Invited to the King's Table

*military ball

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:46:00 +0000

This past weekend all the gentlemen of the JROTC at our local high school had the easy part - put on their Class A uniform. It was not put on for an inspection but for the Military Ball. The young ladies came in their evening gowns of many different styles most after having spent the day at different salons getting their manicures and pedicures as well as facials. I know some were nervous and some were completely carefree and ready for the night of fun.

It has been a while since I have been around such a large number of young people at one time. Their energy was high and they were carefree (most of them) and really enjoying themselves. There were so many beautiful dresses being worn by the JROTC cadets and JROTC staff. The staff (upper class men) are the ones who organized this entire event, from the planning, collecting money, selecting a photographer, arranging a speaker, set up, selecting a catering group, to cleaning up when it was all said and done. The adults were only facilitators, everything was done by many of the students you see in these pictures.

If you are able, support and encourage the young people in your sphere of influence, for one day they will be our leaders. I know that families have always been broken, dysfunctional for many generations but I think today's youth have so much more pressures and junk to deal with today than any generation ever before, having someone to believe in them and encourage them is important. I don't think any of us should try and be momma or daddy to the youth around us, but if there isn't such a presence in their lives, surely you can give encouragement that may have a huge impact on how they view themselves and others around them.

I took several hundred photos, I will not bore you will of them. Many of them turned out nicely, some I was just not able to get the lighting right on the dance floor since the room was dark. Once again, if your students' school has JROTC program, I encourage you to have them to look into participating. They do not have to be service bound in order to participate in this elective.

In order to dance you must have your "dance face" on... all across the dance floor I was able to see so many different style dance faces. Just cracked me up. You know we all did it too!

This is likely the same dance face I had when I danced at our prom, oh so many years ago.

Most of the young girls had a blast, but there was the one or two that I saw crying. Just broke my heart, I gave them a hug and an accepting smile. I have no idea what was going on - broken heart, hormones, hurt feelings, feeling left out, home trouble. I did only what I could do, silently prayed for them in that moment.

Here is my handsome boy, Henry and his girlfriend, Tiffany who is the XO of the company. I hope someone else got some nice pictures of them, because seems I didn't. :(

*scenic Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 01:12:00 +0000

Rebel, one of our Buff Leghorn hanging out in the coop with her "twin" as she starts to go through the broody mood now...

On a day like today on the Emerald Coast, I can't say that I blame them. I would want to be inside out of the brisk windy conditions as well! We hope you all have a great week.

*chick inn residents increasing soon

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 19:31:00 +0000

This photo was taken with my phone *sigh*, these little chicks are about a week old in this picture. We picked up 8 chicks from the hatchery in Alabama last month and these little girls look nothing like they did when we first brought them home and added them to the chicks that Rebel hatched out that very weekend.

This however, is one of our two Bronze Broad Breasted Turkeys that we acquired this week. This is the gift that my dh and I gave to each other for our anniversary, a pair of turkeys and a Wynadotte chick along with a watering system for our large gardens. We are content to do this instead of a individual gift for each other at this time in our lives. What is most important to us is that we are knitted together, that we love each other and enjoy being in each others company. One of the things that has knitted us closer together is the way God has used this land we are living on and what has sprung forth from it all. I am seeing a side of my dear husband that I have never seen before. He adores raising animals. He is loving the farming and living off of our land as much as possible. It brings me joy to see this!

This is one of the pretty little chicks that Rebel hatched out. We think this one must be a cross of the Jersey Giant White rooster (Husan) and one of our Barred Rocks - either way she is a pretty girl (we hope it is a girl).

These were all some from Rebels' hatch as well, I think I see two Barred Rocks there for sure. They are all sort of in their ugly stage right now.

Show off. I LOVE chickens. Just sayin.

The first three you see in the picture here are from the little hatchery in Alabama. The little buff there is going to be a Buff Orpington, then you see just beyond her one of the Welsummers, and right beyond her is the Americauna that we got on that day. The Americauna looks a bit grey, she will be much lighter than the Americauna's that we already have in our flock.

If you look just about center of the picture you will see a VERY small chick. This is the Silver Laced Wynadotte that I just couldn't live without. OK. OK, I surely could have lived without her, but am happy that she will be living among us! I adore this breed and think they are among some of the prettiest.

These chicks will all start laying in mid summer and I will have customers lined up by this date hopefully. We currently have 19 hens who are laying - well most of them are laying. Rebel still hasn't gotten back in the mode of laying although she is in the mix with the other hens, but unfortunately now her sister, the other Buff Leghorn, decided she was going to go broody. We have NOT given her any eggs to hatch out as we don't really see that we NEED any more chicks at this time.

After reading a dear blogger friend's blog, From City Streets To Country Roads, I brought our girls home a treat today -a Flock Block! I can't wait to give it to them. I will of course be ready with camera in hand to get some great shots! The older girls will enjoy the Flock Block and the little ones will eat their grower rations for now, but soon they will catch up in size and join the others in the Chick-Inn Coop! I am hopelessly in love with chickens. What has happened to me?

