Winter

Winter

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Getting Caught Up



I have a volunteer sunflower growing in the garden.
I am so glad. With most of the garden gone it is nice to see
one out there growing.



In the spring, I wanted to grow sweet potatoes.
As long as I have been growing gardens, I have never been
able to get sweet potatoes. All of the seed catalogs don't ship
to California.
I decided I would figure it out. I found a site that said to
get a sweet potato and put it in water like you did when you were a kid
and where ever a leaf grows from a eye use that to grow sweet potatoes.
So I did it. Yesterday we dug them up and we got this many from one
sweet potato. We might have got more if I had been more patient.
Then I remembered standing in my grandmothers kitchen and seeing
all of the sweet potatoes lined up on her window sill with sweet potatoes
in jars. Now I know why.
I will grow more next year. But I will have enough to use for Thanksgiving
I think which was what I wanted them for anyway.

When I first started blogging, I really was very new at
blogging and even being on the internet very much.
Amazon was about it.
The very first person I made friends with in the blogging
world was my friend Sue at Pear Tree Lane Farmhouse.



This week she sent me a couple of boxes of goodies.
She sent me grape jam and sweet relish and apple butter.
She also sent some lovely hand lotion for my hands because
we farm girls do have rough hands from working in the garden.



She sent some little Thanksgiving figurines. I really don't
have much for Thanksgiving so I like these. I
put them on my mantel.



Then she sent this lovely garlic she grew. Doesn't it look
nice in my kitchen. The picture doesn't do it justice.
It is the loveliest garlic.



I had to show you how my daughter looked today dressed up for work.
She is going to be a mime. I was on the computer and she walked in
and it scared me to death. She doesn't look at all like herself and I jumped
and yelled.

I don't do well with costumes or even clowns. When we go to amusement parks
I run away from the jokers dressed up in costumes. I really don't like them.

I hope you have a really nice week.

~Kim~

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Fall Days



I am so thankful for fall days. We can get so much more work
done around here when it isn't hot.
My husband had to run errands this morning and came home
with a chain saw. We have needed one and we got busy
right away trimming trees. We have 4 green trash cans
and we consider it a good weekend if we fill all four up.
We also filled up a brown one so we did get 5 trash cans.
Then we stop.



I thought I would show you a picture of my finished
Halloween rug. It is in front of the wood stove, but it
hasn't been cold enough for a fire yet.



My white hen died this morning. I am relieved.
I couldn't make her well and it is better now she isn't
suffering. Still, it always knocks wind out of my sails a bit.
Even a chicken.



I thought I would show you my next rug. I think it will be
pretty if I would just work on it. I sit and stare at it and I hook
very slowly. I love that pumpkin.

My kids are getting to dress up every day this weekend at work.
Yesterday all of the girls dressed up as 80s work out girls.
This is my daughter,



I told her that her hair needed to be bigger and I never even
owned one set of leg warmers so she had to wear socks. They looked
cute at work.

My son was Edward Cullen as in the vampire from Twilight.



Today he just wore a shirt that said, " It was his costume."
My daughter was a cowgirl. I forgot to take pictures.
They have enjoyed working this weekend just because
they have got to dress up.
This weekend they have been making pizza's in the shape
of pumpkins.

I hope you all have a nice weekend, and my friends in the middle
of snowstorms, stay warm.

~Kim~

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Just Chickens and Farm Friend Friday



I haven't linked to a Farm Girl Friday in a long time.
I guess I don't really feel like I am a farm girl anymore.
Oh I have chickens, but that is about it now.
My bees flew away. The garden was not good at all this summer.
I only canned a tiny bit this year and when I tried to make
soap, it was a flop.

My husband is turning the garden area into a place to grow
Bonsai trees. I guess I am feeling a bit like Lisa Douglas in Green Acres.
At least you can drink my coffee.



Do you see that white hen in that picture. She is the only one
I have like that. She is a Bantam Silkie. She is I think my favorite
chicken. Her little face is not in the center of her head. If you look at her
straight in her face, her beak is a bit off from her eyes.

I wanted to get some more Silkies so she wouldn't be an only
one but when I tried that I got all silkie roosters. I just hated
to see what was going to happen to her when they got a bit bigger,
so I took them back to the feed store.

