31T19:26:00.000-07:002014-03-31T19:36:42.724-07:00April Fools Day Food!<div style="text-align: center;">
Happy April Fool's Day!</div>
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Every year I try to do a fun fake food meal for my family. I thought my kids, who are now all adults, would be tired of it, but I think they look forward to it as much as I do. </div>
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And with a granddaughter to enjoy it, I have more fun than ever!</div>
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This year I did the most simple meal I've ever tried, and I'm pretty pleased because the chicken nuggets are something I came up with myself. </div>
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This is the April Fool's food for 2014 featuring chicken nuggets and dipping sauce, juice, half an orange. :</div>
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And this is what it is made from:</div>
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The chicken nuggets are slightly smashed coconut marshmallows, the sauce is strawberry jelly, the orange has been hollowed and filled with jello. When it sets up after being in the fridge all night, I'll slice it into wedges. The juice is more jello. </div>
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For video instructions, <a href="http://youtu.be/YSVFHrGryZU" target="_blank">look here</a>.</div>
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So, super easy! And since April Fool's Day is on a school day, Grace is going to have the faux chicken nuggets in her lunch box! I know she's going to love it!</div>
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<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-9703918465034772632014-03-22T20:18:00.000-07:002014-03-22T20:20:29.320-07:00Old Fashioned Kids<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/03/hey-parents-leave-those-kids-alone/358631/">http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/03/hey-parents-leave-those-kids-alone/358631/</a><br />
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This article has so many great points about children and play. If you are interested at all in child development, it is worth the read. </div>
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Childhood has changed drastically since I was a kid. No more do kids play outside all day, only returning home at sunset. </div>
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Kids *need* risk, independence, and freedom, but modern parenting is all about minimizing risk, independence and freedom. </div>
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From the article:</div>
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"To gauge the effects of losing these experiences, Sandseter turns to
evolutionary psychology. Children are born with the instinct to take
risks in play, because historically, learning to negotiate risk has been
crucial to survival; in another era, they would have had to learn to
run from some danger, defend themselves from others, be independent.
Even today, growing up is a process of managing fears and learning to
arrive at sound decisions. By engaging in risky play, children are
effectively subjecting themselves to a form of exposure therapy, in
which they force themselves to do the thing they’re afraid of in order
to overcome their fear. But if they never go through that process, the
fear can turn into a phobia. Paradoxically, Sandseter writes, “our fear
of children being harmed,” mostly in minor ways, “may result in more
fearful children and increased levels of psychopathology.” She cites a
study showing that children who injured themselves falling from heights
when they were between 5 and 9 years old are less likely to be afraid of
heights at age 18. “Risky play with great heights will provide a
desensitizing or habituating experience,” she writes.<br />
<br />
<aside class="callout"><span class="smallcaps">related story</span>
<h3>
Let Kids Play With Fire</h3>
"We see a child climbing a tree and the first thing we think of
is how they might fall and be maimed for life, when we might as easily
say, 'Look at how well Sarah is climbing that tree!'"<br /><br />
</aside>We might accept a few more phobias in our children in
exchange for fewer injuries. But the final irony is that our close
attention to safety has not in fact made a tremendous difference in the
number of accidents children have. According to the National Electronic
Injury Surveillance System, which monitors hospital visits, the
frequency of emergency-room visits related to playground equipment,
including home equipment, in 1980 was 156,000, or one visit per 1,452
Americans. In 2012, it was 271,475, or one per 1,156 Americans. The
number of deaths hasn’t changed much either. From 2001 through 2008, the
Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 100 deaths associated with
playground equipment—an average of 13 a year, or 10 fewer than were