*started and finished

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 03:13:00 +0000

Today I got a very sweet card in the mail from a dear friend who spoke of quilting and sipping tea, last week I got a sweet card from my bff who spoke of quilting as well. You can imagine how this could either inspire or depress me as I love both of these girls and miss them tremendously! I allowed it to inspire!

I went into my sewing room surveying projects that need to be finished, but my eyes passed over a little brown bag that I received last month from a drawing that I won on one of my favorite blogs. Heidi over at White Wolf Summit Farm Girl Blog has been an encouragement and when I have a few minutes to read blogs, hers is sure to be one of them. Each month she is hosting a UFO Roll Call Challenge and I entered on of my sewing projects in January. When Heidi held the drawing, my name came up! This project that I am sharing with you today is the PRIZE that I found in our large rural mail box just a few days after the drawing. This was easy and fun to work on. I think I will select some fabrics that will work well in our dining room and make some place mats because these really are the perfect size. The sewing was simple and easy. The project was pretty awesome, because I started and finished it all in about 2 hours! I did some free motion quilting on it as well as some special stitches from my Janome 6600.

I am excited to link this up to Heidi's UFO for February! Maybe I will win the random drawing again this month, wouldn't that be exciting! I didn't finish a project already in the works, but it felt great to have the time to sit down and sew a little. You may want to join in the fun over at Heidi's UFO Roll Call, as well as WIP'D for February. Please take a moment to check both of these out.

Maybe this little project is what I needed to get me jump started on some of the UFO I have floating around in my sewing room!

*bunny news and such

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:42:00 +0000

Sometimes it is good to get away, to take a break and refresh from whatever task is at hand. It has taken me a bit to get back to my regular blogging, there has been no lack of things to blog about, just motivation to get it down in words. I hope you all have been doing fantastic!

Last weekend one of our pregnant does kindled. She had an odd time of it this time around. Isis, our Californian doe, had her first kit of this litter on Thursday morning, one solitary baby. She did not give birth to the remaining kits until more than 20 hours later. It was the oddest birthing I have been through with one of our rabbits thus far. As you might imagine I had to keep that single baby warm until others were there to join it in the nesting box. So, I wrapped it up in a soft cloth after I brought the body temperature back up (the poor thing was stone cold when I found it), and then I kept it on my person for the next day until there were other warm bodies to maintain body heat. Isis did finish her birthing.. bring forth 9 kits in all. She was acting very much out of the ordinary this time around, as I stated before and unfortunately the third morning of having birthed, we found all of the babies in their box dead. I know, I know.. nobody wants to read about these things -trust me, I didn't want to live it either. I am sure some of you might be thinking.. um, don't you raise these to kill for meat? Yes, yes we do, but having a mother to neglect her young so severely and humanely raising them to process for healthy clean lean white meat later is totally different.

This month thus far has been super fulfilling. We have gotten so much done in the barn and in the gardens. Flowers are bursting forth. Grass is turning green, although I am not super excited about that part as 4 or so acres of our land is all grass... Our prospects on a Nubian buck are getting better. Yadda yadda... On the other hand it has been a bit heart breaking, in the respects of a homesteader. We had a hen to abandon her nest after 2 and half weeks of being broody, leaving 5 embryos to die after almost completely forming, and the baby rabbits dying. Eric always catches me and reminds me that this is part of this lifestyle. He does his best to protect me, to help me stay focused and not get too attached.

This weekend we have a gentleman coming to pick out 3 of our rabbits for his breeding stock, we are excited to be selling some of our girls and boys to a family who will too use them provide a self sustainable meat source for their family too.

*cattle upon a thousand hills

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:56:00 +0000

*learning and leading

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:01:00 +0000

The JROTC Vision:
Providing a quality citizenship, character, and leadership development program, while fostering partnerships with communities and educational institutions.

Why Join Army Junior ROTC:

To appreciate the ethical values and principles that underlie good citizenship.

To develop leadership potential, while living and working cooperatively with others.

To be able to think logically and to communicate effectively with others, both orally and in writing.

To appreciate the importance of physical fitness in maintaining good health.

To understand the importance of high school graduation for a successful future, and learn about college and other advanced educational and employment opportunities.

To develop mental management abilities.

To become familiar with military history as it relates to America's culture, and understand the history, purpose, and structure of military services.

To develop the skills necessary to work effectively as a member of a team.

JROTC is a great program that helps students rise to their leadership abilities. I have watched Henry really grow in leadership since he has been a part of this organization. Most of the students in the program do not plan to enroll in the Armed Forces, but are very active in the program and learning about leadership, citizenship, logical thinking and much more. The students get opportunities to compete in drill, flags, and other levels as well.

*love is...

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:19:00 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you, may each of you know the depths of His (God of Heaven and Earth) great love for YOU! Today Sarah Elizabeth over at oh, restless bird , has given me permission to share her "Love Is" series with you all. If you have the time to read just a bit, I encourage you to check out what she shares from her heart about Love based on I Corinthians 13:4-7.