She is the gentlest hen most of the time. Except for today.
I looked out in the back yard and she was in her pen.
She was trying to fight the big hens next door. All day.
She jumped and jumped and fought the fence trying to get
at someone on the other side.

I was watching her and I thought, darn she needs a husband.
I should have kept one rooster. So in the spring I might get her
a husband.


She is a nice hen. She has had many narrow escapes.
The hawk thinks she is his. I have seen the hawk walking
up and down outside of her pen reading recipes to her.

You know the other day when the hawk tried to get my sick hen?
The next day, the white silkie was yelling for me and running for
her pen. I was looking out the window to see where the hawk was,
I was yelling for the dog and running for the door. When I saw
the hawk swoop down and try to get my cat.
I wish I had the camera. The cat is very fat even her tail is fat.
She only eats when the dryer buzzer goes off so I must do lots of
laundry. She had the most disgusted look on her face, her
ears were flat. The hawk flew off and scolded me and I stood and
laughed at the cat.

Even in the hawk's wildest dreams he could never lift that cat.
But I thought, well I might have a story or two for a Farm Friend Friday.
So I am linking with Verde Farms today, just because sometimes
I do feel like a farm-girl.

Have a wonderful Weekend!
~Kim~

Odds and Ends



It is Thursday again. I just can't believe how fast the days
seem to be flying by. My husband last night suggested that
we start our Christmas shopping this week.
I about fainted. The years when life was crazy, he took
over the Christmas shopping for me. He does a very nice job too.
He has spread sheets and charts that he fills out as we shop.
We have lots of family now so I think that is the only way that
works for us.
He told the kids he already has his list ready for them. It just makes
me laugh he is so ready for Christmas.



I took care of my grand sons this week so Momma could go to the
doctor. We had a nice time. When I married my husband, one of his traits
that drove me nuts, I mean nuts!! I would tell him something like we
were out of something in the pantry just for a illustration. He would jump
up and go check for himself. Then we had kids. All six are the same way.
All of them go check to see if what I said is the same for them. I have
learned through the years just to shut up and live with it. It is just the
way it is.
I was watching the boys and they were having hot chocolate and gold fish
crackers. One of them asked me if I had chips. You know the little bags of them?
I haven't bought them in a while and I said, " No, I ran out I will get some when
I go to the store again. The looked at me and said, " Can we go check?"

I shook my head yes, as they jumped up to go check. I laughed to myself, because
it is something in the genes and I am out numbered. :)



I picked a few gourds this week. I don't know if these guys will dry until
next year. This morning when I went outside I could see my breath.
It plays havoc on drying gourds. I had plans for these guys too, I may just have
to wait now.



I just have a few morning glories left now. I was glad to find this one.
It makes me so happy to find some flowers now.


The Pomegranates are finally getting ripe. I am so happy
that we have them. They are my husband's favorite.
I like them but I am warped about them. I was watching him
eat them one day. He asked me why I don't eat them and I told
him that when I was a kid my grandmother had a huge tree in
her yard. We would pick them and break them open on the road
and then eat them.
Always the next day I know it wasn't but it seemed like it was,
every time I had Pomegranates, The next day, they would call
all of the whole school outside in lines by classroom.
The principal would go kid by kid, classroom by classroom and look
at our hands. If our hands were dirty or we had stuff under our nails
we would be taken out of line and we had to go to the office, in front
of the whole school while everyone watched.

It was a nightmare for me as I stood there. I can eat them now with
no repercussions, but do you know I still can stand to get my hands dirty
or stained so I wear gloves.

I wonder if they knew then that they were making all kinds of kids
into little Monks.

Well just some odds and ends today. I hope you are having a
nice week so far.

Thanks for stopping by,
~Kim~

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch



It is time once again to meet with Patrice and have a chat.
I always look forward to meeting new and old friends.
Patrice has a nice blog called Everyday Rurality.





QUESTIONS

Barbie asks: What's your favorite coffee drink?

