Country Boy Can Survive

I have NO doubt this boy could survive out in the wilderness! On the other hand, I would never make it out alive unless of course I had Maine Man or County Boy there to bail me out. A few weeks back CB was getting a little stir crazy (aka driving his mother crazy) so MM bought him a pellet gun. CB will spend part of this Spring into Summer working around the farm to pay it off. He offered to give us some cash after he sells some chickens he is hatching out but we declined. I think working for things you want provides for a valuable lesson. Almost every day after school he ventures out on to the back forty with MM. He goes his own way as MM cuts wood. A porcupine was his first kill with his new gun.
After the kids were ever so persistent their dear old dad, MM reluctantly cut it up and believe it or not I cooked it up. I baked it in a baking bag and it came out pretty darn good. MM and I had a few bites and the kids ate the rest. Actually they all but sucked on the bones. I really can't get over how much of a carnivore Flower Girl is. In a survival situation I could easily eat it but after seeing it dead, smelling it, and the cooking it I found it a little challenging to consume knowing I had an assortment of other foods to eat. We also saved some of the quills for future projects.

Can't Hide My Pride

Country Boy shot his first deer this past Monday afternoon.



3 points, 140lbs


CB had a great 1st year of hunting.
So glad he has such a good Papa who teaches him everything he knows!
Next.....Spring turkey hunting. He asked for a beagle for Christmas for rabbit hunting but I cannot see that happening just yet...2 dogs are enough.

P.S Please excuse the photo quality. By the time they hauled the deer from the woods it was foggy and dark. Needless to say I struggled to get the pictures I did.

Moose Hunt

CB has been fortunate this fall having more hunting experiences as a first year hunter then most do in many years of hunting.

He has been hunting birds for the past month, even shot a rabbit. He also had the chance to go on a moose hunt with his father and his grandfather (my dad). Which is a unique experience, MM has been in the drawing for 20+ years and he has only been drawn once to go on a moose hunt. Next is Youth Deer day which is this coming Saturday.

Let me just tell you that I LOVE that this boy is SO passionate about hunting. NEVER thought I'd say that! The initial thought of him carrying a gun in the woods made me feel ill. But after watching MM prep him I have faith that with the continued guidance from his dad he will be safe. I think this is an important life skill and find comfort that he will someday be able to provide healthy food for his family just as his Daddy has throughout the years.

One Happy Boy

This past weekend Country Boy shot his first wild duck. He shot it while it was flying with the 20G shotgun my old farmer friend gave him. Later in the day he shot his first bird, a wood cock while out bird hunting with Maine Man. He could not wait to go down to our farmer friend's house to tell him. I am not sure who was happier!

The above picture is what I woke up to minus the gun.

He came up to my room, duck in hand, to show me his first kill as a hunter.

SO proud of that boy!
He says he likes hunting so much he could do it 24/7....lol

Like father like son;)

Happy Hunting!

Had to laugh when I saw Miss Callie all comfy on Maine Man's hunting clothes....washed with scentless laundry detergent, hung to dry, in a tote with pine needles.

Honestly, I am not much of a hunter! I would never make any effort if it was not for Maine Man. It is just not in my blood. I think if I shot a deer it may be but for now that is just how it is. I do go out a few times of year and then I call it good. I do enjoy being in the woods but between having absolutely NO sense of direction and my self-diagnosed ADD ;) I don't stand a chance!.

Last year I saw a deer in the woods for the first time. I was quite excited. Even tried chasing after it. Needless to say it escaped being shot by this big bad hunter. This year for the first time MM had me try out his tree stand. I assure you it was not the one above. He had me climb 20 feet up on measly pegs nearly 6 feet apart onto a platform that was way to small for my liking. I told him the only way I'd use the stand is if he built a large deck around it. The next night when I came home from work still dressed in scrubs the kids had me jump on the 4 wheeler. They took me outback to see my surprise. A little whining goes a long way! That how the stand above became.

Wish me luck because I SURELY need it!

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Who needs a Topsy Turvy? This brilliant idea came from Unusual Unusual Farm Chick's blog. She has lots of good ideas! The basket is from the dollar store. I bought it a couple years back and it was just stashed away in the hay loft.

