With 2011 just hours away....

I find myself reflecting on 2010. All in all it wasn't a bad year, although we did loose several beloved animals on the farm this year( Mo, Addy and little Licorice), but our health is good and finances in good order, both of these are blessing especially since so many are suffering with health issues and now in the overwhelmed economy, so many are suffering in the finacial department too. Other blessings are Cortney's job, Mike's change in jobs, my brother moving closer to all of us and the support of good friends and family

Another issue, which weighs heavy on all our hearts, I find myself reflecting on, as 2010 draws to a close, is that of family. Our immediate and extended family relations are nothing like the scenes from
"Little House on the Prairie" or "The Walton's" but have been rather challenging times, to say the least.  in May of 2010, our son and his family decided to cut loose the apron strings, while this is expected,  not to the extreme they've taken it to. While I'm not a picture perfect parent and Mike admits the same, we did try to be the very best parents we could possibly be to our children. Our goal was to change the things to tried to make life better for our children. Maybe we went to the far to the extreme and instead of giving our children something better, we instead created spoiled hearts. This manner of a spoiled heart lead to a conflict and many accusations of our poor parenting skills from our son. He came out and told Mike that all of his problems were our fault. Now we're not buying that cop out at all, he was raised that he is responsible for his actions, but the way of the world seems to be" It's not my fault, it's somebody elses"  Anyway to make a long story shorter, we've been blamed for Jon's withdrawl actions by other extended family as well, it seems when he lived at home, we worked him to hard which made him dislike this farm or that is their opinion anyway. In defense of those accusations, yes Jon worked hard here on our farm and we told him and shared that with everyone. We were proud that he'd grown up to be such a hard worker. He worked beside Mike putting up fences( driving wooden posts by hand, with Mike), helped with clean up around the farm, firewood, and daily chores. He did none of these alone, we all did them.
They say hindsight is 20/20 and foolishly, Mike and I felt that is what families do, work together for the benefit of all.  There were personal rewards as well, such as; when Jon helped with the fencing we signed over the title to our 1976 Ford pickup, which he'd longed for his first vehicle.

Since early May 2010 our son has had no communication with us, in fact he has cut off his entire family( immediate, as well as extended), so we've had no contact with our grand daughter, Jayla since she was just a few weeks old. All of this weighs very heavy on our hearts, but we've done all we can do to reconcile our relationship with our son and his family. As we look forward to 2011's arrival we also move forward with our life. If this sounds harsh, let me tell you it feels that way as well, but for our well being we have chosen not to allow this to affect our lives any further, so basically the ball in now in their court and we're praying that Jon and his family will make the next move.

While my prayer is that 2011 is filled with blessing, I find myself hesitating to even say that because my gut feeling is that 2011 is going to be far more challenging, for everyone, especially in the light of our economic collapse( Depression). We feel ever so blessed to be here on our farm, that Mike has a job, our health is good and our prayer is that we pull through all of this, economically and personally.

We're staying home, as we always do. Maybe watching a movie and enjoying some homemade carmel popcorn and hot apple cider. 
Happy New Year

Almost wordless Wens.

These are some sights we enjoy on our trip to and from Cortney's job.  This is on the back road home, it is a very peaceful drive and today was extra pleasurable with the blue sky and clouds.  Enjoy :o)

                          An old sod house. Sadly the back of the house has collapsed.

                          The outhouse, nestled among the red willows

                          The Beartooth Mountain range, you can see the local ski runs( click the photo and look to the right)

                          The road home, approximately 1/2 mile down and to the left *wink*

Our Christmas was blessed as well as very relaxing

Something I learned is that you can't please everyone. Everyone has their own ideals of how Christmas should be and as I've found they are often far, far, different than my own. To me Christmas is a time to reflect on my faith, celebrate my Saviors birth( whether or not it's the correct time of year) make things pleasant for family and friends, relax and enjoy the day with my family.  We had just that, a relaxing day, filled with much grazing at the table( although I was very good and only ate 3 pieces of fudge and 2 tea cookies) We watch a Walton's Christmas episode, as well as a Little House on the Prairie Christmas episode. My Dad and Brother came over and grazed some too, sharing with me how much they enjoyed the pan of homemade cinnamon rolls we gifted them for their Christmas morning breakfast. 

