Welcome to our family blog to keep you updated on all the happenings around the Walker cottage and "farm". Even though we live in a rural section of the Tennessee Mountains life is far from boring as you will see.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

FEBRUARY Walker Newsletter

Hello!

Winter arrived with a vengeance with highs in the low teens as frigid gusts swept the landscape bringing the wind chill factor even lower (so glad I'm not living up North and in the Midwest where the weather was a lot worse) then once again draws back a bit and it felt like spring this week with the temperature rising up in the 60's. What bliss! I have some daffodils almost ready to bloom and even my iris has poked their heads out of the ground as buds are swelling on the cherry bushes. According to the groundhog we are to have an early spring. What a wonderful thought.
I have been busy playing in the dirt. Instead of using my dining room table for my greenhouse that took a lot of time and effort to set up and keep going, I instead bought a couple of 3-tier wire baskets to hang at my sunny windows and started some flower seeds in bigger pots so I won't have to keep re-potting them. Most of the seeds have sprouted so I am keeping a close eye on them. I also planted some yellow clover that I didn't get around to doing in the fall.  Yesterday I went plum crazy outside and planted some tomato, pepper, cantaloupe, and squash seeds in my garden for winter planting instead of indoors- something I've never done before, but have read about and wanted to try. If it works it will save oodles of work as I can transplant them right there in the garden. Am I getting lazy or what?  

Dwight got out the 4-wheeler and big wagon and helped me haul a couple big loads of manure that I cleaned out of the hen house that we put on the garden. I was quite worn out when that job was accomplished, but the hens are enjoying fresh straw in the barn. At the beginning of winter when the temperature got quite cold the egg production went down quite a bit like usual. Someone told me to give them red pepper seeds to keep them laying so I've been sprinkling some in their water every time I fill it up. It really works. I get six to eight eggs a day despite the temperature. I guess the hot pepper warms up their insides- ha! It's amazing what a person can learn no matter their age. I figure since I have to feed the dear girls I might as well get eggs in return. Some of the eggs are the size of duck eggs and too big to fit into an egg carton. I do love my fresh brown eggs that range in color from dark brown to light; some speckled some plain.

Tex loves to race around the chicken pen barking thinking he is herding the chickens. Most of the time the hens simply ignore Tex and go about their business scratching in the dirt. Tex has become a good watchdog. He is definitely the top dog of the Walker farm and keeps me busy trying to instill some manners into his doggy head.

Inside on freezing days my long-haired calico cat, Sarah Annabelle, stretches lifeless against the roaring wood-stove in catty bliss. Even when I don’t have a fire in the wood-stove, she will lie with her paws up against the cold stove trying to find some warmth. Talk about faith.

Dana remains much the same with bad and good days. This week I met with the pharmacist about insurance problems that continue to plague us. Even though Dana has been on many meds for years now that the company has paid for, they still try to get out of paying saying the dosage is too high etc. so the pharmacist has to go through all kinds of extra measures and paperwork to keep Dana’s meds coming. On my end I’m constantly bombarded with paperwork too. I wish the environmentalists that want to save the planet and spend millions of dollars for needless projects would focus instead on the government and insurance paper waste of endless forms. For Dana alone we could save a forest of trees.

I decided this year to make my motto:  to have an attitude of gratitude. Life has a way of constantly throwing curves and unexpected upheavals, but I am determined to make it a priority to focus on the positive- even with insurance trials etc. That doesn’t mean that I will never stress out again- wouldn’t that be lovely- but I can count my blessings despite circumstances. For when life gets out of my control, I can rest assured that God still has control.

Hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
Dorcas