Do you smell it? Can you feel it? Its coming and the signs all around you. We spotted a few while walking on the trails today. Caterpillars even looked to be in a hurry to get where its safe.
I am talking of the Fall season. I know it seems too early but the signs are everywhere! Leaves have already begun to fall from my apple tree and the changing of colors is already evident on the trails. Squirel's were seen hiding winter foods in the ground. I do not wish Mother Nature to rush Summer at all. I love summer and the gardening season. And if summer is rushed, that would most likely mean a short Fall. Fall is our Sacred season. My secure season....
We found these today and decided to make a necklace and bracelet from them for Panda. Lil' Man will get a necklace too.
Of course it is not finished, so the results will be shared at a later date. Bill has a very thin drill bit I may try on them. Hopefully, it will be a success and not shred them up. I will also need to find a finish coating for them after I put glue under their "caps". I had read about this kind of project in a book once long ago. But, like many of my thoughts, it has escaped me.
Since I saw a sign of discharge on Cleo's tail back a few weeks, I will be taking her down to her breeders place to meet a boyfriend. I may wait on Lady Chia so I have the 2 far enough apart I do not go without milk. Not to mention having both due close in time would make it hard on me with the kids. Hubby works nights and I would end up putting the goats in my basement when their due date is close. Yep, I know it sounds ridiculous... Hubby thought so too... But mine is a walkout basement and after all- that is where we have kept the kid goats till they were old enough to stay outside and the baby chicks. I would much rather have the girls give birth in my basement then in the goat house. Not enough space and they would be inside for a bit during winter till I was comfortable enough to let them outside in the weather anyway.
O.k. This will have to be our little secret though. If this got out to our friends that I was keeping goats in the basement because I did not want them to get sick- well... Lets just say it would not go over very well with my already unusualness....
'Till next time. sweet Dreams....
~Tammie

A year in the country

I found the name and title of the book mentioned in my previous entry (sorry I could not find a more clear picture) . It is "A year in the country" By Tessa Evelegh. I found alot of wonderful earthy projects that are not corny summer camp crafts. Much more "sophisticated". I loved her bean mosaic using a pale pastel blue bean and other pretty colored legumes to make a simple charming heart picture. It inspired me to do one too- of a steamy cup of joe using whole coffee beans. The willow star adorned with airy pheasent feathers is a must do project for our family. It will have an added circle wreath to look like a pentegram for our front door. For those who are not of the earth based spirituality- or unaware, it would appear to be a country stick star craft. Oh, and the willow stick bird "hanging table" and the leaf frames , cranberry hearts (small sized that can be used for decorating a gift basket of homemade goodies for the holidays too!), and the framed bird feathers....There are so many more I could rattle off that make this book a wonderful and inspiring tool. They are at a skill level where children can be involved which makes it a great family friendly tool.
If you wanted to purchase this book due to your local library not carrying it, I have a few words in this sentence marked in various price ranges. She has alot of books out which seem to be easier to find in cyberspace then this particular one. It is worth checking out her other books as well if this one is any indication. i have not had the pleasure yet since this one is my introduction to this author. I decorate my home earthy yet modern- not country- yet shaby chic meets earth momma meets coffee house- if that makes any sense.
This book makes walking the farm/woods & nature trails accompanied with the children, a basket, frog in the big red wagon, truly memorable for the family. Eyes open for earth's treasures waiting to be found and put to use in the home.
Another book that I fell in love with is hippie style inspired. Lots of cool clothing inspiration plus home decor fun. But that is one I will save for another review with a project I am doing from its pages.
I hope this book inspires you as much as it has for me. The best part is I found it searching through my local library shelves and copied the pages of projects I wished to do. I can always go back to check it out if I lose a page from my folder. Remeber, please share here if you happen to check the book out and if you do any of the projects. Pictures would be great too :~)...
~Tammie