reported in 1980. Head injuries, runaway motorcycles, a fatal fall onto a
rock—most of the horrors Sweeney and Frost described all those years
ago turn out to be freakishly rare, unexpected tragedies that no amount
of safety-proofing can prevent.<br />
Even rubber surfacing doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference
in the real world. David Ball, a professor of risk management at
Middlesex University, analyzed U.K. injury statistics and found that as
in the U.S., there was no clear trend over time. “The advent of all
these special surfaces for playgrounds has contributed very little, if
anything at all, to the safety of children,” he told me. Ball has found
some evidence that long-bone injuries, which are far more common than
head injuries, are actually increasing. The best theory for that is
“risk compensation”—kids don’t worry as much about falling on rubber, so
they’re not as careful, and end up hurting themselves more often. The
problem, says Ball, is that “we have come to think of accidents as
preventable and not a natural part of life.”<br />
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I'm hoping that we can change some of this for my granddaughter. I'm hoping that our move to the country will give her experiences similar to those that were normal in decades past. Last fall, I taught her and Grace how to use a small saw and hatchet, and let them go to it down in the overgrown woods at the end of our property.<br />
They spent several days clearing out 'rooms' to play in. Here is a video of them showing off their work:<br />
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Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-67863650969441869872014-03-09T21:00:00.000-07:002014-03-10T07:59:49.393-07:00Chickens and Chicks in the Green House. <br />
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This is a video of the greenhouse, and the chicks and chickens that are living there.<br />
I moved the chickens into the green house when they started laying in February because they tended to put their eggs in inaccessible places in the little chicken house. And now the baby chicks are too big to keep inside, so they are in the greenhouse too. Its getting crowded, but as the weather warms up, the big chickens can be outside more.<br />
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The floor of the greenhouse has deep leaf litter which will go into the garden beds later in spring. As soon as we can, we will finish the cob chicken house for the adult chickens, while the pullets (young chickens that haven't started laying yet) can live in the portable chicken house. The next project is to finish the cob chicken house and fence in a section of pasture for the chickens. While I would like them to have run of the place, one neighbor is worried they will range onto his property, so I'll be fencing them in.<br />
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With the heat lamps, the green house glows at night. Kinda pretty in the snowy pasture.<br />
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Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-21756237553247859552014-02-18T09:55:00.004-08:002014-02-18T09:56:35.430-08:00Albert Einstein, I love your sandals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-23649899861621644812014-02-06T15:42:00.000-08:002014-02-06T15:44:00.700-08:00Eggs!We bought chickens just after we moved here. They were only 5 weeks old and we were told they would start laying in the fall, but they didn't. We've had a very cold and snowy winter. We knew they wouldn't lay in the winter because of the lack of light but I do check the nest boxes every couple of days, just in case.<br />
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A couple days ago we got another winter storm, and yet another below 0 spate is due tonight. I was adding hay and straw to the piggies, the rabbits and the chickens. When I got to the chickens, only two came out of the house, so I looked around for the third one, and opened the nesting boxes.<br />
And there it was, sitting in the nesting box. She got up, and there were four eggs!<br />
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One was still a little warm, but the other three were frozen solid. (Poor chicken for having to sit on ice to lay her egg!)<br />
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And they were all pretty large! </div>
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It looks like all three laid eggs, since they are all slightly different shapes and colors. </div>
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Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-8846784929592586172014-01-05T06:06:00.000-08:002014-01-05T06:06:04.872-08:00Happy Twelfth Night!<br />
I was just looking at <a href="http://polarbearstale.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Polar Bear's Tale</a>
and saw that it was Twelfth Night tonight. While I am sure you all are
baking your bean cakes and mulling your wassail to howl at your apple
