January 2015 Yeehaw Farm newsletter

January 2015? It’s just not possible. What happened to 2014? Well, I guess I’ll go with it because the calendar says it’s so.

Here at Yeehaw, we have been plugging along trying to make it through yet another cold winter. We are faring okay and the animals are too, I suppose. We have had some ups and downs this winter but this is to be expected with life, much less everything associated with a farm. Due to the cold weather, some of our sheep, goats and two calves came down with pneumonia and we lost a few to that sickness. We have also had just a string of bad luck with incidents that we like to mentally file under “just stupid shit that happens”. One of my favorite dairy goats lost her life when a large round hay bale toppled on top of her because of the heavy winds that we have been getting in central Pennsylvania this year. Stuff that I have never had to deal with has happened this year. But that’s farming. And that’s life. We are dealing with it.

In the good news department, as of today, we have six brand spankin’ new lambs on the farm. It seems that our ram conveniently hopped fences to breed some of our ewes in August, instead of November like I had hoped would happen. For once, I was planning ahead so not to have lambs born on these cold, snowy January days. I bet it happened when we were at the Perry County Fair in August as we are not around the farm to keep up on the daily happenings. I have to give it to our ram…he’s a sly dog, that one. When we returned home, he managed to jump back into his original pasture without us so much as knowing he had paid a visit to our ewes. About half the flock is due to lamb this month and early February and the other half looks like they will lamb in April. I guess we interrupted his plans to complete the job by returning home from the fair a bit early. Ha.

We also had a calf born the day after Christmas who we named “Cody”. His mother refused to care for him so we have this cute little fellow that we are bottle feeding. Cody has been enjoying the company of the lambs as they have become his new roommates. His mother Doll Lee, who was an orphan calf herself, doesn’t know much about mothering instincts. As it turns out, that’s okay as I am milking Doll Lee and we need her milk. Half of our dairy herd is in “dry cow” mode. Dry cow mode is the 60 day period that we allow our cows to rest up before they calve and we start the milking process all over again. That also means that we are a bit low on milk this winter so every bit of extra milk goes a long way. Milk production naturally goes down with the waning sunlight and add to that my unsuccessful attempt to have all the cows producing over the winter, we have been on a bit of a milk embargo. But the days are getting longer which will aid us in milk production. And soon, the cows will be eating fresh green grass and then? And then, we will have so much milk that we won’t know what to do with it all. It’s the cycle of farming. Whatch ya gonna do?

Our new farm store building remains much the same as it did in November. It’s still just a slab of concrete. But that all should change in the February as we ordered the lumber and are just waiting for it to be delivered. We have the doors, windows and inside fixtures ready and waiting to be installed. Well, almost everything is ready. Tommy and I still need to hash out a few arguments over some of our lights and siding. The saying goes if your marriage can survive a major building project, it will survive anything. The verdict is still out for us! Ha. Just kidding. No, really. I’m not. Ha.

In personal home news, I inadvertently left our bathroom faucet on after brushing my teeth one morning two weeks ago. I, then, left the house and didn’t return for three hours later. When I did return, I came home to three inches of water over our entire basement floor, not to mention the two inches in our bathroom, bedroom and upstairs closet. A mess doesn’t accurately describe this catastrophe. I have been working on our basement for almost two weeks now, trying to clean up the wet boxes and trash, diligently throwing out at least one or two bags of garbage a day. It’s been a very time consuming process but in the midst of all this, I am finding comfort in knowing that our basement will be clean and organized.  That’s truly a new concept for me. I have never been much of a house cleaner!

I think that’s all for now with the monthly Yeehaw Farm news. Here’s hoping for spring to be just right around the corner. In a couple more days, the groundhog will be sure to let us know his prediction. I know that I am eager to hear the birds chirping and the first glimpses of new birth on our farm. Wait. The lambs are already here. That means that spring is right around the corner. It’s coming! Yay!

(A post script since I wrote this newsletter on Thursday.) On Thursday evening, another freak accident happened on the farm. Another one of our large hay bales rolled onto one of our heifer cows, crushing her underneath it. We were able to get her out from underneath it and put in a long night tending to her. Since that time, she is still unable to get up so we are unsure of her future. That’s a bummer. But because I always try to see the silver lining in everything that happens on our farm, we were surprised with a litter of eight piglets born in the crisp, cold of last evening. All eight and momma sow are doing fine. It sure is cold out for the little darlings but they are snuggled into mounds of straw and seem to be just fine. See? Always a silver lining?

