Heritage Hill Homestead

Last month we were able to go into town and pick some grapes for free. I made grape jam out of them and got 18 jelly jars. I prefer jam to jelly and think it is easier to make anyway. At the same time a friend called and offered peaches, I intended to go and pick some of them for jam, but about that time it started raining and raining and I didn't make it. We had purchased 2 bushel of peaches also just a few days before she called and I needed to get them taken care of first. I mostly made frozen pie fillings out of them, and saved some out to eat fresh, today I made some peach butter out of some of the ones left. I should say am making peach butter as I type............that takes a long time! Our neighbor has apple trees that he told us to just pick what we wanted, he wasn't going to use any of them. We have picked some and I have made apple crisp and some things, but we need to go and see if there are more as I would like to make some applesauce. Yesterday we went to some friends house that have a CSA to pick green beans. They sent out an email the evening before stating that their fall beans were going strong and they needed help! They were guessing there were about 1000 pounds of beans to be picked and they couldn't keep up...........whew, I think he was right. We picked a little over 50 pounds and didn't make a dent in them. So, yesterday afternoon and evening we snapped beans!!! Today we canned enough for us for the winter needs. We will take some to Farmers Market, give some to Mom, and eat some fresh. As we do many times, this spring we sold too many from our garden and didn't end up canning enough for us. We planted a couple of rows this fall thinking we would can more, but the geese ate them. So, we were thrilled when we were able to get these. Today we pulled up some of the tomato plants. I was surprised at how many ripe ones there were or at least starting to turn. So, I believe that I will be able to do one more batch of salsa yet too. We dug the sweet potatoes a couple weeks ago and sold most of them, but I kept the small ones for us to eat. So, with the chickens and other meat we have in the freezer we are pretty well set for winter. The only thing we will be short on is potatoes............we eat a lot of potatoes! Some friends plant a ton of them and sold at Farmers Market. We called them the other day to see if we could buy some to store for the winter and they had sold them all. We really need to plant more next year. We are planning to enlarge the garden area so we can.

This week we moved the little pullets into another house that has an outdoor pen. They had been in the brooder house the first 4 weeks. They are so cute out running around, they really think they are grown up. We imagined little chickens running everywhere, but it went very smoothly. We made a little alleyway with boards from one house to the other and just herded them along.

A friend of ours went on a little goat buying trip, so I went over and did chores for her 2 days. The first day hubby went along and everything went smooth. The second day he stayed home to snap those beans......and I got there to find that the cattle were out and a goat also. Luckily the bull was out also, but in a different area and he didn't even see me coaxing the cows back in with range cubes...... I really don't know what I would have done if he had been with them as I would not have tackled the job of getting him in by myself! He was away from the road and safe so I just left him alone.

We have been enjoying the most perfect fall days.........I am truly Thankful for those too. Today the sky was so blue and the breeze had a little cool feel to it, with the sun shine, just perfect. Thank you Lord for spoiling us.

The folks with the CSA gave me a couple of tomatoes to try. Nebraska Wedding and Georgia Peach. They are heirlooms so I am saving the seeds.

I got some extra milk this evening at the local dairy and plan to try to make some cheese. I have wanted to do this for a long time. If I don't get to it, I can freeze the milk. We go through spells of using a lot of milk and then times when we use very little. We are not milk drinkers, so unles the grandkids are here, it is just what I use in cooking and baking.

There are so many things that need done outdoors these nice days, I sure hope we have some more of them. Sheds to clean, painting to do, garden to finish up, windows to wash.........I am sure a few more things as well. I did cut some flowers this week to root and keep over the winter. I am afraid we will have an early frost and I wanted to be sure and get them in. I still have some geraniums to bring in, but I can do that when they predict the frost, there are only a few of them. I also have saved some seeds, I probably have enough Hollyhock seeds for everyone! Here is a picture of them this summer, I sure enjoyed them.

Tomorrow is son Ryan and Edye's 10th wedding anniversary. Happy day to you both. How in the world can 10 years go by so fast? They are the parents of Alexis, Nicholas and Madelyn that I talk about on here quite often.

This and That and Other Stuff

Well, here I am again, it has been a long time since I blogged and it seems like I don't know where to start. I have been reading other's blogs to see what they have been up to.

I am very proud of myself if I do say so. I have a very small herb garden, most of them I started in the greenhouse this spring from seed. Well...........I actually have dried some herbs this fall. I enjoy growing them and saying I am growing some herbs, but have never really done much of anything with them up until now. It remains to be seen how much I use what I have dried, but at least it is a step in the right direction!

Speaking of seeds, we stopped at the Dollar Store yesterday to pick up some Birthday cards and noticed that the garden items were marked way down. Well, I am telling you that packets of garden seed were 2 cents. So, if you live near a Dollar Store you might want to check and see what they might have left. I also got some hanging pots and a couple of long planters for next spring. Best bargain I have seen in a long time!

Hubby had Dr. appointments in Topeka last week, so of course we went to the Goodwill store. We got a new keyboard, so you will notice that I am typing K just fine now! The Dr. talked with him about having a shot to relieve the pain in his back and legs. He is not too excited about doing this, but needs some relief if possible.

We didn't have Farmers Market yesterday. It would have been the last one of the year for our little market here. A life-long friend of our family passed away and his service was Saturday morning. I feel bad missing another Market day as we have had so many rainy weekends this summer.

Last winter we had 4-5 good customers that we met a couple of times a month for deliveries of eggs and meat. That worked out so well, so we are taking names of folks interested in the same thing for this winter. We already have about 15, so we are happy with that. This will pay for our trip to town for groceries or other errands plus a little extra income as well. Not looking forward to winter coming, many are saying it will be a hard winter. That is not good for lots of reasons. Winter is hard for us anyway, without Farmer's Market income, things are really tight. Hubby just turned 62, so his disability check turns into retirement and drops almost $100 a month?? Nice.......... Along with increases in everything else, it will be interesting.

