Homesteading Photos

I know I am suppose to be decluttering and getting rid of things but... I just couldn't throw this old farmers sink away. I decided to make a water fountain using it, the top off a old toilet, and a spitting turtle I have had for several years.

That looked so nice and homesteady I decided to add some salvia flowers, peppermint and spearmint plants from another flower bed. I also put a tin chicken I was given several years ago by the fountain and a old birdcage with ivy beside it. The flower cart I have had forever and will be planting some herbs in the pots. The star wheel and birdhouses I put up on the wellhouse last year. The pole, birdfeeder and birdbath were given to William when he did some work for a lady. She was throwing away about 8 poles and 15 birdfeedeers! Everything I used I already had so this little flower garden cost zero. We had some pieces of privacy fence lying around so I brought one over to put between the wellhouse and the soap building. I couldn't leave it bare so I looked around to for things to decorate it with. Found more birdhouses, a metal lantern on a stand, a ceramic chicken, old wheelbarrow handles and a few other things. Moved a table and 3 chairs someone had thrown away and William brought home last year next to the fence.

We have a firepit right in front so the table and chairs are perfect there.

Can you believe some people are so lazy they drive right through your yard and park at your back porch so they don't have to walk far! I get so mad when they don't park in our driveway parking area that I came up with a plan. I got William to put up a fence out of posts and boards we had laying around. We put birdhouses on each post and planted a climbing rose bush at each end post. This fence is right in the front yard beside the row of dogwoods. It now blocks anyone wanting to drive through my yard and also houses Momma Bird and her now 3 babies and didn't cost anything. There is still one more egg I hope hatches.

Who's My Mommy?

What a day on the homestead. We had to move some hens first thing this morning as they were tormenting some of the chicks. Got them all rearranged and found one of the tiny baby bunnies had his foot hung in the wire bottom of the cage. He is a tiny thing compared to his siblings so it took almost 20 minutes getting his foot out. Went back out after breakfast to find that Bonnie the goose was jealous of Crackers the duck and was fighting her for her eggs. Bonnie's eggs didn't hatch so we cleaned her nest and hoped she would still have time to hatch some this year. Bonnie decided it would be easier to fight Crackers and take hers. We ended up giving some of Crackers eggs to Bonnie and got Crackers settled back down in her nest. Hopefully both of them will hatch ducklings around May 24. Cleaned the rabbit pens and raked up the poo before heading in to check on Tessa the turkey. Remember her eggs didn't hatch so we gave her chicken eggs. She hatched one chick a few days ago and I was going to take the rest of the eggs out today only to find another chick pecking and peeping to get out of its shell. Will leave the eggs a few more days to see how many chicks she hatches. You never know what kind of baby a animal will have around Hidden Haven. We are a mixed up but happy herd here. While working in the front yard I decided to check the birdhouse. A bird started checking it out a few minutes after we hung it a few weeks ago. The photo shows what I found. There is one baby bird hatched next to the momma bird and there are 3 teeny tiny eggs I hope will hatch soon. The top lifts up on the birdhouse so I was able to get a picture without disturbing momma bird. Getting ready for the huge yardsale this weekend. Can't wait as I have the livingroom piled full of boxes packed with goodies waiting to be sold. It will be so good to get rid of clutter and also make a little money. There is so much stuff that needs to go so a simple life can be had again.

Megan is doing really well. She is back at work and enjoying watch Q playing baseball or taking him to practice. Sheri's husband still has a long way to go and is having problems remembering things. I leave you with what she had to post about him. Please keep him in your prayers and Sheri too. She is exhausted and under alot of stress.