Here is what she has to say:

I had the idea of posting a different aspect, or thought on love every day for the next 14 days. Befitting is it not? It is February...and there in lies Valentine's Day! I cannot wait to explore the aspects of love, that are found within the Scriptures with you all! (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

I would love for you all to be involved in commenting and sharing what you have to say on the aspects of love, as well as the thoughts that I hope to share with you over the next two weeks.

With Love,
Daughter of the King

The image below will take you to Sarah's blog post with the links to each aspect of love that she has written about. Go ahead, click it! I do hope you enjoy this. Happy Valentines Day to each of you!

*whew, that was close

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:37:00 +0000

So.. as I told you almost a month ago, getting an early start on something doesn't always insure that I will get the job done on time! I mailed my first lot of fabric Valentine post cards last week, but still had quite a few that I needed to finish. Those were completed on Friday and put in the mail on Saturday morning, whew! I would have loved to make more for other dear people in my life, but the fact is, it didn't happen. It is the chickens fault, the goats fault, the baby chicks fault, etc.. they all need my attention.

Here are the links to the first ones I completed: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3

It was really fun making these fabric post cards, your imagination is the limit when it comes to making these unique cards. I did not make a tutorial because so many already have done so, you can find some tips on how to create fabric post cards for any occasion by visiting NeedledMom, or this YouTube Video. I am not connected to either of these blogs/video in any way, they do not know I have recommended you visit them.

*scenic Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:57:00 +0000

Pecan Orchards in Baker, Florida

(the photo was edited using Picasa - first one is SOOC, second was edited using the cross process, and the third was edited using the orton-ish edit. If you aren't familiar with Picasa, it is a free downloadable photo editing and storage software)

shared at Sunday's Best

*winters triumphant return?

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:15:00 +0000

We have only had a few below freezing temps this winter, which one might think is normal for Florida. Not so much on the Gulf Coast, in fact the area we are located at is considered the coldest spot of Florida. When my dear husband found this out, he laughed. He does not like cold weather and was thrilled when we left NC in April's cold temps last year. It seemed to have been a record cold winter for many states last year, this year is just the opposite - much milder. This, my dear is the kind of weather my dear husband loves! He is always saying, always summer, that is the theme of his Florida license plate, "Endless Summer". Smh

Tonight we are to have 24 degrees, um... that is cold. This means our baby chicks will have to come back in doors along with their heat lamp in order to keep the temps warm enough for them. It also means that some of our flowers, plants, and bushes that are sprouting or blooming may get set back with a freeze. There are a few preparations and precautionary measures we can take in order to protect our plants. Just this past week I transplanted over one hundred strawberry plants.

We started with 16 strawberry plants last spring. When growing strawberries you can choose to do one of two things when your strawberry plants put out runners. If you trim them your plant will produce more hearty fruit harvest, but if you let them grown you can increase the number of plants in your strawberry patch next year for zero dollars! We now have over one hundred and fifty strawberry plants in our "strawberry patch". We chose to let the runners grow after last years small harvest and put a bit of soil over the runner as it got rooted nicely, then we clipped it from the main plant. This year, I transplanted all of the MANY runners that are now beautiful strawberry plants.

Today we spent time covering strawberry plants with hay. Our neighbor told us we should wet the plants. Water the plants, wet them? Um, did you hear that it was going to be below freezing tonight and tomorrow ? Interesting, because my best friend and I were talking just yesterday about preparations and she said she had read where farmers water their plants before a freeze. We both commented on how we didn't understand how this would help. After reading this, I have a better understanding of this method.

Hopefully the goats, chickens, baby chicks, rabbits, tender new growth of plants, and pipes are all safe and sound from winters' triumphant return!

linked to The Country Garden Showcase
Barn Hop #49

*award, did you say "AWARRRD?"

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:50:00 +0000

I was recently suprised to receive three different emails stating they think I should be "awarded" with

I don't normally participate in the blogger awards, acknowledgements etc. It is not that I am not grateful, because for someone to think of me as a choice to select and then do it for "said award", I am honored and grateful. I am not really sure why I have not participated before, but I haven't. This particular time is different because I have received the "Versatile Blogger Award" three times this past week or so. THANKS! I am pretty versatile, I write about anything from the sun coming up, all that happens in between to the sun going down.

Sarah Elizabeth at Oh Restless Bird was the first to award me, thanks Sarah!

Heidi was next to gift me with the award, again thanks Heidi.

And Billiebee just last night left a sweet message stating that she was awarding me as well, thanks.

Since I have to choose, here are my VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARDEES

Jenny at Rosy Lemmons (Jenny is a mother of three and is a great seamstress, quilter, crafter)

Donna at Quiet Life (photography is at her heart)

Funky Junky Interiors (if you like eclectic decor, using what you have or find go check her out!)

Little Emma's English Home

The Sasse Life

Suburban Prairie Homemaker

Faithfulness Farm (recipes, family,healthy living, crafts, encouragement!)

Heathers Blog-o-rama (travel, recipes, healthy living, encouragement)

Trina at Seemingly Reckless Faith (life, encouragement, adoption)

Horsing Around!