The goodies Cortney and I worked on off and on for a couple of weeks all were big hits, my Dad admitted he's over done it on the sweet on Christmas eve and was feeling poorly that night. We had ham, sliced, mashed potatoes and gravy, a Pistachio pudding salad( Mike and my Dad's favorite), whole wheat rolls, a homemade cheese ball, goat's cheese( Amy this was the last of your gracious gift) homemade whole wheat crackers( recipe can be found in the 2nd Tightwad Gazette book) several relish tray items, most all of them were homemade canned goodies( my Dad like HOT pickled peppers mixes, so he brought some).

Cortney loves her purse, we still need to felt it( I wanted her to choose). She also got $$ for buying beads and notions for her beading craft( from my parents as well as her Grandma Nita, Mike's mom) as well as a Tracphone( she really didn't need one but, sometimes when she's with friends it will come in handy)  Mike and I didn't exchange gifts( we typically don't) because we'd purchased a new TV( ours up and quit one day a few weeks back) so decided that was our gift to each other.Especially since it was a Want and not a Need!) We did receive a really cute snowman ornament from my Aunt and Uncle in Miles City as well and several friends gifted us with baskets of fruit, homemade cakes and cookies and even fresh bacon, a sharp cheddar cheese, some other goodies as well.

Now soon it will be time to undecorated the tree, pack away all the decorations and get ready to ring in 2011.

Our weather was beautiful( except for the wind), Christmas day was 47F, that is unheard of in Montana.  Today and the first part of this next week( through Wens.) is forecasted to be in the low 40's and gradually working down into the teens by Friday and into the single digits over the New Years weekend. Snow is being forecasted for Wens. through Friday.  It seems December came in like a lamb but is leaving like a lion*sigh*  I know this is what to expect but I NEVER look forward to the sub zero temps and frigid sub zero windchill of January. It's miserable on everyone, especially the animals and I just have to keep in mind that it's only for a month, February is usually much milder and by the end of Feb. we are starting our seeds.  WOW! the time is slipping away from me and I have such a long list of inside chores and jobs to do yet! I'd better get a move on it*wink*
Many blessing to you all.

Taking a break until after Christmas...

Hello everyone,
                  "The Never Done Farm" just want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. We are taking a break from the blog in these days before Christmas.  We're working on getting holiday baking wrapped up, Cortney has to work, today, and we have the whole mess of a house to clean for our Christmas celebration. We're staying home and my parents and brother( Chuck) will be coming over Christmas eve for supper and goodies. 
                Blessings, Joy, Love, Laughter and Peace to you and yours.   

This is chalked full of wonderful as well as truthful info.....

So please go read and if you desire take the challenge Granny is offering

http://homesteadgardenandpantry.com/agrarian-life/self-reliance/moving-towards-a-more-self-reliant-life/

A beautiful message........... Blessings for your holiday season



                               Burned Biscuits

                                           Author Unknown

When I was a kid, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and
then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a
long, hard day at work.
On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and
extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if
anyone noticed!
Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my Mom and ask me how my
day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do
remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and ate every bite!
When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my Mom apologize
to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget
what he said: "Honey, I love burned biscuits."
Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really
liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said,
"Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides -
a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!"
Life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. I'm not the best at
hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone
else. But what I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each
other’s faults - and choosing to celebrate each others differences - is one of
the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting
relationship.
And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the
bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the
feet of God. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you
a relationship where a burnt biscuit isn't a deal-breaker!
We could extend this to any relationship. In fact, understanding is the base of
any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!

"

"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket - keep it in your
own."
So Please pass me a biscuit, and yes, the burned one will do just fine. 

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of
battle.
"Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point."     

We've been tagged....:o)

I was tagged by Mark to do this list of fours.. I haven't done any tags in a long time.... and I happen to have some free time today! 
1. Four TV shows that you watch:
Okay but all of ours are oldies;
The Walton's
 Little House on the Prairie
 Mash
 The Beverly Hillbillies
2. Four things you are passionate about:
Faith
Family
our farm
our animals
3. Four words/phrases you say a lot:
Smile your face might crack!
It's a long ways from your heart and it's all uphill
What the Heck
Oh My,What a Day
4. Four things you've learned from the past:
Don't play with anything that will one day be bigger than you!(IE: a calf)
If you eat it you WILL gain weight
Children grow up and have their own opinions
Sometimes you just can't beat death, no matter how hard you try( IE: animals dying)

