Taking Care of An Old Barn

 

Taking care of an old barn should be a regular habit on a homestead. If old barns are not cared for regularly they soon fall into disrepair. We have all driven down those back country roads to look off into a field and see what must have been a nice barn at one time. However, because of neglect it is now a pile of ruin. A haven for rats, snakes, and spiders. What a shame we all think. This can be prevented from happening, but it does take some effort. Our own barn is now about 100 years old. The man who lived here before us took excellent care of this barn and then he passed away. His widow was not able to do much and the barn was neglected for a new years. It didn't suffer much during this time because he cared for it so well during his lifetime. When we moved here to Willow Pond we took on the job of caring and keeping this old barn. The first thing we did was clean it out really well. This allowed us to see what issues there might be. We noticed that the added on shed roof was sagging because the foundation had moved around. Parts of it were not really even on a proper foundation. We live in the south so it is always best for any building to not have wood touching the ground. So we tore the walls down to studs, jack it up, laid a proper foundation, set the walls down on the foundation, rebuilt the walls, repaired/replaced any roof supports, replaced a couple pieces of roofing metal and voila'....a beautiful attachment to the barn that will stand for years to come. The next chore was to paint the barn. This took awhile as it is a very big barn. Then we replaced part of the floor on the livestock side and some roofing supports on that side as well. You get the point. Each season or year there is maintenance to be done on the barn. Some barn maintenance projects are large. Some are small. Much of it depends on how well, or how often, you stay on top of the maintenance check list. Do you fix small things right away or do you let them grow into bigger repairs. We like to plan barn maintenance chores in the spring and the fall. We got behind on this schedule when I was working at the restaurant. With both my husband and I working so much it was difficult to keep up with regular daily chores, much less extra projects. Better planning would have helped. Better scheduling would have helped also. So here I am, home again and able to do that planning and preparation. Spring is right around the corner and I am making my list of barn repairs and maintenance that we will need to take care of this spring and then another list for this fall. I am sure there will be things in the summer that come up. They will either be take care of immediately or they will wind up on the fall list.  Take a look at your old barn and get to working on that list. Old barns are beautiful treasures that don't need to be lost. There are too many pinterest pictures still to be taken! Blessings, Kat

Safe, Edible Weeds for Domestic Rabbits

 Throughout our homesteading journey we have always sought ways to do things outside of the current system. Typically, the current system for homesteaders when they have to feed their critters is to run to the local feed store and buy some sort of pre-made, commercial feed in a bag. When we started this journey back in 2007 our thought process was .....what if there was no store to go to. Well, then that was definitely something to think about. It was really a guiding force into which livestock we planned to have. If there were no store to buy feed from, which animals could we feed and house. Definitely rabbits.  In order to do that we had to learn not only what weeds rabbits could safely eat and what weeds were easily available to us in the southeastern United States. We also had to learn to identify safe weeds. The list truly is vast. There are so many safe weeds for rabbits to eat that you could easily pick a variety for every meal in just minutes a day. In fact, we do just that. We buy feed for our rabbits because our grow out rabbits grow quicker with the addition of a commercial feed. We also feel like our does benefit from the extra calories to keep their condition during breeding season. The grow out bunnies get commercial feed daily, while the breeding does get feed every other day alternated with a large bucket of weeds.  In the winter they get a small amount of feed daily with a good helping of quality hay. Here is a small list of some of my favorite spring weeds for our rabbits. 

Chickweed

Purple Dead Nettle/ Henbit

Clover

creeping charlie

Happy Foraging!

What Am I Reading?

 

Not only am I trying to be more diligent about posting on my newer blog, but I am also trying to get back into the habit of reading. While I was working at the restaurant, I would either be too busy trying to catch up with work at home or too tired to really read a book. I just couldn't manage to really get into a good reading session or routine. So, here I am. I love to read. I have a fantastic library. I have even been adding books to that library, but they simply go on the shelf. So, I thought if I actually kept track of the books I am reading here on the blog that I might actually get some reading done. This is not twaddle free literature, but it is fun and enjoyable. 

The latest book I am trying to read (I got it from our local book exchange last September) is  The House at Saltwater Point by Colleen Coble. It is a really nice fun read so far. It is a mystery and I think it will be a bit of a romance here soon. I am only a third of the way into the book but it is really nice light reading and I am enjoying it. It is part of a series Ms. Coble has done called the Lavender Tides novels. These books are set in a fictional town called Lavender Tides. This particular book is about the mysterious disappearance of a young woman's sister. Apparently, there is cocaine involved and a really nice coast guard investigator who happens to have a mystery of his own. He has recently found out that he was adopted as a baby and that he is originally from Lavender Tides, but his parents died in an earthquake and he and his sister were separated.  Hopefully, you guys are reading some good books as well! Blessings, Kat

Sunday Bible Verse Reflections Romans 12:6-7

 

God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach.