trees, I am not.<br />
Instead I am working to finish up a kiln full of
ware to fire during a cold snap of below zero weather that is supposed
to come in a day or two. <br />
There is nothing nicer than a kiln to
warm the basement and pipes during a frigid spell! I might just make
some mulled cider to drink while it fires, though. <br />
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Since
much of the Midwest US is getting hit by a snowstorm, I thought I would
post pics I took while I took care of the animals early in the morning,
just after the first big snow we had a couple weeks ago.<br />
Happy Twelfth Night!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O0DhuCqDagY/UsllK3HqZAI/AAAAAAAAA3E/etPF4FftzXA/s1600/IMG_3471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O0DhuCqDagY/UsllK3HqZAI/AAAAAAAAA3E/etPF4FftzXA/s320/IMG_3471.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Down the pasture to the woods</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TG9Sb5dYadc/UsllNL4r_KI/AAAAAAAAA3M/rsmi16ISTdE/s1600/IMG_3473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="333" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TG9Sb5dYadc/UsllNL4r_KI/AAAAAAAAA3M/rsmi16ISTdE/s400/IMG_3473.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jaxon's first snow</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KVDSO0ikPr0/UsllO8KvOBI/AAAAAAAAA3U/G2zNUYpOKZA/s1600/IMG_3481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KVDSO0ikPr0/UsllO8KvOBI/AAAAAAAAA3U/G2zNUYpOKZA/s320/IMG_3481.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back up the pasture to the house</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t-inU-rumWs/UsllTM4P8JI/AAAAAAAAA3c/shKVv1blCFU/s1600/IMG_3483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t-inU-rumWs/UsllTM4P8JI/AAAAAAAAA3c/shKVv1blCFU/s320/IMG_3483.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Along the neighbor's pasture fence</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F_X58GrHUPw/UsllYuGTfAI/AAAAAAAAA3k/IVdWJpVd-sw/s1600/IMG_3484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F_X58GrHUPw/UsllYuGTfAI/AAAAAAAAA3k/IVdWJpVd-sw/s400/IMG_3484.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Into the woods</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VG4DfkDlJ00/UsllaOQyovI/AAAAAAAAA3s/scTVZEW3ePM/s1600/IMG_3487.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VG4DfkDlJ00/UsllaOQyovI/AAAAAAAAA3s/scTVZEW3ePM/s400/IMG_3487.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bunny path in the woods</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Km_NeFqNFWc/Usllbh3uDaI/AAAAAAAAA30/ys1Xw-4vXSs/s1600/IMG_3486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Km_NeFqNFWc/Usllbh3uDaI/AAAAAAAAA30/ys1Xw-4vXSs/s320/IMG_3486.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old wild rose thicket in the woods</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D7MKxLbrwPI/UslldaQEGKI/AAAAAAAAA38/fIZgTZJMVJ8/s1600/IMG_3490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D7MKxLbrwPI/UslldaQEGKI/AAAAAAAAA38/fIZgTZJMVJ8/s320/IMG_3490.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rabbits, chickens, small hoop greenhouse and heritage piggies. </td></tr>
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Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-24863295162076420682013-11-22T10:57:00.001-08:002013-11-22T10:57:38.630-08:00Twerk Your Turkey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-50427452962381034332013-11-11T18:42:00.001-08:002013-11-11T18:57:02.470-08:00Whoa, Winter!I just posted the autumn photos a few hours ago, but this is how it looks outside now:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m5f2h2xGips/UoGVUOJ-eLI/AAAAAAAAA2o/jEbTPQWmdKo/s1600/IMG_1789.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m5f2h2xGips/UoGVUOJ-eLI/AAAAAAAAA2o/jEbTPQWmdKo/s400/IMG_1789.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-61571127485790065242013-11-11T11:25:00.001-08:002013-11-11T11:25:30.588-08:00Autumn MorningsI took this photo at dawn in early October<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JWLZnhD_FHQ/UoEu0mAQyWI/AAAAAAAAA2E/oHt9gbGrq2E/s1600/IMG_0966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JWLZnhD_FHQ/UoEu0mAQyWI/AAAAAAAAA2E/oHt9gbGrq2E/s320/IMG_0966.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
And this one last week at sunset:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KjRmUxgn_BM/UoEu14o0lNI/AAAAAAAAA2M/THYveOsUCH0/s1600/IMG_1145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KjRmUxgn_BM/UoEu14o0lNI/AAAAAAAAA2M/THYveOsUCH0/s320/IMG_1145.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Autumn is passing and winter will be here soon. </div>
Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-9349164497085444212013-07-12T08:48:00.000-07:002013-07-16T04:04:34.766-07:00Tornado!A tornado producing storm system hit our area yesterday, and power was out for about 5 or 6 hours.<br />
