My Favorite Blog

I refresh the page of Cold Antler Farm I keep up on my computer every single day, and every day I find some fascinating new thing on my screen. I was going to talk about CAF someday, anyway, and since Jenna Woginrich, the author, is giving away pea seeds for sharing CAF anywhere, so there's no time like the present!
Every day Jenna posts something new, something fascinating, about homesteading, about falconry, about animals for meat, about long rides on horseback through fields of flowers. It's a blog about the horrid deaths and the wonderful new births. It's about the taste of honey from your bees in your mouth as you bake bread. Check it out at http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/

Stupidest Person in The History of Man, yeah, think I just broke that record

I left the container of chicken scratch wide open outside...and it snowed last night. It's drying on a cookie sheet. Any tips, other than obvious preventative measures, for drying out scratch?

It rained last night.

It started by looking at the water drops outside with a flashlight before bed. They looked so sparkly and beautiful that I thought "aw, what the heck, I have a screen, it can't hurt." I opened my window and the cool breeze blew ever so slightly on my face. It was wonderful. Right then and there, I decided I would sleep with the window open for the rest of the night, and I put my waterproof sleeping bag on top of the sheets. It was amazing, falling asleep to the drum of rain while the breeze tickled my face. I dare you to see for yourself  the wonders of open windows. Well, this morning I woke up and there was a light sprinkling of white dust on everything, complete with icicles dripping from the tree branches. That means that it got below freezing last night and I didn't even stir in my sleep. Ah, the wonders of sleeping bags, and the magic of waking up to snow outside even a closed window.

I am obsessed with goats

Way too much. Girl, you can't have goats on a quarter acre! But that won't stop me from dreaming...

I've been thinking about this, but I haven't posted it

Just look up "bottle tower garden" on youtube.
I just gotta keep collecting bottles from my friends, and someday...

Peas

I will be doing the snap pea challenge on my favorite blog, http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/
Except with just peas. Cause fresh peas are awesome.

Another Favorite Video

Some of you guys have probably seen this video, but Annie Leonard is so good at explaining things and I love this video and all the other videos by Annie!

Hmmm...

Anybody have experience with Nigerian Dwarf Goats? I sort of want one, not that it's at all currently possible, but if I ever actually get some real land, I want goats. And my breed of choice is the Nigerian Dwarf. Nice, creamy milk, or so I've heard. Tiny size. Awesomeness.

Settlers of Catan

One of my favorite board games, and last night I actually won for once! It's an indie game that has gained popularity and now every board game enthusiast has a copy. This game isn't your typical may-the-odds-be-ever-in-your-favor plan. It's a combination of luck and skill. You place settlements on spots where you can get resources and then you use the resources to build more settlements, roads, and cities. It's fun. Check it out.

Sunday: Get to work, lady!

I'm not religious, so I hardly ever have anything scheduled on Sunday. It's my day for last-minute work, on the chicken coop, the garden, the fish tank. I bake bread today and I enjoy my last day of complete freedom, and is it sweet. I hang on to every last moment while I can.

Doubts

Sometimes I get ridiculed for my dreams of owning a farm. Sometimes people don't think I can do it. Sometimes I ridicule myself for it. Sometimes even I don't think I can do it. I get discouraged because I can't go forward, can't stop treading water. Today I went and yelled at myself in the backyard because I wasn't completely normal. I actually considered letting go of my dreams, just becoming a completely normal robo-person. But then I realized I couldn't. I was too stubborn to let normalness take me over. I am also infected with Barnheart, something that one of my favorite writers, Jenna Woginrich, describes here. I am way too stubborn for my own good and quite happy about it.
So here I am, treading water, hoping that someday I'll be doing a breaststroke toward some ever-changing finish line.

Clearing Out My Garden

I have almost all of it chicken-approved and ready to plant seedlings in in the spring.

Not the most normal dreams...

I want a dairy goat (probably Nigerian) or a mini cow! So bad!

TGIF

Or, in case you live in a cave that somehow has internet to access this blog, thank god it's Friday. Today was quite busy. I had a horse riding lesson and I went ice skating for a few hours. I have sore legs and one sore butt from sitting the trot and then falling on ice. I only fell once though! And I may be sore but I got some great exercise and I also cheered up considerably. Go out and do something. You'll like it!

Chickens And Gardens

There is something very relaxing about watching chickens wander around your dormant garden, eating the weeds, tilling the soil, and fertilizing future seedlings. It's a symbiotic system that benefits you in the best way. The chickens do your yard work and take the weeds to make eggs, plus one of the best natural fertilizers ever for your plants. The unplanted garden plot gives the chickens its weeds gratefully, and offers thawed ground to scratch around in looking for tasty bugs. Now, if I were to get a beehive, which I hope to do soon, partly because I really need to conquer my fear of bees, wasps, and yellowjackets, which I only developed after getting stung for the first time by a dying honeybee trapped in my flip flop. Before that, when I was about 4, I literally held a bumblebee in my tiny hand and said "look mom, it's a bee!" But I digress. A hive would pollinate my veggie flowers and my veggie flowers would feed the bees. Then the bees, having been fed, would, through their complicated and amazing working society, make honey, beeswax, and honeycomb for my enjoyment. I dream of jars of golden honey on a windowsill, the sunlight shining through them. I dream of mint tea from my garden with honey from my bees stirred in, the efforts of two cooperating species. Yes, I'm completely insane. Yay insanity!

