battle wounds, bucks and eSSential oiLs

so it wasn't long before someone got hurt...

at some point in time the boys were rough housing and I *think* that Milo's horn got Sax during one of their many pushing/butting matches.  beloved called me over to their pen yesterday to show me and at the time I tried to get a picture, but getting a picture that of a goat that IS NOT blurry is like trying to get a picture of my daughter sitting still...it just doesn't happen.

 

fortunately for me, when I went out this afternoon to check their water and the rest of the critters on the farm, I was able to reapply my own blend of essential oils and get a picture. 

 

the blend itself isn't much...just a few drops of lavender and frankincense mixed with a carrier oil...

 

(obviously this label was from an earlier batch, I did not use olive oil this time around but grapeseed oil)

 

but believe me when I tell you...it works!  I had to use it on one of my hens a few months back because she was being 'pecked on' by the others.  after a few applications, some time to heal, and plenty of TLC...she was back with the rest of the hens and doing fine. 

so for those that want to know I think the recipe is something like this...

2-3 drops of lavender
2-3 drops of frankincense
2 T grapeseed oil (though any carrier oil would work I assume, even olive oil, which I have used before with great results)
1oz glass amber bottle with dropper

I measured the carrier oil in first and then added the essential oils.  I am not real big on exact measurements, especially when I am just throwing things together, so if you put in an extra drop or leave an extra drop out, no biggie.

I put a drop on my finger and apply it that way since he like to move so much.  I apply it at least once a day. 

I got the bottles/droppers here and my carrier and essential oils here.  I have used YL essential oils also with great results. 

oh I almost forgot...this picture is of Sax after his second application (day two).  I know you can't tell, but his battle wound already looks better as compared to yesterday.

anyhow, I will keep you updated on Sax's progress but until then...

peace and love to you all!

this blog post is linked with

Homestead Barn Hop
The Clever Chicks Blog Hop
Teach Me Tuesdays

you know you live on a farm when...

welcome!

though it has been a while, I felt it best to NOT ease back into the blog-o-sphere but to jump right in...with both feet...so here ya go!

how do you know when you live on a farm, or just out in the 'ole country??? 

when you find this...

what is that you ask???  well...it is a snake!  a snake that got caught in a glue trap!  not only are they good for spiders and other little critters that try to get into the 'ole farm house, but they are snake catchers too.  sweet!

oh, you want a better shot...well here you go...

 

 

what did I tell ya???  pretty gross huh?

 

well, such is life out here in the sticks.  but no matter how many snakes, spiders or creepy crawly things i find in my glue boards...I still LOVE it out here and wouldn't change a thing! 

 

the air is cleaner and clearer.  the grass, brom and alfalfa are intoxicating.  the peace and quiet is addictive and the privacy is priceless.  I will die here! 

 

as I end this post I apologize for those I may have offended with such gross pictures of snakes, spiders and a dirt, but that is how we roll out here in the country...and we wouldn't have it any other way!

 

peace and love to ya'll!

 

 

 

 linked up with homestead barn hop & clever chicks blog hop

 

 

 

 

 

making life easier one loaf at a time...

the love for my bread machine grows stronger everyday!  silly statement i know,  but it is so very true. 

meet ken...

just kidding, i did NOT name my bread maker, but i do love it!  i don't care for the loaf size so i usually use it to make my dough.  bread dough, pizza dough, cinnamon rolls and even dinner rolls. 

LOVE IT!

i dump the ingredients in...put it on the dough cycle...

and within an hour to an hour and a half i have my dough.  all the...ahem...hard work is done for me!  when my machine beeps, i pull it out, prep it and viola!  for example...if i am making pizza for dinner i would add all the ingredients as per my bread machines instructions.  i would select setting number '10' which is the dough setting on my machine.  after it does all the mixing, kneading and rising it will beep to let me know it has finished.  i then pull it out, roll it out onto a preheated pizza stone, add our toppings and then pop it in the oven.  FINISHED!

pretty cool right?  i would do something similar for cinnamon rolls and dinner rolls.  i just follow the recipe and let the machine do most of the work!

so in conclusion, go get a bread machine.  just kidding, well sort of.  i wouldn't buy a brand new machine, if you can help it, but start looking at your local garage sales, goodwill's and consignment shops.  i have heard of some people finding bread machines for $5.  crazy cool right?

