Where does the time go ??

It seems like years since I have been able to just sit down and blog a little...it has been quite some time I guess. Just so much work to do and then that living thing takes up a lot of time too. Between the farm and the kids the hours fly by, daylight then moonlight, all in the matter of a few minutes it seems. I am so sorry to have let all of my dear friends and faithful readers down these last several months. I feel as if I have let myself down too. I started this blog so I could have a place to bring my thoughts, hopes, dreams and experiences to share with others, good or bad as they may be.

I must report that there have been many failures in these past months here on the farm, garden is as bad as bad can be I think. Just too much rain. Maters and Cukes are doing good, what corn that did manage to grow some was consumed by the goats the other day. When had to go out of town for a few days and when we pulled back in at the house the goats where making their way thru the garden eating the corn as they went. LOL !! Might as well laugh it off, nothing else is going to help it anyway. LOL !! Tater bugs got the best of me yet again this year, trying to have an organic garden is pure hell sometimes. I use NO sprays of any kind and it's hard to fight off all the enemies of a garden without them. But, we get by I guess, at least we know what little we do get is not full of poison, thank God.

Well, got to get back on the run, life calls and I must answer. I hope to be able to get around to reading all of your blogs over the next few days, I miss that more than anything else. Ya'll take care now, ya hear.

Chris

How to keep your cool

Here is a little trick that I use to help keep the house cool. At night I open a few windows, not all of them, just a few on the north side of the house. I then place a window fan in a window on the south side of the house. This fan is blowing air out not in. By doing it this way you are pulling the cool air into the house from the other windows. The key to it working just right is, of course a rather cool night and closing all the windows the next morning thus keeping the cool air in. I close all blinds or curtains on the east and south side of the house to keep the sun from coming in and warming the warm too. This little trick helps keep the house pretty nice until late evening and I sometimes don't use any air condition until 5 or 6 o'clock. Keeps you cool and saves you a little money on your electric bill too. Hope this helps some of you.

Just too much for one man

This place is working me to death. Really!! From daylight til after dark each and every day, it never ends. hahaha!! You all know that I love every minute of it too. From the goats to the chickens to the ducks and the garden, I love it all. I am a little overwhelmed at times with all that needs to be done but I just do what I can and pray there will be a tomorrow. Like so many of you I never seem to have enough time to get it all done no matter how well I plan.

Spent the better part of the morning cutting firewood. Me and my friend are cutting and piling it up in a big pile at his farm. This fall we will take the wood splitter down to the field and spit it all. This way when we haul it home it is seasoned and split and ready to stack and burn this winter. Hard work but he and I both love it. Good hard honest work that pays true benefits, warmth for our families during the winter to come. He's a good friend and we share so many of the same beliefs about the way life should be. I value our time together.

Back home to more work. We bought a Wagner Paint Sprayer from Lowes the other day and it has been a blessing. I wasn't really sold on the idea of getting it but glad that we did. I have always been a roller and brush kinda guy, old habits are hard for me to break. But I love it. We painted our 12X24 out building with it and then painted 6 doors from inside the house. Just take them off the hinge and take them outside and spray away. Does a great job. I highly recommend it to anyone.

Tomorrow will be spent in the garden, again. I need to run the tiller for a few hours and weed some more. Also still have seeds that need to get planted. If time would only stand still for a day I MAY be able to get caught up on my work. It's 10:30 and I am just now getting settled down from the days work. Ate about 9:00 and then hit the shower to try to get some of the daily grime off of me. LOL I think I got most of it. If not it will blend in tomorrow and no one will know any different. lol

For those of you that enjoyed my last post about Little House on the Prairie and left such nice comments, I thank you. I have also found a Amazon link to the first season dvd collection for those that may be interested in getting a copy of your own.

Little House

We a storm roll in yesterday, nothing really bad. Just enough to block our satellite signal. Well, me and Katie have been here by ourselves since Wednesday and the tv kinda keeps us company. Liv has been in WV, some of our friends and family had damage due to the flooding there. Here dad's Law office had 4 foot of water in it and some of our friends had a lot of damage around their homes too. She went to see if there was anything she could do to help them out a bit. She came home today. OK, now, where was I ?? Oh yeah, the tv. After sitting there for a few minutes I though we would maybe watch a movie until the signal came back. After looking thru some of the dvd's I found Season 1 of Little House on the Prairie. Not really sure if Katie would go for I put it in anyway to give it a try. She love it !! We watched the first 2 dvd's yesterday and never even tried the satellite again that day.