5. Four places you would like to go:
Ireland
Australia,
 Switzerland
Alaska
6. Four things you did yesterday:
Went to the bank
Went to a Christmas tea party
Baked Christmas goodies
Did chores in the dark
7. Four things you are looking forward to:
having more time with my husband
Christmas
Spring
baby animals
8. Four things you love about Winter:
It's our down time, so we rest and catch up on other indoor projects, such as reading, crafts, cooking...
The warmth of our wood cook stove and cooking on it again
a fresh blanket of glistening new snow and a hot cup of herbal tea with honey
Snuggling with my husband to stay warm at night.

I'm leaving this open to whoever wants to consider themselves tagged, I can't pick just four and I know some people don't like to get tagged. Let me know if you choose to participate and I'll swing in a read your answers*wink*

Multi tasking! , getting our Christmas decorations up, Crafts( how to make ornaments) and baking....

 Our tree this year( 2010). We have to stay with a smaller tree due to our living room size and this year we found one that fits just perfect in front of our bay window.  Cortney already has her gifts for Mike and I under the tree. Now I need to get a few gifts wrapped and under there too.

 Lite up, with LED lights. We bought them last year, on sale and we're quite pleased with them, they do NOT get hot, so the worries of the tree catching fire are not a concern and they are bright, although they don't blink.

              Here are some ornaments we've made, or were given to us in an exchange but all of them are fairly simple to construct and make nice gifts or a new yearly tradition.

 Now this little angel is made of a silk white rose( her dress) then the wings we made out of wedding veil, simply cut into approx. 6=7" circle and gathered at the middle with wire. Her head is wooden, with Spanish moss for her hair and a pipe cleaner forms her halo. This is all glued with hot glue and a ribbon added to the back for easy hanging.

 Again we recycle, here is an incandescent light bulb( one that was burned out) painted with a Santa face and a bit of fur added( again hot glued) around the base of the bulb

 Orange peel, apple slices and cranberries strung on wire, make a nice handmade ornament and the smell wonderful( for the first year anyway) I suppose you could mist them with orange and clove oils to refreshen the smell each year.

 Macaroni noodle angel, this was a gift from a friend. An easy and fun project for children, simply glue the noodles together, paint( I think she just spray painted them outside on a piece of old newspaper), add a bow and maybe a bell or a halo.

 Here is a beaded angle, this is a bit more advanced but still very easy, you'll have to sort of figure out the pattern by looking at it. Once upon a time I had instructions, but who knows where they are now*wink*

Another easy child ornament, made with a Reese's Peanutbutter Cup and an metallic green pipe cleaner, twisted up into a tree form with a hanger on top(hook)

 This little angel was given to us by the same friend who made the macaroni angel. I've seen these beads in the craft store but have no idea what they are called. They are strung together with a metallic gold pipe cleaner and the golden leaves are simply hot glued on the back. The halo is fashioned from the same pipe cleaner that it is strung together  with.

 Again recycling, the kids made these on year, using old Christmas cards from the year before. Cutting and pasting them into the back of another card. Simple and easy way to spurn on creativity.

This is a bit blurred, but you can see it is a needle felted star a friend gave us last year. The wool is from their own sheep.

Shhhh!  This is one of Cortney's gifts.( I have to keep her from looking at this post*wink*) I borrowed the idea from my friend, Goodwife over at Her blog  Her purses are knitted and since I still have yet to learn knitting I improvise and crocheted this little purse for Cortney.  It actually went together pretty quick and I know she'll love it. It's made from a yarn that is 85% wool and 15% mohair, so it should last a long time. :o)

                        

I'll try to post more of our homemade ornaments, that could be done quickly and many of which are easy enough for children to make, with some supervision( especially in dealing with hot glue or spray paint)

We're still working on gourds, hoping to have a few done for pictures this week. Baking of Christmas goodies, making handmade gifts and simply enjoying the music of the season( singing along of course*wink*) while working. :o)

R.I.P. Licorice

Licorice was continuing to go downhill, so we put him down, we were not going to let him suffer.

We are all okay and feel we did everything humanly possible to keep this little fella alive, he just didn't wish to go on.  It's hard loosing any animal, but a baby animal for some reason makes it harder.

