Today was the memorial for my friend's husband. He died of pneumonia at age 58. He would have been 59 in a few weeks. I didn't really know him well, and had only interacted with him on a few occasions. He and his wife, my friend, lived a very simple life on a little acreage, a ways out from a small town quite a bit above the snow line.
They lived in a small trailer with no electricity, no phone, no running water. She works and he took care of the animals, he loved his goats, built on the place and the trailer. Scruffy looking fellow, long graying hair usually covered with his trademark hat, beard rarely, if ever, combed and dressed in whatever he happened to feel like that day. The first time I met him he was wearing his hat, his glasses were dark from the sun, he had a cigar jutting out and an ear to ear grin on his face. Baling twine made up his belt. He wasn't what I was expecting, but who is when you first meet them? I always worried about them freezing up there in their tiny trailer. They did fine, of course. Times were always tight but they got by and they truly loved where they lived and each other.
His health began to fail a bit. Not much but some. Then he got sick. He didn't get better right away. She began to talk of taking him in to see a doctor. This was a big deal as he had no insurance. He didn't want to to see a doctor. He began telling her he was feeling better. One night he told her he was feeling better, don't worry and went to bed. She listened to him breathing, woke him up and informed him they were going to the hospital.
She didn't take him to the closest hospital but one she felt was better, had a good reputation. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and taken to the ICU. He would have died that night if he had stayed at home. He probably would have prefered that, knowing him. He spent not quite two weeks in ICU before he was taken off the machines and he peacefully passed.
He and my friend were members of a small local church. He did some work for the church, founded a small group called John's Boys (after John the Baptist) where men would get together and walk in the woods, talking. The church was very important to both of them.
Today was his memorial. The pastor opened the memorial with the comment, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." I listened to the pastor's comments, listened to the songs he had loved, listened to the comments made by those that knew and loved him. These were all friends, he had only his wife for family. I realized that I didn't know him at all. And it was my loss. He was a giving, caring individual. He was intelligent and had a seeking mind, always looking for new things. He shared all he had with those around him. He had led such a rich life. Not rich in money or things. But rich in friends, in faith. I wish I had known him better.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The first hard frost
We've had a couple of minor frosts but we had our first hard frost a couple of days ago. My poor car lives outside and I had to really scrape ice on the windows so I could go to work. I went out and picked all the tomatoes with at least a little color. They are now lining my kitchen window sill and nicely turning color. I wonder if they will taste like home garden tomatoes or like nasty store tomatoes. I'm thinking about going out and picking all of the green tomatoes to see if they will also turn color. I need to come up with some ideas on what to do with green tomatoes. I like fried green tomatoes but I have way too many green tomatoes to eat them all fried. Since I have so many dark orange tomatoes in the kitchen I may try my hand at making some salsa. I would have to buy everything else I need, but I might try anyway.
Friday after my evening feed-the-animals chores I went and dug up my potatoes. My potatoes were planted very late. I cut up the seed potatoes waaay too small and waited until they were almost completely dried up before I finally dumped them on top of the ground and covered them with cut grass. Most of them didn't survive my mistreatment and I was thrilled that any grew. I kept layering grass and barn waste hay around the plants as they grew. I wondered what, if any, potatoes I would get.
I didn't need to actually dig the potatoes. I removed the layers of composted, yucky, organic materials until I found the potatoes. Gloves probably would have been good but my hands wash easier than gloves. Besides, I forgot to bring them. I had several large ones, quite a few medium to small and a bunch of tiny ones. Reds, golds and some purple ones. I've wiped off the wet stuff and they are currently laying on a towel in my entry way drying. My mother was over this morning and viewed them. She was pretty doubtful that potatoes could be grown on top of the ground and was quite enthused about it all.