October 2014 Newsletter

A guess? Anyone?

Does anyone have any idea what my two youngin’s are doing?

My ten year old is wielding an ax and appears to be chopping ice? All the while, his little sister sits there (in the rain, no less) offering moral support.

So, any idea what they are doing?

Well, shoot. In that photo, it looks the said 10 year old almost chopped his foot off. 

Still can’t figure it out? Does this help?                                                                                                 

Well, I guess this photo doesn’t really help you either.  Other than, those two work well together when they want to get something done.  I bet it’s something really important.            

Oh, yeah, baby! Homemade ice cream is something really important!

Every Sunday, we have a big whompin’ Sunday dinner, in which it takes all day for my momma and myself to prepare and 15 minutes to eat.  We sit down to supper every night as a family (all nine of us) but Sundays…well, that’s the day when there is a huge platter of meat and extra fixin’s on the table. We bless the hands that prepared the food…in reality…that’s everyone in the family because no one is exempt from food production in this family. My blind brother? He can find those tators in the dirt with his hands when we harvest.  My elderly parents? My daddy still plows the ground and my momma churns the butter like nobody’s business. You can bet my youngin’s are not strangers to planting, hoeing weeds and picking beans.  If they want to eat, they better learn to produce the food too. Crankster? Well, let’s just say that he is really good at supervising all food production on this farm!

So, every Sunday in the summer, we have homemade goat’s milk ice cream.  In my opinion, and as much as I love cow’s milk, there is NOTHING like homemade goat’s milk ice cream. It is creamy and so, so rich. It’s just a ritual that we have in the summer.  Every Sunday = goat’s milk ice cream. The flavor of the ice cream changes weekly and is usually seasonal. If the cherries are ripe, then it’s cherry ice cream. Strawberries? You betcha, strawberry ice cream. This past summer, Cranky and I took the canoe to reach some of the blackberries that grew right out over the pond. Some of them fell into the pond (which we retrieved) but heck, no one noticed the taste of pond water that evening when we had blackberry ice cream. 

Homemade ice cream on Sundays is a rare occurence over the winter so when I hollered to the youngin’s to go cut some ice from the pond on Sunday afternoon, I was humored to find these two youngin’s bustin’ their butts to fill the tub with ice.  They had enough ice in there to make about 10 freezers full. There wasn’t any whining or complaining about me treating them like slaves like their normally is.

Them (whining) “But…Momma, why do we have to do it?”

Me (calmly, of course) “Because I collectively housed you in my belly for 36 months and never charged you rent! You do the math, you little twits.  That’s 36 months of rent free accommodations. Three freakin’ years…you terds owe me!” 

Them (complaining) “But…Momma, why do you make us work all the time? 

Me (soothing, of course) “Because I birthed you without so much as an Advil for pain medication for a combined 36 hours of labor for all of you twits. That’s a full work week for some employed folks. YOU OWE ME BIG TIME!”

Them (really trying my patience) “But…Momma, why are you so mean?”

Me (okay, at this point, screaming) “Because I’m married to your father, that’s why! Now, go do your work before I really lose my patience!”

Them (smuggly, of course) “But…Momma, you don’t even own one ounce of patience to lose it in the first place.”

Me (fully engulfed with rage)…just silence. I think the look on my face was sufficient. 

Them(scared silly)…silence from their mouths as well and scurrying away like rats. 

So, the answer to the million dollar question is…

Those little twits are cutting ice for homemade ice cream because the ice is free! And we all know how much I like FREE! And ice cream…I really like ice cream.

Enough already

If Ronald Reagan was still alive (and hypothetically,  if he ever stood in my living room because you know,  Ronnie and I were like, totally tight.  You know,  like, big time buds?), I know he would stand there, smoke blowing out his ears, reddened face, fist clenched and shaking it into the air, all the while demanding, “CHEESYCHICK, TAKE DOWN YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE!”

Okay…okay, I’m on it.

Geez…I really hate it when an ex dead president gets on my case about my Christmas tree that is STILL up.

Okay, really, it’s not Ronnie who is demanding that I take it down.  Cranky has put his foot down and my kiddos are embarrassed to have friends over because the tree is still up.

I liked it better when I pretended an ex dead president was telling me what to do.

It’s becoming an obsession and I’m concerned

One fish, two fish, DEAD fish!

