Chicken Therapy

Dorth (the chicken) is feeling a bit crummy!

Yes, this one is my kid....no doubt about it.

We traveled to see family last weekend.  The night before we returned I heard my sweet daughter say, "I miss my chickens!"

I totally understood the sentiment.  I went to bed that same night fretting over the cows even though I had stockpiled water and hay to meet their needs.  Let's just say there is peace for my soul when I get to check on them every day. 

Last night one of the chickens showed up with a respiratory infection.  She sounded raspy and one of her eyes looked kind of bubbly--like it was foaming (sorry if that was too much info!).  It was nearly dark, so I had to make a decision quickly.  (If you haven't been blessed with your own chickens, just know that they go to bed at dusk/dark regardless of what time that might occur.  So right now, they shut down at 5pm.  They climb into their coop, settle in a nest or on the roosting bar and call it a day until the sun shows up again.)

Anyway, I did some quick research to determine the best course with the sickly bird.  Some sources recommended that we do away with her to protect the rest of the flock.  I knew that wasn't the right path for us. 

We isolated her into her own little pen and secured a tarp over it since she would have to depend on her own body heat for warmth through the night.  I did a quick search to find which essential oils might help the situation.  I tapped into Jill's experience and mixed up some Melaleuca and Frankincense oil with a couple teaspoons of carrier oil.  Massaged a bit into the bottoms of the bird's feet (which she greatly appreciated, much like a human!)

This morning found the bird looking a bit better.  The raspy respirations had improved and so had the eyes!  Praise God!

And more good news, the other birds all look healthy this morning, too.  That's one of the big concerns with chickens that they will infect all their friends! (much like humans, again!)

We reapplied the Melaleuca / Frankincense oil combo to her feet in the morning and again a lunch.  Planning to keep her penned separately until all the symptoms clear.

The sun is out and we are having a gorgeous day.  While I was finishing up my chores, I found my daughter hanging out with the chickens.  She smiled and said, "Chickens are My Therapy!" 

Yes, she's definitely my kid!

may you be blessed with time for your "therapy" today, too!
pam


Praising God for All Things!!




Linked to Homestead Blog Hop!

Lots of Slow Stitching

I spent many hours traveling in the car this weekend.  Thankfully I had my favorite driver in the pilot position and I could stitch the hours away!

Made some more Garden Stars

I seem to like this squished setting better.

Somewhere along the line, I got a wild hair  to make some flower garden blocks (because, of course I NEED another project!)  I just couldn't resist playing with some of the leftover centers from the Garden Star project. 

Took a little detour with these cuties.

These flower garden blocks are quite a bit larger than this project.  I've always had a thing for Grandmother's Flower Garden quilts.  Hopefully I'll even finish one some day!

Still Praising God!
pam



Linked to Kathy's Slow Stitching.

Praise Him!

New Life

I gotta come clean.  I've had some really rough weeks recently.  I've hit some lows and I don't like being there.  I've had that lost, empty feeling.  Those that know me, know that I've been here before. 

I found myself crying a lot--actually, more like trying not to cry.  Trying to hold myself together and present a happy face for my family.  (Note to self...this approach never works....you already knew this, ya big dummy!)

I finally knew what I needed to do.  Tell some trusted friends about the struggle, the inner turmoil and sadness.  Ask them to pray.  Prayer works.  Opening up and sharing the pain helps.  I don't exactly know why it's so hard to get to this point, but I have to get to a really dark place before I can open my mouth and ask.  I just never want to burden other people with my pain, my struggle.  I don't ever want to make someone else feel this bad. 

I think this is predominately a spiritual struggle.  If the Enemy can stifle my spirit, he wins--he pulls me low and I struggle in all areas....managing my home and family, educating our children, ministering to others.  The Enemy wins when I become ineffective in all these areas.

He wins until I pull my depression out into the Light.  I share and receive healing prayers and love.  And of course my dear friends want to know why I didn't tell them sooner.  I sometimes wonder the same thing.