I forgot just how much I enjoy that show. The love of Charles and Caroline warms my heart like you will never know. The simple look or touch they give each other sends chills all over me. If people only loved like that the world would be some place to live in today. The genuine goodness of the neighbors from Walnut Grove and their love for each other should be a model for us all. Only to watch as the community would come together when any of the others were in need gives me hope that one day we will live like that once again. With REAL peace and REAL love for our family and friends we would know a joy like the world has never known, one we could never explain to others. I know it's just a television program but I means so much more to me than just actors on a set. I can almost feel the love they have for one another and many times I caught myself getting a little choked up at their simple acts of kindness and love. I guess I'm a softy and some things can just turn my heart to mush. But I am not ashamed that I long for a life with the kind of love and peace that I see portrayed on that prairie and between that couple. If you say that you don't or wouldn't give anything for that kind of love you are either a liar or a fool. I know that not everyone is lovey dovey but we all need to feel loved and to be able to freely love others. I have a lot of love to give, and I do give it. But I could give so much more if I would only allow myself to do so.

I am just happy for my children to know REAL love from their parents. I am happy to have a family that I love and know that they love me too. A refresher course in love can be found in these simple old programs and I am so glad that we decided to watch them.

Chris

Walking on Wood

The wood floor is finally down. We still have to put our trim down but we are taking a few days off to rest up a bit. It's been a pretty big job.

Here yo can see the hall. It may not look it but it's 17 feet long and 40 inches wide.



We also put down 3 pieces of tile in front of the Buck stove too. Still need to grout around the tile. That too can wait another day or two.

We installed this floating floor in the living room dining room and hallway, in all 630 sq feet.

We really love this floor and are kinda proud of doing it ourselfs too. A pretty big DIY project for anyone.

Kids, K-9's and Karpet

Those three just don't do too well together around here. Kids, namely little Miss Katie Bug is well...........hell on carpet. She spills everything everywhere all the time. Really she does. And the dogs, well if you have any that spend anytime at all inside, you know what I mean. Well, I guess we can't part with the kids or the K-9's but we can part ways with the nasty carpet that catches everything. No matter has much you clean it's dirty are you know it. So, out with the old and in with the new, wood floor that is. We have pretty much destroyed the house over the last 3 days, it's a mess. That's the reason there are no pictures just yet. Liv said NO WAY when she seen the camera in my hands. She wins. I'd hate for anyone to see this mess. We cut up and took out the carpet in the living room and hall way so far. Pulled about 4 million staples out of the floor from the carpet and padding. Cleaned up the floor with the shop vac, layed down a layer of foam looking padding for the new floor. It's in a roll and I'm not sure what it's called but it is recommended. Liv and I got the floor down in the living room and the hall way today, well maybe this evening would be the best to say and late at that. Tomorrow we will take out the carpet in the dining room and get the floor down in there or at least that's the plan. Then all will be done except the baseboard trim and some new trim around 2 doors. It's been a job for sure but it looks great. In all we are replacing 630 sq ft of carpet with wood floor, not cheap or easy but it's well worth it. We are installing floating floor and the color is Bay Chestnut. It's made in France not Mexico or China believe it or not.

When this project is over and we get everything cleaned up I promise some pictures but not until then. lol I overheard the lady of the house on the phone today saying that we had some other projects to complete after we get finished up with this one, I pretended not to hear that. Anyway, with all the work here on the farm and in the house there's not much time for anything else. I'll get some pics up of the new floor ASAP.

For those who are interested I have made $237.32 so far with my Survival Seed Vault ad. If you have signed up for their program I hope you are selling seeds too. If you are having success please let me know, just leave me a comment.

$218.08 and counting !!

That's right, I reached my goal of $200.00 in my first month with the Survival Seed Vault campaign. I can hardly believe it ! Like I said in my last post I never thought you could really make money having ads on your blog. Boy was I wrong. Several of you took me up on the offer to have the Survival Seed Vault ad on your blog too and I hope you are doing well with it too. I know some of you are getting some sells because I have made around $13.00 from your sales too. That is the 2% I mentioned last post. I received credit for an order someone place that was $325.00, my commission, 10% = $32.50 !! That put me over the top with my goal of $200 in my first month. Needless to say, I am a believer now. LOL

I never intended this blog to be about money but, if you can make it that easy while providing others a means to order their Heirloom Seeds, it's hard not to do. I feel very confident and proud to be able to offer people a place to purchase seeds and to make some money too !! Now here are a few tips that I have seen others doing that make much more money than I do with their Survival Seed Vault ads. If I had more time to devote to this blog and could write good articles about the seeds I am sure I would do MUCH better with my sells. Anyway, here is what I have seen others do.

