Archive for Country Living

Office Makeover

{ January 3, 2024 @ 9:21 pm } · { Country Living }
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Our house office was a mess. A big mess! It was hopelessly outdated with orange plaid wallpaper that in the early 80’s was very stylish. The walls were cinderblock covered with rough plaster. It was amazing the wallpaper stuck to it as long as it did. Years ago (before our time), the two story clapboard farmhouse burned and the the owner put an apartment above the cinderblock milking barn as temporary living quarters. The next owner added on and built around it. When we came we added a complete upstairs making it look like a decent house. The cinderblock milking barn section became our office and laundry.

Some old pictures and story of our farm: 50 Years Ago-The Move to Powhatan and Once Upon A Time.

It was a room we didn’t know what to do with. Through the years it served as a guest bedroom, baby room, toy room, sewing room and home, farm and business office. It was a room that was well used but over time got neglected, cluttered and disorganized. It was time to tackle the mess but it looked overwhelming. With the support, help and encouragement from family on Thanksgiving Day we started the project….hauling out bags of trash, sorting through filing cabinets and boxes full of history treasures, pulled out old furniture, carpet, and wallpaper. We literally stripped the room. Do you know how much stuff that hasn’t seen daylight in years can be in, on, or in boxes tucked under a desk? We had three desks! We threw away bags full of invoices, statements and newspaper clippings etc. I found lots of treasures that had long been forgotten and buried.

Before:

Picture from late 80’s or early 90’s.

We put down new flooring, tongue and groove pine boards on the walls, painted, updated the lighting and restaged the furniture. Some of the old bit the dust and some new magically appeared.

After:

We love our new room. It is so clean, fresh, light and inviting. I now even have a welcoming spot for my puzzle table. There are still a few decorating pieces to come together yet. I have my genealogy framed and on the wall and I want to get Gene’s.

A few pictures of the process:

Ryan with the help of Obe did the floor and some of the wall prep over Thanksgiving weekend.
Philip Shenk and Bill Iazzi finished the walls and trimming.

One fun new feature to my office is a new speaker from my techy son-in-law, Obe, who knows all the coolest gadgets. The speaker projects lights up on the ceiling in changing colors. It really is cool listening to music as I sit at my desk!

Box Turtle Fight

{ October 4, 2023 @ 8:34 pm } · { Country Living }
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He almost has an evil gleam to his eye!

Did you know the pokey slow, retreat to your shell box turtles can have an attitude and bully each other?

Today we watched two male box turtles have it out. We have an area behind the store where we can watch wildlife (mostly deer) through a window. It is so interesting to watch what comes to our feeders. We know these two were both males because of their concave underside. When we found them, they were staring each other down with the bigger of the two the more aggresive trying to prove he was “alpha turtle”. According to Wikipedia, they were probably competing for the same female. He kept turning the smaller one over on his back and if left upside down too long it will die.

We separated them but left them together but it wasn’t long until the small one was upside down again. We finally moved them about 4 feet apart and pointed their heads in different directions. We were curious to what they would do. A few minutes later they both had slipped away. It is amazing how fast slow turtles are. I guess they had exhausted themselves and one had won. We didn’t see any female turtles nearby but it was near the edge of the woods.

Box turtles commonly live over twenty years but an internet search revealed they could live 40-100 years. I quote from Wikipedia...”They are omnivorous and their eagle eyes and keen sense of smell help them find foods such as snails, insects, berries, fungi, slugs, worms, flowers, fish, frogs, salamanders, rodents, snakes, birds and eggs. (It is hard for me to imagine a turtle catching a bird, frog, salamander or snake!) During their first five to six years of life they are primarily carnivorous. Adults tend to be mostly herivores, but do not feed on leafy greens. They have been known to feed on dead animals along the sides of roads…..Hatchlings and young turtles need more protein and prefer a carnivorous diet, but as they grow the incorporate more and more plants.

It is hard for me to imagine a turtle catching a bird, salamander, frog or snake! All of those can either jump, fly, slither or skitter fast! Maybe the slow methodical movements of a turtle are all a ruse! I don’t think I will stick my finger in front of his mouth.

Olive Green Egg Yolk

{ October 26, 2022 @ 1:23 pm } · { Country Living }
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A customer called today and described the egg yolk his wife had broken into a bowl. I had him send me a picture. I have never in my life…..!!!