Next year will see a lot more potatoes grown. They will get planted in the spring instead of June or July, which ever month it was. How great, and really quite pain free, it was to grow our own potatoes. My sister-n-law makes this great potato dish. Cut some potatoes up into a baking dish, melt a lot of butter and mix with this great garlic mix she has and pour over the potatoes. Bake for about an hour. Not very healthy but oh so good! I'm going to do that with my potatoes. Soon. When they are dry. I can hardly wait.
A big want to do tomorrow is work in the garden a bit, loosing up the soil. Then I'll plant my garlic cloves. I bought some of the elephant cloves, two bunches. That's a lot of individual cloves. I have the space available and have just been waiting for the first hard frost. If nothing else gets done this weekend, the garlic will get planted.
I now have rabbits. I'd been thinking of raising rabbits for meat for awhile. I'm wondering if I can get past the cute factor and do the butchering. What with my own goat meat and now rabbits I'll be just a bit more self-sufficient. I like that. The rabbits belong to a friend of mine. They are just living with me for the winter until she gets back on her feet a bit due to the recent loss of her husband. It's fine with her if I breed them and eat the results. I need cages built though and they are currently, five of them, living in my garage. That sounds worse than it is - tonight is their first night in the garage. Tomorrow cages will get built for them.
Also thanks to this friend I got more chickens, with tons of chicks, and geese. One hen has 19 chicks and one has 17. Yikes! I figure we'll be crock potting a lot of roosters here in a couple of months. Egg production is low due as is usual this time of year. I miss all of the fresh eggs. It's always feast or famine with the eggs. Sometimes I'm nuts about what to do with all of the eggs and then it's I'm not getting eggs! I'd planned on freezing some of the extra eggs this year but thanks to predators, hawks I'm thinking, I never had an overabundance of eggs.
I sold two of the chicks this morning to a family that bought my last two wethers. I'd been thinking it was time to get them into the freezer as it's two less mouths to feed and the goats are already eating hay. I already have two wethers in the freezer though so it's nice that someone else will get the meat. I still have a couple of mama goats I'd like to sell but if not I'll have 6 does kidding in February. Too many for me. I prefer less as my kidding pens are still full of other things. And my barn floods every year. The first year the french drain was put in the floor barely got wet but last year wasn't good.
We've lit the woodstove a couple of time already. I though I would this evening but I put on a sweater top and sweat pants and I'm comfortable. Soon though we'll have a fire every evening. I still have a little bit of wood outside that I need to bring in. The main wood is stacked and waiting. Still lots to do before winter gets here.
Friday after my evening feed-the-animals chores I went and dug up my potatoes. My potatoes were planted very late. I cut up the seed potatoes waaay too small and waited until they were almost completely dried up before I finally dumped them on top of the ground and covered them with cut grass. Most of them didn't survive my mistreatment and I was thrilled that any grew. I kept layering grass and barn waste hay around the plants as they grew. I wondered what, if any, potatoes I would get.
I didn't need to actually dig the potatoes. I removed the layers of composted, yucky, organic materials until I found the potatoes. Gloves probably would have been good but my hands wash easier than gloves. Besides, I forgot to bring them. I had several large ones, quite a few medium to small and a bunch of tiny ones. Reds, golds and some purple ones. I've wiped off the wet stuff and they are currently laying on a towel in my entry way drying. My mother was over this morning and viewed them. She was pretty doubtful that potatoes could be grown on top of the ground and was quite enthused about it all.
Next year will see a lot more potatoes grown. They will get planted in the spring instead of June or July, which ever month it was. How great, and really quite pain free, it was to grow our own potatoes. My sister-n-law makes this great potato dish. Cut some potatoes up into a baking dish, melt a lot of butter and mix with this great garlic mix she has and pour over the potatoes. Bake for about an hour. Not very healthy but oh so good! I'm going to do that with my potatoes. Soon. When they are dry. I can hardly wait.
A big want to do tomorrow is work in the garden a bit, loosing up the soil. Then I'll plant my garlic cloves. I bought some of the elephant cloves, two bunches. That's a lot of individual cloves. I have the space available and have just been waiting for the first hard frost. If nothing else gets done this weekend, the garlic will get planted.
