Road to Disaster

Road To Disaster
When I moved to Alaska in 1968 the Kenai Peninsula had only one road to Anchorage from here, and it was two-lane, no shoulders, rough, dark half the year, and wound around through 2 mountain ranges, which had a marked post measuring snowfall of 20-30 feet each winter.

So, in the Fall, everyone just made the trip to Anchorage to stock up on food and supplies for the winter, because if you didn’t, and if a moose didn’t fall on your porch, you might be stuck eating sticks and twigs. The road has improved, and more stores have come to our area, so stocking up has gotten lax.

Last winter I was reviewing my disaster storage food supply. It dawned on me that the very first thing I had purchased to see me through the hard times was 4 cases of coffee. Whoa. That can’t be good. But the realization started me thinking of where I was, health-wise, and where I needed to be, never mind what might happen if the road closed by avalanche or whatever.

I wonder how many times I can look at some piece of advice and not have it enlighten me, but then one day, a light bulb comes on. My meat and milk diet was a road to disaster. The vegetable factor, same information that I had been seeing for years, suddenly becomes relevant and takes over. Eat more vegetables; you hear it your whole life. Weight loss articles, arthritis advice, sleeplessness, energy, Candida, diabetes, cancer, stroke, allergies, and cholesterol: all authors agree that some amount of extra vegetables could help you out. Oh, and please eliminate dairy products and meat.

This is harsh advice to a gal who was raised on a farm, ate home-raised beef and bacon, salt cured ham, and milked cows for ten years with her bare hands. No butter! No milk! What about calcium? That can’t be right. Years of denial can do that to you.

Then one day all the facts line up, and a plant based diet suddenly makes sense. Vegetables are in, meat and dairy are out. Suddenly sticks and twigs seem like the best plan. High nutrient vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds make better health sense. And dry beans store well, much better than steaks and chops and burger meat when the power goes out, which it always does for a few days in September storms blow trees on the power wires, and November when heavy snow breaks down the system, and January for one resaon or another.

Our road to disaster is wider now, the the pantry has different food in it, but essentially nothing has really changed.

Till next time,
Haylady
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Blue Power

A horse with hay fever has big problems.  A dog that shakes his head, licks his paws, and itches miserably also has big problems.   

 Our dog-owner customers who ask for help will often ask for something to help relive an irritation in dogs’ ears.  A product came on the market that fills a strong need, namely K-9 Ear Solution by Liquid Health, Inc.

This mixture looks like a quality response for our customers’ questions.  The ingredients are alcohol, gentian violet, boric acid, and colloidal silver.  For at least a decade we have been sharing the recipe for a home remedy which includes those first 3 ingredients. Blue Power is blue because of the gentian violet herb, traditionally used as an antifungal treatment.   But people like to buy something ready-made, pre-mixed with a label and directions, rather than rounding up all the ingredients and hoping they concoct it right.  When I found the K-9 Ear Solution with the added ingredient, colloidal silver, it seemed just the right combination for the ears, but it is also labeled for toes, nail beds, hot spots.  Check it out: Liquid Health at  http://www.liquidhealthinc.com

Ear trouble seems more prevalent than in past years, decades, even.  Are people just spending more time worrying about such things? That would make sense because they do think of their pets as family. Are there more food allergies?  If so, is the allergy to a GMO grain, a by-product, or a protein source?  Do dogs that swim get more ear infections?  Are breeding or vaccination programs contributing factors by creating sensitivities?  In dogs used for water work, are grooming styles removing protective hair from the ears and allowing water to get in?  Does any of this contribute to yeast overgrowth?

Whatever the cause of ear infection, it must be addressed.  Otherwise, the irritation or infection might be temporarily relieved, but not cured.  You can keep filling up the gas tank of a car, but if the tank has a hole in it, the fuel bill will show it.  Fix the hole, and then pump the gas, so to speak.   If not, keep some K-9 Ear Solution on hand for the dog!