I did one of those, I wish I had been paying attention and that wouldn't have happened, things last week. I went out to check on the goats after dark, I even took a flashlight which I don't usually do, and you guessed it.........I fell over a cattle panel laying in the grass. We had just moved some panels around that day, and that one got left where it shouldn't have! I could barely hobble to the house and really thought I wouldn't be able to walk at all the next day. However, God is so Good, although my leg is sore and bruised, it is not nearly as bad as it could have been or as I expected it to be! He protects us from things everyday big and small, and I am Thankful!

Fun recipe

Because now we are all only five minutes away from chocolate cake any time of the day or night!!!***

A Beautiful Day

Remember that long list I had to start on today? Well, I didn't actually get many things done, but seemed to stay busy all day! Just little things that don't seem important but needed doing I guess.

We moved some of the goat girls with Bubba. We had gotten a breeding harness for him so we would have a due date for the girls, well we put it on him and went to get the girls, when we got them to him, he had already lost the harness. Guess we aren't very good at dressing a goat? Anyway, I can't wait for babies, just a little over 5 months to go................

Hubby mowed and boy was it needed after all of the rain. He also did some mowing around and through the garden, so it is a little neater. We had a pile of hay along the side that was to be mulch and never used, so I moved that to the compost pile. It was hungry for some brown stuff, it has had plenty of green this summer. I am not very good at getting the correct amount of each, but I hope it will eventually turn into some good soil.

We did a little toward putting up a fence around the poultry area. We are going to use hog panels and enclose a larger area for all of the birds. The plan is to not allow them into the garden area or yard close to the house where I have flowers. Some of them can and I suppose will fly over since hog panels are not very tall, but it should discourage the majority anyway. I will need to do some moving around to finish, one hog panel is being used in the corral and I will replace it with a cattle panel so it can finish out this project. I did this in a hap-hazard way earlier, but now we are wanting to do it semi-permanent. It will be a pain to have to use a gate everytime I want to go in this area, but it will be better in the long run. Right now I don't let the hens out all day because they get into too much trouble!

It was the most beautiful day today, one of those that you wish would last until next spring!! And the full moon tonight is awesome. God is Good!!

Relaxing Sunday with some Sunshine

We ended up with almost 6 inches of rain over the last few days, so needless to say a little soggy around here. However, I got up at 4 something this morning to go to the bathroom, and saw a full bright moon shining outdoors! I was so excited to see it meaning NO CLOUDS. This morning also brought sunshine which is good for the soul! I can't say that it lasted all day, but off and on we saw the sun and at least no more rain. The forecast for the next several days is for nice days...............Yipee! Maybe I will be able to get a few things done outdoors now. Actually my list includes indoor things as well. I sat down this afternoon and made a list for the next few days.......and it ended up being an entire page long. I doubt that I get even most of it done, but I am sure going to give it a try.

Last evening Mom called and thought it was a good night to go to Wendy's to eat, she thought we all needed to get out because of the gloomy day. This is only 7 miles from us, so it is a nice little outing every once in a while.

This morning right before church time Rlyn brought the little princess down. She went to church with me and enjoyed the story time and childrens church as well as seeing Great Grandma there. Came home and Grandpa had dinner ready, as soon as we finished eating Rlyn came to get her. He fixed a plate and warmed it up and ate before they left. She wasn't here very long, but we had fun. She got to see the baby chics, which is one of her favorite things on the farm. She is in pre-school Mon, Wed, Fri this year now, so her time with us will be limited.

We voted on the search committee at church this morning, so they will get started soon with the large job of finding a new pastor for our little church. I and I believe most others at least really are enjoying the couple that are filling in for us right now. They are so interested in us and willing to be a part of our church, a real blessing!

This Sunday afternoon was very relaxing, a nap was the main activity, other than doing dishes and chores. I have caught up on reading some blogs which I really enjoy doing.

My eyboard is not wor ing right............as you can tell, the is not wor ing! I have tried to thin of words that don't use the . This is ind of frustrating!!

Rain, Rain go Away............

Come again someother day!! We are getting the tail end of some hurricane, don't remember which one. I do not want to complain about the rain as although there were tornadoes in our part of the state this afternoon, we are not facing anything that the people in Texas are! My prayers are with them tonight as they prepare for the worst. We have had 31/2 inches so far, it has been a nice gentle rain. I tried 3 times to do chores this afternoon. I would get a few things done and then it would start to rain, I came in and went out when it quit for a few minutes and did a few more things, finally finished up in the rain. I must say I feel so sorry for our goats, they do not go out and get wet!! They have spent most of the last 2 days in the shed waiting for the rain to stop so they could go out and eat.

Another down side, we will not be doing Farmer's Maret again tomorrow morning. At least we had plenty of warning of the rain this time. This is the 7th Saturday morning this summer with rain! Usually we have at least 1, but 7?? Because of the forecast I had the day off today, no breads or rolls or pies. Let me tell you, I have had the day off in every way. Since I didn't have to do the usual I guess I felt blah and lazy, just no energy at all. Of course the cloudy, dreary weather does that to me anyway, I really need sunshine to function well. They are saying starting Monday it will be nice again, I can hold on until then.....

The little chics are doing well. We have lost 3, but that isn't bad out of 200 plus. They are growing and so cute.

We went to the state fair on Tuesday. That was the only decent day weatherwise and that is the day we had planned to go anyway. The goat show was that day and we enjoyed watching some of that. That gave us a chance to sit down and rest. Nothing really new at the fair, but we really enjoy seeing the exhibits.

