July Update on the Farm

 

Hello Friends. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and lets chit chat a bit. 

My gosh, I feel like Shadrack, Meshaque or Abednego in the Bible. I feel like we are walking through fire in these heat indexes. 🥵 

I hope everyone is staying safe and hydrated. We shift our chore times to early morning and late evening so things are not as bad. And having a wonderful bigger pool to cool off in and hang out with family and have fun has been a life saver. Not to mention we come in during the hottest part and get showers and take some of those long, wake up thinking you missed the school bus days, naps. I don't know what I would do without my daily nap. It is a necessity for me and to my well being. I have to remind myself to pace my work and do what I can when I can. Having RA  and always being an independent busy woman takes a toll on me. In my mind I want to just be going going and my body holds me back sometimes. It's a daily challenge. I have to stay mentally strong to offset any depression that might arise from "not being able to" do things. 

We have been incredibly busy here. That's the reason for my absence. 

We celebrated my birthday in July. All the family met for supper one night on the river. Meet the family. 

We celebrated the 4th of July just by going to a local park and watching fireworks and having ice cream 🍦 afterwards.  Normally we throw a big party and invite family and friends and at dark have the biggest foreworks show ever. But, this year we decided not to because we moved all the mommas and babies to our new paddocks with fresh grass and we did not know how they would react. We also have a bull and the good Lord knew we didnt need him freaking out either. We just thought it best to go somewhere this time. I couldn't take any pics because I had two grandkids sitting in my lap. 

As for the cows 🐄:

All cows are doing great and growing well. Mommas are wonderful mommas and the babies are thriving and growing so fast. The bull is soooo happy on this farm with all these women. 

Dear Hubby and our oldest son has finished a main fencing section which added three more paddocks. One goes right by the back yard and down the driveway. It feels so nice to drive down the driveway or go out on our back porch and just watch the cows being so close. This was a much needed but pleasurable project. 

Then a more pleasurable project dear hubby has been waiting for years to do. He got to have someone come and finally dig two ponds on the farm for the cows. Boy are they all loving it. Even the grandkids because they love playing with frogs. 

Another much needed to be done project was to redo the railing and steps on our back porch. Back in the early spring we had some severe storm damage and it took some of our railing down. A few of the steps needed replacing anyway so dear hubby just put his nose to the grindstone and got it done. 

They have since then built a concrete scale thing a ma jig to weight all the cows in the squeeze shoot. I dont have pics of that. 

One sad day on the farm is the day Teddy went to the butcher. The grandkids didn't fully understand what was to happen until the day they saw him in the back of the trailer hooked up to the back of the truck and then it hit them. I was fine until they started crying then the next thing I know we are all sobbing in the bathroom. Farmkid or not, nothing ever prepares you for that. I was left to console myself and two sensitive little girls. 😪 

I gathered them in the middle of my bed and explained what the Bible says about God creating everything for our life sustainability and way of life. I explained the circle of life. It helped a little but it was still hard. They are doing better. We told dear hubby and their daddy that maybe next time it was better to tell us from the very beginning which calves were here to stay and which ones were not so we wouldn't get attached and name them. 😉 

I also came up with the idea of making a book called Teddy's Adventures. We all drew pictures and we are writing his story. 

Thank you Teddy for your contribution to the farm and nourishment for our bodies. I also taught them the thank him 🙏 

Somewhere I tell myself and them that he is saying, "You're Welcome."

As far as my projects, phew, where do I start!

I have been collecting zucchini and making just pickles this year. I added bread and butter in there too for dear hubby. He doesn't like dill all that well. But oh, do we love these bread and butter ones. 

Ive been gathering green beans that I did not think was going to produce. Now we're in tomatoes and we are fresh eating and then I'm roasting the rest and canning them. 

We had corn harvesting day and the grandkids loved helping. 

We rendered a bunch of lard down that was in our freezer because we had to make room for Teddy steaks. 

My Momma and Daddy came one day and we made some more low sugar apple jelly and this time apple butter. Dear hubby is so thankful. That has turned out to be his favorite. 

I have the best helpers sometimes in the garden. 

They love cutting our Zinnas for fresh flowers to make a table arrangement.

