We Finally Got Our Snow

This has been a mild winter and we had almost resigned ourselves to little snow which doesn't help the drought effects all that much but last night we got about 6 inches of snow and before that 3 inches of rain. Our ponds are now back to normal level, the snow is great for our pastures, and the beauty of a fresh snow is awesome.

Despite pretty good hunting of rabbits this last season we still have quite a few around the farm and see them almost every day. We have no desire to wipe them out (even though they like to dine on our crops) and we enjoy seeing them on our walks but we have one large guy who comes right up to our front porch and hangs out. The snow shows tracks like this all over.

As stated in a previous post, our visit to Bowen Creek Farm really showed that we need to increase our green house capacity for the plant starts we use for our market garden and the plant starts we sell. So..to the right of our existing greenhouse we will be putting in a combined garden shed/greenhouse that will look similar to the chicken coop. We will remove the hog panels you see in this picture that we have been growing cucumbers on, moving some of the raised beds and installing the new greenhouse perpendicular to the existing one. It will have electric fans and lights and running water along with two windows and an over hang that will be used to display bird houses and hanging plants we sell and the other side will be a double walled greenhouse. We should have it in place by early April. 

The front half of the house is old, built in 1938, but it just fits this small farm and its incredibly peaceful in winter.

As you can see, the lower pond is now full even though its currently iced over. We needed the rain and snow desperately and its our good fortune to have had this storm.

We haven't done much inside the shop lately but we just got the new water pump for the IH 424 tractor and we will be turning our attentions to that over the next week.

This is just another picture I found very pleasing and peaceful. Its hard to explain why having an old barn is so satisfying but it is.

We went for a walk today and Maybelle was in a playful mood. This is the same bottle baby calf I used to carry in my arms.

Our main pond is now back to normal level which is hasn't been since about June of last year. We still have plans for a windmill aerator up here and a small cabin...its just not real high on the priority list right now with all of our other projects pending.

We enjoyed walking around after our chores, seeing all the birds and a couple rabbits, and enjoying the serenity of the snowy landscape.

It is beautiful right now, not too cold, and its nice to get a good snow. But maybe one more day and then spring please!

Now for something completely different. I have been buying raffle tickets from various charities for decades and always just considered it a donation; I have never won a thing from a raffle. But this past weekend Holly bought six raffle tickets for me and six for her and one of mine was the winner for this Mossberg 835 12 gauge pump action shot gun. Its a turkey gun and I don't have a pump shot gun (though I do have a couple other shot guns). The spring turkey season is in April and this will get a good work out.

It has detachable chokes but the one that came with it is a full choke ideal for turkey loads.

This is a bad picture but the sights are great with two glowing red dots for the rear sights and a glowing green one for the front sight, very easy to get a good bead.

 

What else has been going on? Well our Grandson Caleb score a 28 on his ACTs and is getting a scholarship to Oklahoma State for next year, our Oldest son just returned to Active Duty with an Air Guard unit and can now finish up his career and retire from active duty, and our Daughter in Law Stephanie just got a new job she likes with the State of Alaska. Its been a pretty good month.

 

Chris gets his first Wild Turkey

Well we have been planning on a wild turkey for Thanksgiving but time has been scarce around here so we had to leave it up to Chris. Today he and our friend Brandon (a fellow Fire Fighter) left at about 1600 to go turkey hunting and about 2 hours later while we were feeding the cattle we hear horns beeping and some hooting and hollering so we beat feet back to the barn yard.

What do you know, Chris and Brandon both got a turkey within 40 minutes of the start of the hunt and we have a Thanksgiving feast in the making. If you have never had a wild turkey they taste nothing like store bought and to me its more akin to pheasant. A delicious gamey flavor and all dark meat. Of course we saved the gizzards for the dressing and Chris will have the tail, beard and feet for a wall display. We are proud of him but now that we know he can bring in the game, it takes some of the burden off me and we have high expectations for future freezer fills!

Not bad for 40 minutes work eh?

Turns out it was a bearded female and just big enough for a good Thanksgiving dinner.

Your first turkey is always a thrill. The tail feathers, the beard and the feet will be mounted in a frame with a red felt background so he can have it to remember in his room.

Brandon is a good old Ozark boy who knows how to hunt but they were both surprized and happy the hunt went so quick and so well. It was 80 degrees today and we were wondering how it would go.

Chris learned how to clean them and the only thing he forgot was to clean out the crop......leave the dirty work to dear old dad.

The cats and dogs hung around for a few treats but he did a great job and we have one whole turkey and the carcass and gizzards of what Brandon didnt want now in the freezer waiting for Thanksgiving day. We use everything of the game we get, gizzards, bones, and all the meat. The feathers are kept for crafts, the tail, feet and beard for conversation, and the pictures to remember.

It was a good feeling to have this success, the abundance of this area is hard to describe but I truly cant see how you would starve around here.

Brandons turkey was butchered for the breasts and we took the rest....I can already taste it and we almost dont want to wait for Thanksgiving. All in all it was a good day.