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In the Bag

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

There are about a million things I love about my mother, but the fact that she is so darn easy to please is close to the top of the list. I’ve probably made several hundred hand crafted gifts for my mother over the past 50 years, and the woman still has every one of them. Even the clay pitcher I made her in the 3rd grade. That thing is lopsided, painted with the most hideous shades of brown and green, and wouldn’t possible hold an ounce of water without leaking. But my mother still has it – and prominently displays it in her kitchen. And each year her Christmas tree is adorned with ornaments made out of egg carton pieces that I’m guessing I made her about 45 years ago. She has every hand made item each of her children ever made her. Amazing.

So, when I read Angie’s post about making tote bags out of black oil sunflower seed bags on The Big Red Couch blog, I immediately thought “Oh, mama would LOVE one of those.” Of course, I have no idea if that is actually true, but since she has always graciously accepted every hand made gift I’ve ever given her, I knew she was the one person that would at least ACT happy about receiving this bag. She did not disappoint me. Here is her bag:

And here’s the back of it.

I think it’s pretty awesome that Angie was creative enough to find a really cool use for such a pretty seed bag. I routinely buy these black oil sunflower seeds for my chickens, and I’ve thrown several away in the past. I won’t be doing that anymore. Mama seemed so appreciative that I plan to make her a few more to use as shopping bags. I wouldn’t mind having a few myself, but I never go shopping, so that wouldn’t make sense.

I bet these bags hold up for a good long while. We’ll certainly find out. Mama will never get rid of them. That’s for sure.

Bee Free,
Penny

Tags: hand made shopping bag
Posted in back hoe, basic living | 12 Comments »

Oh Deer!

Monday, October 1st, 2007

It’s that time of year, and the deer are really starting to move on the homestead. We could barely look out a window today without seeing a deer or two. Last night we saw two bucks lock horns on the side of the house. They are truly fascinating and beautiful creatures.

We’ve had a couple of mamas coming with babies to munch acorns in the yard throughout the summer. The babies are big now – no more spots. But they still hang with mama. One mother in particular has peaked our interest. She has a deformed or injured front leg. It doesn’t seem to slow her down much though. She has two daughters that are always with her. One of them has a scar on her side. We’ve been watching them all summer. They now come right up to the windows. It drives our cats wild. They’re not quite sure what to think. This morning one of the babies came right up to the window of the room I use as an office. Elvis and Priscilla were sitting in the window, quietly watching. Then all of a sudden the deer looked up and stared at them. The cats looked shocked! The three of them just stared at each other for about two minutes, and then the deer just started grazing again and wandered off – with two set of cat eyes watching her the whole way.

Bernie managed to get a few pictures of them through the window tonight. Here’s one of Gimp Mama and her babies:

Gimp Mama is the one on the far right. Cute as little buttons. No question they will end up on some one’s table by the end of hunting season. Maybe even ours. But that’s the way nature intended it. And before we butcher any animal, we take time to reflect on cycle of life and appreciate that this animal lived a beautiful life, and now provides sustenance for our lives. I believe that shows far more respect for these wonderful creatures than what is shown for the animals that provide the meat bought in a grocery store.

We’ll continue watching in awe as animals travel across our homestead. We will also take care not to take any of the young ones when deer hunting is in season. We’d rather allow them to grow up and procreate.

Other than our Extreme Deer Watching, Bernie has been busy as a beaver on his back hoe. He’s just about got that bucket fixed. I’ve been working and then walking around identifying trees. We discovered this afternoon that we have a Persimmon Tree on our property – and it’s full of delicious fruit. The fruit is just becoming ripe, and I intend to can a few jars of it in the coming weeks. Thank the stars for Bernie’s extension ladder!

The bees are doing great. We watched them for quite a while this afternoon. I could just kiss their little wings right off of them!

Bee Free,
Penny

Posted in back hoe, basic living, bees, cats, deer, doe, fawn, homestead, homesteading, honey bees, persimmon tree | 1 Comment »

Officially Homesteading

Friday, August 31st, 2007

Well, Bernie got here around 1:30 this afternoon and made it official. We’re homesteading.

The cats settled in pretty well and let me sleep until 5:30 this morning. Elvis woke me up screaming about wanting breakfast. All three cats greeted me right away and today they all act like they’ve always been here.

After work, Bernie and I rode around the property in the Trail Blazer for a few minutes and then sat around talking about how we can’t believe this time has finally come. What a nice feeling.

I rendered the rest of the bees wax and got some pictures. I’ll try to get that page up on the website in the next few days.

Bernie went out to see how well the pin stock he bought is going to work as a pin for his backhoe bucket. He and Tex are going to have to fabricate a stop for it and drill a hole in one end for the clevis pin. Sounds like they need to use the pneumatic grinder to get the bucket holes just right. bernie’s on top of the world doing that kind of thing.

There really is not too much to write about right now, but I felt I should post something to let y’all know we finally made it. We’re here. We’re happy. And we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us!

Bee Free,
Penny

Posted in apiary, back hoe, basic living, beeswax, fox, homestead, homesteading | No Comments »

I Told You I’m a Good Wife

Saturday, June 23rd, 2007

As we have well established in the past, I am a pretty good wife. I not only accepted that my husband wanted bees, I’ve learned to love them and become totally absorbed in them. I throw him a Super Bowl Party every year. And I not only hunt, fish, and ride motorcycles, I also willingly participate in pretty much every cock-a-mamie scheme he comes up with. Take tonight, for example.

My wonderful husband walks in an announces “I’m going to take down that branch that hangs over the driveway that’s been bothering you.” I looked up at him. “Well, that’s great. Need my help?” – never expecting in a million years that he would actually say yes. He pulled up his pants, puffed out his chest and said “I thought I’d drive the back hoe down there and lift you up in the bucket. You’ll be able to cut it down a lot easier that way.” What the…… “Lift ME up??? I thought you said YOU were going to take down that branch????” He looked at me ever so tenderly and said “I figured it would be a lot safer if I lift YOU in the back hoe than if you lift me.” He had a point. I don’t know how to operate that back hoe very well yet. I mean I could do it, but I couldn’t insure he’d be heading up or down in the bucket right at first. I am struggling with what is up and what is down with that bucket right now.

It was getting dark, so I reluctantly agreed. We headed down and Bernie positioned the backhoe exactly where it needed to be: