Yea right buddy........No chicken dinner for you!

My youngest son Wayne and Paris with the large male coyote that Wayne shot one morning when he came to pick his dad up for work. The coyote was stalking my chicken house. Wayne shot him with one perfect shot right out in my horses pasture. No horses were in the pasture yet, all animals come into the barn at night.

Then just two weeks later.............

    Mountain lions killed after attacking pets in Utah

By Caroline Kingsley

| The Park Record

First Published Jan 30 2013 10:23 am • Last Updated Jan 30 2013 11:37 pm

Two pets were attacked by mountain lions early Tuesday in Summit County.

One pet was found dead and another injured less than a mile away.

Photos

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At a glance

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Cougar safety

Additional information on cougars and safety can be found at wildawareutah.org > http://bit.ly/Wgdffp

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The incidents happened in the 330-person town of Woodland and are still under investigation. Information about what type of pets were attacked was not released Tuesday.

An officer from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources responded to the report and was able to quickly track one of the mountain lions responsible for the animal’s death and euthanize it.

Two more mountain lions were discovered by late morning.

In all, three mountain lions were captured and euthanized: one adult female and two young mountain lions.

Phil Douglass, of DWR, estimates there are about six incidents each year in Northern Utah involving mountain lions, also known as cougars.

"It happens especially near people that live in areas close to the winter range where deer come down. That’s what mountain lions are following," Douglass said.

In the winter, when the snow gets too deep for deer in the high country, they migrate down to where more food is available, such as sagebrush and bitter brush, he added.

"Woodland is an area where deer will come down to spend the winter, so there is a possibility that mountain lions will be in that area, too," he said.

 

 

These mountain lions tore up a dog right next door to us.....she is a border collie and runs loose most of the time.....I have had problems with her coming over and herding my horses out in their own pasture. I think she is ok but her owners have a pretty hefty vet bill from what I understand. I have only seen her once since this incident, they were out walking her one morning and had her on a leash. But soon I'm sure she will be right back to her old tricks.

 

I bought a dog to raise out in the barn to keep the critters out but somehow he ended up here at the house! :o)

 

This year I hope to get a couple of donkeys to put in the pasture. They will run the neighbor dog off and anything else that comes into our pastures.

 

Happy Farming!

 

Remember,  keep your eyes on the Lord, He will keep your foot from stumbling!

The only time I get into trouble is when I get my eyes off the Lord and onto my circumstances.

Looking Back - Taking Stock - Looking Forward

Wow, I can't believe it is already February 1st. Today is mine and my husbands 38th wedding anniversary. WOW.........who would have ever thought, I was only 15 1/2 and he was 16. (I think I will try to scan a picture of us then and post it) The Lord has blessed me with such a wonderful man who has worked hard all his life to provide for his family. I pray that I have been just as diligent at being a helpmeet to him.

  I was looking in on my blog that has been so neglected and then over to my picture files and I can't believe I was so slack in taking pictures and posting last year. I hope to do much better this year.

It seems as though I was under a lot of stress last year, so many things going on with so many of my family members. My mother was struggling with some health issues that took some time to resolve and my father is battling bladder cancer and he also slipped on Ice and broke his back. He is doing well now and so is my mother, but my parents are aging and going through all that comes with that. I live an hour away from them and that can be very frustrating at times when I can't be there to help as much as I would like.

Last year we learned that my brother has prostrate cancer that has spread to all his bones. He was responding to the treatment for awhile but now it is advancing. He too lives and hour away and I will be trying to go and see him every other weekend now. (my heart is sick)


On a lighter side, the girls and I are back homeschooling this year and it is going very well. I kinda fell apart and sent them back to public school half the year last year but we started out in September of 2012 homeschooling again and it has been a much better year. I feel like we have found our groove. We are still using Sonlight for our curriculum and we love it.

There was lots going on last year, we had expanded the garden and I canned and froze everything I could get my hands on. Now I'm planning this years garden and looking at seed books. Evaluating what I put up too much of and what I put up that I could have used more of. This is still very much a learning process for me. I try to do a 1 year food storage and am still learning how much of what, what did well that I want to repeat, what was over kill what didn't work so well.

Also looking into all the other stuff I stock up on because my husbands work is seasonal and is usually out of work every winter. I try to stock up and fill the freezers all summer through fall and we pretty much live off that all winter and spring. So far It has been working out ok but we have run out of a few things. This year I will have a better understanding of what we need more of.

Here are a few picture from last year, maybe my picture enthusiasm will be stronger this year.

 At the gun range, my family are hunters and Portia & Jayda took hunters safety last year with my son Wayne and with Papa.

 above, Portia and Papa below is my grandson, Jansen with his fancy green riffle.

 Wayne, Papa and Portia

 My grandson, Jaren with his fancy red riffle.

 The new chicken house, painting it is on my todo list for this year.

 We borrowed a pony last year for Paris to ride on our trail rides. His name is Freckles and he was such a great pony for Paris to have around and ride last year that we are going to get him again this year. Her horse, Honeypie is not quit ready for her yet.

 This is Penny (pretty penny) she is Portia's new mare that was given to us last year. she is so pretty and sweet. I love her and she is so gentle to ride for anyone.

 

I have more to post but for now, blessings to all, stay well!

Keep your eyes on the Lord, He will keep your foot from stumbling!

It's spring, and I'm outside

It's spring, and I'm outside..........working on the garden expansion, putting in blueberries,blackberries,raspberries and grapes.......also getting the garden ready for planting......spreading loads and loads of wonderful rich composted horse manure and shavings (grin) An early spring here in the mountains will have me putting in my vegetable garden 5 or 6 weeks early!!! wooohoo, it is such a struggle here with our cool temps to really get a garden off and going very early and then early fall frosts keep us from being able to grow things like watermelons or pumpkins because they freeze before they are ready.....This year it just might work.  I'm going to give some pumpkins a try, the girls will love it!

Getting started back walking/jogging trying to get back on track for my fitness and weight loss goals.

  Watching chickens, they are funny. Waiting on one hen to hatch a dozen eggs but she is taking longer than she should???.........should be any day....The goats are bred, I think.......we are hoping to get some kids this summer and goats milk too :o).......I made homemade buttermilk the other day from fresh goats milk and it was wonderful! I made some ranch dressing with it also and used some for baking...........Last week I  took a class on making homemade mozzarella cheese at a raw milk dairy near by....I'm going to make some today.....not sure what to make with it though.

I'm working on my new bible study, "Stuck".....it's going good. I am seeing more and more of a pattern of how my expectations that I put onto others keeps me disappointed with them and how this is not good for me or for them or for our relationships.........learning to just love and give a whole lot more grace :o)

-1887-
Exercise Out-of-Doors

Every woman should take a certain amount of exercise out-of-doors. It is necessary for good health and good nature too. If by doing so you will be obliged to leave some of the work in the house undone, who will know or care one hundred years from now?

[Thomas’s Farmer's Almanac]
Blessings to All, and remember God is sooo good, all the time!!!

Happy Spring~

*Susan*

I'm a Crazy Lady!!!

I'm a Crazy Lady and I even have the hat to prove it. Here's yer hat! kinda like when Jeff Foxworthy used to say........Here's yer sign...hehehe

Even here in the mountains of Utah where I live at 7000 ft above sea level it is spring!!! :o)

The snow has melted off early this year. We didn't get nearly as much snow as would be normal for our area and it has been warmer than normal so the snow is gone (all but the higher mountain elevations) and the ground is drying up fast which means that theres tons of work to do!

Why I'm a Crazy Lady!

SPRING CLEANING

you know I look just like this when I'm cleaning don't you?

Spring cleaning is almost done on the inside, most of It I do in the winter months because I am home bound a lot of the time.  I don't like to go out and about if the roads are bad and I am not a winter sports person. I really do not like the cold so I stay indoors quit a bit in the winter months. This is when I will do my spring cleaning and indoor projects like painting, decorating or refinishing furniture. I have a set of bookshelves in the garage that I'm going to start this week for Paris's room.