Handicap toad and cottage style projects

Playing by the magic tree today when the kids found this:
Upon closer inspection, we discovered that this is a special toad. A handicap toad who has either run into some mishap along the way in its early life or was born with it's deformity. It is almost like a dislocated yet moveable shoulder and pinched nerves but looking at the "fingers" in comparison to the others leads me to believe an early life mishap is the case.
It's arm is able to move at its connection to its body but not bend. It has grown to a nice size for a toad, so apparently it does not hinder a toads way of life. I wonder how it happened, When it happened, or what was the cause of it if not from a mishap?
The ducklings have been introduced to their first tub of water. Hubby thought it may be amusing to use a clear shallow tupperware container and place small minnows in it to see if they will "catch them". Yep, just some good ol' country entertainment folks. LOL. Actually, I think it would be very amusing for the children to see what ducks are doing under water when they go bottoms up.
I have been on the lookout for some willow branches to use in an upcoming project. I found this great book from the library about projects for each season. Lots of nice stuff in there but cannot remember the title and author at this moment. We have also been collecting the little "baby" feathers from the chickens. We are going to use them with a single glass bead per feather to decorate a light airy curtain for my kitchen window and dining room. Another project idea from the book. Lots of modern cottage style stuff in there. Maybe I will do a tutorial with the willow star wreath on here- if I can find someone willing to let me trim their tree...
I love earthy projects and that book was full of them!
Our turken roo is huge! He has a mild personality so far and just as with the Captain, I have only caught glances of his advances towards the hens. Actually, it has only been once and Honey-1 of the 2 young americauna's- was so distraught by his attempt, he quickly let her be. I do beleive he will be a gentle giant & he will have a home here as long as he remains that way.
As you can see above, the golden comet (Fletcher) is standing next to him and he towers her! Up front in the lens is ourl Mrs. Turken. I hope to have some little turkens running around next year in the spring- The 2 turkens will seperate once again from the Captains harem in early spring along with 2 young americauna hens. It is raining now, so I best secure the animals for the night.
Sweet dreams.....
~Tammie

what happened to consideration of other's lives?

Fencing in a large enough area for the animals was not an easy project especially when it came to digging post holes. Like I have said before- clay & rocky soil on the hill. I have mentioned my incidents with zoning and the neighbors before, but this will be brief. Fencing your property except for small garden use, means you must acquire a permit for $10. I have already signed an agriculture waiver for my property and its buildings but nothing was ever said about the fencing for my pens not being included in the waiver. You also must have their areas 100 ft from property neighbors and 60 ft from roadside. So, I fenced in a large area AROUND the animals pens. Nothing can be done if they still have their pens up and they seem to "escape" into the larger fencing which borders my back neighbors property but is still withing the requirements for the 1 next door neighbor by the pens and the60 ft from roadside. This is the area my children play in and the dogs run in. Not for "agricultural use"- since they have pens set in the footage requirements. Nothing says you cannot fence in your property for the above reasons. So I have found a way to go around the requirements so neighbors who may complain will just get blue in the face since my "animal pens & grazing area" are still up inside my new fenced in area.The chicken coop has its own run now too. They have been making a mess on my back porch and have found way too many veggies in the garden so they are locked up tight till the season is over.













As you can see, the children still have their Magic Tree for playing on. We still have out bonfire area too. We just enclosed our big area so the children are contained safely in an area on our hill and the mischievous goats are contained to the hill if they happen to escape from their opened gate :~) .














On another note, Panda found this butterfly with her daddy the other day. It's tail bottom on the one side is torn so was unable to fly or balance itself very well. I could tell it was not going to survive much longer, but Panda wanted to try helping. She brought it fresh flowers and a sponge for water. It did pass on within a few hours, but she felt good that she at least tried to help the butterfly in its last moments. She is such a delicate child. Sensitive to so much in the world. Which brings me to a rant about the count fair. We were walking through the vendor building checking out the pellet stoves they had on display. As we walked through to the other end of the building through political election booths, water systems, avon, princess house, etc. -you get the picture. Smack dab in your face was a booth for pro-life. I will not say anything about my feelings on abortion but what I will say is how wrong it was for them to have a booth at the fair where we take our small children for family time. They had massive posters of dead fetus's behind them. Panda was terribly upset by this site and I was pissed off! How dare they shove their view at my young child on their opinions towards abortion! Believe what you want- feel what you want but do not push those on my 7 year old child at a fair! How was I suppose to sheild her from such a site when I thought I was taking her to a family friendly environment? I was not prepared to explain that to her and should not have had to for awhile more- when she is mature enough to understand the going ons in the world. I feel they have attacked the in nonce of my daughter. She cried because she did not understand why the baby looked like that. It looked to be a 6 month old fetus that they say was aborted. How do I take that image from her?
I want to make a stand against these people being permitted to show those pictures at the fair again. If they want to be there fine! but the pictures must go. Hand out a pamphlet to people who are actually interested in your plight and walk up to your booth. You will never gain favor with that poster by anyone. Rant over. I am now going to call and complain to the fair board and will be writing a letter to the local newspaper about this. I cannot stop thinking about this. My poor panda has been interrupted in her innocent childhood by these monster activists. Have some "cooth" man!!!! The fair is for family's to enjoy and bring home positive memories. This year, I just came home in a bad mood. Young 4-h'rs were not controlling their horses and with a horse being a bit restless you would think they would be smart enough to not have it sanding in the paved way where fair goers walk, while they waited to let the horse in the exercise ring. Nope, she got pissed at all the walkers and her damn horse almost hit Frog in her wagon because the horse was all over the place in a 20 foot wide walk. Yep, her horse kept back stepping and prancing so why did she not walk it over to the grass area away from all the people? I swear i have become the grumpy young woman of Ohio. Everything bothers me and ticks me off now. Hubby even noticed and said that over the last 2 years I have become very bitter towards life and people. I told him after being kicked and beat down by people, you start to not like them and that my dear is why I want the country life. Animals are much better companions for me. Forget the outside world and give me peace.
~Tammie