Just plain old coffee. I put honey and milk into it though and I think that is my downfall. I need to be drinking it black. Coffee for me is all about the social aspect. In the morning, My husband brings my first cup of coffee and we sit and talk and plan our day. Then in the afternoon, the kids come in from school and they have coffee and I sit and visit with them and find out about their day.

Dreaming asks: What's the chore you hate the most that you wish Blogger would come do?
I just don't know if there is anything that I hate that much. I am of the old school, if I am reluctant to do something I just get busy and do it so I don't have to think about it.

Farm Girl asks: Why did you decide to start a blog?

Since this was my question, I was curious about why others started blogging. I started blogging because my Mom was sick. I thought I would just do it for her. When she died, I was lost, what I found out then was I was lonely. I have enjoyed making friends and now I am not lonely anymore. So for me, I have received far more than I have ever given.



Suzanne asks: Who's your most famous relative?
I don't know if I have any that I would want to talk about. :)


Cathy Kennedy asks: Have you ever given yourself a home perm?

Nope, I never had the nerve to do that, I have bleached it and I have pierced my own ears but
never had the guts to do that.

Thanks so much for having the linky party this week Patrice.




Just a chicken update.

I had my white hen out in the yard yesterday. I had to leave and take the dog to a vet appointment. The hawk
always knows when I leave the house. I got home from the vet and up next to the swimming pool fence was white
feathers. I knew immediately what it was, when a hawk gets a chicken the feathers are in a pattern. I do chicken
CSI sometimes.

My heart was in my shoes. I ran outside cursing myself for being so dumb and not thinking about the hawk. I followed
a trail of feathers and she was hiding behind the chicken house. I think because she is a big hen and he is only a
sharp-shinned hawk, she was too heavy. I was so glad.
I left her in the coop today.
She just had some missing feathers but he didn't break the skin.

Thanks to Patrice and I look forward to going around and visiting your
sites.
Have a great Wednesday!
~Kim~

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Two Give Away's


I wanted to tell you about two wonderful ladies that I know and
they are having give aways on their blogs. The reason I am doing
this you see I want to win them. So I am shamelessly promoting them
in hopes that I might win. They are both so close to hitting 100 followers
that they need some more people to come and visit them. The first lady
is Camp and Cottage Living.
I love all of the goodies she is giving away
and I think you would enjoy reading about her life in a log cabin on Lake
Superior.

The next give away is another wonderful lady I have had the joy of making
friends with and this is Sassafras and Winterberry. Courtney is giving away
yarns, lovely hand dyed yarns and some wool so you can see why I would love
to win this one too. But I would like you to win so I will be happy for you too.
I just wanted to get the word out in case you haven't ever met these lovely ladies
who both always brighten up my day.

See this hen in this picture?


She has been sick off and on all summer and now into the fall.
She gets better then she gets sick and I go through all of the
antibiotics and letting her out in the yard by herself. This
weekend I just pretty much thought when I went out this morning
she would be dead.
She wasn't, she was looking around like she might be interested in life.
So the interesting thing I noticed is her pale face isn't pale anymore.
She had color in her face and her comb looked red and healthy again.
I came in the house and got bread because she loves, loves bread.
She ate and ate. Which surprised me. I made apple pies today and took
her apple cores which she ate happily.
I had given the other hens the same thing I had given the sick ones,
but I did make another trip in the house and got some more bread
to see if it was a fluke and she about bit off the hand that fed her.
The other hens were yelling about the unfair treatment. My thought
was I bet I have hens standing around in the morning pretending to
feel pale and under the weather.
Don't underestimate hens. They can be very tricky.



It is a hot day today. But it is still nice because of the nice
breeze. The weatherman has promised fall by the end of next week.
We get a cold mass from Canada. Yay, So Kim and Julia, we are
getting your cold air so maybe it will warm up for you. :)

I went ahead and made two apple pies today. It is so nice to smell
the apples and cinnamon baking. A person who shall remain nameless
called another person who will remain nameless a "hog," because she
had the apple pie I made yesterday with coffee when she came in from
church. I was shocked.
I told the first unnamed person, I would make more so I made two
this afternoon.
I can't have fights over the apple pie now can I ?

