June 2012

Someday, when I go back and look at The Cattle Rattle archives, I'm going to wonder where the May 2012 edition went. Then I'll remember that was the month I had 3 full-time jobs - substitute teacher, farm coordinator and mom/wife.

Now that school is out, life isn't quite so urgent around here. Granted, we stay plenty busy but there's a little more flexibility in our day-to-day schedule.

In addition to farm and mom duties, right now my focus has been digging out and deep cleaning - purging the things that seem to accumulate. I've still got a ways to go (if you don't hear from me next month, assume I've been swallowed up by the basement) BUT my oven and closets are clean!

Right now, we're hanging out on the patio enjoying a lovely evening. Kurt and I are at the table and the girls are in the yard playing ball. Anna, of course, is batting in just her undies. Isn't that how the majors do it? With the longer days and busy late afternoons, we've taken to eating super out on the patio, weather permitting (i.e. it's not ridiculously hot or windy). It's been a nice change of pace and as an added bonus, we have the best view from the backyard!

Memorial Day weekend was full for us. Most of Kurt's brothers and sisters were home for the big PHS Alumni weekend. The weekend was full of alumni activities, family gatherings and a wedding thrown in for good measure. One evening, 7 cousins (aged 4-16) camped out in our basement. They had a great time together and pretty much ran in a pack all weekend. All of them are looking forward to August when ALL the brothers, sisters and their families will be home. Bill and Helen celebrated their 60th anniversary on June 5th and we'll all be getting together at the lake in August to celebrate. I've been around the Dales long enough to know there will many old and new stories to share.

I was ready to tell you that we are hurting for rain (and probably still are) BUT it rained almost an inch last week. Not a flood by any means but enough to keep the grass from getting crunchy for a few more days and dust from getting to thick.

Our last batch of chickens until early fall will be ready June 21st-26th. If you remember, we had an extra 100 chicks show up about a month ago. We thought we were in good shape but we just don't have the freezer space for 200 chickens. So. . . . we're running a phenomenal chicken special through July or until supplies run out. BUY 2 CHICKENS, GET ONE CHICKEN FREE TO SHARE WITH A FRIEND. If you know you need to restock chickens or want to introduce a friend to DFF meats, NOW would be the time to do it. I will NOT buy another freezer.

Also, we've learned that the customer is always right and many of you have responded to our decision to not offer chicken by the piece. You told us you want us to continue to offer chicken pieces, even if it means a little higher price. We'll give it a try and see what happens. Check out the website for updated chicken prices.

These past few weeks have been full of unwanted critter sightings. We have a skunk that's hanging out a little too close to the house. We can smell him in the evening when the wind is right. Sunday before Memorial Day, he decided to show off by taking a lap around the house. That got all the cousins excited! I just knew K.Z., our black lab, was going to get all excited and end up covered in skunk stink. I'm not sure why I went outside or what I was going to do. Next thing I knew, the skunk was headed my way, tail raised. I hopped in the suburban where I was sure to be safe (don't question my reasoning - how often have you been face to face with a skunk?). Somehow, I was able to "herd" the skunk around the house and back into the trees. We all were able to avoid a spraying and now have a story to share - Anna would tell anyone who'd listen about the "stunk" that was at our house.

We've also had a snake problem. Usually, we like bull snakes. They eat rats, mice and rattle snakes. We're not such big fans though when they wrap themselves around layers' legs or swallow baby chicks whole! Kurt's had to dispatch a couple snakes during the last few weeks.

In the next week or so, I'll be headed east to restock our beef stores. I'll email you dates when I have them confirmed. I will be in Pratt, Greensburg and Dodge City on Thursday, June 14th though if you'd like to place an order.

You name it and we'll have the beef back in stock in a week or so except for . . . groan, hot dogs and all beef brats (we still have the beer brats). Kurt will be hauling beeves again soon so that we can restock those as well. For grilling season, we have: ground beef for the perfect patty, pre-made patties, steaks, sirloin pre-cut for k-bobs, beer brats and sweet links. Another favorite around here on the grill is pork burgers. Kurt takes the sweet sausage or ground pork and turns it into a patty. Good stuff. We do still have sausage, links and zesty breakfast links in stock but are out of other pork products until fall. Your response has been overwhelming. Please let me know if you'd like to reserve a half or whole hog for the fall and I'll put you on "the list." Our third sow showed up a couple nights ago and we'll be rolling in bacon this fall.

FYI, DFF now has 8 pound bags of ice for sale ($2/bag). Our ice maker is up and runing and we have worked it had between processing chickens and ball games.

Still no candle update but I am making soap. I'm also going to be working on a treat for the dogs. I'm going to dehydrate some chicken feet and see how they go over. Apparently, dogs LOVE them. If it goes well, we'll be offering the next month. We should also have liver treats available again shortly. Trying to figure out where to dehydrate without stinking up the house AND out of the dogs' reach. (Update: The whole process went wonderfully. It didn't stink and the dogs were thrilled with them. I'll be using the dehydrator for lots of other things too.)

Should be starting up the Comanche County Farmers Market soon. Is there anywhere else DFF should be this summer/fall - bazaars, markets, etc? Please let us know if you think of something.

Family updates:

Anna, Natalie, and Allison are all playing ball this summer. Anna and Natalie are playing t-ball and are a delight to watch. We have a VERY young team, a very patient coach and parents who are enjoying the evenings. Allison is playing softball and is learning and growing as a ball player. Allison has found out there's a lot more action at 3rd base than she thought.

Now that school is out, the girls are spending more time outside and the bunnies have spent some time inside - or at least Radar, a dwarf hottot. I can not believe I've let him come inside. A was sick when Radar came to live with us and I may have felt just a little sorry for her. However, he's less than a pound so it's not that big of a deal. Radar gave us a bit of a scare though. Allison was returning him to the hutch and he scratched her just a little - not enough to really hurt but just enough to startle her and she dropped him! Thankfully, K.Z. was on a chain (that's a whole 'nother story) otherwise, we might have had a real rodeo on our hands. We called Kurt for reinforcement and somehow got Radar cornered out at the tree house. A was able to catch him without too much trouble after that.

Kurt's garden is taking off and we've enjoyed several potatoes and onions. We're really looking forward to some fresh tomatoes and salsa. His strategy of covering the garden with a shredded bale before the season started has worked well and has kept weeds to a minimum.

Like I said earlier, I am on a quest to clean out after a wild semester of forensics and substitute teaching. I'm not only cleaning deep but trying to declutter and purge as I go. Who knew 20 years ago that a clean oven (done naturally) and clean windows would make me so content? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not so OCD as to spend all my time cleaning but our family just seems to work better when we're not dodging piles and can actually see the scenery out our windows.

Enjoying this cooler, early June temps,

Andi