Odds N Ends.....

It's been a little while so I thought I would drop in.

Right now I am sick in bed with a terrible cold. Brad came home with it Thursday night and was sick over the weekend, and now I have it in full swing. I don't like being sick at all!

We have been caring for a calf that had gotten down at my father in laws farm. We brought it here and it was getting better, but now it seems we have done all we can for it. I just don't think it's going to make it, poor thing. Last week, I called the vet and he fixed up several syringes of meds to give it. He told me that if it didn't get better after this, there probably won't be anything left to do for it. I guess he was right. Brad and I went out this morning to get her up and she just doesn't have any more strength to stand anymore. I pulled muscles in both arms heaving her up, and I just can't do it anymore. We have had to pull her up everyday for a week. I was hoping she would pull through and make a nice addition to the farm.

Hailey has a new blog called Handmade by Hailey Bug. She has a couple of orders so far. She loves to crochet and does very good work. She decided to start this business after deciding not to attend college. She is a stay-at-home daughter and is still learning the art of being a Godly housewife. She is going to make someone special a very good wife and helpmeet one day. I will probably write more on this beautiful alternative to college in a later post!

Brody is .....well, Brody! I am pretty sure all he has on his mind is dirt bikes and it's all Brad's fault! :)
Some days, I can't believe we get anything done with all his plans and daydreams. He is very good at riding his dirt bike and doing jumps, tricks and wheelies. He is all boy, full steam ahead, every day the moment he wakes up, and has been that way since birth!
Last week, he told me he wanted to be a veternarian. I thought that was brilliant until I asked him to go help me with the cow. He does not like to be around sick animals. I asked him how he was going to be a vet, when he didn't want to help me EVER with the animals! He said that he was going to hire it done, and let them do all the work and he would over-see. Kids, they just don't understand.......

I have a Kombucha scoby growing that I am excited about! It should be ready in about 1-2 more weeks. I grew it myself from a bottle of kombucha from EarthFare. It had a tiny scoby in it.  After a little research on "growing your own kombucha scoby", I got it going and it is growing!! I will have a full post on this later. If you don't know what kombucha is, do a little investigating. It is fermented tea that is very good for you! I used to drink it a long time ago. I brewed again in 2010, and got sick. I still don't know if it was a virus, or the tea, but I was in PAIN! Every bone in my body hurt, from what I believe might have been lactic acid build up. I have drank several bottles of it lately from EarthFare with no ill effects. In fact, my body is wanting more. I am craving it, which leads me to believe I really need it right now. Our bodies sure have a way of letting us know when we need things, doesn't it?  I am looking forward to enjoying a cup of my tea soon!

I started a few seeds this morning before I got confined to the bed! Yesterday afternoon, I sterilized soil so I could bring it inside without all the nasty things growing and killing my seedlings.
YES, I know you can go pick up a bag of soil in the stores for a couple of bucks.
I asked Brad to pick me up a bag of organic potting soil and he came back without one saying,"all that's in it is dirt and manure and we have plenty of that stuff."
Why yes we do!
He just didn't realize that the stuff in the stores are sterilized. You can't just get dirt from outside and bring it INSIDE and it work out. You could have all kinds of creepy things growing in no time at all!
So, I spent the afternoon outside building me a fire and cooking dirt and you know what?
I kinda enjoyed it.
It wasn't so bad. This is some of the best dirt around after years and years of leaves rotting on it and now it's even better after being "cooked"!

Saturday, I put 41 chicken eggs in the incubator. I can't wait to see what hatches out. I put one of Mabels eggs in there, but I'm not sure its fertile. Mabel is a Top Hat Polish. She is my favorite out of the bunch. Very curious, happy and comical. She keeps us laughing! I put several of my eggs from my bunch and several from a farmer I get free-range eggs from. I always get a few Dominiques out of his and I would love to add some to my flock.

I am looking forward to Spring! Lovely, beautiful, birds-a-singing SPRING!

Blessings,
Melissa