Let your readers know about the Survival Seed Vault. Heirloom Organics offers other seed packages as well but this seems to be the one that most people are looking for. Write a post telling your readers that you now offer this VERY IN DEMAND PRODUCT. Many are looking for heirloom seeds either to start now or for future use. I personally ordered another Survival Seed Vault for possible future barter if the economy continues on this dangerous path. Many others have the same fears of the future as I do and are buying all they can in order to provide for their families future needs. Let your readers know the importance of heirloom seeds vs. hybrids. Many people still have no idea that you can't really depend on getting usable seeds from hybrids. You guys probably know more about this topic than I do, so let others know to. Provide a link at the bottom of each of your posts that goes to the Survival Seed Vault ad or any of the other seed packages they offer. Remind your readers regularly that you have the ads there for their benefit as well as yours. You are providing a valuable service. Just google Survival Seed Vault and look at all the hits they get. People are looking for places to buy these seeds and they are going to buy them. Why not buy them from your ad ? It costs them the same no matter where they get them and I'm sure most of your readers would rather buy them from your ad than anywhere else. Let them know you got 'em. Like I said before, this is what I see others doing that are making a lot more than I am and I'm pretty happy with my earnings. Find someone that is successful and just do what they do. If I had the time I would be posting a lot more about the farm and the seeds. Anyway, good luck to you all and I hope you sell a million bucks worth of seeds. LOL, you would get 100,000 dollars and I would get 20 grand too. I kinda like the sound of that. hahahah!!!!

For those of you who still want to get in on the fun and the money use the link below and sign up to get your seed ad for your blog or website too.

http://www.performance-based.com/affiliate_programs/organic_affiliates/organic_gardening/organic_seeds_seedlings_plants/non_hybrid_seeds.html?roia=!hT1Mvq1BAAGNdmMxMjIAVQAABU5CAAAowg-A

Thanks again and good luck to you all.

Chris

$171.72

That's how much money I have made by placing the Survival Seed Vault add on my blog !! Just for having this add on my blog so people can take advantage of the Heirloom Seeds that are provided by Heirloom Organics Seed Company. Whenever someone places and order through my add on my blog I receive 10% of the total sale !! Is that cool or what ?? And when someone signs up to sell seeds on their blog using the link I provide, I get 2% of any of the sales made through their link too !!! I never really thought that I could or ever would make anything from this but I WAS WRONG !! I have only had this add up on my blog for less than 3 weeks and I am pretty sure I will reach the $200.00 mark in my first month !!! And the best part...IT COST ME NOTHING !!! All I done was sign up to have the add on my blog and then in a few minutes I got and email that said I was approved for their campaign and that was it. I just copy and paste the html code and place it in a new gadget from my dashboard and place the code there. It's really that easy !!! You guys have got to try this--it cost you nothing at all--totally free.

So come on and join in the fun and the MONEY by signing up with this link. You will get 10% of all sales that are made though your add. THIS REALLY WORKS !!!!

http://www.performance-based.com/affiliate_programs/organic_affiliates/organic_gardening/organic_seeds_seedlings_plants/non_hybrid_seeds.html?roia=!hT1Mvq1BAAGNdmMxMjIAVQAABU5CAAAowg-A

If you have any question please email me at ifarm@yahoo.com

Anyone know what these are ???

Olivia has a set of cookware that belonged to her great grandmother and we are just not really sure what they are. We would like to find out because she needs a handle and a lid for one. They are made of enamel and have no markings on them anywhere. If you have any ideas or know where I may go to find out please let me know. This is a beautiful set and we would like to find the pieces needed. Here's a few pics.

This littel guy here is the one that needs and lid and handle.

These have been in storage for quite some time and we would love to get them cleaned up and put them in use once again. If anyone has any ideas we would love to hear them.

