Almost Wordless Wednesday

The last photo I took of our sweet Sylvester. Right by Emma's side, of course. I have been trying to spend lots of time with Emma since Sylvester has been gone to make the transition easier. She seems to be adjusting well and is becoming quite the independent girl.

I still miss Sylvester every day, but I have the most precious memories of our time with him. For that I am so thankful!

~Tammy

PS - Don't forget to visit Daisy, Staci and Sue today for their posts in the Homemade Living series. Next week I will share my post along with Mary and Jackie.

Our Sweet Sylvester

If you've been reading our blog for a while, you know that our tuxedo cat, Sylvester, has been such a big part of this blog ever since he made his way to our homestead several years ago. I have been putting off this post for as long as possible, but I think I am finally ready to share the news.

We had to say goodbye to Sylvester on Saturday. It was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make. He had gone missing for about five days, which is totally unlike him, so I was beginning to think something was wrong. He showed back up one night early last week looking very sick and lethargic. I took him to the vet and he had a high fever as a result of a really bad infection. He was put on strong medication and given fluids through an IV because he was severely dehydrated. I brought him home and kept him in the garage to continue his care, but he refused to eat or drink. After several days I took him back to the vet because I knew he couldn't survive much longer without food or water, and she suggested running some blood work on him. They found that he tested positive for feline immunodeficiency virus and as a result, his immune system was so weakened that he couldn't fight off his infection. He had lost so much weight and was refusing to eat or drink and didn't have much strength at all. He was obviously suffering and would not recover, so I made the tough call to have our vet put him to sleep on Saturday.

I spent as much time with him as I could on Friday, and even brought him into our guest room so I could cuddle with him and say my goodbyes. I ended up sleeping with him for a few hours until he got up and went under the bed, almost like he had said his goodbye to me and was ready to go.

Sylvester was such a character, and was the most loving cat I've ever known. It amazed me the first time I saw him cuddle up to our big dog, Duchess. He welcomed our new kitty, Emma, to the homestead and showed her that it was safe here (since she had direct contact with Sylvester, we will be getting Emma tested for FIV sometime in the future).

He was a loyal companion on our walks in the woods and was never far behind. Occasionally he would get distracted by something and fall a little behind, but I'd just call to him and he would run to catch up.

Words can't express how much I will miss him. I'm just so happy that he found his way to our home and I got him to stick around. I feel blessed that I got to know him and be a part of his life, if it was only for a couple years. He will always have a piece of my heart.

As soon as I went out to my car after the vet on Saturday, church bells were ringing. It was almost like he was being welcomed into Heaven and it gave me such peace. I know he is having a blast in Heaven right now with all our other furry and feathered friends we've had to say goodbye to in the past. In his final moments on the Earth, I was petting him and telling him how much he was loved, and he went out purring. I can't think of a better way to say goodbye.

~Tammy

Plant Garlic In 5 Easy Steps

I have been wanting to plant garlic for several years now, especially after seeing all the delicious uses for garlic scapes. I use garlic quite a bit in my cooking, and have recently learned about its antibiotic, antiviral, and antibacterial qualities, so that made me want to plant garlic that much more. Here's how we did it, and how you can plant garlic in five easy steps.

Step 1 - Buy your garlic.
We bought our garlic online here. We researched to see which variety was best for our area and went with a hardneck called German Extra Hardy. It can withstand very cold winters (we can dip down into the single digits here in Missouri) and also is great for long term storage. 

Step 2 - Prepare for planting.
Garlic needs plenty of sun to grow (at least six hours per day). We decided to plant ours in two smaller beds in the garden that get a good amount of sunlight. We cleared the weeds and worked the soil well until it was nice and loose while Sylvester supervised the operation.

Step 3 - Break apart the cloves.
The bulbs need to be broken up into individual cloves for planting, so we carefully separated each clove. I've read that it is best to leave the papery skin on the cloves to help prevent against rotting and disease, so we tried to keep the skin on when possible. 

Step 4 - Plant cloves in rows root end down.
We dug a furrow about three inches deep, and planted each clove several inches apart. Each row was at least six inches apart, and we were able to get three rows in each of our two garden beds. We made sure there was at least two inches of soil covering each row of cloves.

