Rogerbrown would like to put a smile on your face today.
Please enjoy the show!
God bless,
Karen
Tag Archives: farm
This Farmin’ Thing Is HAAARRRDDD
Yesterday, our little Mo, the goat that is still pregnant got very amorous with Mr. Shady and me. She wanted to lick our arms and kiss us and chat us up and touch her belly. She doesn’t usually like that sort of attention. I knew something was eminent. I drove into town to do errands and received a call from Mr. Shady relating that Mo’s water had broken and she was in labor. Oh boy. I was SO excited given the fact I had missed the only one we have had thus far.
Does she look comfortable to you?
When I got home, she had been laboring for about an hour and was glad that I was there. She wanted me very close which I was happy to oblige. Mind you, I have never done this sort of thing. While I have read a lot about goat delivery, I could not have predicted or known how to handle what was to come.
tap..tap… waiting…. waiting…
This is nerve racking….waiting….
After a couple of hours, Pops and I began to wonder if perhaps there could be a problem. I am so glad he was there. Mr. Shady was there too. Can not tell you what a blessing that was. I had set up shop in the stall with all my technologies. Ipad, phone, camera, magazines. I decided to look up how long she should be doing this labor, pushing thing. She should have been delivering by now and since she wasn’t would indicate problems. Problems? What in the world could I or WE do about her problem. Oh, God, please help us. She was exhausted and wasn’t pushing anymore.
I had to go in. Yes, go in. I went in and the baby was breach. I had to turn it. Yes, turn it. At one point I was in almost to my elbow. Like I said, this farmin’ thing is HAAARRRDD. I actually got it turned around and a beautiful little girl named June was born. I was praying for two girls. The miracle of life. It DOES NOT get better than this.
I felt inside and realized another was coming. Yeah! and it appeared to me that it was in the “diving” position. Feet first with head coming immediately after. But what in the world do I know. She slid right out. Another girl! Ruthie. Okay. lets all breathe and take a break before looking to see if there is another. The stress level was high and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do this again. I was scared that I would not be able to right a wrong thing again. It was a total fluke that I was able to right the first one.
I reached in and there was yet another one. Poor Mo. No wonder she was SO huge. I could not get a handle on what this thing was doing. Only one leg came out. I tried to get the other facing outward and all went wrong from there. Oh my goodness. She couldn’t push. The baby wouldn’t come. She became very dry. And it was stuck. Mr. Shady and Pops had to go to great measures to save Mama. It was a tragic scene. We, of course, lost the baby. Mama seems to be doing ok so far. And I still feel like throwing up. We buried the baby not having found out the sex.
It is just a goat. I know. But none the less, I cant help feeling a little inadequate and that maybe had we done things differently there may have been another outcome. What if we had allowed her to do it all herself. Would she had been able to figure it all out? Or would she and the babies have died? We will never know.
We have two beautiful girls. June and Ruthie. A mom that is doing well. I think. She is alive. God is so good. The blessings multiply daily.
This is/was really hard for me. Tons more hard for Mo. I only have a few bumps and bruises. Hers run much deeper. She lost a child. As for Pops and Mr. Shady, they are men. They don’t share unless you ask, but I imagine it cut them a little deep too.
A crazy day at the farm.
God bless,
Karen
Filed under Farm
Bird Lady
….is what I have become. I have always been fascinated with birds but now that I have 64 of them, I would guess I am maniacal. They all do not have plans to stay long. Many of them will need to move on in a few short months. But it would be an honor if these birds I talk about today would grace us with their presence for a long long time.
Today, I would like to write about my budding relationship with the beloved Bluebird. Oh my goodness. I think the first time I really saw a for real bluebird was just this past year. Mr. Shady informed me last winter that we had about 6 pair out in the pasture that morning. I immediately made plans to put up a couple of houses for them. They will begin nesting as early as late February. 
The day after we hung one, a mommy and daddy moved in. What a wonder! I have become a stalker of this family. No kidding. So the journey began. (I might add that I have hung about 5 more but only this first one has been inhabited. So far.)
They have had two “batches” of babies, which is not unusual. Did I tell you I am an expert now? Not really. Pops bought me a Bluebird book and I find them most interesting not to mention beautiful. But they build a whole new nest for each family. If I do not remove the first nest, they will build a nest right on top of the old.
Enjoy the journey of this precious, precious family.
