Quilting #2...

Well in hopes you have gathered some supplies I will reiterate some things I said before.
Gather 3 different colors of material, and one with some type of print that coordinates with the other two. You will need approx. 2 yards each and iron on ironing board. The first thing you will need to do is to gently wash the material for shrinkage purposes. Do it on a gentle cycle and I would suggest you use masking table along the edges to prevent raveling as it is washing and drying. In addition take the material out before it is "completely" dry" to help you iron it easier. When ready to iron fold in half length wise. As you iron make sure the edges match....when you are done folding and ironing reducing the size of each piece you will begin cutting. Bu this is your first assignment. Continue ironing. folding and refolding until there are approx 6-8 layers. No more than that. The cutters should have no problem getting through it. We will begin cutting in tomorrows message. But for now wash iron fold and get your sewing area ready :D

Quilting Made Easy....Trash To Treasure :D

If you have a sewing machine....can cut and sew a straight line....you can quilt! I am going to take you step by step on a journey into quilting. It is a very inexpensive but a very useful rewarding hobby. In today's economic times everyone is looking for ways to save money. These quilts cost next to nothing, are one hundred percent better quality than store bought quilts. In addition they make great birthday or Christmas presents. Saving you tons of money and creating keepsake items to be passed down from generation to generation.

Where and What to buy

The first step is to discuss material. I have spent years collecting material. I don't really consider anything except basic quality and price. I go to Wal-Mart and dig through the mark down isles and look for patterns and solids that appeal to me. You don't want material that you can A) see though B) is very thick and would be hard to work with. I generally get a minimum of 2 yards of anything I buy. But realistically you can work with less than that. I have also gone to garage sales and found some great deals on materials. I have found great deals at estate sales. The more you save the better. The more variety you have the better. I also bought some of the cheap book cases at Wal-Mart to organize my material by season and color for easy reference.
I keep my eyes open for thread that goes on sale. I buy as many variety of colors they offer and never less than two spools of each. Stock up on basic colors such as Black, White and earth tones. I seldom get the cheapest but don't get the most expensive....you want it to hold up but save as much money as you can. Batting is the cotton that goes in the middle. You don't want the real thick stuff..too bulky and hard to work with. I usually use about 1/2-1 inch. I recommend two pairs of scissors.....and a scissor sharpener. You will need em. You will need quilting pins....they are longer and better straight pins...and a ton of safety pins. You will need a "roller cutter" to cut your material with. Hard, Plexiglas type patterns are necessary, so is a cutting board. Collect all these items before you begin. You "can" use a regular sewing machine...I always have...if you have a quilting sewing machine even better.
After you collect all of these things organize your sewing area. You will save tons of time, frustration and energy if you do. You can get just about any type of storage totes etc you can think of at Wal-Mart or a store that specialized in organization items. Once you get everything you need, organize it....we can begin sewing!! I will do at least one post a week reguarding this. So come back often and "LETS SEW" !!!!!

Another Day

I was sitting at my computer watching the calves jump around and play with each other. They are so dang cute when they are young. I love watching em. They will kick up their back legs and take off running and bouncing all over the place till mama makes em calm down. That is common when they are young because their energy supply is small.

I got up close to our newest addition and found it to be a bull. Ugh...that's not what I wanted. I wanted a hefer for breeding....looks like this guy will probably go in the freezer or to the sale. Don will have to cut the baby bulls soon. They gain weight much faster if you cut em when they are young. You must do it within about 2 weeks or they get too big to handle. As you can see mama is standing next to calf and she is cold black as is his dad...have no idea how we got this. It will be interesting to see what he brings at the sale or how much he cleans up to at the butcher.

You can also see the ears are long and wide spread....that shows the angus in him. On his head he looks like a baldie...but baldies aren't white. They have white on their foreheads but not on their bodies. Interesting.....