Once the warm weather gets here I DO NOT WANT TO BE INDOORS!  When it is warm you will find me out at the barn clipping and bathing a horse, riding or giving lessons to the kids, working in the garden or in a flowerbed, chicken watching *grin*. Now that the girls are getting older they want to be doing the same things as me. :o) (happy Grammy) Here's yer hat!

Why I'm a Crazy Lady!

                                                               GARDEN PLANNING

We will be garden planning, preparing the garden area and getting it all planted. Last year we tripled our garden area. I have some new ideas for the new areas but it will probably evolve over time. Some of the ideas that I have take $$$$ others take time. Things like a cottage looking garden shed (with a porch) ;o) $$$, a fence $$$, stone pathways (time), and fruit bushes/trees will be added, more $$$ and time.

I have this huge bronze looking rooster that is about three ft tall that I want to use out in the garden somehow, maybe at the entrance $$$ or as an ornament alongside the garden shed. There is a lot of clean up to do outside, everything looks dirty after winter and before everything greens up. Also depending on the year we can get a pretty bad muddy season. (I hope we don't this year)

I have asked my hubby to install a clothes line out in the yard (I have asked this for the last two years ;o) so that when weather permits I can hang out our clothes to cut cost on our utilities and just because I love the smell of line dried laundry and bedding. Also I need it for our big blankets and comforters, we have a king size bed and that comforter won't even fit in our dryer. Also I usually have a few horse blankets and sheets to hang out. DH says OK! he gets it.....the clothes line will go in this spring! :o) He likes to eat.....Heres yer hat!

Why I'm a Crazy Lady!
  I need to finish a couple of books I have started. This one is tough I have two I am reading now, oh wait.... make that four that I need to finish so I can get to some of the others I bought that I want really to read. I also have a few I want to reread because I read them while going through a stressful time in my life and I don't even remember what they were about. :o)

My book list:

Reading now; Fool Proofing Your Life (how to deal effectively with impossible people in your life) by Jan Silvious 
The Scarlet Cord, nothing but the blood of Jesus (a concise call to world missions) by Jon & Ann Dunagan of Harvest Ministry 
As Silver Refined (what if your circumstances are actually the flames of God's grace, intended to burn away all that is undesirable in your life, leaving you pure, like refined silver?) by Kay Arthur
The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer

Next in line;

The Mission Minded Family by Ann Dunagan
The Mission Minded Child by Ann Dunagan
Make Your Place (affordable, sustainable nesting skills) by Raleigh Briggs
The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency used by the Mormon Pioneers (I do live in Utah :o)
Forgotten God by Francis Chan (reread)
Radical by David Platt (reread)
Crazy Love by Francis Chan (reread)
Indescribable by Louie Giglio and Matt Redman
Revolution in World Missions by K. P. Yohannan
Redeeming The Time by Chuck D. Pierce
A Beautiful Offering by Angela Thomas
Because He Loves Me by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick (reread, I only got half way through it and don't remember what I read)

Heres yer hat!


I totally look like this when I read! :o) Don't you read in pantyhose?

Why I'm a Crazy Lady!
 It seems like I have a hard time reading the books that I want to read. I read to and with the girls every night for about an hour before bed time.  We just finished reading The Horse and His Boy by C.S.Lewis and now we are reading Cheaper By The Dozen and will watch the movie when we are done. (sometimes I like to order the movies if there has been one made of the books we are reading, it makes for a fun movie night and makes for some fun conversations about the books/stories/people/lifestyles/choices etc. ) It also helps to build a better visual picture in the kids minds of there story and they just remember the stories better. (me too ;o) I have a whole other list of books we will be reading together.....Heres yer Hat!

Why I'm a Crazy Lady!

Then by the time I can take a breath from all the outdoor clean up and garden planting and maybe go for a few rides on my horse it will be summer and what comes next? Canning Season!!!

Here's yer hat! :o)

Just in case you were wondering ..........Why I'm a Crazy Lady!

Blessings and Happy Spring!!!