I hope you have a nice week, can you believe it is almost Halloween?
I can't, it is flying by on a broom. :)

~Kim~

Saturday, October 22, 2011

October Days


With all of the excitement of this week, I went outside the other
day and I was mad at myself for missing these beautiful fall days.
The air smells so crisp and brown. In California we might not
have all of the colors that are so vibrant, but we do have lovely
browns and golds, and yellows and yes, even some reds. The smell
of the grass that is turning from green to brown smells like hay all
crispy.

As I sat outside and the peace of the day gave me such comfort. Like that poem
The Day is Done, by Longfellow.

And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.



In October is seems as if the sunrises become filled with color.
I also think the sun gets more and more reluctant to rise each
morning and keeps the blanket's of clouds tucked around his
neck.
In the evening, the sun seems in a hurry to leave the sky
and return to the place where the winds live. Each evening as
I sit and watch as the light goes out in the sky, twilight becomes
filled with magic, and I notice that the fairy's seem to be hiding
in other places that I can't see.



I love October, my thoughts of October are filled with dreams of days gone by.
I think of November as brown and cold and dark. I find in
November I panic as the days are sometimes as dark as the
nights, so I burn fires to keep the ghosts at bay.

Now enough of this, I have a chicken pen to clean.
Have a lovely weekend my dear friends.

~Kim~

Thursday, October 20, 2011

A Halloween Story




I was thinking last night that I am brave enough to tell you a Halloween story. When my grand parents found the land that I now live on, it was in the middle of an eighty acre section. The original homesteaders had broken it up into parcels.
My grandparents bought a 10 acre parcel. There was a Quonset hut and an Old
farm house. My grandparents talked my Mom and Dad into coming to live here
with them. It was in a state of disrepair so they had to do lots of work before
we all moved out here. My grand parents lived in the Quonset hut and we
lived in the farm house.



When I was looking at the original deed I saw that the farm house had been moved
out to this place in 1910 I wished I knew where it was moved from.
My Mom and my grandmother worked and worked, there was 12 to 16 layers of wall paper
on the walls of the house and as they stripped it off it was like going back in time.
Finally they got to the newspapers that someone had pasted up and they stopped and
then they papered over that. As a 4 year old it seemed like days and days.

There were mice everywhere so my Mom was always saving tin cans that she cut up and placed
over the mouse holes. The house was so cold and drafty that they would shut the doors off
of rooms and we didn't go into them until it has warmed up in the spring.



It was a happy house as far as I remember it when we lived there. My Dad bought a house
and he had it moved in and then we moved there and my grandparents moved into the old house.

After my grand mother moved in maybe it was my imagination maybe it was the stories I told
and scared myself. But I was afraid of the closet in the front bedroom. The ceilings
in the closet were very tall and at the top of that closet was the attic. The ceiling had these
huge cracks and the way they were cracked always scared me.

In the back of the closet was a blanket chest. To me it looked like a casket. So I made up
stories about there being a dead baby that the people who lived there first left, before my grandparents and
if you lifted the lid you could see the baby. We meaning me and all of my cousins. Of course we never lifted the lid.

My grandmother told stories of her nightly visits from her " ghost." Of course we just thought
it was my grand mother just telling stories and then we decided to see if it was true.
My cousins and I decided to see if what she said happened. So one night we decided to
sit up and watch.
We locked the front door. The doors were about 10 feet tall with the kind of doors that
used skeleton keys. The door knobs were the old kind made out of metal. So we sat
and watched and waited. At 9:00 P.M. We heard the sound of footsteps walking up the steps and then across the porch, to the front door.
We thought it was my Dad coming to play a trick. We watched as the door knob turned
and the door opened. We watched as the door opened further as if a person was there
then the door shut, the feeling of cold air came into the room then the bedroom door
opened and shut by itself as if someone was going to the bedroom.



We were all speechless and I know our eyes were as "big as saucers." We ran to the front
door and it was still locked. My grand mother laughed and said, see I told you.
It was a nightly occurrence, my grandmother was never afraid. We really didn't
think about it or talk about it much anymore it was sort of accepted. If we happened to
be there and the door would always opened about the same time and my grandmother would
remark, " Well, my ghost is home, I guess it is time to go to bed."