Mama sits on nest. She doesn’t spend all day there. She will come and go at her leisure.
After the babies are born she will come and go bringing food back for them.
Beautiful Mama
Mama and papa going out for an outing.
Papa protecting his domain from the Scarlet Tanager (bright red bird in upper left).
Baby taking a peek out in the real world. Eek.
It takes 12 -14 days for the lovelies to hatch and then they stay on the nest 19 days. I know from the babies actions today, with them peeking out of the hole, they are just about ready to take leave. I have SO enjoyed their visit and pray they stick around and tell all their friends about the open rooms at the inn.
Thank you for checking in and I would love to hear your experiences about birds in your backyard.
God bless,
Karen
The Legend Is Truer Than I Knew
Broth is “sick”. That is what my kids say when something is really cool. But I just learned in the last year just how “sick” broth is.
Bone Broth. I am SO glad I have acquired this knowledge now that we are producing meat. I can just imagine myself when it is time to butcher saying to the guy, ” Dont want the bones or anything but steak and hamburger.” I am realizing some of this stuff is WAY more nutritious than the meat.
I haven’t gotten into beef broth as much as I have chicken broth yet since I don’t have an accumulation of beef bones at any one time. I am sure I could get any amount I want from the butcher. I will check that out. But the beef bones are coming from our pasture soon!
Broth heals us and it is true what Grandma says about sipping it when we are sick, but it is SO much more than that and I am working at incorporating it into our daily life. It is one of those total SUPER foods that boosts our health to grand levels.
So what does it do for us, you ask?
Well, it does this:
It is chock – full of minerals. We are mineral deficient in a BIG way. We spend a lot of time concentrating on just the vitamins that are vital. To be deficient in minerals is devastating.
It nourishes our immune system. This feeds our whole system and keeps illness at bay. Healthy and Strong.
It enhances our digestion system. Through all that I have learned, the digestion system is where it is at. If it is struggling and compromised, then we are free to welcome all forms of bacteria.
It feeds our body collagen where it is needed: joints, ligaments, tendons, skin (supple skin reducing wrinkles) , membranes, mucus and bones.
Not a bad deal, eh?
When we eat chicken, I take all the bones when we are finished (yes, all the bones that are gnawed on by individuals) and throw them in a pot. Fill it with filtered water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 24 hours or more. What is left is this wonderful broth that is very gelatinous. I pour into a Ball jar and pop into the freezer. I use it for lots of things. When a recipe calls for water or liquid, broth, etc. I use the bone broth. It just absolutely cannot be beat in nutrition. It is wonderful when cooking rice, vegetables, soups, drink alone, quinoa or other grains.
There is so much wrong with the broth we purchase today. Canned broth- salt and BPA’s. Boxed broth- salt and wax from container. Cubes- salt and what is that stuff anyway??
I CANNOT wait to get my hands on the cow bones. 
I am tempted to scream this from my roof top:
CONVENIENCE IS NOT CONVENIENT WHEN OUR QUALITY AND QUALITY OF LIFE IS COMPROMISED.
BONE BROTH
Bones of an animal
Filtered water to cover bones
Veggies (optional)
Spices (optional)
Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 24-48 hours. Less for fish. More for beef.
YUMMMMMMO.
Have a super weekend! If you have ideas of what else to do with broth, please share!
On a side note…I looked up the word “chock” that I used above. As it sits alone – chock- the def. doesn’t support my use of it. But there is a word, “chock-full” that does. And it looks like that: chock-full. Not chock full, or chockful. Weird.
Another word thing. I use the word “smegma” a lot. I use it to refer to slimy yucky stuff which I see a lot of around here. I looked it up to see if it was actually a word or did I make it up.
It means:
Smegma (Greek smēgma, “soap”[1]) is a combination of exfoliated (shed) epithelial cells, transudated skin oils, and moisture. It occurs in both female and male mammalian genitalia.
Ooops. My apologies for misusing a word over and over and with your permission, I would like to continue using it in the same way I have been using it.
God bless,
Karen
Filed under Farm, Food/Recipes, Health/ Nutrition
Am I Out of My Mind?
Sweet Cabin
We all know the answer to that. But let’s look a little deeper.
So, when I left the suburbs I swore never to place another piece of landscaping in the ground again. I was going to live in dirt. My efforts at the last house and forever beyond were frustrating, aggravating and in most cases fruitless. From now on I wanted a slammin’ screen door onto a dirty porch that stepped down into dusty or muddy dirt. Just as it was when we lived in the cabin up on the ridge for 5 months. Dirt abounded! I loved it.