Dover tractor show, giant sunflowers & Lady Chia

Today we paid a visit to our local Pennwest dealer since they have a 2 story on display, but not the one we are interested in. Hubby is picky about having to see the exact model so a visit to Morgantown, W.Va is now in order to visit the Bennington model we want to buy- that is if it passes our approval. The local dealer here had the Providence on location which is a 3 bedroom with a bonus room added to one side. The square footage there was around 150 sq ft more then the Bennington. Hubby was very impressed with this manufactured home and is now excited to see our model. I gotta check how far that one is away & if we could make it a day tripper.While we were down there we stopped at the Dover steam engine/tractor show. Nothing too exciting for me but lil' man loves his tractors. It was a big deal to him.
Some of Panda's Sunflowers from her house, cried out for trimming down. They appeared so heavy on their stalks/stems. I cut & had her "catch" them. That was a bad idea for this big one which stood at 12 feet tall. It fell into her waiting arms and knocked her on to the ground due to her not expecting it to be so heavy. The kids had fun measuring them all & if I only had a scale, we would have done a weigh in. Baby ducklings are just as noisy (at times) as baby chicks! They accompany us each time we head outdoors, which they just love wondering through my garden & chasing the bugs. Can you see the ones nibbling on lil mans leg in the 2nd?
Now I need some help with Lady Chia. I have not wormed her yet because I had a feeling she may be pregnant. She is an older goat but refuses to let me find out how old. She has obviously had kids before- wrinkled belly skin & her udder gave it away. But as you can see in the pics, she is just not seeming right to me. What am I missing? Is she a normal older Saanen? Is it because she needs wormed and is not pregnant? Help me out here. I have put off the worming just in case she is & I have no idea how far along. I asked her old home when I picked her up & they said no. But remember, She was running around in a pen with 1 other female, a wether, and an intact, 3 legged, 1 eyed, pygmy mohair Buck for a long time. I think it is possible.


She has a bad dry skin problem & refuses to eat the brewers yeast tablets I give to Cleo daily. They contain extra Omega 3's & garlic. She does not eat treats- she refuses apples, bananas, berries, tomatoes(Cleos fav treat!!!), and will gobble down hay & grain like its da' bomb in comparison. Something about this goat is special too. Not just your ordinary goat. I mean she will stop mid air of butting an animal even if just my hand is put in the way. She comes when called despite the great grass treat she may have found and lounges in the goat house alot by herself. Not complaining- just surprised... So- what do you think? Preggers or just needs dewormed?