If you've never had beef that was range fed you missed out on something good. I don't know why it tastes different but it does. In addition there are no additives so therefore it is very lean. Now days you buy meat at the grocery store and they add so much water/grease to it you don't get much meat! Wal-Mart is one of the worst at doing that. I used to love their meat...but in the last couple of years it leaves a lot to be desired.
For those of you that don't know or ever wondered a side of beef will completely fill an average upright freezer. For a family of 4 it will last approx. 6 months. When wrapped in paper the shelf life is six months. You can check your news paper and find someone who sells em like that and you end up paying approx .70 cents a pound for processing plus what the farmer wants for your half of the cow. When hamburger is running 2.00 a lb. you are getting more bang for your dollar. I would ask before I buy if it has been treated with hormones, what kind of cow it is (black angus is the best) and was it range fed or locked up. Range fed is healthier.
If you have a little land and there are no restrictions you can go to the local sale and pick up a yearling (very young calf) for about 1.39 a pound. If it weighs 400 lbs (avg.) then you will pay about 550.00 for the calf. however they gain averaged 1-2 lbs a day grazing. When they weigh about 8-900 lbs...are 8 mos. to a year old...you can take em to be processed. They will clean up to approx. 60% of their weight....giving you about 550 lbs of meat. Soooo your original investment of 550.00
                                                         processing    385.00
                                                            total           935.00   Now go in half's with someone and split it....your final cost is 467.00. So you just got approx. (these are all estimates) 400 lbs. of meat for 467.00!! That means your average price per pound is a little over a dollar a pound for "all" cuts. That means, steaks, brisket, roast, burger etc. Compared to Grocery store prices you just made a killing and got a much better quality of product! Got ya thinking didn't I hahahah
If you have any questions regarding this....send me a note or comment and I will be glad to help.

Sometimes life changes....roll with it!!

I raised 4 kids pretty much single handed. I was very lucky to have a good paying job....and we never really wanted for much. The kids grew up, I remarried buying a farm in the country to raise cattle....which had been a dream of mine for quite some time.

Originally the farm was quite a bit of work. We bought raw land getting a better deal...but basically it meant a lot of sweat equity. There was nothing on this land except coastal hay. It was beautiful though with green pastures and a nice creek running through it. In the evening you could sit and listen to it run as you unwound from a long day.

First we built the fences, then the cross fences. After that a couple of storage bldgs., a well house to protect the well we had dug, had a stock tank dug, a septic put in, lean-2's for the cows, and a large corral. It was never ending work. But I loved it, and things begin to take shape. After about 8 months of working on it we decided to build our house later due to how expensive this project had become and begin shopping for a mobil home as a temp. residence. We found a triple wide mobil home at a great price and bought it. We moved in couple months later. 

I will never forget how excited we were finally getting to move out to the land. It was awesome! Things were moving along at a rapid pace till the unexpected happened....I got hurt.

I was making dinner one day, frying hamburgers in the kitchen. Hurrying along as we often do so we can relax from a busy day. Suddenly I slipped in some greese that had splattered on the floor falling. I fell so hard I bounced! Now mind you I was in excellent shape. Worked out several times a week, worked a very physically demanding job in the mail service, and then came home and worked on the farm. I was in my mid 40's and in better shape than most 20 year olds these days.

When I fell I immediatly knew something was very wrong. Having never really been "hurt" I assumed it would go away and heal. The next few days I was having great difficulity walking and hurt something awful..but it still never occurred to me to go to the doctor for some reason.

On day 3 I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. After returning I climbed into bed and heard this loud pop. I literally felt the bones in my pelvis move, scrape each other and then snap!! At first I was afraid to move, thinking to myself...'oh my God, I really did hurt myself". Eventually I got up the courage to try to get out of bed and check things out. When I did I found I could walk and move with no problem! No more pain! I thought to myself "I dislocated something and it just went back into place"! I went back to bed having to go back to work after a few days off.

The next morning I got up as usual to go to work and found once again it had moved and I was in a lot of pain and could barly walk. So this time I had my husband take me to the emergency room to see what was going on. The hospital said I had fractured my pelvis and sent me to a doctor by the hospital. That was the beginning of my nightmare.

To make a long story short...I got sent from doctor to doctor only to be told different things, none of which helped me with the malfunction and pain. Basically after six months of insurmountable medical bills and still in pain and difficulty walking I had to quit my job. A job I had been at for 18 years and only 8 from retirement. Yes I tried disability but due to the fact I couldn't get a real diagnosis from anyone I couldn't get it! Unbelievable!!

Suddenly I found my life totally different. My Independence was gone, the job I'd worked most of my life was gone, and normal day to day things became a struggle. Not to mention the economic hardship that seemed to never end from the doctors I paid that never did anything. That's a large problem with the medical community these days, they get paid whither they do anything or not! 

So began my journey of a new existance. I had to "re-create" my life. I felt helpless, some what depressed, afraid, and had no idea what to do with my days. At first I didn't do much, just focused on my hobbies that were non physical. Like crocheting, sewing. It was very hard to go to the grocery store, so most of the time I waited for my husband. Life for me had totally changed in the blink of an eye.

Fast forward 10 years......

Well I guess you could say I've given up on doctor's lol I have learned to live with my disability. We made it financially and I adjusted. I still get aggravated cos I'm so hard headed and independent...but I decided to move forward and not look backwards at something I cannot do anything about. I have focused on the farm to make money on cattle. Started a facebook account and have made friends I now play games with during the day.