Monday evening I went with Nicholas to his 4-H meeting as Mom and Dad were both busy that evening. It was fun to be able to go with him. He had refreshments that night.............so here is Grandma with Nicholas, Maddy, lemonade, brownie muffins, cups, pop cans to turn in, the car seat, diaper bag, and probably some other things............whew, I am not used to all of that! I used to do it all of the time, but it has been a while! Lets just say that I admire you gals with several little ones!

I have 20 peach pie fillings in the freezer. Still have a few in the fridge to use up. I may can them tomorrow. Haven't done anything with the apples yet, will have to get busy with them starting Monday.

Yesterday was Granddaughter, Jamee's 18th birthday..........hope she enjoyed it!

Chocolate Stars.............

are a fond childhood memory! Today hubby had a Dr. appointment so we were off to Topeka for most of the day. I went to Goodwill while he was at the Dr. office, more on that in a minute, we then ate a very late lunch and went to the grocery store. In passing the candy isle I noticed right on the end a bag of chocolate stars. I mentioned to hubby when I caught up with him that I saw them and hadn't seen them for a long time and didn't even know if they still made them. Ok, we stop at another little store on the way home to check out any specials they might have and you guessed it, I saw another bag of chocolate stars...............I really am not looking for chocolate stars, honestly. I said, "there are chocolate stars again". Next thing I know hubby has grabbed a bag and we are on our way to the check out. (Not too fast, I ran into an old friend and we had a nice little chat.) So on the way home we snack on......Chocolate Stars!! Now, for the meaning behind this story. When I was little and my folks and I would go to Emporia shopping Mom would buy chocolate stars and we would eat some on the way home. My Daddy really enjoyed them. So they brought back a very fond memory for me.

Well, I had a great Goodwill shopping trip. I found 6 pair of slacks in various colors that fit me! I tried on a couple more that didn't fit perfectly so put them back. Most times I would be happy enough with the way they fit and made do. I couldn't believe what was available today. Also got 2 knit tops and a pretty little soap dispenser for the bathroom for 68 cents.

The phone rang this morning with the news that our chicks were at the post office. We had plenty of time to get them settled in before having to leave. They seemed pretty happy when we got home, had only lost one.

I was very thankful that they did not come yesterday as the weather was COLD! It was 52 when I got up and never got above 57 all day! Today started out pretty chilly, but this afternoon the sun came out and was really nice later.

That cool weather made for a nice day to work in the kitchen. I made 6 batches of grape jam, it is yummy! Got 6 peach pie fillings frozen. And one ready to use tomorrow. Also am working on 14 day sweet pickles this week. I hope to get apples picked tomorrow. However since we were running around today, I didn't get any baking done for Saturday's Market..........so tomorrow will be a busy day. One good thing (I guess) is that we don't have produce to get ready now. That really takes a lot of time to pick and wash.

Busy Summer Days

These days have been busy ones. Last week we had almost 200 broilers processed. The end of the week brought many visitors to our little homestead. We were blessed with folks wanting to buy critters! While it is hard to see them go, I realize that with winter coming and feed prices rising it is necessary. We were able to sell some extra Muscovy male ducks, all of a small breed of ducks, some laying hens, and 3 goats. The goats were ones that had problems kidding in the past, so they needed a home where they were wanted just for eating weeds and being pets. We are wanting to cut down on hens for the winter, feed costs are too high to have a lot of hens to feed when they stop laying. We have 200 chicks coming tomorrow or Thursday to replace them. They should be starting to lay about February. We need to get on a schedule in the future so we will have some pullets starting to lay about now for eggs through the winter months.

So, first thing in the morning we have to get the place ready for the new chicks. I have the feeders and waters out, but still have to wash them up. Intended to get that done today, but it didn't happen.

Today was quite warm again, but it is cool tonight. Tomorrow's high is to be in the upper 60's.............Sounds like fall doesn't it!

We picked some grapes last evening, got 2 bushels of peaches today and have apples to pick at the neighbors asap. Sounds like I will be busy for a while. Our tomatoes have really slowed down to almost nothing. I sure hope they will produce some more as I would like to do some more canning of them. Another neighbor offered me some if not.

We plan to put a few does in with Bubba our little buck this week. I don't think we should put them all in at once since he is young. All of those girls flirting with him might scare him. lol Since the sale of the does over the weekend that leaves us with 20 does, which is a good number for us. Some of them need a little more time to get into good shape before breeding anyway. Some have had worm problems over the summer and need a little extra feed.

Hubby got my clothesline poles put up recently, one little problem, he put them up at his height instead of mine! I suppose standing on tippy toes to hang things up is good exercise?? Anyway, I will enjoy using them............the smell of things hung outdoors is priceless!

The old wooden pole is shown in the picture, it now is a hanging flower pot holder...........

One more picture to share with you, a couple of weeks ago our kids were here and I happened to get this picture of hubby with the grandkids.

I have one question.........where did our summer go? How can it possibly be Labor Day...........the end of summer already?? Any of you that know me well at all, know for a fact that I prefer summer to winter. It is hard for me to enjoy the beautiful fall weather because I am sure it means winter is coming soon after. Actually, by this time of the year, we are getting pretty tired after all of the summer activities and I am finding myself looking forward to a slower pace as winter approaches.

We have been blessed with such a nice summer this year! I don't remember many years in Kansas that we had to mow quite this often after the 4th of July. Everything is so pretty and green yet.........and the garden has been wonderful for us. We have enjoyed eating, canning, freezing, and selling at Farmer's Market! About the only thing left is tomatoes and they have really slowed down, I was in hopes I would be able to make another batch of salsa or two yet, but we will see. We do have some fall beans planted and they are doing well, and the sweet potatoes look nice.