Romans 12:6-7

God has given each of us a unique personality and unique talents. The Bible tells us that we are a one of a kind masterpiece (Eph. 2:10), fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:12-14). I think that many times we allow ourselves to get caught up in the comparison game. The comparison game is today's society's game of comparing everyone to everyone else. None of us measure up in this game. We lose sight of the fact that each of us is special in our own way because we are too busy trying to be special in everyone else's way. This was me very recently. Spinning my wheels trying to live up to someone else's expectations of me. What they felt that I needed to be good at was what I tried to be the best at. Instead of recognizing that I needed to be true to myself and to the good Lord who made me and be good at being me. I am now in my 50s and am really learning so much more now than I ever did before. Or maybe I am just willing to submit to learning and understanding more than I was when I was younger. I spent most of my life trying to live up to people's expectations only to fall short of them. The problem was that their expectations were not God's expectations and so He did not give us the "talent" to be what they wanted us to be. I am beginning to accept my talents and even embrace them. It is taking some getting use to and a whole lot of prayer. Old habits die hard. What are your talents? Your true talents? Are you living up to them, or running away from them because you or someone else finds them insignificant? I never wanted to recognize my talents because in my family they were seen as insignificant. However, to my husband, children, and close friends my talents are seen as invaluable. Sometimes, it just takes the right person or the right people to show you that God doesn't make mistakes and each person is special. They might not be with the right group of people to be appreciated. So go embrace your God given talents! Someone in the world needs what God has given you to share. Blessings, Kat

A Long Running Side Hustle....Butter and Egg Money

 Once upon a time pioneer wives earned money with a side hustle....selling their extra butter and eggs to the town store. It wasn't much money, but it often came in handy when things were tight or a crop didn't produce as well as expected. Nowadays, everyone seems to be looking for a side hustle. When we moved here to Willow Pond Farm, I took a part time job at a local restaurant. In another life I was a restaurant manager, but I just wanted to earn a little "fun" money to do some projects around here....mostly to buy pretty plants for my yard. That part time job accidentally turned into a full time job that completely consumed my life. I finally had to say no more. My family was suffering, the farm was suffering and I was suffering. So I am back home. I still need a little fun money. I used to make a little money here and there doing odds and ends sorts of things from the homestead. So here I am tapping into that experience of making a few dollars here and a few dollars there. There is a name for this kind of money....butter and egg money.  So, I always had some butter and egg money until we moved. Then, instead of creating  new streams of butter and egg money or reviving old ones, I took a part time conventional job. Like I said it accidentally turned into a full time job that I never had a break from. My family didn't get much of me either. After 6 years, it was time to let it go. It was hard to do because there were many times my paycheck bailed us out of a tough situation. However, the one thing that I really noticed was that we wasted a lot more money with another full paycheck coming in. I was often too tired to cook, so we ate out more. Eating out more often meant extra trips to town that we otherwise would not have taken. I also had to hire someone to help with the yard work and some of the farm chores. I often had to go to the restaurant even on my days off. Driving more meant more wear and tear on my car. More oil changes and other maintenance that cost money. I never really had a day off. Those were just days that the restaurant was technically closed. I used the dryer instead of my clothesline because it was quicker and easier. I wasn't home long enough to let clothes dry on the line. So my paycheck didn't really go into savings. Yes, we were able to get some projects done around the farm, and yes there were times that it really got us out of a tight spot. For several months we had to pay my mother's caregivers and would not have been able to do that without my paycheck. However, the cost to me and my family became too great. Over the past year, God really pressed on my heart and mind that I am needed at home. I didn't listen at first. So now, here I am working on reviving and finding new side hustle, or butter and egg money. I don't need a lot, but a little sure does help when those rainy days come pouring down. I trust that the good Lord above will send what I need. So far so good as I have some money coming in both this month and next.  God is good all the time and I simply have to trust in that goodness. Butter and egg money....the side hustle of pioneer women!  Blessings, Kat