So, I’m wondering.  Should I be concerned that all my four little twit children want to do is sit on our frozen pond and ice fish ALL day long?

What is that sitting in the middle of our pond?

That would be my four heathen children, one cousin and their little dog in the middle of our frozen pond…ice fishing.

There they are, four heathen children, one cousin and one little dog in the middle of frozen pond...ice fishing.

What’s wrong with them…seriously?

My oldest twit and little wonder dog sitting on the ice.

Yes, that child is sitting on the ice.  Has he no brain?  Or does choose not to use it?

My third son little twit sitting on the ice.

This boy evidently chooses not to use his brain either.  There must be something wrong with him too?

My second twit son sitting on the ice.

For the love of God, can’t one of them figure out that the ice is freakin’ cold?

Aha! Someone using their brain a little.

Thank you baby girl for using some of your brain cells.  At least there is hope for someone in this family.  But on the other hand, you are sitting on a five gallon bucket on the frozen pond in 20 degree weather trying to catch a fish.  Enough said.  I think you may have inherited the same disease as your brothers have- inability to use their brains for practical reasons.

Success...at last. If you call a fish a success story.

He is the champion, my friend…and he will keep on ice fishing to the end. (please sing this to the tune of  “We are the Champions” by Queen and you will dig it.  JUST DO IT, NOW!)

Okay, now that I have everyone singing, on to our previously scheduled program.

Wait…if I’m slightly deranged, then maybe that’s where my kiddos get their affliction for weirdness from.  Oh, geez…and I always blamed it on Cranky and his family genes.

Aren't these little ice holes cute?

So, I am worried a bit.  My punks love to fish.  They would rather fish than anything else in the world.  They had a chance to get off the farm today to get some culture but they chose to sit on that frozen pond…all day long. 

I worry when my baby girl fills out her first grade “get to know me” paper and it says she want to be a pro bass fisherwoman on it.  She wants to fish on the pro bass circuit.  When I was in 1st grade, I wanted to be a rodeo clown.  I didn’t even know there was a pro bass circuit when I was in first grade.

More dead fish. Nice.

You know that I am a huge advocate of the “Buy Fresh, Buy Local”  or the zero mile theory with food consumption, right?  Well, if you didn’t know, I am.  And as much as I buy into these well thought out and common sense visions of the ultimate food chain, I would rather buy Mrs. Paul’s frozen fish sticks that came from like, China or some other foreign country, than to sit on my bum on a frozen pond all day trying to catch fish for supper. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the common sense factor here.

"I want to be on the pro bass circuit too."

Great…even the dog’s brain is frozen too.  There has to be an end to this fishing madness.

I guess I could drain the pond.

It’s still Christmas, right?

I am thinking that it’s time to take down my Christmas tree…

Normally, I keep our Christmas tree up until February (or March or… okay, I have been known to keep it up until July) but considering that the needles are falling off and the ornaments are crashing to the floor, maybe it’s time that I took it down.  Rest assured, I have not turned on the lights for fear of it catching on fire.

Maybe I’ll do it tomorrow. Or the next day.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.

"Oh, geez, what the hell happened to you, Cheesychick?"

Well, I will just tell you… 

Way back in October, I had the wonderful luck of getting my one front tooth knocked out by our ill mannered pigs.  Yep, that’s the truth. I would not blame those stupid pigs unless they really deserved to be blamed.  There is a little more to the story than what I shared with my immediate family and I’m not going to share the ‘whole’ story with you either.  Let’s just say if I wouldn’t have been cursing at the pigs in the first place, then maybe my mouth would have been closed and just maybe, I would not have gotten my one tooth knocked out.  But that’s just theoretical.  Quite possibly, it was all fate and I was meant to get my tooth knocked out that day and it did not matter how it happened. 

So, to back track a little, when I was 19, I was in another accident and knocked out both my front teeth.  (Are we seeing a pattern here with stupid accidents?) I had to have extensive surgery and two crowns to get the front teeth problem fixed.  The dentist I had at the time was an old dude, something like 114 years old and quite possibly 40 years past retirement but he was cheap.  Remember? I’m all about cheap.  So, for just about 20 years, my teeth looked like this… 

I think that old dude dentist must have been drunk when he put these crowns on!

Yep, for just about 20 years, when I smiled, I had to cock my head so my teeth looked even.  It has always worked out except my youngin’s always are asking me, “Momma, why do you always turn your head like that? You look so stupid.”  We have always been about honesty in this family.

