Well. It was a busy, full day. I ended up with a sunburn and being so completely wiped out by the end of the day that I wonder if I should have just gone on to bed and skipped the fireworks. I am dehydrated today (didn't have anything to drink at the market this morning) and therefore somewhat under the weather. However, that does not slow down my enjoyment of pictures and such...so hang on. There are going to be a ton of photos on this post!

Leading up to July 4th, I just thought I would dress like a normal person and not do my usual attempt at 1770's get up. Well, laying in bed that morning, I completely changed my mind and within an hour, I was scrounging in my Rubbermaid "reenacting box" in the basement. I pulled out some of my petticoats and my blue, small check skirt (I discovered at some point during the afternoon that it had a hole in it!). Pairing that with my linen blouse that I made for Reformation Day last year and Katherine's wisk, I looked okay, though not fully historically accurate. The crowning success was the result of Katherine's matter-of-fact statement, "I get to do your hair."

Now THAT was accurate!

She busied herself about that while I typed up the Declaration of Independence (see yesterday's post). 

I decided to do this 'differently'--check out the slideshow(s) below!

Once my hair was up, Daddy, Aunt Terry, Katherine, and I went out to make some noise! (What is Independence Day without blowing holes in cardboard??)

We were called into lunch sometime after twelve and then went back out after lunch for some more fun. I quit before everyone else did because my left wrist started hurting on me and I thought it would probably be wisest to stop before things got worse. 

So I went and sat with Mama and Aunt Laurie (she and Uncle Dave came all the way from the east coast for the day) for a while...

After a while, Katherine and I went in to see Grandma and Grandpa...when I walked in there with that hair do, Grandpa gave me this funny look and asked, "Do I know you?" It was hilarious!

I am rather drawing a blank on what we did (or at least I did) between this point and supper...but after supper we went out doors and sat around...talked...took pictures...acted goofy, etc. (The below pictures loaded rather scrambled...)

I do remember something that happened--now that I think about it. It was one of those "I have talent" moments that have been rather frequent of late. I had three eggs in each hand...I came in the door, stepped on my hem and ended up falling down, roughing the skin off the front of my left ankle (how does one even do that??), cracking my left knee into the floor, and get this--NOT A SINGLE EGG GOT BROKEN!! I was flabbergasted that I managed to balance those eggs and not drop them. It was weird... :P

I stayed up to watch the fireworks even though I was exhausted (and sunburned--that is what I get for not wearing a hat), and did not feel very good. The fireworks were not as spectacular as some I have seen in past years, but they were still pretty.

I suspect that I may be dealing with a little sun-poisoning today, but I don't know for sure...I just haven't been well all day. But I worked my market (slow as it was--typical for 4th of July weekends) and did okay.  

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the pictures...sorry this wasn't as interesting as I had intended on making it, but one loses one's train of thought when they have to wait long periods of time between 'tales' because the pictures are loading. :) 

I had a good day yesterday overall--even though it wasn't exactly a "normal" Independence Day. I hope you did too!

Mornin', y'all!

This morning I moved my three week old chickens into the chicken tractors. Before I did that, I got Katherine and Mama to help me move the tractors closer to the brood coop.

After getting the tractors situated roughly where I wanted them, I then filled the water troughs. I fetched the mash and poured that into the feed troughs. I had to use my hands like a funnel on one of them because the mash was too thick to pour into the trough smoothly. 

Then came the fun part (or as a friend of mine would say, the "funn" part ;]): catching the little buggers!

I think they are happy in their new environment...turns out there were only 49 birds, but that's really alright. I cannot imagine being on the packing front of a hatchery and trying to count all those wiggling little bodies...

And, just for your amusement, I'll tack on the "Saturday Catastrophes" that I was considering making a funny post out of anyway. See, Saturday afternoon/evening, I managed to clobber myself twice, in two very distinctly Racheal-esque and different fashions.

1st...I was helping Katherine rotate her chickens. I came barging up the run and cracked my thick-head into the 2x4 across the opening of the coop (the board is a little under shoulder height on me when I'm standing up straight). I had my cowboy hat on, so it took some of the blow off. I really felt it most in my neck, you know, those two vertebrae that are located where the shoulders turn into neck. That was the second time in about three days time. I groused a little while Katherine was going "Are you okay??" "Yeah...you'd think I'd remember after doing that the other day!!" Then a little later, with a little laugh, "What'dya think? I'll quit doing that after and other two or three times..." 

I was a little preoccupied because Katherine and I were also discussing "The Case of the Blackguard". But anyway...let's just say I need to watch my head a little better next time I'm chasing birds about. ;P

2nd...I was headed into the bathroom that evening to brush my teeth before going to bed. I managed to turn my left ankle (Hello! I hardly ever turn that one! It's always the right one!), slide on the side of my foot and give a bally performance of a PLF. I crashed in through the open bathroom door (doubles as a laundry room), landing on my right knee. It was a jolly thud...let me assure you. I rolled into the sitting position, which left me perched on a pile of laundry. The side of my foot and my knee were hurting, but I was alright other than that. I was laughing and almost crying (no matter how old you get, getting the top layer skin roughed off hurts) and wondering what just happened. 

