Darlene

I'm with Violet...I'm making shampoo bars and soap bars along with sugar scrubs, bubble bombs and whipped body butters. I'll probably do some homemade bacon and Canadian bacon too. People really love the quality of homemade things.

I think we're ok till the spring, 2013. The last time everyone chipped in, it took care of the site for a while. I'll ask Annarchy but at least for now we're good to go although I'm sure Annarchy is going to ask for a vacation after all this lol.

 

FYI, we still have all the smilies. That's the important part, right?

Well, YEAH...of course that's the most important thing! We all need to be able to express ourself!

lol

Sheesh, I didn't really do much...Annarchy was the one who spent countless hours working on it. I just came in to mouth off at the people when they were being disrespectful and letting us just hang out there.

I'm so glad that we're back...((((annarchy)))) you are very much appreciated.

I've just sent them 2 inquiries asking for a status. It's been 24 hours since we last heard from them.

Annarchy is very professional in her coorespondence with them.

I, on the other hand, am getting a little annoyed (impatient?). I have no problem with things taking a little time...I just don't like being ignored.

I just wanted to remind everyone that Walmart will match other stores prices. I went Saturday to Walmart to pick up a few things that were awesome deals at Kroger...Land o Lakes butter for $1.99, Swanson chicken broth for $.49, Campbell's creme of mushroom and chickens soups $.69.

Check the stores sale papers around you before you go to Walmart because they will match their competitors prices. The butter I got was a steal compared to regular prices...Walmart's price on it was $3.48 so to get it for $1.99 was awesome.

lol@Annarchy.

I don't know what we would do without you to help us through this mess.

((((a))))

Update (I'll give them as often as I have them...)

Annarchy has put in the request to our message board people to do an immediate message board upgrade. They haven't answered yet but our request is in the process.

That's it for now!

I just wanted to let y'all know that we're going to have to do a message board program upgrade. It's glitching and causing problems so I've talked with Annarchy and she is contacting the people to get this upgrade done.

We've needed to do it for a while but when is there ever a 'good time'? As usual, circumstances have dictated that now is the time we need to do it, good or bad lol.

I don't have any details yet as to when this will happen and I don't know if I'll be able to notify everyone before it happens BUT, at least y'all will know WHAT is happen in the case of you not being able to get on the message board.

Once we're done with this things should run smoothly again for everyone which is the most important things.

If anyone has any questions feel free to email me at babeshades@yahoo.com. I'm sure Cat will be along to share her email address too in case anyone wants or needs to get ahold of her too.

If you just bought it from the store I would take it back. If not, I'm not aware of any way to get the bad taste that the butter absorbed. I tend to use the butters that do that in cooking vs. on toast because the bad taste will get lost in the other flavors.

........This is MtRider on Darlene's computer [easier than the iPod!]

RE: Pajama contest.

Since I was traveling light [airplane], I borrowed PJ's from Darlene. Not the Snoopy's tho. I told Darlene "Ironic, isn't it? The one and only time I'm wearing something that has 'Victoria's Secret' printed all over it and....it's FLANNEL PAJAMAS!

I'm taking Koa back to [snowing] CO tomorrow. She's gained weight and we went for a leash walk today. Koa met chickens and pigs and the long hill going down to the garden. [carried her back UP ] Pray all is well for our trip and the snow doesn't get crazy. I am NOT ready to jump from glorious fall weather to WINTER.

OTOH...Hurricane Sandy is eyeing GA....

It's always something. SOMEone has been lobbying for MrMtRider and I to make our move to good old Georgia. ....snakes???

Anyway, it's been a great time, even tho vetting sick pups and then birthing [well, Dawn thot she was doing that part...] the new puppies...and a dozen other activities - planned and definitely NOT planned! And that 3 months of Low Carb diet I was on..... I've eaten SO much cuz it's SO good!

I've learned FIRST HAND so much about Kangals. And about pots. Lotsa pots. MtRider has 1,000 books. Darlene has 1,000 pots....large pots! Never did learn to milk the cow with the milking machine. And we didn't get to continue our tradition of digging those huge Georgia sweet taters this time. Did feed the bees.

So mebbe I'll be back on here more often once I get back to my laptop. Unless I'm out playing with Koa. That pup is gonna have MrMtRider wrapped around her tiny little tail in 24 hrs flat! Am I right, Gather-Attendees? Those puppy dog eyes!

MtRider

I'm very curious about how Darlene and her children feel about wooded areas, coming from the city into where people live there.

 

When we first moved to the country from the suburbs, the children were very afraid of their new environment. All they had known was a neighbor's house 100ft away so to have the expanse and to not even be able to see a neighbor's house was very scary for them.

Our first night here was probably the most frightening for them...I think they thought I had moved them into "Deliverance" country.

It took time to replace the old experience with the new experience and these days they don't even think twice about it. I'm sure they feel crowded when they visit family in the suburbs because these days it feels wierd to have neighbors so close together.

(((momo))) I'm so sorry to hear about hubby...I hope he feels better soon. We sure will miss you being able to come though.

Melissa, you take care of your knee and hopefully you'll be able to join us next time!

Wormie here...Ma & Pa steel just arrived! And we are watching one of the dogs to see if she is gonna have her puppies tonight. Mt. Rider is sitting with her now waiting.

