Creating Your Own Happiness

This past year was a year of personal revelations for me. I am creeping up on 40 you see.  Last July I found myself soul searching deeper then I’ve ever dug before.   I asked myself, ” what makes me happy” and “what makes me not”.  I formulated a mental list and well I must admit I was a little verbal too.  And damn I’ve been sticking to it and for that I am in a peaceful space!


  

Overall I would consider myself a pretty happy person, although I have my moments…usually hormonally driven.  But I would find myself in situations that did make me a tad bit miserable.  For instance, I HATE shoveling load after load of mulch hay to the compost pile.   Maine Man not so much, he views it as a work out that he actually accomplishes something other then the work out.  I would much prefer to go to the gym and get my butt whipped by a coach.  I LOVE goats, they are a lot of fun but they are also a TON of work and if you have enough of them they can be very costly.  I loved milking, the process of it and the availability of fresh, raw milk .   But it was time consuming and tied me down big time.  I decided to get rid of the goats, I now spend five to eight dollars a week for a gallon of fresh, organic, raw Jersey milk.  Much freakin easier and a heck of a lot less money then all those stinkin’ goats were consuming.





When we first started this journey on the farm my thoughts were to be as self-sufficient as possible.  I slowly realized how much work that was.  Really, it is a full-time job plus.  I am now in a place that I don’t feel we need to do all.  There are other off-farm adventures in life I want to and will experience. Looking back I spent enough money taking beekeeping classes and getting set up to tend bees that I probably could have supplied us with local honey for the next 5 years.  Crazy, huh?  My plan is to offer up our land to an experienced bee keeper to put his or her hives here and I will follow them around and learn as I go before jumping on that bandwagon again.  Therefore we will get all the benefits of the bees, hands on training, and maybe a little honey too.  I would also recommend to anyone getting into bees to join a bee club….a mistake I made.  They are complex little buggers, more so then most can imagine.  It is nice to have experienced people to guide you through your beekeeping experience.


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I do like honey especially on homemade toast with a bit of peanut butter but maple syrup is my preferred natural sweetener of choice.  Fortunately, despite the wacky winter we had we still managed to put up approximately 4 gallons of syrup for pancakes, waffles, and I use it in my coffee. Maine Man is also in the process of making some maple wine.  Can’t wait to sample that.




In addition to weeding out the things that create misery in daily farm life I also made a stance on a personal level.  Instead of constantly doing for others I plan in time for taking care of me on a regular basis.  My kids are older now and very independent.  I am a much happier momma/wife for that.  I will end this rant with a saying that pretty much sums it up…..

• Eat like you love yourself.
• Move like you love yourself.
• Speak like you love yourself.
• Act like you love yourself.

 

Pure Insanity!

Well...at least that is what I was thinking when I showed up at my last Bee Keeping class.

In the doom and gloom of winter I thought it would be interesting to learn more about these brilliant little creatures so I signed up for a class through adult education. GLAD I did because I had absolutely NO idea how COMPLEX honey bees were. There was 4 classroom lectures and 2 days you could attend work in the field.

When I got out of my car I had not yet dressed in the proper bee keeping attire so I had to walk by this madness. I contemplated loading back up and heading home but I came to my senses.

See that big BEE she is the Queen....without her your in BIG trouble. I was amazed at how easily our instructor could find her in the hive.

He had just received a shipment from Georgia hence all the madness pictured above.

If my hive is built by June (my farmer friend is building it for me...spoiled I know) I will pick up my first Nuke (mini hive w/ a queen) next month. I have everything else I need except a smoker and the hive tool I think.

Pictured above is "Jen the local" who follows and sometimes comments here on my blog. She spoke up at the last class when she saw me grabbing my camera. SO glad she did! It was SO nice to meet someone that reads about our wacky life!

In my simplistic terminology this picture shows a baby bee being born. In bee keepers terms
which is a language of its own, this is a brood or worker bee emerging from cell in the brood chamber. Having ABSOLUTELY NO experience with bees the glossary of my book became my best friend in this class. The other bees help them hatch....isn't that COOL?


I was fully suited, some were not. Just a hood, yikes! One guy had a rope from the front of his hood down between his legs attached to his belt hoop on the back. I SO wanted to take a picture but I did not want to be a menace...LOL! I felt great comfort wearing FULL a suit with out entrances. At this point I was wondering if there were bees on my back like his? Better not knowing I think.

Great Class!

Now we will see if I can put some of what I learned into practice.

Big decisions....what color to paint the hive?

I think Pink! ;)

Bad to the Bone!