Okay, so we move down the ridge from the dirt filled cabin into our new house. Endured the winter in muddy dirt. Spring comes and I’m thinking, “Someone, do something with all this dirt!”
The landscaping began. You gotta get a load of this. I’m walking through the woods and am in awe of all the beeeauutiful ferns everywhere. I want some for my woods edge up close to the house. So I run in the house and order 180.00 worth of ferns online. ( Please, I hope you are not laughing . You’ll hurt my feelings. ) I planted them all around our woods. Now I can enjoy ferns from my window. Did it ever occur to me to transplant any of the approximately 30,000 ferns we have in the woods? Not for a minute.
We continue landscaping our mud pit and as time lapses it starts taking the form of an old familiar song that mimics my old house. ugh. What am I doing? So what…. am I going to have to start watering this stuff and extend my hand of power over this stuff. Rule over it. Control it. Show it whose boss? And when it’s all grown up nice and pretty, I can say, ” Yep, look at me and what I did. I made these things grow.” I can only wish to have that kind of power.
I went hiking with the dogs the other day with my camera and I started photographing our “landscape” that , excuse me, I think a Someone greater than myself planted. And I was quickly amused at the irony of this situation. My photos clearly prove to me that when left to my own controlling devices, my fruits are small and, well….. small.
Take a look at the difference:
My Ferns:
Sad little creature.
In all fairness, I have a few still living.
Nature’s Ferns
Abundant Flora
And then,
My Spirea
I have never grown bigger ones than this.
And then:
Nature’s Spirea
Covering the whole hill side.
As far as the eye can see. Really. Simon can’t get over it.
And..
My Hydrangea
Hanging in there. Best I’ve ever done so far with a Hydrangea
Nature’s Hydrangea
In abundance.
Literally, everywhere on the property.
Pretty somethin’, huh? If I think I have the upper hand in this game (or any game for that matter), I am out of my ever lovin’ mind.
God bless,
Karen
Fear Gripping Snakes Alive
Fear.
Yesterday I saw a snake that was the length of 1/2 the width of my driveway. So I guess, 4 feet. 5 feet? It actually is the longest snake I have seen on the property. The Copperhead I killed a couple of years ago may have been that long but I only saw the length of what was leftover from my mower.
The Copperhead
I am afraid of snakes.
But with prayer, I am overcoming that fear little by little. Actually baby steps. We were in a car, thank goodness, and we were driving down to the lower pasture. On the way back up I asked my precious friend to drop me off at the bottom of my drive so that I could walk back up to more or less face the fear. Otherwise, I would simply want to avoid that area because that snake would forever be sitting there. Wrong. Believe me, I said a prayer on the way up that Mr. Snake had found his way on down the road.
I have a fear of many other things too.
I have a fear of all forms of transportation and those that are driving them. Even fair rides. Especially fair rides. Cars. Planes. Boats. I just KNOW one of those is going to get me.
I fear that if I share my opinion in company of opposition, they will not like me or want to hurt me. Rejection.
I fear saying no when I really want to.
I fear confrontation. I want to flee.
I fear success. What will people expect of me then?
I fear poverty.
I fear love sometimes. I have to be vulnerable to love and be loved. That is a hard one for me.
Among many other crazy things.
Do you have any fears?
My fear is manifested in ways that I would never guess fear would be the root. Anger. Irritability. Impatience. Unkindness. Unloving behavior all around. Untrustworthiness. (Even I know that is not a word. Hang with me here. ) Suspicion. Paranoia. Hate. There can be all kinds of nastiness coming from this soul.
I have found that when I pray for my fear(s) to be removed, it is replaced with love. Did you know that we can’t receive love when we are fearful? That fear has to be disarmed to receive love? I find for myself, I am really good at shutting the world out when I am afraid. It is SOO powerful. Seems so silly, doesn’t it?
Snakes are not a biggy. (eek. Well..) Having them around doesn’t change the course of my life …too much. Maybe the course of my walk but not in the big picture of life. I knew what I was in for here with the snakes and I figured I better accept it or it just didn’t make sense to move here. We are at the end of the earth where they have all bunched up in a corner. JUST KIDDING! But I do have to be aware of them. Why, I am not quite sure. They are doing us a service.