Thank you all for your prayers, concern and support, as I stated earlier we were somewhat prepared that this might end up being the case. Raising bottle babies is a risk, no matter what type of animal. It's ALWAYS best if the mama can raise the baby.

Thank you again, we'll miss this little fella!

Licorice update...

The little fella has some fight left, so... we're still doing everything in our power to keep him alive.  He was warm last night, covered with straw and quilts and this morning we were able to get 1 pint of goats milk into him, but he's so very weak. 

Just back inside from giving him some warm water with honey and powdered electrolytes in it, hoping this will perk him up and keep him hydrated enough to give him the strength to nurse. He tries to nurse but tires easily.  The B-12 shot didn't seem to do much for him and it seems even though he's still fighting he's slipping away.

It appears that his scours are improving, now to get him back in strength.

We made the decision that if we go back out in an hour and he seems worse, most likely we put him down, as at that point( if he weakens instead of gaining) he'll be suffering and we won't allow that.

Keep praying, fervently for this little fella, that he'll keep fighting, instead of giving up.  Thank you all for your prayers, advice and concerns they are of great comfort to us all. We knew when we took Licorice that there was a 50/50 chance he might not make it, but we were praying for the better 50% chance to keep this little fella going. It's a part of the circle of life and although it is never easy to draw the line, in order for the animal not to suffer we have to think of them and not our feelings. It's certainly not a thing anyone looks forward to doing.

I hope you'll understand....

if I ask you to pray for Licorice, he's taken a turn for the worse. I'm not sure how people feel about praying for an animal but they are God's creatures too.

He started with scours two days ago and even with yogurt it didn't seem to be getting any better, so called the local vet and he prescribed some scour paste and probiotics( more concentrated than the cultures in yogurt). It's our up and down weather that is stressing this poor fella*sigh*. So we picked up the medication and administered the first of two doses of the scour paste, in late afternoon/ early evening . Now understand up to this point all he had was scours, but was alert,and nursing well. When we went out to feed him at 9:00pm last night, he looked like he didn't feel good and it took some rubbing and coaching to get him to nurse, he finally finished off the bottle. I was worried this morning we'd find him dead, but he was alert, but weak and refused to nurse. He still has the scours, so I'm worried about his loosing strength and dehydration. Mike helped me and we used a large syringe and fed him that way, so at least he's getting some warmth, the nutrients and liquid to keep him hydrated. Later this morning he was given a B-12 shot, to see if we couldn't pep him up a bit and then went to get some goats milk( thinking maybe he's intolerant of the calf replacer we're using)  Back home we find him standing in the sunshine, but he still refuses to nurse, so.... I use the syringe and give him a good dose of warm goats milk. Praying this will pep the little fella up enough so he gains his strength back and will begin nursing again on his own again.  At this point I'm afraid to give him the second dose of paste for scours, but will continue the probiotics in his milk.  It's supposed to be cold( low teens) tonight and I'm afraid if he doesn't perk up he may not survive, we won't let him suffer or die out in the cold.

Thank you for your prayers

Faaa, Laaa, Laaa, Laaa, Laaa...... This is cute!

A recycling tip and "handy" to have around

If you have wool sweaters that are wearing out, have moth damage, or you accidentally shrank, don't throw them out, recycle them into mittens.  I saw a video not to long ago on "You Tube" about how to make these and started digging out old wool sweaters( Mike had one that was to small and we were given two others with moth damage) First step is to wash then in cold water( so colors don't run)  and dry in a hot dryer to shrink the wool.

 Then you simply trace your hand adding about 1/2" to 3/4 " seam allowance. Pin this pattern to sweater and cut both layers at one time.

  Now turn them right sides together and stitch using a small, stretch zigzag stitch.

 The black pair is finished. You turned right side out again, the print pair is next on the list to be stitched.

 Here is how they look on and they will keep your hands warm, although not sure how snow and below zero temps will affect them.

The print pair finished and turned right side out, aren't they nice :o)   I'm proud of myself, as I am self taught on sewing and it is basic to say the least!

So those of your who are creative, let your minds go to work and recycle those sweaters( wool is best and be sure to shrink it down by washing and drying in a hot dryer before you begin)

The possibilities are endless; hats, slippers, scarves, etc....

