Pic of the Day ~ Kitten

This is a kitten that was sickly on the back porch, we brought her in and have been treating her. Here she sits on a 5 gallon bucket of honey waiting to be put in containers. She is doing much better and will soon be outside again with her friends helping to keep the mouse population under control!

Pic of the Day ~ Burnt Bread

Hello Everyone,

Well, I'm trying to get caught up with everything since the tornadoes. I wanted to show you a pick of my first loaves of bread baked in my wood stove while the utilities were out... they were delicious but the tops were a little over-done. They raised well and were cooked through (my personal concern was a doughy middle.)

Next time I will cook them longer at a lower heat. They tasted wonderful!

Just a little burnt on the top, but OOOOH Soooo Good!

New Babes! Jaffa had twins

Wed after the utilities came back on, Jaffa didn't come up to the barn for breakfast. I knew something was up and so I finished milking and chores and went out to check on her. Sure enough, she was having her baby. One of the kids (not really kids, adults) came out to see if I needed anything and I had her get my camera. By the time I got the camera she had already delivered one baby (bull calf) and I was waiting for the afterbirth and all of a sudden with another contraction came two little feet! Twins are not common with cows, but not totally unusual either. When twins are born the same sex they grow to be healthy, normal cows and bulls. However, when a set of twins are born that are different genders (as with our twins, one girl, one boy) there is a good chance that they will be sterile due to a crossing over of hormones during the pregnancy. Sterile twins calves/cows are called Free Martins. There is a test to determine if they are sterile, but we will consider them Free Martins and either sell them or grow them for meat. If we have them butchered in a year it will give us 600-800 pounds of meat for canning and the freezer. This might sound like a lot of meat, but we are feeding 8-10 adults and this will probably last us a year if we spread it out and are frugal (we don't eat meat everyday.)

Here you can see a clear sac and little hooves coming and the bull calf by Jaffa's head

The front hooves and nose come first. Here her head is out (hardest part!)

It's a girl! She instinctively heads for Mama's head

Mama begins cleaning

While Mama cleans her babies the afterbirth comes (she will have two of these because of the twins)

Close up

Good job Mama! It was cool out and the babies are wet, so we took them to the barn to dry off.

A couple days later in the barnyard (there is a calf resting on both sides of  Jaffa)

This is the heifer calf, she is spotted like her mama

This is the little bull calf, he will be steered in a few weeks

Pic of the Day ~ Callaloo

Known as Callaloo in the Carribian, Amaranth is a little used plant in the US.

It grows as a 'weed' here in our back yard and is a wonderful source of vitamins and nutrition. Both the leaves and the seeds can be used for food.

We have two types of Amaranth growing, the one pictured above and another called Spiny Amaranth which is also useful for food but has paired spines on its stems (ouch!)

Utility Bill Update

Hi everyone, I called the utility company. I was 66 in the cue. When I reached the top and a person answered I encouraged the lady on the phone by explaining that I know that they are inundated with calls and that I won't take up too much time. I explained the situation and asked if she could update my bill with the readings I took on  Saturday. She agreed to do so and our new bill will be coming this week.

Watch your bills and be very patient if you must sit on the phone listening to canned music and recorded messages. Yah will bless if we act kindly to others in the midst of stress.

Tornadoes and Life

A couple of weeks ago we had a swarm of tornadoes fly through Alabama. Many of my friends have lost their homes, but have lived to tell about it. We know they are blessed beyond measure, that their lives were protected, and that Yah will show Himself great and able to bring glory and more miracles in the midst of the devastation. Our prayers continue, as does our help to those in this time of need.

Life Continues
Life continues... babies are born, people are returning to work, the grass still grows. I remember driving to my daughter's home and seeing many people without power mowing their lawns.

Life continues... houses are gone, businesses destroyed, life is not the same, but goes on. My son works at Tractor Supply, he worked every day without missing a day, helping those in need of generators, propane, lights, batteries.

Life continues... no power, no hot water, no gas, no home, but life marches forward. The mail was still delivered every day, bringing letters, advertisements, and bills.

Life continues... the animals still need feeding, cows still need milking, gardens still need weeding. After the power came back on, Jaffa had twins!

Life continues...

Yahovah is Good!

18000 Gallons of Water!!!!

I received the utility bill today… our utility company has found a glitch in their computer program that determines our payment… they have decided that we (the costomers) have not paid enough for our utilities! Well, in the process of revamping their billing system, cost system (to regain the funds not collected over the past several years), and price increases for all of their costomers, tornadoes hit the Valley. We were out of power for 7 days. During that 7 days the meter for our electric and water bills were supposed to be read. The company sent readers to read the meters once the utilities were back on, estimated the usage, and send the bills out.

Today our bill arrived with a $62 water charge and a $450 electric charge. I was flabbergasted with the cost and began looking at the bill.

Water usage: 18000 gals What???!!!! Do we have a leak? We ran out to walk the property and water lines, turned off water to the barn and hydrant (we had a leak there last year), and then went to the meter to see if it was running. Nope! No leaks.

We went back to get the bill and compare the meter to the bill reading. The bill says 18000 gals, our meter says 8000 gals. Hmmm, something is definitely wrong.  We are 8 days past the read/bill date and our reading includes water used for the past 8 days (not included on the bill.)

We decided to check the electric meter to compare those readings…

Electric usage: 4741 kwh Ok, so on hot days when I just absolutely have to have the AC running (not often) my usage may be that high. But what does my meter say? (Remember we are 8 days into the new billing cycle.) Using their previous reading and subtracting today’s reading I have used 3491 kwh. 

OK, so I could give them a little leaway on the electric… but the water is rediculous! I don’t own a swimming pool. I save rain water for my gardens and animals, as well as a spring fed pond for the animals. There is no way I could use 18000 gals of water!

I will be contacting the  utility company Monday to discuss this situation.  And I refuse to pay for an additional 10,000 gals of water I have not used! (I'll let you know how it goes.)

My suggestion, make sure you check your bill and compare the meter numbers when you receive your bill. I am not saying this was done intentionally, but… learn to read your meters!

(Now, I reeeally want to get off the grid!)