Meet Casperilla and the inside of whats going on this week

Look who was found in Panda's room by "dawg" our lil' white smooshed dog? He kept coming back & forth all excited & whining like he does when he wants in with the other rabbits. (ghandhi use to play with dawg since the only thing dog would do is try to smell their butts. He loves our animals and sits out side next to the rabbit cage and they sit next to him. defiantly an odd site). So This little Angora has been named Casperilla . Not because she is white but because she was like a ghost when lost. She was there but you could not see her. We looked in her room 3 times inside, around, under, you name it and never saw her. She was never anywhere else due to a baby gate being up.
Panda found 2 of these caterpillars and they have both gone into their cocoons so this picture is a day old.
Garden looks great but seems behind everyone else. I harvested my first bunch of black cherry tomatoes, 2 patty pan scalloped squash and a sosnovsky russian squash for dinner last night.( if any of you would like for me to save seeds for you, tell me now as I harvest so I set them aside and put your name on it. I also have been saving calendula from a public herb garden since I have been dead heading. They do not bother harvesting seeds but have given me permission to do so). I made a stuffing with the inside of them, wild rice w/ seasoning, quartered pieces of Black cherry tomato, and a sprinkling of sage pork sausage on top for hubby's carnivorism. It was the best food I have had for dinner in a long time! Now thats my kind of food. My sunflowers are huge. I have to break out the ladder just to harvest the heads from the sunflower house! We have 1 in my garden bed that is as wide as a dinner plate. Lots of people compliment me on them and my animals. Tell me how they enjoy them. Why do they not just take the plunge and raise some of their own? In the first part of the summer I watered the sunflowers nightly for a few weeks. After that I had watered maybe 4 times. They need no attention to get that large. The animals take a half hour to care for in the morn (all of mine anyway) and then in they evening. I check on their water mid day just because of the heat and during the winter I replace it with hot water every few hours when it dips below 35F. Not that hard and the benefits are wonderful.
I wonder if i can grow sweet potatoes in Ohio? What do I do to prepare soil for potatoes? We have moles here so root crops like carrots have not been grown. The soil has alot of clay since the middle owner of the house (we are the 3rd owner) had soil brought in to make up our nice shaped hill without a concern to its quality! He botched alot of things in this place but what I do not like is digging through rocky clay soil and having to add bags of soil and my compost to a garden only to have the rain and seasons make my efforts a waste.Not to mention the price of buying DIRT! I have stabilized some spots after 5 years of effort through trial and error but would like to grow potatoes (red, yukons , & sweet). I do not have a tiller. I have a backyard-neighbor who tills for me each year and I give him a deep tissue massage in trade. I do not know if he will do it again for a potato bed since he had 2 new spots this year, that turned out to have thick tree roots and rocks all over. That tiller was jumping like a frog all over the place. He was so sweaty and not very happy looking by just half through the first... I will have to tempt him with a few baked sweets and if those darn hens start laying (they are 5 months now) I may have eggs to add in the basket.
Making anaviary style chicken run today. They keep getting on my deck which is covered in chickens who have no manners & poop attracting flies each morning. I have done the squirt bottle and hose but it only works if I see them. This way they are kept in an area until I release them for the day instead of meeting me at the back door waiting for their morning feed. It will also give a frame to lay a tarp on top of for the winter. They will have a snow & draft free run to romp in. Now I need to figure out what to do with these ducklings....

Buddy's auction day in Mt. Hope Ohio

Look what I got today! Muscovy ducklings- 1 week old for $1.50 each at the Mt. Hope Auction house. Had to take Buddy down there today in the truck. Dropped the 2 oldest off at Grams. Once I got there & brought Buddy to the back dropoff, I went to look at the produce & baked goods auction on grounds. I bought 2 loaves of wheat (which are superb!) for $1.25 & kept getting outbid by these old ladies with fly swatters ( who were very intent on outbidding everyone even though they had box's full already) on some yummy (local Amish made) hand size pies. It was like a competition to them on seeing who could go home with the most baked goods- its not like they could eat all of it anyway. I guess they may freeze them, but geez, leave some for us! I also tried for some of the honey (3 various recycled jar sizes) but again The Fly-swatter mob beat me again. I got up close & sidetracked their attention with lil miss Frog & she helped her momma by cooing, smiling, & all those adorable things babies do to attract attention. It gave me enough "inclusion" for the mob not to outbid me. Good girl!
I kept going in the barn to check on Buddy- wanted to make sure he was not getting hurt by another goat and he seemed to have attracted another male goat! It behaved like a doe rubbing his head allover buddy's head and lightly nipping his ears. It even made lil noises to him! I swear it was trying to romance him! He of course let out his familiar momma cry when he saw me which broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes. I have to say though, he was the best and heartiest looking handsome goat there! 3 Amish men came up to me asking about Buddy. Wanted to know if he was tame, his breed type, his mom's dairy info, etc. After a nice heated bidding on Buddy between 4 men, he turned out to be the highest bid on Buck there. I knew he was going to a good Amish farm to be a stud and hope that they treat him good. I will at least look at it that way.
I also tried to bid on a 3some of jersey wooly white bunnies. All the rabbits were selling so cheap! .25 cents to $3. Of course this one man was determined as much as me to win the wooly's! It got up to 4.50 a rabbit before I backed down. He quickly came up and askerd if I wanted to buy one since he only needed 2. Of course! So I gave him $5 ( had no change) and hoped it would help soothe the loss of Ghandhi. Oh whats that? You would like to see a picture? ummm.. yeah. About that...It seams Lil' Man thought the bunny wanted to go outside... He LET IT OUT after being here 2 hours. I cant find it anywhere and just hope it shows up real soon alive & well. But here are 2 more of the ducklings and hopefully I will have the bunny back to share here soon. I am running a temp, cold chills, hot flashes, and body aches that advil only helps a little. So I am going to try to get some restful sleep tonight- unlike the last 2....
~Tammie