Death

Today I woke up to a dead young guinea pig.
I was devastated when I heard the news. I cried. But now she is in the ground with wild flower seeds over her grave, and I have to move on. There's no sense in letting death get in the way of life when there is so much to do, so many places to see before you, too, die. And when I die, I hope that somebody plants wildflowers on my grave, and somebody is there to shed a few tears, but I hope that they won't let my death ruin their life. Death is a part of life. There's no stopping it. I'd be willing to bet that an animal, a plant, or a person, dies every second. But I'd also be willing to bet that in the same second, a seedling emerges from rich soil, a baby kicks and screams its way into the world, whether it be human or animal, or a chick emerges with curious eyes from an eggshell. So let's all focus on life, not death. Death is sad, but it makes life possible. Where would us humans and rabbits and guinea pigs be if the dinosaurs never died? We would never have even existed. We should honor death and the dead, always, but as we do we honor new life, the wildflowers on the grave.
Rest in Peace, CelloBella

A Meet and Greet

I think it's time you all came face to face with my chickens.

These pictures were taken in the summer, as you can probably tell. The white one's name is Snow White, the orange-gold one is Goldilocks, and the brown one is Gretel. I guess I named them all fairytale names because they seemed like they were from a fairytale when I got them as chicks. I had wanted them for so long, and after three months of chicken research, I finally had them, my three little chickens... or I guess you could say three little pigs, or three bears.

Now they lay eggs for me in the summer and they just turned a year old, so they're officially laying hens.

Soon I'll be milking a miniature cow and raising meat pigs if I have my way.

Beware: This blog is not for the lighthearted.

 

One Of My Favorite Youtube Videos

So quirky and cool. I think it pretty much explains my feelings toward books. It must have taken so long to make, so kudos to the Youtuber who made this work of art, Ohkamp!
Here's another one of his (mmm...her?) very cool videos.

That cat showed that piñata!

Broadway Awesomeness!

That's one of the songs from Rock of Ages that I learned the music and ORIGINAL BROADWAY CHOREOGRAPHY to today! The workshop I took was taught by an original Broadway cast member from Rock of Ages! It was an intense 2 hours, where 7 of us learned the choreo of 2 songs and sang them. By the end, I was tired, but it was very fun. I don't think I'll be able to restrain myself from belting out Don't Stop Believin' around the house for the next week.

Keds

Today I developed an obsession with Keds, after I wore the classic white pair I had to get for my local production of Hairspray yesterday. They were comfortable and stylishly vintage. I think I might add some light green laces, that almost-turquoise color that's definitely not blue but doesn't seem very green either. The color of this shirt (which I own)

 

Plus, Keds has some collections that I drool over, but could never afford. Like this: http://www.keds.com/store/SiteController/keds/kedsxkatespadenewyork/cat610203/cat5960258/subcategory?icid=WGATEWAY_020314_KSNY

But still, KEDS ARE COOL!

Showers

I'm not talking about rain.
No, I mean the bathing kind of showers.
In the morning, I sleepwalk out of my bed and into the bathroom, probably damaging quite a few limbs on the journey to bliss. I strip and stumble into the stream of hot water that massages my entire body and just happens to clean me in the process. I used to be terrified of this (yes, it's a strange fear) but I have long since grown quite fond of it. For a few minutes I just stand there while I'm roused from my sleep. Then it's time to get to work - well, sort of. I lather sweet-smelling shampoo into my hair, massaging my scalp, saying "wake up, brain!" to myself. Once my brain is saying "okay, okay, I'm up!", I turn around and let the hot water flow through my long hair, reaching the split ends of my hair only to travel even more down my back. After the shampooing is done, the conditioner ritual begins. I take the thick, creamy conditioner and squirt a giant dollop on my hand. Then I rub it into my hands and raise my hands to my hair. I start at the tips of my hair, working the thick substance into my hair all the way up to my roots. I allow the goo to soak in for exactly a minute, using that minute to put soap where it needs to go. Then I repeat what I did with the shampoo, letting the hot water run through my hair and down my back. Before I turn the source of relaxation off, I make the water super cold for a second. It feels like someone cracking an egg on my head, the cold water mixing with the hot, and then it's gone. I grudgingly dry myself off with a towel and step back into the real world, problems and all. But for a few moments in the morning, all I think about is shampoo, conditioner, and soap.

Ubbbbllllublubhuh??????

Mondays - how to put this - SUCK! I hate them! You have to get out of bed early in the morning and then you realize that yesterday was your last day of freedom so you groan and stumble out of bed and just as you get your clothes on, finally, you realize you have to get your butt out of the door before you're late so you run out and then on the way to work, school, wherever you go you feel like you're going to fall asleep and once you get there you can barely get through the day so you stumble through your day and once your excruciating day is over you can't even go to sleep so you sit there until your cat comes and you pet him until you fall asleep at 11:00. Sigh.
*rant over*
So, what did I do today? Exactly what is described above, plus one hour of dance where I actually began to wake up. Took me long enough - meaning 9 hours!
Then I went on my mini trapeze for a while. That is really nice. You don't think of anything but your next swing when you're on it.

Musing:

I want to take a book binding class. That would be interesting...

It rained last night...

And, let's just say, there is nothing like sharing a bed with 12 pounds of sopping wet cat. Still, I love Keaton.

Hi.

Hi.
I just started a blog.
This blog is about one gal's life.
It's not about just one interest of mine or something like that.
It's just me.
I won't embellish, as far as I know.
I'll just write.
Ready....GO!