Till next time,

Haylady

Spring Chicken, and Other Balancing Acts

It may well be late summer before I get caught up on Spring news. l0l. :) I am busy with some issues, like cold soil, too wet, too windy, too little time. What ever. Seems like the time between when ground thaws and time when the rains start is about 5 minutes, so that means hurry up. Or wait. I had to rake everything, in order to mow. Had to clean up after the roofers. etc, and was watching the weather as to when the last possible moment I could keep preparing to mow, before I had to actually start mowing to beat the rain. Once it rains, I have to wait for grass to dry before mowing, or it grows too much. blablabla. Balancing act. Like all farming.

All, and I mean every single potato and onion, was sold out at our store. I think partly it was an economic issue.. people are preparing for the worst. The other factor is that the area's main greenhouse went belly up, foreclosed, and bank turned off the heat, and would not sell anything out, so every plant in there froze, and every other thing they sell just sat there, so folks came more to us. Complicated by the fact that I had ordered every bag of potatoes that the suppliers had to sell, no more was available at all. We could have sold more if we had it, as it was we went through about 1.5 tons. And 5 bushels of onions. I hate not having what customers want, but I like not having left overs.

Computer--- I found a really nice feature on the new one-- it is called Hi Contrast for the display. I think all computers have some version of this, but the Toshiba Qosmio does a really really nice job of it. My eyes are bad... am planning an upcoming surgery... so when I found the hi contrast setting I about jumped out of my chair. wow. Made me wonder if people with normal eyes see this clear all the time, and when I get the surgery, will I have to turn off the hi contrast ??? It was so fun to use when I could see better that I did more fooling around checking into various corners so to speak. In the process, I just set up a hotmail email, not that I couldn't have done it before, but gee, the thing popped up when I was checking out what Windows Live was all about, and so I just did it. Not that anybody has to use it. Just blabbing here. I still have 5 or 6 other addresses. lolol.

So. I cleaned out an area on my porch and wanted to build a tool shelf. My sons keep buying me tools. Right now I keep them (the tools) in a kitchen cupboard, under the pot holder drawer. But now I have so many, a shelf will be nice. I scrounged around the farm for what ever wood I could find, and wallah, just the exact scraps I need are right here, all I have to do is make two saw cuts and screw in the legs and supports for a 4 shelf unit. Zip Zap. The legs will be 4x4 pieces left over from Shawn's hay bale pallets. They will be Perfect for what I need. All pre-cut, all sturdy, and all match. Lucky find. :)

Chickens have been arriving in rolling floods (so to speak) at the store. I get about 30% order pick up on first day, same on 2nd day, and have some cancellations. (One guy this week said he had to bail his son out of jail so he could not get his duck order). :0 I just sell them to someone else. Occasionally I have to do mark downs. But it's fun to come up with selling techniques. This year I did a "Duck and Cluck special. 3 ducks plus 5 meat chickens and a turkey -- get a free 10 bag of feed" . That idea just popped into my head while I was walking the dogs. When chicks are packed at the hatchery, they are put 100 into a box. that is.. 25 to a corner. This has been determined to be best shipping so as to keep chickens warm.. body heat sharing, for the 2 days of travel. Most birds do very well. Bantams, Chukars, and turkeys are most sensitive to heat problems, and ducks suffer lack of water if shipping is delayed. Otherwise, not too bad. Most of the time, out of 100, we lose maybe 3-5 in shipping, unless there is a delay.