Rabbits in a colony

 Rabbits are very social animals. In the wild they live in a group called a colony and their home is a serious of tunnels with "rooms" called a warren. Rabbits in the wild don't live alone in a cage. So our rabbits don't live alone separated in cages. There are some good things about colony keeping and there are some bad things. We have been raising our rabbits in colonies for about 10 years (give or take). The 2 biggest drawbacks we have are trying to feed them without stepping on rabbits. They love to see us come in the colony and instead of running away they run circles around our feet. This makes walking difficult. The second drawback to colony raising rabbits is moving the little ones off to themselves to grow out. They do get moved to a cage but the whole litter goes together in one large cage to grow out and get bigger. In all fairness we did try at one time to raise rabbits in cages. It simply did not work well for us. We just couldn't get the timing right or something. We had very few litters and does that really didn't like us very much. Now our rabbits are happy to see us, happy with their lives and really have it pretty good. Many blessings, Kat

One Big Stall

I LOVE IT!  We took out the stall dividers between the horse stalls and made one very large stall. The reason we did this was for a couple of reasons. The first reason was that we leave the barn doors open most of the time and use the barn more as a run in shed. Our horses live most of their lives outside unless they choose to head to the barn. Then when they would head into the barn before the divider removal they would all 3 squeeze into 1 stall. Sometimes horse number 3 only had her head in the stall, but by golly she wasn't leaving her buddies. The second reason is that it really is easier to clean and it works much better as a run in shed. The middle stall door can now stay closed while the two end doors stay open. This actually provides more shelter than when all three doors were open all the time. I love it. The horses love it. They have loads of room and it is so much nicer in my opinion. Now all we need is to refurbish the floors! Soon my friends....very soon!

 

Aging and being alone

 Not so long ago, I was asked by my priest to help a fellow member that was on up there in age and had just gotten home from the hospital and needed some help with her medicine. Several of us from church were being asked to do this along with taking her meals and anything else she might need.  She lives out in the country like me and in the same county, but not as close as people from town seemed to think we were. In fact, some of the folks from town had a shorter drive than I did. However, it wasn't long before they bailed out and I was left carrying the burden of going to see her, take her meals, help with her medicine, clean her kitchen and help with her animals. This was 3 days a week for 12 weeks. She had 2 neighbors that also helped, so in all there were 3 of us sharing this duty. The sad thing is that she is 86, has many health problems and shouldn't be living way out in the country by herself. She certainly shouldn't be trying to care for livestock. However, these very things are what keep her going. She would be miserable in town. The even sadder thing is that she had 2 children in town that have nothing to do with her. She essentially is all alone, but for a couple of neighbors and the church. So, because of that I kept going to see her, check on her, help her long past the time that she truly needed me to. I helped find someone to cut her yard and do odd jobs to keep her place looking lived in.  She fell once during this time one night. She was out in the pasture at 2:00 in the morning checking on her goats. She laid there until the neighbor came to check on her in the morning. She was not very good about keeping her cell phone on her, if she even kept it charged. Then a few month later, I was supposed to come on a Tuesday but I was coming down with a cold. I tried to call but got no answer. By the time I got well and could go back over there I found out she had fallen and laid in her bathroom for 3 days. She did not have her phone with her and it was not charged. One of the neighbors found her.  A week later she fell again. She was able to get one of the neighbors to come over, but he was unable to get her off the floor. So they had to call the paramedics. This led to her finding out that they could have her removed from her home if they felt she was unsafe. She was unsafe. None of us had a regular schedule. We just went by when we could. All of us had talked to her about her situation. Then one of the neighbors sent a couple to work for her, to be her caregivers. They moved right in her house, essentially they have taken over her place. They even fired the yardman and moved their children and children's "friends" into the house and ton he property. At first, I was very suspicious. Still am a little bit.  A woman did the same thing to my grandparents and she was definitely taking advantage of them. I saw the same situation happening here. Her children were made aware, but still they don't take care of her. By this time close to a year had gone by, she had been to the hospital, almost lost her foot to diabetes, and fallen numerous times. Three people were running themselves ragged to see about her as best we could and still they didn't come. So, I started to wonder if it really is so bad that these people have moved themselves and their kin into her home and her life. She is no longer alone by herself in the middle of nowhere. There are people to care for her place and it looks lived in. She has 10 people now that eat dinner with her every night. She has the family that her children won't give her. She looks good. She looks happy. So she is getting as much as she is giving and as long as they don't abscond with all of her belongings and money leaving her high and dry, I am beginning to think she is in a better place than she has been for a long time. If she changed her will and left everything to these people that is her right to do so and I would almost say they deserve it more than the children do. They are the ones there...doing the hard work. It's hard aging and being alone. Maybe God sends us a family to fill the empty spot where there should be one. The idea of being all alone way out in the country with no one, but a couple of neighbors and a church member is not my idea of a good life. Don't get me wrong I love my animals, but they can't help me off the floor if I have fallen in the bathroom. I also don't want them to become such a burden that I don't enjoy them anymore because I can't properly care for them. If no one wants to be a part of my life then they certainly don't deserve to profit from my death. I really am beginning to see this as a God thing. After seeing her and seeing how alive she is.....I am happy for her. This "family" has definitely been a blessing for her. I still have a little bit of suspicion. I guess my skeptical side is worried about what will happen to her if they up and leave. She will be devastated. I will just have to pray that does not happen. I pray that they stick around and give Mary the family that she so desperately craves and certainly deserves.  Many blessings, Kat