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The main part of the storm and an actual tornado hit about two miles away in Bellevue. We had very little damage at our place- Just a few big branches down, and I had to reset the breakers when lightning struck the house. The lightning killed one of our fans, but that was it.<br />
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I believe Bellevue is still without power, though, and they had tons of storm damage.<br />
<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-77425096404799723322013-07-09T09:30:00.000-07:002013-07-15T12:28:34.392-07:00TruckEvery farm needs a truck.<br />
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I found a local one on Craigslist for 800.00.<br />
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I love it! It sits 6 people comfortably, and looks like it could fit 8 without too much trouble.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2cwnNXPTRGE/UeRL-LDQo7I/AAAAAAAAA1s/Pz_Nbdq6sxA/s1600/20130715_083159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2cwnNXPTRGE/UeRL-LDQo7I/AAAAAAAAA1s/Pz_Nbdq6sxA/s320/20130715_083159.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
And its big. I've already used it to carry some lumber we needed to make repairs. I feel like a real farm woman now.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gEPtB5OhawM/UeRMCHezqsI/AAAAAAAAA10/VGzc7uYLTPY/s1600/20130715_083149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gEPtB5OhawM/UeRMCHezqsI/AAAAAAAAA10/VGzc7uYLTPY/s320/20130715_083149.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Oh, and we have hot water! Billy felt bad that we were going to have to wait a week for hot water, so he came yesterday and installed a hot water heater. HOT SHOWERS FOR EVERYONE! Or at least 50 gallons worth!Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-10543727990173268492013-07-08T15:00:00.000-07:002013-07-15T09:18:40.522-07:00We have a well!!Remember how I said we didn't have water? And the cisterns needed an inspection before we could get them worked on and filled?<br />
I got hold of the inspector today, and he is over a month backlogged.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gBj1wiUjLH0/UeQgvsiHM7I/AAAAAAAAA1Y/ZqmXd1s2hiA/s1600/20130715_083420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gBj1wiUjLH0/UeQgvsiHM7I/AAAAAAAAA1Y/ZqmXd1s2hiA/s320/20130715_083420.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hidden rainwater cistern</td></tr>
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Well, the handyman, Billy, came out this morning and was going to see if he could rig up a pump for the rainwater cistern, since he looked into it and it didn't have floating dead birds or anything. He thought that if we dumped some bleach in it and let it air out until the chlorine had evaporated, then put a filter on the line we might be able to use the water to bathe in, if we were careful not to ingest it in any way.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well with lid</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5WpbDBekLkc/UeQb_fWB0fI/AAAAAAAAA04/EUvyQpwpSog/s1600/20130715_083346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a>While he was over looking in the cisterns and trying to figure them out, a neighbor came over and pointed at the big access thing that leads to what we thought was the main cistern, one where you have the water delivered by truck.<br />
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This thing has a very very heavy handmade wooden lid with shingles on it. It had been too heavy for Billy and I to lift, so he had accessed the cistern by the other, smaller hole about 7 feet to one side of the very heavy lidded hole.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cistern access</td></tr>
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The neighbor told us that the lidded hole didn't cover the other side of the cistern, but instead it covered an old well. The three of us were able to get the lid off, and sure enough there was a deep, dark hole. Billy spent the day rigging up the pump and piping to bring the water into the house. </div>
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There was a pipe into the side of the well that lead to the basement, so that was great! The neighbor wasn't sure why the well had been abandoned. He thought it went dry a lot, though. However, we have had a very wet summer, so right now there is plenty of water. Billy put a couple of filters in the lines and told us to run the water into the tub until it looked fresh. We did, and the water ran stinky and sulphur smelling for a LOOONG TIME. </div>
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While we won't be drinking the water until the well gets tested, we feel OK using it for bathing. After Billy left, we all took very cold showers. They were frosty cold, but totally worth it to feel clean for the first time in almost a week. The hot water heater should be installed next week. I'm sure it will feel like we are in the lap of luxury when we can have a warm shower!</div>