The yolk is olive green and the white is crystal clear. I must say it looks disgusting!!!! He was quick to tell me he did not buy the hens from me!!! He has an assorted flock of Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds and I think he said Ameraucanas (Easter Eggers). I have seen a few things in my years; blood in the yolk and even a worm one time, but never anything like this.

We went to our friend “google” and typed in “olive green egg yolk”. The results were very interesting.

An olive yolk in a raw egg seems to be caused by diet. There were several articles and one said green grass or alfalfa. But that does not make sense to me. Free range chickens eat a heavy diet of grass and their eggs are not olive green. We have found that chlorophyll that makes grass green, makes egg yolks a deep rich yellowish orange. Another article said acorns, some weeds or herbs such as Shepherd’s Purse will make the yolk olive. Shepherd’s Purse contains an alkaloid (bursing), tannin, and some sulphur.

I know if you hard boil an egg too long the yolk has a dark green edge around it. This is from the minerals and sulfur in the yolk that you destroyed by overcooking. It makes sense to me that Shepherd’s Purse could be the culprit and apparently it is common in our area.

I have never identified Shepherd’s Purse in my yard, but here is a picture of it.

Shepherd’s Purse

If anyone else has any expertise or experience with this I would love to hear from you.

Sign of God’s Eternal Covenant: The Rainbow

{ August 30, 2022 @ 8:25 pm } · { Country Living, My Faith Journey }
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Photo by Luanne Johnson

It was a beautiful evening. Late afternoon storm clouds darkened the sky to the west and north over the James River. The gentle breeze that blew all day became brisk and the yellowing leaves on the birch trees fluttered to the ground. A gentle rain watered the earth.

Just before dusk, the sun burst through the clouds and the sunlight glistened off the still falling raindrops creating a stunning huge, tall, full rainbow in the east. There actually was a double rainbow although the second one was not as brilliant. I didn’t see it at first as I was more focused on the sun reflecting on the roofs of the silos.

If you look closely you can see the faint rainbow to the right of the brilliant one.

I remembered God’s promise and the sign he gave us a reminder. I said aloud, “God I remember”.

Genesis 6-9 tells the story of Noah and the great flood that destroyed every living creature and all humans on earth except for Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their wives. Why would God do such a drastic, awful thing? It was judgement for the violent, evil, and godless culture that had turned against him. Noah and his family were saved because they were righteous, the only ones in the whole earth. It took them one hundred years, but they built an ark with God’s direction and they along with two of every kind of animal that God brought to the ark were saved. It is a fascinating true story.

One hundred and fifty days later, the flood had subsided and the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat. Noah and his family along with all the animals came out of the ark into the clean, fresh earth bursting with lush green plants and trees. Noah immediately built an alter and worshipped God. God set a brilliant rainbow in the sky-probably the first ever seen. God told Noah that he was establishing a covenant with him and all future generations and living creatures. Never again would the earth be totally destroyed by a flood. God gave the rainbow as a sign of the covenant. And God said, “When I see the bow, I will remember my covenant.” The rainbow is not only a reminder for our benefit but also for God to see and remember.

I turned to walk back into the house and behind me the west was also blazing with God’s glory of a different hue, the stunning beauty of the setting sun.

Several years ago we visited the Ark, a full-scale replica of Noah’s ark in Williamstown, Kentucky. It was an incredible experience to see, feel and think about what it really was like for Noah. I highly recommend this adventure.

Noah’s Ark

The Pecan Man

{ February 11, 2022 @ 8:55 pm } · { Country Living }
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This was a good pecan producing year. Some years are, some years aren’t. We picked up buckets and buckets of pecans. Summer and I shelled at least one 5-gallon bucket full. Over Christmas a bunch of the family went out and in a short time gathered six more 5-gallon buckets full. Suddenly the task looked overwhelming.

We have one tree that produces small pecans. They are good and meaty but difficult to crack. Years ago I had gotten an electric table top cracker which I liked but back then we had three trees and the nuts were larger. The cracker can not be adjusted down for the small size of these nuts.

When mama starts thinking watch out! I have some cousins in South Carolina who grow grooves of pecans and have a large nut cracker. I talked to them about paying them a visit and cracking my nuts. But before I got that accomplished, a friend (sales rep) from North Carolina was here and mentioned one of his neighbors has a nut cracker and did some nuts for him. Wilson, NC is a lot closer than Denmark, SC.

So today my friend, Donna, and I took a road trip to Wilson, North Carolina to the “Pecan Man” with 111 pounds of homegrown pecans in tow. It was a fun day and made for an interesting “field trip”.