But the other fears ARE life changers. Life stoppers. Life inhibitors. Life suckers. Of my life and those around me. That worries me. I want to be a light in the eyes of others, not a downer.
God does remove fears of mine. I have so many less fears in my heart than I use to. I have so much more love in my heart than I used to. So it only stands to reason that one is replaced with the other. I have a long way to go but it is a start. Thank goodness I still have time. Maybe. Hopefully.
Mr. Shady (Character) found a 5 or 6 foot long snake down by my garden. Oh my. So I have decided that if I see him (which Pops has already too, so I know he hasn’t moved on) I am going to invite him to live in my garden and take care of those nasty rodents. Fear replaced by love. So it can even be effective in trivial matters that aren’t life suckers!
Also, removing fear from my life allows me time to look up at the awesomeness of life.
God love y’all.
Karen
A Star is Born!
Mr. Roger Brown. Not very exotic name, right?
Yummy Fuzzy Bundle of Joy
Miss Lilly and Buster Brown are the proud parents and it is crazy wild.
I bought a baby monitor about 6 months ago and tried to get it to work so I could hear labor screams in the middle of the night. It advertised a 2000 ft. range. I couldn’t even get it to work 200 ft. I tried to take it back the other day and made the mistake of telling them it was a 6 month old purchase. Really angry that I was SOO scammed with this product, I brought it home with the intent to call the manufacture and give them a piece of my mind. ugh. err.
Saturday night as I prepared them for beddy bye, I thought that maybe it would be a good idea to separate the three goats just in case one of the does would decide to have a baby. I have never thought to do this. This comes from farmer girl who wasn’t/isn’t totally sure they are “with child”. Lilly’s udders looked big to me. But what do I know.
Went to bed. Actually had the for thought to ask my son when he got home at 1:00 am to check in the barn. All was good. Or so he thinks in the dark. When I got up at 7:00am to do my rounds, I made my way into the barn only to hear a tiny little “baaaaa”. There he was. Oh my goodness. ToysR US had delivered a baby fluffy stuffed animal to our barn over night!! That is exactly what he looks like. ANDDDDDD…He was clean, fluffy and there was not any evidence of a birth in that stall. Lilly was all cleaned up and she, I guess, cleaned up the whole “kid” and kaboodle! Get it?? It was like first he is not there and then he is. With no repercussions on my part.
When did he take lessons?
Well…no repercussions in the clean up department. But now that this has happened all the goats are separated and all the stalls have to be outfitted with mats, waterers, feeders, etc. at the tune of a lot of money at Tractor Supply.
We are full up at the Inn now and I am a bit overwhelmed. We’ve only added 41 animals since May 6. What’s the big deal? We have to move some into our bath tub in the Master. And we have a play pen in the kitchen for the guinea hens.
Just kidding.
We are joyful grandparents and hope that we don’t ruin them. Or break them. Or infect them with insidious diseases. And it will be a treat when I start milking seeing how Lilly doesn’t like me touching her.
I decided yesterday to get that darn baby monitor out to look at it again and realized there are channels on it. Duh. I have it working now. So maybe I wont miss the next one, which could be tonight!! Our other doe, that is. Not Lilly. I do know enough to know that Lilly shouldn’t have two babies in the same week.
On a serious note, my heart was overwhelmed at the sight of this thing. How does this happen? This goat is as perfect as you can imagine. And all of its instincts are in working order at the get go. As hard as I have tried (but proof has done me in), I can not deny there is a loving God in the midst of us working miracles over and over in front of my eyes. This is truly a miracle.
Have a Super Day!
God bless,
Karen
Rainy Days
This morning I drove down to feed the cows. It was raining for the first time since we got the cows infact. Yeah rah!! That means this farmer doesn’t have to worry about gettin’ her corn crops watered. All 30 of them. Plants that is. I usually walk with the dogs. It gets our blood pumping and we can take in all the smells and sights.
You would think a drive would be down and back in the rain. The sights in the rain were so wonderful (and strange) I ended up going back and getting my VERY COOL camera that Pops gave me for Mothers Day. He is such a joy! It makes things look as wonderful as they really are. My old camera made things look really bad. Most probably user error. This new thing, you can’t miss.
Mystery bales
So here we have bales of hay on our property. We have no idea where they came from. We do not bale hay but yesterday they showed up at the foot of our driveway?? I love it. You can bet there will be a painting on this someday. I’ve always wanted bales of hay hangin’ on the property. Too cool.