Marissa at Life on Our Side of the Mountain (healthy living, photography, exercise,sustainable living)

Here are the RULES for the Versatile Blogger Award-

1. Add the award to your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
3. Mention seven random things about yourself. (see below)
4. List the rules.
5. Award to 10 bloggers.
6. Inform each of those 10 by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are SEVEN random things about me...

1. I am not a very disciplined person (though I dream of being one)
2. I had reduction mammoplasty about 12 years ago, one of the best things I have ever done.
3.I have not worked outside the home in 16 years, but I work hard most every day!
4. I am a people person, though in the past year of moving to Fl, I have only made one friend.
5. I am willy nilly. I fly by the seat of my pants.
6. I have a passion for youth, homeless and those with little.
7. I love carbs and struggle sometimes to stay in check with healthy portions!

*gardening today for tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:42:00 +0000

A few days ago I posted on gardening and planting potatoes from your cupboards. I had several to comment on my blog and private message me regarding this idea. I wanted to give a bit more attention to the potato seed planting today.

I thought I would read just a bit before writing this morning so I could bring you accurate information outside of my own experiences. You see, each year we buy "seed potatoes" from our local farm store. Many nursery's carry them, or seed and feed stores will carry them by the pound. I do utilize any potatoes in the pantry that have started sprouting in the garden as well.

I have know for years that the potatoes from the grocers shelves have been treated with a chemical that inhibits sprouting, molding, wards off pesticides etc. There are many groups who are in agreement that the chemicals put on produce, not only potatoes, is toxic and harmful to our bodies. Furthermore reducing the value of the produce itself. The FDA however has approved such practices stating that it is not harmful and helps sustain produce for the demands therein. The FDA also states that the food values are not lost and if it is that such problems can be taken care of by vitamin supplements. (read more on this at Food Irradiation: The Risk) I was surprised to find that this practice is used on so many products.

With this in mind, I am so very grateful that we grow most of the veggies that we eat on a regular basis. I cannot allow myself to get crazy with this idea, because believe me- I could. I could easily decide we are NOT buying anything that we can't possibly produce here at home - there might be some revolting going on if I were to shift in that direction. On the other hand, I can do all I can do (without loosing my mind) by contributing to our families daily intake with home grown vegetables, fruit, milk, and meats. We know what has gone into the meats we are eating from our farm, we know what has gone into the soil where our plants are growing. I know everyone does not have the opportunity to raise their own meat, procure and maintain a large garden, raise chickens for fresh eggs or even have the desire or time to do so. Seek out farmers markets, fresh produce at road side stands and grown a few things each year in your small spot. Look on your local craigslist to see if you are able to locate a family that sells fresh eggs in your area.

I lived in a rural area as a child and our family always had a nice garden that produced abundantly. We also kept chickens for a while and often ate meat that we either raised, caught or hunted. When I married and left home we moved away into a suburban area where I neither had time, money (we were broker than a corn flake), or desire to garden at the age of 20. Some years past and on our small lot in a suburban area I did have a garden that produced some produce for our table. We have had a garden in suburban areas and it was a joy of mine to work in it. It can be done. I did not have the motivation then that I do now, such as wanting cleaner food for our bodies. I am more determined today to do as much as I am able while still not making myself crazy about the whole thing, to provide what we can from the garden to the body.

SO.... back to planting potatoes..
As I said before, we do purchase seed potatoes from the feed/seed store here in the area, however if I have a potatoes in the pantry to sprout it goes in the ground as well to produce what it will. Here are a few tips on how I plant potatoes.

As you can see this potatoes has several sprouts or eye's on it. I can cut in in order to produce several potato plants. You need to make sure you leave a good portion of potato with the eye because the plant will get some of its feed from the potato seed as it starts to grow. I use plant whatever has sprouted in the potato bin, whether it is a red, Yukon gold or baking potato.

Here you can see that I have sliced the potato in half so I will have two plants to grow from this one potato. I could slice the one to the right in half again, but I am going to leave it as it is.

You will gently turn the slice up on its side so air can move around it and cure or dry the moist exposed part of the potato. After a few days you can put the seed into the soil. you will want to use your shove, hand spade or whatever you have to loosen the soil around the area where it will grow. There are many different methods to planting a potato. Some use old tires and put the potato in the center of the first one and as the plant grows they add more soil weekly as the plant continues to emerge from the soil they add more and eventually adding more tires etc. I personally have never done this but read about it often. We dig a little furrow in the soil, drop the seed potato in cover it with about an inch or so of soil and as the plant grows we add more and more soil (and or leaf mixture) around each plant. Within a month or two there will be a nice mound of soil up around each plant. Once the plant has bloomed and the leaves start to die off a bit you can start to dig your potatoes. This is usually several months or a bit more after you have planted your potato seed. Each plant might yield you 6 to 8 potatoes, it depends on the type of potato.