We so enjoyed spending some quality time with our grandson, Nick at the county fairs this summer. This was his first year in 4-H, his projects were foods and goats. It was fun to watch him learn and try so many new things. Of course you know that Grandma had as much fun as Nick did. I still enjoy the county fair as much as I did when I was a 4-Her a few years ago...........

He did very well for his first year, coming home with all blue ribbons! In foods he exhibited trail mix, chocolate chip cookies and rocky road fudge brownie muffins. Here he is showing one of the goats, Rain Drop at the Overbrook fair.

Speaking of goats, and I usually am, I have some sad news to share. Most of you know my first little goat, Bucky, he has been the center of attention at our Nativity scenes, made several appearances at the Lebo 4th of July parades, and just had a special place here at the farm. He was a bottle baby and lived in the house with us for the first 3 weeks of his life, he then had the run of the farmyard for about a year. Finally after getting other goats he moved in with them, however he never really figured out that he was a goat. Well, sadly he died last Tuesday.............. He had been sick for about a week and I had treated him with everything I could think of. He seemed to respond and I would think he was going to be ok, and then would relapse. I had let him out to run around the yard the last week and the night before he died he wanted in the barn where he called home that first year, so I guess it is fitting that that is where I found him the next morning.

Some happier thoughts, baby chicks are coming this week! Who can resist cuddly baby chicks? We have 200 pullets ordered, they will be our layers next summer. Because of these replacements, some of our current layers will be for sale later this fall. So if you are wanting a few egg layers of your own check with us.

*We also have a new batch of broiler chickens available right now. They were processed this past week. I would say they average about 4 pounds. Some of you have already picked up your order. Let us know right away if you would like some, as these will most likely be the last ones available until next spring.

We have found a home for Black Jack, our donkey. He is such a sweetheart and will be greatly missed here, especially his wonderful voice! However he could not be trusted with baby goats and that was always a worry! So, he left yesterday for his new home near Osage. He is on loan and will be working for his keep now, training 4-H calves to lead. He will be returning here to appear in our annual Live Nativity scene this December.

We have a puppy that needs a home (now at least think about it), she is a nice little dog about 5 months old. Her name is Sassy. She is English Shepherd/Anatolian Shepherd cross, which will make an excellent farm dog. She loves kids, is used to other dogs, cats, poultry, goats and whatever else we have around here. We would love to keep her, but we already have Sadie, Sophie, Rowdy and Shadow........don't you think that is enough? They are all working farm dogs except Shadow of course who is the spoiled house dog!

I have not been able to keep up very well this summer with my blog, but please do check it out when you have time. As things slow down I hope to do a better job. http://www.homesteadblogger.com/heritagehill/

Fair week and more

A week ago Monday our little grandson, Nick came down to spend a couple of days getting ready for the fair. We have so much fun when he is here. One of his 4-H projects is foods, so we did his baking here this time. He made chocolate chip cookies and rocky road fudge brownie muffins. He did everything himself except I did help him get some of them in and out of the oven. Let me tell you that it takes a lot of patience for this old grandma to watch and let him do it all by himself. He did a super job and learned a lot too! Both got blue ribbons!! The brownies are a recipe I found this summer and they are so simple to make I thought it would be a good one for him to try. Here it is........... recipe from Cookie Madness.

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 scant teaspoon salt (if using salted butter, omit)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided use)
1/3 cup toasted pecan pieces or coarsely chopped pecans
2/3 cup mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray top of a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray and line cups with paper liners.

Place butter in a 2 cup glass measuring cup; microwave on high for one minute or until butter melts. Add cocoa to melted butter and stir well. Set aside and let cool slightly.

Whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. Add butter/cocoa mixture and stir until well mixed. Add flour, stirring just until blended’ stir in 1/3 cup of the chocolate chips.

Stir together remaining 1/3 cup chocolate chips, toasted pecans and mini marshmallows. Set aside.

Bake muffins for 18 minutes. Pull pan from oven and sprinkle with marshmallow mixture. Return to oven and bake for 2 minutes more for a total bake time of 20 minutes. Let cool in muffin tins for about 10 minutes, then carefully loosen muffins from tins and let cool completely before serving.

Note: If you skip the topping, divide batter among 10 muffins cups to make the brownie muffins slightly taller. Bake time is still 20 minutes.

On Wednesday evening Nick and I took his goats and food entries to the fair. His house is only a few miles from the fair, so I stayed the night with them. He and I went back on Thursday morning to check in the goats and weigh them and for conference judging for his foods entries. Both got blue ribbons! I headed home to bake for Market.

Friday afternoon was the goat show, so hubby and I went up. It was a long day as the judge took a lot of time on the classes before his. The favorite goat, Lucky placed 3rd in his class. Rain Drop, his little doe was the only one in her class. He did well in showmanship placing 4th or 5th. We rushed home to get garden produce and baking ready for Market the next morning........

Well, as we were getting ready for Market on Saturday morning it started to rain!! Had we known this would happen, Friday could have been a lot more relaxed and rested I might add!! Hubby did sell some things at his market, but I sat in the car for an hour thinking it will let up soon, and then came home. We got 3.75 inches of rain.

The parade was cancelled and the demolition derby also at the fair for that night. However the 4-H livestock auction turned out fine as the rain stopped before it started. Nick sold Lucky, if you remember I mentioned he was the favorite goat, and I expected to cry myself over this, but to my surprise neither of us did.

Sadly the fairs are over now for the year. I can't expain it, but I so enjoy the fairs. Most folks are ready for them to end, but it really does make me sad. We plan to attend the State fair in September, so I have that to look forward to.