We wanted to share some of our favorite Christmas goodie recipes that we posted last Dec. here and here .  We're busy trying to get some of our Christmas crafts started and now finished in time, the clock is ticking you know! 

When thinking of items, we always take into account what we have on hand, before buying anything. Well.... while in the library the other day I found this book ;  Since we have dried gourd just hanging around, I thought I'd look into it. I was amazed at the ideas and projects they had inside. I'm only sharing one picture of ornaments made with gourds, the rest of the pictures will come from our projects so we don't get into a copyright hassle.  ( see ornaments below)
                        

                        
We're also working on several other crafts and ideas , which we'll share as soon as we get each item completed.

We need more hours in a day, the time just seems to fly right by and before we know it it's time for bed again*sigh*

May your days coming to Christmas be blessed and stress free! *wink*

What we've been up to lately......

It seemed like the end of last week, I found myself not being very motivated. So instead I simply enjoyed our day to day routines and playing with Licorice!

 We were invited to a local school Christmas program, a friend invited us and well... we got to see Jackson perform too, this is the boy Cortney watched this summer, until school started.  If you click the photo, you'll be able to see our friends son, Payton and Jackson on the opposite side.  I was surprised to find that they did a Christmas program about Jesus birth.  What a blessing that in the small rural communities there is no "Politically Correctness"*wink*  It was a bit modernized though, as they were the shepherds we texting of Jesus birth, but all in all it was a nicely done program. The costumes were so cute!
I have some video of a few songs( Silent Night and What Child is This) but alas they take so  long to download, if at all. *sigh*

 This was Sunday morning, after all day on Saturday being fogged in, everything looked as if it were draped in tiny diamonds or crystals, simply breath taking! The camera didn't do it justice( click the picture to see a larger version.)

 This is the Elderberry bush outside the backdoor.

 Well the few remaining tomatoes were enjoyed fresh and then I decided to dehydrate the remainder. This way I can enjoy them many ways. I plan to put some in olive oil , I will put some in the blender and grind them into a tomato powder and finally I like them as a snack!

The tomatoes are officially done, now we'll begin processing the pumpkins, being sure to save seed for next season, then soak, salt and roast some for our enjoyment and cook down the pumpkin to be chunked and frozen and pureed for future pies, cakes and cookies, Ummmm, Ummmmm.  The remainder we'll back down, save the seeds for roasting and feed as a supplement to our poultry during the long cold winter. We also have beets and turnips which we'll be cooking down for the poultry. Sadly our picky cows won't eat them, not even as a small token treat.

Well, time to get Cortney to work and then we'll be home long enough to feed Licorice, let him play for a bit and then off to the nearest city to TSC for grains and poultry feed. In the winter we like to keep a stockpile because you never know when roads are going to be bad. Plus Cortney still has some Christmas shopping to finish.

Blessings for your week :o)

SB510 may be dead in the water, let's pray it's so.....

Two different sources are reporting the same thing, so maybe it is true! 

http://www.naturalnews.com/030588_Food_Safety_bill_blue_slip.html






Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance

December 1, 2010

New Questions About the Food Safety Bill


As we reported to you yesterday, the Senate passed its version of the Food Safety bill, including the Tester-Hagan amendment, by a margin of 73 to 25. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) had previously agreed to accept the Senate’s bill in place of the House’s version (which had been approved last summer), making it likely that the bill would pass the House without changes and move on for the President's signature.

But new questions have arisen about the revenue-raising (i.e. taxing) provisions in Section 107 of the Senate bill. The Constitution requires that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives. Because the Senate violated the funding origination clause, the House may use a procedure known as “blue slipping,” which would send the bill back to the Senate to remove the revenue raising provisions or to pass a bill that had originated in the House. This opens the door for changes to be made to the bill, as well as increasing the chances that the bill dies because Congress runs out of time in the lame duck session.

Stay tuned for more information!

Five days old and feelin' spunky!

 Licorice is 5 days old today and is he ever feelin' spunky!  He's been bawling to be with Button and Hoss, so we decided to let him venture out while we were cleaning the barns. He ran, jumped, bucked and kicked out to the other two and then tried to play with the dogs.  He's getting 1-1/2 pints of calf replacer every 3-4 hours. He at first didn't like the bottle, so found a softer nipple and now he's doing fine.