I'm just thankful I didn't do anything ridiculous like that at the Market that morning!! 

(Yes...*cue the squall of mic feedback* "Come see the comical farmgirl in the cowboy hat and boots take a nose-dive into the parking lot! What fun! What excitement!...And don't forget to support our wonderful vendors!! Thank-you!")

Anyway...you get the drift...

Lemme tell you...any time you have huge, giant, ugly blisters on the pads of your thumbs, your days are going to slightly odd. I feel a lot like I have band-aids on each of my thumbs. It's really weird...

Anyway, skipping Monday (which was the day I blistered my thumbs by using my new favorite tool glove-less), this week thus far as been unusual. Yesterday morning I went for my blood draw. It could have been much more unpleasant that it was--but no one told me that I should have really been drinking water between the time I got up and the time I left home! Since I had had very little to drink all morning, my blood was a little thicker than maybe it should have been so it took longer for the lady to get the 12 vials. She ended up having to use both my arms. I am kind of green now in the left arm where my elbow bends. 

When we got home, Mama told me not to do anything much for the rest of the day (not that I could have been of much help out of doors anyway with these vile, self-imposed bumps on my thumbs anyway!), so I sat and watched an 1950's film of Lorna Doone (the book is better--they cut the detail out of the movie and changed some of the major parts) with Richard Greene. I rather like him. :) And I also watched The North Star, a 1943 (I think) movie set in Ukraine when the Nazi's invaded. It was very good and I think I shall have to do a review over on Reformed Reviews. While watching these movies, I sat and put together eight of my cockade hair bows.

I don't suppose that sound like a lot, but it takes time to make them.

Today, I had one of my "I feel like writing and I have a new idea for a story" moments. Believe it or not, I started and finished the whole story today. With a title like Leviathan, it may not come as a surprise that my reading of Job 41 this morning prompted the inner workings of my brain to crank this out.

The nice thing about it is that I knew pretty much where I wanted to end it--which, as I think I have bewailed before--is a deadly pitfall in my writing. I have an idea and do not fully form the where of the ending before I plow into it, just to slam against a brick wall. I changed a few details of the plot while writing it, but overall, I think that improved it. 

I will try to get it up on Stories by Racheal soon (starting this evening). I think I shall put it up in parts even though it is a 'short' story (if you think roughly 17 pages is a short story.) *addendum: it looks like I will not be able to start putting it up tonight because my laptop does not have Word on it and Notepad will not open a .wps file. It looks as though I may have to type it over from my big computer (which I wrote it on because it does have Word on it). Shoot....

Anyway, I spent all day on it, but that was really alright because it rained on and off all day...

Peepers! Fuzz-balls! Chicks!!

Ahem...

Yes, we got our new batch of chickens today. :)

I wasn't really aware that Mama had even ordered them until a few days ago. (Thus Saturday's finishing, more or less, of the brooder coop.) Anyway, this morning, as the market day final prep stuff got underway, Mama told me that she wanted to me do something for her. That "something" was finalize for the chicks arrival.

Gladly, I went to work. I like chickens, you know, and chicks are kind of fun.

First, I washed the feeders and water jars...

I left them in the house to dry and went out to put the bedding in the galvanized water trough we use as a brooder. 

Someplace along in here, I had to go ask Daddy where the heat lamps and power cord were. The bulbs themselves were actually on top of the old Cadillac in the garage, not on the shelf where he said they were (I'm glad Katherine knew where they were!). The 'China-mans hat' was clipped to the support beam of the lean-to on the old garage and the power cord was in the barn. :)

I didn't have the thing set up a moment too soon, either. The chicks arrived practically as soon as I had everything ready.

The first thing you do when you receive chicks in the mail is to pick them up one by one and dip their beaks in some water and make sure they get a drink. Then you can put them into the brooder where they have free access to water and feed.

Of the fifty-one birds (one was free when you ordered 50, I guess), I found one that was real sickly looking:

It died after a couple of hours, which wasn't surprising. So, what with that chick and the one of Katherine's chickens I found dead in the paddock, there are two dead animals today.

However, on a different note (though still chicken related), I went to go feed the chickens some popcorn that Mama had burnt while making popcorn for the market today, and as I was doing so, I noticed that the black hen that keeps 'escaping' into the next paddock was just sitting there and not coming over for the food. I decided I had better go check on her. She was sitting practically smack-dab in the middle of the paddock, a "nest" formed in the grass and four eggs under her. So, plain and simple, she is broody! I hope the eggs are fertilized...I know nothing about letting hens go broody because we've never let any of them do so before. 

Popcorn reminds me--Mama asked me to figure out how to make chocolate popcorn for next week while she was gone this afternoon, so after lunch, I did.

