Storm Shelter

Growing up where we did, and now living where we do and in what we live in, we bought a storm shelter.
Arlis dug a hole, by hand, until it was quite deep.  But then he hit rock and we had to call in the big guns.

 The jackhammer of the backhoe scared the chickens, and made one guinea fly off (he came back).

 And many hours later...He finally dug through the last of the feet needed...

 And the shelter was brought in...hmmm...it looks awfully small...

 Overtarred so as to prevent moisture leakage.

 Just outside our front door.

 Cover it up a bit

 It looks good, but it's still not done.  We have dirt to mound on top and sides that's coming the next day.

 Inside.

 I'll just blow away, thank you because you are NOT getting me in there!

We were hoping to double it as a root cellar, but it really is too hot.  The top and door have to be left uncovered so we have a vent on top, and can get in.  This allows the sun to heat it up too much.  I hope it's not too hot when we have to use it!

Now, the really cool thing is this.  We advertise with cookouts.  So, we offered Dexter burgers to the crew.  The crew have friends/relatives that raise Angus.  They said our meat (with NOTHING added) was the best they ever had.  Now, Angus used to be that way, hence it's popularity in the day (now it's just a fad name).  But then the commercial breeders got involved and went stupid, and now they're all grain fed just like all the other meat on the market.  (Even a Holstein is the best meat you've ever had if pasture fed-and that's from buyers and their cookout guests' mouths!!)  Soooo....they're calling up their Angus friends to tell them to switch.  We gave them a long speech about grain/pasture and that if you grain feed Dexter, it'll kill the point of it all and will be awful.  They said they would pass it along.  One guy runs 80 cows of his own.  He wants one of our bulls for first time heifers.  Cool.  But the really cool part was that the fill dirt was free.  Now, I'm not saying it was the Dexter beef for sure, but Southern hospitality did seem to help us out for about....$350 that day.


Here's the owner smoothing out the top...it was my day off

 It looks real nice now.  And hopefully, we won't really need it. We've sprinkled grass seed, and we'll sprinkle some clover seed as soon as I get more from the store.  Then it'll look real nice.  I'm also thinking of pretty little flowers around it...hmmm.

How to Dry Herbs

It's time for a new "how to" blog.  Well, my oregano is waaaaay overgrown, so I decided to go ahead and dry some herbs for the winter.

See the green bush on the bottom right...no, over a bit more, no left, up....oh never mind.   That's oregano.  (this has been a difficult year)

 Mint

 Oregano

 And the little tiny pine tree is rosemary.  Now, rosemary lasts forever, and I even had fresh rosemary last winter, so I'm leaving it along for now at least.

 Cut young fronds.  Some of mine were going to seed.  Do NOT eat those.  You can tell when they are too old as they will be taller, bigger, and the leaves more spread out.  They stand out from the other fronds.  (oregano)

 Rinse them off real well.  Do this NOW as it's impossible once it's dried.  Line the cut ends up together.

 Lay whatever type of string you will use underneath.  Do not put too many together.  Just a small bunch so they can dry completely.

 Tye a square knot.  You want it tight, but don't break the stems.  Be sure to leave leaves on top of the knot to catch the string so the herbs don't slip and fall.

 Hang in an everyday room.  The basement is too cold and damp.  You want a place you will be normally.

That's it!  Now, bear in mind, USING dried herbs of this fashion is different than you're used to if you use "canned" or even fresh herbs.  Take a leaf or too CAREFULLY off so as not to lose other leaves, and crush in your hand over the food.  The crushing releases oils that will make it taste like you're using fresh.  If you chop the herbs or crush them before hand, you'll lose all flavor and you might as well go buy them from the store.  (I've bought plenty, as you can plainly see, so I'm not bashing that)  If you've only ever used store bought, test this in a well known recipe, and go gently, as you are probably not used to the flavor.  ENJOY!!

Ant Problem

A lot have had ant troubles.  Not me.  We just had one ant.

 OK, OK, we've had sugar ants, but it's that time of year.  Terro just lives on the counters and shelves this season.  FYI, that is one of those collection tubes for blood collection of pregnancy checking on cattle.  (Don't ask what's in the fridge)

 And here's a quarter to show you the size...and a lady bug...that's dead...I guess I need to clean.

 

I put the tube on top of it and drug it off the shelf onto our electrical bug swatter.  It's a tennis racket with metal instead of strings, batteries, and a nasty shock to insects....hee hee hee.

My job at Wal Mart

I recently got a job.  A job a at Walmart.  Now here's where it all comes to a head. I have actually pondered over this blog for several days.  That's pretty stupid.  If I were to say "I got a job as a stripper!"  Everyone would say-oh how wonderful that you're willing to support your family.  Instead, I have a secure position with people I like in a town I like for....pretty much no pay (although it is more than I was getting at the playhouse).  But it's something.