*Susan*

Using Laying Hens for Meat - Hobby Farms

Using Laying Hens for Meat - Hobby Farms

I have a few older hens that have stopped laying and I need to learn to process them and to keep adding new hens each year.
My husband keeps mentioning about the "Hens that don't lay anymore". This is a task that I have avoided up until now.
I wonder if he will help me? LOL We have a few too many roosters too. I guess I need to do the same to them.....having so many roosters is really hard on the hens.( I have learned this.) We did get a bunch of new hens last spring (along with some unordered roosters) and this spring I am thinking I might let one of the broody hens sit on some eggs to see if we can get some new hens added this year. An earlier post I did shows how to tell if the eggs are hens or roosters.

Ok Susan, be brave! Your the one who wants to do this homesteading/farm life, raise your own, grow your own kinda lifestyle now.......It's better for you, remember!....It doesn't have any hormones or antibiotics or artificial fertilizers or weed killers or pesticides.....Your family really does not care either way, they would just as soon you go to the grocery store and buy the food we eat like I always have. grrrrrr


I am really struggling here getting my family on board with this whole homesteading thing.......We have plenty of land for growing our own food. We do live in a cold climate and that is a hindrance but it is still doable, I grow a huge garden (we expanded it last year). I can or freeze things like tomatoes, green beans, peas, corn, carrots,chili peppers, applesauce, pears, peaches, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, all for winter use. I have worked diligently on our food storage and have really done a good job putting up all our staples for cooking and baking.....I have bought up things when they went on sale and bought the large plastic buckets for storing things like wheat, sugar, flour brown sugar, powdered sugar, rice, brown rice, beans ect. I bought two cases of raw honey from a local bee keeper and I ordered a couple of gallons of fresh maple syrup from a maple farm back east.

 My husband had these storage cabinets put in a couple of years ago....I had to hold my ground for them but once he had them put in he could see the need and was pleased with them.

I also grow several herbs in the garden and dry them for cooking. Last year I did oregano and thyme, sage, and rosemary. I have really enjoyed using all of it in my cooking this winter. I have given some of it as gifts in gift baskets that I put together at Christmas time. My husband does like what I have done and is glad that I really don't have to go to the store for much other than fresh produce, milk, toilet paper, personal care products, laundry and cleaning supplies. I have joined a food co-op in our area called Bountiful Baskets and most of our fresh produce comes from there for $15 a week.

We have a really nice new chicken house (future post) that my husband had built for me last fall. We are getting around 18 eggs a day and some neighbors buy eggs from me, that does help with the cost of feed especially in the winter months when the chickens don't roam.

I could buy a milk cow and was going to but my husband is not on board with it. He thinks it will be too much work and responsibility and he has let me know that "HE" will not be milking it!..........I need to just be happy with what I have accomplished and with what we are able to do for ourselves. My personality is a gung hoe one though and I like to do everything 110%....... I would do the cow...make my own cheese and butter.....(I do make my own buttermilk and grind my own wheat) raise my own pig and beef (as long as I don't have to slaughter it) but what frustrates me is I sometimes think my family would be just as happy if we lived on pizza and fast food, sodas, candy............I am very thankful that we are able to have our beef and pork raised by some friends that raise them the way we would ourselves.

I know we live a live style that some only dream of and others wouldn't dream of! LOL The girls love having the horses and all the farm animals though and so do I.

Lord please help me to feel contentment in my life, give me wisdom to do the things you would have me to do, things that will improve our health and lifestyle yet help me to let go of the things that are not practical for us at this time in our lives.....I know that my ministry is here at my home taking care of my family and raising my two granddaughters. Please let your light shine through me Lord that my whole family will know that you are God and that they will all learn to love and serve you.

Funny how I can pray myself right out of being frustrated! :o)

Blessings!
~Susan~

How to Choose Fertilized Chicken Eggs - Sustainable Farming - MOTHER EARTH NEWS

I came across this article that was posted by McMurray Hatchery on facebook.