i am linking this post with The Barn Hop and Clever Chicks Blog Hop.

galloping, wilty leaves and peeking onions...

this past weekend was gorgeous!

see...didn't i tell you? 

during this very pretty and warm weekend were determined to get a lot done!

beloved added more fencing for the big kids (horse and donkey).  they now have the whole back pasture to graze on.  in the picture above if you look to the left you will see a group of trees, once they are in bloom, they will provide great shade and be a great place for the big kids to hang out in during the hot summer.  the area to the right, in the above picture is the back pasture that they now graze on. 

here is a picture of the fencing beloved worked on, all day saturday.  once the fencing was up and they realized they had more room, they ran and galloped and rolled all over the place.  it was adorable!

on friday after returning from topeka i realized that my broccoli, spinach, lettuce and strawberries were not looking too good. i had been trying to hold off on putting them in the ground because we have had some very cold days here. obviously they had other plans. i saw the droopy leaves and knew i needed to get moving. 

 

 

i quickly did my best to draw straight lines in the soil, dig some holes and then drop them in.  it was then that i added some organic compost to the soil.  after a good watering and a night in their new 'home' i came out to see this saturday morning.

 

{broccoli}

{lettuce}

{strawberries}

needless to say, i was pretty pleased.

and before i end this post i want to update you on my onions.  they are doing good.  they are peeking through and making their grand entrance.  see for yourself!

 

i know it sounds weird, but i love my growing garden!

i hope this post finds you doing well and i hope you all had a great and productive weekend.

i am linking this post with The Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Homestead Barn Hop.

peace and love to you all!

dehydrating corn...

one of my favorite ways to preserve food is by dehydrating, it is simple and sooooo easy.  it requires very little work and even less effort.  well i guess i can't totally say it requires very little work because i guess it depends on what you are dehydrating.  

 

this time around i decided to dehydrate corn.  we love corn!  we love it a lot!  

 

i pulled it out of the freezer... 

  

laid it on the trays...

and turned on the dehydrator. 

in just 24 short hours this is what i had...

pretty simple huh?  no thought, no hard work...just dehydrated corn!

i like to oven can my dehydrated corn/veggies along with beans, rice, flour...whatever else we have in the basement.  if you have never oven canned before...you must!  you can read about it here and here. 

i am linking this post with The Homestead Barn Hop and The Clever Chicks Blog Hop.

peace and love to you all!

electric fences, a pole barn, tilling and thankfulness...

 

 

so here we are.  we had a very busy weekend.  mother nature came through for us and gave us a few great days to work with.  this is a pic of what we have accomplished, so far.  isn't it absolutely gorgeous?  i almost tear up every time i see this.

 

so, on to our preparations from this weekend.

 

electric fences...a must here.  now that we are the owners of a jennett and a rescue horse, we knew we needed to provide them with more pasture to graze on, along with a greater area to run and play in.  beloved got off work early on friday, we headed to the local farmer/hardware store, bought what we needed and headed home.  i had some errands to run in town, so after a quick diaper change and a few kisses, mama was out the door.  after running all over the place and hitting every store imaginable, i headed home and found this...

 



 beloved got the electric fence up in no time and it looks great!  gypsy and salty were in heaven!  it was the first time she had been out of the pen and soon after i got home we found her running...running and prancing and i think i saw a smile or two.  it was great!  what a wonderful reward.  to see her acting like this brought smiles and laughter to both of us.

early the next morning beloved went back to work on this...

pretty sweet huh?  once again i must say, this man totally amazes me.  there is nothing he can't do or build. 

as you can tell, there is still a back wall to put on along with the right-hand side that needs to be finished.  some of the roof is bowing in so that will need some attention too.  but all in all, i love it! i love our pole barn, as so do our animals.

saturday morning once again came very early.  mama headed out to pick up some plants, compost and some other odds and ends.  i couldn't wait to get home.  i couldn't wait to get in the dirt and start workin' it. 

it wasn't long before i found myself there.  in the pic above i am working on a few herb plants that i purchased.  i had considered starting my herbs via seeds, but realized that i was biting off more then i could chew.  hence...the plants!

(oregano)



(oregano) 

(basil)

the rest of my saturday was spent cleaning up and prepping the garden for the following day. 

 

 

here is the garden before the tilling began.  here is the garden during the tilling...

