Just in the nick of time...

Just in the nick of time as most would say, the lambs left for their new home on the sheep farm yesterday*sigh* and this morning while Cortney was doing her morning chores, she discovered a peeping sound in the turkey pen. Yes, that's right, " The turkey's are here, the turkey's are here!" ( think back to 100 Dalmatians, and then you'll have the voice in your head to go with this proclamation, LOL!) One egg had been pushed from the nest, with a half hatched babe, sadly it was dead. Upon searching for the peep, Cortney spied another egg pipping, thus the location of the peeping was found. We counted the days(26) and the eggs should start on Sat., but early is better than never. We're praying for a good clutch, as this will be one of Cortney's cash crops, added to her egg sales and helping with selling extra garden produce. We currently have 5 toms and 5 hens( as soon as they're done setting) to sell. Today the sun is peeking through the clouds and the outside temp. is already warmer than yesterday's high, YEAH. After cleaning the barns and school work, we'll head outdoors to clean the little barn/ coop that the lambs were in, in preparation of the turkey poults. Now to see just how many hatch and survive( they don't have a strong will to survive), if we end up blessed with more than our oldest mama hen( she's a wonderful mother) could raise we'll have to see which of the young hens has the stronger motherly instinct and let two mamas raise the poults. Sometimes, in the past, this has caused problems; as they often fight over the babies and in the process end up killing some*sigh* Maybe we can separate them by running wire down the middle of the building. For now we'll just have to play it by ear. Do you ever get stuck in the rut of thinking of things to fix for meals? I'm there right now, it seems we end up eating the same meals week after week. So.... I drug out the recipe cards and did a search and came up with some of our family favorites such as; Venison pepper steak over brown rice, Enchiladas with homemade whole wheat tortilla shells, Cheeseburger soup, Lentils and sausage casserole, etc.... I'm also taking stock of what remains in the root cellar; dozens of carrots( PTL! still firm,crisp and especially sweet), 1 head of cabbage, 24 onions, and 50+ lbs of potatoes(excluding the seed taters). I also came across my recipe for "Pasties" and will include cabbage, onion, carrot and potatoes in the meat filling. The head of cabbage is quite large, so I'm sure will have enough to make fresh slaw for Mike's B-day supper on Sat. We'll be BBQ-ing steak, making a crock pot of baked beans, homemade french fries and add to this slaw and apple pie for dessert( Mike's request instead of cake for his special day). Okay, we're off to enjoy some sunshine while cleaning the barns, getting the girls out to pasture and checking the greenhouse. Blessings to you and may you be a blessing today, Kelle

More building designs....

More interesting building designs....

Sopot, Poland

Tokyo, Japan

Nothing much to post, I did get.....

an email with some interesting pictures of interesting building designs from around the world. Now I know there are creative people in the world, but these are amazing! I need to be more creative, this has inspired me to look for even more ways to use and reuse things before resorting to sending them to the landfill.



This is in, Ohio

This one is in Kansas City, it's the public library.

This is Habitat 67 in Montreal, Canada

This is somewhere in France, if you know exactly where please add you comment below.

and.... this is in Viena, Austria

I have a few more that were in this email that are fun to look at and I'll them add above.

Nothing much new here, just cleaning, sorting and rearranging the house a bit. Our weather is still rainy and cold but is fore casted to warm up as this week goes on. It's actually a nice break from the outside spring clean up work of last week.

Mike is off this weekend, so the list making begins! We have some branches and odd shaped wood that needs cutting and splitting, Mike needs to work a bit on revamping the hydraulic splitter( more upkeep, as in oil change, spark plugs, new hydraulic hoses, etc...), Mike is still working on finding a rim for our trailer( one was in bad shape when we replaced the tires) so we can begin the process of cutting, hauling,splitting and stacking our next winters wood supply. Then it has all summer and fall to cure.

We're also making plans to get our Dexter cow, Addy, bred in June. We paid to have her AI'ed twice and she didn't settle either time( $130 down the drain, *sigh*) It took some doing to find a bull close enough, but PTL we made contact with a family who lives just 10 miles from us. There will be a stud fee of $50 and a $3 a day fee while she's there. I'm praying she takes the first time, otherwise she'll go back in July. Her heifer, soon to be a year old( May 5th) we're thinking about breeding her in Sept. She'll be almost 1-1/2 yrs old when bred and over 2 yrs old when she calves. This is still being talked about, we may wait until she's 2 yrs old before breeding. It's fun to think that we may possibly have two calves next summer. One for the freezer and one to sell.

Well, we need to make a trip to the local( 6 miles south of us) grocery and pick up some sale items, then we'll work on more laundry. This is one downfall of rainy weather, it stretches laundry into 4-5 days because of time needed to dry clothes on the wooden drying racks indoors. Typically, when I can solar dry( clothesline) the clothes, we have laundry done in two days.

Many blessings to you and yours,

Kelle

Everything is emerald green due to the blessing of rain.

