Battle of the Screws: A Beautiful Tale of a Fixing and Bonding.....hahahaha!

"We're going outside to fix the gate to the chicken coop and the fence the horses broke," I told my youngest son. "And I'm bringing my iPhone with for taking pictures of our progress so I can write a blog about it."

Yep. That's what I told the boy who had slept in until almost noon. I suppose I could've woke him up hours before, but, every so often, a mother likes to have some extra peace in the house. Yesterday was one of those days. I ate breakfast ALONE. I sipped my coffee ALONE. I unsubscribed from unwanted emails ALONE, and I browsed through Pinterest ALONE. Ahhhh....the peace.

Now, it's not my fault that we headed out to work at the hottest part of the most humid day we've had so far. I mean, he could've been up earlier, right? But when we both walked outside, the blast of heat almost knocked us right back on our behinds (preferably on a couch in the wonderfully air-conditioned house).

I had told him to grab the power screw driver and fix the little white gate leading to the chicken coop, which, by the way, I'm pretty sure he is responsible for breaking in the first place. It was a simple task. All he needed to do was take out the four existing screws and screw them into a new location, since the wood had rotted around their current location. After hearing him make multiple runs from the workshop to the coop on his four-wheeler, and after hearing the sound of a hammer, I decided to check in with him.

"It's not gonna work," he said quickly. "We'll have to let Dad fix it."

If you're a parent, you'll recognize this as an excuse for a 12-year-old boy to get out of work.

"Why?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"The screws have nowhere to put the screwdriver. They have flat heads like a nail," he answered.

The third board from the left is now secure!

Determined to make this boy work, I walked over to check out this rare type of flat-headed screw. I had purchased this little gate at a wonderful local antique shop in town called The Junk Asylum, and it had been painted with a nice fresh coat of white paint. The screws had collected a fair amount of the paint, giving them the appearance of being filled in. So after a small amount of chiseling, the screw was exposed and we made the repair.

Next on our list was to repair the two boards the horses had broken. I assume this happened while they were all huddled together swatting at the excessive amount of flies that have recently taken over the acreage. In any case, we needed two 1x6 boards that were eight feet long.

Finding the boards was easy. I had my helper measure out the correct length.

"Measure twice," I told him. "Cut once."

Cutting them with the circular saw was easy too.

Carrying them to the barn was easy. (Well, my helper did have a small setback here as he claimed a board suddenly nailed his hip bone, causing him to drop to the ground. This may have been an attempt to rest.)

What was surprisingly difficult was identifying which screwdriver tip needed to be put into the drill. On those two measly boards, THREE different types of screws had been used. THREE! A few required a phillips; I can handle that. But suddenly, there are screws with squares and screws with stars? It was like a kindergarten matching game for adult carpenters! Can you imagine how long it took me to find the square and star attachments in just the right size? Ugh!

Just what is the purpose of this?

I'm clearly not ready for new shapes.

Two new boards and one new headache

By now, we were both sweaty and short-fused. The horses were trying to help us, and if we were really on task, the flies would bite our arms and legs, causing us to drop a screw or board. My son claimed he had allergies, and the grand vision I had of us happily working together to fix things had quickly turned into the reality that kids don't naturally want to work very hard.

I had to laugh at what my son said when I told him we were finished with our job.

"It actually was kinda fun fixing stuff," he said as he smiled and rode quickly away on his four-wheeler.

I suppose, in a way, it really was fun. :)

Sharon
P.S. Notice how there are no pictures of us working. There's a reason for that; we weren't really in the mood for photo ops. LOL

For the Love of Berries!

For a few short weeks in June, our lives here on DewKist revolve around the berry - the strawberry, that is. 

This is actually a huge exaggeration when you take a moment to remember the history of our acreage.