 

 



(daddy's audience)

 

 

 

 

 

this man worked so hard today on my/our garden, even though he had to go into work tonight, without a nap apparently.  we hung out and talked, and i was instructed to rake dirt, or rake dirt there...so that is what i did, along with some earthing!

 

 

after all was said and done, he had just enough time to shower, eat and head out the door.  oh how i love that man!  we plan to finish the tilling/composting tomorrow and fingers crossed...get in some seeds and plants.

 

one thing i do have to admit is that i found such joy in our whole tilling experience.  i knew that for every clump of dirt that was overturned and aerated, it was just one step closer to our plentiful garden.  one step closer to self-sufficiency.  one step closer to becoming the homesteaders/farmers that we long to be. 

 

it was at that moment that i realized just how thankful i was.  i was thankful for the beautiful property that the Lord has blessed us with.  i was thankful for the sun, the soil and the sweat that goes into preparing the land.  i was thankful for my marriage and for our unconditional love for one another.  i was thankful for my children, my grandchildren, my animals and my home.  i hope i never stop being thankful.

 

i hope that this post inspires you to try to homestead right where you are.  weather it be in an apartment, a condo or a mobile home.  you can grab a few cheap pots from wal-mart, along with a few tomato plants and what not, some soil and then you are good to go.  experience growing something...anything...even an herb garden that is prepackaged.  put that on your window sill and let it do its thing.  you might be surprised at how easy it is.

 

i am linking this post with The Homestead Barn Hop, The Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Simple Living Wednesdays

 

peace and love to you all!

 

 

 





an unexpected rescue...

so last friday started like any other day.  mama got up, made herself a nice hot cup o' joe and was relaxing for a minute when i received a text.  in this next i was asked if beloved and i were interested in a rescue horse, for free.  being the animal lover that i am, i instantly texted my friend asking more information on the horse. 

now let me be clear...i have NEVER owned a horse before.  to be honest, i had only been around a horse once or twice in my life!  i was a little nervous to say the least, but knew that when my hubby heard about it...it was a done deal. 

and i was right!

after a few phone calls between myself and the horses owner, and then between my husband and the owner, the decision was made and they would deliver him the following day. 

saturday morning arrived entirely too quickly if you ask me, and before i knew it, beloved was rushing in to tell me that they were on their way and that they would be here in under 30 minutes.  a mad dash was made by us both to clean up, and before long, they pulled in.

after a few words between the guys, and a quick trial run with him in the pen with our jennett, they headed out and as you can see, hubby and he have already bonded and become buds.

as you can see, he needs some TLC and most importantly...some food.  his current condition isn't due to neglect from the people we got him from, but from the people they got him from.  the story goes something like this...they, the owners, bought him a few years back.  they then sold him to another individual who was wanting a horse.  after some time, i am unclear about how much time, the current owner at the time contacted the previous owners asking if they would be willing to take him back.  after seeing his condition, which at the time was worse then it is now, they agreed to take him back.  he stayed with them for a few months, but they are also trying to put weight back on another horse of theirs who was a rescue, and between the other two horses she already has, bullying this guy, they felt it best to find someone who could give him a little more time and less competition for food.  hence us!

everyone is already in love with him, oh and his name is Salty too.  it is the name he has had for the last 20 years, so we didn't see the need to change it.  he is very funny and quite friendly.  we have him and our donkey gypsy in a pen, but plan to run some fencing along the property so that they can get out and graze.  we have a creek that runs through our homestead and we don't want them to wander into it and fall...that would be bad.  so hopefully within the next week or 2 we will have a bigger area for them.  until then, they will have to get along, share the pole barn and suffer through all the 'extra' treats and fresh brome and alfalfa.  well he gets the alfalfa, gypsy doesn't. 

as we were walking back in tonight from visiting the 'big kids,' as i like to call them my husband leans over and says, 'darlin', we can't  get any more animals until we get the fencing done.  i know you wanted dairy goats but they are just going to have to wait until after the summer.'  i looked at him and smiled, nodded and agreed with him.

want to bet that we have fresh raw goat milk on our kitchen table before the summer is up?  i wouldn't be surprised.  this homesteading thing is so unpredictable isn't it?

i hope you all had a great weekend.

i am linking this post with The Homestead Barn Hop, The Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Titus 2sdays.

peace and love to you all.