Last Sunday, Mother's Day Bob FINALLY met his maker. He was the farm bully and everyone feared him except Maine Man. Bob didn't mess with MM very often, only tangled with him on rare occasions. His near death experiences reminded him to stay clear of MM. However he picked on everyone else and I was his #1 target, he made me cry on more than one occassion. So basically if you planned on being within 8 feet of him you'd best have a weapon although that did not always stop him. Really... he has attacked me with a pitch fork in hand. He's picked on the kids, both my parents knocking my mom to the ground and he once left a spur in my already injured father's leg. We gave him away once with fair warning and by the end of the summer he returned. As of lately he had become more aggressive running rapidly from afar unexpectedly and I had ENOUGH! That morning I awoken to Flower Girl screaming "Boooooooob". She was out picking fresh eggs to cook me breakfast in bed. Country Boy came up to my room and I said "kill him". With no resistance CB went out and did the deed. They skinned him and he & all the fixings were in the crock pot by 9 am. After all day simmering he was tough as heck. I feed out what meat I could pull off the bones to the dogs. I'm sure our Boxer, Rona took great pleasure in eating Bob because she often fell victim of his violent attacks. The broth I saved for soup stock. Tonight I cooked up a DELICIOUS Asparagus Bisque and the rest I froze. The recipe came from this Bed & Breakfast web site for anybody that is interested. (under lunch then soups). Some of the asparagus came from our garden (first time ever!!) and since I did not have enough some was store bought :)
It has taken a little getting use to not being guarded in the farm yard but it has been a pleasure!

Every Picture Tells a Story

Last weeks we started hearing squeaks coming from Country Boy's incubator.

Within a few hours they were busting out of their shells. We helped the above chicken break out a bit because he was really struggling and one of the last to hatch. We've never had good luck with "helping out" but amazingly this little guy survived.

Not a great incubation rate this time around. Only 10 out of 40 eggs hatched. Better luck next time around. The key is to keep a moist environment which we lacked on a little towards the end. Our bad!

CB sold them within a couple days. Now he has his incubator filled with Muscovy eggs. We also have a Momma Muscovy sitting on a nest of eggs. Hers will hatch out way before the batch in the incubator. Remember last year when one of our hens hatched out and tended 26 ducklings? Now that is just crazy!

What's all the Buzz About?

10 years ago if you told me I'd be taking a Bee Keeping class I would have laughed and probably made a few sarcastic remarks.

Amazing how much one changes in a decade!

These pictures were taken at Montshire Museum of Science when we visited Vermont.

I am taking a bee keeping class locally through Adult Ed. We have 1 more class to go and two days in the field come May. Should be interesting! I will definitely take my camera along on one of those field trips. I am not sure if I will start a hive this summer or next. We have had our share of financial setbacks this year and it is not cheap to get up and going. The only supplies I have so far are gloves, my farmer friend plans to build me a hive soon. I'd be willing to do this project with a friend and share the expenses & honey come fall but I've yet to find someone crazy enough to join me in this venture...lol. I never imagined how much is involved in the bee keeping process. They are AMAZING little creatures! I am hoping to incorporate them into Flower Girl's homeschooling adventure next year. This surely will be one heck of a Science lesson!

3 Clues ~ day 17

Maine Man is restoring something really special

Given to me by my farmer friend. Manufactured in 1933.

Can you guess what I am getting?

Good Old Fashioned Fun

Last weekend my neighbor, her children & grandchildren came over for some winter time fun.

Rona & Callie

Me & CB

Brother & Sister skating....love this pic!

MM

FG

Saphie (the girl next door)

Wordless Weekend

One, Two, Tree

This past weekend we went out to my cousins tree farm
He worked a deal with the kids so they could try & sell a few trees.

Our farmer friend, Myron came along too.

He had a grand time watching the kids run about.

Even thanked me the next day for inviting him along.

We enjoyed his company as well.

He even helped by trying to guide me as I backed up the trailer.

He quickly learned I was going to do it my way even though I would have been much better off had I listened to him. LOL...maybe that's why I sometimes drive Maine Man crazy :)

If your a local come on over and buy a tree from the kids. You'll make their day!

E-mail from my neighbor

Dear Kim,
Thanks for feeding the fox and making it so healthy. You will need to pay a small fee to the Boudreau's Pest Control. Gary

My response....


Hey thanks! That bastard has been cleaning house around here. Love the letter & the picture. Do you take payments of food? I'll bake you some bread. Love you favorite neighbor, Kim

FYI... We have had at least 10 chickens, a few ducks, and a cat taken out recently.....we suspected swiper the fox.

THANKS neighbor for catching swiper!

Loving Your Beef

I'll admit it. The cows are my FAVORITE animal here on our small farm. They do however have rankest breath of all...maybe because their at nose level ;)

I love almost everything about them including their sand paper tongues, warm fuzzy cheeks, moist nose & mouth, and the curls on top their heads.

Sir Loin is the first large livestock I ever handled & owned. I have enjoyed working with him, learning how to deal with such a large animal. He has taught me many lessons as I have taught him a few. I will miss him more than any chicken, rabbit, duck, or pig we've ever owned. Someday I'll have me have a dairy cow! One that I can bond with and tend throughout the years.

Farm Display @ the Fair

Last Tuesday Maine Man and I worked late into the night preparing our display for the fair. It was all worth it, we won FIRST place out of 4 farms! The rules were to display at least 20 items you produce on your farm, it must be educational, and it is also judged on presentation. We also brought along the chicken plucker that MM built, that was a BIG hit!

Flower Girl also took first place for her butternut squash

and her Green Peppers from the hoop house



Country Boy received three blue ribbons. This squash is called Long Island Cheese, isn't it a beauty? I bought the seeds on clearance at Johnny's this Spring. Can't wait to cook one up!

CB's Hubbard, he also entered a pumpkin but I forgot to take a picture.

Great weekend full of fair food. I surely gained a few pounds!