Nick has learned so much and had a lot of fun this year, so that is what counts the most, and he is looking forward to next year too! I was able to spend some real quality time with him this summer, both during the fair and when he stayed here getting ready, those memories are priceless.

Yesterday hubby had a Dr. appointment, so we spent some time in Topeka. Also checked out Good will and found a bed spread.

Today I went to a friend's house all afternoon, was supposed to help her work some goats, but mainly just caught up with visiting and had a nice time.

The kids are coming Sunday evening for a cook out, a belated Birthday celebration for Mom, whose big day was last Wednesday during the fair. And my cousins and Aunt are coming on Monday to spend a day at the farm. So need to think about some food to fix. Also a pot luck dinner at church on Sunday at noon. Need to do a little cleaning......have done some this week and the laundry is done. I got a new vacuum cleaner and so have had fun trying it out?? I must say it sure works better than the old one, so that does make it a little fun.

School started here today, way too early in my opinion, but they didn't ask me. Kaylan starts pre-school tomorrow. Nick and Lexi don't start until the 25, they attend a private Christian school so have a different schedule.

Some good news on the farm and some bad news...........The little bucket calf, Blossom is doing great and we got her a room mate. We purchased a little heifer that was a bucket calf 4-H project from some friends after the fair. Her name is Tootsie, she is an Angus cross. Buttermilk "Casey" my little bottle baby goat from last summer was found dead this week. No idea what happened to her, I am thinking one of the bigger does may have butted her and hurt her, as they can be pretty mean to each other at times. She was the one that would ride on the garden tractor with me last summer, good memories!

It has been a long time............

Hello, I am still hanging around, haven't taken time to write, but I have kept up checking in with my friends to see what you all are doing the past month. Thanks to those that have checked in to see if I was ok.

Hard to believe that July 4th was a month ago already, times goes so fast it really is scary isn't it! Since right before the 4th things have been crazy around here, just not enough time it seems.

I will try to briefly catch you up..............Our little town has a big 4th of July celebration which is fun! We didn't enter the parade this year, so that was a lot less stressful. Last year we did a float for our homestead, and it was a lot of fun. I did enter the cookie contest, didn't place, and the dog contest. The fireworks were really nice and enjoyable. On Saturday there is a car show and we had our regular Farmers Market downtown, it was the best sales we had ever had, so that was exciting.

Saturday afternoon Nick came to stay and get ready for the fair. We had such a good time with him. The neighbor baled the hay he had mowed for us and so we had some help to haul it in. That hay deal was quite a story, but we did get 1/2 of the 20 acres baled.

On the 13th one of our County fairs began. (We have 3 county fairs, some think that is crazy, but I love it!! Fairs are the highlight of the year for me.) I am the superintendent of the sheep, so I take entries, weigh in, organize the show schedule and take care of the show. Nick was showing his goats for the first time also this year. The weather was great and we all had a wonderful time! Nick showed 2 market goats, a doeling, and in showmanship, also 2 foods enteries and got all blue ribbons! Not bad for his first fair. He sold one of the market goats, Curly. Hubby and I had 10 garden entries, 2 jams and muffins.

The fair was over on the 16th, I woke up the next morning and it took me an hour or so to come back to everyday life and realize that it was Hubby's birthday! Fair days are kind of another world with no thought of dates or anything else that is going on around you.

During the month we sold all of the puppies Sadie had in May. We wormed the goats and got them moved to a new weedy spot. Several are looking pretty bad, so I started to feed them and give them liquid molasses to get them ready for breeding season. The corral they had been in during the summer had too many worms. I am treating one with iron shots also, may have to treat some others too, will see how they look in a week or so after the worming. We lost one doe last week, she had her head stuck in the fence. We had never lost one that way before, but I know it does happen. She was behind the shed and kind of behind a tree so that it was hard to see her. I noticed she was not with the group and went looking for her, but when I found her it was too late. I felt so bad, as it was hot and I hate to think of her suffering. These are things that happen with livestock sometimes.

Our garden is doing great yet. We have had nice rains through the summer, and not the storms that have gone all around us. We are very thankful for that. Tomatoes are coming on strong. Cucumbers have slowed down right now, squash too. I will have tomatoes to can tomorrow and have sweet pickles soaking right now. We have dug most of the potatoes, we sold most of them and only have a couple of buckets left for us to eat. The last 2 plantings of green beans are doing pretty well, I am sure there are some out there needing picked right now.........but it is just too hot. I spent Friday morning picking for Market and almost got sick with the heat. Last week we had 3 days of cool, cloudy weather and then the real heat set in. For 4 days now it has been unbearable, the humidity is so bad. Yesterday I saw on the weather that a town north of us had a heat index of 120. Can you imagine that??

Farmers Market has been going great for us this year and we are so thankful! This past Saturday hubby went with me here and we had the best market ever here. We had quite a few tomatoes and they add up pretty quick, however I only had 2 pies made. We did sell quite a bit of meat, more than usual for this market. The Lord has truly blessed our little garden and our efforts this summer.

We just found out that our Pastor is moving the end of August, so that will mean a transition time for our little church. Last Sunday we hosted a Christian Motorcyle Association Sunday. It was such a wonderful day, folks of all ages enjoyed it. We rented a tent and had the service outdoors, which of course was right up my alley. After the service we served pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans and brownies.

We have a new addition to our critter family, a bucket calf named Blossom. We got her on Friday at the auction. Not sure of her breed, but she was 3 days old and seems very healthy so far at least. She was very easy to start on the bottle and is so cute! I can't believe I have not gotten a picture of her yet.......but I will. Kaylan will have such a fun time with her, she spent the first of last week with us, but went home the day before Blossom arrived.

Also in July we had another 100 broilers processed. Will have 200 more done the end of August. This week we roasted one with fresh herbs from my little herb garden, that was fun and it sure tasted good. I am not very good about using fresh herbs or knowing how to use them, so I was very proud of myself.