It's all about self reliance for me

Being self reliant or self sufficient is something that I long for and work towards each day. It's not easy either let me tell you. Like most of you, I have been addicted to consumerism since birth. Everywhere we go, everything we see encourages us to spend spend spend. Everything is disposable now days. Products are made cheap so as to not last too long and are usually priced so that it's cheaper to replace an item than it is to have it repaired. That's sad I think. I try to repair anything that has problems before I even consider buying a new one but parts are hard to come by and too expensive to be an option most of the time. Quality seems to be a thing of the past. I would gladly pay a little more for a good quality product if you can even find one. That's the problem that I have, I can't find any products that are good quality no matter what the price is. We just use things and then throw them away. There they sit in a landfill for the next million years or more because they were junk to start with. The days of spend spend spend are over here at the farm. I'm just not going to buy things that are junk to start with and then have to buy them over and over again once the give up the ghost.

I guess that's the reason I am so happy to have purchased my Survival Seed Vault. I know that I will never have to purchase these seeds again. All good quality heirloom seeds that will replenish themselves years after year. I'm not buying any of that Monsanto chemical filled seed that is gone with the end of harvest season. I don't want my kids eating that crap anyway, God only knows what they do to those seeds that ends up in the fruit in the end. I don't need some scientist monkeying around with my seeds. I think God had a pretty good idea of what he was doing when he spoke this seeds into existence and ordered them to reproduce a good quality seed that could/should be replanted year after year. I guess God isn't a consumer either...lol

I guess what I am trying to say is that at least with these heirloom seeds that I have now I feel a little saver and more prepared for the days ahead. My Survival Seed Vault provides me and my family a lifetime of seeds that will feed us for the rest of our lives. It's another step in self reliance I would say.

Now, click that link on the side and....Get ya some.

An update...Finally !!!!

Sorry to all my very faithful readers for my sparse posting. Life happened. With taking care of this little farm and my girls very little time is left for anything else it seems. Busy time for anyone that has a garden to tend too, most of you do I know.

So here is a little of what's going on in my neck of the woods. Plowed the garden a few weeks ago I think.....planted some taters, onions, broccoli and lettuce. I have some mater seeds started and peppers and cuke's too. The cuke's are already up too, in only 4 days they sprouted. Planting all heirloom seeds this year, nothing else. I ordered the Survival Seed Vault on the banner on the sidebar and I am VERY PLEASED !!! I should never have to buy seed again, not too bad for a hundred bucks either. Click on the banner and look at all you get. A big thanks to Bullseye for letting me know about the seeds and for showing me how to get the banner for my blog too. If you want to have this banner on your blog just click the link below the banner and sign up, it's that easy. I think you get a few bucks too if someone buys the seeds from your banner. Hey, you offer a great product at a great price and everybody wins, I like the sound of that. Anyway, order you some heirloom seeds and get signed up to have the banner too, maybe will can all make a buck in the end. LOL

My pygmy goat, Emily never did have her kids, I think she must have lost them somewhere along the way. I was really looking forward to see those little babies too. I'm going to breed her again real soon and try again. Liv is out of town this week with the girls and the camera or I would post on recent pics of the kids, they are growing like crazy.

Chickens are really starting to get in the groove too. Been getting 4 or 5 eggs a day from my 7 layers. Ducks are laying like crazy too. One of the hens is setting on 15 eggs and I think they should hatch in a week or so. It takes the Muscovy's 33 days to hatch I think. I know it's longer than any chicken or any other duck. Guess that's why they're so pretty, they get to take their time. hehe!!

Got a few apple trees planted too. I hope to get a few more next week. Lowes has them for $19.95, well, 20 bucks. lol Planted a Granny Smith and a Red Delicious so far. I would love to have 10 or 12 trees, that would be great. But like everything else, not enough time or money to go around. Maybe later.

Well, I better get back to work. Talk to you soon, I promise.

Chris

Attack on Your Right to Garden!!!

I found this post over at American Preppers Network and ask Tom if it would be OK to repost it here. He and I both agreed that this is too important not to pass on to others. Keep in mind folks that this is real, VERY REAL !! Be sure to take a look at the GOOD work that is going on at APN and join the forum too.

Looking more into HR875

For those who think gardens and small farms are safe under this bill, you need to keep reading deeper into the bill....They've purposely made it so long and boring, that you miss the important parts. Therefore, I've taken out just one small but very important part for you to read.