In the past, our farm was the original U-Pick strawberry farm in the area. The original owners, a lovely older couple who live on the other side of the creek, grew ten acres of these garnet, bit-sized fruits. For years, they enjoyed families who returned every summer to take advantage of the beautiful strawberry crop - my own family included.

There's so much history here. So many stories were shared. It's an honor to live here for sure.

One of the previous owners of DewKist decided they couldn't keep up with the amount of work necessary to keep this place running, so they plowed under the strawberry fields. I wonder if that lovely couple who started it all felt just as crushed as the strawberry plants did that day. It must've been sad to witness.

In comparison to what the farm used to be, our little personal strawberry patch seems small, but for a family of five, it seems quite large. It consists of four twenty-foot rows, giving a grand total of 80 feet of berry picking. We chose the "Jewel" variety, and they've become our favorite. The plants stay compact, growing up more than out, and the berries are large with high-rise stems that are easy to cut. The fruit is dark red and extremely juicy and sweet. 

Berries, however, don't wait for a convenient time; they ripen whether you're ready or not. That means, we have to pick them on Monday... 

Tuesday...

This year, we planted the "Jewel" variety. It's our favorite.

Wednesday...

and Thursday...

Of course, our family is eating up all the fresh strawberries we can, and we put them in cereal, ice cream, quick-bread loaves, etc. Pinterest has been quite helpful as well, when it comes to finding recipes. I added strawberries to this banana bread recipe I found on  the Shockingly Delicious website. I gave some away, and the family ate the rest...all except for our youngest, who somehow never claimed his share.

We also gave away strawberries to friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Hubby and I decided that this was our favorite thing to do with our surplus of berries. I mean, what's better than sharing parts of the farm, right? Sometimes we both wish it was still an operating U-Pick farm. It would've been fun to watch families venture out between the rows of plants, while toddlers stain there chubby hands with berry juice. :)

Year after year, however, my husband and I make strawberry freezer jam.  That's what we did this evening. I picked them. He mashed them. We both measured and stirred. I heated the pectin. He stirred it into the berries. I filled the jelly jars. He sealed them up. Nineteen jars later, we were finished for the night.

We'll probably make more jam later in the week, as we typically have thirty jars in our freezer.  Or perhaps we'll find a few people who would like to stop by and pick some berries for themselves (hint, hint).

Now...I think the raspberries are coming next...sigh....

Sharon

Just Another One of my Crazy Ideas!

I confess. When I'm given time to think, I come up with ideas. And when my husband is on a business trip, I've been known to execute some of these ideas.

Like the time he was in China, and I took the kids to the Humane Society for our first indoor pet...I remember him calling home to see how we were. "We're good," I said, "Matt's team won the baseball game, and we bought a cat." I mean, what could he say? He was in China!

Two years ago, when hubby was out of town, I couldn't resist the purchase of our chicken coop. Now, before you all go jumping to conclusions, I want you to know that my husband is always okay with what I choose to do...in the end...once the initial shock wears off. Hahaha. But really, he's a good sport. 

That's why, when I told him I'd like to move the coop to a new location, he went right to work. Before we remodeled our horse barn, we had placed the coop alongside it. With the new look to the barn, it became clear that the coop didn't fit in.

The coop was originally where you can see the dirt alongside the barn. As you can see, the chickens had no shade. :(

So, because our new flock of chickens is to arrive in about one week, I thought the coop should be moved somewhere where its rustic appearance would make more sense. AND it needed to be in a place where there was shade. Gotta have happy chickens!

It sounds easy to move a small building to a new cozy location...

But then it needs electricity, which means digging a trench (courtesy of our oldest son)....

And then a fence needs to be constructed, which means digging holes. (My arms are STILL sore.) Nine holes were dug...I think. I really can't remember because I only helped dig four. :)

Because shade was needed, a nice space under the pines needed to be cleared.

That's my hard-working husband, chainsaw in hand.

It was a full day's work. Our muscles were sore, and most of the day, we nibbled on strawberries from the garden and iced tea, all while spraying ourselves with vanilla-scented spray to keep the ten billion gnats away.

