Hello, it’s me...

... I was wondering if after all these (months) you’d like to meet... (Adele, “Hello”)

I apologize.  It honestly has only occured to me once or twice that I’ve neglected this little space of the blogosphere.  The week after my last post, we had a stupid, life-altering accident.  Here’s what I wrote on my quilting blog:

I struggled to write this blog post: if I should post, what I should post.  Last Saturday morning, a few hours after my green post, I was working outside with my husband, building a compost bin.  At one point, the tractor bucket slipped off a Tpost, collided with my hand (which I already know should not have been where it was), and was quickly raised by my husband.

Unfortunately, three bones broke in my left (dominant) hand.  My third metacarpal broke, shifted, was pushed down and out of joint.  My first two thoughts?  No more quilting!  How am I going to write?

An ER visit Saturday, a visit to the hand specialist Tuesday, and surgery Wednesday all together mean I’m a threadless, fabric-deprived woman right now.  My hand is so swollen, and moving the fingers is so painful, that at this moment, it’s hard to imagine I’ll ever sew again.

It has been a long, slow, steadily improving recovery.  I don’t think my hand will ever be normal, but I light-years from the writing of that post.  The initial struggles of loss of motion and immense loss of stamina and strength has yielding to smaller, but more humbling struggles.  Writing is painful after a line or two, and what feels like a bone spur in my palm means hoeing, driving t-posts, and cutting with a knife are all troublingly difficult.  There is occasional swelling (minor compared to six months ago), particularly when I overdo.  I am only 7 months out, so another 5 months should bring further progress.

My saintly parents have certainly filled the gap this summer, helping plant tomatoes, peppers, and sweet potatoes, and assisting with harvest and cleanup this fall.  I am, this week, sorting sweet potatoes for storage that my mom planted and dug the bulk.

My strength is returning more quickly than my grip, and I continue to discover work arounds for my challenges.  I am forced to reorder priorities and to lean on the kids more for daily chores.  Our second, who I call Spunky, has taken over the afternoon chicken chores, and we’ve devised a way to move our chicken coops without the tractor!

It is hard to be forced to compromise on food choices because I can’t chop and cut as much, but I’m determined to fight my way through.

I don’t intend this to be a “woe is me” post, but an explanation for a long, unintended absence.  I have great faith that this accident won’t define me by what I can no longer do, but by how I grow.  I found a new favorite song, which I’ve quoted down below.  God has been with me, most particularly during the long, dark, sleepless nights of uncertainty.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It’s Purgatory Ranch.

I hear your whisper underneath your breath.  I hear you say that you have nothing left.  I will send out an army to find you in the middle of the night.  I will never stop marching to reach you in the middle of the hardest night.  It’s true, I will rescue you.  (Lauren Daigle, “Rescue”)

Today's Work

Last summer, we planted corn for cornmeal, since I (sadly) used up the last of our previous harvest over the summer.  The Assistant helped me with the harvest, right before rain was due to arrive, and we quickly shucked and sorted the ears.

Then, the ears sat on my kitchen desk in two ice cream buckets.  Finally, today, I determined to clean off the ears, get rid of as much chaff as possible, and get the corn ready to store properly.

It only took an hour or two, between cleaning, stripping by hand, and sifting.  Now I have that white container in the back full of corn for cornmeal.  My hands are a little sore, which is partly why I'd delayed this task, but I'm proud of supplying our needs for our cornbread for another year or two!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Do you see what I see?

... Exceptionally gorgeous sunsets each evening
... More pleasantly cloudy days
... The first green of daffodil and tulip leaves
... A need for rain
... Bradford pear buds
... Preening turkeys
... A rainbow of chicken eggs
... No longer, a nearby house that has been dismantled piece by piece
... A few browning, decaying pine trees (a weekend's labor)
... Beds full of promise
... Decadently brown compost, ready for application
... A collapsing shed (a mite more than a weekend's work)
... Baby smiles

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Spring

We are ever threatened with tornadoes and high winds, but this has been a spring mainly devoid of such excitement.  Despite 2"+ of rain, the ground is still thirsty.

The parade of the chicken tractors has begun, with the layers being moved once a day.  They are so thrilled to see new grass that they will avoid their feed until the grass is cropped.  This is, of course, what we want, and we look forward to the deep gold/orange yolks of our well-pastured eggs.

Meat chicks (114) arrived Monday and are safely installed in their tractor.  Once the weather warms up and the chicks get bigger, we'll divide them into two coops.  For now, they are easier to warm in one coop.  We've lost several to "pre-existing" conditions, but if last year was a good teacher, we should be done with those losses soon.  With our order arrived one exotic breed chick, almost certainly a male.  I think he was a crevecoeur, a created breed.  The deck was stacked against his survival, being half the size of meat chicks and with curled toes that made his balance terrible.  We tried to create a boot for his toes and sequestered him inside, but he wouldn't eat and I think he was too frightened too survive.  That, my friends, is the difficult part of raising animals.