If you like chocolate and popcorn, you'd probably love this. Even though I am not supposed to be eating either sugar or corn of any sort at this point, I of course, had to taste it (call it my weekend popcorn splurge). I personally could stand it to be a little less sweet, but still, it was good. :)

Well, that's the excitement of today. How was your day?

I have a couple of rhubarb pies in the oven at the moment. I was supposed to make them last night, but I was so tired that I just didn't. But I'll get there in a minute. First, let me tell you about Wednesday evening.

I loaded myself into the car as it was going on five (I meant to leave a little earlier) and headed off to Ruth's house. I ran into some rain on the way down--including a little hail. I realized after the first couple 'whack!'s that sounded like rocks hitting the car that it was hailing. Thankfully, that didn't last long. It bugs me how people in this state don't turn their lights on in the rain (or twilight). It's not safe. But anyway...

I arrived at Ruth's and I really should have taken my mud boots--because I ended up with wet boots and my jeans soaked half-way to my knee. The main purpose was to introduce me to "the girls" (as she calls her horses), but I also wanted to see if I could help out around her place any. However, all I ended up doing was scooping one of the horse-stalls. According to Ruth, just working with the horses (which she doesn't have time to do much) would be help.

Alright, so there are three horses--but only one to be ridden. First, there is Beulah, a sweet little quarter horse. She can't be ridden because her knees. She's about the same color as Snip, though a little darker. Second, there is Rose...this is the one who can be ridden. She is a Halflinger--a little short draft breed. While she is around 4-6 inches shorter than Snip, her feet are twice as big! After watch Ruth do a little ground work with her, I tried (with helpful commentary and instruction from Ruth--she actually explained what things meant!) a little bit. Rose was confused because I was confused, but I think we got along okay for a first time. Third, there is Annie (also Halflinger). I like Annie; she reminds me of Snip. She's the youngest of the three and the worst behaved. Ruth worked with her a little bit and then I worked with her a little bit more. I was starting to get the hang of it...

Ruth also has sheep--they all have names, but I couldn't tell them apart...even though she does and has names for them all. There is also an old male Llama...those guys are kind of interesting looking. :) He seemed nice enough.

Then...there are the dogs. Jacob (an old dog) and Amos (both are Great Pyrenees). Amos is around a year old and his so full of life! Such a BIG puppy...the only way I could semi-control him was by taking a huge hand full of his fur at the back of his neck and attempting to steer him like that. He didn't seem to mind at all. (I came home with dog slobber all over me. You should have seen Abby sniffy daintily at my pant leg...and then Runty doing the same thing! It was hilarious!)

Anyway, I had a good time, got home after dark, and am supposed to go back sometime next week during the afternoon, as Ruth has her vacation next week.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day on the Bolins, tilling the garden. Nothing very exciting about that (in the telling), but I enjoy running the machinery. I was very tired by the end of the day, but I feel fine (except for stiff muscles in my shoulders and neck this morning). After these pies come out of the oven here in around fifteen minutes, I'll head back out to try to finish up. I probably would have gotten finished yesterday, except that the ground was too wet and you simply cannot get mud clumps smoothed very well, because everytime you come back over it, it makes new clumps. Hopefully, I turned it up enough that it will be dry enough to really finish it up today.

I did get a little more sunburn yesterday on my forearms where they hung out of my sleeves all day...and a little on my face. Golf caps work alright for a sunshade over the eyes, but don't keep the face from getting a little fried. So...I pulled out my old big brim straw hat (I got it at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, way back in '03; it's seen a lot of use and is still in pretty good shape) and brought that downstairs this morning. I really don't want any more sunburn on my ears, thank-you very much! ;P

Anyway, I'll be off to the barn here in a few minutes to grease the Bolins up again (that is a job--particularly getting to the rear U-joint on the upper drive shaft (there are two; one runs the machine, the other runs the attachment). I wasn't quite sure I actually got on the grease port back there yesterday...

See ya later!

The hectic-ness of market prep days is something I haven't gone through for two years; not sure I actually missed it, but I am actually rather looking forward to starting "my" market up. That doesn't officially start until June, but the other market starts tomorrow.

Today our household has been a-buzz with baking (bread, and grain-free/gluten-free stuff), dishes (hello, me! :D), jam-making (I actually tasted the stuff [really, it gives one a heart-attack to see how much sugar goes into a batch of jam]; pineapple, it is. I think we ought to call it marmalade...), pop corn popping, other cooking stuff, Savannah sewing in the other room...

Daddy is working on getting the new chicken paddock/run/living space worked up today.

Yesterday I was working on market "stuff", but it was a different kind of project. I was making cockade hair-bows. :)

This morning I got our farm web-site up: Third Generation Farm (can you tell I really like Weebly sites?) There should be another post going up sometime later today...

The house smells really good and I got a little bug-eyed making the jam (er, marmalade). I think the reason I was a little dizzy was because I was watching myself stir the concoction and then I'd look up...

But anyway...here's to a great first market for Mom and Savannah tomorrow!!