**P.S self note** Cleo had mucous discharge on tail 8/17/06.

The camel & peacock pics for Saturday

I beleive he is taking a bow for the camera....

This is Henry the Camel. ( look to previous entry for more information) A very friendly fellow too! He walked right up to Panda and made this weird noise. Panda said she learned from animal planet , that when they make that noise it means they are hungry?! Unfortunetly my camera decided to act up & have a lens error, so This was the last pic I was able to take of the dear guy. Of course, I told Henry it must of been his doing because he wanted us to stay longer & visit. His keeper was at a picnic, so we went down to visit Henry after my last load of fencing. Very vocal guy too. I could swear he was trying to have a conversation with those air throaty sounds. I would say something to him & he would respond. Here is one of the many peacocks that freely roam the mans homestead.Again my lens would not come out so no more pictures were taken. This place had to be at least 180 acres and I am probaly too low with that estimate. He has a very nice layout.
The down of our Saturday was more then the pile of pine. A dog from the dead end of our road made a beeline to our house when someone let it off its line. Without going into horrific details, we lost our dear Ghandi. I balled like a baby. The girl who was chasing her dog kept yelling "dont hurt my dog, I'll pay for what he did!"... Without saying more, I made them pay $30 for my lost of potential income from the 2 chickens he demaged and left it at that since they said the girl was not suppose to have the dog & her dad was taking it to the pound today. I was told he come running up here like he knew where he was going but the owners claimed the dog has only been around a few months. I am sure you know what I am thinking (Ceaser-my wether who was killed back on May 17th. ) I have no proof, but I have a gut feeling that dog had been here before!

The ups and downs of our Saturday

Of course I finally got back to our secret patch and picked about 5 more pounds of blackberries. Bill was super sweet and made sure we left in the morning to TRY to beat the bugs since we were out of spray. The kids really just wanted to come along thinking they could sneak us into making time for the playground but there were lots of those underground wasp/bee nest all over that area the other day when we went so hubby told them that this was my day and we were going to do what mommy wants. He pokes fun at me with my berry picking obsession and made the comment to Panda who asked if we had enough yet, "Get use to it now, your mom could have a 5 gallon bucket full of these things and it would never be enough"... I responded "thats right, I would find a use for every single berry in that bucket which would just lead me to need more so I could make more stuff or freeze them". He is such a wonderful and giving husband. I could not ask for a better man to share my life with. He braves the brambles and bugs just so I can have a fix for my berry obsession... I love him. He so loves me...... Off the subject but a here's a little insight tidbit- When I met hubby- who was so not my type, I was trying to hook him up with a friend I brought here with me from Florida. He did not have the light hair blue eyes surfer body that I was always attracted/going after. It is amazing how you go out trying to find a soul mate but let the outside interfere with what you should be looking at which is inside. One day (like 2 months after I moved to Ohio) he came knocking on my cousins door (which he never comes over there but he for some unknown reason felt he would stop by) which I answered the door but was blinded by that wonderful first look into his hairless face that made me not recognize him. It was in that second my heart started pounding, my stomach got butterflies, and I actually experienced the beginning of that infamous love at first sight- I had no idea was happening to me. He of course was clueless and thought I was being weird and rude because i did not open the screen door to let him in and then once he let himself in I hung on his every word, laughed at his every funny, and soaked him with my attentiveness like a silly school girl with a crush. Again- He was clueless. So the word got out that I was interested in him and he finally agreed to take me out to his buddy's annual Harvest field Bonfire. October is a sort of sacred month to us. Our first date, our first kiss, it is also the month I become pregnant with Panda a year later, He proposed to me in that month a year after her birth, then in 2001 we married in that month. We have a deep love for the fall scenery that Mother Nature bestows upon us and every year when we see the leaves changing it connects us back to our begining and rekindles those butterflies in the stomach and sends my heart pounding when I look up at him in his eyes and he whispers "i love you stinky"....