Our asparagus is fat and delicious.  We've been enjoying an okay harvest, eating it every few days, and clearly need to fertilize and stay on top of the weeds better this year.  Roasted with salt is the way to go!

Our new business cards arrived, and I'm excited to quit saying, "We haven't ordered any yet!"

Planting and weeding are, for once, not tasks sorely neglected.  Having the watering system in place has greatly facilitiated by planting in a timely manner.  I'm also trying to plant some of the many flower seed packets we've accumulated but never used!

Enough for tonight, as we are anticipating bad weather and I should sleep while I can!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Spring Time

50 pounds of potatoes in the ground by March 17.  In the south bed, 15 pounds of Red Norland and 10 of Dakota Pearl.  In the north bed, 25 pounds of Yukon Gold.  It took us about two hours, but we added mulch to the rows to keep down weeds.  Let's see how this year goes!

Horseradish is peeking out.

 The first daffodils are already a few days old.

and the cherry bushes are blooming.  Of course, we will probably have a late freeze (or even a regular one!) and kill any cherries, but these surely are beautiful.

Even a few crocus flowers are here and there.

I'm trying a new location for seedlings this year, and they sprouted in less than three days.  I think that means I finally found a good location!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Ice, wood, and furnace

My breaking ice for the last two weeks has resulted in piles of "ice pucks" near each coop in the yard.  I'm ready for a few of the piles to melt away in the comparitively sweltering highs in the 50s for the next ten days. I don't know how other people manage water for their chickens in cold weather, but heated waterers aren't feasible, so, depending on the severity of the cold, I haul water four (or more) times a day.

 I am grateful that these chickens seem to suffer less frostbite than our turkens.  I think this improvement is a result of both breed and superior coop construction.  James is definitely stepping up his game with each coop.

In addition to chicken chores, I've been streamlining my wood hauling.  Our wood burning stove insert is in the basement, so our wood piles are under the deck.  The challenge is, however, to sort the wood.  Our upstairs fireplace can fit quite long logs, but the stove is significantly smaller.  While I'm loading my wood cart, I find myself creating a new wood pile of logs that won't fit downstairs.  I'm interested to see how much would was usable, especially since we rarely use the upper fireplace.

Oddly enough, in between the original draft of this post and the finishing of it, our electric heat pump failed.  Funny the things I learned about my AC/furnace when it stopped working.  The wood hauling served me well, as the primary heat to the house for 48 hours has been the stove.  I've done pretty well, if I do say so myself, but the new furnace, to be in place tomorrow, will be welcome for bedroom heat!

Some part of me would love to not have a furnace, but the reality is this: I can't chop wood right now.  When I'm pregnant or caring for a newborn, I can't haul enough wood.  We need the AC in the summer, as our house is not built to circulate air efficiently.  Still, this was a worthwhile experience in knowing that I can heat the house in a "disaster" with very little interruption to our lives.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Winter Storm Preparation

When threats of heavy snow/ice/rain are in the forecast, winter storm preparations take place here at Yahweh Jireh Acres.  Our first thought and last thought are about water: water for animals, water for us to drink, water for washing.  You see, we have well water, so if the power goes out, the water stops.  We filter our drinking water through a Berkey filter, give the animals water straight from the well, and have a softener in the house since heavy minerals destroy our plumbing.

Yesterday and today, I filled water storage containers.  We're checking for dirty dishes, and I'll run three loads of laundry before I sleep, just in case.  Ten years ago, at this time of year, we had an ice storm of epic proportions, such that sme of my students (I was single and teaching) were without power for a week.  We might make it a week on current water storage; I prefer not to find out.

There are plenty of mundane tasks that occupy my in between thoughts, like emptying garbage cans, making sure tools and containers are put away as they will disappear under the snow, and charging the DVD player.  I've plotted out where we would spread mattresses, if I have enough disposable dishes to keep us a few days, and what sewing projects I can do by hand.

The other major consideration for power loss is heat.  We fortunately have a wood burning stove insert in our downstairs fireplace, so the wood is stacked and ready to work for us.

It's time to switch out the laundry and convince the kids to sleep.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Friday after Thanksgiving

Yesterday, we spent a splendid day with neighbors and enjoyed our own turkey (fried), mashed Purgatory Ranch potatoes, homemade biscuits and home canned peaches (along with fabulous contributions from our neighbors).  Later in the day, my sister's family joined us.  While we love being with family, I cannot remember a calmer Thanksgiving.  It was beautiful to stay at home the entire day, let the kids run around everywhere, and not need to unpack.  We are grateful beyond measure for God's goodness to us in the past year.