       Hoss says," Hey! a mini me!" and Licorice was just curious of what it was Hoss was licking.( see below)

 Button really likes Licorice, that is until he started nosing around her udder area, then she was gentle and simply moved away from him each time he got close to that  area of her anatomy. I'm impressed with her motherly instinct, especially for a two year old heifer. :o)

After licking on the mineral supplement and on Licorice, Button was quite thirsty, that tub was full when she started!  One thing we've found is that with winter feeding of hay they're consumption of H2O increases dramatically. We haul water three times a day, just to make sure they always have fresh, full tubs of water.

It's snowing again today but it's not sticking as it is fairly warm(36F)  It's a good wet snow and the moisture before the ground freezes is a blessing and will give the pastures a good start in the Spring. :o)

Did you ever have a day where you just couldn't get motivated, well...... that's how today is starting out for me. The plan is  for Cortney to work on a couple of bracelets that were ordered by a friend as Christmas gifts, and I have a few ornaments and small projects I'm working on. Then we need to get supper fixed and do a bit of cleaning before Mike gets home. What I'd rather do is curl up in my chair with some hot tea and read a book! LOL!!!!
Blessings for your weekend.

I can't believe it's December 1st already! and an introduction to.......

Even with all the snow we have it just doesn't seem possible, where does the time go? We just finished up the last of our tomatoes and will begin cooking down pumpkins. Next thing I know it will be time to start our seedling*Sheeesh*  So much for a long winter's rest*wink*

 The greenhouse held up well under the snow, we did go out and push some to slide off from the inside but otherwise it slid off well on it's own. Now we have to dig the snow away from the sides this afternoon.
Below( next few pictures) you'll see our early Christmas gift! We'd like to introduce you to "Licorice"( my Dad picked out the name). A friend of ours called yesterday morning early and asked if we'd be up for another bottle calf. I said, " Joe, a calf in December?" He told us it was from a cow he'd purchased through the sale barn back in Sept. and they were all supposed to be "Open" heifers. Even though the mama cow was being a good mama, this little guy was struggling to suckle on her small teats and Joe didn't want to see him( BTW, Licorice is a bull calf) go down hill in the cold weather and they just don't have the time nor the inclination to care for a two day old calf. So he made a proposition we couldn't refuse and he delivered him around 10am. Poor little fella was cold and hungry, so we started him off with a 1/2 pint of warm calf replacer, with some colostrum( saved in the freezer from our dear old Bessie, my jersey cow who passed away a little over a year ago.)  He drank it so, so and then we bedded him down in a thick straw bed and pushed it up all around him, within minutes he's stopped shivering and was so.... sleepy.  Joe had given him a bottle( a full bottle, which was way, way to much for this little guy but....., so now he does have some pasty poop, which we'll clean up off his butt with warm soapy water and dry him off good this morning, after it warms up a bit. I dosed him at 8pm with some yogurt mixed with colostrum, and he really seemed to like it. 
The wind blew all night and I worried about Licorice, but when I took out his warm bottle( a pint with colostrum added) he got right up and was happy and hungry :o)  I think if we can keep the weather warmer for a few days, to help get him off to a good start he'll do just fine!  He's so cute and it's amazing how much coat( hair) he has, I guess the good Lord knows he needed a good thick coat of hair!  So this is a project for us girls to keep us out of trouble this winter*wink*  Mike thinks we made a good bargain.

 These were taken this morning and he is now 4 days old. Licorice is a Black Angus bull calf( soon to be a steer)

 This is a bit blurry, he was moving looking for his bottle.

"Button", our Dexter heifer wants to mother him and "Hoss" the other orphan Angus calf( now almost 7 months old) is acting like a wild man, so we housed Button and Hoss together last night, giving Licorice Hoss's stall.  We'll probably do this for a few weeks and see how Hoss settles down with Licorice, then the plan is to house them together, because Button is well... sort of a pig about feed and eats all her hay and then pushes Hoss aside and finishes his off too *sigh*

Life certainly is never dull here and we wouldn't have it any other way :o)

Blessings for your day.

New snowfall photos and it's still snowing.....

 You can see where we shoveled the patio( twice already), earlier and it needs to be done again!