Step 5 - Cover with mulch.
I cleaned out the coop over the weekend, so we used the pine shavings with composted chicken manure on top of the garden beds. This will protect the garlic from the winter cold and also prevent weeds from growing up (a necessity since garlic doesn't compete well with weeds).

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the process was, since for some reason I had it in my head that garlic was difficult to plant and grow. I've read that garlic actually doesn't require much maintenance, so I'm hoping for a good harvest next year. We'll definitely keep you updated on the progress!

Do you grow garlic in your garden?

~Tammy

Shared with From the Farm Blog Hop, Backyard Farming Connection Hop 

Sylvester & Emma

Saturday was the perfect lazy day. I got home really late Friday night after seeing The Lumineers in St. Louis with my sister (it was awesome!) and wanted to just relax on Saturday. The chilly, dark, rainy weather was conducive to lounging, so David and I enjoyed couch time under a pile of blankets.

Mid-afternoon, I peeked out the kitchen door to see how all the animals were doing, and noticed Sylvester making himself cozy on the back porch while hiding from the rain.

I gave him a little pet and went back inside for some more couch time. A bit later, I peered back out the door again and this time saw Sylvester had a cuddle buddy.

No matter your species, rainy weekend days truly are best spent cuddling with those you love. Just when I thought they couldn't get any cuter, this happened.

It has been so heartwarming to see how Sylvester has taken Emma under his wing (er, paw?) and welcomed her to our homestead. I didn't expect anything less of him, because he has shown us in the past that he is a lover, not a fighter. Seeing these two together always makes me smile and makes my day that much brighter.

Do any of your animals have special bonds?

~Tammy

Shared with From the Farm Blog Hop, Tuesday Muse  

Clearing The Camera

Here are some recent photos I've taken that I wanted to share. Go here if you'd like to see more photo posts.

Our marigolds have done so well this year! We're saving the flowers after deadheading so we can plant the seeds in our garden next year.

On Saturday I took my grandma to a local parade to see David's marching band. It was so cute to see her enjoying herself so much, waving at all the floats and clapping along to the music. She forgot her sunglasses, so I let her borrow some of mine. She thought she looked silly but I think she looked adorable.

90 years young!

I posted this photo on the blog's Facebook page over the weekend with the title "The Homesteader's Entourage." It was one of our most popular photos ever posted. If you aren't following along yet on Facebook, click here to like our page!

I've really been enjoying my play time in the woods lately. It brings out the kid in me!

We've been harvesting and using so much butternut squash lately (go here for a good soup recipe). I love the vivid orange color that greets me when I slice the squash in half.

Sylvester photobomb level: expert.

Our sweet little Emma kitty is getting fixed tomorrow morning. It makes me so sad when I have to drop off animals for surgery, but of course I know it's for the best. She has to stay overnight, so I'll be counting the minutes until I can pick her up on Wednesday evening.

Hope you've enjoyed a slice of our homestead.

~Tammy

Shared with Tuesday Muse 

Celebrating Fall

It seems like everyone is celebrating fall earlier and earlier each year, but I just have to wait until the official start to begin my celebrations. I don't know why, because fall is my absolute favorite season, but I feel like I need to wait until summer is officially over before indulging in everything pumpkin. Since Sunday was the first day of fall, I decided to get it started off right and embrace everything the season has to offer.

I harvested some more pumpkins on Sunday, so now our front porch is looking like a respectable pumpkin patch! Sylvester decided to make an appearance in the photo as well :)

The weather was incredibly nice over the weekend, so I spent time outside with the boys while they free ranged amongst some newly fallen leaves.

We've been harvesting lots of butternut squash lately (head's up - great recipe to come on Wednesday) and the squash looks so festive displayed in an old wooden soda crate.

I haven't posted a photo of Duchie here in a while, so thought I'd show you how she's gearing up for fall. Since her big summer shave, her coat has been growing back in thick to prepare for the colder weather. (She was tired of my snapping photos by this point!)

I caught a shot of the guineas doing some morning preening. The one on the far right had just been screaming up a storm and it was a chilly morning, so you can see a little wispy cloud of her breath.

Some of the leaves are beginning to change color already, and there are feathers scattered everywhere on the ground from molting chickens and guineas. I love seeing the bright pops of color here and there.

How did you usher in the first day of fall?