Today, in the vein of being countercultural, James and a friend chopped instead of shopped.  Our Turkens, the original chicken flock at Yahweh Jireh acres, never proved to be a viable layer flock.  They laid well for a few weeks this summer, then quickly fell off.  For the last four to five weeks, we haven't gotten a single egg.  They are expensive to feed through the winter for so little yield, so the eleven hens were butchered today and are already nearly frozen in the freezer.  One rooster is left, and we are hoping to incorporate him into our freedom ranger flock, so maybe Darkest Winter and Soup will not try to kill Toeless when she joins their coop.

I definitely enjoyed spending the day with friends we rarely see, and am grateful to have one more task complete for James before hard winter hits.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Snow Days

I apologize for abandoning descriptions of our journeys to growing and raising more of our own food.  Life has been busy, and crazy, and at the same time, routine.

Early in the day, as snow accumulates.

Neighbors.  Guineas.  Problems.  Enough said.

We lost a rooster.  I still don't know why.

Our dog, Hope, still steals the food of our cat, Andromeda, at every chance she can.  Hope now howls when a particular train rolls past with its whistle tooting.  I could do without this quirk, thankyouverymuch.

During our unusually long and bitterly cold cold snaps, I struggled to keep water thawed and clean for the chickens.  We switched to hanging waterers with nipples, which has helped in all but the longest and coldest stretches.  Sometimes I still carry out hot water to pour in basins several times a day.  Tomorrow will likely be one of those days.

Kids and snow!

James is building a mini greenhouse and a meat chicken coop.  Pictures will eventually appear here on the blog!

There has too much illness and death in our extended families and acquaintances.  Perhaps it is our age or our awareness, but I feel a little as though are a collective Job!

God has been good to us.  We have avoided major illness in our immediate family.  We've ordered seeds for the summer garden, and plenty of new fruit bushes and plants to fill the insatiable hunger in our children for fruit.  We are at that time of year in which I will only buy a few fruits from the store as everything else is too expensive or disgusting.

Avalanche off the white whale.

It had been snowing all day.  We have over 6", and the snow is still falling.  Since we need moisture, we are praying for several more inches.  (At least I am.). Today is a snow day.  Tomorrow will be as well.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

a Gasp for Breath in the Rush of Summer

I have used my vacuum sealer to put up to pints of dried fruit.  While I would love to put up more, the mulberries have not been so popular, and I haven't enough strawberries.  Next year, I will start drying strawberries sooner!

The {almost} daily compost bucket. We have just enough spoiled food (and eggshells) that I don't want to give to the chickens, so into the bin they go!

Onions are bulbing out fabulously.  This year, I'm striving to use onions as soon as I pull them, including chopping extra for the freezer.  Last year, too many onions spoiled through my failure to chop and use.  I know few things that smell quite as horrendous as a mouldering onion.

We are slowly... slowly... slowly beating down the weeds.  While they are still ahead, I think we are making great strides.  I'm not sure the same can be said in the battle against the whiteflies, although a judicious application of neem may help me.

The first garlic has been harvested.  The bulbs are disappointingly small overall, but they were planted too closely, in haste, by a nauseous pregnant woman.  I blame it mostly on me.  I'll save the biggest for this fall's planting (by Columbus Day).

Fava beans, why do you hate me?  Like in a past attempt, many are beginning to shrivel and burn up.  Is it the unexpected heat?

Tomatoes!  I am anticipating the first ripe ones with great delight!

A gift... an unexpected mulberry tree.  It is a weeping mulberry and quite attractive.

We also have apple trees suffering from cedar rust and peaches from oriental fruit moths.  I think our neighbor has not cared for his trees in the past, so we have work to do next spring to handle these issues!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Home!

We left home, the animals, the gardens, and the weeds for five days for a family reunion and vacation.  While we had delightful fun, every time we climbed in the car, Q asked, "Are we going home?"

Hope was as excited to see us as we were to be home.  If only I had taken pictures of her leaping and wiggling when we arrived!

We came home to a bridge out, 2"+ of rain, some brave guineas, weeds enough to keep us hopping, our first strawberries, growing peaches, and... a broken faucet.  Our hard water is... hard... on metal fixtures, and the stem had corroded into nothingness.  Exciting times.

There's nothing quite like coming home to the inability to wash your dishes in your kitchen.  The bathroom sink and I became friends yesterday.  James was stellar and replaced the sink as soon as he took care of outside chores.

It was pleasant to have the distraction of berries to pick

As well as peaches to admire.

And I seem to have found a touch of poison ivy somewhere.  Pray for me!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

The More I Learn

and get my hands in the earth, the more I realize how little I know.  Just a few of my ponderings while weeding today...

What is this plant? When viewed from a standing position, the stems look like red and white twine twisted together.