I think one of the major causes of depression in folks is the "inability to accept reality and move on". But one thing for sure in life is that things are going to change as you get older and either you learn to roll with it or it will destroy you. I chose to roll haha I don't like it...but I've learned a new reality and found other things to occupy the overwhelming drive I have to "be busy", and to "be goal oriented". And it works for me. Naturally I still have some down days, especially when I am hurting more than usual. I have to go to pain management cos I hurt every day and some are worse than others. But I didn't quit living....and being thankful for the things I have left. I have found there are always other's that have it worse than you. And you "choose" your mindsets cos after all, only you are in control of that. So if you are dealing with an illness, family problems, handicap, or anything that changes life for you just remember it could always be worse and there are still many things left you can do. Happiness is a choice...choose wisely (wink wink).
Currently I can walk fine...but there is still something that causes me pain...arthritis has set in so weather changes make a difference. But other than that...all is well in my world lol

anotherday

Today I was sitting playing poker on facebook when my husbands said there'd been a change to the farm. I looked at him thinking to myself "what have you done now". He told me to go to the back door and see for myself. So I got up from my computer (which takes an act of congress lol) and headed to the back of the house to see what he was talking about.
I pulled back the drapes on the sliding glass door and looked several different directions till something caught my eye.Way out by the stock tank stood one of the heifer's we had been watching. It was time for her to calf...being her first one we were keeping an eye on her in leu of what we had recently been through. Now mind you we raise black angus. Mama's are black and our bull is black. Once in a great while we get a baldie (black calf with white on its forehead) but I had never in all our years on this farm had seen a calf like this. Nor are there any genes to support it to my knowledge. Standing next to her was a solid white calf with a few black marks on face!! Oh my God I caught myself saying aloud. How in the world did that happen?? It looked more charolais than angus.

Quite popular in Australia and used for cross breeding. The generally have more meat less fat. They are not very common a breed "anywhere" in the U.S. They were originally imported to Mexico by a guy named Jean Pugibet In 1930. The first one's in Texas went to the Kings Ranch in 1936.
Charolais are white or creamy white in color, but the skin carries appreciable pigmentation. The hair coat is usually short in summer but thickens and lengthens in cold weather. Charolais is a naturally horned beef animal. But through the breeding-up program, where naturally polled breeds were sometimes used as foundation animals, polled Charolais have emerged as an important part of the breed. Charolais cattle are large with mature bulls weighing from 2,000 to well over 2,500 pounds and cows weigh from 1,250 to over 2,000 pounds. And I have never seen a charolais bull out this way anywhere that could have even snuck over lol. So to say I am still standing here scratching my head is the understatement!
A mix of Charolais and angus is popular in some places because of the growth rate and the quality of beef. So all I can figure is that it must be a recessed gene of some sort that gave us this calf. Needless to say this one will be kept for future breeding on this farm if nothing else to see what it produces. The down side is they pretty much always have horns...and we don't keep anything with horns. Have seen too many people injured and one with horns tends to dominate the rest of the herd.
Here's another pic I found of a cow calf combination of Charolais

I am still in amazement .......will keep ya posted ;)

Will get a pic of it when she lets us close enough and 

you can judge for yourself :)

interesting day at the farm.....

