Hillfarm - good news, thank heavens.

[Wifezilla]

I feel your pain on the water bill. Our rates have been jacked up a lot the last two years. We are coming out of a drought, but it was pretty bad a few years ago. Half the state is on fire right now, but rain is in the forecast for tomorrow

 

[hillfarm]

The cheese hanging in the sink, the whey will go to the hens when its done, i am thinking of throwing some oats in it, to soak up the juice. IDK.

I was lucky to be southeast of the huge fires here in Texas. Its just awful. Im soaking the trees constantly. I have just babyed the parts I cant afford to lose and then I watch our dirt crack elsewhere.

Its either freeze, fire or flood. I tell ya the closer I get to the earth, the more I see how much she has to overcome.

 

[Damummis]

oh and I wanted to share.... The little girl in my siggie, Top row center, big bows. That is my grandmother as a little girl. And that would be my great gma and gpa. I have learned much from doing my geneology and have found a sense of belonging.

I can relate. A couple years ago I was out of commission due to a foot injury, so I spent my time researching my lineage. I to now have deep familial pride. I can't even look at my tree until winter. I get too engrossed and everything gets neglected. What are you using to make a tree? I have mine on ancestry.com.


BTW: My dog LOVES whey.

 

[hillfarm]

My job allowed me a LOT of down time, so I was doing it several days a week. I have been doing mine on my own. But I am going to have to get the software and tranfer it. I have it all written out by hand with all the documentation in a huge binder. With each last name divided for each grandparent and so on down. Its pretty organized. but it would be very useful to have it online to share with others. They have some cool software out there. Im afraid I will loose all track of time though if I get to far into it.

I find it so intresting to learn who made who. The ancestery.com site is great. I promised myself to buy a deluxe membership the first chance I have to spend endless hours and days to work on it. I too get sooo engrossed.

 

[Wifezilla]

I use www.myheritage.com.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

I'm with you on the drought. (Texas also). Week or so ago there were a ton of sirens (NOT something you usually hear out here) that went screeching past. Turns out the neighbor down the way had a fire, and it set off into the pasture that separates us. That was a tense moment for me, but there were dozens of fire response and after a few hours they got it put out, thankfully. I was hanging laundry and I think my clothes still smell of smoke.

The garden ... Sigh. I have to spray BT for hornworms, so I dont want to water too often, but it HAA to have it every two days. Even so, my peas only gave me a nice return of seed, nothing to eat, and the onions were even worse. The potatoes are still growing, and so far the tomatoes and peppers are hanging in there. The lavender is happy, LOL. I have to water berry bushes, grape, and fig daily, and the peaches about every 3rd day. I'm desperately trying to save my pasture(s), but it's not looking good. I don't even wanna SEE my water bill this month. The only thing I'm growing a lot of is grasshoppers. Plague-style grasshoppers. You walk across the grass and so many hop up that they rain down. ALMOST too much for me to bear as I'm kinda afeared of grasshoppers being ON me.

So. I guess I'll raise something that eats grasshoppers. The chickens are starting to get the hang of it, and the ducklings are learning too.

 

[hillfarm]

I was just about to suggest chickens for the grasshoppers. That's what prompted me to get mine.

Cool WZ. Thank you.

 

[Marianne]

Hey, freeze that whey in ice cube trays and use it for a substitute for buttermilk in pancakes, etc. You can also use it in place of water in breads, etc.
I have a page on what to do with whey on my personal blog (link below my signature).

 

[hillfarm]

cool Marianne. I ended up throwing some oats in it and feeding it to the pullets. They ate most of it and the leftovers went to the dog. They all enjoyed it. I will have to try freezing it next time.

We ended up using the cheese in baked ziti. Kids found it pretty cool to eat what they made. Planting the self sufficient bug in them I hope.

Great site Wifezilla. Thank you thank you. Working it now. Instead of working on my house. oh well.

 

[AL]

We are in a severe drought here in NW Florida as well. Last I heard a couple of weeks ago we were 16inches behind. My pasture is sandy, dusty , crunchy grass. My garden gets the sprinkler a few times a week and now I have started running it a bit on my little lot hoping I can turn the horses out on it. 2 days in a row the north end of our county (15-20 miles) has gotten an inch of rain - we see clouds and that's it.