Sheri's Post:


is Ward better physically? a little bit- he can sit up by himself, but not stand on his own yet, and even though they haven't removed his feeding tube, they are allowing him anything he wants to drink CAUTIOUSLY with supervision. he chose and enjoyed several sips of ginger ale- the first thing he's had to drink in three weeks.

is Ward better mentally? yes and no. when I got there today he smiled and called me Angel Pumpkin and his little Boxfish (ya- we're a creepy old mushy mushy couple), but continued to be easily frustrated and agitated.

here's what I figured out. If he wants to do something he's not allowed to do, like get dressed and leave the hospital (which he insists on doing every five minutes or so), saying "no dear- you can't do that yet" even if followed by a rational calm explanation gets scowling and cursing. saying "yes dear- we'll do that as soon as..."and the exact same rational calm explanation will elicit a sigh of acceptance...for about five minutes when it starts over again.

we watched Land of the Lost, with Will Ferrell, and he laughed at all the right parts, was happy to see Alec when I retrieved him from work at Doggy Daycare (altho he doesn't remember Doggy Daycare at all and the whole "Alec is working at Doggy Daycare" thing sorta went over his head) and seemed content to stay with tonight's sitter, Myrna, altho he said "See you in a little bit" in response to our "See you tomorrow".

baby steps.

Another Prayer Answered

Thanks to all the prayers about Baby E and Brother J they are back! The dad who in the past had abused J had taken them to live with him several hours away. Baby E came back because she was too much for him to take care of. Melody had her since she was 3 weeks old so Baby E felt like she had come home. Last week Brother J returned for same reason. Now they are with Melody during the week and with their mom who lives minutes away from Melody on weekends. They are back where they are getting good care and lots of love. You can click to enlarge for Melody's 7 wonderful blessings. Since Brother J calls me grandma I think I had better say I have 11 grands instead of 9!

Updates

Megan is home from the hospital! She is feeling better and sure sounds like the old Megan. She is going to rest and take it easy before going back to work Monday. She says thank you from the bottom of her heart for all your prayers.
I copied and pasted Sheri's news today. Your prayers have been at work there too! Here is what she had to say:


Hey- guess who I saw today?
Ward. Ward Dixon.
ya'll might remember him...
I walked into his room and there he was- no breathing tube, eye open, happy to see me.

now, a quick assessment still shows stitches on his head, neck and leg, the 'detour' tube up one nostril and a feeding tube up the other, a pik line into an artery on his right arm for ease of blood draws for labs and 3 (I think) IV's in his left arm, EKG heart monitor stickers all over, a drain tube in his leg for that graft donor area, pressure socks/shoelets on his feet and a ... 'personal territory' catheter.

BUT
under all that is Ward.

his fever's down and he knows who I am and is able to answer questions readily, but not easily since his throat still hurts alot and he's really really dry.

he said "OK- let's go". I said "What do you mean, dear?" He said "Help me get up and let's go".

I tried telling him how long he'd been 'down' and the nurse verified that. he said "Shhh", and tried to get up. *~*
I said "You're too weak, dear- you have to be awake awhile before they let you get up and he said "Shhh" and tried to get up. *~*

10 days I wait for him to talk to me and in five minutes he dismissed me twice. *~*
so the nurse rearranged him on the bed and sat him up some and I asked him
-did he remember going in for the first surgery? "Yes".
-did he remember the little medication problems? "They poisoned me". I told him yes, yes they did, twice, but they won't do that again.
-did he remember I'd been sick? "Yes".
-did he remember going in for the second surgery? "Yes".
-did he know I'd been there all afternoon every afternoon? "Yes".-did he remember me reading to him? "Yes".
-did he enjoy the book? "Yes".
-did he want me to read to him today? "No."

he wanted conversation today, even if it was interspersed with pleas to help him up and out of there that were summarily denied.

at 6pm I said I needed to leave- visiting hours were over and I had to get back to the hotel to Alec and he said "Yes- I know that".

I got a kiss and an "I love you" and I left him listening to Animal Planet on the TV.

Alec and I grilled little skillet steaks on the hotel grill, I nuke-baked some potatoes and steamed some brocolli and Alec proclaimed it AWESOME (of course, I let him be the Grillmaster).

An early evening here tonight.

If I show up tomorrow and they've made him worse (again) I'll really have to hurt someone.
Thank you guys for all your prayers for Sheri and family.

And just incase you wondered where Easter eggs came from look real close in our chickens laying boxes for your answer. You can click on picture to enlarge.

I Won!!