One dear friend reminded me that the Bible says that I am to Praise God in all things.  I am to Praise Him for Depression!  Let's just say that I had NOT been praising God for this struggle.  I had been praying fervently asking Him to take the struggle away or make me strong enough to walk through it, but I had forgotten about the praise.  My friend suggested that I Praise God for this out of my desire to obey Him.  I'm not telling Him that I love depression, just simply that I Praise Him and trust that He will see me through this to grow me and/or to bring glory to His Kingdom.  I can trust that He will use my pain.  I can trust that He will see me through this.  I can trust that He is purifying me. 

I am Praising God for my depression! 

Praising God changes everything about this struggle. 

Thank you, Patti, for reminding me to Praise Him.
Thank you, Dear Friends, for carrying me to Christ in prayer. 
Thank you, Craig, for helping me to cry.

Thank You, Lord, for not giving up on me even when I have to repeat these lessons over and over. 
Thank You for Your Patience, Love, Kindness, Peace.

I have depression. 
I am blessed.

much love,
pam


Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God
It is He who made us, and we are His;
We are His people, the sheep of His  pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the Lord is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations.
                               Psalm 100

Slow Stitching

I enjoyed Kathy's post this past Sunday and was inspired to get out some of my own Slow Stitching. I've been hand sewing these blocks for a while.  It's easy work, but does require that you sit down and relax and stitch.  Sometimes I forget how nice simple sewing is.  Thanks for reminding me Kathy!

playing with the setting and a white-based
background fabric

After stitching a while, I played with the setting.  My daughter got excited and thinks this should be a quilt for a baby girl.  Which led to the question--"Who is expecting a baby girl?"  She didn't know, but says there's always someone at church having a baby.  Good point.

I had kind of thought this might grow larger than a baby quilt.  Time will tell.  I'll keep stitching these as the spirit moves me.  When I grow tired, I'll likely call it big enough!  I sew a lot without a definite plan in mind.

maybe gray?

Hope you are enjoying the sweet rhythm of this day.

many blessings,
pam


Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
                 Lamentations 3:22-23

Linked to Kathy's Slow Stitching.

Itty Bitty

First 2 stars.
These finish to 2 inches!!

I'm sewing up stars per the mystery directions at Temecula Quilts.
I knew the cutting sizes seemed small, but chose to take the path of denial even though I was cutting little 1" squares!

I've never worked this small before.  It's not easy, but strangely fun.  It makes no sense from a practical standpoint, but I have to giggle at these tiny blocks.  This is a serious stretch to my sewing skills, but I think I can still make these girls go together.

2 inch Stars next to 6 inch 9-patch block!

Hope you are having a fabulous day!

blessings,
pam


May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
                 Psalm 19:14

Remember the Animals Work for YOU!

Boots busy at work entertaining her Humans!

You know how sometimes a phrase will really stick in your head?  This post is about one of those phrases....Something said to me that most likely the speaker had no idea the impact of his words.

This goes back to March 2012 when we bought our family milk cow, Bambi.  We purchased Bambi from a dear farming family.  We had been buying a veggie CSA and also sides of grassfed beef from the Vaughn family of Rocky Glade Farm for many years.  They were our farmers and also our friends.  Buying a milk cow from them was the next natural step for us. 

When Bambi became available we were not quite ready.  (Are you ever completely prepared for a full-grown member of the bovine family to arrive?!!) 

On my quest to be as ready as possible, I started asking Jim Vaughn (farmer extraordinaire!) many questions.  He patiently answered me.  Thank goodness he didn't point out what a compete dodo brain I was because I would most certainly have lost my nerve. 

One thing I asked Jim about was Bambi's schedule.  You know I wanted to do this right, so I was planning to adjust my world to whatever was needed to care for Bambi. 

Jim's words were priceless.

"You don't work for the animals. 
The animals work for you."

Total light-bulb moment for me! 

In my heart, I still really wanted to know Bambi's schedule, but Jim (in great wisdom) never told me.  He wanted us to adapt Bambi to our family, not the other way around. 

As a homesteader, I am forever grateful for Jim's words of wisdom.  Applying this truth has led to many wonderful discoveries.

Becky receives a thorough cleaning from Bambi.

I'll use Bambi as an example of this. 
** Did you know that you don't have to milk a cow twice a day? 
You need to adjust their milking schedule and production to fit your needs!

** Did you know that there's no rule saying you have to milk in the morning? 
Mornings aren't good for my schedule right now, so I milk in the afternoon!

