Calm After The Storm

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Photo credit goes to my Amazingly Awesome Neighbor, Bree.

   I hear my town was on the news for last night's storm damage. My son happened to be in town when it hit. He is 19 and had rode to town with me earlier to go to his friends house. I had to come back a few hours later and would just pick him up then. Hey, saves gas!  As soon as the worst of it was over, I went to go get him. So many downed large trees in the streets, I had to detour several times just to get to his friends house. 

The little seasonal creek. On the other side is land. You can see the walk bridge behind the bush on the right. The water is washing over the bridge. 

The road in front of our house. This is where the main creek starts to enter our property before converging with the little seasonal creek that runs through our property.

Next day aftermath. A tree had come down, completely across the road. We could hear them cutting it up to move off the road. 

You would not believe the actual size of this trunk. If my husband and I tried to reach around it, our fingertips would barely meet.

     There are also trees down all over around my property and on our neighbors. The wind we got last night just pushed many right over. Healthy trees, falling because the ground is so saturated the roots have nothing to hold on to.  Roads are flooding over. Although the rain is a blessing to our drought ridden state, we have had more than enough in a very short period of time.  
     When the wind and rain came in, the electric went out nearly immediately. My husband had been watching the weather channel all day and had warned me of the severe storms coming in. We were prepared. 
     While others in town were scrambling for dinner and candles, my family ate a pork roast that had been slow cooking since that morning. We ate in the garage with the big door open for light and watched the rest of the lightening storm go by. We played cards there until we could not see anymore, came inside and lit my oil lamps. 
     We got in a discussion about our G.O.O.D. bags and my daughter got hers out. We organized it and changed out her clothes. We all talked, laughed, and told stories. I drank coffee that I had made right before the storm hit. (I have to have my nightly coffee!) It stayed warm by our tuna can burner. When we were ready for bed, I brought in our out door solar garden lights so we could see just enough to not stumble around in the dark. 
     The electric came on right before midnight. It had been off for 8 hours. I did not worry about the food in the fridge or freezer. We keep large jugs of frozen water in my big freezer just for these times. I pulled a few out and placed them in my refrigerator and freezer compartments. It helped to keep everything cool and frozen. I'll write more on that another time. 
     So that was our night. While being prepared does not keep things from happening at your house, it sure does make the aftermath a bit more pleasant.

Praying for all those that were affected by this storm all over Texas and the U.S.. 

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A New Friend

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     This was actually meant to be a post about our new bunnies. The mini lop rabbits we got at Easter breed and 7 little baby bunny kits were born this month. Our rabbits live in colonies, not cages. Two died from being dragged out of their nest by mom. Because of all of the thunderstorms that weekend, we didn't realize they were out until it was too late. I imagine it is about the equivalent of being born on the wire. We were sad, but we had 5 baby bunnies to make up for it. 

She was so happy.

     Then the other night, thunderstorms came again. I work up at 4:30 amidst the thunder, lightening and the downpour of rain. Did I pull the tarp back down over the rabbit shed? Did I put the lid back on the tote used as their house? I could not sleep. Finally, I put on my sweatshirt and mud boots to go outside. The tote's lid was secure, the tarp was in place, and everyone was just fine.  I posted on the blogs Facebook Fan Page about my early morning adventures and went back to bed with a sigh of relief. 
     When I awoke later that morning, my husband was just coming in from feeding the animals. I could tell something was wrong. He told me he had bad news. Four of the kits made it out of the tote and then out of the rabbit shed. Four bunnies laid on the cold wet ground, dead. My heart broke. Not only for the bunnies, but for my daughter as well. She had spent the night at my mom's house. We were meeting in just a little bit in town so Zoey and I could go paint the boys bathroom at my work. I dreaded telling her the awful news. 
     I checked on them. They were all fine just 3 hours before! What could have happened? Maybe when I went out there, the mommy bunny was nursing? Maybe she drug them out of the nest on accident while she was trying to figure out what I was doing? Did they crawl out? How could baby bunnies crawl out of their nest, out of the tote and out of the shed? :( I'll never know. 
     Zoey was devastated, as I knew she would be. She has decided maybe the rabbit business is just not for us. We had three other rabbits die previous to this. All three escaped and was 'rounded up' by our dog. We fortified the colony after that and thought we were on the right track. It is hard on us. Maybe we are just not read for rabbits yet... 
     As we finished painting and started cleaning up for the night, my son texted me, "Can we have a cat?" My first reply was, "No!" My husband is not a cat fan, he would not be happy! We have chickens and rabbits and we certainly didn't need a little predator running around that lives with us! We have enough problems on the farm as it is! 
     When I picked up my son from his friends house, I saw the kitten. I saw my children's faces. In a moment of weakness, I said "yes" to the cat. 
     The new kitten was at our house for over an hour before I told my husband. I gave him my best pouty face and said I was weak hearted from the bunnies dying. After a little of working my sweet magic, he sighed his resignation to the fact we now have a new friend. However, the kitten can not sleep in the house at night. (We have made him a bed in a cat carrier until he gets big enough to roam on his own.) AND if he smells cat poop in the house, it will not be allowed in the house anymore, period. (My hubby is cat poop sensitive and can smell it a mile away. Even the best kitty litter around can not keep him from sniffing it out! Kids are now on constant kitty watch.)  