Today's forecast is rainy and cold( low 40's F. for our high), this is supposed to taper off late Wednesday night. One problem, our evening lows are to go as low as 27F ! We're now having to bring the seedling inside from the greenhouse. We don't want to heat the greenhouse, so instead we transport them to and from the indoor to outdoor greenhouses. This is one downfall of greenhouses in MT, if you aren't willing to heat them, they are basically only useful in early Summer through early Fall. The farmers in our area are between a rock and a hard place! They NEED to get into their fields but hesitate to complain about the moisture. For the last several days of nice weather the farmers have been running from the wee morning hours until late into the evenings, trying to get their grain, beets and some are even planting corn( although I think the soil is still to cold). I always shiver this time of year, as the fertilizer and chemical trucks are running up and down the roads like frantic nuts. The reason I shiver you ask, well... it's all those chemicals going into the soil and leeching into our water supply as well as our food supply. What a blessing it is to raise 90% of what we eat. Our apple trees, cherry bush and lilacs are all budding out and they are simply loaded with blossoms. My prayer is that these blossoms will remain tight and not be affected by the freezing temps. for the next few evenings. Yesterday I spent a big part of the morning cleaning the living room. Most of the time was spent sorting out movies and DVDs we've collected over the years. Many sorted out for storage were Disney movies the kids had received as gift from their grandparents. We also had several movies from Feature Family Films that we've watched several times. I boxed up two boxes for storage or possible garage sale items this summer. Most of our movies are family type, with of course our John Wayne collection as well as many other old westerns. The newest western we own is Open Range, it does contain some profane language and violent shootings, the overall storyline is good verses bad. We also have the entire collection of The Walton's the start of a collection of; Little House on the Prairie ( they are very spendy, so have been added to our gift, wish list) and Cortney is collecting the Love comes Softly series. We also have our eclectic classics collection, such as; Little Women, Sergent York( Gary Cooper), National Velvet, Where the Red Fern Grows, Christy, etc.... This collection of VHS and some DVDs are usually viewed in winter or on sick days. The standing rule for movies inspired by a book, you must have read the book first before viewing the movie, the books are always better than the movie anyway. Today's plan, since it's raining, is to finish cleaning the house, get laundry washed and on the drying racks, make bread and get the chicken and dumplings going for supper. If I have time before evening chores, I'll sit and read for a spell. I'm reading the first book in a new series from an author I truly enjoy. Jane Kirkpatrick is the author and the series is entitled; Change and Cherish Historical series. The first book's title is, A Clearing in the Wild. The second book is entitled; A Tendering in the Storm. I enjoy her books because although fictional, are also historically correct. Well, time to don on our rain coats, mud boots and get the barns cleaned. May your day be filled with productivity as well as blessings. Blessings, Kelle

Okay, I found info. and need to recant, in using elderberry against Swine flu( H1N1) or Avian flu(H5N1)!!!

Posted for those stocking their preps - a bit of a surprise for me!

http://www.the-health-gazette.com/he...ral-antivirals

Natural AntiviralsSubmitted by Health Gazette on Thu, 2006-05-11 08:55.

Alternative MedicineRegular readers know that I have no time for the nonsense relating to imagined bird-flu pandemics. However. I regarded the following item of sufficient novelty to be of some interest. You may judge its merits for yourself.Research suggests certain natural foods may be as effective against virus H5N1 as commercial antivirals.(PRWEB) May 10, 2006 --

A Biology teacher from Australia, named Stephen Jones, has done extensive research into the H5N1 virus and compiled a list of natural foods that are effective against it and listed others that are detrimental.The list may come as a surprise to many people since foods such as spirulina and echinacea are listed as detrimental. This strange occurrence is largely due to the fact that the virus is immune to 2 cytokines that the body produces (TNF-a and IL-6). Cytokines are compounds produced by the body’s immune system that attack and remove foreign bodies. The problem is that when a foreign body is immune to certain cytokines, the body sees that its immune response is not working and tries even harder, which can lead to what is called a cytokine storm, where the body becomes flooded with these compounds and they eventually destroy the body itself.

Foods such as Echinacea actually stimulate the production of these specific cytokines; hence consuming it is not a good idea if one suspects they may have the virus.During the 1918 Spanish Flu many healthy young people died from cytokine storms due to their immune systems overreacting. Consuming foods which suppress the production of cytokines TNF-a and IL-6 and enhance the production of the ones that actually are effective against the virus will aid the patient greatly.Other foods that create mucous in the respiratory tract, such as bananas, are also listed as detrimental due to the fact that the predominant breeding ground of the virus is the respiratory tract and another way in which a patient may suffer is due to the body's over production of mucous in this area.Folk Medicines and Herbs to use and avoid with Bird FluBelow is a list of foods that are said to contain substances that are natural antivirals, immune boosters or they decrease cytokines TNF-a and IL-6.

Alternative medications that are most likely to help us during a severe pandemic:

Garlic (allicin) - Very effective antiviral. Best if fresh (raw) and crushed. Must be consumed within 1 hour of crushing. Dosage is initially 2 to 3 cloves per day but later reduce until no body odour occurs. No toxic effects noted. (Pubmed PMID 9049657)

Vitamin C - Boosts the immune system and is an antiviral by blocking the enzyme neuraminadase. Viruses need neuraminadase to reproduce. There are anecdotal stories of people taking large amounts of Vitamin C (children ½) surviving the Spanish Flu. Research shows that it may reduce the production of cytokines TNF-a and IL-6. A study on 470 people involved giving the test group 1000 mg hourly for 6 hours and then 1000 mg 3 times daily after reporting flu symptoms. Symptoms decreased by 85%. (Pubmed PMID 10543583, 634178, 16169205, 12876306)