Wednesday through Saturday this week is our final county fair. So this will be a busy week for sure. I will go to Market on Saturday, but will not be home on Friday to bake, so will only have what garden produce I have time to gather up to sell.

Well, that somewhat brings us up to date at Heritage Hill Homestead. I will leave you with a picture I took early one morning a couple of weeks ago while out doing chores. Isn't it wonderful to live out where we can soak up the beautiful world God has given us!

Garden update and Birthdays

My last post was about the first tomato of the summer.......while still fun to spot a red one, now there are quite a few. Over the weekend we picked about 20, so we officially have tomatoes now!

Friday I picked enough green beans to have 19 bags to sell at market. I didn't pick again until today and got enough for at least one canner full. They are snapped and ready to can in the morning. I know they should be done straight from the garden, but it doesn't always work out that way........ The first planting is not producing much, I think I will wait to see if they come back after the rains we had a few days ago before pulling them up. We waited a long time between the second and third plantings, but the third planting is coming along nicely. Four more rows were planted last week and they are starting to peek up today. We were needing a rain and got .70 on Thursday night and .80 on Friday night. It is hard to believe how the plants grow with some good old rain water!

Speaking of rain.............the neighbor started mowing our hay this afternoon. Seems he broke down as he only worked a short time and then left? He is on vacation this week, which means the hay needs to be done this week! Today was a beautiful day and tomorrow is supposed to be nice, BUT then they are talking about rain again and I really hope God doesn't allow our hay to get wet!!! (He did last year). I was nearly in tears several cold winter evenings when I had to pull apart many bales of hay flake by flake, trying to salvage some that wasn't molded to feed the hungry little goats! When I would get a nice bale I think I was just as excited as the goats were.

Since I last talked with you here things have been pretty normal what ever that is. Friday I spent the day baking ~ a peach pie, a strawberry-ruhbarb pie, 3 mini apple pies, 10 small loaves of friendship bread, 1 dozen large muffins, and 4 dozen cinnamon rolls. As you remember hubby had already baked 10 small loaves of lemon-poppy seed bread for me! We also had potatoes, cucumbers, green beans, eggs, meat and jam to sell. Market was slow it seemed, sprinkled in the middle, but at the end of the morning it was the best sales of the year so far. Hubby was having problems with low blood pressure, so he did not feel like driving to Emporia market that morning. He went with me and I sure enjoy having him along, help loading and unloading it great! He will also go here this weekend since it is a holiday.

Today was a nice day and it seemed like I got some things done! Yeah me! Some days just go by and I don't feel like I accomplish much or at least enough. Almost everything is marked off of my to-do list tonight, so that feels really good! Hubby's sister and family planned to stop by here this afternoon on their way home from vacation for a short visit. Today is her birthday and I was to bake her an apple pie, but as it turned out they needed to get on home and could not stop by. Today is also our wonderful little grandson, Nick's birthday.......9 years ago tonight was a pretty special occasion!

BT Sandwich

That is what I had for lunch today!! Most people have BLT but I really like just a Bacon Tomato sandwich. Last Friday I saw nothing but green tomatoes...........when we got home Sunday evening, this is what I saw.

Yummy! There are quite a few turning now, so before long I will be saying, I have to go out and pick tomatoes. Right now, it sounds like fun.

Yesterday our ladies Bible study met here. We had a good turn out and a nice evening. Hubby went to Farmer's Market, so the morning was spent getting things ready for him to take there, and the afternoon getting the house somewhat ready for company.

This afternoon I went into town and gave Mom a perm. While I was doing that hubby fixed supper and baked two batches of Lemon bread for Farmer's Market! What a wonderful surprise that was. I really should have baked more this evening, but just didn't. While ago I made my list of to-dos for tomorrow and it is long..........but it will get done!

It was really hot here yesterday and today, there are storms around now, doesn't look like we will get the worst of it anyway, but we could use a rain. We put a soaker hose on the green beans today. When I picked yesterday there were not nearly as many as I expected, so I thought giving them a drink might help. Hope there will be a good picking tomorrow for Market on Saturday.

The wedding

I must share a little of the wedding we attended over the weekend.........It was our Grandaughter, Whitney and her groom Ben's special day, and it was absolutely wonderful!

I wanted you to see the back of her dress, of course in this picture of their first dance, the train is buttoned up, but you can see the red trim, it was so pretty!

I took 89 pictures, no I will not bore you with them all, although I could............I will share just a few!

My step-daughter Jody and her hubby Jimmy, the proud parents of these beautiful girls! What a special family they are.

Ok, I will share some fun photos later. We had such a great time. Our two sons that live close and their families met us Saturday morning and we all traveled together. When we got to Springfield, we checked into our motel, then went next door to eat lunch. We had very little time to get ready for the wedding, really had to rush. But all was well as we found the church in plenty of time. The reception included a light dinner, highlights were a punch fountain and a chocolate fountain. The dance followed with a great DJ. He kept everyone involved and lots of fun dances for all ages. It was amazing how much fun everyone could have without drinking!

After returning to the motel, yes we did finally reserve a room, we watched the grandkids swim for a while, they were having such a great time. It was well worth the money to stay, in my last post I said we were unsure what to do!