First of all, "food production facilities" ARE regulated. Sure, Food production facilities are excluded from the same regulation as Food establishments, but fall under separate regulation under section 206. Now, as in the definitions: food production facility' means **any** farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation. That is so broad that it could include hobby farms and even gardens. Let's say you have a couple rows of grapes. Can that be a vineyard under their definition? Lets say you have 5 goats and a horse on a 5 acre piece of land. can that be considered a farm? Now go to section 206 Here is just a small part of it. This is where it gets scary....

I've highlighted my comments in Blue

SEC. 206. FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITIES.
(a) AUTHORITIES.—In carrying out the duties of the Administrator and the purposes of this Act, the Administrator shall have the authority, with respect to food production facilities, to—

(1) visit and inspect food production facilities in the United States and in foreign countries (overstepping their bounds a little eh?)to determine if they are operating in compliance with the requirements of the food safety law;

2) review food safety records (are you good at record keeping?) as required to bekept by the Administrator under section 210 and for other food safety purposes;

(3) set good practice standards to protect thepublic and animal health and promote food safety;

***Notice this part***

(4) conduct monitoring and surveillance of animals, plants, products, or the environment, as appropriate; and

5) collect and maintain information relevant to public health and farm practices.

(b) INSPECTION OF RECORDS.—A food production

facility shall permit the Administrator upon presentation of appropriate credentials and at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner, to have access to and ability to copy all records maintained by or on behalf of such food production establishment (Look at this one, I highlighted it in Green, these guys are so STUPID that they are intermingling 2 different defined terms "food establishment" and "food production facility" taking it into context I'm assuming they are talking about a food production facility) in any format (including paper or electronic) and at any location, that are necessary to assist the Administrator— (You want government prying in your personal life more than they already are?)

Plus there's tons more very restrictive legislation. This is an evil bill Co-sponsored by the wife of someone who works for Monsanto

Not to mention, even if it did specifically exclude gardens, hobby farms and organic farms, which it does not, the cost would be so enormous that our already high food prices would go through the roof....If Monsanto favors this bill, it cant be good.

Now, there are those people out there that think this is a good bill because it "protects us", or those that feel small farms and gardens are safe. But some of the problems are

1) They appoint industry leaders as experts. Who do you think will get to be the "expert" a small organic farmer or the CEO of a major corporate farm?
2) The wording is so broad that it's open to interpretation.
3) They appoint "food police" to enforce these regulations.

Now, when the food police come to your "farm" and fine you. You know what they will say? "Sorry, I don't interpret the law, I enforce the law" Can you afford an uphill legal battle to protect your farm, garden, vineyard, orchard, or livestock?

Here's The petition to fight this bill
HR875 Petition
Sign, copy and email this petition to everyone you know.
Drop a comment and let the world know you've done your part

Here's my personal declaration to fight this bill

http://americanpreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/03/hr-875.html

**Note,
Please copy and forward this article to everyone you know and re-post it to your own websites, just make sure there is a link back to this site so we can get more people involved in fighting this bill

Thank you,
Tom

Super Nice Weather !!

We have had some GREAT weather the last two days. Along with the warm Sun comes a lot of work too, and that's fine by me. I love to be out working in the yard and garden, getting ready for planting once again. I can hardly wait for the smell of freshly turned dirt and wild onions to fill the air. This weather gets me so excited I can hardly stand myself, I know others have a hard time standing me too..lol The chickens have celebrated the first of spring with a bounty of eggs, gathered 11 eggs from my 7 layers in the last two days. I'm so proud of them girls and glad to have them back in action. Eggs have been scarce through the long winter months. Still not recovered the greenhouse, it's on the short list now, but will be starting some tomato's inside in our little mini greenhouse tray tomorrow. Would love to do it today but we have all played ourselves out for the day. Should sleep good tonight, with thoughts of seeds,bulbs and plants filling my dreams. There seems to be nothing that feels more at home in my hand than the well worn handle of a hoe or shovel, we become one if only for a short while. It's like shaking hands with and old friend, it's hard not to smile.