Green Tea (possible Tamiflu/Relenza alternative)- Very effective antiviral. Also decreases the production of the cytokine (catechins) TNF-a. Inhibits neuraminidase. May have antiviral activity that is equal to other antivirals such as Tamiflu. (Pubmed PMID 16137775)

St Johns Wort (Hypericum) - Very effective antiviral. Also decreases the production of the cytokine IL-6. Hypericum is an extract from St John’s Wort. There have been some very successful field trials in commercial flocks infected with H5N1 in Vietnam. (Pubmed PMID 7857513, 11518071, 11362353, 7857513, 11518071)

Vitamin E - Immune booster. Also decreases the production of the cytokine TNF-a. (Pubmed PMID 155882360, 10929076) Experiments involved using mice. Very suitable for immune compromised people, especially the elderly. Effects enhanced when taken with Vitamin C.

Apple Juice - Antiviral. Fresh apple juice including the pulp and skin has greater antiviral activity than heated commercial apple juice. More research is needed. Effectiveness on H5N1 is unknown. (Pubmed PMID 32832, 12452634)

Resveratrol - Antiviral. In addition to inhibiting neuraminidase, Resveratrol also sends a message to cells to stop manufacturing viruses. This is a proven antiviral found naturally in red wine, peanuts, mulberries, Japanese Knotwood root (richest source), raisins and red grapes. Resveratrol supplements are relatively inexpensive, are more stable than wine and is available in liquid form for absorption in the mouth. No toxic effects noted. (Pubmed PMID 1583880, 12817628, 15985724)

Scuttellaria (Skullcap) - Antiviral. A herb used as a tea. It has no side effects and is also a mild tranquilliser. Research suggests neuraminidase, which is a substance needed by the H5N1 virus to reproduce, may be inhibited.

Cranberry Juice - Early research shows that it may be an antiviral, making viruses less able to invade or multiply. Effectiveness on H5N1 is unknown. (Pubmed PMID15781126)

Cat’s Claw (Uncaria tomentosa) - Decreases the production of the cytokine TNF-a. Also boosts immune system. The number of white blood cells was significantly increased during treatment. No toxicity was noted. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed) Active constituents can be found in the leaves, bark, vine, and roots. Water extraction from bark used. Children and pregnant women are to avoid. Has a potentially damaging effect on the DNA of proliferating cells. (cancers, foetuses, growing children)

Curcumin (Tumeric Spice) - Decreases the production of the cytokine TNF-a. This is the yellow compound in turmeric spice. Research shows that this may be very good for preventing a cytokine storm although this is not proven. Must be taken with food or gastritis or peptic ulcers may occur. Pregnant women and feeding mothers should avoid this. The medicinal properties of curcurnin cannot be utilised when used alone due to rapid metabolism in the liver and intestinal wall. When combined with Piperine found in black pepper the absorption is increased with no adverse effects. Obtainable from health stores in tablets, liquid, capsules already combined with piperine. Dosage is 500mg to 4000mg daily.

Astragalus root (Astragali Radix) - Boosts immune system. (Pubmed PMID15588652)Tea tree Steam Inhalation - Reduces the cytokine TNF-a. Add 2 drops of tea tree oil in a bowl of steaming water. Cover head with a towel and inhale for 5 to 10 minutes. Relieves congestion and fights infection. Its effectiveness is unknown. (Pubmed PMID 11131302)

The following substances may be best to avoid during a H5N1 pandemic

Elderberry juice (Sambucal) - AVOID - Increases production of cytokines TNF-a and IL-6. This substance is very effective against the common flu but may not be desirable for the H5N1 virus. Increases in these cytokines may trigger a lethal cytokine storm. (Isr Med Journal2002 Nov;4:944-6)

Micro Algae (Chlorella and Spirulina) - AVOID - Increases production of cytokine TNF-a. (Pubmed PMID 11731916)

Honey - AVOID - Increases production of cytokines TNF-a and IL-6. (Pubmed PMID12824009)

Chocolate - AVOID - Increases production of cytokines TNF-a and IL-6. (Pubmed PMID 12885154, PMID 1091792

Echinacea - AVOID - Increases production of cytokines TNF-a and IL-6. Although it is often used for normal flu, research shows that it may increase the chance of cytokine storms for H5N1. (Pubmed PMID 15556647, 9568541)

Kimchi - AVOID - Increases production of cytokines TNF-a and IL-6. (Pubmed PMID15630182)Dairy products & Bananas - AVOID - These foods increase mucous production.

References:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/ (search using Pubmed ID number listed after each food)

Something a little different. I took this from Aunt Jenny's blog and thought it would be fun to answer these as I was a early to mid teen in the 70's. I'm not one of those women who are afraid to share my age; I'm 43, soon to be 44 in June. It means so little to me, LOL! I had to actually stop and figure out just how old I am, in fact I put down the wrong age on Jenny blog in the comments( blond moment)!!!! Anyway, I thought it would be a fun trip down memory lane. 70's CHILD? IF you were a little girl in the 70's... You had that Fisher Price Doctor's Kit with a stethoscope that actually worked. No You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it. Yes, it was the cool thing, that banana seat anyway. You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) Yes, this was a weekly activity with my friends. I never did get the hang of skating backward though. You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!) I only saw this show a couple of times, so I don't remember Gopher, I do however remember the Doc, he was funny. You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island . No, and again only saw it a couple of times but I love thriller shows. You had either a 'bowl cut' or 'pixie', not to mention the 'Dorothy Hamill'. People sometimes thought you were a boy. I wasn't allowed to have long hair,my Mom hated stringy hair. I always looked like a bucked toothed freckle faced boy! This part of what I have long hair now, rebellion of a sort*wink*, and my Mom comments all the time, about how a woman my age should have short hair.*sigh* You had rubber boots for rainy days and Moon boots for snowy days. Yep, had both. I remember those rain boots were a pain to get on and Moon boots made you feel like you were walking on air. You owned a 'Slip-n-Slide', on which you injured yourself on a sprinkler head more than once. No, we swam in the ditch and made a mud slid down into the water(can you see that bucked toothed, freckle faced tomboy yet, LOL!) You owned 'Klick-Klacks' and smacked yourself in the face more than once ! Never own any, friends had them, we had Yo-Yo's Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession. No, everything I loved revolved around horses. You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers. Had a poncho but never wore knickers, just cut of jeans. I remember Star and Hash jeans were all the rage when I was in 7-9th grade. If you didn't own a pair you were a nerd-ola You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.My brother got one for either his Birthday or Christmas, most all of my gift related to me or my horse. You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits, or the sun shine family No, I do however remember watching their show on TV. You spent hours in your backyard on your metal swing set with the trapeze. No, but friends had them, we instead played with matchbox cars, baseball, football( the neighborhood was full of boys I was the only girl) You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color. No, my hair was short, so why bother. You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle). No money was tight and they were expensive. I did have a pair of clogs, with the wooden sole and cork on the bottom, they were my favorite shoes! Otherwise we ran barefooted all summer. You also had a pair of salt-water sandals. Never heard of them, not much saltwater in MT You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that Little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture; and you despised Nellie Oleson! Again TV wasn't allowed much, but I did read the books via the school library. In about 9th grade in Home Ec. I made a prairie dress, I wore it out, literally. You wanted your first kiss to be at a roller rink! First Kiss, Yuck, boys were for playing baseball, football and climbing trees with( again see the tomboy side?) I do however remember the first dance I attended in 9th grade and I dance with only one boy, he was the most popular boy in school and HE asked ME to dance! His name was Chip and he was, as we became friends in later years a real gentleman. PONG! ('video tennis' ) was the most remarkable futuristic game you've ever heard of !Never heard of it, in fact never played a video game until I was in college( Pac Man) Your hairstyle was described as having 'wings' or 'feathers' and you kept it 'pretty' with the comb you kept in your back pocket. When you walked, the 'wings' flapped up and down, looked like you were gonna 'take off' .Feathered was had to do, at this point my hair was short and permed kinky curly, so all you had to do was wash and pick it out! You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie. I remember seeing these items in the stores, but never own or watched anything to do with them. You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic.I took cold lunch in a sack, I do however remember having a box, I think it was plastic and had a horse running on the front. You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend. Again not much exposure to TV. YOU had Star Wars action figures, too! My brother did have a few items. It was a big event in your household each year when the 'Wizard of Oz' would come on TV. We did watch it, but not every year. You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: 'Who will I marry. Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or David Cassidy?' Never actually owned one, but friends did. I remember dreaming about Shawn Cassidy, but couldn't stand Leif Garrett( one of my best friends loved him though, her room was covered in posters) You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack record album. I never owned one, my folks thought they were to well... risky. I did go to the movie Grease and loved it! You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick God's eyes, decoupage, or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom. We made these in school, art class. Otherwise I liked to draw, horses of course! You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts! I have no idea what a stinky dinks are and most of my clothes were hand me downs from my cousin. I really liked this as she was stylish and I had really nice clothes for school, otherwise I wore wrangler or rustler jeans and a T-shirt of some sort. You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker..No, but I did have my own record player and 95% of my albums were western singers( Kenny Rogers, Dolly Pardon, Crystal Gayle, John Denver( I still love his songs) and I did have the sound track to Star Wars. You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat. No, it was considered a waste of hard earned money. You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books.No, I didn't like mushy books, but had a friend who devoured Harlequin Romances. You thought Olivia Newton John's song 'Physical' was about aerobics. Honestly I don't think I really gave it much thought. You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs.No, I wore cowboy boots, clogs or went barefoot You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer. No, but loved their shiny outfits. You drowned yourself in Love's Baby Soft I do remember having this, my favorite was from Avon, called "Sweet Honesty" and I still like it, but they stopped making it years ago. You glopped your lips in Strawberry Roll-on lip-gloss till it almost dripped off. What I remember is the Chocolate/ strawberry lip gloss, it shimmered and it tasted like chocolate. I also remember Bubble Yum gum, being a big trade item! That was fun! Let me know if YOU do this one!

Thinking on the positive side this morning.....

Good morning, well it's closer to afternoon.

