Silent Night

https://youtu.be/Y9_YXGVmco4

This is a prime example of the text message links I get from Farmer J! Thank goodness our goats are more "silent" than these ruminants! Hope this silly video gives you a little chuckle. 

I can't believe tomorrow is December! While JJ was singing in church and at basketball practice, two little holiday elves (J and Pickle) put up some of our seasonal decorations. It was lovely to come home to sparkly lights and my Nativity all set up. 

The males in my family will find and cut down a Christmas tree from our woods, in the next few days. If this year is like years passed, J will pick out a tree that is way too big for the room it will decorate. A very "Griswold" tree is usually our M. O. 

On Friday, my parents will come over and we will do our annual holiday baking... this year with the children old enough to both be in school.  I'll save the cut outs for us all to do together once they get home from school.  Despite cut out cookies being mass chaos (and mess), I still love baking with them! New this year... using food items to dye our frosting (as we are working hard on eating no artificial dyes in our food.) We are hoping beets, saffron, fresh spinach and blueberries will do the trick.  My only concern... my frosting tasting like vegetables! 

And then, there is holiday shopping.  Below is JJ's wish list.  Notice where he wrote "need" next to items he really wants.  Looks like we will have to have that whole "need" vs. "want" conversation again.  

 

Giving Tuesday

http://annvoskamp.com/

It's Giving Tuesday. 

Today, our family donated money to help the children of Aleppo. Please read the words of Ann Voskamp's "Dear Children of Aleppo" letter in the link above and consider giving and/or talking to your legislatures on how to help the children of Syria.  I, 100%,  trust her recommendations for charitable giving. 

I also highly recommend Compassion International (another Ann Voskamp charitable giving recommendation). We sponsor a little boy named Seni, who lives in Africa and is the exact same age as our Pickle.  Sponsoring Seni has been a blessing for our family, and a good reminder to our boys that the world is much bigger than our little farm.

http://www.compassion.com/m/sponsor-a-child.htm

Wherever you can give, even it's giving your time and volunteering for a cause you believe in, consider reaching out to someone in need. 

 

A crisp orchard apple... in November?

 

My day job, as our hobby farm is very much a hobby and not a source of income, is working as a home health speech language pathologist.  I LOVE working with patients in their home, as its such a natural and functional environment for healing and therapy.  One of my favorite parts of my job is meeting new people from all walks of life, from the urban apartment dweller who works as a personal trainer to the rural, retired farmer still living on his family farm.  

This morning, my first patient of the day was just as unique, with him deciding he wanted to buy and run an orchard in his "retirement."  As we have a tiny orchard, I couldn't help "talking shop" with him.  As my session with him was wrapping up, he asked me if I would like to try one of his favorite apples, the Evercrisp.  Never one to rob someone of sharing their pride and joy produce, I agreed to take an apple... he wouldn't let me leave without three! And good thing, because the taste of this apple took me back to September.  The crunch and sweetness of this fruit was perfect for the cold, gloomy and rainy weather of the day.  The apple not only made my day, but was a little highlight for JJ- who said it was "the best" apple he had ever sunk his teeth in!

Pickle's bottom loose tooth made chomping into the apple a dangerous task.  He wants to pull out the tooth at school tomorrow to get a special prize!

Today I'm thankful for kind patients who share apples with me! What are you thankful for? 

If you want to learn more about the Evercrisp apple, see the link below. 

http://www.evercrispapple.com/

Winter's Prelude: Fall is coming to an end

With the end of November drawing near, the days are short and the nights are seemingly endless and dark.  By dinnertime, we are sitting down to eat with a completely black sky seen through our dining room windows.  Looking out the glass, back porch door, we can see the glowing eyes of the ruminants, as they make their slow way from the pasture to the little lambing barn, that we built onto the back of the garage. 