Connie's horse... the lost in woods part.... Apparently the first owner had some sort of problem, I don't know what, but this horse and others got lost in the Caribou Hills down near Homer. Most of them never made it out alive, but this one survived by scrounging food and fighting off bears and what not. Someone finally rounded her up after a couple of years, and a mostly untrained gal had her for a while. Horse did not learn much useful stuff, but was fairly willing to cooperate. However, being in survival mode for so long, she had a strong instinct to protect herself, so when the woman's team of sled dogs started harassing her, the mare stomped one of them to death. Woman didn't want Angel any more after that. We didn't find all this out till a few weeks after she had been here. The horse was not in terrible condition when she came, but she wasn't prime either. Now, after eating our hay and pasture, she has bloomed out and looks awesome. She has meat on her neck and rump. And nice shine to coat. Starting to look rather classy. Connie loves her, and feels confident enough to ride bareback on this horse. I have been trying to get her bareback for a while because it will improve her balance, but she was intimidated by the bigger horses. Angel is just the ticket.

I saw on sports news last night a review of a softball tournament in Anchorage. In the background, just past the outfield fence, was a Black Bear strolling along the the sidelines. Not something you see very often during a softball game, even here, though I used to have a photo of my kids playing baseball right next to 3 grazing moose in our front pasture.

It's Memorial Day weekend. I hope folks will realize the holiday has the name "Memorial" for a reason, and hope they take time to honor that.

Scots and Newfs, worlds apart, yet united in purpose

I was thinking about dog personalities recently. Mostly in my life I have had 5 Scotties, and before that Dachshund, Chihuahua, 2 Labs, and Norweigian Elkhound. Except for the Labs and Chihuahua, all the breeds have been independent and self-contained, with the Scotties most independent and self-contained of all.

The Newfoundland, newest to this family, is the complete other extreme. Newf personality is devoted to pleasing a human, any human. They love everyone. Just because you exist, the Newf loves you, and shows it by being all over you, all the time.

With Scotties, humans have to earn their trust, love, and respect. And once humans earn this from a Scottie, it's almost like they keep it a secret. They might sit by you, and protect you, but they never get anywhere close to acting like it is a big deal. So I feel truly honored when I go out to my hovel out back and sit on a bale of hay, because of course the Newf lays down on my feet and looks at me adoringly, but the 4 Scotties sit on the bales of hay, not touching me, but facing outward, to guard against all foes.

Just the fact that they come sit on the bales along side me speaks volumes, because you couldn't make them do it. It only happens because, in their own understated way, they are saying, "You are worth defending."

Tigger is a prime example of Aloof, Apart, Alert. People who come into the store wait Years for her to even notice them enough to allow a few little pets, which she tolerates just long enough to be polite. But with me, she sleeps with her eyes open, she has me in her sights at all times, she goes into high alert when I move to another space. She stands between me and suspicious happenings. She guards by watching me.

Newf Rhiley guards by sitting on me if no one is around. Her thinking is that if she holds me down, she will know where I am. But let suspicion arise, and she stands up, with her hip on my leg to know my position, while creating a distinct barrier between me and danger.

One more comparison... should danger come from a distance, the Scotties will be off in a flash, to get rid of the problem, whereas the Newf will look at me to make sure my position is secure, and then she will take off to deal with things.

So, they are worlds apart in method, but completely united together in purpose.

Most people I know do not have any clue what their own purpose in life might be. If they recognized that our life's purpose is bigger than any daily chore or conversation, vocation or avocation, they might unite in purpose like the Scotties and Newfs. The Bible says that the Whole Duty of Man is to fear (Respect) God and keep His commandments (Love God and Love your neighbor). Respect and Love. Somehow, the dogs set a remarkably good example.

(ref: Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Comfort Zones

Last night my farm girl friend Chris came over to drop off something I had loaned her. I asked if she would come in and sit for a visit. She said no, she had to hurry up to the airport to pick up her sister. But when I asked if she wanted to go to the barn to see the pig, she said yes without hesitation. She took time to visit and pet all the pigs, especially Steve, the big sow, and the horses too. We had a nice talk, out there in the barn.

So I conclude and concur that farmer comfort zone is more in a barn than in a living room.

Haylady

Bear and the rednecks

In early June, '07, at 11:30pm a cow moose with a newborn calf ran fast across the front pasture. A short while late a brown bear followed, tracking their scent.