Source: blogs.ft.com via Eric-and Lynette on Pinterest

Once you have dug your potatoes you will want to store them in a nice cool place in order to extend their shelf life. We have a large closet that has shelves from the floor up all the way around the large closet. We stored all of our potatoes in there this past year. You will want to store them on newspaper or freezer paper side by side. Do not stack the potatoes. They will need to be stored just the way you dig them out of the ground. While you will be tempted to clean them up, don't wash them. Once dug you can put them on a shaded area so the soil can dry a bit, where the bulk of it will fall off. Do not leave the in the sun and if you dig that morning, be prepared to bring them in to the storage place that evening. Choose the coolest place you have available to you. If you have a crawl space under neath your house that you can get to easily, this also works well. We grew a ton of potatoes last year, or so it seemed. We dug about 100lbs and used potatoes from our storage room for many months thereafter as well as share some with family and friends. I hope this has helped spark some interest in grown a few things on the little or big spot of land you have. No spot is too small, many even use containers when they don't have much ground that is usable. OK.. I am getting off the soap box. Y'all have a super week!

shared at Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

*linky Follower Party!

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:44:00 +0000

The LINKY FOLLOWER Party!!!

Look what I found today over at My Simple Country Living... A little FOLLOWER party designed to inform people about the fact that GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT (GFC) will be disappearing for non-Blogger sites at the end of this month.

Many of you have probably already heard that Google Friend Connect will go away on Feb 29 for any one that is not with blog spot, but rumor has it that it is being completely phased out for everyone soon. There is good news! Check out this great new tool!

It has so many amazing features (that GFC never had). If you have not signed up you should. (yes you can have both.) I love the new tool so much and want everyone to enjoy all the new features. It is super easy and FREE!

What better way to celebrate a fun new blogging tool than to have a party so break out your poodle skirt and saddle back shoes cuz’ we’re having a LINKY FOLLOWER PARTY HOP~

RULES:
1. You MUST have the LINKY FOLLOWERS tool on your site to participate. {You can have both the LINKY FOLLOWERS & GFC on your site but you must have the LINKY FOLLOWERS to participate in this party hop.}

2. You MUST follow the person who has the party on their site as a thank you.

3. Just add your blog button to the LINKY PARTY below.

4. Then grab the BLOG HOP code (You will find the code right under the Linky Party where it says CLICK HERE TO ENTER– just under that it says: WHAT IS A BLOG HOP? GET THE CODE HERE. Click on "GET THE CODE HERE" and enter it into a post on your site.)

5. Then you follow other bloggers–(as many as you want) –leave each one of the blogs that you follow a comment letting them know you are following them and ask them to follow you back.

If you want to add the BLOG HOP to your own site you will get lots of new followers–(see rule #2)

…So do ya want to go Cruisin’?
Check out all the blogs that are a part of this hop and follow the ones that you find interest in, the Linky Follow Widget will be a great way to stay in touch with your favorites!

*turning the soil

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:34:00 +0000

This morning I knew when I woke up, had my quite time and coffee that I would be heading out the door for some time in the warm sun planting onions, more broccoli and kale. I had contemplated sewing but these things NEEDED to be done, so I went with it.

All finished...

Before I got started this is how it looked...

We bought onions last fall and planted I don't know how many, but before they were all planted I was tired of onions, so I put the rest of the bulbs in a nice furrow and covered them with dirt. There they lay all in a crowded pile, until today. The area where they were coming up looked like one of those little cups you put seeds in and it grows hair (grass) of the head - I don't even know what they are called. At any rate, I picked up the clumps of onions that I refused to plant in the fall and planted them in a nice row with the others. I have been trimming off the tops of the onions, chopping them and putting them into the freezer. These will come in hand when I am making soups, topping baked potatoes, sauteing veggies etc. They are already growing new tops back at this point.

Eric and I picked up some broccoli and kale plants this past week when we were out together and today they went into the deep dark rich soil where they will grow beautifully! We have started eating kale like it was spinach, I believe the goodness of one is just about as good as the other. I have found kale easier to grow. The broccoli will be something we eat as it comes mature, however we did purchase it with the rabbits in mind as well. They love leafy greens and the broccoli plants give off a lot of great large green leaves.

The goats are fed their grain in the mornings in their stall and then let out in the fenced barnyard area to roam around and forage for food. I caught them napping, or resting while I was working in the garden. I just love this picture. Cleo is laying up against Bodie and Jazzy is laying in the crook of Cleo's legs. So cute! Each time I went near the garden/barnyard gate all of my sweet chickens would come running as if I was going to let them into the garden area. It doesn't take long for them to learn a pattern, albeit a bit early in the day for such activity. I will heed their request a bit later in the day, their work in the garden and around the yard beyond the barnyard is much appreciated!

If you have a small patch of land, whether you live in the rural area, suburbs or urban area you can plant some onions at this point. You can usually find a "bunch" of onions at your local feed store, Walmart or Lowe's at this time of the year. Just turn your soil over with a shovel, level it off and make a hole about 1 1/2 inches deep and plant the onion. These will grow with no help from you other than a bit of watering along the way. Onions will grow nicely in a sunny flower bed and not take away from the beauty of your flower bed either. What about potatoes.. do you have potatoes in your pantry that have "eyes" on them? If so, cut about an inch under where the "eye" is coming out. Simply slice that piece off, leaving a bit of potato under the eye area. You will leave the slice you cut off on the counter or outside somewhere safe for a day or so. The slice will need to "heal" over a bit and then in a day or two you can plant this in an area where the soil is mulched well. In a few months you will be able to harvest numerous potatoes from that part you would normally cut off and throw away.