I now have rabbits. I'd been thinking of raising rabbits for meat for awhile. I'm wondering if I can get past the cute factor and do the butchering. What with my own goat meat and now rabbits I'll be just a bit more self-sufficient. I like that. The rabbits belong to a friend of mine. They are just living with me for the winter until she gets back on her feet a bit due to the recent loss of her husband. It's fine with her if I breed them and eat the results. I need cages built though and they are currently, five of them, living in my garage. That sounds worse than it is - tonight is their first night in the garage. Tomorrow cages will get built for them.
Also thanks to this friend I got more chickens, with tons of chicks, and geese. One hen has 19 chicks and one has 17. Yikes! I figure we'll be crock potting a lot of roosters here in a couple of months. Egg production is low due as is usual this time of year. I miss all of the fresh eggs. It's always feast or famine with the eggs. Sometimes I'm nuts about what to do with all of the eggs and then it's I'm not getting eggs! I'd planned on freezing some of the extra eggs this year but thanks to predators, hawks I'm thinking, I never had an overabundance of eggs.
I sold two of the chicks this morning to a family that bought my last two wethers. I'd been thinking it was time to get them into the freezer as it's two less mouths to feed and the goats are already eating hay. I already have two wethers in the freezer though so it's nice that someone else will get the meat. I still have a couple of mama goats I'd like to sell but if not I'll have 6 does kidding in February. Too many for me. I prefer less as my kidding pens are still full of other things. And my barn floods every year. The first year the french drain was put in the floor barely got wet but last year wasn't good.
We've lit the woodstove a couple of time already. I though I would this evening but I put on a sweater top and sweat pants and I'm comfortable. Soon though we'll have a fire every evening. I still have a little bit of wood outside that I need to bring in. The main wood is stacked and waiting. Still lots to do before winter gets here.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
New birds and lost things found
A friend of mine's husband has had a sudden health emergency. She is spending virtually no time at home and a neighbor has been taking care of her animals. Since it looks like the emergency isn't going to be over soon, I've taken in some of her critters. Yesterday I brought home 2 roosters, 6 geese, 4 hens, and 2 hens with each about 12 young chicks. I was planning on bringing home her 5 rabbits also but my small truck was running over with the birds and their cages. I'm supposed to pick up the rabbits next Saturday.
Such chaos getting all the birds into the chicken house. I'm not letting anyone out for at least a week so the new birds learn that this is their new home. The geese are in a large doghouse (it's BIG) that is a bit cozy but not bad. I let them out this morning and they found their water fine but pretty much just stood all day around the chicken house ramp. Hearing the chickens probably and it sounded like home. I've been having problems with predators, hawks I think, getting my hens so I'm hoping having the 6 large geese in the chicken yard will help with that. Going to be fun feeding tomorrow AM in the dark. I do have a tap light out in the chicken house now and will have to use it tomorrow.
Usually I'm not out feeding until around 7 - 7:30am and it's mostly light by then. Tomorrow, Monday, I start my new job! So glad to have a job at last. I'll be getting up much earlier now, of course. Probably about 40 minutes to work but I'll leave early at first to see what the traffic is like. I'll probably leave at 7am and I'll have to feed the chickens and goats and let the geese out (they were fed tonight) plus get myself ready to go. Guess I'll get up around5 - 5:30ish to be safe. I like time in the morning and hate to be rushed.
Yesterday while we were getting birds stashed away and working on the goose house I accidently wore my glasses outside. I have the no-line lenses and they make the ground look weird. I never wear them outside. So, I took them off and put them into the pouch of my sweatshirt. My spouse asked me for some nails and I went to get them and put them, loose, in my sweatshirt pouch. Not a good idea I realized, so I took the glasses out, and for some unknown reason, placed them on the hood of the pickup next to the windshield. I planned, I'm sure, to pick them up when we were done. Forgot about them. Afterall, I never wear the glasses outside.
