A Straight Line

My mind simply won't stay in one place today.  Not that it does, but today it seems to be on a march.  It is headed out and I cannot keep it on track. It's traveling a straight line, headed over there some place.   I am trying to get myself organized to finish up the last of the christmas presents.  Almost all of the stocking stuffers are wrapped.  We have a tradition in our family of giving what we call table presents.  It was something I came up with when the kids were little to keep the excitement of the day going a little longer.  So, even after all the presents were open, there was that last present waiting.... a small box, sitting next to their plate.  Not to be opened until we sat down to have our christmas dinner.  Well, those are wrapped.

Then had to take a break to do the chores.  While breaking ice and carrying water to the horses, I tried really hard to think about the four presents I have left to make.  But my mind went on, and I was actually trying to figure out the spring projects..... what do I need the most?   The insulated trough cover that I read about in Mother Earth News.  Bigger coop for the chickens?  I want a small barn so badly it hurts.  I want to build my manual hay baler.

Then I tried really hard to think about those christmas presents.... I did.

Then I thought about all of the wonderful pictures I see on other women's blogs.  I need to spend more time with the camera.  I have to make myself do that.  It is amazing to me how many women are entering the field of agriculture.  Also inspiring.  We think about different crops, different methods, different applications.  It's like the opposite of Pandora's Box.  We've cracked this thing open and all of this wonderfulness just keeps coming.  Do I really need to blog about this stuff?  Do I have anything to add to the conversation?

Four presents!  How long can four presents take, for Pete's sake!!!  the one gift is a bag..... How long can that take?  Well, I never use a pattern so I end up making a pattern for every one........ that's probably stupid.

I wonder how many women are in agriculture now.  Does the USDA recognize the need to support this new effort?  Does the USDA know what a woman is?  Do they know that there are farms that grow stuff other then corn and soybeans  or cows and pigs?  Do they realize that lamb is one of the most expensive meats on the market, but a farm can turn over a lamb in nine months versus a calf that takes two years?

Once I have a present for Micah, Michal, James and Bevin, I am done!!!  Then I need to start on those insulated curtains so I can see if I can hold down the heating costs this winter.  I wonder if I can wing it or if I should try to do a pattern first... it's just curtains.  I should just be able to go off measurements.  I need to go through the fabric again and see if I have enough muslin for backing.  I think I have enough of the floral print for the curtain front......  and the more money that I save, the more I will have to put into the farm this next spring.  I should figure out a way to build the barn incrementally.  I can do that.

How I love this little farm!  I think I should plant more flowers this next spring.

Louie

And Then What Happened...?

What mayhem we had this year!!! I felt off balance throughout the christmas holiday. I think much of that could have been from getting sick right before the holiday. Nothing like fever, chills and a head that feels like it will explode, to kick off the holiday season.

But once on my feet, I was off and running. Mostly shopping, I did not do so well with my goals of present making. Even so, our entire christmas budget ran right around $350. We did not do much to add to the coffers of the CEOs or the mega-rich.... hooray!! Wrapping was accomplished in a day and a half and then we had Christmas at my oldest daughters. We got there early and I baked pies and sweet rolls. Isn't it too bad that cinnamon isn't an aphrodisiac? Really, it should be! Better then choking down raw oysters or pulverized rhino horn.... anyway, I digress..

I got my books that I wanted for christmas. Farm books!! I have even more ideas now! I think everyone was, if not overjoyed, at least content, with their christmas. Food was wonderful. There were no catastrophes at home. The house was intact, animals healthy and inside their fences. The cat, Pyewacket, was sitting on a stack of concrete block waiting for us. Everyone safe and sound was my ultimate christmas present.

Then we relaxed a bit. Grandsons Edgar and Oscar came to visit for a couple of days. Edgar and I did a great deal of tromping through woods, up and down hills and back and forth to the horses. I definitely worked off my cinnamon roll! This was topped off with an old friend coming for a visit overnight. He left us with some really nice lettuce and some smoked cheese and we sent him off with the rest of the breakfast scones.

Which brings us to last night. I had a dream......