When I had the latest tooth mishap,  I called my new dentist, Tad and he got me in right away.  I call my new dentist by his first name, ‘Tad’, because…well, that’s his name.  My new dentist is a school chum of mine and our friendship history goes back to junior high.  Ever since 7th grade, Tad and I got stuck sitting next to each other because of the alphabetical alignment of our names.  My maiden name was Finkenbinder and his last name is Glossner.  There was this one kid, Brian Foose stuck in between us but let’s not talk about him.  (Sore subject for Cranky)  Anyway, about this friendship, Tad and I were really good friends out of circumstance…we were both geeks.  But not only were we geeks, we clicked as friends.  Back in those days, being a geek was not cool.  It was best to fly under the radar and hope the cool kids in the cliché did not notice you.  If they saw you or you drew attention to yourself, you were toast.  They never relented until you were in the fetal position in the bathroom stall, crying and trying not to breathe the smoke infested air.  Not that I have any experience with this humiliation ever happening to me…it’s just what I heard happened to some people.  (Therapy has helped me deal with some of these repressed emotions, but for the most part, I still have unresolved issues!  Cranky would whole heartily agree.)  

So, that’s why I can’t bring myself to call Tad, “Dr. Glossner”.  It seems so formal between us.  

So, like I was saying before I got sidetracked by my own story, Tad, my old friend and new dentist, got me in right away to see if he could fix my tooth.  Plus, I would have beat him up if he did not get me in the office right away.  It wouldn’t have been the first time that I beat him up and he is still afraid of me after all these years. 

Tad said, “Sure, I can fix you up!  While we are at it, let’s fix these crooked front teeth.  How about two new teeth instead of just that one?  It will only cost you $382,o12.00 for the extra crown.”  

I said, “Sure.”  At least that’s what I think I agreed to.  At that point, he had my mouth crammed full of all these dental appliances, mirrors, gauze, his fingers, his assistant’s fingers, and whatever else he could shove in my mouth cavity to shut me up.  I’m not really certain that “sure” is the exact word that I used that day.  It may or may not have started with a “S”. 

I agreed to crown lengthening surgery which really, really hurt.  Don’t let those people in the dental industry fool you…it hurts like hell. “You’ll just feel a little pinch.”  A little pinch, my ass.  

My gums had to heal in between the crown lengthening surgery and getting my new crowns so Tad gave me temporary front teeth. The only problem was that these temporary teeth were tobacco stained yellow.  He said, “This is the only color we have in the office to make your temporary teeth.”  Yeah, right, Tad.  I somehow think this was your way of getting back at me for something I did to you in junior high. Let it go, Tad, let it go. I thought it was funny, why can’t you find the humor in it? 

For three more weeks, I had to deal with tobacco stained front teeth.  Believe it or not, I just kept my mouth shut for 3 weeks. What? You don’t  believe that?  Get out. 

So, this week, 3 days before Christmas, Tad finally gave me my Christmas wish.  My two new front teeth.  But not before inflicting me with just a little more pain… 

Tad just had to inflict a little more pain on me.

 Isn’t there some code of ethics that dentists must adhere to when inflicting pain?  I’m thinking that the dentist should not enjoy it so much.  Tad called this little procedure, “electrosurge” or something like that.  I personally think he is full of crap and made it up to try to impress me. It sounds like a milking machine to me.  

And they say I have issues?  

But Tad is a good man and he really wants his money, all $382, 012.00 of it so he finally agreed to install my new teeth.  Taaa-daaaahhhh! Here they are. 

Those eight years of schooling paid off for Tad, no?

Tad, I just want to say…I’m so glad that I let you cheat off of me in biology in high school or you never would have become the fine dentist that you are. ( Ha ha ha, he he! I kill me!)

In conclusion of this super long blog about my teeth, I would also like to add that I’m just a simple girl and I only ask for practical things…well, except for the water buffalo. 

All I really wanted for Christmas was my two front teeth. 

P.S. Who out there thinks I should have asked for facial hair wax instead of the two front teeth?  Good gravy…that’s some moustache for a simple girl.

Another P.S. All photos courtesy of Tad…or he may charge me another $382,012.00 if I don’t acknowledge his photography skills.

My organization skills rock.

Do ya’ll know what this is?