Jennifer over at Double Nickel Farm had a awesome food storage give away and I won!! I won the breakfast package valued at over $78 but its not too late to go enter for the dinner package. Augason Farms donated the packages for her give away
I am so excited to have this package with hurricane season fast approaching its a big start in getting prepared. With the way things are going these days having food storage is one of the best things we can do for our families. Thank you so much Jennifer!!

Happy Birthday Kuma

Yesterday was Kuma's birthday. She wasn't too happy with me in the photos as I made the mistake of putting her leash on her for a walk and then taking pictures. She wanted to go on her walk!
We went on a walk and then she got a bath and another walk in the sun to dry off. After that Kuma got a big can of dog food all to herself along with a rawhide pigs ear. I think she enjoyed the walk most of all and need to get back in the habit of walking her everyday. Debbi, Kuma sends her love and kisses.

Set out tomato plants and more eggplants and cucumbers yesterday. Also did some cleaning and rearranging. Have lots of boxes of stuff in the livingroom I need to price for the yardsale we are having with Gerda. Sold some baby chicks but still have lots running around. Have found a new home for Bud the Iguana and he will be going there Monday. I just don't seem to find the time to pet and talk to him as much as I use to and want him to get the attention he needs and deserves. Rusty and Troubles make sure they get their attention. They climb all over me in bed and poke and nudge until I pet or scratch their bellies. They follow me every step I make around the farm.

Megan is disappointed she won't be going home Monday. They had to change her medication and she needs to stay a few days longer to make sure its going to work. She ask us to continue praying for her. Here is the updated post Sheri wrote about her husband:



today- more of the same.

they back off of his sedation just a wee bit, then have to give blood pressure meds and nitroglycerin till he settles down. repeat.

he'll be quiet, then his legs/arms twitch and he breathes heavily and chews on his tube (they've got a stopper for that) and scrunches up his face in a frown. When he does that I stop reading, stand up, stroke his forehead and tell him he's OK, that they are just waking him up really slowly to be sure the graft is safe- always aware that he won't even remember going BACK into surgery and once he can think straight his first thought will be WHAT THE HELL???? and he'll fight like a Big Dog.

So I tell him to try to be calm, to try to concentrate on my hand in his, and the words of the book, which are all wonderfully descriptive and do an excellent job of pulling the reader/listener into the quiet, peaceful wilderness of the Dark Divide of southwestern Washington State.

Twice this afternoon, once when I first arrived and stroked his forehead and told him I was there, and once when I told him I had to leave to get Alec, his face frowned up and a single tear squeezed out of his closed eye.

Absolutely. Completely. Broke my entire heart.

Please continue to keep her and her family in your prayers.

Dining In and Taking a Nap

Brings a whole new idea to dining in and napping. I just love the smile on Rudy (little piglet on the left). Must be a happy dream.

May your day be filled with good food and a happy dream nap!

Updates

Megan should be able to go home Monday. Right now they are getting medications regulated which should help alot. She says thank you for the prayers and please keep praying.
Instead of my giving you an update on Sheri and family I copied and pasted her post so you can see how things are going. She too is very comforted by your thoughts and prayers.

Here is Sheri's post:

today I dealt with some work stuff, and some daily living stuff- arranging our living quarters for the duration.
Alec, April, Christine and Hopie left before I did on a Museum Extravaganza Day- I'm back to the hotel before they are.
I got to the hospital about noon, and was able to talk to the ICU doctor who will be Ward's monitor till Monday morning. She was cautiously optimistic.
-the lasix is working, so the fluid is leaving his lungs- good
-they can't place a working feeding tube due to how swollen his poor throat is- bad
-his heart is behaving without nitroglycerin- good
-due to the heart failure, it's still not pumping worth a dang- bad
-the graft is still viable, and all the pathology on the 'stuff' they took out came back negative- good
-they plan on him staying on the ventilator another WEEK or so- bad

so, sort of the same- a few things better, some not progressing as hoped.

last night I told him "I'll bring a book tomorrow and start reading to you" and then thought "hey!(?) what happened to his stuff from the regular room???" and went upstairs to retrieve it. it's not there. no one knows where it is. so today I spent 3 hours trying to track it down- mainly his GLASSES and BOOKS, to no avail.

