Farm country weekend~ part DOS (2)

I do not get many overnight trips without at least one child in tow. This trip was the first time I had ever been away from Frog for so long. I started to miss my children half way through the trip... And it was just Friday night through Sunday morning....

(pictures coming soon! I will have to teach Tuesday how to download from her different camera...)
After what seemed like a long day of yard sales and open air markets, we stopped at one last yard sale. As we pulled in by the roadside, my eyes quickly connected to a large gem which I have been drooling and dreaming of for so many years. In that instant I pictured it's many hours of use. Saving my hands and back from the abuse that comes from the hard work that has been played out each and every year. taking days to finish the task which this workhorse would have done in half of a day.... I walked up to her (yes - her!) I stared with anticipation before searching out the price tag. Then I saw it. A neon green circle with an already low price. Dare I talk her down? Would she be insulted? I knew what I had in my purse and did not want to hand her the larger bill after talking her down. Tuesday's Mom saw the gleam in my eye. My direct Beeline path to she sat... She knew I wanted her. She could read the desire in my eyes and grinning smile on my face. One of a true dirt working lover. She knew the family through her church and quickly spoke up for me, since my mouth was still in awww. "What would you take for it?" The woman responded, "how about $65?"..... Tuesday's Mom looked at me for a response and I just smirked...I knew I had $50 and that larger bill in there... I sat and thought for a few minutes before speaking up. "I'm going to offer $50, if you want to think about it for a few minutes, please do." After all, I still had to buy flooring for the dining room. I just brought the bigger bill for back up money in case of an emergency...such as the last pit stop for all those very cheap garden plants-strawberries, raspberries, chives, and such...

She walked into the house to speak with her mother and after a few minutes came back out and said O.k. 50 it is. Talk about pure ecstasy! I could hear the birds singing over the whizzing cars. My heart was pounding. But while this was going on, some guy had walked up to my heavy petting of my new toy and loudly said- after she took my money-"I'll give you $65"! I look over and responded "Not cool man!" Then he shrugged and started to walk away and threw out "I'll give $100 for the tiller". I looked up from my tight grip on her handles, releasing one hand to shake a finger at him while saying" Bad Karma Dude! Bad Karma!"

Then the jerk had the audacity to spit out "I'll give you $200 for that tiller!" Then Tuesday spoke up and yelled"It's sold, Asshole!" Thats my girl! She's got my back. She knew how much that tiller meant to me. The years of back breaking work digging the soil with a shovel. Working it up to richer and healthy (now much less clay) garden dirt.

So now, how do we get this thing home?

I begged Tuesday's brother to bring it back to their Mom's house. Once there, we discovered the trailer had a flat and the tags...Well, they forgot to get the tags for their new trailer. So now there I was, with my best pleading innocent woman voice and doll eyes pleading for Danny boy to bring my baby home. (yes I did play that card!) He agreed after giving me a good intentions hard time.

I have played with her everyday since! Finding new areas that just had to be tilled for new seeding with my Roto~Hoe 4 seasons model 990-5. I even let the Captain play with her to till up the old pen area where he wanted grass to grow again. Tractor boy, my beloved dear Tractor boy, came out when I first had her up in the garden and gave her a good look over. He noticed she was sputtering some and adjusted/fine tuned her. He even replaced the spark plug from his supplies then checked the oil. Oh how i love our tractor boy. He always comes to my rescue with mechanics. From jump starting the lawn mower battery (who knew it was under the seat?) To pittering with my new toy....

I dreamed of painting her blush pink with black pin stripes...The Captain would have non of that. "Save it for you tractor"...... O.k honey..... But my tractor WILL be pink with black pin stripes!

"Yes dear. What ever you say".....

Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

Farm country weekend- part Uno

I am back from our mini weekend Girl trip. i had such a great time and found some of the most amazing deals on plants and a new "toy". Tuesday and I took off Friday afternoon and drove out to middlefield. We stayed at her mom's cabin, which she lives in full time.

getting contraband at a small town store for the long drive...

We stopped at a river bed by her mom's place and collected large river stones. I did not get too many, but enough to put a pathway in front of the house.

Tuesday's Mom gifted me this wonderful grain mill! She knew I was on the look out for one as we traveled throughout the day. She surprised me with it while we waited on my new "toy" (more on that later) to arrive. She had purchased it with her late husband from Lehmans many years back.

Traveling the roads up there, we discovered many yard side stands with plants. I found some creeping thyme in large pots for $4 a piece. Big and beautiful ones to go in a pathway.