Watermelons will be the last to harvest. I was so afraid these were not going to grow because they were some more saved seeds from a few watermelons that my late Mother in law and our youngest son shared a few times. Write prayed over them and we call them our Nanny Melons. We were so happy to see so many little melons forming. Now they are bigger. I just stood in my garden one day and cried happy tears. 😊 

There have been teaching opportunities in homemaking 

I've been teaching them how to fix their own breakfasts and lunches also. This has saved our sanity some mornings when we needed to hurry and get outside before it got too hot. And when we came in for quick lunches before rest time. 

I don't mind a Nutella and peanut butter sandwich or Nutella toast but I also taught them to put something good with it. I make them choose vegetables and fruits too. They love raw vegetables dipped in ranch dressing. We also make sure to have fruit on hand. They love making a quick scrambled egg in the microwave.  They think its so much fun. 

This was a project I waited on for so long. I was going to create another flower beds under this tree, but there are so many roots sticking above the ground that it was hard to level stones around. So we made a half moon and we turned it into our fairy garden and painted rocks they have saved up. It turned out nice. 

Then there are the fun times as well. When the work is done or we are caught up. Picnics, day swims and night swims. Yes, that is frogs 🐸 we are swimming with too. 

I finally organized their art supplies and created art caddys. They are simply plastic laundry carts from Walmart. They love them. When they want to color, paint or craft, they set up their table and chairs and roll their carts right beside them. This is another life saver. Quick easy clean up. 

I have been baking and cooking and trying new things. 😋 

And last but not least we got to go to our local annual rodeo. One grandkid wanted to go with her other grandparents house to spend the night because they had a new puppy which is totally her thing. The other went with us and our youngest son and daughter in law. 

If you would like video versions of some of the things in this post, you can catch them all below. Just click on the pics. 

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Other affiliate links for your shopping experience:

Dollar Tree:

I love Dollar Tree and in case you didn't know, you can order from their website online. This is a great feature for anyone who might need to order multiple quantities of something. Perfect for Schools, Daycares, Churches, Nursing Homes, etc. You can find all you need in one place and have it delivered right to your door and you can shop in the comforts of your own home. You can get to their website by clicking here

Nutri Mill:

Nutri-Mill: Stand Mixers and Grain Mills: ( use Code: 4DFARMS20 at check out) If you are interested in grinding your own grain into flour to turn into the most nutrient-dense bread ever, then you need a grain mill. I love my Nutri Mill Classic Mill. They also have the best stand mixers. You can also purchase grains from them or you can find some on Amazon too. I have a few companies in my Amazon Storefront , who carry Non-GMO grains. You can order any size pounds you like and have them delivered to your home. Look for them on my Kitchen Essentials List along with all of my bread-making utensils, pans etc., that I personally use in my own kitchen to make delicious bread with. Link to my Amazon Storefront is above. 

Smokers and Grills for the guys:

PIT BOSS Outdoor Smokers and Grills: are the smokers and grills my guy uses to smoke and grill all of our meats. He even has some videos on our YouTube channel of how he smokes and makes a lot of our meats. He has even smoked eggs before. Yes, EGGS. They were so delicious. One of these bad boys is the perfect gift for anyone who loves to grill or smoke meats. Check them out. 

Bentgo:

If you are into lunch-making and meal-prepping for you or your kiddos, you have to check out Bentgo for all your lunch making needs. Lunch boxes, water bottles, backpacks, utensils and other lunch making accessories: They are not just for kids, They have a line of adult items as well and you can have then personalized now. This is awesome. I have a playlist of Lunch Making Videos on our YouTube Channel. Link is above. 

TideWe:

If you are the hunter or huntress in your family, check out TideWe for all your hunting gear for guys and gals: Most of our hunting seasons are in the fall and winter and their line of insulated hunting gear is one of my favorites. We also love their hunting blinds for ultimate concealment. Be sure to visit them. We have a Hunting Playlist on our channel as well. 

Optics Planet, Inc.:

Since we are avid hunters, we rely on ammo, gun parts and scopes to be accurate and on point. You can visit their website here and find all your essentials 

Garden Tower Project:

If you are a gardener and love those flowers, herbs or veggies, but you don't have the garden space, then consider going vertical on your porch or balcony to save space. You can check out Garden Towers here I know you will find something there you like. 

Herb Affair:

If you want to save money on supplements and want to make your own like I do, you can find all you need here at Herb Affair Here, you will find an array of powdered herbs and spices for medicinal use, Capsule It Machine to make your own capsules and an assortment of different size capsules to fill with your herbs. This machine is so easy to use and has clear and easy instructions to follow. 

Have a Blessed Day

Tracy 

Keeper of the Home