Our efforts paid off, I believe. The coop is now nestled beside some white pines at the end of our garden. It should be an ideal place to watch the chickens while I play in the garden, and maybe they'll even get to sample some of the garden produce.

Everyone seems to be happy. The chickens will be too.  That being said, I will NEVER do this much work again....

...until the next crazy idea. 

Sharon

More Sugar. Less Sugar

It was warm.

Now it's cold.

Mother Nature appears to be menopausal this spring.

But for the few days of heaven that we experienced less than one week ago, I was able to work with the horses. I feel bad because I seem to only photograph my own horses, and I rarely photograph my son's horse, Sugar.

Truth is...

She's obese.

So I seem to take pictures of my fit horses. Shame on me. :(

The good news is that we've been working with Sugar for a couple of months now. She's on a diet and exercise program.

Here's the transformation. Pay special attention to her belly.

Before

More Sugar

I find it funny that in the picture above, Sugar is eating. Then, in the picture below, she's exercising. We could all learn something from this. :)

After

Less Sugar

I'll try to take pictures of Sugar a little more often. She really does like the attention, and she'll make a great halter horse for the show ring.  I've bonded with her over these past few months, but you'll never see me riding her. You see, Sugar only allows men to steer her from above. She's put me in my place. Apparently, my place is on the ground. 

More pictures of Sugar to come.

Sharon

A Weekend on DewKist Farm

Our oldest son graduates from high school in just a few weeks, making family moments that much more special.

So, when last weekend started out with a mid-morning family breakfast, I knew good things were to come.

Fresh fruit (and yummy fruit dip) on a warm spring day...makes a girl wish her garden was ready! 

Of course, bacon makes everything better!

The chickens begged me for a wind chime on the front porch of their coop, so I caved. 

The boys enjoyed tearing up their 4-wheeler track....

...and taking time to rest.

It was while I was hanging with my boys that I had an idea! Why not start making a fairy garden? Thanks to the hundreds of ideas on Pinterest, I felt inspired to start my own. Now, don't expect much. I have no intention of making this anything extravagant, but I do plan on having some fun walking through the woods to find little treasures that a garden fairy would find suitable for her home. So far, I've made a pebble path that leads to where her front door will be. 

While I was scouting around for fairy findings, I noticed Toby, our younger collie, had found his own little place under some white pines. It looks like everyone enjoyed the day!

Loving the country, from our place to yours.

Sharon

Chronic Respiratory Disease in Chickens

If one of the kids begins to sneeze, it's no surprise. But the sound of a chicken sneezing turned my head a few times.

It started with just one of the Buff Orpingtons, the ones I picked up at the small post office a few miles down the rode. When they called to say that my twenty-five day-old chicks had arrived, I was elated. My youngest son wanted to tag along for the trip to pick up the chicks. School could wait. This was an epic field trip.

The chicks warmed our hearts with their fluffy cuteness and teeny tiny chirps and cheeps.

I was their momma - the only thing they had to take care of their needs.

But a single sneeze was cause for alert, and soon enough, there were more chickens sneezing. A thorough internet search left me confused as to what was causing the sneezing and loose stools in the coop critters, so I went on www.justanswer.com to chat with an expert bird veterinarian. For the cost of a typical vet visit (and there are no chicken vets in our area), I was able to correspond with someone who could help me isolate the problem.

Dr. Bob asked me about the health of my Buffs prior to this event. They had been happy and healthy. His next question was if I had added any new chickens to the coop lately.

Oh....my....goodness....YES!!!! Just a few weeks ago, I had purchased some chickens from a farm an hour away. Grrrr. Surely he knew his chickens were carriers, yet he ships thousands per year. Shame on me for not researching this first.