The next morning after checking out, we went to Bass Pro Shop for a while, then started home. The kids traveling with us wanted to eat at Lamberts so they headed over there. If you are not familiar with that it is known for throwing the rolls! They also went to Bass Pro before heading home. Mom, hubby and I went on to Carthage to the Precious Moments Chapel. Mom had not been there before and really enjoyed seeing it. We also stopped at the Louisburg Apple Cider Mill just across the Kansas line. So we made a day of the trip home. On the way home Mom said, You know 2-3 times this month I thought I would just stay home, but I sure would have missed a lot! She had a really good time and didn't seem to get tired. Hubby was pretty tired on the way home, but did feel good and enjoyed the weekend. (He even did the Twist with the girls at the dance)

When we got close to home, I began to worry about our critters and wonder if everyone would be ok when we got home. Thankfully we found all was well, they didn't seem to miss us!

Today was more bean picking and usual stuff around here, back to routine. However, this afternoon a guy we visited with on Friday came and bought all of our little goat babies! I have some mixed feelings...... sorry to see them go, but glad for a check in hand and not nearly so many little hungry mouths to feed! We were just weaning them today which meant them eating more grain, so the timing was perfect. Of course, God's timing always is!!

First canning of the summer

I had a small picking earlier in the week, but hubby took them to the mid-week Farmers Market yesterday. This afternoon I picked 2 small buckets full and here they are, ready for winter. We plan to make sure we get what we need to eat through the winter this year instead of selling too much at Market and then not having our own to eat. Hubby had the great idea to can some in 1/2 pint jars for Mom! Since it is just the two of us we only do pints.

Last evening while I was working in the garden a plane kept turning around right over our place, he was spraying just south of us. That makes us very nervous, that spray can really drift and cause a lot of damage to a garden. A few years ago after they sprayed the pasture right across the road we lost quite a bit of produce, very dissapointing!

Well, plans are set for the weekend trip to Grand daughter, Whitney's wedding. We did get a motel room for Saturday night. We went back and forth, trying to decide what to do?? We didn't want to spend the money, but a 4 hour drive there, wedding, reception, 4 hour drive home all in one day........a very long day! Mom is going along and that would really be tiring for her. We ended up getting a room the same place as our kids are staying, so that will be fun. The wedding is in the Springfield, Mo. area, wish we could zip on down to Branson, but I doubt that we will. We love to go to the Amish store there and I need some things, but not sure it is worth the extra gas and time it would take.

So, tomorrow will be a full day getting ready to be gone overnight! A friend is coming over to water or at least check everyone's water. I told her we will feed and hay early Sat. morning, so she will only have to come for a few minutes to check on the critters. We should be home mid afternoon on Sunday to do chores that day. Some of it I can do tomorrow, putting out extra water tubs and extra hay to last.

One of our county fairs is going on right now. We had intended to take part, but with all that is going on right now it just didn't work out. The goat show will be tomorrow morning, so we plan to go and watch it, and see the other exhibits.

I am getting laundry finished up this evening and still need to go back out and shut the chickens up. I mowed some this morning and intended to do more later, but a rain came up again, we only got .15 so that isn't bad, but too wet to mow. Just as well, I picked the beans right after lunch and I would not have been able to do that after the rain either and that was more important...........the grass will wait to be mowed! While it was rainy I got a pie baked, one of our customers brought some cherries from her tree and wanted me to make a pie for her. Hubby was nice enough to pit them for me!

God is so good!

What a wonderful praise we have this morning! Yesterday about noon we had no hot water, hubby started down into the basement to check the water heater and..........found lots of water in the basement, up around the water heater, not good news. So he got a pump and pumped out the water, by then it was getting late, so we just decided to deal with the problem this morning. Well, going back down thinking we were in for a new water heater, which we really don't have the money for right now, he pushed the reset button and turned it back on and came up to "wait to see" what happened. After a few minutes, turned on the faucet and WE HAD HOT WATER AGAIN! This heater is only a few years old, so it should last us a long time yet.

Now hubby is off to get a snake to clean out the drain so this doesn't happen again! I also did some work on the eaves that drain near the basement window to make sure the rain water runs away from the house better.

The basement is actually a root cellar that is only under our kitchen. The kitchen was added onto the orginal house and this was put in then I guess, but still probably 100 years ago or so. We are thankful to have a place to go in storms and to store canned goods. I don't make as good of use of it as I should, it is kind of yucky down there to me.

Wonderful Day

Today was the most beautiful day here, about 75 degrees and cloudy most all day, didn't seem like the first day of summer is so close! It was a fantastic day to work outside, which I did all day long. I got some work done in flower beds, herbs set out, some garden tilled, and more weeds pulled!! It has rained enough that the weeds pull really easy and so it is almost fun............well, it isn't hard and you can see the progress you are making as you go........so as much fun as pulling weeds could be. There are quite a few left over plants in the greenhouse and although it is getting late to set them out, since it hasn't been really hot yet and we have had plenty of moisture I am still trying to find places to stick them in the ground instead of letting them go to waste. I still have way more tomato plants than I would ever need, and lots of herbs we started from seed. Wish some of you lived close enough that I could share! I also have hundreds of volunteer petunia plants coming up and already blooming, so I am recycling them as well. Speaking of flowers, I have Hollyhocks planted in front of our barn and they are just absolutely beautiful this year. I took a picture this morning so I will share it another day.

We dug a bucketful of potatoes today, didn't get the beans picked, will do that tomorrow. I did pick the first cucumbers. I also still have to set out the sweet potato plants. It sounds like tomorrow will be as nice as today was, so I plan to take advantage of it working outside again.

As it turned out we do not have to serve a funeral dinner tomorrow. That is really a blessing as hubby is supposed to be resting and I have so much that needs doing around here the first part of the week. It is a really nice out reach for our church to do and we usually don't mind it, but this week it is just best for us that the family did not request a meal. I hope that doesn't sound selfish of us............

We needed a big bale of hay moved for the goats today and our neighbors that usually do it were not available. Hubby thought of another neighbor to ask and he came immediately and did it for us, it is so nice to have such willing and friendly neighbors! I gave him some fresh eggs and a plate of brownies in return.