This afternoon, Farmer J made a fire, in between our back yard and pasture, from the downed wood of a tree, cut down earlier this week  The tree was dying and J decided it was better for the tree to come down now, as methodically planned by a trained professional, than at the mercy of a blustery fall or winter storm.   When the days are cold and the sunlight is fleeting, looking at a hot fire, and sitting besides the warmth it throws onto you, can toast your inner soul.  The opposite of darkness is light, and when the light from the sun is less than we would like, or need, we have to create our own light. 

During these seasonal months of darkness, we have to remember to turn on the lights of our house, light candles in our home and fill the kitchen with the warmth from the oven, with home cooked meals and desserts. 

Gatherings of people also warm our spirits, the blessing of having Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years during the darkest days of the year. This week, we gathered around various tables, with family and friends, gave thanks and filled our bellies with good food and drink.  The various homes we gathered in were lit up with laughter and light-hearted conversations. 

At our own home, we warmed the kitchen with baking homemade chocolate chip cookies. We lit the house with candles, in every room, when we had friends over for a late evening dinner, so they would feel cozy, snug and invited into our own personal living space, after their long journey to our home. We ensured our farmhouse was visible from the highway, as the moon was the only light in the sky, with the porch light aglow and lights on in every room, to make sure our holiday guests could find their way to our bucolic bungalow, otherwise disguised by darkness.  

This morning in church, they were candles lit as well.  Today was the start of the first week of advent. Pickle, our youngest, stretched his neck to watch the pastor light the first advent candle on the advent wreath.  Advent is the first season of the Christian church year,  leading us up to Christmas.  Just yesterday, the boys received Advent calendars from their Mima (Farmer J's mom), with the children excited to start the countdown to Christmas, and "Baby Jesus' Birthday." 

Not only did the candle glow warm our hearts, but so did the music in the church service.  After a impulse purchase of some classical holiday music, from a garage sale this summer, I realized something about myself,  I love traditional (mainly English/Anglo-Saxon-no surprise there, for those who know me) Christmas hymns, carols and chants.  With advent now here, I've had the song, "Let All That Are to Mirth Inclined" playing in my car.  Click on the link below and see if this song lifts your spirits, fills your heart with peace and helps calm your mind as the advent season begins. 

Let All That Are to Mirth Inclined sung by Loreena McKennitt

Soon, we will put up our Christmas tree, to add even more life and radiance to our home.  Hopefully, you can take this advent time to light a candle, decorate a tree with memorable ornaments, cook some holiday treats, quiet your mind with music or simply reflect on the solitude of this cold and dark season, knowing fully, that after winter comes spring- full of new life...and light.

“Autumn is my favourite season of all. It is a transitory period that allows the earth to rest before it sees the harshness of winter and hears the promise of spring.”
― Kamand Kojouri

The bird- and happy Turkey day!

 

 

 

I don't eat Turkey but all the Turkey eaters at our Thanksgiving celebration said the bird was pretty darn good. Lots of adjectives like "juicy", "tender" and "huge" were used while eating up this bird. And then there was the talk of lots and lots of leftovers!

Hot & Tasty

Hot cereal to go, keeps my belly and lap warm on a cool morning! Thank you Farmer J for keeping me fed!

November

The weather given to us this fall has been an amazing gift. Just today, I had to take off my down vest as I was getting too hot walking around outside! That is a beautiful, amazing thing--- warmth in mid-November!  Despite being of Nordic and Germanic stock, I'm always cold; Hence, why todays forecast of sunny with a high temperature of 68...makes me giddy!

It seems like even the birds are confused, with flocks of geese flying every which way.  "Should I stay or should I go now..."  (The Clash). 

Nearly all the crops have been harvested, plowed and covered with fertilizer, which can translate to a few stinky days around the farm!  I guess that's to be expected when our little 4.3 acre farm is surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmland...and a chicken farm, and a pig farm, and a dairy farm...