John

Well, MomM and MrMomM have headed down to the big city to pick up Mt Rider. Last I heard they had gone out to lunch and were shopping at Walmart.

Gunplumber (what a kind and helpful man inspite of being a brat in the written word sometimes lol) has spearheaded the "winter heat" project. Going through the piles of wood that I have, organizing it in the most brilliant manner on pallets that looks so neat and organized.

It's things like that that make me emotional...sometimes (most times) it's easy to get overwhelmed with the over abundance of things to do around here so when someone steps in and says "I NEED to find something to do" and just jumps in, it means more than words can express.

Lovinit and her hubby are on their way...Ma and Pa Steele is on her way with some of her family members.

I have a pot of chili going so it will be an easy dinner tonight.

I wish all of you could be here...there's something very special about sitting face to face with those you've come to know and love here at MrsS

Well, wormguy got in yesterday afternoon safe and sound!

I immediately started him working! We need CHEESE for dinner in a couple of days so I decided to give him a crash course in mozzarella making! He really did awesome and was amazed that after you make the mozzarella, you can make ricotta too! I don't know if the cheese will last...it tastes so good that it's hard to not take a little bite and then another and another...

MomM and MrMomM should arrive late this afternoon/evening so that will be exciting! Gunplumber should be here tomorrow and then the rest should get here on Thursday.

I just started up the wood smoker so I can teach wormie how to make homemade canadian bacon so I'm excited to see how that comes out. It smells good so far!

We'll keep y'all posted!

Last night was the first night I fired up the woodstove. I'm with Cat...I've just had this gut feeling for a couple of months that this will be a harsh and hard winter so I'm frantically trying to get everything in order before it hits because I've spent too many winters working outside and am desperate to not have to do that again.

When I woke up this morning there were still a few coals in the stove so I added some more wood and have it on low. It's going to be chilly here for a couple of days until it warms back up to normal fall temperatures so right now the heating is fun...cast iron pot on top of the stove filled with water, apples and cinnamon sticks to give the house a nice aroma.

All too soon it will be just another chore lol.

It's obvious that it's best that you are not involved anymore in the care taking of your parents but I can't escape the fact that regardless of however compromised they may be, they still have valid feelings too.

The break is hard and that's understandable...I'm sure it's heart wrenching on both sides.

Dee, he looks almost exactly like mine does lol. I'll post a pic with this post too...it's of him just after he was born.

Actually CGA, it's easy to skim the cream off the milk. I just put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours and take a ladle and skim it off that way so you wouldn't have to deal with a cream seperator. Plus, there are hand crank cream seperators that you can get too if you prefer to do it that way.

You can look into a "percentage" dairy cow...one that is a cross between a minature and a standard size. That's what my calf is...1/2 minature/1/2 standard which will bring the size down. The Jerseys are on the smaller size of the dairy cattle and are smaller than my Angus. When you train them to lead and such they're pretty easy to handle.

I've built acres and acres of fencing and my experience has been a little different. It might be the geographical locations. In fact, I've had people stop and say it was the nicest fencing they've seen and mine is pretty much just PT wood posts and high tensile wire. I have some areas where I have the woven wire or field fencing but for me, the high tensile was the most economical way to go and the best part is it keeps every single animal I have on the farm within that particular pasture. No digging, no climbing...shocks have trained the animals to respect the fencing and leave it alone.

What I've learned is that the most important part to any fencing is the corners. If the corners sux, the rest of the fencing will suck and not last. Up here in the mountains we have alot of rocky areas and I've used augers and dug post holes by hand. the PT wood posts are about the same price as the Tposts too. Corner posts need to be 3' deep and there is a wonderful gravel by-product called "M-10". It's alot cheaper than concrete and does close to the same thing but regardless of the soil, the M-10 will pack and solidify to some extent and hold the post tight. All the "line posts"...the posts inbetween the corners do nothing but hold up the fencing and/or wire so they are not nearly as important as the corner posts.

For pulling Tposts there is a tool that pulls them out very easily and quickly. Like most things, trying to accomplish a job with the necessary tools vs trying to accomplish a job with plan B's, C's and D's are 2 different things.

Just the other day I was reminicing about Westbrook and how she taught me one of my foundational concepts when I moved to the farm...

"Make it work".

It's amazing, with a little perseverance and creativity how we can make something work. It may not always be stellar looking but as long as it does the job, who cares. lol

I'll try to take some pictures of my fencing later this morning. It's still dark out so I have to wait lol.

Good job Annarchy! She's been busy freshening our emoticons up!

Oh Dee...I'm so glad to hear that while the harvest is poor, it's enough to cover expenses. I've thought about y'all alot the last couple of months wondering how your harvest will be. Thanks for sharing that!

Deb, whether you take a bus or fly just know that we will make sure there is someone there to meet you and pick you up to bring you to the farm so don't worry about that at all. I just hope you'll be able to make it!

And MomM...the more I look at Koa, the more I think she resembles her new mama.

lolol

Well, Mt Rider, you might as well see your new daughter!

Meet Koa!

awwwwwwwwwww Andrea, I'm sorry you won't be able to make it but I do understand.

I'd like to get an updated head count as to those whose plans haven't been interrupted by "real life" and will still be coming...

So, I'll be here with 2 of my children.

Who else will be able to make it for sure?