This storm it seems is stuck over us and is forecasted to give us as much as 9 to 12" more snow by morning .  I will add that at least it isn't frigid and we need the moisture, as our Fall was extremely dry.
I've said it many times I don't mind the snow but really dislike the bitter temperatures. Even driving Cortney to and from work, we simply leave early and take the back roads and drive slow. As long as the wind doesn't blow we'll be fine, otherwise we may have to cancel, as the road to Charlie's will drift in, making it impassable until the plows get to it and from what we're seeing the plows will be busy on the highways early tomorrow.  Just thought I'd share with some of you who don't typically get snow, it is beautiful isn't it?

Things change..... "Time is a factor", when living a homesteading life.

I don't think that I posted that Cortney is now employed( YEAH!!!!), she is working for a friend, Charlie, who lost his wife to a 6 yr battle with cancer just a little over a month ago. She works M-W-F; her job is to clean house, do laundry and cook meals for him. Monday she does the cleaning and laundry, plus cooks him lunch and puts something in the crock pot for his supper( if there isn't any leftovers from lunch). Wednesday and Fridays she does general pick up of the house, washes dishes and washes eggs and puts them away for Charlie. He is enjoying the fact that she prepares a menu and grocery list for him each week. So on Monday it takes her about 3 to 3-1/2 hours and the remaining two days approx. 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Tomorrow he's getting a crock pot of Cheeseburger Soup and a loaf of homemade bread and then the plan is for Wednesday's meal is Pork chops with mashed potatoes and gravy, enough to have leftovers for supper and then Friday we may not be needed as his family is coming up for a visit and his daughters are making homemade noodles and putting together turkey noodle soup for him. Since Cortney doesn't feel comfortable driving, due to her vision limitations, I am her taxi driver *wink* This means, even though our friends place is just 6-7 miles away that I have that much less time to get my daily chores done. So..... here comes the change, since I've been struggling to get laundry done and dried( on the drying racks) in a timely manner, Mike and I discussed bringing the clothes dryer back in to house to be used on the heavy items that typically take two days of more to dry on the racks. I didn't want to have to do this but Mike only has so many pairs of jeans and long johns and needs them to be there when her needs them so..... I agreed and he brought in the dryer.( see below)  I miss the room the dryer takes up but it is a convience and will help me with my time issues*sigh*

 Tuffy's favorite place, although he knows he's NOT supposed to be in the kitchen he sneaks in this far to lay by the warmth of the stove.... and I allow it*wink* He's NOT looking at me, because he knows he's not supposed to be in here, LOL!!!!

 The last of the seeds we've collected and saving(left) Delicatesse Cucumber and (right) Caped Gooseberry, now drying on wax paper and then will be stored in small glass jars downstairs in the pantry, awaiting our 2011 season :o)

Well, we didn't quite make it well into Dec with our tomatoes but close enough, it's still two months longer than any other season.  This last bowl I've been enjoying fresh and will make a small batch of salsa( I'm the only one who like it) and will can it for late enjoyment!  Then the canning items will be put away until next season.
Soon we'll begin our holiday baking adventure. Cortney was already rifling through the recipe box, digging out all of our "Family Favorites" and preparing a list of needed ingredients. I think we're pretty well set and may have to pick up one or two items, if that.  We will try to make at least one batch of a particular recipe a day and store in the freezer( for safe keeping*wink*) That isn't a always a sure fire way to keep them safe though, let me tell a story on Mike........   When we were first married and both working outside the home I baked Christmas goodies on the weekends and put them in the freezer out in our shed( which was also used as Mike's wood working shop, it was 24x16x10ft. Anyway I'd added and added and when it came time to put together plates for family, friends and neighbors, I went to retrieve in my frozen goodies, only to find many of the containers now only held one or two goodies! LOL!  I calmly asked Mike if he'd enjoyed the goodies and he grinned and said, I didn't eat all of them....... So now every year he has to live down this, LOL!!!!

It's snowing again and it's a heavy snow laden with moisture. We need the moisture, as our Fall was so dry and since we can take the back roads( which I'm the master of in winter, anything to avoid the highways*wink*) to Cortney's job.

So even though I dislike admitting I needed to compromise and begin using the clothes dryer again, if we've learned anything about homesteading it's that, it is always about compromise. When the weather cooperates we'll hang the clothes outside on the lines and the lightweight items, we'll still use the wooden drying racks, this will help to keep the electric bill in check!

Enjoy your new week :o)