A miracle had occurred. I was in Pagosa Springs, CO., at the Parelli ranch and I found myself trouncing up the hill, baggage in hand, with a group of other people. We were all excited and chatting away. Someone got us sorted out and baggage disappeared. We went into groups. Then Linda Parelli came and spoke to us. Then Pat Parelli followed up and we were invited to ask questions. We were all once again in a huge chatting crowd and heading out to a bonfire and cook out. I grabbed my hat while I was speaking to Pat. I put it on but it didn't fit anymore. Pat jokingly said that it looked like I needed to get that fixed as he moved on up the hill. I hung onto the brim but eventually the wind picked up and carried my hat away. When I turned to snatch at it...

I was in the hold of a huge cargo ship. It was flush full of fruit and vegetables. But the produce wasn't in boxes and crates and bins, it was all on display on big angled tables like a street market. People were everywhere. Venders shouting. Money and product changing hands. A boisterous riot of color and sounds and smells. Then I turned again....

The ship was empty. The tables empty. The people gone, except for one man. He was shouting up to the captain that we were heading into rough water. A storm was brewing. The captain shouted orders back. The only ones I understood were to tie down and brace yourself.

Then I woke up, with drool dried to my face and wondering just how far off track had I gotten. I pulled on some clothes in the changing light and went out to chore the horses. Which brings us to now. It seems that it is time to start again. I just have to find my hat first.

Louie

Dirt

Now that Thanksgiving is over and my fence is almost strung, my mind keeps escaping off to other places. Oddly enough, today I keep thinking about dirt. I have bad dirt. My most recent hay man told me that because it has just laid fallow for so long, around twenty years, nothing has happened to enrich the soil. It has not been grazed, so it has not been enriched by manure. Because it was in CRP program, it was seeded to the governments recommendations. That was a specific seed mixture and most of it has died out, except the brome. Brome grass apparently is a heavy feeder. So the nutrients have been consumed and the soil never enriched. You can dig down and not even find an earth worm over the majority of the property. After three years of mowing we are just now finding worms in our yard area.

I need manure! I need it now! I need an effective way to to haul it and spread it. Then I need to find a good way to haul my burn barrel ash out to the pasture. Then I need to find a way to come up with the money for seed.... something other then brome. My choice is orchard grass and clover. I have been told by a number of farmers what todays conventional thinking is about forages. Well, conventional thinking has about killed my dirt so I'm just going to do what's best for my place. Besides... I'd rather live with my own mistakes, then someone else's

That is what my brain is up to now. On one side I am knee deep in manure, dirt and grass seed and on the other, I am thinking that it would be nice to get some christmas decorations up. Maybe go ahead and get up the tree. I have some christmas presents I need to be making. A little wrapping. I'd like to do some baking.....

But, boy oh boy, I'd like to get my hands on some manure!

Christmas in July

The christmas in July sales have started. I don't want to think about it! I have had a hard enough time wrapping my brain around paying taxes and insurance on the farm and the truck and getting some seed purchased for next spring. Buying some trees. Fencing supplies as usual..... but christmas?! My mind didn't want to go there yet.

Christmas is more of a fluttering little moth in the back of my brain right now. That's about all I can handle at the moment. I do keep a notebook in my purse where all random thoughts are put down. The notebook is where ideas first take on a semblance of order. All farm thoughts go in a particular area that is kind of broken up into categories like.... improvements....internet searches to make.....livestock possibilities.. etc., it goes on.

I keep a gift idea section too. All of the names of people I buy gifts for are listed with several open lines. When I have spent time with someone and they say things like, "You know how much easier things would be if I actually had my own hammer?" Then under that persons name I note.... Hammer, possibly tool bag or box, other household tools?... This year I am not short on ideas for anybody, but I can't make the jump to "buying" yet. Actually I am having trouble just coming to grips with spending money on anything other then bills, groceries and gas. Mac likes to eat out once in awhile. It almost sends me into a panic attack. I want to swat him with a rolled up newspaper and say, "Don't you dare relax and have fun!! Don't you know it costs money to relax!?" Eating out is like pissing money away. It used to be one of our favorite things to do, now I'd rather just not eat.

I can't afford to think about "peace and goodwill towards man" . It's a costly enterprise. I think for the month of July I will just continue to avert my eyes and keep christmas as a fluttering little moth in the back of my brain. I will continue to keep notes and dwell in my own little space. Yup!, that's the ticket.

Louie