AFTER 9 1/2 YEARS OF FARM OWNERSHIP WE FINALLY GOT THE TRACTOR!

Yes, we finally took the plunge and last week went and looked at tractors (60 month free financing is quite hard to resist)  and we went I saw it today at the store.  OMG!  I heart jumped and i lost control (internally - I didn't want those big tough mechanics to see me loose it and cry at all it's beauty), externally I kept my cool, and just drooled a little.  As we were leaving, the salemand noticed Bob eying up the John Deere hats.  So he gave him one.  He said, "Everybody wants a hat after they buy a tractor. "

It will be delivered later today and I hope I am still here to see it when it comes in.  Bob has been preparing the garage by cleaning and moving things around just so we can put her in there.  He's got ewxtra wood by the fire so we can stay warm while we sit and look at her every day.

WoW!  I've never been more excited about something is a long time!  This is WAY better then getting a new car or new wood floors in my house!

You know you are a farmer when.... tractors are more exciting the new hard wood floors. : )

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE SANBORN SANCTUARY!

New ideas and a new weekly flow chart this coming year will get me back on track on this blog.  I have many new ideas and things in the works with my photography and just not enough time to do it right now, so things will be changing - again!

But in the meantime....  enjoy this cute little video, guaranteed to make you smile!

WHERE OH WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE, OH WHERE OH WHERE CAN IT BE?

I just looked back and realized it has been WAY too long since I posted, what was I up to?

Well let's start with the awful chicken murders. yes, we have, for the first time in 9 years, predators attack our flock.  It as awful, each day I'd find another chicken missing it's head or gone.  Then after many attempts at fixing the fence, electrifying the fence, locking them up at night, putting out a flashing light at night, live traps (all I caught was my cat) and sitting in my car with a shotgun (ok I didn't have a shot gun, but I thought about it), nothing worked. One afternoon we saw a fox walk right into the pasture in the middle of the afternoon!  We also figured out that the thing that just bites off the head is a weasel.  So not only did we have one evil predator - we had two!

The last night they got some free food was the last straw.  I went out to lock them up, and there were 4 hens, killed!  One still breathing but with his neck covered in fang marks (or what ever weasels have).  I was pissed!  I locked up the remaining chicken, the one remaining duck and my friend's two ducks (lucky he never got them!) I was babysitting and put a message into my friend to see if she would take them for a week until I went down to Illinois to return the ducks to their summer home on the pond.  She agreed.

I left her my one remaining chicken and took my friend's duck and my remaining duck down to Illinois the next weekend and placed them on the pond.  poor Uno!  She had no idea what to do!  Compared to her little kiddy pool, this must've looked like an ocean!

So now my little old chicken run is barren and sad.  I so miss the laughter of the ducks and the sound of the chickens when they announce how happy they are they laid an egg.  And now no eggs!  Not sure what I'll do now, perhaps wait until next year to get some more because I don't want that darn weasel or fox to come back.

IT'S SPRING! AND THAT MEANS - A LOT OF WORK!

Luckily we have been blessed with a lot of good friends willing to help out.  But this also means I have been too busy to talk about it here.  I've got dozens of pictures on my cell phone and need to organize them and tell you what's been going on here. Too much!
the long list of chores/tasks/wishes/things to be done list is a page and a half!  We've gotten 4 crossed off and that's with someone else doing most of it.  I tell ya, having three jobs gets a little complicated when you have house/yard/farm work to do.

But today the horses were out helping in the garden while our friend Dustin was hauling dirt from the pasture to the garden beds to fill them.  The horses are eating up the grass because I want to put black mulch down out there so Bob doesn't have to mow nearly every day, another P.I.T.A. (pain in the ass).

We had a friend Melissa come out and rake all the leaves, and another friend Jannis came out and helped weed all the garden beds, it was nice to see her, it had been a while and we spent four hours, weeding and catching up!

DARK DAYS CHALLENGE

It's been a long winter, not as harsh as the terrible -20 degree days of last winter but long anyway.  As I feel the approaching spring air and see the sun shining out there, all I can think of is - the garden!  How fun this is gonna be this year, we have so many new plans and so many possibilities out there!