finally, someone said "I'll call Patient Advocacy" and I rolled my eyeballs and told them that I'd called them for some other concerns LAST WEEK and had not heard back, even though I'd called again Monday. the Patient Advocacy supervisor is supposed to call me tomorrow.

so I spend a good several hours with Ward, reading to him. I re-started a book he'd just given me- we were discussing in his few lucid moments last week how much I was enjoying it and he just was so tickled- said he knew I'd like it, that's why he got it- and he smiled that wonderful loving smile. therefore, I decided to share the whole thing with him, since we seem to have plenty of 'down time' to do so ahead of us.

when I started reading his blood pressure upper reading was about 160, after just a few minutes it dropped to 140, only shifting up again when the nurse came and interrupted us with checks and procedures. before opening the book, I told him what the doctor had said- that he's better today than yesterday, and he needs to keep fighting- and his hand twitched in mine.

and so I read-

"Where Bigfoot Walks- Crossing the Dark Divide" by Robert Michael Pyle

Chapter One- Not Looking for Bigfoot

"Sometimes the things you believe in become more real to you than all the things you can explain away or understand."- Tommy Albright in Lerner and Lowe's Brigadoon...

Homesteading Photos

I made the mistake of taking pictures and feeding at the same time. They weren't very patient with me. Charlotte and her piglets

Charlotte wanting her treat of apples from me.

Rhett Butler waiting for his breakfast

Ms. Scarlet wanting to eat but having to wait on her piglets to finish breakfast

California Dreamer's babies.

Updates

Megan is resting comfortably physically at the moment though her mind is racing 100mph. Hopefully this hospital stay will get her strength up and stress down. As for my friend Sheri and her husband. I copied and pasted her post for you to read. Your prayers are really helping all and I ask that you please continue praying and sending good, positive thoughts their way.

Sheri's post:

I held my husband's hand for the first time since Sunday night a few hours ago.

talked to the cardiologist- apparently after this surgery his heart went wild and they thought he had a heart attack. all the tests point negative on that, which is not really comforting, since I know the heart can get stronger from an attack, failure is irreparable.

the next 48 hours will remain critical. he's in congestive heart failure and the clot is back in his heart- he said from the calcification he doubts it was completely gone. so they need to give IV nitroglycerin to calm his heart, and they need to give him enough IV lasix to get the fluid out of his lungs, but not so much that they stop flow in the tiny brand new vessels they just attached in the new graft.

they can't even thiink of waking him up yet since he'll think he's drowning (and be right)

yet another disconcerting thing- the cardiologist kept saying "his xrays here from '07 and '08 show no failure, so this must've been in the last year" , assuming he went into the first surgery compromised, till I said "NO- HE HAD A CHEST X RAY HERE LESS THAN A MONTH AGO- DID YOU LOOK AT THAT ONE???"

no. he had not.

guess what? the xray taken one week before his April 5th surgery showed NO heart failure. None. Nada. Zip. Zero.

meaning the strain of 2 major surgeries in 8 days but MAINLY (in my humble know-nothing opiniin) the 6 days of physical drain he had while they held him hostage in CrazyTown caused heart failure. (Sheri's husband was given medication that made him go wild and have to be restrained)

so now he's very very ill.

I'm more than a little annoyed.

his brothers saw him last night, and this morning, and in the wake of "the next 48 hours are critical" pronouncement are going home this afternoon *~*
they never asked how I'm doing. or how Alec's doing. or if we needed money. or made a move to even touch me let alone give me a hug. or said anything about even "hey- it's lunchtime- before we go let us take you and Alec out to eat since we're sure you know a good place".
I was gonna give them a quick primer on the workings of the parking token machines, which are nightmares, but decided to let them figure it out for themselves.

bleah. enough of that.

the GREAT NEWS (which I saved for last- only our REAL trooper friends will have made it this far into the post :LOL:)

when I got there, I took Ward's hand- said "It's me, honey- I'm right here with you. I'm better and when I can't be right here I'll still call and bug you every few hours on the phone- Alec and I aren't leaving Houston without you- it's your job to rest, get strong, keep fighting, and my job to be here and give 'em all hell".

*he squeezed my hand*

I told him "Alec can't see you in ICU, so he opted to stay at the hotel by himself alone for the first time- I told him not to start anything on fire".