There are ways of looking at everything, I lean toward positive or half full thinking. Not that I don't have my negative, half empty moments *sigh*, after all the Lord is still working on me.This whole week, thus far, has been full of hurried activity. I'm referring to Spring clean up of course. One small item I forgot though...... I'm out of shape, after a long winter and now I'm paying for it, via sore muscles, stiff neck and just plain ole' pooped. Yesterday I think did the most damage, as I knew of a fore casted snow storm barreling our way! Mike had started tilling the garden, where we'd planned to plant the taters this season but I felt like I needed to race the weather and get the whole( main garden) tilled. This is no small undertaking, as the main plot is over 1/4 acre in size. When you have a front tine tiller, it takes many moons to get this accomplished and having not gotten it tilled under in the Fall didn't help matters any. I started tilling around 1pm. and I finished up everything, except where Mike had started, around 5 pm.

Here in lies the glass half full moment! The good Lord, knew I needed a rest from all this Spring clean up. Now today, because of the snow, I have time to clean the house a bit, maybe make a pie to compliment our leftover ham and bean soup and cornbread.

Cortney is looking forward to painting a birdhouse her grandma bought on Monday and decided she didn't want to paint, so asked Cortney to paint it for her. She's finishing up her History reading, as I type and then we'll eat dinner( lunch) then she can begin the bird house project.

If I have time, I'd like to sit a spell and read a new book I received in the mail. The author of this book is, Herrick Kimball and the title of the book is; The Deliberate Agrarian. So far I have laughed, agreed whole heartily and made to think outside my box, so to speak. Mr. Kimball has written short essays, combined in this book and although the stories are different from our lives in many ways, they are also so very similar that it gives this book, "Down Home" feeling. I've learned that instead of referring to our life as homesteading/ old fashioned, it's truly a Christian Agrarian life. I highly recommend this book to those of you swaying away from the era of Industrialism and instead choosing to living a simple, separate, deliberate, family/ home centered lives to the glory of God for the building of His kingdom.

Here is the link to Mr. Kimball's website; http://www.thedeliberateagrarian.com

May you find rest and feel the blessings of the Lord today.

Kelle

Urgent information, not sure whether or not news media is reporting this.....

Because we don't watch TV news, I'm not sure this is being reported. This info. was found on The Tree of Liberty( I have a link on my favorite links widget) It's important, whatever you may think to inform yourself for your protection as well as that of your family. In an earlier post( should show up under Recipes in my TAGS) I posted a Four Thieves Vinegar and how to make Elderberry tinture. I pray you've already done so, as these items will become scarce if an epidemic or pandemic comes steam rolling our way. Please read the info. below and check out the added links at the bottom. Human Swine Flu Spread to Texas and Likely Import from MexicoRecombinomics Commentary 00:55April 24, 2009(MODS...please merge this thread with the Ominous signs coming from Mexico thead) Thanks in advance.http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04...ne_Mexico.htmlNow, five more cases have been seen -- all found via normal surveillance for seasonal influenza. None of the patients, whose symptoms closely resembled seasonal flu, had any direct contact with pigs."We believe at this point that human-to-human spread is occurring," Schuchat said. "That's unusual. We don't know yet how widely it is spreading ... We are also working with international partners to understand what is occurring in other parts of the world."Two of the new cases were among 16-year-olds at the same school in San Antonio "and there's a father-daughter pair in California," Schuchat said. One of the boys whose cases was reported on Tuesday had flown to Dallas but the CDC has found no links to the other Texas cases.Only one of the seven cases was sick enough to be hospitalized and all have recovered, Schuchat said.The above comments in Reuters describe several points made in today’s CDC conference call. The additional confirmed cases leave little doubt that the swine flu is transmitting human-to-human and has now been confirmed in three distinct locations in two states (see updated map), confirming sustained transmission.The infection of classmates in San Antonio, as well as the father and daughter in California further highlight efficient transmission. The hospitalization of one patient, who had been on a ventilator, raises concerns that infections will produce a wide range of presentations.The location of the confirmed cases in states that border Mexico, as well as media reports of pneumonia in Canadian travelers returning from Mexico, strongly suggests that the outbreak of influenza in Mexico is also swine flu.The confirmed cases in the United States likely represent a pandemic of H1N1 swine flu. At this point, most confirmed cases in the United States have been mild and there have been no confirmed fatalities. However, in Mexico there has been a high case fatality rate among young adults, 25-44, with atypical pneumonia, which has similarities with the 1918 pandemic.Moreover, the 1918 pandemic was composed of eight gene segments representing recombination between H1N1 seasonal flu and H1N1 swine flu.An efficiently transmitted swine flu can lead to co-infection with H1N1 seasonal flu. Oseltamivir resistance (H274Y) has become fixed in H1N1 seasonal flu, raising concerns that recombination or reassortment will lead to Tamiflu resistance in the swine flu, which is already resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. Moreover, the existing trivalent seasonal flu vaccine will likely offer little protection.The spread of swine flu in the United States, and likely import from Mexico, creates a major cause for concern. Canada Issues Alert on Severe Respiratory Disease in MexicoRecombinomics Commentary 02:22April 23, 2009http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04...ico_Alert.htmlThe Public Health Agency of Canada has told quarantine services to be on alert for travellers returning from Mexico after a number of severe respiratory illnesses (SRI) were reported in some regions of the country.PHAC, in an April 20 report, said Mexican officials informed the Canadian health agency that the "case-fatality rate was relatively high" and that most cases involved healthy adults between the ages of 25 and 44. A number of health-care workers were also affected.Although no cause has been confirmed, some samples were positive for influenza A and B.The above comments on an alert issued by Canada offer some insight into the situation in Mexico. The reports out of Mexico are decidedly mixed. Some reports describe an increase in influenza cases which is attributed to a late spike in influenza B, which when combined with influenza A, gives an abnormally high number of cases this late in the season. Other reports discuss revaccinating at risk groups with the current trivalent vaccine.Samples have been sent to Canada for a comprehensive analysis.The increased influenza-like illness and fatalities was announced as the CDC issued an MMWR dispatch on H1N1 swine flu. Two cases have been confirmed in children (9F and 10M) and family members had mild symptoms but were not tested. The precise location of the clusters in southern California has not been released, but one cluster is in San Diego Country, while the other is 100 miles away in Imperial County (see updated map). Additional suspect cases in Imperial County have been noted and it is likely that these cases are near the border with Mexico. Some media reports also note that some contacts have not been interviewed because they were in Mexico.It remains unclear if these two outbreaks are related. All reported cases in California have been mild, and the two confirmed cases were influenza A positive, but failed to sub-type for seasonal flu. It is unclear if sub-typing failures have led to the confusing reports out of Mexico.More information on these cases, and results of analysis in Canada, would be useful. Similarly, a more precise location and number of confirmed and suspect cases in the United States would be useful. More info. Links; http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04...ne_Mexico.html http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04...ico_Alert.html http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...,25.488281&z=5

