Fresh Air

Posted on November 14, 2013 by farm2011

Both Daryl and I had the day off,  and the morning was spent getting the animals all settled in for the next couple of weeks. Daryl made the cows very happy this morning by giving them a huge round bale of hay. Now even though this works really well to keep them full for quite awhile, they sure make a mess and seem to waste more hay than they should on the ground. Also this morning, now that the corn is all dried in the steel bins, he wanted to make sure that no animals are going to burrow down under the bin and make their home there. So off to town he went to get some poison. He didn’t want anyone  or anything to wreck the wiring under the bins, and hopefully it’ll stop them soon after they eat it. He ended up putting it inside by the fan and I was worried that the chickens might get to it. And I’m telling you if that happened it wouldn’t be a good day at our farm! But the bait is inside and he promised me that everyone that we wanted to keep safe, would be safe. While he was outside, I got some things done in the house and then we both headed to a couple of Doctor appointments that Daryl had. Even though we did absolutely nothing this afternoon, and we got home around 6:30 tonight.. holy cow was I tired. Then I remembered what my Mom always said. If we were gone all day and when we got home we were too tired to do much, she always said that going outside to do some chores and get some fresh air in you would make you feel so much better.  Humm. But when I was a kid, we helped milk cows both morning and night, so there was no debate. So now tonight I was thinking about what she used to say,  and I thought to myself… Thank God I don’t have to go out and milk cows tonight!  Sorry Ma 🙂 But when we drove into the yard tonight, I did see that FedEx came with our new living room rug. It made me smile when we pulled into the yard because sitting right on the front porch was the rug and the rug pad. I got everything laid out in the room tonight and I think this rug is going to work perfect. As for the rest of the night? Well, we have an early morning tomorrow and I’m thinking we’re about ready to call it a day.

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Garages and Basements

Posted on November 13, 2013 by farm2011

Daryl had today off so he really was busy getting things organized and cleaned up outside.  The garage was really a mess with just stuff from the summer. You know the usual;  dust, corn stalks, air compressors, rakes, …  just stuff. But by the time I got home from work, it was all cleaned out and swept. It looks sooo much better! He said that he couldn’t believe how much dirt and corn stalks blew into it. But I could with all the crazy wind that we’ve had this summer and fall. So now we get to check that project off the list. Yea!

So like I said when I got home and saw how good a job Daryl did cleaning today, I decided that I’d organize and clean our entry way from the basement door. But little did I know that it would lead to scrubbing the basement! Once I started with the entry way, I thought well I might as well do the landing. Then I looked down the steps into our front basement, and thought it smelled a little funky, and I just bit the bullet and cleaned the whole thing out. Now I’m not saying that it’ a bad thing, because now it smells like Fabreeze Pinesol. And just maybe I used a little bit too much of that, but it does smell much better. And like Daryl, I couldn’t believe how dusty and dirty it could get just over the summer. But now it’s a double Yea! Both the garage and basement are ready for the winter and we can check them both off our to do list.

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First snowfall

Posted on November 11, 2013 by farm2011

It’s cold outside tonight. Now I don’t know if it feels so cold because we got snow today or if it’s because it’s actually cold? But either way… it’s cold! And with yesterday being almost 50 degrees and tonight getting down to 13 degrees, it’s quite a difference in temperatures. I’m sure glad that I got the mulch all put back where it was supposed to be before it snowed today. Now hopefully it’s frozen and the chickens won’t be able to scratch it around.

brrrrr....

brrrrr….

I’ve been wanting to get an old sewing machine out of the machine shed for sometime now, and tonight I was able to catch Daryl to help me. It’s been in there ever since we’ve been married, and it looks like way before that. I was hoping to salvage the drawers on it, but I don’t think I’ll be so lucky. But I’m thinking that I’ll be able to get the sides back where they belong and then put a top on it for a table.

It's looking a little tough right now

It’s looking a little tough right now

When I was cleaning it out, I found an old envelope with some cloth in it shoved way in the back of the drawer. If you look closer at it, you’ll see that  the postmark is from 1931. How cool is that? DSCN7468It was addressed to Daryl’s Uncle, so we’re really not sure where this sewing machine came from. Maybe it was Daryl’s Mom’s parents and then they got it when they were married? There also was some fabric in the envelope. So I was wondering, maybe Daryl’s Mom was sewing something for her brother in law, and they put sample material in the envelope for her to look at? There’s a lot more questions than I have answers for at the time. But without Daryl’s parents around to ask, I guess it’ll have to stay a mystery.