The goats and the girls had a nice day in the goat lot playing. Here's a few picks of my animals..LOL

Auto Repair and Sloopy Joe's

Well, my Jeep and I have been having some issues. The issue being that my charging systems was getting kinda wacky. Once the Jeep was started, the check engine light would come on and my volt meter would hit rock bottom. After referring to my repair manual I came to the conclusion that my alternator was bad. Two hours later I finally was able to get it off, pretty tough job on my Jeep. By that time all the auto parts stores has closed so I had to wait until this morning to go to town and try to locate one. First stop, Auto Zone. I took the alternator inside and ask if they had one in stock that would replace mine. The guy at the counter said he could check it first if I wanted. Hey, you bet man, check it out. Tested 100% Positive, my alternator was in perfect shape after only 212,000 miles. Great news, a new one was gonna set me back $105.00. The gentlemen then advised me to check all my connections at the battery and the alternator to make sure they were clean and tight. Well, I know they were tight but I'm not too sure about how clean the are. After getting back home (with my $105.00 still resting in my wallet) I began to clean all the connections, all of then. Needing it or not, they all got a good cleaning with a piece of sand paper. Now they are all nice and shinny. After I put everything back together I crossed my fingers and gave it a try. It started right up and the charging system was fixed with zero dollars out of pocket. All thanks to the good guys at Auto Zone in London Kentucky, thanks guys.

Well, after that was all over I had to have something to eat. I skipped breakfast to get an early start on the Jeep project. Nothing in the fridge seemed to catch my eye. It was then that I remembered I had bought some Sloppy Joe Sauce for my food storage. This seemed like a great time to try it out, anything sounded pretty good at this point. 1lb of ground beef, OK, maybe 2 lbs, and 1 can of sauce and I was in business. The smell made my mouth water, my eyes too. We had bought a loaf of Italian bread on sale yesterday and it seemed like a good combo, so I toasted the bread. After a long day under the hood all I can say is.......MMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Warm weather and time with the Goats

Been really nice here today, around 60 degrees and partly cloudy. This morning I could hear the birds singing their songs of spring and it really got me excited all over. I hauled several loads of sawdust to add to the garden today trying to build up the garden beds some. Most of the rest of the day has been spent with the goats. Katie just can't get enough of the goats and neither can I. I am looking forward to getting my hands in the dirt soon. I need to get some onions started and I also need to work on the greenhouse some too. The plastic that I used to cover it is pretty well gone now. Also have some ginseng roots and seeds on order and can't wait til they get here so I can get started on that project too. Just been trying to stay busy and do the things that will make my spring work a little easier. There is always something to be done here on the farm it's just trying to figure out which one to do next. Me and Katie have had a good day and we are going back outside to play. Sorry I have been so long posting but there has just not been a lot going on to post about, at least not anything anyone would want to read about. LOL

Picture of me and Katie in the goat lot. Liv took it with her phone and it's not very big. But anyway here we are enjoying the goats.

Thinking about a cash crop

Before you get too carried away I'm not planning on a pot field. (That's what closets and grow lights are for.) LOL But, from some research I've done on the Internet, one could make some pretty good money from raising ginseng. Although cultivated ginseng in no way demands the high price per pound that wild "seng" brings it is still a good investment of time, land and money to raise and harvest. From what I have read (and I will be reading much more) one can expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 to $100,000.00 from an acre of cultivated ginseng in about 5 to 7 years of growth. The idea is to plant some each year for maybe 7 years and then in the 7th year you harvest, sell and replant more in that spot. The 2nd year you do the same with your next plot of ground and on and on. This would give you an income each year after your first crop gets to harvest/market size. Now I have no plans for planting an acre but I would like to dedicate some land towards this venture. Property on a hillside under trees and out of the way would be great for my use. I'm not doing anything with this land anyway so why not put it to some use. You can plant seeds or small rootlets that you have found or dug yourself or you can order them here. There are many websites that sell these products.

My question is, do any of you raise ginseng and have you had any success with it? Is this a good idea? I would love to hear your comment or ideas on this subject, I think it would be a lot of fun. If I don't have enough to make any money at least I would have it for personal use. Below is some information that I found about Daniel Boone that I thought you my find interesting, I did.

Daniel Boone, often remembered as a pioneering woodsman in Kentucky for his fur trading prowess (among other things), made a good part of his fortune not only on furs and skins, but also on a small and unassuming plant known as ginseng that still grows throughout the forests of eastern North America.



Though Boone lost twelve tons of ginseng roots in 1788 when his boat overturned in the Ohio River on his way to market in Philadelphia, he did much better in subsequent years, amassing his fortune.

Birthday Girl

Friday, February 13th, my baby girl turned 3 years old. We had Katie a birthday party at a restaurant in town and all the kids attended a cooking class. Each child made their own pizza from scratch and had a really good time.