After much excitement, it was time for us to return home to our families. But we could not resist one last stop at another roadside plant stand. We found strawberries at $1 a pot- which had at least 2 large crowns in each. I bought every one of them. I think there were 10 pots. A large parsley plant for Tuesday at $1. 2 large chive plants at $1. 2 big beautiful Raspberry plants at $3 a piece and 1 medium size Raspberry for $1. I took all they had except the 3 horseradish plants. I wiped them out! What a great find that place was.

I have more to share on my new "toy", but am awaiting on Tuesday's downloading of her camera...Hurry up, girl! I will share soon!

Sweet Dreams,

~Tammie

This weekend...

I am going to explore some farm country with Tuesday. I already have so much to share but the batteries were not charged.I guess Sunday I will do my post with pictures.
I have the animal pen's fencing all done and the Garden enclosure is 3/4 of the way. I have my simple gate arbor up and morning glories, which were sprouting from last year's seed in the garden, have been moved to grow onto the arbor. I will be working on the gate once I get back and finish up the garden's fence. I will also share the "what is it" project I posted a few back. Not an outhouse by the way...Funny thing though.
My Father in law said the same thing when he pulled in the drive and laid his eyes on the unfinished piece....
Be back soon.
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

Being social and surprised....

We ventured out to Crown Point Ecology center, in Bath Ohio. They have an annual Organic plant sale, which I was hoping I would not forget to attend this year. (I am so freaking forgetful anymore...)I mainly went for the herbs and hoping some of the heirloom veggies they had listed on their "checklist", would still be plentiful when I arrived. Such a crowd and the barn was PACKED! I brought Panda and Tuesday's younger daughter with me. While I shopped in the no elbow room barn, the girls were being distracted with staff playing field games. Some very flirtatious older men had me laughing and smiling as I walked to get coffee , since the girls were still being entertained. Such Charmers...
So, what's in the basket, ay?1 Sweet Marjoram
1 Greek oregano
1 Stars and Moon watermelon
1 Sibley ark (pikes peak) winter squash
1 Charenteis (which was mixed in with the squash- thought I grabbed 2 Sibley's)
I had hoped for lemon grass, but it was all gone by the Park member's 1 hour early event. Sigh... Maybe next time.
The girl's were still playing, so I took a 1 woman tour through the grounds around the barn. I spotted :a greenhouse full of greenies.
a rich dirt field waiting for it's greenies.a private garden, that looked rather enticing in person, unnoticeable by photograph.
A little red shed with a large pen surrounding it. I assume once upon a time, sheep may have grazed in it's confines.and stacks of these rustic wooden box's, I oohed and awed over. Gently lifting one. Tracing it's worn edges with my finger tips. Imagining the Sisters placing tender plants in it's hold.Then awaiting transplant to the massive gardens where it will grow under their care until harvest time. Where it will then be placed into a truck and taken to the local food banks.

Takes a gardener to appreciate such sights....
Truly a calm, serene day. To end it on a final sweet note, I found 45-50 wild strawberry plants growing around the compost pile. These are from the very sweet bursting strawberries that I have to try and beat the kids and animals to, every year. It's like the compost pile made the area so fertile, they started reproducing 10 times more then the year before. Or maybe it's because I got to them before the mower...
I did leave many more where they grew, with my mere 45-50 being maybe half. They earned their own row by the flower walk way which is the entry path. Now let's see how well they grow here. (imaging a beautiful morning walk into the garden to observe the awakening of the world as I pop a few luscious small strawberries in my mouth.... sigh....)
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

And the winner is......

Pile of O'Melay's!!
Congratulations Karl and Family.Your name was picked from the lucky hat and have won a wonderful bar of Oatmeal honey goat's milk soap, crafted by the one and only Roseanna of Morning Mist.
Hope everyone has had a chance to look around at her many handcrafted bar's of Goat's milk soap. So many varities and scents to tempt you.
I may have to get some of those Monkey fart bars to give away next month... Stay tuned, ya' never what will happen...
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie
A few more kid pic's to share of Zeus. Check out that squiggly back line!
Out causing me a head ache... Zeus likes the trees and his mama likes to share....Chia has discovered the Lemon balm which must help ease the pregnancy sickness. I assume even more she is, since she has turned down every snack from animal crackers, bananas (her favorite) to apples! And seems to be in odd personality as of late.