I discovered a Hydrangea growing in a shed by the cows. It is taller than me. huh? I have tried to grow Hydrangea for 20 years. How can this be? What is going on around here?
Mystery hydrangea
This water thing is such a miracle. Every morning I get up and go outside and there is always water on the ground usually in the form of a nice dew. It is like manna for the Israel people. Provision for the day to keep nourished, not enough for tomorrow. But just for today. And today there is more than usual water in the form of rain and I noticed how it sits on leaves and my car window and how it splashes on the surface of the creek. It is truly a miracle that we have this available to us. My goodness, why do I take it for granted?
Daisy
Our farm hand, who comes one day a week and saves our lives with his efforts, loves our property as if it was his own. Mr. Shady (Character). Mr. Shady loves the outdoors as much as I do and he has a lovely place of his own that includes huge gardens, animals ( including our Bart), an outside bath tub! and a gentle hand that tends to every little thing. He gave me a cactus “part” . I have no idea what to do with it. I put it in a bucket about two months ago with the intention to plant it. He keeps telling me to not touch it, it will prick me bad. So I keep not touching it. It is blooming in the bucket. You have to understand it is not planted in anything! It is just sitting there in the bottom of the bucket. ?? But beautiful it is! What a day this is so far. 
Have yerself a blessed day,
Karen
How’s Come The Shieling?
When we bought our property 5 years ago we wanted to name it something. It kinda has that “name me” kind of feel to it. If you can imagine all the crazy names that got tossed around. The best one was that our mother’s wanted us to name it Kenjo. Short for both of their first names. Of course. They worked really hard for that one. While we thought it was a lovely idea it, we didn’t feel it quite fit the personality of the property. We gave the canyon the honored name of Kenjo. Kenjo Canyon. It stuck and it is lovely.
My husband and I have a love for St. Francis of Assisi. ( a lot of female bloggers refer to their spouse by “the” something. The farmer, the husband, the man, etc. Last time I looked my husband had hot blood running through. Not an “it” for sure. To preserve his anonymity, yeah right, I will call him Pops which is what his kids call him. They are my kids too. ) St. Francis had a love for nature and animals, as do we. We went around and around trying to come up with a name that had a connection to him but couldn’t see San Rufino or Fioretti or any of the other Italian references fitting in with our Southern Indiana landscape?? Not to mention that Pops is anything BUT Italian and I am Irish. Not sure the natives in these parts could come to grips with that. It takes much of what they have to get used to us suburbanites embarking on their territory. Let alone us bringing our elite language with us! So we have a special Beech tree we use for a stop in our hike for prayer as did St. Francis.
So the battle began. Pops wanted Double G Bar Ranch. OR is it the Double Bar G Ranch? I don’t even know what that means! OOOOKAY……. I don’t think we moved to Wyoming.. but maybe we did and I am still sleeping. 
I wanted the Shieling. Pops wasn’t buying it. At all. Why? My father grew up on a farm named the Shieling and my maiden name is enfolded in the word: Shieling. My husband wanted to be original which I totally ( well sorta) understood. So, I needed to figure out how to sell this. I thought my dad’s family made up the name. After doing a little research I discovered the “shieling” had a definition and it fit our property to a T. Women in Scottland and Ireland (I am Irish. ) grazed their flocks of sheep or goats in lower pastures. (We have lower pastures.) When the flocks and summer tired the pastures below, they ran the flocks to upper pastures. (We have upper pastures.) The women would live in what is called a shieling up in the higher pasture while the flock grazed. (Our house is on the upper pasture.) Thus The Shieling!
Not exactly what our house looks like, but an example of an original shieling.
I called Pops at work and he said, “YES! Go for it!” He is so kind and I am blessed to have a man who sees it my way occasionally , well, probably way more than occasionally. My brother’s family owns the original Shieling sign that my dad had growing up and he made a replica from that original for me to use here on the farm. Isn’t is great when we can carry on even a small part of our family tradition? I am so glad that he had the forethought to keep that sign among many other items important to our family’s heritage. A relative of mine knowing I was starting a farm gave me a copper milk jug used by my dad to milk the cows when he was little. I wouldn’t have known it existed if I hadn’t embarked on this journey. Life is good.
Pops gets to brand his cattle with the Double G thing. He is a happy man.
God bless,
Karen
The Shieling 