Happy Holidays

One of my resolutions is to pick this back up again- I have signed up for a writing class through UNC-A so we will see if perhaps my prose improves:

We try so hard not to write one of those droll letters so here was my attempt at humor :)



Happy hollerdays from the Lazy Dog Ranch!






Daisy here- a quick note to let you know that Karl and shannon are alive and well but too lazy to write a letter- so they allowed me to slobber up the keyboard to wish our friends and family a wonderful christmas and a healthy and happy new year.



This year has been blissfully peaceful. I finally limped and gimped enough to get a new dog bed- and I am allowed indoors when it gets below freezing. However, I cannot seem to convince mamma that wearing cat crap smells good so she bathes me whenever I roll in it ( which is every chance I git)



Jesse, Sonny, Sammie and the kitties are enjoying a new cedar and pine kennel and remain healthy.



We have had a great time continuing our homesteading adventure in the mountains and try to write about our forays into sustainability and they are usually more humorous than productive.



Shannon hopes to resume her blog now things have slowed down- so if you want to see what is up on the farm check us out



http://haywoodhomestead.blogspot.com



This year we are thankful for our friends and family.

The "new Normal" in this economy has brought us closer and increased appreciation for what we do have.

shannon and Karl have enjoyed- sharing crops with neighbors, reusing and repurposing, and discovering new modes of entertainment- like stump burning parties in the neighbors yard and turning the garage into a disco to host the Surgical Services Christmas Party.





We wish you in 2011 the bounties of good health, good friends and an appreciation for what we all have

Where did the time go?

Has it really been 2 months... things are finally slowing down and I must admit- after a banner year of Maters--- I am GLAD we are expecting frost becuase I am SO TIRED OF PICKIN MATERS.  I have dehydrated them, canned, made salsa and given away more maters....

Our pantry is well stocked and we await the fall and winter, the cool is now in the air and the leaves are changing.  Perhaps now the flurry of summer activity is over- I can concentrate on writing again.

My niece Anna is now reading and I look forward to sharing life on the farm with her while she is away in Raleighwood!

Dawg Days

OK friends and famblie-  you have complained of no recent postings- so I am summoning the energy to write. 

Simply put - it is HOT and DRY and we are dyin'!   I have become soft since moving to the mountains- now when it gets above 85- I want winter back!  We have been less earth friendly and have had to turn on our AC.  The entire area is suffering from the heat and as we learned on the news- our area is in a little pocket with NO RAIN!  We have drained the cistern and had to choose which veggies we want the most and selectively water those.  No matter how hot and dry it is- the darn weeds still manage to thrive.  Wonder which ones of those we can eat?  Why aren't we grafting veggies onto crabgrass roots like we graft roses and trees to stronger rootstock?  Hmmmm 

The poor pups are so hot and we are sad to have to take out one of their shade trees soon-  our beautiful Chestnut is splitting at the base and threatens the house, garage and fencing, not to mention the dogs if they happen to be underneath. 

Daisy tries to convince us that she needs to be inside where it is cool- you see her sulking at the top.  The other pooches have been shaved for the summer.  Jessie has dug himself a nice baby pool sized hole in the dog lot which he curls up in to cool off.  It becomes muddy with our 30 second showers and he comes out looking more like an adobe brick than a lab- but he is happy even if encased in mud.  That is the nice thing about that dog lot- it is their space to be dogs- and they can dig, pee and chew to their hearts content.

This summer I have experienced a malaise much like when I had mono.  We have all had "it" and are unsure if it is an illness, the heat or perhaps some celestial cause - like the sun spots :)

I must rouse myself from the funk and get back to work.

Stay cool ya'll

Views from the Homestead

Tangled Up In Blue- The Challenges of Birdnetting

Anna in the Blueberry Patch

I wonder when Bob Dylan wrote Tangled Up In Blue if he was thinking about the challenges of bird netting?Of course not-  but the song has come to mind over the last few weeks as we harvest GALLONS of the yummy treats from our 6 meager Highbush blueberries. 

Each year- we contrive a netting scenario to keep the birds out and give us ease of picking.  Each year- I find more things I HATE about the darn stuff.  If it is not my buttons getting stuck in the netting it is a hair barette- and let me tell you folks- getting your hair pulled out by the roots is no fun when already sweating under a berry bush!  Two years ago we came home from vacation to find a black snake trapped in the mesh and he was well rotted.... EEEEWWWW!

My niece Anna is up for 2 weeks and could not wait to dive in and eat more than she picked-  It was not long until I heard cries for help as her pants button was stuck in the netting.

I tried to convince myself the netting was not necessary until I viewed the copious amounts of bird poop that have accumulated on the bars holding the netting in place.  Little rascals are just sitting up there waiting for a chance to break in!.

Anna has returned to us this year at age 6 with a whole new set of phobias!  Apparently by age 6 I had also developed a fear of all things buggy.  While she has never been stung, she is deathly afraid of bees.  Any slight buzzing sends her into a running, flailing fit - which I might add is difficult to do when trapped under bird netting but quite humorous to behold.

So, last night, Aunt Shannon convinced her that singing songs would scare the bees away-  what it accomplished- well she could not hear the bees over the melodic stylings of Ole Suzannah, Daisy Daisy and many other childhood favorites.  Since Auntie Shannon used to into fits of catatonia over bugs, I can hardly talk can I?  I have tried to educate her about honeybees and beneficial insects- but right now they are all "gross".  This is the same kid who took great pleasure in mashing tater beetles and squash bugs in her fingers.

Today our drought like conditions have ended with some much needed rain- so I guess it is time to go out and weed.

Happy Summer Solstice!

Today marks the longest day of the year and I still feel like I could not get enough done before daylight waned.  We have been in a real hot spell over the last 10 days and rain is nowhere to be seen.  The 90 degree days make it hard to work with any speed and we find ourselves drained before days end.

Karl and I have put the rain cistern to good use and have watered our crops and berries with over 500 gallons of collected rainwater so far this year.  While gravity watering is slower, it allows me time to weed while giving the plants a good soak.  So far our biggest nemesis is a rash of poison ivy scattered around the farm- we are debating methods to get rid of it and would welcome any suggestions!

However you have chosen to celebrate the longest day of the year we hope it was a good one!