The kind of "prepping" we don't like to think about

 We have always been "preppers" of one sort or another. When we were younger and broke we "prepped" by saving what we could and learning to do with as little as we could. This was the time that I learned to cook cheap meals, like baked potato and salad night,  that would stretch our budget. When we were a little less broke these were the times that we bought a few extra cans of tuna fish and candles for when the lights went out. As our budget expanded so did our "prepping" pantry along with our skill set. We learned to garden, preserve our food, raise livestock, make do with very little and save money even when there didn't seem to be any to save. However, there is one thing we really didn't think to prep for very much when we were very young....getting older. We did start saving for retirement at a decent age, so financially we were smarter than some but not as smart as others. We are playing a bit of catch up there, but the fact that we have almost no debt and will be completely debt free long before we retire will go a long way toward financial freedom. However, we did not realize how hard things would get physically. Homesteading is a very physical lifestyle. Had we realized how our older bodies would get slower and weaker, we would have prepped our homestead a little better. Let me explain a little bit. When we bought this little farm there were quite a number of repairs that needed to be done. The front steps on the house needed to be rebuilt for instance. Living in the south we know that wood touching the ground is never the best idea because of termites and rot. However, not thinking into the future enough we used wood to rebuild the steps on the front of the house and the barn. Now, 6 years later we have had to replace those steps. The work has been harder and it has taken us longer to complete. We have been smarter this time around. The steps to the barn are sold concrete block, no rot or bugs to worry about. We have  some painting to do to seal them against the weather, but then those block steps and flower beds will be there long after we are gone from this earth. No more redo. The steps for the front porch have concrete block pillars, but a wooden plank tread so that they match the front porch of the house. This is our trend now. Building things so that we won't have to repeat repairs. Our bodies are getting slower and weaker. Things like this are harder and take up more time. So this time we are working smarter in the hopes that by saving ourselves from having to repeat repairs we will be able to enjoy our little homestead longer. I hear of friends who are giving up their beloved life in the country to move to town because they can't keep up with the chores. It simply becomes a life of constant work instead of something that can be enjoyed from time to time. We don't want that. We want to stay in the country. We want to enjoy the life and the land that we have worked so hard to get it just the way we want it. What a shame it would be to have to give it up.  As homesteaders, this is important prepping. We need to start early financially preparing for our golden years. We also need to start early from the start preparing ourselves and our homestead physically for our golden years. Many blessings, friends!

Leaves Everywhere and the Message they Brought

 I had an orientation meeting to attend for my daughter's class she is taking outside of home this past week. The speaker told a story about herself that really touched me deeply. I work a part time job. I have also turned in my notice to leave said part time job because the attitudes and atmosphere has become downright toxic. The head cook treats people horribly, screaming and yelling, even throwing things in anger and rage. It isn't the same place that I started working at. The place that I started working at was run by a woman whose faith and commitment to God was strong. She truly believed in living for Him and her restaurant became a ministry that honored Him. Through that little country restaurant many lives were healed by Christ's love that shown through her. She gave opportunity to people who would otherwise have not gotten any. She loved on customers who had no one else. Her little restaurant became home to employees and customers alike. She retired last year and her family still runs the restaurant. While most of the employees call themselves Christian I would dare say that their behavior does not match their words. I have noticed it more and more. However, the past 4 months or so the atmosphere has become unbearable as I watch this person get away with nothing less than abuse. Mostly the abuse is directed at the young teenagers that work for us. They are all hard working, good kids. However, they are still kids who make mistakes or become lax in their work ethic. This is the place for them to learn from caring adults how to be better...how to do better. It shouldn't be the place where they are told that they are stupid, worthless, or even to have their hair pulled. The owners have been informed. They shrug it off and say they don't know what to do because she says she doesn't do these things. She thinks everybody else is the problem. She is proud in a way for her behavior. It's a toxic place to work and it shouldn't be....we are all Christians....we all talk about God's blessings, grace and mercy on a daily basis. So this brings me to the speaker's story yesterday at orientation. 