** Did you know that with some planning, you can even skip days of milking altogether?! 
Planning is the key.

** Did you know that it's absolutely fine to leave the calf with her mama to raise and skip all the complications of separating the two and feeding with a bottle? 
That's what we do!  We aren't a commercial dairy farm--there's no reason for us to act like one unless that's what fits our needs.

Bambi delivered her calf in September.  I knew that we did not have a use for 1-2 gallons of milk per day.  I have milked Bambi enough to keep her from getting mastitis, but not so much that her milk production increased. 

Just because we have a milk cow does not mean that we have to push her to full capacity with regards to milk production.  If we don't need that much milk, it's really a waste of time and resources to obtain so much.  It takes nutritional energy for Bambi to produce milk.  I would prefer she use that energy to keep her own body in good condition and prepare for her next pregnancy.  Having more milk than we can use takes up my time and energy, too.  Having a fridge full of milk is a blessing if you can use it.  If you can't, it becomes exhausting trying to find uses for an overabundance of the white stuff! (remember, more is arriving every day!)

Udder Check--back teats look a little tight--will milk just
a bit to relieve the pressure.

About 2 weeks ago, I decreased our daily milking to every other day.  I was able to do this because the calf has grown and is able to handle more of Bambi's milk production for her own growing body.  I still monitor Bambi every day.  If one of the teats is engorged (typically one of the back teats since they aren't as easy for the calf to nurse from), I milk just a bit out of it.  "Just a bit" is key here.  I'm just wanting to relieve the pressure, not stimulate increased production.

In the near future, we will need to separate Bambi and her calf the night before I want to milk her.  They will be next to each other, just not close enough for the calf to nurse. 

All of this is a natural progression as the calf grows and consumes more milk.  Don't worry about stealing milk from the calf.  The calf is already eating grass and drinking water just fine.  Having mama's milk is a bonus for her health and nutrition.  She'll still get plenty of milk even on the days that I milk Bambi.

I hope this encourages you to Let the Animals Work for You!  (Thanks Jim!)

many blessings,
pam


But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.     Matthew 6:33-34


Linked to Homestead Barn Hop!

Friday Fun!

Scrappy String Quilt
I  love the little hands holding the quilt!
And if you look closely, you'll notice our sock collection
which is quite handy because you never really know when
when your feet will get cold and you might want a sock!

Hooray!!  I have a finish!  A finished top, at least (celebrate every victory, I say!)  Remember my post about playing first?  Well, guess what?  When you sew a little every day, you actually get things done!  Funny how those things go together!!

This quilt is made entirely from my stash.  I found a box with the scrappy string blocks with the purple centers and decided to play with sashings and cornerstones.  The outer purple border was chosen because I had enough of it (I know you were hoping to hear of my genius and creativity, but no...sometimes a fabric makes the cut simply based on yardage on hand!)

I am actually thinking of having this machine quilted by a friend with a longarm!  GASP!  This is a major step towards creative happiness for me.  You see I've always felt that I had to complete all of my quilts for them to be mine.  I love finishing my own quilts, but this is so freeing to dump my rigid rules and allow myself the freedom to choose to send my top for quilting. 

Wednesday Night Quilt Ministry
Sarah C. is standing near the center--in the white shirt

I am so blessed to get to sew and fellowship with dear friends every week!!  I took these pictures at our weekly quilt ministry gathering.  Sarah calls it our Sweat Shop!  There is so much going on in this room every week.  I think of it as organized chaos. 

Another view of our  precious group. 
God is so good to us!

Sewing with friends has blessed my life beyond measure.  I am so thankful that I get to be a part of this quilt ministry. 

***********

Last night I saw a Christmas sewing project that made my heart skip a beat.  It's actually a mystery type thing, I think.  I'm new to this way of playing.  Anyway, I got all jazzed up (I finished that top, so of course I should start another project to keep the solar system equilibrium in order!) and cut nearly all the pieces and will be ready to sew when they post the first step. 

This is even more fun because I pulled all the fabric right out of my stash.  I'm not against buying fabric (oh no, not me!), but I get a special thrill from using what I already have. 

So tell us what fun thing you are doing today!!

may your day be blessed beyond measure!
pam


This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
              Psalm 118:24
Linked to Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday!
Also linked to Crazy Mom Quilts!