Go ahead, I encourage you, if you have even a small spot - plant a seed, or two. Turn those sprouting potatoes into plants that will produce for your family.

shared at Your Gardening Friend
Rural Thursday

*preparations under way

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:49:00 +0000

Preparing has to take place in order to make ready. We have began to make ready our garden spots for the coming planting season! We have been tilling, turning, building and getting excited about this season that is on our doorsteps.

Eric has been turning the well mulched garden spots so we can begin our planting in about one month. We have decided to seed our garden about mid March, praying that no frost will set in after that date. Last year this time he was still in North Carolina, so he gets to be a part of the garden from the ground up this year.

This year we are adding two more hives to our property and instead of buying the hive boxes, bottom board and top boards, my talented beloved is building them. We still have to purchase all the frames to go inside each hive box or supra but we are still saving a considerable amount of money with him building them. One of the hives will be a gift to Eric's mom and dad. They showed some interest in honey this past year, so as a Christmas gift to them, we are giving them a completed hive with two supra's, they will just populate it with the purchase of the bees. The bees are starting to become active again which is exciting to see. Beekeeping is really quite rewarding with many benefits.

We will be breeding one of our Nubian's in a month or so, and with this in mind we need to have our goats become accustomed to getting up on the stand to be milked, have their hoofs trimmed etc. Eric has had some plans printed out for a little while and this past weekend he made it come to life. I love the way it turned out. We did have to purchase the 2 X 4's to make the stand, but he repurposed some wood that was already here to make the base of the stand as well as the ramp. We had some tinted stain from some project when we lived in NC and this is what we stained it with. You should have seen having each goat come up the ramp individually to introduce them to the stand. We gave them some dried beet pulp as their treat along with some grain which they love. They were happy to follow the cup with treats up the ramp to a certain point. It did however, take both of us to get a couple of them up on the stand and in the right place.

Husan is doing a great job keeping his hens together. He watches over them carefully, and he is kind to us. This kindness is good for the sustainability of his life. *wink*

This is Ellie, one of our "easter egger" or Americauna hens, isn't she beautiful?!

We often see this... a bird of a feather, flock together.. Two Barred Rocks together and two White Brahama's together.

Aren't those some beautiful brussel sprouts there? Our hens are really loving life right now! They already have free roam of a huge area of our property but within a fence for their protection from predators. Since we have been out working in the gardens and building in the barn so much lately, we have been letting the chicks go beyond the fenced area and into the gardens. There is still a fence beyond that as well for their protection. The pickins are much better in a new spot of land that has not been turned over on a regular basis. I love to sit and watch our chickens turn the ground over seeking out bugs, seeds and whatever else suits their fancy. We try and let them out an hour or so before the sun goes down, this way we are pretty much assured that every one of them will be in to roost as that beautiful rose colored sunset sets. We supplement feed our chickens with cracked corn and grains as needed, but we much prefer they go and work for their food, I think they like it best that way as well.

*WIP'D February

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:29:00 +0000

WORK IN PROGRESS DONE!

It is that time again, another month has managed to roll around marking January in the past. Did you accomplish success in the area of finished projects in the works, starting a new one, or finishing one from beginning to end? I did not do any of the above... I WILL be finishing something this month (I hope).

The linky will be posted on the first Saturday of each month, leaving it open the whole month, so once you are finished with your projects (and you have blogged about it), come on over and link up. It will be a great encouragement to have your project be a part of the blog hop!

Here's the rules- I don't really like that word rules, but anyway..
     *Link up with a direct url to your featured post on the most recent project you finished whether it is cross stitching, quilting, sewing, crafting, upcycling etc..
     *Grab my button and add it to your featured post, or link back please
     *Come back again next month!

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Share the word, consider posting about this or putting the button up on your side bar. Thanks!

*scenic Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:21:00 +0000

Henry and Tiffany (his sweet girlfriend), asked me to take some pictures of them sometime this weekend. The photo with Henry climbing the tree is very much a picture of who my son is. We had a great time laughing, and capturing some great images!

These girls were just telling each other how grateful they are that they live at Erilyn Farm.

We hope you all had a great weekend, we certainly did! May your week be better than you have even hoped for!

~Lynnie

*2 out of 19 ain't bad!

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:59:00 +0000

If these adorable little chicks were being raised by a hen, she would make sure they didn't get pasty butt. She would, gulp, peck it off. Now that is true love! Pasty butt, as you probably know can be very deadly to a little chick. This morning when I was cleaning out their brooder I noticed that only two of the nineteen had pasty butt. By the time I got them back in the brooder only one had pasty butt. I am not sure if one of the other chicks pecked it off (thinking it was food- they will peck at anything that is dark, crumbly looking). I carefully cleaned the little on up and she was on her way. I am sure she is in their releasing right now. Cleaning up her vent was life giving to her, I am sure she appreciates it.