The milkweed pods are open, the birds are no longer singing in the late evening and the end of the season vegetables are out of the garden.  Fresh fruits have been replaced with canned pears and applesauce, for some of the meals! (We are in the 21st century and can get dragon fruit and kumquats at our local, small town grocery store, for better or for worse! Still, we try our best to eat local and what is in season.) 

The turkeys in the deep freezer and soon the pigs will be off to the butcher.  We are hoping to rent out our ram lamb to another local farmer looking to diversify his flock!  Farmer J thinks we may have a winter lamb, as soon as December. 

The Shepherdess

I got this vintage print at a thrift store for $3 dollars! I painted the frame (previously cream) with my favorite color...

http://us.farrow-ball.com/railings/colours/farrow-ball/fcp-product/100031

The print caught my eye when I saw the words "shepherdess", as I often joke to Farmer J that I'm like the woman in this picture, all about the dream of the bucolic country life and much less interested in the messy underbelly of rural living, like poo!

After buying the print and bringing it home, I showed the picture to J.  I said, "Look, a shepherdess!"  J said, "Yeah, but where are the sheep?" 

Details, details! 

Oddly enough, this is the second piece of art I've come across entitled, "Shepherdess". The artwork below I saw in person at an art museum in Milwaukee! I quickly grabbed the post card size print from the gift shop as a little momento from our trip!

This piece of art is Farmer J approved, as there are actual sheep in "The Shepherdess" painting!

Details, details!

JJ's guest entry (my oldest son)

Hello my name is JJ.  And I live on my parents hobby farm , Lowly Heaven ( I named it)  We have chickens , goats, pigs, sheep, cats , and we used to have a turkey. Thank you, 

            JJ K.   

Feed mills and frost

Yesterday morning we were greeted with the fall's first hard frost.  Which means a few things for the farm.  First off, we have to keep all the ruminants out of the orchard pasture, as the frost reacts with the leaves from the fruit trees and the leaves become poisonous to the ruminates! 

Second, it's a gentle reminder that winter will soon be here, and by winter, I mean snow and inches of thick ice frozen onto our car windows!  As our garage is currently more of a barn than a garage, there is much work to be done to get an open stall, or two, open for our vehicles.

Third, frost means less free food for our ruminants as their pasture will soon be less of a pasture and more of an ice or snow covered area. 

And that brings us to the feed mill! 

Thankfully, we have a great feed mill within 10 minutes of our farm.  The feed mill carries organic feed for our pigs, sheep, goats and chickens. 

When I go to the feed mill for Farmer J, the nice and friendly man behind the counter knows my husband, and what he typically orders, in case I leave my sticky note at home. 

Turkey

One day, many months ago, Farmer J went to our local Farm & Fleet to get this and that, various things that he needed for the farm. When we go shopping, we tend to get a few impulse purchases. Buying things on impulse is the reason why it's dangerous for me to go shopping at Target. I plan to go in and just buy toilet paper and come out with a new outfit. But Farmer J is rarely an impulse shopper, mainly because he really dislikes shopping. But on this trip to Farm & Fleet, he came home with two things he didn't intend on buying... baby turkey chicks.

Surprisingly, I wasn't very surprised when he called me and told me that he was on his way home... And he bought baby turkey chicks!

Sadly, because raising baby turkey chicks was a first for us, we lost one of them. The remaining turkey, was very sad and lonely. We had the baby turkey in a box, in our enclosed front porch. All we heard all day long was the sorrowful little peep of a turkey, who missed his friend. We couldn't take it any longer so he became our indoor/front porch turkey.

When the weather got nicer, our chicken chicks arrived. The baby turkey was soon surrounded by tons of little, chirping, feathered friends. And baby turkey was very happy.

And with the even warmer weather, came supervised visits outside for turkey. But because the turkey was so used to being around humans, he would stay close to us, especially to Farmer J. 

We think the turkey imprinted on Farmer J, with the baby turkey thinking that this tall, white man was his featherless parent. The two of them became the best of friends.