On the top we planted some morning glories. Flower Girl also made a post about this a couple days back over at her blog. She has posted more than usual this summer thanks to her buddy Morgs. Morgs also has a blog, check it out. Flower Girl also recently posted some pictures of the fish birthday cakes that I made back in the spring. The idea came from Family Fun.

Ok, enough with the good. Now onto the bad & the ugly. Recently I have been overwhelmed with the tasks around the farm, mostly the animals. It is time to cut back! After much contemplation I have decided to sell the goats. My intention when I first bought goats was for milking. I have since come to the realization that adding another chore morning & night would send me over the edge. It is MUCH cheaper & easier to buy from my local farmer then to keep goats. I do not have to be responsible for watering and feeding day in and day out, no injections to give or hooves to be trimmed. Same goes for cows. I dream about having cows grazing in the back field but in reality it is just not in the cards right now. My garden needs more of my attention and we have a greenhouse that needs to be assembled. Oh yeah and we have LOTS of wood that needs to be hauled off the back forty, split & piled. At this point if I want raw organic milk it again easier to go support my local farmer for $4/gallon. As far as meat goes it would in our best interest if I put a little more time and effort into deer hunting. It is good, lean, meat that we do not have to tend day in and day out. Until this past year I have always taken for granted the deer meat in the freezer. You always miss something when you don't have a lot of it. From here on out I will cherish every morsel!

I am not quiting farming, just cutting back. Learning from our experiences and our mistakes. God knows I have made plenty of those, that is a topic all on it's own! After my pullets are all laying I hope to sell of last years hens, the turkeys are soon to meet their maker followed by those egg laying ducks (khaki campbells) Maine Man had to have. If the pigs ever have their piglets, we swear they are pregnant! They will be off to freezer camp as well. Maine Man is a little hesitant about that after bonding with "Pumpkin & Ham" over the last year but I volunteered to be the trigger man. Can you believe that? That is how badly I want to simplify & minimize before winter. 2 years ago even I would have said "NO way" but I must say this farming stuff has hardened me. I am jaded, kind of like working in the ER.

If it don't produce (eggs/meat) I am all set. Never use to be like this. This whole farming bit was never even intentional, it just happened.

My plan is to go through the winter with 24 layers, 2-4 muscovies, and a few rabbits. That's it!

Sorry for the rant but d@#! I feel better now! A bit hormonal ehh? The planned post to was suppose to be about thriftiness. Ha, Ha, Add PMS & ADD and this is what you get.

You Guessed It!

I didn't have you on Rona's behind but I had a few of you on the MUD PUPPY .

Many of you were correct or REAL close. MM & the kids caught it when they went out ice fishing over the weekend. Luke also caught a pickerel but I have no pictures to share because it was SO darn cold and windy. We will be going up North to my dad's in a few weeks and this photo girl will be out braving the elements (in the shack cooking and drinking cocoa) so there will some good ice fishing photo's to follow like last years pictures.

There was a great reponse in comments. I enjoyed reading them all from near and far and a few new faces. I will be checking in on all your blogs within the next couple days.

I will end this brief post with a little something MM read to me tonight from a book he is reading called If you didn't bring jerky, what did I just eat?

Do you ever find yourself thinking about deer when your mind should be on other things? Have you drifted off in a meeting and suddenly realized that everyone is staring at you, waiting for you to answer a question from the boss that you didn't hear? And so you had to wing it, responding, "Um...Maybe we're rattling to often?" You may be suffering from chronic preoccupation with deer (CPD). This is a seasonal disorder affecting millions of men, often with devastating consequences for their relationships, jobs, and self-esteem. In addition to a weak stream of thought, typical symptoms include:

* Frequent urges to go deer hunting

* A desire to go even though you just went.

* Suddenly needing to stop the car to go.

* Waking one or more times a night to go.

If you have experienced even one of the above signs, you're at risk for CPD.............

If you are not a hunter or a hunter's widow come hunting season you may not find this funny but I was laughing my tail off because that is MM ALL the way. I finally have a diagnosis!

Reminiscing

Angie at Children in the Corn tagged me to go to my 4th picture folder and pick out the 4th picture. Seeing how I deleted my 2008 pictures I had to dig through the archives and this is what I found. My little muffin had just turned 4 years old.