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Road Trip! American Pickers

Posted on November 10, 2013 by farm2011

What a Fantastic day we had today! We decided to go on a Road Trip,  and that that turned out to be such a great idea. The morning started out a little later than we had planned, but once we got some things done around the farm and house, we made a decision to head East to the Mississippi river. And not just to the river, but to go to the Antique Archaeology in LaClaire, Iowa. Now that sounds like fun doesn’t it? Daryl thought it would take around 3 hours to get there, so we filled the car up with gas, grabbed a couple of Diet Cokes and off we went. Neither one of us really knew what to expect at the store, but we both are avid watchers of the TV show, The American Pickers. So we knew no matter what, it would be a good time. So we’re driving and soon we come across the World’s Largest Truckstop, The Iowa 80. DSCN7437It is huge! Kyle and I drove by it in May when we were coming home from New York, but seeing it today gave a whole new meaning to ‘Worlds Largest’. To give you an idea on how big it really is, it serves over 5000 people a day. Yea, that’s big. But we were not planning on stopping there today. And after 3 hours on the dot, Daryl you’re good!,  we pulled into a parking spot in the town. But we really didn’t know where the Picker store was. It didn’t take long to find someone who worked in a Guest Service to guide us up the hill to get to the store. Now we heard that it was small.. but holy cow it’s really small. DSCN7451It was so much fun just hanging out in the store and checking out all the stuff that they bought on the show.DSCN7444bDSCN7438DSCN7439Now I went there with the idea that I was going to buy something. But I just couldn’t find the right antique.  Finally I found  a metal sign, a postcard, and a shirt. I really like all three of these things. We tried to keep a straight face when Daryl told the cash register lady that the one item was too high and if she would consider bundling the items for less cost. If you watch the show, they’re always trying to get stuff for less money that the original amount. The lady behind the counter just smiled and said that this wasn’t the first time that she’s heard that. That just makes me giggle when I think of Daryl saying that. Too funny! DSCN7463We also got a good laugh when we saw this tiny car that they use sometimes on the show. DSCN7449Now not only is it small, but check out what was posted in the window of the car. DSCN7449aWouldn’t it be funny to actually see someone try to get in it? It would be hilarious! DSCN7458After a couple of photo op’s, we walked down to the river to see what was going on there. There was a river boat waiting to take people out on the Mississippi River, and with the temperature today around 50 degrees, it would be a perfect day for that! DSCN7452DSCN7453Next we checked out Buffalo Bill’s Museum. I couldn’t figure out why he would have a museum here, but it turned out that LaClaire is where he was born. We ended up heading back to the Main Street to grab a late dinner, early supper at one of the restaurants. It was starting to get late, so soon we headed back home.  I can’t even tell you how much fun I had today. Like I said earlier, it really was a great idea and a Fantastic Road Trip!DSCN7442

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Going to Work and Mulch

Posted on November 9, 2013 by farm2011

Normally I don’t have to work weekends at my new job, but today I wanted to go in for  awhile to work on painting my office. I’m moving to a new office space, so a little paint sure brightened it up today. It didn’t take too long, so I was home in time to get some yard work done. For some crazy reason, the chickens think they have to dig up the flower beds with the mulch in it.

All the mulch is in the lawn!

All the mulch is in the lawn!

They literally have a whole farm to hang out in, but not them. They make such a mess in our yard.  I wanted to get it raked up before it froze to the ground,  and then it really would be stuck there for the winter. I’m not sure that I got it all, but I did get most of it.

Cleaned up for the winter

Cleaned up for the winter

While I was messing with that, Daryl got the milk house cleaned up for the winter. We used to use it as our ‘new’ milk house when we switched from carrying shot gun pails of milk to the milk tank in our old milk house, to having a pipe line filling up a tank in the new milk house. But now that we don’t have any dairy cows, the milk house is used as more of a shop for Daryl. It works good because it’s heated and has water available to use if you need it. To end out the night, I caught the chickens making their way to the raked up mulch and I had to chase them away. I think they are trying to get as many bugs and stuff out of the lawn as they can before it snows. I’m just hoping they look for them in our back yard this time!DSCN7435

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Say yes to the … rug?