Her neighbor has a very large magnolia tree just inside his property line. If you know anything about Magnolia trees you know they shed large leaves and flower buds all over the place. This lady was sweeping her sidewalk in front of her home and noticed a large amount of magnolia leaves all over her perfectly manicured lawn that her husband had just spent hours mowing, weed eating, and edging. She got very upset and was tempted to go get the blower and blow the leaves back into the neighbor's yard. However, the Lord convicted her heart. Instead, she got a trash bag and started picking up the leaves by hand. After a bit of time a stout breeze came along and blew a good portion of them back into the neighbor's yard. It was as if the Lord were helping her to do the right thing. She continued to pick up what was left of the leaves until reaching the last leaf. This leaf was in the shape of a heart. The good Lord sending a message of "well done" to his faithful servant who had been open enough to feel his conviction. Her behavior that day honored the Lord, even though there was no one to see it and no one to hear any words she might have spoken in praise of Him. Very often as Christians our words are the only thing that praises and honors Christ our Lord. Our behavior though, brings Him shame. Our behavior contradicts our words of praise. It doesn't matter how many Christian songs are played, or how many "I am so blessed" phrases are said. When behavior dishonors God, not amount of "God is good" can make up for it. He sees how we behave and our behavior and our life should match the words that leave our mouth. We should aim to be more like Him everyday and He would never treat us with harsh, demeaning words. He would never rage when small corrections and teaching suffice. A simple story became a very profound realization for me. I plan to try and spread this message in as many places as possible, but especially among my current coworkers. Hopefully, some seed will be planted before I leave. Many blessings to you all. 

Mom's Cats Become Barn Cats

 

So, we have more critters than just the goats and the rabbits.  When my mother passed away there was a dilemma of what to do with her cats. She had 6, 4 of which were feral even though they would come up to her. We had trapped them at one time to have them fixed and vaccinated. Mom was the resident cat lady of her little town. She didn't actively seek them out...they sought her out. Make no mistake about it, Mom loved her cats and she loved that they would seek her out. Fortunately, the numbers really never got out of control as most of them were outside cats and they just don't have long life spans. Well, we hated to leave mom's cats to the new residents of her house. They had already made it very clear that the cats were not going to be welcome. So, the 2 that were domesticated love bugs were easy to move. Then we once again set about trapping the others. We managed to get 2 more before it was very clear that the new owners of the house didn't appreciate us returning daily to check the traps. We wished the cats the best and made our way home one last time. Moving cats is no easy thing. When you get them to their new place you have to confine them for a good bit until they are absolutely sure that the new place is their source of dinner. None of these cats had ever been confined and only one had been a partial housecat. The old cat, Buttons, would come in the house to eat and then whine to go back out. We tried to confine them in the barn, which was not designed to confine cats, especially determined feral cats. We also, were trying to decide how best to introduce them to the dogs in such a way that they dogs understood that they belonged here now. The 2 feral cats were the first to escape their confinement and were chased into the woods by the dogs. Then poor old Buttons, escaped before we could thoroughly train the dogs. Pumpkin the terrier got to her first and Titan was next. My husband saw it happen but could not get to her fast enough. Buttons death broke my heart. Mom had her for quite a number of years and she had been a fixture at mom's house for a long time. It was like losing my Mom all over again I guess because she loved Buttons so much. And then there is Mr. Gray. The dogs learned that the cats were off limits...they were mine. But by now our track record was not so great. We made sure that they dogs understood that Mr. Gray was to be left alone. That darn little terrier, Pumpkin, though is pretty stubborn and has to constantly be watched. For weeks after Buttons' death Mr. Gray lived in the loft of the barn only coming down at night. We fed him up there since it was where he felt safe. During the day he would lie on the roof of the walkway like a lion overseeing his territory. Now, he eats in the feed room and spends time with us in the yard. He truly only feels safe if I am outside or the dogs are inside. I thought he was all that we had left of our attempt to save Mom's cats, but just last week I had a surprise. Mr Gray brought a friend to dinner, Ace. Ace was Mom's black cat and he had been one of the two that took off into the woods. Ace had been a housepet that truly did not want to be a housepet. He was not quite as feral as the other cats, but he was only a pet on his terms....not yours. So now we have 2 cats, Ace and Mr. Gray. Ace we never see except at feeding time. I know when he is in the woods close by though because that little terrier starts running up and down the fence. Mr. Gray will hear us in the yard or the barn yard and come down to follow us around and receive a few extra scratches. For someone who really doesn't like cats very much, I must say I am happy to have these two cats around.