*his one remaining eyebrow shot straight up*

he's in there.

and lord help the hospital staff, I'm out here

Prayers

Seems like today is a day of staying on knees in prayer. My daughter Megan is being admitted into the hospital as I type this. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. Its been and is going to be a very rough road for them for awhile. A homestead forum friend who I have become close to and she and her family visited here a year ago has so much going on. Her husband had cancer and lost a eye, also has heart problems and is a diabetic had surgery for a skin graft over the cancer surgery. He is now in ICU on a ventilator. He is in heart failure. Sheri has been throwing up and running a fever so she isn't allowed to be with him until she has gone 24 hours without being sick or having a fever. She is beside herself. She and their 10 yr old son are staying in a motel next to the hospital but she is so wanting to be with her husband. They are far from home with no friends or family close by. So if you are a praying person I ask you to please keep these wonderful people in your prayers. I know they feel they are at the end of their ropes and have no where or no one to turn to. With all of us praying it will be some comfort for them and God always hears and answers prayers. Maybe not in our time or our wishes but he will hear and be with them.

Farm Babies Update

Poor Tessa, our Bourbon Red was so upset when we removed her eggs. None of them were any good and were VERY stinky. Cleaned out her nesting area really well and she just walked around the pen looking sad. The next morning she was sitting in her nesting area. Later in the day she was still sitting. Last night she was still there. This morning she was still there so I gave in . I got some fresh straw so she could make a good nest and I gave her 4 hen eggs to sit on. She took them just fine and seems to be happily sitting on her nest. I know I should have just let her mourn and get on with life but I felt so sorry for her not hatching any babies and that she was still sitting hoping . As for the geese, Bonnie and Clyde there are no babies yet or at least I haven't seen any and I am not about to go check under her! Tessa is gentle but Bonnie would take my fingers off while Clyde took the rest of me! Sold more baby bunnies in the past few days and still have more that will soon be ready for new homes. The baby chicks are doing great and running around scratching everywhere.We got rain last night! Finally all the pollen is washed off everything and the gardens have taken off! The strawberries are blooming. We got radishes yesterday and they were so sweet! Soon the lettuce and spinach will be ready to pick. Got my rosemary set out this morning. All the other herbs are doing so well. I need to cut some of my parsley as its growing everywhere. The peppermint and spearmint has came back in full force and needs to be thinned out before it takes over everything. Thyme, and basil are getting so big. All the herbs are looking so good this year and can't wait to dehydrate some for winter. Speaking of cold weather we are having what I call a Dogwood winter. It turned cold after the rain last night and I actually wore a jacket today. Suppose to start warming back up tomorrow. After the several days in the 90's this cold spell was a shock but sure made for some good sleeping weather.
My daughter Melody is going to have to give up Baby E and her brother J. The mother is moving back to her husband's home in a different town. Please keep the babies in your prayers as their dad was a bad dad to them before the mom left. She went to a shelter for awhile and Melody helped her find a job and a place to live. She also had Baby E from the time she was 3 and a half weeks old. Its going to be hard to let them go but even harder knowing what they are going back to and that they will be too far away to make sure they are okay.
Hope everyone has a very blessed weekend. You will find me in the gardens or keeping the bird feeders filled. I have around 15 feeders and the birds don't seem to think its enough!

Strawberry Bread and Strawberry Butter Recipes

I can't believe the days are getting away from me. Seems like my feet just hit the floor and its already past bedtime before I turn around. Hidden Haven is keeping me busy but I am loving it. I am waiting to see if Bonnie and Clyde are going to hatch goslings tonight. All the piglets and momma pigs are doing wonderfully. I have to break Tessa the turkey heart tomorrow and remove her eggs. She has been sitting so patiently and they were due to hatch today. I checked and every egg is rotten with some of them already collapsed. She and Fred have watched all the babies around and wanted some of their own so badly. I hope she will start laying again this year. I haven't had a chance to get back in the gardens. I have a ton of seeds and seedlings begging to be put in the ground. This weekend is my plan for that if nothing happens. Rusty is going crazy trying to keep check on all his farm babies. He is not liking people coming to take any of them away but will have to get use to it. He walks on his hind legs following them all the way to their cars trying to see his baby. Then as they drive away he looks at me like I am a mean old lady and goes inside and hides under the sofa. That is life here at the homestead. Never ending days but boy are they filled with blessings. I have had several requests for the strawberry bread and the strawberry butter recipes so here they are. Enjoy!