Posted on November 8, 2013 by farm2011

I’ve been looking for something to brighten up our living room, and my first thought was to repaint it. OK, that probably won’t happen. So then I thought, maybe a new area rug would bring a little freshness to it? So the hunt began. Now I’ve been working on this for a couple of months now, and I’ve finally made a decision. I laughed because the area rug that I ended up choosing was the very first one that I liked… yea, a couple of months ago. But it’s kinda crazy. When I saw the rug, I knew that it was the one that I liked the most, but I had to shop around. I’m anxious to get it, and I sure hope that it’ll look good in the room. So, just like the TV show, I finally said yes to the … rug!

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Christmas Cards

Posted on November 6, 2013 by farm2011

It’s hard to believe that November is almost half over! I had one thing on my agenda tonight.. well, OK two things. The first thing was to get a massage 🙂 then the second thing was to get our Christmas cards ordered. Now there is no excuse for not having these done weeks ago.  We took the pictures of our family before Kyle headed back to New York this summer, so it’s not like I couldn’t have done them. But shazam! Tonight they are ordered. I know that some people think that we use the internet too much, but it really comes in handy when you want to do something like this. I’m sitting in my fleece jammies, it’s 10:45 pm, my hair is wet,  and I just ordered them. So by now I’m waiting  for things I ordered for  projects to come in,  and when the Christmas cards come, I’ll have a good handle on getting ready for the Holidays! Well, at least that’s how I’m feeling now. Ask me in a couple of weeks and it might be a different story.

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Sometimes life just isn’t fair

Posted on November 5, 2013 by farm2011

You know, sometimes life’s just not fair. The reason that I say that is because I kind of felt bad for Reno tonight. It was raining on and off all day today, and tonight it was raining pretty heavy. And when I looked out the french doors, both Reno and Little Kitty were just hoping that they would be able to get in for the night. DSCN7413But there was no way that I was going to let Reno in. I think sometimes our house gets kind of a funky smell anyway, and then to add a wet dog to that? No way. But Little Kitty.. that was a different story. He wasn’t too wet and after he got his paws wiped off on the rug, he was good to go. So the next time I looked out, this is what was looking back at me. DSCN7419And what was Little Kitty doing? Yea, you guessed it. He ran to the big pillow by the fire place and called the spot for the night. I’m sure glad he has this relaxing thing down aren’t you? DSCN7426But Daryl and I weren’t any better. We spent the night just chilling out in front of the TV. Even though there are some farmers that aren’t completely done with their field work, the rain really was good for the soil. We still were pretty dry and it seemed to be soaking all in. And it could be much worse. Western Iowa was looking at getting snow tonight instead of the rain. I’m glad the possibility of snow was staying west of us, for at least a little bit longer anyway!

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Craft room to cleaning the garden

Posted on November 3, 2013 by farm2011

I had the best morning ever! I spent almost the entire morning in my craft room – and I loved it! I’ve been trying to figure out how to print on tissue paper,  and when I found the instructions on how to do it, I just had to give it a try. It wasn’t too hard,  and now that I know how this works,  I just might have to find a project to use it on. Just kidding. I’ve got enough projects started for now, and I know better than to add to them. But I did have a good time just hanging out and working and looking at stuff. I laughed when I showed my niece and nephew the craft room the other day and was pretty proud that it was so much cleaner. My niece just smiled and said it did look better. And my nephew? He said it sure didn’t look that much better at all! Too funny!! But honestly, it did look better and I took some of the extra junk out to give me more room. So I was going to spend the afternoon in the garden but first I had to run some errands for Daryl. He wanted to work in the field disking down the cornstalks. DSC_0369He was able to get this done and all the big machinery tucked away in the sheds for the winter. Yea! As for me, I knew that the weather forecast was for colder weather and if those weeds freeze into the ground in my garden, I know that I’m in trouble. So I bit the bullet and spent all afternoon in it. I’ve decided to show you a before picture – only to show you how good the after picture is looks. So here it goes. This is the before picture

No pretty at all!

No pretty at all!

and this is the after picture.

Looking Good!!

Looking Good!!