Our learning never stops,or should I say it shouldn't!

Funny thing how even when we're not inside doing book work for school that we end up digging out books and learning something new anyway. Yesterday while we cleaned out flowerbeds we found a pupa( see third picture below, I still can't get them in order)
The photo in one of our Butterfly and Moth books tells us this pupa, which we uncovered from the soil, will be a Moth. Then we investigated into trying to determine which type of Moth. BTW, we think our pupa will look like the middle picture in the book; they are called Elephant Hawk moths. Of course I am having Cortney read all about moths and what their life cycles are, all about metamorphosis, what they feed on, who are their predators, etc... She's enthralled and doesn't even know this counts as Science/ Biology, LOL!

I wish this picture wasn't so blurry, but my battery was running low. It shows how we found this pupa, in the ground and the picture to the right is what a Hawk moth looks like. We see them often around our flowers. They flit about like a Hummingbird, from one flower to the next. The book states they are nocturnal, thus the reason we see them mainly in late afternoon and into the evening hours while sitting out on our back patio.

Here is the photo of the pupa( click the photo to enlarge), kinda looks like a piece of poo! It's alive because it moved in Cortney's hand, she thought it was so neat, didn't scream like a girl or anything, LOL! We've placed it in a container, in the same soil we found it in and Cortney will watch for it to blossom/ hatch/ spring forth.

Well, only one flowerbed left to clean out and we saved the worst for last. The rose bed, it's always such a pain, literally. It's amazing just how wicked those thorn bushes can be. Well it's done for another year and I guess you'd say we're gluttons for punishment, because we transplanted two smaller offshoots to our front walkway beds. BTW This rose was the only flower here when we moved in 6 yrs ago. It's a beautiful pink tea rose and the ONLY rose I've not killed. The window behind the rose bush is our bedroom window and when in bloom the smell wafts in through that window and makes the whole house smell wonderful.

Here is a pile of the dead canes as well as some I thinned out, it was getting to thick and out of control. I tried to get a close up of the canes, so you could see the nasty thorns, but it was blurred. Just take it from me, they are my worst nightmare, good thing the Lord made them so beautiful and smell so heavenly.

Today's list included:

Mowing orchard areas

Cleaning up leaves from the fence across front of garden in the yard side

Get clothes in off the line, folded and put away

Play in the greenhouse

Possibly rototill across the front( right of way) so we can get wildflower seed sown, provided I can get the tiller started

Reg. chores

I wish some of you were closer, we could share/exchange flowers, we thinned sun chokes, day lilies, mountain bluebells and still need to thin our Maximilian sunflower. I also have extra strawberries and Egyptian walking onions I hope to find a home for.

Share a little about what you all have been up to this Spring.

What a beautiful weekend, Praise be to God!

Results of our labors. We worked on cleaning out flowerbeds all day
Saturday. I should have taken before pictures, as the grass had invaded
the rocks and this particular flowerbed. The only green visible is the
day lilies. This bed also is seeded with Black eyed Susan's, Marigolds,
and Mist on the Mountain( white).

The front beds, all cleaned, and seeded with Zinnias and most
likely self seeded with Marigolds. We can't wait to see what it looks
like when mature.


Cortney showing off our new 6x8' greenhouse. Mike assembled it, added
a 6x6 base and clamped it down, so wind shouldn't be an issue. He also
blessed us with two heavy duty benches. We put our seedlings
inside today. We also found out we need to watch the temperature
inside throughout the day, so we don't cook our tender seedlings. On
our list is a good thermometer for quick checking. To vent it you open
the rear vent flap and if even more is needed, simply open the door.

Now this is not a top of the line greenhouse but it is a start. We may opt
to invest in a better one, when we feel we are in need or ready to
upgrade.

We're going to get some lettuce, spinach, radishes and possibly carrots
started in some planters. We usually do this in a cold frame, so it
will be fun to see how they grow in the greenhouse vs. the
cold frame.