Why are my potatoes so... sprouty? this year?  Looking back, I don't remember so many sprouts per plant.  This second picture perfectly demonstrates.  I'm accustomed to three or four stems in one place, but these are spread out.  Is it something to do with the cold weather?

Speaking of cold weather... Look at how big the potatoes were in APRIL of last year!  We were harvesting by the end of May last year.  Somehow, I don't think that will be the case this year.  We are well more than a month behind in growth.

Back to my ponderings... What is THIS plant?  It secretes a white sap when broken off.

If I were to attempt to grow quinoa for chick feed, must it be rinsed as for human consumption?  (Just wondering... I haven't gotten far enough to bother determining whether or not we even have the right climate.)

Why is my garden having such people-problems this year?  Some of my peas were taken out by tractor wheels.  A late but well-meaning application of compost smothered a section of onions.  Another well-meaning act of tilling took out all my spinach and lettuce.  I can plant in straighter rows at Purgatory Ranch, but any attempt to call my planting "rows" at YJ Acres is a farce.

Will I ever feel like I really know what I'm doing?

Planting Time

Spring is definitely on its way...

Our yard is replete with daffodils planted by the previous owners.  I may be sick of them by the end of spring, but for now, they are a bright splash over color in the dark greens and browns of the end of winter.

We have some bulbs sending up shoots of mysterious hues.  These are the bulbs my mom and I planted last fall, and I don't remember everything.  I look forward to the surprise.

The new trees and the old lilac bushes are also budding out, holding forth the promise that colorful days are ahead.

I've tackled the first plantings in our new garden after James tilled again.  So far, peas, spinach, and lettuce are tucked in the ground, while a myriad of other tasty treats still await.  Planting is a hit-and-miss type of activity, racing to plant while the baby naps, hoping to beat the weather and the tears.  We are due for snow and ice yet again on Saturday.  But today, well, today is a gift, and I think I made good use of it.

Inside, my seedlings look better than in previous years.  Even my peppers, thanks to a heat mat, sprouted and look healthy.  Some of my tomatoes are ready for thinning, and all the slender stems arcing towards the light are beautiful signs of new life.

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Fall Preserving

James requested apple cider, and since I just happened to have boxes of apples around, I cooked down some apples for cider.

I still have two boxes of apples left.  I think there will be more apple chunks, cider, and leather in our future.

Here's the pulp after straining.

While I was photographing, it just so happens the cider was in the canner.  Just trust me, its pretty pink color and rich apple/cinnamon/cloves smell will be worth the wait.

We've been decorating cookies too.

And since I started the canning around 6 am, the cat thinks she should come in.  Think again, Andromeda, think again.  No pets in my house, and you're a work animal, not a pet.

Since I was brewing, baking, and otherwise humidifying a cool kitchen, the bones from last night's chicken were combined with some apple butter, garlic, carrots, and onion for broth.  I'm trying to work up my courage to attempt pressure canning.

I can't bear to waste the pulp, so last night I ran it through the food mill before straining to separate the peels and seeds.  This will be dehydrated for apple leather.  James loves it too.

It's a good All Hallow's Eve!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Last Apple Harvest for the Year

with a few pears and hedge apples thrown in for good measure.

Tomorrow, we're canning apple rings (hopefully), and we even have help!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Since moving, there are many activities that have fallen by the wayside.  In the last few weeks, here are a few that I've been working to revive...

Home cooking, involving more than just pasta or rice.  I have a hard time cooking when I'm nauseous, and I'm more nauseous when it's hot, so guess what happened...  No cooking.  In the last few weeks, though, I've made homemade pizza (success), Spanish rice (success for the adults), and enchiladas (another success).  Fortunately, returning to cooking also means James has a greater supply of leftovers from which to choose his lunch.

Making bread.  This morning, I mixed up a batch of "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day."  Tonight, I bake.

Grinding wheat.  I haven't ground wheat since before we moved.

Pathetically, peeling carrots.  I went to the grocery store today and bought another bag of carrots.  Then I came home and peeled the old bag, relieved that carrots survive in the crisper drawer so long despite my neglect.

Next up, some yard work!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.  It's Purgatory Ranch.

Winter Heating

Uncle Bruce needs some help with wood this winter, so James suggested we visit the garden waste dump and fill our truck and trailer with wood to split.  We also need a supply of wood, as the house being on the market and moving prevented us from stocking up last spring/this summer!  Everyone got in on the act, although I stuck mostly to photo shooting.  Lifting wood usually ends in a pulled round ligament around my growing belly!

Little Miss Independent

Look at that strong boy!

I can do it!

Deer on the way home

I thought I snapped a picture of the awesome teamwork I witnessed between the girls, but I guess it didn't turn out, as I don't have one on the camera.

Now it's time for James to do some splitting!

Until next time, remember, this is not paradise.   It's Purgatory Ranch.