Jr. Etheridge has two crackers. One for large nuts and one for small. Surprisingly, mine qualified for the large cracker.

He poured the nuts into metal baskets and then set them into hot water for a few minutes until they came to a full boil.
After boiling, they set the basket aside to drain a few minutes before pouring them into the cracker.

I found it very interesting that they boiled the pecans before cracking. They said it makes them crack better. I had never heard that in all our years of raising pecans.

The inside of the cracker. A motor turns the shaft and the beaters break open the nuts. It is amazing they leave the nuts whole.
The Pecan Man’s helper. The crackers are inside those wooden boxes. Large on the left, small on the right.

The pecan’s drop into the chute after they are cracked and take the elevator ride up to the sifter which separates most of the shells from the nut. I still will have to sort out the rest of the shells-every tiny little piece.

Cracked pecans coming out the chute.
Beautiful. The Pecan Man said the end yield is about 60%.
The trash!
I ended up with three of these boxes almost full. 65 pounds of nuts.

There are still pieces pf shells in the nuts and we will have to pick through them and clean out the trash. It was suggested to pour the nuts on a bath towel to sort out the trash from the nuts. The little pieces of shell will stick to the towel making it easier! Oh how sweet those little tidbits of info were! When I was cracking the nuts at home, we had a hard time getting them out as halves. I was amazed how big my halves looked!

They told me a true story, just in case I didn’t know! One person took their nuts home and made a pie just like you see them in the box! They discovered the horror of shells in their pie!!!

The Pecan Man’s waiting bench. It really did not take long. We were probably there an hour.
Jr. Etheridge the Pecan Man!

I enjoyed our short visit with these two guys. They were interesting characters and had a funny sense of humor. It was obvious they love what they do and their hangout was full of interesting signs.

It was obvious we were in Dale Earnhardt country.

Going home Donna got thinking and asked me how much these pecans ended up costing me. It was two hour, 20 minute ride one way so my gas bill was $39.00. He charges 50 cents a pound to crack. I also had to feed Donna! I figure they ended up costing me about $1.50 a pound. We had a fun day, I went home happy with 65 pounds of shelled nuts and I was saved a lot of work. It was so worth it and I will go back again next pecan harvest!

Feeding the Birds

{ March 28, 2021 @ 9:27 pm } · { Country Living }
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I enjoy feeding the birds. They are actually on welfare and look for the daily free handouts. This spring I have taken pictures of the variety.

I have a Pileated Woodpecker living in my yard-at least I think he is as I see him almost daily. This has been a special treat as they are very elusive. I wrote a blog post about him: Woody Woodpecker.

Blue Jay
Slate Colored Junco
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Male Cardnial
Hairy Woodpecker (This could be Downy but the Downy has a few barred feathers on the white tail feathers. I need to get another picture to be certain.)
Female Hairy Woodpecker

Sparrow. Maybe a Song Sparrow?
Brownheaded Cowbird
Robin
Evening Grosbeak
Mourning Dove
White Breasted Nuthatch
Redheaded Woodpecker
Purple Finch

And Mr. Squirrel, he may not be a bird but he sure likes to dine at the table and entertain us! I only have two and they are a lot of fun to watch scampering up and down the trees.

Woody Woodpecker

{ February 7, 2021 @ 1:28 pm } · { Country Living }
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Woody Woodpecker

I have only seen a Pileated Woodpecker a handful of times in my life and now I think (hope) I have one living in my yard. This is beyond special!

I started catching glimpses of this illusive bird but never long enough to get a picture. Now it is multiple times a week and I have gotten several pictures.

I have a large walnut tree at the edge of the yard that has been trying to die for years. It was rotten and struggling to live when we got married way back yonder. I wanted to cut the tree down but not Gene. He wanted to give the tree a chance. It really was a sorry looking tree and I knew the tree was not going to survive much longer and planted a maple beside it for replacement. (For the story of the tree click on the link at the bottom of the post). For forty-nine years the walnut tree has defied expectations and lived; not only lived but grown. There was no way that black walnut tree was going to bow down to a spindly maple tree. The main trunk is half dead and makes a wonderful woodpecker habitat. I suspect that is where Woody has rented a condo.

Woody spends a fair amount of time sitting in one area of the yard pecking furiously at the ground and tossing the dirt back over his head. It lands several feet behind him.