Before Mike added the benches, you can really see the 6x6 base.
Those barrels, there are four, are our rain barrels and PTL they are full
and ready for use.
We will use this rainwater in the greenhouse, it's all gravity fed from
a hose( each barrel has a faucet)

Today, we did a few small projects. We finished adding composted

manure to flowerbeds, hauled dirt to fill in low areas in the cow barn

and around their corrals. We also attended an auction just a few miles

down the road from us. They had several items that were of interest

but.... since it was a beautiful day, everyone was out enjoying it also

and it seems many of those people have much deeper pockets than

we do! So we returned home with all our hard earned cash intact.

Mike did bid on a wringer washer( for spare parts to our washer)

but it sold for $100 and it was in rough shape. We also bid on

boxes of yarn, a wooden trunk, a clothes plunger( used for plunging

clothes in soapy water after scrubbing on a wash board) and a

couple of ammo boxes( military style) but all sold for much more

than they were worth and we are looking for a bargain, not to pay

more than buying it new. This is usually what happens for the first

several auctions, then people settle back into looking for bargains.

I did feel good about a purchase I'd made last summer at a garage sale.

I found a 6 gallon Redwing crock and bought it for $20. It only has a

chip in the upper edge and has absolutely no cracks. At the auction

today they had a similar one, except it was cracked( through and

through) in two places and it sold for $165. :o)

Blessing to you in this new week.

When we began driving Mo pictures, again from 3 yrs ago....

Okay, this first photo should be last. After months of ground lounging, then harnessing him and weeks of simple ground driving Mike finally felt good about hooking up a tire for him to pull. Mo loved it! after several times around the pasture, he asked Cortney if she wanted a ride on the tire. As you can see she didn't refuse the offer! Casino, he's always looking to help Cortney.

This is a photo of some of his first ground drive training. PTL, he never got worked up, in fact the only real mess we had was he did turn to sharp when the tire was hooked to the lugs and got his foot over top one of the lugs and got a wee.... bit shook, but didn't blow up and make a horrible scene.

Mo loves his harness, he actually gets excited when he sees us coming with it. Since this picture was taken( he was just 3 yrs old in this photo) we've gotten him a larger harness as well as a new(larger) collar and pad. I'd like to get a really nice set of hames, with the stainless steel or chrome balls. He's way over sized for a Fjord, he stands 16-1 at the wither now( he's 6 yrs old coming on 7 yrs old) Someday we hope to enter him in parades and drive him more often. Time is a HUGE factor right now, so to the back burner it goes to simmer. We still drive him and use him to drag the pastures and pull logs and such.

We're back...... from town! We found 4 of those disposable cameras when we cleaned our the china hutch a few weeks back. Anyway, we had no idea what was even on them. Today for the sake of expense, we opted to only take two to be developed and will developed the other two the next time heading to town. Here are some pictures from 3 yrs ago!, YES I said it THREE years ago! In this picture, you can see why we opted to retire Bessie, our Jersey. She had a really bad case of milk fever and almost died. Just look at that udder!!!! I remember it being engorged but that is horrible and we had to take it easy milking her, only a little at a time so she would continue on with milk fever. I milked her every hour and only took 1-2 c.( vets orders). It took weeks for her udder to return to a somewhat normal size. She's 15 yrs old in this picture, other than the milk fever problem, she looks great for that age and still does at 18 yrs old.

This was a week and a half later and you can see her udder was still quit large.( you can click phot to enlarge) If memory serves me correctly she was giving us 3-4 gallons a day, besides what her bull calf took for himself!

She's such a sweet cow, and a very loving mother. This is in part why we love her so much, enough to let her live out her years here, until she dies. She raised this calf and before drying her off she adopted another calf and raised her as well. She deserved, to retire and live whatever days she has left here on The Never Done Farm!

Cortney giggled when she saw this picture today when in town, she was 14+ almost 15 yrs old, when it was taken. BTW, we named him, Brownie. He didn't stay the fawn color, instead he was almost black with a white ring about his mouth. He was a Jersey/ Brown Swiss cross. The people we bought Bessie from thought she was a Brown Swiss, so had her AI'ed to a Brown Swiss. Brownie was actually to large a calf for Bessie, but she'd had several calves by this time and with a little help in pulling she gave birth just fine. Mike estimated he weighed 65-70# at birth. Brownie was a character and thought everyone was coming to play with him. That was all fine and dandy, until he weighed 500+ lbs and had 4" long horns. We quickly decided that we'd raise him up to 800-850 lbs and then have him butchered. He wasn't trying to be mean, but it hurts being horned in the backside when you're pushing a wheel barrow. I had bruises upon bruises on my legs and backside! I was tired of it and bought a hot stick. On zap with this and he made a wide path around me. From them on all I had to do was bring it with me, he always managed to see it and kept his distance.