I am not sure why, but the moment I saw this picture in my Picasa album, I immediately thought of me and my best friend, Franziska. This picture reminds me of us. Even down to the fact that their is some poop laying on the "ground" (my quilt!!! YIKES!) around us. That is what dear friends are for, to walk you through the crap that life sometimes throws at 'cha, side by side we shall be.

These two light colored chicks are the Buff Orppington and the Buff Brahma, Henry has claimed one of them and named her Gwen.

Psst. Psst. Do you see that little girl there, the black and yellow one with her sweet little head sort of pointing sideways downward? Well, the dear man at the hatchery, "threw" her in for free. She is a Black Copper Maran and she is challenged to say the least. I am happy to have her in the mix and pray she is able to adapt to her differences as she grows.

I am working on a name for her, she will be easy to recognize in the mix. We had added two Welsummers, three Black Copper Marans, a Buff Orppington, a Buff Braham, an Americauna, a Yellow Comet, and the 9 mixed "back yard" chickens from our hen. We will be able to determine what their mother was as they get their pin feathers later this month. Like I said, 2 out of 19 chicks with pasty butt isn't bad. This will be the worst week for pasty butt then we will be on to bigger and better things!

*Deja vu

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:27:00 +0000

The last few years here on the Gulf Coast, the winters have been rather cold. This past year we experienced a winter that was not far from what we were used to experiencing in North Carolina. This year, however, has been a different story. While we have had about a weeks worth of low 20's temps throughout the "winter season", I have only used my winter coat a few times. I am not thrilled about this one way or the other. This time last year the temps were less than desirable! But, spring is definitely on its way. Every morning I hear the birds singing praises to their King! The grass is peeking through, ok so most of it never left this year. Flowers are blooming, trees are blooming, our strawberries are blooming, the dew berries on our property are blooming, the daffodils and azaleas are blooming! Last year the sweet daffodils bloomed around the 24th of February, they are almost a month ahead this year.

Last year this time I was starting to gleefully raise our first chicks for egg production here at Erilyn Farm. It was really a lot of fun the first time, not so much this time. I am excited to raise more pullets, don't get me wrong.

Remember we had a hen to go broody and hatch out 9 chicks AND we picked up 9 more in Samson at a small hatchery last weekend? We have all of them together now, yes that means Rebel is NOT raising her chicks but me instead. We felt it would be best if we integrated the little chicks all together early on. We had some gang issues last year when we finally put our two different groups of hens together. So I tried to give all of the chicks to Rebel to raise. Firstly, 18 is a lot of chicks for her little frame. She is a Buff Leghorn and really a rather small hen compared to our other hens. She seemed to be confused when I first put all of them in with her, she took them in or so at first I thought she did. Later in the day I went out to check on them. She had her chicks in her small wings warming, but she was pecking towards the others as they drew near to her. I made a decision to take all of them away, bring them inside and put them in the brooder so I could take them under my wings... Rebel, our still broody hen now has 5 more eggs she is sitting on. We made efforts to research if it was possible to put more eggs under a broody hen AFTER she had hatched out eggs she had been sitting on for 19 days. To no avail we were not able to find any information at all on anyone who had removed the baby chicks upon 48 hours or so of hatching out and giving more eggs to the broody hen. We have done it. She is sitting on the eggs as if she just went broody. I am hopeful that she will continue to sit for at least 19 more days. Sometimes broody hens can loose the desire and leave the nest completely. I have moved her food so she has to get up and stretch her legs, get a drink and POOP outside her nest. I believe it was my fault that she was pooping in her nest as it is. I mean really, if someone brings food to your mouth and you don't need to get up for anything else why not just poop where you are?

January 2012's chicks

So my January and February are akin to 2011's January and February, it is important to add new birds to your flock every couple of years because their egg production will start to slow down after a few years of production. I suppose I will have those deja vu moments in January's to come.

*fulfilled

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:07:00 +0000

Do you know that feeling you have when you are doing what you feel like God has called you to do? It is one of those things that He has called you to that gives you total joy. I am sure you all have had things you knew you were supposed to be doing but didn't really like it to much. This weekend was such a joy filled weekend for our family doing simple things.

We have been feeding our Nubian's Fillet Mignon, well not really; but they have been eating well nonetheless. The breeder we purchased our goats from started them on Alfalfa hay, not knowing much else that we could feed them to give them the protein content they need we continued in this expensive hay. They only eat about half of the bale and waste the other half, eating the smaller pieces and discarding the longer. Our rabbits have been happy to help us not waste by eating what the goats have turned their noses up at. At $16.99 a bale we just felt like we needed to research another option. Eric has been vigilant about this whole forage feeding and hay needs of the goats. His research paid off and we have made the change to Perennial Peanut Hay, the Alfalfa of the south! We are thrilled about this find, because we can get it for only $7 per bale and they eat everything in the bale - no waste at all!

Our Saturday started with a drive to the Panama City Beach area to pick up some yard implements, then up to Bonifay to pick up 72 bales of perennial peanut hay, then over to a hatchery across the Alabama line to pick up a few chicks so we can increase our egg production early this summer which will in turn increase our profit. Our coops are large enough to increase our flock and they have much land to roam at will.