Guess what I'm up to now? Plus bucket surprise and pot of wax

This week has been all wet weather with a few hours of sunshine. Still leaving the ground too damp to play in. I have instead distracted myself sewing for Frog and playing in the workshop with a new project. Anyone care to guess what this will be? (not the best framing job, but I'm not a carpenter!) To give a hint, it is not for animals but is for protection of something outside.... I will let you know soon when it is complete!

Today I come home to a surprise in a bucket! I have my Akron Homesteading group with a few people very close to our home. One of whom offered up some Horseradish. I practically fell over this bucket, not seeing it at all. Then stared at it, like where did this come from? Of course looking all around like someone would be standing in the woods watching me... Oh come on. You would do it too.I have no idea how long it had been out there today, but was left with a little note from my fellow local Homesteader Chris. The note read "Here is some Horseradish! Figured I'd just find the house with goats. Haha. ~Chris".... Just some, ay? Thats a lot of Horseradish! Thank you so very much Chris. It brightened my day. Just feel bad that my place is looking rather unkempt and the animals pen is less desirable with the everyday rain and wrecked fencing.. What a first impression I must have gave...

I have all 9 old frames from the beehive scrapped clean of the beeswax. This is a massive stockpot and is over half full of the stuff.
I hope everyone has their comment in for the giveaway. You have until 9pm tonight to get it in. (Most likely, I will not do the hat pick until tomorrow, so any late lurkers will not be excluded.)
Seagrass tagged me for a MeMe, which I will try to get to here soon. Still deciding on my answers. Some are hard since I have to choose just one of my favorites...
Stay tuned for giveaway winner and be sure to get your comment in if you have not already!
Sweet Sunny Dreams,
~Tammie

All hail the Queen!

Our Bee man arrived earlier this week with our "Foster" bee's. It was so exciting to see so many bee's up close and personal. All that buzzing rhythm they make is rather soothing. They cooperated enough for me to see a drone and a worker bee up close and personal. Amazing! Then it was time to cork the Queen cage with a mini marshmallow. It had a cork in place to prevent the queen from being released until the hive is ready. Once the bee cage is set in the top hive, It is ready to initiate the introduction ritual of the Queen. By placing the marshmallow in place of the cork, this allows the bee's to become familiar with the queen as they eat away at it and accept her as their own.
Introducing the Queen Bee of our little Homestead:
All has gone very well with the hive. The rain has kept me away from our Magical Hill that houses the gardens and bee hive, along with this bum foot. But in the mean time, I am stripping the wax from the old frames and dreaming of the candles, lip balm and salves we will make with all the wax.
This frame was rather interesting to the children and they begged for me not to strip away the wax and let them hang it up in their room. They're so goofy. So I let them take a picture instead.

I spent yesterday at Tuesday's house, helping what little I could in her garden beds.( remember- bad foot- dropped bee hive.. badly bruised...) A shared friend "K", who I have yet to come up with a name for, Came by and became our main accomplice. We brought our seed box's for each other to look through and share seeds. We swapped plants and overall had such an enjoyable day, I was sad to see it end.
I brought home some massive Lovage, peppermint, tulips (I think...), and a few rose cuttings from my grandmother's rose bushes. I am starting them to later plant at her grave.
I was so excited that K had a soup/drying bean called yellow Indian woman bush bean. I was fortunate to get a share of seed to grow in our garden this year. It is so exciting for me to have K to speak with about heirloom seeds. She is interested in the old ways as I am, which makes for some fun conversations.
I have 3 goofy gals sitting in 1 nest box trying to go broody..I will try to evict the extra sitters and ensure me more then 1 egg a day... What a site. Best news of all is that Fernie and Chia are getting along better then I ever expected. Now, if you have been reading long, you would know Chia thinks she is the Prima donna. But I have a feeling being the only goat for 6 months and having just chickens as your friends have changed the attitude. They even eat from the same container with no gang wars! I am shocked, yet so very happy she has become friends.
DONT FORGET TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY, FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A BAR OF GOATS MILK SOAP!
Best of luck~there are 5 days left until the contest will end.
Sweetest dreams,
~Tammie

Giveaway for our readers!

To celebrate Fernie's healthy homecoming and our home now enjoying fresh Goats milk, We are giving away 1 bar of Oatmeal, Milk & Honey- Goats milk soap! One of you lucky readers will get to enjoy a wonderful scent and dye free bar Made by Morning Mist Soaps. The goat milk used is from Roseanna's very own milking herd . I have tried and love this bar she offers. I just stocked up on a few plus a variety of her scented bars.