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Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-49634654290982474442013-07-07T09:00:00.000-07:002013-07-15T08:42:35.509-07:00Farm ViewsWe have decided to call our new place a farm. It isn't very big, but we do hope to get most of our food from it, so a farm it might someday be.<br />
Here are some more photos of it.<br />
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You saw the house yesterday:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nnuyHqZP8po/UeQLzaq6gdI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/VPsioil4Yh0/s1600/20130715_083109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nnuyHqZP8po/UeQLzaq6gdI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/VPsioil4Yh0/s320/20130715_083109.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
It needs painting, inside and out, and some boards repaired, and a new roof, but it is big enough for us and our studio (if we can get the basement dry!!) and it is shady and cool.<br />
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There is a small field off to the north:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f6e8MaH-uR0/UeQNIRUEOqI/AAAAAAAAA0g/JTN9jHAG8gw/s1600/20130715_083118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f6e8MaH-uR0/UeQNIRUEOqI/AAAAAAAAA0g/JTN9jHAG8gw/s400/20130715_083118.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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That field goes to the fence, pretty close to the home on the other side.<br />
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And another bigger pasture in the back, that goes all the way to the trees, and about 20 feet into the woods to the west:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vRqkZHhsXjc/UeQNtYramCI/AAAAAAAAA0o/HDaMeftvO5o/s1600/20130715_083236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vRqkZHhsXjc/UeQNtYramCI/AAAAAAAAA0o/HDaMeftvO5o/s400/20130715_083236.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Altogether there is about 2.4 acres. The back pasture is about 1.8 acres. The side field is about .15 acre.<br />
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We would like to have a large garden, bees, chickens and rabbits, and maybe a cow. I would love to have a pig, but they smell so bad, I'm sure the neighbors would complain, so I doubt I will do that.<br />
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According to all the self-sufficiency books, 2 acres is enough to raise most anything, but what the books forget is that a quarter acre is for the septic field, and really can't be used for much. I think I may make mine a native flower garden for the bees. It is sunny, and right by the driveway up front, so I need to make it look presentable.<br />
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The place is between Bellevue and Clyde Ohio, in a small unincorporated village called Colby. The property has been empty for about 10 years, though it was mowed and looked in on by a neighbor, so it doesn't have an abandoned look.Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-54411098936679313862013-07-05T20:30:00.000-07:002013-07-15T08:17:05.839-07:00Independence Day!We got the truck unloaded yesterday evening, pretty late. It seems fitting to move into this new place on Independence Day.<br />
Today we spent finding and unpacking the stuff we need to live for a while.<br />
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The local fireworks are showing tonight, but I am too tired to go, so Snow took the others so I can hit the sack early.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gIQOCngFJb4/UeQHLvV9ocI/AAAAAAAAA0A/M5dvhwMN_Bs/s1600/20130715_083109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gIQOCngFJb4/UeQHLvV9ocI/AAAAAAAAA0A/M5dvhwMN_Bs/s640/20130715_083109.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
I love the new place.<br />
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Even though it doesn't have water yet.<br />
Or a water heater.<br />
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I need a shower, so that little lack-of-water problem seems really important.<br />
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The handyman we've hired says he will be able to get the pump from the delivered water cistern up and running on Monday, but no one will fill the cistern until it is inspected. We found another cistern that collects rainwater. It is hidden under a huge old bush, but we noticed that most of the downspots are diverted to join behind that bush, and some clearing away showed us the cement lid of that hidden cistern. We also think that cistern is the reason there was thigh-high clear water in the basement when we first saw the house. It seems to overflow into the basement when it gets full.<br />