Here is Katie making her very own Pizza.

All the kids got their hands dirty in the process. We must have made 100 trips to the sink for them to wash their hands. If nothing else, they did learn that you must have clean hands if you're gonna cook.

Here is Olivia, Katie and Me too, lol. Katie was getting pretty tired by the time this picture was taken. Boy, I tell ya, I'm looking way too old to have a 3 year old. I guess that's what I get for having a woman that is 10 years younger than me. I'm too damn old for either one them . LOL

Walmart Zombies

You've seen them. Hands with a death grip on their shopping cart. I fixed straight ahead. Roaming the isles and stopping systematically to put items in the cart, half zombie half robot like. Answering the subliminal messages that that big smiley face sends out to them. MUST..SPEND...ALL...OUR ...MONEY...ON...WORTHLESS...JUNK...MADE...IN...COMMUNIST CHINA. You can sometimes hear them mumbling under their breath. Walmart is a scary place to me. I hate to even step in the door of that place. I had to get my medicine today, I usually always get it filled at my local Kroger. They were out and I had to venture in to Zombie Mart to get what I had to have. While waiting for them to fill my meds, I listened to three people talk about how much they were selling their pain pills for. They seemed rather proud of the fact that they were making a good second income from their medicine that Medicare was paying for. They too were of course..Zombies. I watched and listened in amazement at the actions of the people in there. It was in one way pretty funny, in another pretty scary. Even in the parking lot they were ever present. Nearly driving over top of people to get a parking spot close to the door. I could see that I was surrounded by Zombies everywhere. I was happy when my name was called so I could get out of there. Next time, if there is one, I will take silver bullets, a wooden stake and a cross. Not sure if any of these work on Walmart Zombies but it's worth a try. If you have to go to Walmart be aware that they are everywhere they. Please be careful. To see a video of Walmart Zombies be sure to watch the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG0MEZgxczk

Been slow here

Not much going on here on the farm so I made a little post over at Kentucky Preppers Network. Join me over there and take a read if you like, love to have ya.

Too Cold to do anything else

Just look at these precious little kids all snuggled up together in the barn. Priceless !!

Daisy is introducing Eve and Scout to their father, Chief. "Hey Dad wanna play??"


Eve and Scout are both eating anything and everything a goat would or could eat. They are only a little more than 3 weeks old now, that's gotta be a good sign.

Chief beat me to the gate in his pen today so I just let him graze for a while. He's not going anywhere when there are 3 does near by...Kinda like me..LOL

I had a few branches to break due to the weight of the ice. Goats love pine needles as you can see, they will eat the bark off the branches too.

Eve is always eager to pose for a picture, she's such a pretty little thing.

Muscovy's on the prowl always looking for something to eat. These things can eat more than any animal I have.

When it's cold enough to freeze the pond over like this.....

I'm sure glad I have this. This baby is a '97 model with 212,000 miles on it and it's still the best vehicle we own. But that's just my opinion..the girls seem to think the HHR is the best one. As you can see the van is just sitting there and has been since we bought the HHR. Oh well, it's there when we need it I guess.

"Stylin" New Kids on the Block

Well, Liv thought it was just too cold for these new kids to be unclothed tonight so she decided to get them some snazzy new matching hooded sweatshirts. Ain't they cool??

Storm is Stylin.

And of course little Miss Prissy had to have one too. She also wants the matching handbag to go along with her Stylin new sweatshirt. Man I hope Liv don't buy it for her.....

She almost looks like an opossum in this picture. Come to think of it so do I. LOL

Look mommy, it's like a little baby doll.

Snow Goat Kids

Look what we woke up to this morning. Lou Lou finally had her babies sometime last night I guess. 1 buckling, the little brown one that looks just like our other 2 kids, and 1 doeling, snow white. I present to you, Storm (the buckling) and Miss Prissy ( the doeling ). I will no doubt be posting some more pic later but now I need to go spend time with our new arrivals. Nothing makes me happier than new life on the farm !!!!

Ice Ice Baby

Got some ice from the storm last night, could have been much worse here for sure. Getting mostly rain now but more snow and ice are in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. We are now under a flood watch for the entire area. I have a small post over at Kentucky Preppers Network with another picture of the ice here. If you get a chance take a look. As for now all is well and we are warm and dry and very well fed. lol I'll keep you all updated as the storm progress.