On a different note, I received loads (2 truck loads to be exact), of cattle fencing. I still have 1 pickup truck load left to fetch. There is a man who raises exotic animals that was changing out his fencing -which is a very durable thick gauge but rusty or just old- and I thought I should stop to ask if he minded I take the old stuff off his hands. He was so nice he said I could have it all. I now have enough to fence in my entire property and still have some for separate pens. He let Panda harvest beautiful peacock feathers from under their roosting trees- he said they shed their feathers in July. I of course asked if he would be up for some Blackberry coffee cake if i brought it to him today. He said "of course! My grandmother use to make us pies and treats from all the berries we picked as a child, I have not had any in a long time." So when I go back today, i will take a few pics to show you his camel named henry and his uncountable uncatchable peacocks-there were even a few babies that were no bigger than a 2 month old chicken. Now I just need to find some free fence posts. Look what else I got free this weekend! Thats right! More bonfire wood! (hey ladies- can you use this pine in a wood burning heat stove for inside the house?) It is from the neighbor's yard. I asked the tree guys if they were going leave it or take it and the guys said I can have it. I told them just put it over the fence line so Hubby has it out of the way when He mows and starts cutting it up. 2 piles of pine! A total of 4 trees that were from 80ft to 100 some feet tall!

I was thinking maybe hubby get make posts out this too but I dont know if that would work without special equipment.
Have a great one!
~Tammie

Wild foods & wine- Wild Blackberry edition*picture update

Mmmmm.....Blackberries. i may not like the seeds but i love the berry taste. What nature lover would not love a walk on a trail only to discover these? I never go trail walking without a basket to hold some form of treasure that we may discover. Today was no different except we brought 2 baskets and lots of skeeter spray. Of course the kids always have a hat with them to block the sun too. I rarely venture with out my camera either which is why today you get to see Lil' mans pictures he snapped while Panda & I picked Wild Blackberries! I was hoping to find some on a different trail then we normally walk & I did too! These were very big plump berries at that!
I grabbed a branch from a tree to hold back the brambles so as not to hook my skirt up on them. Animals must have bed down in the spot we are standing since it was fairly smooshed down when we got here but berries were still abundant. I knew venturing out on other trails would lead us to the berry bush's we have checked on since the spring so the above was a great surprise! We made our way over to the "special trail" to our secret berry patch-I would tell you more but then i would have to kill you... :)...
We discovered the brambles were covered in berries still and some were even over ripe to the point the were "drying out" in the sun on the bramble. Can you see me deep in the blackberry brambles? I think the blurriness of the pictures helps in the effect of our "secret spot"...
Hey you know you would protect your spots too knowing that others would destroy it in just a few visits! Did you know you should never crush down the brambles in trying to reach other berries? I use tree branches to move them over & do everything I can to make sure I do not crush any canes. I have done it in the past but am more knowledgable on the subject now. Keep hair covered and braided if you prefer not to get entangled. Also I was a bad example wearing that skirt! It was just too hot to wear my overalls walking down the trails but I should have brought them along to throw over my clothes once I was at the patch..
So todays harvest will be turned into a freshly discovered recipe for Blackberry coffee cake. It is easy to make and yes I have made it (but it was with berries from the store just in case my patch was discovered by others). I share the link to it since I rather you know who to credit the recipe to and they have lots of other tasty recipes too you may want to check out! So I am off to start mine now. Just an FYI, My berries were found in a state park with lots of woods and walking/riding trails. I know I have mentioned before checking on the berries progress & mentioned which park we went to. So those are the only clues I will give out on the patch's location! In Ohio, Picking berries, mushrooms and pinecones are legal as long as they are not done for commercial purposes or in a destructive manner to which prevents it's "comeback".
Tommorow's berry harvest will be a batch of more Blackberry wine which the new recipe using fresh wild blackberries and a different yeast will be shared in a later part of this edition. Dont forget to chime in here when you have discovered your very own secret (or other) patch. I would love to hear of your adventures braving the brambles and wilds of the woods to indulge in one of Mothers Nature's summer fruits!
~Tammie


*picture update* This is the Blackberry coffee cake made from our first wild harvest August09,2006. Instead of orange peel I used 1 tspn of orange extract and instead of margerine I used Olive oil. I added oats to the topping which I just love doing.... Sprinkled topping on the bottom of my springform pan then poured in batter- next I folded in the berries then added more topping. We served with fresh berries and 2 small scoops of icecream. So very good!!!