Years later she tore that house down and built a new one in its place. I have always wondered
what could have caused that phenomenon, what caused the steps outside on the porch to creak
as if someone was walking across or how was it the door opened at the same time every night
and the bed room door opened and shut.

I do know, that in my child like brain, I knew that it lived in that closet and lived up in the attic.
I never saw anything only felt the cold and I never heard anything only the sound of the doors.

I think I could use this story to write a really scary one. Who knows I might try.
I wrote this out the other day. I can't explain today what it was or if it was just
an over active imagination or lots of things going on but as a kid it seemed real
and these are how I remember them. I know that the brain does fill in the blanks
so maybe that is what I have done in my memory. I have always loved ghost stories
so maybe that is all I have done is add one to my memory.
So do you have one?

Have a lovely weekend,
~Kim~

2 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

i totally believe in ghosts and spirits. if we believe in souls, how can we not believe that they can remain here in some instances? at least your family's was a friendly one! :)

Patrice said...

I have goose bumps!Cool story.

Being Thankful on Thursday


I want to start this post by letting you know, I might write somethings
that might offend and I want you to know I am sorry right up front.
My goal has always been that I would do no harm with my words.
I am afraid today I might.

A week ago today, my family who live next door were robbed. I was home
all day. They went through a window on the side of the house that I couldn't see
or hear.

Yesterday they broke in and if I had only went out I might have seen them.
I don't know why I didn't go check yesterday. They were braver this time.
They did it the same time as the week before.
The police said they would be back.

When I was married and I became a Christian, I married my husband who was
a Mennonite. I became one as well and was baptized there in that church. I have
always been non-violent. I believe that Jesus said, " He who lives by the sword
dies by the sword."
Yesterday, and even today as I write this post, I know that if my family were threatened
I would shoot to kill. Me the person who would rather not even spray poison on bugs.

About a month ago, the Governor of the state of California released people from prison.
The policeman told me yesterday 5000 felons just in our county alone. You know they
have no job, nor hope of getting one fresh out of prison so they do what got them in before,
go back to robbing.

I asked the man who came to take fingerprints," since I am over here with my son,
and if I see someone next time, it isn't my property would I go to jail for shooting someone?"
He said, " No, you just tell the police you were in fear for your life and your families life and nothing would happen."
I said, " it sounds like to me we are turning into vigilantes. " He said, we are and if you want
to protect yourself, shoot to kill."

He said they have never seen it like this before. Crime is now between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM
my brothers house was robbed both times at 1:30 in the afternoon.
I was out in the yard Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday, I didn't check, I don't even know why.
My daughter said, " I think God was protecting you Mom because you always have a sixth
sense about these sort of things, you didn't yesterday, what if they had guns this time and what if they could have killed you. It was just stuff, but you can't replace people."

I have always believed in the redemption of fallen man. I have always supported Prison Fellowship. You know if someone came to my door and said they needed something, I would give
it to them.
The Bible says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

I realize that stuff can be replaced, no one was hurt but what bothers me is the desire to strike out and hurt. That is what I see in myself and Oh, God I hate it. I always heard what you are is what comes out of the cup when it is bumped. It scares me to death to see myself and that I could kill. The worst part is I want to.

So today, I am thankful that today is a new day, the sun came up just like always, and
my family is safe.

God is still good.

Have a wonderful Thursday,
_Kim_

Tuesday, October 18, 2011



It is that time this week to go and visit with Patrice and visit
on her porch. It is a good thing we are using her porch. It is to hot
at my house today. Everyday Rurality

This weeks questions:

1. What kind of camera do you use?

I use a little point and shoot Cannon, it is my son's camera but he lets me use it.

2. What will you have for Thanksgiving dinner? If not in the US, tell us about a special meal, please.

We will smoke a turkey on our smoker. Then we will have the normal Thanksgiving food, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes,
salads, Yeast rolls and lots of desserts.

3. What's the biggest vehicle you've driven?

Just my car, which it a big thing that we bought so we could pull our travel trailer and haul all of our kids.

4. Have you ever been on a train? This can be a commuter train or the chugga-chugga-choo-choo kind.:)

Yes, I have rode a train. I like trains.