Here, there are no places to work.  I went to orientation with people driving from all over to get to work.  Insane.  But I like living where I do.  I like that I don't work with a bunch of drunks who sleep with each other.  I like that no one is trying to compete with me for the new position every few weeks.  And I like that gossip is GREATLY discouraged and there's a zero retaliation policy.  Sweet.  (And for those of you working in offices, you know EXACTLY what I mean).  I don't have to work up reports at the end of the night, keep up with and subscribe to all the journals of my field, go to seminars and conferences every other week.  Or work 20 hours off the clock and 60 hours on.  I'm married to my husband, not my career, and my priorities are God and family, not my supervisor and advancement.

So yes, I made straight A's, took all the hard classes graduated college with honors with some crazy degree everyone cringes at when they hear the name, but I work at Wal-mart.  And I like it :P!

First Harvest

We just ate our first harvest.  We collected seeds from the lettuce we grew last year and planted it in the garden this year.

 From transplants

 And in the freezer-turned raised flat

 A month or so later, we have salad!!  Red romaine, regular romaine, red leaf, and butter crunch.  Yum!

 So then, on our way to remove a previously stuck chainsaw from the tree in the woods, we notice...strawberries!

Early this year...
We haven't kept up with the weeds this year (not that we ever kept them where we should have)
This is clover, which here, is a weed.  That bend is my knee.  The clover can get over 2 feet tall and HUGE!

 Here is about half or less of our strawberry field.

 

Today's pick

 We pick every day for about 2 hours when they really come in, and weed a good bit as well.  This lasts for about a month.  We get so many, we drink smoothies, make toppings, and lots and lots of fruit leather.

 With our dehydrator.

 Just add a good quart of capped and cleaned berries to the blender with a 2-3 spoons of sugar.  Blend and pour onto the fruit leather tray of the dehydrator (which looks dirtier than it really is).  First harvest is always a good day of celebration!

Spring calves

We have a problem this year.  We have more customers already lined up than we will have calves.  That's a good problem.  But in hope, we have the first one born this year.  We named him King, just like his older brother, because he is destined for slaughter.  But, he sure is awful cute until then.

Betsy keeps him well hidden when he's asleep and she wants to go for a walk or something.  We have a hard time finding him sometimes.

 Hey dad.

 Hey son.  Fargo is the best bull in the world, and Betsy is the best mother.  Fargo really misses his boys when they leave, and plays with them when they're young.

 We bought a new cow-Pepper.  She came with lice, so she's being treated for that.  She's older, 10, but she's got the best disposition and is so sweet.  She should calve soon too from the looks of her.

 Here are the chicks we hatched for our neighbors that are pointless and rude.  Don't say come over any time if you don't mean it, and don't ask us to hatch you a bunch of chicks if you aren't going to get them.  Chicks anyone?

Religious Extremism

I go out of my way to keep my opinions to myself about religion and politics.  It keeps my job and allows me to keep customers.  But recently, I discovered I am a religious extremist.  Yes, me.  Here is why:

I follow God's commandments.
I do not believe the Bible is to be changed or interpreted other than the way it is written.  I believe in a literal Bible.  If God wanted us to be confused all the time, and try to "figure out" what He meant, He would have a riot on His hands come Judgement Day.
I do not follow man's traditions, or the current fad.

That, to me, is not extremism.  To me, extremism was adding things in that weren't really there, making it part of your core belief, and them getting violent about it.  For example, abortion clinic bombings.  God gave us pretty strict rules for a religious state, but we no longer live in that religious state, and we are now to show love and kindness even to those who sin against God.  If you feel abortion is wrong, don't bomb the people, that is bad and makes those who believe in God look bad.

What concerns me is that the "norm" is becoming less and less accepting of my religion.  For example, find me a job where I can NOT work on the Sabbath.  Go ahead, but I'm not waiting b/c you won't.  And don't say you will b/c teachers are called in on Saturday to make up snow days, workers are always called in on the weekends, and most jobs just expect you to work Sabbath as a general rule.  If you don't, you will be let go.  They will find or make a way to let you go, and good luck suing them.  And don't tell me "well, they expect you to worship on Sunday."  That's their problem not mine, and I've spoken with many "Christians" who have no problem at all working on their sabbath and think it's ridiculous to do otherwise.  If they weren't called in, they'd be mowing the lawn, going out to eat (making others work), painting the house, cleaning out the garage....

If you tell someone that you cannot do that b/c it goes against your beliefs, you are again let go, or exempted from the group (child's sports teams, drama club, etc)

If reminds me of the laws that say you don't have to give your such and such info to people trying to hire you, but if you don't, you won't be considered for the job.  So, you do have to.  I actually signed a government contract where it said "Under code blah blah, you are not required to give us your SSN, but optioning not to do so will eliminate you from consideration".  Yeah, that's real freedom isn't it...  Sort of a pointless rule, don't you think?

So, go ahead, call me an extremist.  Apparently it's something I'm going to have to get used to.  But just for the record, I have no intentions of stoning people or blowing up demonstrations, and I will still try my very best to keep my opinions to myself no matter how much others don't.