Meet the newest additions to the barnyard...

A lady we know was trying to relocate this saanen since she was picking on another goat there. The lady said the sores are from the other goat biting her because she kept picking on her. She needs a bath, a good brushing, not to mention a hoof trim. So it's spa day for the Lady! She came with the name Chia but I cannot be happy calling her that. I keep getting that song for the chia pet in my head each time i try to think or say it. ch-ch-ch-chia! So any suggestions? I am looking for some dignified names since I seem to be naming the new additions with historical figures. Cleopatra then Shakespeare the new bunny buck. There he is behind the white chubby Ghandhi. (he is black and white)-Yes, she is my free ranger. She keeps coming back after her escapes so I am not very worried as I was in the first few months of it. She free ranges with the chickens in the yard and romps in the goat pen along with the Turken Harem. Shakespeare was a bunny from freecycle. A woman found him on the side of the highway in a dented cage. He is so lovable and even comes when I call him. This is Ghandi's first encounter with him. Very cute too. She went right up to the cage, touching noses then laid down next to him. He is living with daisy for now. They have a fencing floor but get to romp on real ground where the fence lays to prevent tunneling- plus have a 5x4x4 "house". Their run gets cleaned up each weekend (sometimes 2x a wk depending on my time) but they mostly stay inside during the day except him. He comes bopping out if he hears our voices. The run/house will be moved in a month. I do a rotation of ground so they are not in the same spot for more then 6 weeks.

The Saanen goat seems to be o.k around the others. I did a slow intro walking her around on a leash to meet the others. Cleo kept trying to butt her and made lil grunts when she would get close before putting her head on her. Buddy seemed disinterested which seemed real odd. He has been the most disgusting beast I have ever come across. I never knew this was what they were refering to as Buck Behavior. I, apparently, am a hottie goat which means throw in the food and run fast! Getting peed on, nipped at, and some wierd noises was not very entertaining. I am giving him away to a good home soon so I may have to get Cleo a visit to some goat boyfriend later on. Buddy will not stop trying to mount her when she gets in his "range" and she just runs away kicking her feet up like haha you are on a line and you can't catch me! Such a teaser! & of course then he tries his stuff towards me which very much freaked me out the first time and then just made me mad. Then he tried that to Bill which he remarked he thought at first he had a bug that bit him on his leg because it burned but it turned out Buddy peed on him! UGH! so gross. I will not own an intact buck again unless I have alot of land that I do not have to see him do his thing all the time when I am out. I will spare you the rest of the details on what he does, but lets just say the neighborhood kids have been seen running to their house screaming/yelling....................The Turken Harem........
~Tammie

Why do chickens wander in the rain?

I just dont get it. All the others make a run for the coop while a few wander around outside. Maybe lounge and squat down in a spot out in the open or just slowly walk around. It is almost like they think if they keep moving around they may find a "hole" in the rain. It seems to be the same ones who do it in each rain too. These guys turn their beaks up to worms too. I can dig and find nice various sizes and offer it to them. The only chickens that will eat the worms are the barnyard matriarchs- Fletcher, Dr.Suess, Ditzy chick & the Captain (captain feathersword). That was big time country style entertainment to the kids when we were diggin' in the garden. The "chicks" were always kept in the pen and we would bring the worms to them. It seemed only the australorps had a taste for worm. The ladies and the Captain would get so excited and just scratch around us waiting for their turn to play in the garden dirt. we would keep a bucket with dirt in it to throw all the worms we could find for later feeding to them. Neighborhood kids always loved coming over and feeding worms to the chickens too. Like I said- Big time country style entertainment for the kids. So much better then T.V or a park in the city (with all the rude bully type kids on the playground with mothers who could care less that their children have no manners and ... well thats another subject- back to the chickens-).
So the chick girls have yet to lay an egg. I am out of eggs and am in the middle of making blueberry pancakes. Hubby requested them last night which I thought was kinda funny since Green Dream had mentioned making them over at her house. Just made me smile & think of her when he asked for them since I just read her entry on it...
Back to the chicks egg laying- combs are still kinda pink and pale on them. I did see one of the Pennies have a redder comb 2 days ago but now it is back to being pale. i have kept them in the pen untill mid-late afternoon knowing they should come into laying anytime now. I want my egss! .......tantrum here......
I cannot tell if it is ditzy chick or fletcher laying the 1 brown egg I get from the two of them. (Dr. suess lays pale sky blue eggs) I am think I may seperate them by putting one up in the Turken harem ( I really just like saying that.) just to see who's egg it is. Ditzy chick looks rather haggard right now too. She is missing some feathers in a line down her neck along with those crooked toes... She looks a mess but I know it is not a molt since she recently came out of her last one. Fletcher is old and a favorite to Bill (Hubby name will now be used) since she "hangs out" with him and eats from his hand. It entertains him.
Still looking at property and hubby has aggreed to move a good distance if that is where we can buy. An example is one close to the W.Va border in Belmont county Ohio. It is a few counties south of us but 16 acres with a field and a nice size "large" creek going through it for $24,900 is a must see. May be going today to take a look. Of course that means Bill would have to stay in a motel/effeciancy during the work week but he spend just as much on gas but driving means less time sleeping. We only "see" him an hour a day as it is during his work days. he works from sun down to sun up - 11 hours X 4 days- sleeping in the daytime. We only get to see/spend any kind of time with him on the 3 days off he has. Ack! now I am rambling since I am still on my first cup of coffee. I will fill you all in on what the realtor said about our selling place later on. till then....
~Tammie