But for now, I resort to my fellow farmers out there and buy their wonderful beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and meat from the Farmer's Market.  Don't know how I could survive a winter without it!

So last week, a few days I go I took the night to do the Dark Days challenge and make an all around, if not perfect SOLE meal:  Ricotta Cheese Stuffed Chicken Thighs with Whole Grain Pasta and a Garden Salad.

I took all the ingredients for the salad that I bought at market; cucumbers, tomatoes, spicy greens, onion and carrots, then chopped, sliced and diced and made a wonderful Garden salad.

I took the chicken thighs and stuffed them with home made ricotta cheese form our goat's milk.  Topped it with some homemade pasta sauce that I whipped up this last October from our plethora of tomatoes, sprinkled some homemade mozzarella cheese I made from that wonderful goat Ezzy's milk.  Baked it in the oven for about 40 minutes at 350*.

Add a side of organic whole wheat pasta and top with some more homemade sauce and walah!  a good meal!

DEATH - AGAIN

We lost another family member this morning, Barry the Pekin duck.  He passed away after what seemed to be just growing old.  I  knew he was going but he wasn't suffering, just growing old and tired. We've had him for about 5 years which is a long life for a duck.

I remember for a couple years in a row, when we would open the pool in the spring and the water would be uninhabitable for people, but perfect for ducks, we would bring the ducks down to the pool and let them swim and swim!  It was fun to watch them disappear under the murky water, only to guess and wonder where they would appear when they resurfaced!  What joy they would express with their quaking and diving, all the time we would watch and be in awe of their revelry.

It was sad to see him out there, growing old, how his legs wouldn't work like they used to ( I can relate, Barry) and how his fellow duck friends would stand by his side every day for the last couple of days, seemingly anticipating the impending death and showing their support.

It was such a beautiful sight, watching his friends take care of him, showing him that he was well loved. Last week I had the pleasure of going to see a performance of Tuesday's with Morrie based on the popular book at the Rochester Civic Theatre. The way all these people came out to see Morrie, recognize his life and give him credit for the life he lived, that is beauty!  In the play, Morrie even mentions that he throws himself a funeral!  I wonder if Barry thought that?  I know I would.  Once I'm gone, I'm gone and that's no fun, I wouldn't be able to say goodbye to all the people I've loved in my life.  I wouldn't be able to see and hug them one last time if I were to wait and have a funeral after I die.  So be prepared people - if I know I'm goin' any time soon, there will be a party!

Barry lived a good life, he had many lovers, lots of good water to play in, great food, and some real good friends to be by his side through it all.

Isn't that all we really need?

Barry (right) with friend Uno

MOOSE MURDERS IN THE BARN

Yes, we have this great friend, who by most people's standards is fairly normal, but for us - us and the fact that only in my world would someone want to do a really bad play in our barn, I am finding him frighteningly stranger lately.  Ryan is an incredible actor, playwright and person and we met him a couple years ago when we all did a play together by another great friend, Debi.

So here's how the story goes (loosely translated - I'm old remember):

Ryan calls and goes quickly into his low, mellow voice:
"Today is the 25th (?) anniversary of Moose Murders."

Me: "Ok???

Ryan: " I had that thought again that we HAVE to do a read through of this play."

Me: "Ok??"

Ryan: "Well, we should, I mean it really has to be done."

Me: "Ok??"

pause

Ryan: "We should do it in the barn."

Me: "Ok.  How' bout next Friday?"

Ryan:  "Yes!  That's perfect!  I'll start gathering actors."

And the next thing ya know - the worst Broadway production in history is being prepared in my barn, tomorrow.  10 actors. No rehearsals. No memorized parts. They will be handed a script at 8 o'clock and be given stage directions by Ryan.

How someone can pull together 10 actors, 5 back stage helpers, produce a poster,

set,

Ok, so yes, WE had these set walls just laying around our barn

Ryan kept asking for a long list of props and the only thing
 we didn't have was a can of vegetable soup

But we had a lodge and lodge furniture

props, T-shirt with logo, the Moose Lodge sign and an audience projected to be about 50 in one week totally amazes me!  Who does this?  and WHY?

Only in my world, only in my world.