As spring turned to summer, the turkey got larger, and larger, and larger...

And soon the turkey was not a chick at all but a full grown turkey.

And we found out this full ground turkey was indeed a male.  And this male turkey was very proud and got a little territorial.

It didn't take long until the turkey was attacking the children and attacking his previously beloved farmer. Oddly enough, the turkey never tried to attack me. I think he knew better.

The thing that drove me to the breaking point with the turkey was when he would poop, a half a dozen times a day, immediately in front of our back door. 

We had some friends come over just a few weeks ago, and the boys had to "shoot the poop" with the water hose two times before our friends even arrived, so they weren't greeted to our home with a big pile of pale, green poop.  For the short time while our friends were at our house, that turkey pooped right in front of our back door, the same door the children kept going in and out to play outside. 

Later that day I texted Farmer J and said, "The turkeys got to go." 

We all knew it was time, even the boys said they were ready to be free of the turkey.

Within a week, I came home and wasn't greeted by the turkey. Farmer J told me the turkey was in the deep freezer. He said the turkey was huge, much bigger than he thought he was, under all those feathers. We weighed the turkey and he weighed almost 34 lbs. J said the turkey won't even fit in his dad's oven, one of the places where we plan to celebrate Thanksgiving.  

We figured this turkey will be the most expensive turkey we've ever bought for a Thanksgiving meal. But in the end, the experience of having this turkey is worth more than just money.  Like any experience, experiencing something for the first time is always exciting, and fun, and a little scary. The turkey brought a lot of enjoyment to our life. 

I know for a fact that we gave this turkey an excellent quality of life while he was alive.  Our Thanksgiving turkey had an amazing life, better than likely 99% of all the other turkeys that will be presented to the table at Thanksgiving. 

We thank the turkey for his life, for all the experiences we had with him when he was alive, and for all the leftovers that he will provide.

 

 

Welcome back to the farm!

Days turned into weeks.  And weeks turned into months.  I'm sorry... and I'm back.  I wish I had a better reason for my absence from writing.  I needed some time to figure out what I wanted to do with my spare time (HA!), my writing and the general direction of this blog.  During my early fall hibernation, I played around with the idea of stopping this blog all together, I thought about transitioning the blog to Instagram and then, I decided to change nothing.  Why fix something that was never broken?  This blog will remain what I always dreamed it would be... a place of respite for you... and for me.  Come to "The Wary Farm Wife" for a break from your busy life, your chaotic schedule, your frustrations and your worries.  This blog is a place that should feel like coming home, and as warm as tucking into bed, on a cold and crisp night, under the weight of well loved and well worn quilts. 

 

Welcome back to the farm, where you are always welcome!  Our squeaky front porch screen door is always open... at least for a little bit longer, winter is coming! (That's for Farmer J- my #1 GOT fan.)

 

But before I go, I'll give you a quick glance into what we've been up to for the past few months.  Since we last met up together, we've been busy on the farm.  We've been baking, harvesting honey, relaxing in the hammock (until it broke and Pickle and I crashed to the floor, don't worry- no injuries), knitting, celebrating family birthdays, taking full advantage of this beautiful fall weather with walk after walk after walk, playing in the leaves... and doing laundry.  There is always LOTS of laundry on the farm! 

 

 

With the combines slowly finishing up their harvest in the corn and soybean fields that surround our farm, I'm reminded daily that fall will soon come to an end and winter will be here before we can say "winter lambs." Before fall ends, we (meaning Farmer J) has more work to be done.  The brussel sprouts are ready to come out of the garden and the pigs will be converted to bacon, pork chops and BBQ pulled pork later this month.  The turkey is now frozen in the freezer and ready for Thanksgiving... but that's another tale for another day.

So, please come back and see me again.  I promise I won't be gone for nearly as long as last time.  My writing goes in fits and starts, so now I'll likely be writing everyday for a month.  I'm a fickle writer, always have been.