In Protest to the puritan attitude of Mother's Nature!

I read the article where 5,000 letters were recieved about the mother nursing her baby on the cover of Babytalk magazine. Have you? then you know why I am outraged about it at the puritan attitude or shall i use the infamous Hypocrite statement. So its O.K for people to stare at a billboard with a women naked but positioned where you would use imagination to realy see anything but a baby's face covering a breast in what women have been doing since the begining of time to nourish the human race they call "distasteful"! Ummm well maybe you should cover your hair or wear a veil to hide your face too. When I go to the beach or a public pool such as the Y.M.C.A, I see women exposing more then what a baby's face covers not to mention what spills out from those bathing suits even over the age of 60 women wear! I read where on one blog some guy talked about how he thinks it is wrong to see a women nursing in public because he does not want to see their "baggy boobs". Yeah well I dont want to see some overweight out of shape unhealthy guy going shirtless anywhere either but they do! And they have bigger/saggier boobs then me! So here is to you puritans and your ridiculous attitude on Nursing mothers!

This is not about religion, lifestyle, or decency. It is about a negative image the breasts of women have endured by men and women in soceity. The breasts of women are for feeding their young and men seem to think of them as just sexual objects and not why we have them. Maybe you dont care and maybe I even managed to disgust or make you mad. Now picture that obese person walking down the street shirtless. yep, thats what I thought. The above is much more decent..... What you see above is actually how much exposure a woman would have nursing a baby. I have my sling that is used as a light cover when I am in public anyway. I am not ashamed to do the above in public at all. It is the eyes of men that keep glancing over while sitting next their wives or girlfriends trying to catch a peek which makes the women uncomfortable in my experience. I also do not bring attention to myself by announcing what or when I do it. So get off your trip and spend your energy on a more worthy cause like outlawing the smoking in a car with children in there! Now that is something you should be outraged at and making a fuss over. You know what I mean. look around the next time you are in the car, especially in winter when the windows are up & the driver-if they even do this- have "cracked" the window just so they can ash outside or because they think the smoke will not get in the car. yeah, cause the cigarette stops smoking in between puffs and the their exhale never stays inside right?!Maybe I will just keep posting pictures of Frog nursing outdoors untill she is weaned in protest to those who find it "distatseful" or undecent. If you do not wish your child to see the cover of the magazine that is your right as paprent but where are you when they are out in public? Maybe you need to change the attitude with your sons on the breast issue and they would not see them as sexual objects but as why they do not have enlarged mammary's. Maybe the attitude is due to the power we as women hold since we give life and we nurture it where they cannot. Maybe its because their mommy did not nurse them or raise them with a healthy attitude about breasts. I am not saying it is wrong for them to be seen as a sexual object. I am saying it is wrong to see them ONLY as a sexual object. I am disgusted by those who give a baby a bottle because they feel uncomfortable about nursing or because they just dont want to nurse. Well I do not want to get fat and gain 60 pounds with each of my pregnancies but that is just the way it is. Grow up and fight for a childs health not about the mom giving a baby a healthy start in life!