Strawberry Bread
3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp soda
1 TBS ground cinnamon
2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup chopped nuts
3 eggs well beaten
1 1/4 cup oil
2 cups strawberries cut up or can use frozen ones thawed

Combine dry ingredients. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add eggs and oil, stirring only until dry ingredients are moist. Stir in strawberries and nuts. Spoon batter into 2 lightly greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until bread tests done. Let stand overnight before serving.

Strawberry Butter

1 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup strawberries chopped up (fresh or frozen)

Blend berries in blender let set at room temperature. Blend butter and sugar, gradually add berries. Once whipped keep refrigerated.

Midwife To A Pig

I was raking and cleaning up the yard when I decided to check on Ms. Scarlett. She was in labor and not very happy so I decided to sit with her for a little while. I started out sitting outside her stall and just talking but she had other ideas. She got up and came right over to plop her huge self right beside me and lay her head in my lap. I was surprised but started rubbing her back and talking to her. The harder her labor got the more she would want me to rub and talk. Ms. Scarlett was determined I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Felt so bad for the pain she was having and said a little prayer it would go fast and easy for her. Right away she started pushing for her firstborn. Ms. Scarlett decided to sit up to have it and the little piglet came fast! She turned and looked at it then looked at me and laid down to start pushing for the next one. I went in the stall and got the piglet, cleaned it up, cut and tied the cord. I tried to see if she wanted it but she let me know to keep it. I held it in my lap while trying to call William to come home and help. (He was tilling a garden) The next piglet popped right out, Ms. Scarlett looked at and looked at me so I got that one and started cleaning it up too. After cutting and tying the cord she was already pushing out the third one. My lap had 2 piglets and Ms. Scarlett's head in it while I was cutting and tying the third cord. I needed help and tried to call William again. I tried to take the piglets out of the stall but Ms. Scarlett didn't like that. I brought them back and held them in my lap. She loved being able to see them but didn't want them near her while she was in labor. William finally arrived with his helper Taylor. I turned the cleaning and cord tying over to the two of them and I went and sat in the stall with Ms. Scarlett. I put the piglets on the other side of me. They were hungry and wanting to nurse so I was getting bites and tugs all over from these tiny ones. If I happened to slip up and let one get by me to Ms. Scarlett she would look right at me and scold me till I put the piglet back on the other side of me. It seemed like a very long time but was only about 1 hour until she had delivered all her babies. Each piglet when born had to be shown to her then we could take it and clean it up. The last piglet was stillborn. Ms. Scarlett knew and didn't even look at it when William held it for her to see. The whole labor and delivery found me sitting in the middle of a pig stall with Scarlett laying next to me all the time and parttime with her head in my lap. And with 9 piglets trying to have me for lunch. It was amazing. Most sows are very protective of the piglets. She seemed to trust me right away and let me take care of them while she labored. I tried to tell her I knew nothing bout birthing no babies but she wouldn't listen! Meanwhile dear old Rhett stood in his pen enjoying the sun and frankly not giving a da*n. Ms. Scarlett and piglets are doing fine. She lets me in the pen with her and them without any problem. One got out of the stall and couldn't get back in and she let me pick it up and put it back with the others. She is such a sweet gentle momma. Took me a long shower to get the mud, poo and piggy smell washed away but boy was it worth it!

Happy Birthday

To my mom Debbi. My mom and dad are in Germany so I can't give her birthday kisses. My foster mom is letting me send her birthday wishes, love and lots of kisses through this post.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA DEBBI!
I love and miss you so much! I hope you have the happiest birthday ever. I get to celebrate your birthday with a can of O'Roy so I am very happy! Have lots of fun and know I will be sending good thoughts your way all day. Oh, and mom just think how old 40 is in dog years! (just kidding)
Love you,
Kuma