Much better on the after picture huh? I have to get some long nails and fix the posts on the side again. For some reason every year they come loose.  And to make the afternoon go faster, I did have some entertainment . Little Kitty kept hiding in the weeds and when the chickens would get close, out the cat would jump and scare the daylights out of the chickens. The cat was having the best time, but I can’t say much for the chickens. DSC_0376And of course I couldn’t be outside without Reno close by. So when I finally convinced her that I wasn’t going to pet her, she laid on the strawberry patch and watched me all afternoon. I also found a couple of those woolly caterpillars. You know the ones that if the brown band is big, then it’s going to be a long and hard winter. So the first one I found had a big band on it and I thought, Holy Smokes it’s going to be a bad winter.

First one I found

First one I found

Then a couple of minutes later I found this one and I decided that we might never see spring again!

This band is huge! It looks like a long and hard winter is ahead for us

This band is huge! It looks like a long and hard winter is ahead for us

I was so glad to get the garden cleaned up, and even though there is still some more weeds that I could dig up, I decided it could wait for another day. Well at least until I got the feeling back in my arms!

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In the Mood

Posted on November 2, 2013 by farm2011

Did you ever wake up in the morning and think… I’m really going to get a lot done today? Well, that’s what happened to me today. And since I’m not always in that mood, I thought that I better take advantage of it.  I spent the morning cleaning the house, and running around doing errands. I think the whole town was out this morning doing stuff because there were people everywhere! In all my running around, I went to see if there were any treasures at Good Will. I did find a white enamel old pressure kettle. If you are thinking right now to yourself that there is no way that I probably need that – well, you’re right. But I LOVE the old enamel stuff and for some reason I just couldn’t leave it there. I’m sure I’ll find something to do with it. DSCN7412I ended the morning with being in the grocery store. I didn’t really think that I even bought much of anything, but looking at my bill,  I guess I must have found something. Back home I flew and time to throw in another load of laundry. Even though the air is cold outside, the sun is shining so I’ve been hanging a ton of laundry on the line today. If it doesn’t get dry by tonight, I’ll take it off the line tomorrow and finish it up in the dryer. For some reason I just like hanging laundry on the line when I can. It seems kind of homey to me. So the afternoon was spent working on stuff in the house and outside.  Daryl was working on cleaning out the one cattle shed and it sure made me laugh when I went out to see how it was going.

Cleaning out the shed for the winter

Cleaning out the shed for the winter

He doesn’t have to clean it out very often, and I think everyone came to see just what in the world he was doing.

The peacocks had the best place. Nice and warm in the sunshine!

The peacocks had the best place to watch Daryl. Nice and warm in the sunshine!

Now the cows were the ones who really didn’t like it at all. I’m thinking that they are just waayyy too spoiled and they don’t like it when anyone messes with their routine. But I think they changed their mind when Daryl got it all cleaned up and put a fresh corn stalk bale inside the shed. He said he could hear Ed just pushing the bale around and having a good time!

The cows just making sure Daryl was doing it right

The cows just making sure Daryl was doing it right

Back to the house I went to make the chicken that I had thawed earlier. Have you ever put in your freezer and you think to yourself at the time, ‘this is not a good idea’? Well, that was me with this hunk of chicken breasts that I had thawed. I had enough to feed a couple of families!  So I took half of it and put it in the crock pot with mushrooms and some chicken broth that I had in the freezer. I’m thinking that when this is done, I’ll make some gravy out of the broth and cut up the chicken and put it over noodles or potatoes. Then the other part of this chicken package that was thawed –  I put in the oven with seasoning and vegetables. Both made the house smell good. And since I had the oven on, I decided to make some bread. Now even though it wasn’t the prettiest, it is pretty good. IMG_0813But the afternoon was cut short because we had to take offertory up for our church that is at 4:00 in the afternoon. Now I’m sure that this time for mass makes sense to some people, but I’m still struggling with it. After church we weren’t sure what we should do. It was too early to go someplace for the night and too late to start anything outside. I was so bummed because I wanted to work on the garden this afternoon. So we ended up going out for supper. Even though by this time I had the two chicken dishes in the refrigerator along with some leftover barbecued ribs, heading out for the night sounded like a much better idea.  And now,  I’ve got tomorrow’s dinner already made.

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