When we got home we found that Rebel had been busy (sitting around for weeks) hatching out the cutest, most adorable chicks you will ever see! She had 5 when we got home on Saturday and by Sunday morn she had a total of 9. She is being a great mother, showing them how to scratch around, drink and eat. With the 9 we picked up in Samson, Alabama and the 9 that Rebel just hatched out, we have a total of 18 new chicks!

We did what small homesteaders or farmers have to do sometimes... we had to make the decision to kill one of our roosters. Mr. Baggins bit the big one. He had ran up my leg one too many times -repeatedly. For no apparent reason. I did my best to be friendly to him, bring him treats, etc.. Not only was he trying to hurt me, he was a rather active 'rooster' and was injuring some of our chicks. We do not see Husan near as vigilant about his rooster duties as Mr. Baggins had been. Now I don't have to carry a method of protection when I walk in the barnyard! You can imagine what was on the dinner menu for Sunday dinner.

To finish up our weekend we did finish some butchering duties that should have been done weeks ago. We butchered three rabbits, so the freezer is getting stocked. We will be butchering, oops there is that word again for those of you are are squeamish, again in 4 to 6 weeks. Our does are both pregnant right now and this will likely be the last pregnancy until summer is well behind us. We do not breed our does during the hotter Florida months due to heat exhaustion on the doe's part as well as the kits. If you are a small homestead and you would like to raise a sustainable meat source for your family's table, you should consider raising New Zealand or/and Californian Rabbits. Not only are we getting a great lean meat source that is free of hormones and who knows what else, we are selling our rabbit droppings for $8 per feed bag size (40 lb bag) and we are also curing the pelts for future use in coin purses, a quilt possibly or other such things. We are not wasting a thing!

*handcrafted valentine day love

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:09:00 +0000

Lets encourage one another in the area of handmade Valentine love. Let's face it, anywhere you patronize from not until after February 14th will be glistening with hearts, cupid, kisses, chocolate, roses and glitter galore. I like to send greeting cards to my friends and family or perhaps give gifts as much as the next person, but how can we show the love with our home made offerings? What are you making for the wee one's for Valentines Day? What have you made for friends or family? Is there a simple act that you will show your love to those near and dear to you?

I hope you will link up and share your ideas for others to glean from. There is no need to write up a blog post for the linky, simply directly link to a new post if you desire or a previous post with something you have made Valentines Day for those you L.O.V. E.

*January WIP'D Link Up

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:01:00 +0000

It is that time! Once a month I invite you to come and link up and share what projects you have WIP'D! You can come over on the first Saturday of each month and link up your finished projects. The linky will be left open until the last day of each month. I invite you to come and share your hand crafted project that you have completed in that month.   Just link up to a recent post on your blog talking about your most recent completed project that is now stamped WIP'D!

I had high hopes of completing one of my WIP quilts, but I did not attain that goal yet. I did get to the quilt shop and purchase the backing fabric as well as the batting with visions of putting binding on by the end of the month, this month.   I am not at a loss though, because I did complete some fabric post cards that will hit the mail boxes of many of my loved ones for Valentines Day!

Here's the rules- I don't really like that word rules, but anyway..
     *Link up with a direct url to your featured post on the most recent project you finished whether it is cross stitching, quilting, sewing, crafting, upcycling etc..
     *Grab my button and add it to your featured post, or link back
     *Come back again next month!

*laughter is good for the soul

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:50:00 +0000

A good, real, unrestrained, hearty laugh is a sort of glorified internal massage, performed rapidly and automatically. It manipulates and revitalizes corners and unexplored crannies of the system that are unresponsive to most other exercise methods. ~Author unknown, from an editorial in New-York Tribune, quoted in Quotations for Special Occasions by Maud van Buren

Laughter is an instant vacation. ~Milton Berle

What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul. ~Yiddish Proverb

Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on. ~Bob Newhart

Remember, men need laughter sometimes more than food. ~Anna Fellows Johnston


I know this picture looks a bit crude... and I am sorry, but these two are like brother and sister and they were laughing it up to the highest!

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Prov 17:22

*Kilroy was here

noreply@blogger.com (Lynnie) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Farran is my oldest son's girlfriend and she and I have a lot in common besides the fact that we love my oldest son. Hey, how about that hair? Does it remind you of the 80's? I told her we wore the braided head band thingy that we would put on our fore head, under our hair, over our ears and tied in the back! Nothing, nothing I say, is new under the sun!

She is wonderful with animals and our black goat, Neffie is especially fond of her. Farran can get the goats to playing with her as if she was one of them. You can see here that Neffie is starting to frisk around and sort of hop-run sideways towards Farran.

And she wins. Head butt!

We take one of the barn blankets out in the barnyard so we can sit and visit with the goats, chickens , cats etc. Neffie just want to be in Farran's face.

Kilroy was here.

This is one of the pics I took while Farran was here. Aren't her eyes beautiful? I used some of those new editing options in Picasa on this image.