Getting Ready for Snow and Ice

This is what I found while taking a look at the weather....yuck..

.. WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 7 AM EST WEDNESDAY...
THE WINTER STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 7 AM EST WEDNESDAY.
A MIXTURE OF SNOW... SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN IS EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 6 AM TUESDAY MORNING... FALLING HEAVILY AT TIMES. THE PRECIPITATION IS THEN EXPECTED TO CHANGE OVER TO ALL FREEZING RAIN AFTER DAWN TUESDAY... MIXING WITH RAIN AT TIMES THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE MORNING AS TEMPERATURES RISE TO OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE FREEZING FOR MOST AREAS. UP TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED... WITH ONE QUARTER TO ONE HALF INCH OF ICE FROM FREEZING RAIN EXPECTED BY NOON ON TUESDAY. THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD THEN TURN TO ALL RAIN FOR A TIME TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND TUESDAY EVENING AS TEMPERATURES WARM ABOVE FREEZING... BUT THE PRECIPITATION WILL THEN LIKELY TRANSITION BACK TO FREEZING RAIN... SLEET AND SNOW BY DAWN ON WEDNESDAY WITH ADDITIONAL LIGHT SNOW AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS LIKELY.
AT THIS TIME... IT APPEARS TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES FROM MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING... WITH SOME ADDITIONAL LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE INTO THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY. AROUND ONE HALF AN INCH OF ICE FROM FREEZING RAIN IS ALSO EXPECTED. DOWNED POWER LINES... TREES... OR TREE LIMBS... COULD RESULT FROM THE WEIGHT OF THE ICE. RESIDENTS SHOULD PREPARE FOR POSSIBLE EXTENDED POWER OUTAGES. TRAVEL COULD ALSO BE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.
THE EXACT AMOUNT AND TYPE OF PRECIPITATION WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE TRACK OF THIS STORM. IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THERE CONTINUES TO BE A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTY AS TO THE EXACT TRACK OF THIS WEATHER SYSTEM... SO BE SURE TO LISTEN FOR LATER UPDATES.
A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW... SLEET... AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

OK, no problem just got to get a few things in order is all. After making sure all the animals where well taken care of, I went to town and picked up a few extra snacks, chips, cookies and candy bars just to have to munch on during snow and ice that will be going on just outside our window. Stopped on the way home and topped off the gas tank in the Jeep...$6.00..lol If the power is out you may not be able to pump gas these days. No hand pumps anywhere that I've seen. Made sure all flashlights had fresh batteries and were within reach. All dishes are washed and so are the clothes. Everyone will be taking a hot shower tonight rather than wait till morning when there may not be electric service. Ice and snow are pretty hard on over hanging tree limbs and even the power lines themselves. If we get very much of either we could be in for a power outage that could last for a while. I also caught up some more drinking water...got plenty but this was a good chance to get more in storage. Solar lanterns are fully charged. Mine also have a wall charger and I used them to get a really good charge in them. One of my solar lanterns have a hand crank to charge it too. You can even plug your cell phone or ipod into and charge them too by hand power. Small one burner propane stove is ready and waiting for it's call to duty. I have 8, 2 pak propane bottles in storage. I have a tote full of firewood and more just outside the door if I need it. All in all, I'm ready for whatever may come. For more information on what to do if you are caught in a snow storm check out Kentucky Preppers Network. They have a great post on skills and ideas to keep you safe if you are caught in a storm.

Here's a few pictures of some of the preps I made today...the storm may pass..either way..I'm ready....Are you??

I'm a dough beater

After all the waiting for the starter to do it's thing, I finally have sour dough bread. Believe me...It was worth the wait. If you don't remember I used this recipe here. I got it a little brown but man it's great. The crust was really hard when we got it out of the oven but after cooling over night it was just right. I never knew that could happen. I thought it was just gonna be tough but the next morning it was fine. If any of you give this recipe a try please let me know you yours turns out too.

Warren ask in a comment on the last post about my smoking and my cokes. Thank you Warren for asking and I am doing some better the last few days. The numbers I was posting just seemed to make it harder for me and I felt that i was letting others down each day I posted my results. I will start next week, on Monday, posting better results for us all. Thank Warren for asking about it. I was hoping...I mean thinking everyone had forgot about it. LOL

I am sorry I have been so long answering comments.....I have been busy helping out some friends. Is that a good enough excuse???? Thanks for staying with me.

Chris