     Today, the kitten came out to the garden with us. We spent a good deal of time weeding and planting. It ran around our feet, climbed up our legs, attacked our toes and kept us smiling and laughing all day. I think we all really needed him as much as he needed us. 

By the end of the day, we were all tired. 

Especially this little guy! Zoey tried everything to get him to wake up for some photos. Nope. Not happening! 

Do you have a cat around your farm? We <3 your comments! 
     

Disclosure: I am Amazon Affiliate and may receive a small compensation for including links on my blog. Buying through my links is not necessary, just appreciated. Amazon does not charge extra for linked items recommended by their affiliates.  I only recommend products that I use and trust OR plan on using in the future. Please buy responsibly and do your own product research before buying anything online.

Time Well Spent

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     I don't think my garden has ever been more important to our family. With Mike out of work, we are going to need all the help we can get. My husband's work would not clear him for 'light duty' like the doctor ordered. He does not go back to the doctor until the end of June. Even if he starts work the following Monday, it will still be mid July before we see a paycheck form his job.
    My paycheck usually goes to groceries, gas in my vehicle and any odds and ends I feel necessary. The less food I have to buy, the more of my paycheck that can go to paying the bills. So far we are doing okay. Thank goodness I prep! We have been using the food I have tucked away for a rainy day. Well, baby, right now it is pouring! ;) Only problem is, my family is more of a 'Fresh' fruit and veggie type of family. We don't eat a lot of process foods. When you prep, you buy a lot of foods that have a longer shelf life. Unfortunately, most of those are processed.
     Until the garden comes in, I am buying a lot of my 'fresh' items from the grocery store and some from a local produce stand. I can't wait till the garden is in full force! 
     Biggest problem we have had is the rain. Good grief I wish some of it would save its self for this summer! By August, I'm sure we will be begging for this weather. For now, we are gardening in between thunderstorms and wading to the garden to get covered in mud. What we have managed to get in the ground is growing well. WE CAN"T WAIT!! Thought I would share a few pictures with you of the garden thus far. 
     

I saw mound gardening somewhere.. Thought it was a really cool idea. Just in case we can not weed fast enough, we can weed only the mounds and then use the weed eater to cut the grass around them. Crossing my fingers on this! 

This was supposed to be full of potatoes, but a sink hole created by the way the yard is leveled and all of the rain took most of the dirt and the potatoes seed plant under ground and washed them away. I planted some tomato plants instead. Regular sized heirlooms and cherry tomatoes. We have no money for tomato cages, so I am hoping these cut saplings help to keep them under control and out of the dirt.

Most of the garden is shown here. It is only about 20x20 feet. On our land, it is mostly clay dirt and this is the best place to put it other than in the very front yard. 

Our green beans and peas. In the background, what looks like tall grass is actually our corn growing. We never have much luck but we love corn on the cob and keep on trying. 

So we planted some cherry tomatoes in here.. but they didn't grow. So Zoey planted some more. Then they ALL came up. Believe it or not.. this is AFTER I have already thinned them out into other parts of the garden and containers. 

Last year we had lettuce, spinach and onions in here. This year I have cabbage and onions. We have almost eaten ALL of the onions already, I think will go get some more onion bulbs to plant. I like home grown onions a lot better than store bought. 

Not sure about tire planting, but we had one and needed another container to plant in. I have heard good and bad things about using old tires.. We will see. More Cherry Tomatoes. 

I have not grown cabbage in YEARS. My amazingly awesome neighbor gave me some plants a while back, so I thought, "Why not?" We do not eat a whole lot of cabbage but it looks like I will be selling the extras and looking for a whole lot of new cabbage recipes. For some reason, they remind me of Harry Potter...

Hard to tell here, but there are four tomato plants and a pumpkin plant here. If you look to the upper right, those are dandelions and other 'weeds' that my rabbits like to munch on. We let the weeds grow up on that side. 

We had to put the bucket Cherry Tomato plant into the ground. It just did not look healthy. We have been getting lots of rain, but the soil always looked dry. Maybe too many drainage holes? I hope we did not kill it, beacause, it is LOADED with cherry tomatoes. 

The new potato bucket is growing strong! At least I hope.. Sure looks pretty though. 

Remember last year? This spot was covered with the 'Mystery Pumpkin' plant. This year we have two tomato plants. We still have 4 more that need to get in the ground. Not sure where I am putting them though. 

     So there you go. A little tour of our garden. I am really loving all the time spent as a family to help grow us food. Even my 'I hate gardening' teenager and my injured husband are pitching in! 

Does your family garden together? We <3 your comments!

Disclosure: I am Amazon Affiliate and may receive a small compensation for including links on my blog. Buying through my links is not necessary, just appreciated. Amazon does not charge extra for linked items recommended by their affiliates.  I only recommend products that I use and trust OR plan on using in the future. Please buy responsibly and do your own product research before buying anything online.