Here's the secret: If you want your brood to be mostly female, select and incubate only the most nearly oval eggs. Those with a noticeably pointed end produce cockerels. Many of the chicks-to-be you examine, of course (especially the first time you try this idea), will fall into an indeterminate range, so pick only the most clearly oval shapes if you want to hatch future layers.

We ordered 25 chicks from them last spring and were very pleased with the quality and health of the chicks we received.

However, if some of your selections are not available on the day your order is to ship then they will make a comparable selection for you. This was fine even though I was a little disappointed that I did not get a couple of really pretty hens I ordered for the most part we got exactly what we ordered, and then some.... :o) For some reason they decided to throw in a few extra chicks (3)for good measure and of course they turned out to be roosters.

We also received one chicken that we can not figure out what it is (breed) or (hen/rooster). We call it the dinosaur chicken. We are pretty sure it is a hen but it has a lot of rooster characteristics, it's stance, its size and it's cone look roosterish but we have never seen it crow or be aggressive with the other roosters nor  have we seen any roosters "bother" it???? You know, like they do the other hens :o) ( ok, I will take some pictures of her/him)

Next spring I think I will try letting some of my old hens that want to go broody sit on some eggs then I won't need to order more hens that turn out to be roosters. I think 4 rooster are enough even though we are building a new (very large) chicken house. (pictures soon)

I think I will give this method a try and see if i can hatch only hens.

Autumn Blessings

Happy Harvest ~ Autumn Blessings ~ Give Thanks ~

These are all little sayings that you will find all over my house this time of year.
I love fall, I love the color of the trees in the canyons all around me, I love the coolness in the air, I love the feeling that even though I am still busy now harvesting the garden and canning and working on my winter food storage I know that things are about to slow down. I love the smells in my house and the warm feeling that you get when you walk in the door. Everyone else loves it too.

I put cinnamon scented pine cones in the basket on the floor, this is the foyer table.

 My loyal companion, Quinny......where ever I go, there he is :o)
see him in the mirror

do you see Paris's sweet little face? she was running around me and kept hiding under what ever I was taking pictures of, she wanted to get her face in one...:o)



Then....Paris says  "Grammy, there is smoke out back in the bottom of the canyon, Grammy there is fire!"

  I went out on my back deck and this is what I saw.....My neighbors beautiful 110 year old barn was a blazing inferno.....I took her some warm banana nut bread and we shared a warm hug and a some tears....no one knows what happened and no one was hurt and there were no animals in the barn, just stuff. I will miss this barn from my view! I so loved it.

 Whinnnnny!!! I then hear my beautiful Boogie calling me and I go to my front door and this is what I saw....these beautiful faces looking at me and wondering why I was late feeding them.

 Hellooooo......mom...are you going to come out and give me some hay?  This is my beautiful Boogie

 Tazzy

 Honeypie

 Bella

 Old Kidderman

 Sassy, she likes to pretend she doesn't care but she is the biggest pig of them all

Give Thanks to God for all your blessings, he meant for us to enjoy our lives.....Give Thanks for your trials too....they change us and help us to grow.
Happy Harvest

A Few Things I Enjoy

I have been so busy that I really have not had time to post or write anything. ...

We are on our second week of homeschool and this year I'm homeschooling both girls. Iv been canning and busy with a garden expansion, taking care of the barn the house and trying to run every morning and take care of me :o)

I also do the book work for my husbands business. My life is very full, but it is a good full, I am so blessed!

 Here are some pictures of what I have been up to and a few things I enjoy.
Blessings!
*Susan*

I love vintage pictures

Canned Cherries

Homemade Salsa

 Chokecherry syrup.....(the chokecherries grow on the creek that runs out in the garden area)

 Harvested and dried oregano and thyme (I am still waiting on the sage and rosemary)

The new hens we got this past spring are now starting to lay. I think its funny to see the difference in the size of their eggs

I love fresh salsa made with tomatoes from the garden

A jug of sun tea (I live on the stuff)

Tomatoes and cabbage ripening in the garden

A husband who is feeling better and hard at work on the garden expansion :o)

What have you been up to?