It wasn't until I went to pick up my grand daughter around 7:30pm that I realized I didn't know where my glasses were. It was dark and we had moved the pickup. I checked the garage hoping I'd put them there. Nope. I couldn't remember where I had placed them and I was freaking. I just knew I had left them outside somewhere and probably had crushed them when I moved the pickup. I told my spouse when he got up this morning and he went looking. Not in the garage. I checked the back bumper of the pickup, opened the canapy doors - not there. No money to buy new glasses and I can't read without them. How was I going to work without the glasses? Then my husband brought them in. He had found them on the pickup's hood. Damp from the morning rain but safe. Of course, as soon as he told me where they had been I remembered placing them there. Such relief!
Never take chances on such a vital piece of equipment. Yes, I had a spare set. However, my eyes did not like them at all. I think both my spouse and I will have to get a good, current spare pair of glasses. I haven't even started the new job and I'm already spending money on things (well, making a list anyway). A water filter such as the Berkey is #1 on the list. Glasses just hit #2. I'm thinking I might try on some on the reading glasses I see in stores. Might not hurt to have a couple pair of them around in case of emergency. I think they are pretty cheap. I don't plan on getting caught without glasses again.
Such chaos getting all the birds into the chicken house. I'm not letting anyone out for at least a week so the new birds learn that this is their new home. The geese are in a large doghouse (it's BIG) that is a bit cozy but not bad. I let them out this morning and they found their water fine but pretty much just stood all day around the chicken house ramp. Hearing the chickens probably and it sounded like home. I've been having problems with predators, hawks I think, getting my hens so I'm hoping having the 6 large geese in the chicken yard will help with that. Going to be fun feeding tomorrow AM in the dark. I do have a tap light out in the chicken house now and will have to use it tomorrow.
Usually I'm not out feeding until around 7 - 7:30am and it's mostly light by then. Tomorrow, Monday, I start my new job! So glad to have a job at last. I'll be getting up much earlier now, of course. Probably about 40 minutes to work but I'll leave early at first to see what the traffic is like. I'll probably leave at 7am and I'll have to feed the chickens and goats and let the geese out (they were fed tonight) plus get myself ready to go. Guess I'll get up around5 - 5:30ish to be safe. I like time in the morning and hate to be rushed.
Yesterday while we were getting birds stashed away and working on the goose house I accidently wore my glasses outside. I have the no-line lenses and they make the ground look weird. I never wear them outside. So, I took them off and put them into the pouch of my sweatshirt. My spouse asked me for some nails and I went to get them and put them, loose, in my sweatshirt pouch. Not a good idea I realized, so I took the glasses out, and for some unknown reason, placed them on the hood of the pickup next to the windshield. I planned, I'm sure, to pick them up when we were done. Forgot about them. Afterall, I never wear the glasses outside.
It wasn't until I went to pick up my grand daughter around 7:30pm that I realized I didn't know where my glasses were. It was dark and we had moved the pickup. I checked the garage hoping I'd put them there. Nope. I couldn't remember where I had placed them and I was freaking. I just knew I had left them outside somewhere and probably had crushed them when I moved the pickup. I told my spouse when he got up this morning and he went looking. Not in the garage. I checked the back bumper of the pickup, opened the canapy doors - not there. No money to buy new glasses and I can't read without them. How was I going to work without the glasses? Then my husband brought them in. He had found them on the pickup's hood. Damp from the morning rain but safe. Of course, as soon as he told me where they had been I remembered placing them there. Such relief!
Never take chances on such a vital piece of equipment. Yes, I had a spare set. However, my eyes did not like them at all. I think both my spouse and I will have to get a good, current spare pair of glasses. I haven't even started the new job and I'm already spending money on things (well, making a list anyway). A water filter such as the Berkey is #1 on the list. Glasses just hit #2. I'm thinking I might try on some on the reading glasses I see in stores. Might not hurt to have a couple pair of them around in case of emergency. I think they are pretty cheap. I don't plan on getting caught without glasses again.
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