5. What question would you like to ask the people visiting on my porch next week?

Why did you decide to start a blog?

www.everydayruralty.com

Monday, October 17, 2011

Bonsai Garden



On weekends now, my husband works with his trees.
We walk around and talk about what we would like to do
with the trees that he planted that won't be Bonsai.
I would like a second row of trees so that you could
walk between them and never be in the sun. But as
he is the one who would have to put in the water lines,
it is a huge task. This is his little miniature pepper plant.
He thought he would trim it up to look like a bonsai.
I thought it looked nice.



He is still teaching himself about germinating seeds.
We have a Acacia tree in the back. Since they are covered
in a very hard shell and they don't germinate unless by fire.
I was all for getting the blow torch and trying that but he
was afraid they might burn up. So he scored them a bit with
a knife and then he soaked them every day in boiling water,
for about 10 days.
He has some of them in pots but these he just threw in a cup
because he already had so many. Now the cup is full of his little trees.



This is one of his Japanese Maples that he trimmed and
then wired so it will grow this way. He uses copper wire
on the branches.


This is some of the first trees he has grown. There are lots
of Chinese Pistache. That is what I would like a whole row of so
that next time there is a wedding and if it is in the fall the bride
could walk down a row of red trees. Just dreaming here, you know
my blog is My Field of Dreams so I do a lot of that out there. So there
would be a row of yellow trees and one of red.



This is the other side of his shelves with his trees.
We went to the park the other day and picked up acorns.
The park that has those old, old cork oaks. Cork oak is used
in Bonsai because the trunk gets so big. I had a plastic bag and
we were walking around and picking up ones that hadn't been mowed
by the lawnmowers.
We stopped at another park that I used to take the kids to when they were small
and we got lots of Valley Oak acorns. Those Oak trees were huge as well.

I used to make potpourri and I used to go to all of these park all over town
and pick up stuff to use. Who knew I would be doing it now for acorns.

Just a bit of what is going on around here. Just lots of dreaming.

Have a great week!
~Kim~

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Odds and Ends of Saturday



I hope you are having a lovely Saturday. We are having
a warm spell. We are back to air conditioning right now.
I know though by Wednesday we might have fall.
I tell the outside that every time I go out there, just
so he knows his days are numbered.

Now onto Odds and Ends of a Saturday.



I have been working on this little project for awhile.
I will get distracted by something but I am almost finished
so I need to get it done before October is over. I did the little
witch the other day and I just had to show you because I was
laughing as I did her tiny little face and her hat and then her nose.
It just tickled me.



This is how the whole thing is going to look very soon.
Brenda Gervais is doing a whole series one a month for
10 months. I love things like that something for each month. I have November all ready to go but I have to finish up October. You can see her site
Here. Her blog is in my side bar With Needle and Thread.



I decided to reread Anne for the millionth time.
I love it more each time I read it. I made it through the
chapter where you-know-who-dies today. Just in case
you haven't ever read it. I still cry no matter how hard
I try not to, I did think about skipping the chapter too.
It is a lovely book. It is my nighttime book.



This is my day time book. Broad daylight. Why do I read
a book that scares me to death. I have no clue but she is one
of my favorite authors. It has car chases, girls with guns, my two
favorite things. Secretly I think I would like to carry a handgun
and know how to do kick boxing really good. :)

Just a small story. Catherine Coulter was speaking at our library.
I couldn't wait to see her. It was a nice crowd. I love
going those things at our little library. Catherine Coulter is just
as nice as nice can be too.

Anyway she had these lovely, lovely red shoes on. High heels. She called
them 8 hour shoes. One of the ladies was in her 80s, a tiny
little thing. We were having questions and answers and she raised her
little hand, and she said, " I don't really have a question but I just wanted
to tell you I sure like them shoes." It was so cute and we all laughed.
That was how I knew they were 8 hour shoes.

I loved it because she talked just like my grandmother and my grandmother
loved red shoes. So when ever she comes out with a new book I always have
to read it even though it scares me to death.

Well, just wanted to touch base for a bit. My husband is sitting beside me on
his computer looking at Bonsai trees, he wants to get into grafting his own
trees so I thought it would be nice to write a post.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

~Kim~