I goggled information about a Pileated Woodpecker. The female looks like the male except he has a red strip on the side of his cheek right behind its beak. I am wondering when Woody is going to show off his wife! They drill a distinctive rectangle shaped hole in a rotten tree. I will have to check out my tree and see if I can find his home address. They are very fond of carpenter ants and other insects. According to goggle, in the winter each woodpecker excavates its own hole and roosts by itself. The male may hang out the same hole they used for nesting as the young birds have already grown up and dispersed. I am hoping the male likes my yard and will bring his mate to live here.

This is a really cute two minute youtube video of Pileated chicks at the nest. The call of the Pileated is shrill and choppy, reminding me of my male guinea.

The Pileated Woodpecker, measuring 16-19 inches in length, is the largest  woodpecker found in North America. It looks as big as a crow. Their bill, which is as long as its head, acts like a chisel to chip wood away to make their homes in trunks of large, rotten trees. They start nesting at one year of age and will hatch eggs between May 13 and June 15. They rarely use the same nest over again and nest construction takes 3-6 weeks. They may used wood chips but do not use any lining material for the nest. They can live up to nine years if they survive the hawks, coyotes, foxes and other hungry predators.

The Tale of Two Trees

Full Worm Super Moon – March 9, 2020

{ March 9, 2020 @ 9:10 pm } · { Country Living }
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I love taking pictures of the moon. Tonight was no exception. It is technically called the Full Worm Super Moon, named as such by Traditional and Native Americans. They had a name for each full moon to help track the seasons. In March as the ground began to soften, earthworms would appear, drawing more birds to feed. 

Then God said, "Let there be light", and there was light. 
And  God saw the light, that it was good; 
and God divided the light from the darkness.
God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. 
So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Genesis 1:3-5

Nighty Night, Groundhog

{ May 26, 2019 @ 8:05 pm } · { Country Living }
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This afternoon I was out in the yard and discovered a groundhog had tried to dig two holes under the storage building in the yard. One he had just started and the other was a small hole but I didn’t think he had succeeded yet in getting under the shed.  The holes were in my hollyhock bed.  I filled the holes in and went to gather eggs and feed my hens. I came back about twenty minutes later and the larger hole was redug and enlarged. He was definitely now under the shed. That rascal is fast.

I filled the hole in again and went to water the greenhouse and feed the baby chicks. I came back and the hole was reopened and he had worked on the second hole again. I went to Gene with my problem.  I baited and set a trap by the closed up hole and left. About twenty minutes later, the hole was opened again. That was four times in maybe an hour.

Hubby to the rescue.

 

Hubby hooked the hose to the exhaust on the truck and stuck the hose under the building through his hole and carefully packed dirt and mulch around to seal it. He piped the fumes under the shed for probably two hours. At one point the groundhog did some frantic scratching and pushing on the metal but then all was quiet. Hopefully he went nighty night, permanently, before he had a chance to do lots of damage and destroy my garden and flower beds. I could hardly believe how fast he worked.

My prized hollyhocks are stock from Dad Hertzler’s in Denbigh that he brought to Powhatan fifty plus years ago. When the hollyhocks and roses start blooming I think summer is here; blooming after the daffodils, tulips and peonies.

 

 

One hour later…..

I came in, smugly wrote my blog post and went back out to check on my success.

He won!

Rascal!

I hope he is running for his life cause I am hot on his trail!

Spring on the Farm-2019

{ April 28, 2019 @ 9:09 pm } · { Country Living }
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I  love the sights, sounds and smells of springtime on the farm.

Sights: lush green grass, buttercups and daffodils, white clouds drifting across a blue sky, trees bursting with leaves and flowers, baby calves frolicking in the field, billows of green pollen drifting across the field, asparagus popping out of the ground, and birds busy nesting.

Sounds: birds chirping, chickens clucking, bulls bellowing, their testosterone raging, bees buzzing, and wind blowing.

Smells: freshly mowed lawn, flowers, spring rain, and freshly tilled garden soil.

Some pictures from the farm this month.

Raised bed of lettuce and radishes,

Raised bed of spring onions.

Asparagus stalks.


The bull was bellowing and pawing the ground.

Wisteria tree at the edge of the woods.

Heifers grazing among the buttercups.

Field work….trying to smooth out the rough areas where the cows really rutted up the ground during the wet winter.

Full moon.

Full moon approaching Easter.

Strawberries blooming.

Bees pollinating the blackberries.

 

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