We actually thought far enough ahead today to put a pork roast in the crock pot for supper! We keep saying we really need to use the crock pot this summer 1) so meals will be ready and 2) not to heat up the kitchen...........but we usually fly by the seat of our pants around here and don't have meals planned well enough or think of starting anything early enough in the day.

Where do I begin

to catch up after not blogging for 10 days??? I have some excuses, but I don't know if they are good ones. Storms and tired that would about cover it.

A week ago Thursday, they began predicting severe storms for our area a week in advance, that made me a little nervous. There were storms but nothing like they thought at least for our area. Then this past Thursday there was a tornado on the ground in Kansas for 80 miles! It was west of us, so we were in no danger, but it nearly destoryed the small town of Chapman and also hit Manhattan and then north of Topeka. They said it did $20 million damage to Kansas State University Campus! The following evening the same type of storm was about 40 miles east of us and headed our way. However we only got rain out of that one. Our kids homes were much closer to the path this time and they all took cover, but there was no damage. Praise the Lord for his protection in each of these storms for our family and homes! This has been such a stormy spring in our area.

Farmers Market on June 7 was a good one, hubby and I both had good mornings. Then we hit a few garage sales and got a huge bird cage for $10, quite a find we thought. A few other small purchases, but nothing exciting.

Tuesday, hubby had Dr. appointments so we were on the run all day, errands and grocery shopping while we were in Topeka. As it worked out, we were able to see part of Nick and Kaylan's ball games that evening on the way home.

Wednesday was the first birthday party for Madelyn. How does time go so fast?? Her birthday is actually the 18th, but that will be a busy day, so they scheduled the party a week early. She was so cute and we all enjoyed watching her celebrate. The same evening Lexi had a ballgame right across the street from the party, so we were able to watch part of her game that evening.

That brings us up to Friday the 13th............that was my 55th birthday. My 50th was on Friday the 13th also! Of course it was "baking for Farmers Market" day, so that is all I got done, no time to celebrate. However Saturday evening hubby, Mom and I went out to eat.

Farmers Market this week was not as good, and I baked more items, so I had quite a bit left over. Saturday afternoon, some folks from Texas and Ohio that have family here came out to visit and see the animals. We had a nice time with them.

Today was a really nice day. Hubby wasn't feeling the greatest this morning, so he stayed home from church. When I got home he told me that his son Jimmy had called and he and his family were coming to visit this afternoon for Father's Day. We had a very nice time with them, we don't see them very often, so really appreciated them coming. They brought us the most wonderful gift, a huge Scrapbooking kit! The two older Grand daughters were not able to come along so we missed them though. He got calls from some of the other kids wishing him Happy Fathers Day.

I also spent some time early afternoon visiting with a friend from school, church and 4-H. We are about the same age. She had moved 30 some years ago, and I had only seen her briefly once since then. She was in town with her family and wanted to see me, so we met at Mom's and enjoyed catching up.

A busy week ahead, we will find out in the morning if we are serving a funeral dinner at church this week, one of our county fairs is the end of the week and our grand daughter, Whitney is getting married on Saturday! You will be hearing more about the wedding and pictures following.

In between these activities, I have been pulling weeds.........that is a full time job it seems. They are everywhere, in the flower beds, in the garden........... Mowing is hard to keep up with right now with all the rain too. Speaking of garden, we had the first green beans today, yummy! I should have a pretty good picking tomorrow or the next day. We have dug quite a few potatoes to sell, all of the turnips, some beets, sugar snap peas, and lots of onions. Peppers are setting on and cucumbers too. Just waiting on tomatoes to get red!

Well, that pretty well tells you what has been going on around here lately. I do hope I will be able to keep up dated more often.

Look what was for supper tonight

Hubby came in with the first nice little bunch of new potatoes.........so browned new potatoes was immediately on the menu for supper!

Kaylan's mama called this morning and said she was wanting to come to visit the farm again, so she has been here since about noon. Will stay until Friday afternoon. Anyway, when she ate the potatoes she said these are really, really good.

We spent the afternoon working outside, she helped pull weeds, plant flowers, water some flowers, of course do chores and played with the kittens. One tired and dirty little lady tonight!

Yesterday hubby went to the Dr., didn't get to see his, but at least got in and was given some antibiotic to knock this cough and miserable stuff he has been fighting for a week. Thankfully, he was already feeling some better by this morning! He was well enough to do a few things outside today, which he had not been able to do since last Friday.

Better get to bed, a busy day tomorrow. Can't believe it is time to start baking for the weekend Market again already! I will at least make Amish Friendship bread, Lemon Poppy Seed bread and Morning Glory muffins. We will see how much I get done with the help of our little 4 year old gal? Saturday in town will be the city-wide garage sales, so may try to make a few extra things because of the big crowd in town.

Thank you Lord

This morning there were some really severe storms in our area and I am so Thankful that our little homestead was protected. The main damage was from large hail. Hail as large as softballs, 4 inches across were reported as close as 20 miles or so! Hubby and I had gone to a nearby town to the bank, as we left for home it started to sprinkle. Within a few miles of home it started to hail, some pretty good sized, but not enough of the large ones to damage the pickup. Two miles from our house we stopped and picked up a really large hail stone. When we got home there were only a few small ones laying in the yard, the sky was so dark the yard lights were on. It rained really hard for just a few minutes, then moved on.

I measured the hail we picked up and it measures 2 3/4 inches which I heard on the news is baseball size! I can only imagine what damage that would have done to our garden!! And the wheat is just starting to turn and looks good, that would have wiped out the crop for the local farmers.

There have been so many tornadoes in Kansas this spring and summer, quite an active storm season! At least there were no tornadoes with the storms this morning.