I was sitting today at my computer...where I practically live lol and out the window I noticed our one month old calf studying something by the fence. I watched her as she moved closer and closer to the strands of barb wire.  She was staring at it as if to say what is that? There was a large paint horse standing there looking down at her, quite a giant in her eyes I'm sure. I sit and ponder thinking to myself..."she may not have seen the horses yet". I sat there watching her stare intensely at that horse as it moved its muzzle along the ground in front of her. I don't think the horse noticed her for it was quite engrossed in what it was doing. Then I noticed a shadow on the ground next to her.....
I stared at it from several different angles trying to see what it was to no avail. Most things are quite a distance out here with many acres.  So I got up and got the binoculars we keep for such an occasion so I could see better. I put them up to my eyes adjusting them until I could focus better on the the horse and what it was focused on.  Low and behold it, once I looked on the ground next to the paint I saw it was a baby colt! Evidently hers and not even up yet. She cleaned the colt little by little as you would a fine piece of china. The calf and I were watching intently now...studying every move she made. I saw her nuzzle it just a bit, gentle; yet a push at the same time. then I saw him begin to get up. First with 2 legs...then one more and plop...down he fell. She nuzzled him again. Up he went with 2 legs....then third and finally, very unsteady the fourth got into place. He kinda swayed a bit and I considered the wind might take him down as it had already blown patio furniture around today. She stood there looking at him, as if to encourage him to keep it up. Step by shaky step the colt began to learn how to use his new legs until soon he had the hang of it. I was sitting there thinking about when my kids started walking how many times they fell and how long it took and they only had two legs to learn to use!
The calf eventually wandered away from the fence with a jump, back legs kicking up into the air as if to say "he did it"!! Then did a few romps in the pasture until he was close to his mom again watching her graze as if to say "what are you doing?" She paid him no mind as she silently grazed the land. Then I watched him put his head down to the ground, sniff for a second...then he too took a bite.
There's a lot to be said about quiet observation. Some people talk until your head wants to explode....other's sit in silence taking things in and learning. The older I get the more I appreciate silent observation....and the wealth of knowledge that can come with it. Slowly filling previously established files in your mind and on occasion making a new one as the calf did today.
In an "immediate gratification microwave society" sometimes you have to tell yourself to slow down and try to remember what it was like as a child just sitting by the window staring out at what ever your eyes were drawn to. To remember the wonder of it all as you learned new things and observed others movements. One never stops learning unless they choose to. No one ever seems to relax anymore. Always rushing, usually with a cell phone next to their ear multitasking.
That is one of the things I love about the farm. There are so many things that are new every year. The new calves in calving season. The new colts that come on the spring. All the new fresh green growth that envelopes the pastures along with rows and rows of tilled land that has been sowed. Life is a bit like this if only you slow down a second to see it. And the slow pace of it all. Think I'll go sit on the porch for a minute and watch the new calves jump and play. See you tomorrow!

I cannot believe how hot it is already today....it is only April 3rd and I'm thinking about leaving some potatoes on  counter to bake themselves in this heat. I look at the thermostat and it is 86 degrees in this house. I have become so pig headed and frugal I won't turn on the air just yet. Have the windows open airing out the house while I still can.
Its the time of year that most things get a new coat of paint. I have two storage bldg.'s to paint and two decks that didn't make the cut last year. Fences need to be mended and there's always cleaning and clearing to do after winter has run its course.  I'm kinda anal about organization and keeping things looking nice. I knew when we bought this place that would drive me crazy cos this many acres simply can't be done that way. Not to mention snake season has started and that's always an adventure when cleaning stuff up....which reminds me.....
The first couple of years we lived out here snakes were quite a problem due to the fact it was an old dairy and not too much activity on this land. So the snakes pretty well did what they wanted to do. We saw rattle snakes, copper heads and water moccasins. I'm not real fond of snakes so I began to do some research on how to control the snake population. I found three workable solutions...cats, guineas, and chickens. So the first year I ordered 100 baby chickens. :~O
They came out of California in a box....in the transit only 1 died. They generally are sent through the Post Office and they include a couple extra to compensate for that. As it turned out we had an unexpected cold snap when they arrived and couldn't put em in the chicken coup cos we weren't prepared. Drafts and cold kill baby chicks. So I set up 4 boxes in my kitchen and divided em up.
Naturally they were going to need food and water so I had to improvise and put a "bowl" in the boxes for the chicks. Can u say rookie?? Next thing I knew I had 100 baby chicks all taking baths in the water! Naturally being wet they began to shiver and fall over. I thought "oh my God, I've killed em"! I ran to my bathroom and got out my blow dryer as my husband scratched his head and gave me "that look". I began blow drying my baby chicks one by one and putting em in a dry box. I then put a lamp in each one to ensure they got enough heat. I am proud to tell you I only lost "1" chicken!!! Bwahahahaha Who woulda thunk it lol
I honestly felt akin to that Lucy show when she has all those chickens get loose in her house while trying to figure out how to tell Ricky she bought em.
About a week later I moved em into the chicken shack we had built. We went every day and checked on em feeding em and checking their water. You wouldn't believe how much feed 100 chickens go through...so I decided to "range feed em". Meaning I would let em loose (I wanted that anyway for the snake control) daily then put em back up. I only had one problem....how do I get em all to go back in the coop everyday? So I decided I would "train em". ;)
We let em out every morning to roam the farm. Then every evening I would go find em....start sprinkling feed little at a time to get em to follow me back to the chicken coup. As I was doing that I called em "here chick chick chick". It took about 2 weeks but finally all I had to do was to call chick chick chick and sprinkle a little feed and they fell right into line behind me marching back to the chicken coup. Then about two weeks after that I had to do nothing, come sun down they knew where to go to roost....and put themselves up.
Every morning we would go to let em out and to gather eggs. It got to be kinda crazy...we were getting several dozen a day! We were giving em away to the family and friends at work. We had others saving egg crates that wanted eggs from us for transport. It was quite an experience.....then the raccoons found em.....that story to follow tomorrow. We traded one problem for another......