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One day in my life

By kphillips on September 30, 2010

I’ve decided to choose one day of my life to journal my activities, and today is the day. This is a typical day for me.

Each morning the beginning ritual is the same. Not wanting to wake up until the sun does, I head for the bathroom to prepare for my day. I know if I don’t put on makeup now it will never get done and scare the kids half to death with how their mother really looks! Now that the sun is taking longer to rise than we do, Joe and I have our candlelit breakfast. Then it’s off to the barn to care for the horses and chickens. We then take our two-mile walk.

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Making a floor cloth; it’s so easy

By kphillips on September 22, 2010

Finally, I got it done! I’ve worked on it for three months, pulled away so many times by other more pressing jobs. I really started to question myself and my sanity every time I’d just about pick up from where I left off and have to divert my attention to something else. Years ago I saw my first floor cloth, and became fascinated by them and their history.

What is a floor cloth? Well, back in the day our forefathers couldn’t afford and refused to pay for rugs from England so they used to take the old canvas sails off sailing ships that no longer could be used and crafted them into homemade floor cloths, painting them with beautiful colors and nailing them to the floor.

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Fields of tomatoes

By kphillips on September 16, 2010

Tomatoes are on!

Out here that means they’re ready to be harvested. We have fields of plum tomatoes. Farmers contract their land to the Red Gold Co., which provides the plants, tells you when to plant, and how much and when to harvest. It’s quite amazing really to see the tractor-trailer trucks pull out of the field filled to the top of a 45-foot trailer with tomatoes. The farm tractors pull a tomato harvesting machine that sorts the tomatoes with an electric eye. Then another tractor with tillage equipment follows plowing in all the unused tomatoes.

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An apple a day keeps the doctor away

By kphillips on September 2, 2010

Today I had to bring Erica to her doctor once again. I got to hold and feed my precious little granddaughter, Emily. As I write this I am counting my blessings, thankful beyond measure for answered prayers. Erica doesn’t have to go through another procedure after the complications of Emily’s birth.

Despite babies and doctors there’s still work to do on the farm.

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Baby Emily arrives and Grandma’s overwhelmed

By kphillips on August 24, 2010

Sunday night, Aug. 8, the heavens shook and the moon shone a little brighter in our house when our first grandchild arrived. Erica ended up having an emergency cesarean section and little Emily had quite the cone head but all are safe and sound.

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Burn the bugs!

By kphillips on August 11, 2010

Today I planted three more 10-foot rows of potatoes. Joe helped me get them out of our cellar. They are heavily sprouted and should work well for a fall crop. Actually, this is the first time I’m trying a late planting. We’ve had so much rain in May, June, and July, I really don’t have a choice. My spring potatoes just aren’t doing very well, although the two 24-foot rows I put in my greenhouse have provided us fresh potatoes since April. Greenhouse gardening definitely has its advantages, you can control your watering and extend your season. In past years, we’ve eaten fresh lettuce until Christmas Day on a good year.

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Let’s do pizza for dinner

By kphillips on July 29, 2010

So, I’m taking some editorial privilege here and adding my own thoughts to Aunt Becky’s blog. (She said it was OK. Honest.)

My parents recently returned from a 29-day trip across the country in a RV from their home in the Litchfield Hills here in Connecticut to the country’s first national park, Yellowstone in Wyoming, and perhaps its most patriotic, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. The last stop on their whirlwind tour landed them in Camden, Indiana, at Aunt Becky and Uncle Joe’s place.

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A moment, just one though, of rest

By kphillips on July 28, 2010

I’m sitting out on my little front porch this morning peeling a 5-gallon bucket full of onions, the first of three I’ll need to do this year. After washing and slicing them I’ll put them into quart-sized freezer bags so I won’t have to purchase any through the long winter months. Having two 6-cubic-foot freezers to fill, I learned early on to put the onions in the meat freezer. Their strong aroma and flavor seeps into everything. There’s nothing more disgusting than vanilla onion ice cream!

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Chickens for dinner

By kphillips on July 8, 2010

Chickens play an important role on our farm. Each spring I order between 25 and 40 Cornish cross meat birds, depending on my family’s needs for the year, from Hoover Hatchery in Rudd, Iowa. They’re shipped through the U.S. Postal Service and when they arrive I get a 6 a.m. wake up call to PLEASE come pick up your peeping package.

Their persistent peeping really can get irritating to most people. But they arrive as 2-day-old, fuzzy little yellow balls that look like pom-poms with feet attached, in a hole-filled cardboard box. After inspecting them I dip their beaks in water to teach them to drink and feed them chick starter. Then I place them into an old metal water trough under heat lamps. Each day I notice small changes: white pinfeathers replace their fluffy down and they no longer need the heat lamps. Eventually, I move them to a fenced-in pen where I give them plenty of water, green grass, medication-free grain and grow them for about 10 weeks. At about 6.5 pounds when they look like your store bought capon, it’s time to dress them.

By that, I don’t mean in a tux.

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Not just an afternoon shower

By kphillips on July 1, 2010

This past weekend Joey’s wife Amy and I hosted a baby shower for Erica. Our goal was to try to use only decorations that baby Emily could use later. So up to the attic I went.

Dusting off Erica’s baby box, I opened a lifetime of memories, discovering treasures from long ago like the three little newborn dresses with matching ruffled panties my Dad had gotten her. These are things I’ve saved for 25 years, once undisturbed and forgotten.

There were dresses from newborn to when she started school, hand-crocheted sweaters and blankets, music boxes, Cabbage Patch dolls, favorite stuffed animals, books, and doll furniture. After washing and sorting everything, we made our plans.

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