The Little Culprits and one of the Big Buffs

The new chickens, however, were the only chickens NOT ill. Dr. Bob mentioned that they were most likely carriers of an illness. Based on the symptoms listed below, Dr. Bob suggested that my chickens had been exposed to Chronic Respiratory Disease:

• Sneezing or coughing sounds
• loose stools
• ceased or reduced egg production
• bad odor from the chickens' face area (and yes, it IS a terrible smell!)

The prognosis is fair, depending on how a person looks at it.  Because the chickens are two years old, they most likely won't die like a younger group could. They will get over their colds, but the virus lives in their system forever, so if my chickens should ever get stressed, they will become ill once again. (Honestly, they have a wonderful life. Not much stress around here. LOL)

They don't look sick! (#denial)

They are still laying eggs, at a reduced rate though. And they still have energy to eat and run around the farm. I can wait it out until the chickens all need to be replaced, or I can replace them now. This means losing my first-born group of chicks, sterilizing the entire coop, ordering new chicks, and waiting six months for egg production to begin, AND hoping the virus hasn't lingered in some little corner of the coop.

For now, I will wait for the answer to come. I'm not ready to cull them all yet, but I suspect I'll know what to do when the time comes.

Lesson learned: Never be too quick to buy chickens from another location. Order chicks or hatch your own, if possible.

If you know anything about CRD in chickens, I'd love your feedback and/or advice on the subject. 

Sharon

A To-DewList for DewKist

Good Sunday morning to you all.

Yesterday, the temperatures here in Iowa made it to the 70s. Now I have to start thinking about what will be planted/added to DewKist this year. Summer 2013 marks the third year we've dwelled on the land.

Someone asked me the other day what Kevin and I feel is the most difficult task we've faced since we moved here, and I wasn't really certain... until today. It's the process of getting to know the land - how it will serve us, how we can best help it thrive, and in what ways we can most enjoy it. I'll speak for myself when I say that I really thought it would be an easy transition, but when thirty acres are set before a person, it's not always obvious what to do with them all. I wonder if this is how a painter feels with a big open canvas just waiting for something to be created.

So, I'd like to think out loud for a moment about what I would like to add. Perhaps making a list would help. Yes. That's what I'll do. As I sit here at my kitchen table, coffee in hand, let's come up with a list together. Be sure to grab your coffee too, and please add any ideas you have as well! I'm always open for suggestions.

DewKist To-DewList 

• find a little shed and convert it to a potting shed and greenhouse

• research how to make a barn quilt for the little pump house 

• plant an apple orchard

• raise a few sheep for some extra entertainment 

• plant more raspberries (perhaps when the blueberries have been confirmed dead) 

• acquire beef cattle

Wait...this is silly.

The whole time I'm typing up the list, all I can think about is the little garden shed. I mean, just look at the list. The shed is the first thing that popped in my mind! 

Over the years, I've collected everything I want to put into this little dream shed of mine. I've got old pallets for shelving, wood shutters, old railings, metal cabinets, sweet little tables and chairs, vintage aprons and towels and tablecloths. All these things, I have acquired in hopes of putting them in my little garden shed. 

Now, neither Kevin nor I are carpenters, so I imagine we will have to find someone who is looking for a little project to work on. But once something is built, I have a clear vision as to what I will do with it. I've got a small collection of tea towels (above) that are full of color. The enamel-topped table and chairs (below) that I picked up last year will make a quaint little place to rest and have a little lunch with someone special.

 What potting shed is complete without various planters and pots to hold beautiful flowers (below).

Friends, I think it's time I move on along and start making this

vision a reality. It's amazing what one can conclude when given a few minutes of time to write a blog.

Please add to the DewKist To-DewList. I would love your thoughts and suggestions on what we can do with our wide open spaces. Who knows...maybe you know of someone who would be willing to grab a hammer and some old barn boards to make a little potting shed of your own.

Isn't it fun to dream?

Have a beautiful day, and remember to find the beauty that each day holds.

Sharon