Catching Up

 On August 20th we had a house fire. The house was a total loss, but no one was hurt and we didn't lose any animals. From then until last Thursday we were living in a rental house in town and now we are in our new house, just in time for the holidays. My studio is currently a total mess, due to having been used while we were off the property as the home for our 3 indoor cats and my dog. Hopefully we can get it back to usable in a couple of weeks. I really miss being able to create things. The good news out of all this is that I have a dedicated office now, and our house is much roomier than the old one. We are very blessed.

Newest Artwork and News from the Farm

First off, here are some of the newest pieces I have done. I am not going to put all of them on here at this time because it would take too long, but these are a few.

Things here have been going well, except for a few chicken losses. We think they were taken by a predator of some sort. We still have our blind and deaf possum and apparently there are a few hogs and a raccoon living here too as well as a skunk. The cows are all doing well, and the little ones aren't so little anymore. Iris has set her place as matriarch of the herd and Rose and Arya are becoming more tame as the months go by.
My garden was an epic failure, except for the tomatoes. Grasshoppers got the other plants, save the rosemary. I did harvest a few squash but the beans and the cukes were a total loss as was the mint. I am hoping the fall plants do better but I'm not holding my breath. It's not a garden-friendly place here.
Otherwise, life is going on, even in the weird world we live in now.

Why does it feel like a dystopian world?

Looking around the town I live in makes me think we are living in some sort of dystopian alternate universe. Stores closed, low traffic, empty shelves in the stores. All because of Covid-19. How the world has changed in just a few months. Our lives haven't changed a lot because of the life we live, but we do have needs, like feed for our pets and livestock (finally got the cows!), and bits of food here and there for ourselves. People have gone totally nuts, it seems, running stores out of toilet paper, eggs, milk, and other things. On the rare trip to the store there are lines to get in and one door to get out, some stores having lines to get to the meat or severe limits on purchases. It's insane. I get that the virus is deadly when it gets to the right person, and I understand that eventually we all will get it. What I don't understand is what makes this disease any worse than the flu, which kills thousands every singe year and why all of a sudden we have to practice social distancing and wear gloves and masks if we go out and why everything is all of a sudden unnecessary, like parks, or zoos, or craft stores. Don't people deserve to have the materials to use as they are sitting stuck in their houses? Personally, I am tired of television and all the reminders to be a good little compliant sheep. Pardon me while I vent. No one wants to be treated like an idiot, and all the cutsie commercials telling us to stay home and wash our hands are getting on my last nerve. BAAAA! I hear from family and FB friends alike. Flatten the curve, my tail. I have hand sanitizer, I have masks, I am not a child. I am a rancher and a farmer and a mother who knows how to wash my hands without being told to sing "Happy Birthday" twice or some other thing. Every time we think that the government "requested" self quarantine will be lifted, someone comes up with why it should be extended. Just wait, next thing we know the elections will be "postponed". Not that I care if Pres.Trump stays in office, because I am voting for him anyway, but still. It seems more and more of our "rights" are becoming less and less. Maybe I've been stuck at home for too long. Who knows? 
 
 Here are my girls. Iris (the adult), Rose (hiding behind the hay bale), Arya (lying down) and our Holstein, Minnie. 

Early Spring and A New Clothesline

Well folks, it's no surprise that the groundhog didn't see his shadow today and that means an early Spring. We've had spring-like weather here for weeks. Today it's forecast to be in the mid 70's. Tuesday it's going to be in the 80's. So, again, no winter here in South Texas. 
  Yesterday M and I put up my clothesline in the back yard. I have been needing one for a while and we finally got it up. 
 On the 31st we lost a hen, Frick. She was one of my Easter Eggers and only a year old. We don't know what happened, just that M found her lying in the pen when he went to lock them up for the night. Such is life on a farm. Circle of life and all. 
 Today I am working on dehydrating stuff for storage and also will be organizing our food storage. I have been meaning to do this for a while and finally have the motivation to get it done. 
 Well, that's about it for now. Have a great week folks!