She has a nice variety of scents with a very agreeable price on her web page above. ( I LOVED the Monkey farts scent and will stock up on some for Panda and I to share in my next order). So be sure to have a look around and consider supporting her craft and "The Ladies".

How can you win? Just leave a comment. A simple hello and link to your place is just fine.
So be sure to leave a comment for THIS POST,(1 per person from anywhere in the world) before 9pm on May 15th, 2008. It's that simple.
Winner will be picked at random by computer and will be announced by May 17th.
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

A bunch of ramblings and stay tuned!

My time at Roseanna's brought a few new experiences my way. I fed a new born calf colustrum . I overcame a fear of large animals. Namely, Roseanna's many heifers... Walking around , into part of the herd and feeling stomachs for baby calf's. Of course having my arms and jeans licked by those sandpaper tongues did make me laugh. But feeling a calf kicking from its mothers stomach, was just as enjoyable when feeling a human mothers growing belly.That instant surprise of "Oh- it kicked" and feeling the smile form on your face. Living life this way brings so many joys. You realize not every one can see the simple yet intricate moments of Mother Nature. The pure Aw of it all that most are blind to. Too busy to slow down and really see.

I am not a philosophical person. I am simple in many ways. I do not like to debate with people unless I am in a bad mood. I like to create a smile on their face. A laugh from their lips. A brightness in their eyes. After all, how often do people feel that way with such busy lives and work days? Sadly, not enough.
Since discovering the Homesteading lifestyle, I can truly say I have never been happier. Ever.
I converse with my animals as you may see someone speak to a child, a dog, or cat. And they listen. They really listen. Example being Bonnie hanging out in the road and I start telling her how she needs to get back in the yard- she waddles back and makes little squeaks at me until she reaches the pen. She waits for me to catch up and gently lift her back in. I have seen a few neighbors drop their mouths in aw over the way they listen.
(Chia lost a horn nub scur where you see the blood)But anyway, I have been discovering so many herbs and plants in the yard. I do believe I found a grape vine?- or something... Anyone know what is exactly?And Enchinacea. Mullein. And Yarrow. I think.. And something else I recognize but the name completely escapes me....
While we were exploring the yard, we decided to move the beehive and mow the area. Which I dropped.....On my bare foot... And now have a fat lump on top. Too sore to walk on but I limped around through my garden duties anyway. All the radish, rutabaga, turnips, greens,Kohlrabi, collards, etc are in the ground now.
Another toad house has been erected for a very plump toad Lil' Man found on our deck. A childs creative idea on it's decor, but we are after all- not your average family. I mean, how many people can say they have a sod roof toad house on the edge of their frog pond. In the middle of their garden. Not many.
Stay tuned for an upcoming giveaway this week! Panda and I had a little photo shoot for her idea on the giveaway today. She has such great ideas. Can't wait to share with you soon.
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie

Look who's home and who went "M.I.A"

We have been chopping wood from 3 trees and from the left limb of the Magic tree. The limb could not be saved as we had planned. Once The Captain was up close, He realized the limb snapped at an angle that cause the cracking to go under the outer limb. It is not very pretty, but I refused to have the entire portion of the limb gone. You can see the black tree wound topping in this picture:And you can see from above, Fernie is home with her baby! Is he not just adorable with those ears?! Fernie remembered her home. Once out of the car, she bolted straight for the gate! I Had to get a few pics before she hid away in the goat cabin- as she always had before. So far so good with her and Chia. It is almost as though Chia is trying to play, but Fernie is a passive gal, and avoids conflict. She herds her baby to the other side and Chia has left him alone. Other then some sniffing of the baby and some extreme "Chia at my side" behavior, I would say all is normal.
I am so very tired and discovered I am allergic to alfalfa hay... which driving for 2 hours with it in the back, blowing bits about, made for a miserable trip back home.
I have more to share but just want to go sleep...
Before I go, look who I found? Oh, thats right.. You did not know she was missing. It's been a week since my last post being that The Captain has been on vacation.
Normally Mrs.Frizzle is visible at all times. The occasional sneak away but nothing long. I finally found her sitting on a lone duck egg... So we put her in a nest box and let her keep 1 more duck egg and 1 Dr. Seuss egg. Our farmer friend asked if we had anymore males for his lone female and conveniently we found Mrs.Frizzle on that egg. We will let her have 1 more for good measure- and being a tiny bantam, is all she needs.
She's puffing up her feathers, to warn everyone off:

I will fill you in more of my day at Roseanna's and a special surprise, soon
Counting goats now, so...
Sweet dreams,
~Tammie