It’s a twisted, mutilated, tangled mess of Christmas lights that has caused my nerves to tingle and twitch.

Sooooo glad that I put the lights away properly after taking down last year’s Christmas tree.  I am soooo happy about this ball of lights, I could just puke.  Bring on the holidays.

I don’t know what to title this post. “Move to Trash?”

I typed that headline in and it (my stupid computer) immediately asked me if I wanted to move my post to trash. What? How does it (my stupid computer) know that this post is going to suck? I’m thinking my (stupid) computer is smarter than me and isn’t so stupid after all. Maybe it’s my past track record with my posts. Okay, computer, you win. This post most certainly will suck but we aren’t going to move it to trash just yet.

Guess what? The farmer’s market is over for the season. Thank goodness to Joseph, Mary and the donkey they rode in on. (I stole that line from my partner, Katie. She uses it and I idolize her so I have to copy her!)  Anyway, I have nothing to do these days except blog. Ha ha ha ha. I’m so funny that I should go on tour.

No, really, I do have some extra time so guess what I have been doing? Cleaning my house. I just cleaned it, like, last May; I don’t know how or why it’s this filthy again.  I have one room done and I have found that all I do is stay in this room and stare at the cleanliness of it. I keep putting off moving to the next room.  The rest of the house is a disaster zone…I kid you not.

 Look…it’s clean. Wow. It only took me 4 days to accomplish this small feat. I shall now show you what kitchen looks like.

 I tried using the vaccuum to clean this mess up.

 Then I realized that the vaccuum was not going to do the job. It would require  an atomic bomb to rid the counter of this caked on, hardened flour mess. So, Cranky used this tool instead. Cranky has big muscles so he was able to manhandle the scraper without much difficulty.  My solution was to bring the pressure washer into the kitchen but after that mess the one time in the upstairs bathroom, Cranky frowns on me using it in the house anymore.  But geez, did that pressure washer ever take off the soap scum and residue in the shower! It also took off the tiles, the grout and the caulking but it sure was a clean shower. I was debating the use of fossil fuels verses harsh cleaning chemicals to clean that disgusting shower and the pressure washer won the heated debate inside my head. Plus, my pressure washer is just a hoot to use. I wrote my name on the shower walls with the power washer wand. Come on…you know a pressure washer is a cool little machine when it has the word, “wand” in it. It’s like magic.  Cranky bought me the pressure washer as a birthday gift one time. It ranks right up there with the best gifts ever like the tap head for my weed whacker and my rototiller. All gifts courtesy of the Crankster. That boy knows I don’t like diamonds or fancy dinners.  The way to my heart is power equipment and water buffalo. But why won’t he buy me water buffalo?

So, back to what else I have been wasting my time with. Oh, we went to get our Christmas tree yesterday.  Katie and her husband sell Christmas trees on their little farm so I bartered some whole wheat flour or something for a huge, huge tree. Here is the youngin’s with the tree they picked out.

They are punks, I tell you. Who dresses them?  Do they have a mother?  Evidently, she has no idea how to patch holes in clothing.

Here is Cranky inhaling carbon monoxide exhaust from the chain saw.  The heck with a bow saw for this job. We would still be there today if we let those youngin’s of ours cut it down with a handsaw. They would have got in some knock down, drag out fight deciding who gets to saw down the tree first.

And there the tree is…still on the truck. I’ll get it in the house one of these days…when I clear a path to get it in.  So, I better get this post finished or else move this post to the trash.

No jelly doughnuts. What the heck?

I’m back from my long, long day. And there were no jelly doughnuts to be found anywhere at the greenhouse plastic covering ceremony.  But in the good news category, I did learn how to set up my greenhouse and cover it with plastic.   I also learned the proper way to attach rocks to the plastic when throwing the attached ropes over the greenhouse roof.  This will avoid ripping the plastic like what happened earlier today.  Good to know. My mental greenhouse list of “what to do” and “what not to do” is full. I can now set forth with setting my own greenhouse up.  Now, I just need the ambition to do it.

Now on to really important stuff…Help me out here.  Is this normal?

Our Hereford bull who obviously thinks he is a dog.

Why can’t he be like the other cows?  Noooo. Our bull has to sit on his bum and act like a watch dog.

See? The other cows are normal.

What's up with him?

So, that’s what today’s post is about…the lack of jelly doughnuts at a greenhouse raising and our bull…otherwise known as “The Dog.”

I think I need to think of some new material.