This is the stark white, "BEFORE"

Our warmer, cozier; "AFTER"

To the store, to the store, to the store we go......

to the Ace Hardware store that is. We've been remodeling our back entry and now are to the point of primering and painting the walls. I'd also like to repaint our Ds old room, which now will be converted into guest/ craft room. On Monday, in the mail, we received a coupon from Ace Hardware to be used April 15th thru 19th. What a blessing!, it's for gallons of paint, buy one get one free. This is up to 5 gallons, so buy 5 and get 5 free! What a savings, as the satin paint is running $24.99 a gallon and the Kiltz primer was almost $30 a gallon and we'll need two gallons. We're only painting the upper portion of the walls, because from the floor up 4 ft will be tongue and groove knotty cedar and trim to finish it off. The paint color is a medium sage green and I think I'll carry it into the kitchen on the wall behind the wood cookstove, although that's not a for sure plan, just a thought on how to tie the two rooms together a bit. The kitchen is a light cream color, so one wall of color may just jazz it up a bit. I used to be afraid of color, everything was white or cream. Then I decided to paint the livingroom a rusty red on the upper portion of the walls and a taupe on the bottom with a cream trim dividing the two colors and on the window and door trim as well. When I put on the first few strokes of red, Mike gulped and said, " I don't know it's pretty red and dark?" I paid him no mind and kept painting. You see I had a picture in my head and it turned out exactly like I'd pictures it. I'll post a picture of before and after and see what you think! It's just paint and if you don't like it, it's a pretty simple change, although paint is rising in price it's still the cheapest way to give a room an entirely different look. Best of all for us frugal homesteaders, it's a do it yourself project as well. Well off to clean barns, let the girls out and fill water tanks. Then we're off , To the store, to the store, to the Ace Hardware store we go...... May your day be filled with blessings, Kelle and Cortney

NOT AGAIN! Hey.... Aunt Jenny look what we woke up to!

I never thought I'd be so sick of white! The forecast calls for this all day today, dwindling off by evening.

Okay, so I realize Spring weather is hard to schedule around getting clothes dry, but.... this is ridiculous. These clothes will most likely be on the line until late Friday afternoon. We have towels waiting in the basket and whites in the washer, ready to wrung out and hung. Thank the good Lord for drying racks and a relatively warm house.

We did manage to enjoy Monday and the sun and blue sky did show up around 10am. The front flowerbeds are all cleaned out as well as the front planters, on either side of the driveway. We did manage to get two large wheelbarrows of composted manure hauled and spread in the beds and planters. Now we just need to plant some seeds in them all. Zinnias( in which we seed swapped with a friend from NE, thanks again Dawn!) will go in the front beds on either side of the front walkway. We've had marigolds here for several seasons and thought a change would be nice. I'm sure some of the marigold will self sow, which will fill in under the zinnias and make for a colorful display. We're not sure what we're putting in the planters, I'm leaning toward Teddy bear sunflowers and possibly pansies as a filler but Cortney like petunias and alyssum. We also have Larkspur, Violas, Marigolds, Lavender and Canterbury bells started. Last year Cortney and Jon planted the planters for Mother's day, so we'll see what happens this year.

All the laundry was washed on Monday, just that the whites need to wrung out and they and the towels hung to dry. I also got my seed potatoes sorted out and cleaned out a few onions that were softening. Not sure if that was the entire "To Do" list from Monday, but close enough.

Our neighbor across the road was tilling his garden on Monday. Ours was and now is to wet. Tomorrow and the rest of the week are supposed to be well into the 60'sF so with our sandy soil my prayer is it dries enough to get that cover crop of spring wheat tilled in and spuds planted! Mike has this weekend off, so plans to get the tiller's oil, spark plug and air filter changed, so it ready for the new season. I also hope he has time to get our greenhouse set up and ready for use.

Today, my plan is to bake a few pies.

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Makes a 9" pie

3 eggs, slightly beaten

2-2/3 Tbsp. milk, add to eggs and mix.

stir in 2 c. sugar

4 tsp. flour

3/4 tsp. nutmeg

Mix in; 4 c rhubarb and dot filling with 1 Tbsp butter.

Add to par baked bottom pie crust and cover with a top crust,

or make a lattice top.

Bake @ 400F for 50-60 min.

Just in case you don't have a secret pie crust recipe, I'll share!

Pie crust

3 c. flour( is use 1 cup whole wheat)

1-1/2 c. lard and blend together in flour until crumbs size of

peas.

Mix together: 1 tsp salt, 1 beaten egg, 1 Tbsp. vinegar,

and 3-4 Tbsp. water. Now add to dry ingredience and mix

HINT! This crust is tender, so after rolling out, roll onto pin,

to place in pan.

Sour Cream Raspberry Pie

2 Tbsp. flour

1 Qt. raspberries ( if frozen, thaw and semi drain)

1c. sour cream

2-3 Tbsp. sugar

1- 9" unbaked pie shell

Sprinkle flour onto bottom of pie shell. Fill with raspberries.

Spread sour cream over the top of berries and sprinkle

with sugar. Bake @ 375F for 30-40 min. or until golden and

bubbly.

This next recipe we can't vouch for, as it's new to use as

well.

Elderberry Pudding

4c. berries

1 tsp lemon

1 Tbsp. butter

2 c. flour

1-1/2 c. sugar( well substitute honey or 1/2 the sugar called

for)

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c. milk

Sift dry ingedience and work in butter. Add milk

and mix well. Combine berries, sugar and lemon juice

and mix into batter. Pour into a well butter baking dish

( one with a lid of possible, otherwise cover with foil)

Steam for 45 min @ 250-300F , or until toothpick comes

comes out clean. Serve with cream, while still warm.