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BUT, if it is full, we might be able to use that for watering the garden or washing the car, eventually. And actually, with the Clyde Cancer Cluster pretty foremost in my mind, I think cleaning that cistern, repairing it, filtering that water and using it for drinking might be the best.<br />
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Until then, we are buying drinking water, and washing up in the sink.<br />
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Well, Happy Independence Day! I'm off to bed!!<br />
<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-71880826100203461912013-07-01T23:30:00.000-07:002013-07-15T08:17:05.841-07:00Moving Day!Finally! We have the truck packed, the gas and electric turned off in IL, and the electric scheduled to turn on in OH (there is no gas service). Tomorrow we leave. I wonder if I will be able sleep tonight?<br />
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It is such a huge change for us. There will be five females - Me (age 48) my oldest daughter Snow (age 26) Middle daughter Jasmine, (23) Youngest daughter Gracie (19) and grandaughter Melody (4). And our goal is to become as self sufficient food-wise as possible on the not-quite-three-acres we have purchased in Northern Ohio. It will be so different from what my little 'urban farm' has been!<br />
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While it is too late this summer to start much of a garden, I would like to put in some tomato plants at least, and some greens. Melody is allergic to lettuce and I don't like it much so the greens will probably be some that we can cover with cold frames to last us into the fall and winter, like swiss chard, spinach and corn salad. When I am upset or worried, thinking about my future garden really is a comfort.<br />
Crazy, eh?Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-67509447399451494812013-06-19T08:31:00.001-07:002013-06-19T08:31:32.454-07:00West Elm Popup Shop!While I am packing for the move, I'm also firing a bunch of things for the <a href="http://blog.westelm.com/2013/05/17/etsy-pop-up-shop-at-west-elm-chicago-curated-by-jessica-jones-of-how-about-orange/" target="_blank">West Elm Pop up Shop</a> this Saturday!<br />
I'm not sure how much to bring, so I'm bringing as much as will fit in my car.<br />
Yeah, it might be overkill.<br />
But what if twenty people decide they want to throw away all the mugs they own now and replace them with an eclectic mismatched set of twenty SecondChance mugs?<br />
And a teapot?<br />
It could happen, right?<br />
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I always tend to bring WAY too much merchandise to sales, and I always tell myself that next time I won't bring nearly as much, and each time I end up putting stuff in until the car is stuffed completely full.<br />
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But for this sale I am more looking forward to the people I will be meeting than the sales they might produce. I know some Etsy admin will be in the area, and I hope they will stop by and see the sale. The curator, Jessica Jones is another person I can't wait to meet. And of course I love to see other local Etsy sellers, and some of the best will be there on Saturday.<br />
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I can't wait!<br />
<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-18198019471965860262013-02-19T22:11:00.002-08:002013-02-19T22:12:20.727-08:00Yelling Goats<div style="text-align: center;">
I have no idea why, but this made me laugh like an idiot. </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/PpccpglnNf0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2591860017036546179.post-43665662714580485422013-02-04T17:59:00.001-08:002013-02-04T18:00:34.188-08:00Valentine's Day Printables From MyVintageWindow.com<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://www.myvintagewindow.com/</td></tr>
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Lindsey's <a href="http://www.myvintagewindow.com/" target="_blank">My Vintage Window Blog</a> is doing a series of printables for Valentine's Day.<br />
Her blog is great fun to look through, she has some terrific ideas! I have browsed through her '<a href="http://www.myvintagewindow.com/p/home-decor.html" target="_blank">On a Dime Decor</a>' section several times for inexpensive ideas.<br />
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I though you might like her blog too, and am happy to link you to her fun, DIY Valentines.<br />
So far she has three days of them! <a href="http://www.myvintagewindow.com/2013/02/14-days-of-valentines-printables.html" target="_blank">One</a>, <a href="http://www.myvintagewindow.com/2013/02/day-2-of-14-days-of-valentine-printables.html" target="_blank">Two</a>, <a href="http://www.myvintagewindow.com/2013/02/day-3-of-valentine-printables.html" target="_blank">Three</a>!<br />
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Thanks to Lindsey!<br />
<br />Anthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17370507076116573743noreply@blogger.com1