So since I was tagged must I carry on so I tag: Erica, Jodi,YD and Patrice

I thought I'd share several (many) other photos from my 2006 archive.

John's first moose.

Annual photo shot up at the college.

An afternoon at the park after walking the rail trail

My sweet MM

Apple picking, we always make it to the orchard in the fall. I cannot wait until we have our own.

Fall harvest at our old house.

Leah performing

Camping up North

The kids annual birthday party

One of Leah's all time favorite activities, painting.

Out in the boat

Yum, cinnamon rolls before school one morning.
Gotta love those pig tails. I am so happy she is growing her hair out again.

MM fishing, one of his favorite things to do.

Missing tooth and a lip laceration after chasing Momma and running into a door jam. That story is a post on it's own. Trip to the ER, screaming, papoosed by mother, stitches = traumatized child.

Muffin with Aunt Mary

We had a big garden at our old house now we just have lots of big gardens. I'd say he'll be a green thumb just like his daddy.

Mother's Day Tea

I LOVE THOSE LITTLE MUNCHKINS AND THE BIG ONE TOO!

THE END!

Great White Hunters

Good news, I have My Maine Man back!

Now it is my turn take a few strolls out in to the wood searching for the infamous "White Tail". I am not much of a hunter but I usually go out a few times a year because I know it makes John happy. Back in my 20's I took a hunter's safety course and John took it right along with me although he did not need it. I vividly remember how much the instructors razed me because I was of the opposite sex. Before buying this place John always purchased my annual hunting license. Now I get to hunt with a land owners permit and the sweetest part about that is, there are No costs involved and I can shoot buck or doe if I ever get the opportunity.

In years to come both of our kids will be able to take advantage of their lifetime hunting, fishing, and archery licenses.

Anyway, this is probably the 8 or 9th season I have went out but I've yet to see a deer while I am hunting until TODAY! I must say I was a LITTLE EXCITED! We were both off and I had plans: cleaning house, heading the gym, and picking up a few groceries until John started hinting around that he wanted to take me out hunting. I must admit, I really had NO interest in going out back and freezing my toots off to come back empty handed as ALWAYS! (That is nobodies fault but my own because I do not put my time in.) So I bundled myself up and went towards the back forty. Just a few minutes after I got to my designated area I heard something. A deer ran just in front of me through the brush. I stood up, took my gun off safety (heart beating about 200 beats per minute) and then I did not know what to do. My gut instinct was to run after the deer as it looked like it might be heading for the field but I froze for fear that the right thing was to stay still which I had already screwed up on. Regardless it was exciting and I feel now that I do have hope and with a bit more effort I may shoot one some day.

I am glad that I blew off my initial plans and instead went out hunting with John. It was refreshing to feel the cool fall air against my cheeks, take notice of the different scents in the air, and admire the change in scenery since the last time I was in the woods . As I sat quietly I noticed so much more than I do when I am out for a walk. I was aware of every breath I took, the nest in the tree, the sound of the wind, the trees rubbing against one another, some birds chattering from a distance. SO SERENE!

We also had a good laugh. Before we headed out I pumped myself with some diet pepsi. ( I know I said in a previous post I quit but...I fell off the wagon) Caffeine goes right through me so we had to make a few pit stops. I successfully made it through the first but the second stop did not go so smooth. I am cold-blooded so I wear LOTS of layers. I took off my orange vest, camo jacket, wool sweater, hooded sweatshirt all to undo my overalls (which are the ONLY pair of pants that I can fit long john's under), to pull down my camo pants, overalls, and long john's all to just briefly relieve myself (if I was only a guy). A second later John says "your gonna pee on your straps" followed by the snap of the branch that I was holding onto and I fell backwards somehow catching myself but in a very awkward position. We both bellowed out in laughter and my Maine Man held out his hand and assisted me back to my feet.

I AM SO GLAD I WENT OUT HUNTING!

Life Time License

We bought Leah her Lifetime hunting, fishing, and archery license. My Dad went half with me on it, it was $400. Money well spent as the kids will never have to purchase one of these licenses. We did the same for Luke just before his 6th birthday.
We are excited that the kids have this lifelong opportunity to enjoy traditional outdoor activities.