A car honked enough to distract the bear so the moose and calf could escape, and the bear turned and headed toward my house and barn. I called my son ...my short message was "brown bear front pasture". Before I hung up the phone half the family was on the floor headed to the farm, "loaded for bear" as they say.

The oldest grandson, who is his own person, and doesn't think like the rest of us, really, just made me laugh because he is big, has a shaved head, and was sauntering down the driveway at nearly midnight in blue basketball shorts and flip flops, with a rifle and Leuopold scope slung over his shoulder, looking for bear. Bear hunting in blue shorts and flip flops.......It just made me smile.

Bear, like moose, lived to see another day. But I found certain evidence on the sheep that things were just not exactly right. She had her back entirely covered in mud, which was crazy because sheep just don't spend any time at all rolling over. And also she was quite lame on the front leg.

Keeping a watchful eye,
Haylady

Margaret's Extreme Makeover

One aspect that fascinates me about farming is the cooperation that animals exhibit, when given the chance.

Margaret, the sheep formerly known as Lamb Chop, has been an interesting creature who has taught me lots about the sheep related aspect of farming.

Lamb Chop came to the farm from the Fair auction when my son bought her as the Blue Ribbon winner in the 4-H competition. Her bloodlines are a mix of Suffolk, Romney, and Ramboullet. (note to self...check spelling...) She just looked like a Margaret to me, so that became her new name.

Part of Margaret's heritage being a strong wool breed, she grows an enormous fleece, which must be sheared at least annually, sometimes more. The first year, the whole family got involved, taking turns. We knew nothing. Neither did Margaret. We built a small pen out of pallets, and got in there with her, two people at a time, and jumped out when she got frisky. With 4 of us taking turns and using scissors of all things, we got her shaved down in about 3 hours.

The next year, we got smarter and bought some hand held shears. Also, two of the helpers "had something else to do", so Connie and I took turns holding Margaret and working the shears. Our main goal was not to cut the sheep. No blood, that was our policy. After two such events, we had our time down to 1.5 hours, but Margaret was still not happy about the program.

By the third year, Margaret had lambed. So we had two sheep to shear. Connie and I were getting better and started to talk about taking our show on the road. ha. By then we had graduated from scissors to shears, to electric livestock clippers. Connie won't touch those things, so that's my job, while she uses the non-power shears to trim the edges and icky stuff while I run the power clippers.

The 4th year, Connie decided that her sheep should be sheared by a professional so she borrowed a horse trailer and we loaded Lambo up. She was gone a total of 5 hours, which included drive time and wait time at the shearing location for about 3 minutes of actual clipping. But in her mind it was time well spent because she is a social being and she enjoyed talking with the other sheep and alpaca people.

As for me, I preferred to stay home and de-fur Margaret all by myself. It took me two sessions of 1/2 hour each. Total one hour. I came out ahead, time wise, but Margaret looked like she had a poodle cut. At least she was cooler. Also, I did research and figured out how to trim her hooves. I call it Margaret's Extreme Makeover.

Now the reason for this long story is not the telling of the wool removal, but in fact is about what I learned about Margaret today.

I have a great fear of hurting her if she fights when I am down to clipping the area around her neck, her ears, and her eyes. But Margaret actually turned her head this way and that being really helpful to the process, as if to say.... "I know you are trying to help, and I really would like you to trim this stuff off because it's hot!!!"

Today I was TOTALLY amazed and fascinated. Margaret actively cooperated with the shearing operation around her head, neck, and throat. And for the other parts, she also lay quietly cooperative.

Now it never once ever occurred to me that Margaret would do such a thing. I have always tried to show her compassion and not be rough with her. I felt that if we worked together, it would be to her benefit. Today either she changed her attitude about the whole process or I finally recognized something that had been happening all along. Either way.......I love it when a plan comes together.

Haylady