Reference photos from when we got our homestead

I promised photos, so here are a few from when we first got our homestead. Just look at those weeds! We didn't have the tractor then so we paid a guy to come and shred all 10 acres.

Here are a couple of "after" photos. It looks a lot better now :)

 Yep, that's a Mexican Eagle in the field. We have them all over.

That pile is barbed wire left from the previous owners. We sent it off due to it being unusable and very rusted.

Here is the beginnings of the chicken coop. It has grown out now and we have a separate coop for our handicapped chickens.

Here is the pen for the handicapped chickens. It's a 10x6 one that fits them well. The one hen in the middle is Henrietta. She's not handicapped, but our rooster attacks her and so we put her with the other two girls so she is safe. She acts like their guard.

Both coops now have covers over them to keep the hawks and such out and to give the chickens shade.

Well, that's it for photos for today. I hope you enjoyed the tour, as it is. Until next time :)

Join me as I become a FARMER!

1/19/20 Saturday
  Welcome to my little South Texas farm on the web! I am Anna, an almost 53 year old wife, mother, grandmother, chicken rancher, and soon to be farmer and cattle rancher. My husband of 24 years, whom I will call M here, and my 26 y/o son I moved here a year ago last November. We have been steadily working to get our 10 acres set up so we can eventually get a few cows and a bull. Currently, we have 11 chickens, 1 rooster (who can be a real jerk to the ladies), 3 dogs, and 6 cats (3 of whom are outdoor "barn" cats, though we have no barn as of yet).
 We came from living in a small town on a ranch belonging to an elderly couple of distant relatives of mine. After he passed away 3 years ago and making sure she was able to do for herself, we have ventured out on our own dream of having a mini farm. My husband is disabled, so my son and I do most of the farm work, though my husband is the builder and planner. I have 4 other children who live in the city about an hour away. My oldest daughter is J, she's 33, followed by my 27 y/o daughter H, her husband SP and my granddaughter T. She's 5 and a real fireball. H homeschools her and she's going to be a heartbreaker when she grows up. I, the son that lives with us is my right hand. He is a hard worker and loves his video games and reading. I spend a lot of time watching him play at night. I probably should be sleeping, but it's fun and helps me relax. My next child is S. He is 23 and works as a general manager for a nationwide pizza chain making a good living and has just bought his first house. Last but not least is B. He's my baby, if you can call a 21 y/o, over 6 foot tall guy a baby :) He is a mechanic, works long and hard, gets injured a lot and is really making his way in the world. His girlfriend is M and her little one is G, who is 4 and a real chatterbox. They live around the corner from H and SP and T. Our family is close, and we see everyone a lot and talk on the phone every day. Holidays are all spent together and I hope it stays that way. Family is the most important thing we have in this world and nothing should change that.
  I have a lot of plans for the future here. I want to get our back 7 acres set up for the eventual purchase of 4 heifers and a bull. That means we need new fencing set up in two paddocks, I need to disk and seed for good grazing grass, and we need a barn. I bought a small tractor last year so I could shred (mow) the front and back acres but now I need a disk and a rototiller to attach to it so I can get all this done. I can't believe that just a few short years ago I was a city girl who had never done anything remotely "country" before other than having a small garden. Speaking of gardens, I am planning one for this year. It is planned out to be a 20ft x 20ft area by my studio building, but will probably get a lot larger than that. I need raised beds due to the soil here being mostly sand, and also due to us having a ton of moles in the yard. Also, sticker burrs (aka sandspurs). I positively HATE those and would burn the whole yard if someone (M) would let me. As it sits, we have to get a bunch of fertilizers and pre-emergent weed killers to get rid of the darn weeds. But, that's life in the country, so we do what we can and keep pulling the stickers out of everything and everyone.
  I've yammered on for a while now, so I will end my post for today. Hopefully I can get some pictures up soon so whoever reads this has some frame of reference. Have a great day y'all!