~Tammy

Shared with Tuesday Muse 

Happy Trails

Last summer we got our property logged, so the woods are a big mess right now. Before the logging, we made several different trails through our 20 acres of woods and loved to take walks together each evening. Logging ruined our trails, and we were pretty depressed about that and avoided the woods altogether for a while. It was just too painful to see our property in shambles. But recently we decided to begin work on constructing new trails, and I'm happy to say that we just finished up one trail!

I say we loosely, because David did all the work, I was just along for moral support. Last night he was with his band at their first parade of the season (they won 1st place, woohoo!) so he didn't make it home until after dark. I decided to walk the trail after dinner to unwind and get a little exercise. Since David wasn't home to walk it with me, my faithful companion Sylvester joined in for the hike.

I decided to take my time during this walk and focus on my surroundings. I noticed a few things I hadn't seen before. Funny how that happens, when we take the time to slow down and be present in the moment.

When was the last time you allowed yourself to slow down and just live in the moment?

~Tammy

PS - Don't forget to visit Daisy, Staci and Amber today for their posts in the Homemade Living series. Next week I will share my post along with Mary and Jackie.

They Grow Up Too Fast!

We took the kitties in for another round of shots over the weekend, and they are now both over four pounds! It seems like each time we take them in they double in size (right now they get a set of shots every three weeks). Gizmo is done with his shots, but we have to take Emma in one more time. The vet said since their baby teeth had already fallen out, she estimates they are both around 13 weeks old. We are definitely going to get them fixed, but we have to wait until they are about six months old.

They were both ready to get back home and out of those carriers! Emma handles it better than Gizmo - he was constantly sticking his legs out the holes in the front of the carrier and desperately trying to escape (he scratched up his nose pretty good as a result).

As we arrived home, I noticed Sylvester patiently waiting for his friend Emma to return (we keep Emma outside and Gizmo stays inside).

Reunited and it feels so good.

They love to play together and Sylvester takes such good care of her. He used to be gone all day long and just came home to eat, but now he hangs out by the chicken coop with Emma all day and keeps an eye on her. It's the sweetest thing! As soon as we got Gizmo back to the house, he ran for cover in his cozy spot under the bed and napped most of the day. I guess the visit really took a lot out of him!

~Tammy

Shared with Tuesday Muse 

Clearing The Camera

Here are some recent photos I've taken that I wanted to share. Go here if you'd like to see more photo posts.

Gorgeous lily bouquet David picked for me.

Sylvester always wants to play with Duchess. It's the sweetest thing.

Been drinking so much of this lately! Go here for the recipe.

Sweet sentiment drawn by David on the concrete before installing our new floors (more on that to come!).

Our black-eyed Susans are blooming like crazy!

Gizmo is into everything lately. I forgot how curious and crazy kittens are.

We've been having lots of rainy days lately. Good for napping :)

We watched my grandma's dog while she was on vacation. Roxy quickly worked her way into our hearts!

Hope you've enjoyed a slice of our homestead.

~Tammy

Shared with Tuesday Muse, Rurality Blog Hop, From the Farm Blog Hop   

Feathered Friend Friday: An Evening Stroll

Welcome to our series "Feathered Friend Friday." Every Friday I write a post with interesting facts, photos, or funny stories about our chickens and guineas. If you need to catch up, you'll find all the Feathered Friend Friday posts here.   
 
One of my favorite things to do is let my chickens out for supervised free ranging time while following them around with my camera. I love to watch them exhibit their chicken-ness and have a good time scratching, pecking, and exploring. On an outing earlier this week, Jobin and Tubs were especially interested to see what was blooming in the garden area by the house.

Red checked out the garden for a bit as well, but then decided to join the rest of the flock in the woods where Cam was watching over the other hens as they searched for bugs.

When the daylight began to fade, Cam led the way back towards the coop with his faithful girl Ellie by his side (she's really enjoying her return to the flock after hatching out her five chicks).

On the way they had to grab a few quick bites of the freshly mowed grass before calling it a night. Sylvester stayed close to keep an eye on them until they retired for the evening.

And just as soon as it started, the evening stroll was over. I can't think of a better way to wind down than watching my flock enjoy themselves and seeing the sun set through the tree line in the woods. Life is good!

If you have chickens, do you find it relaxing to sit and observe their behavior?

~Tammy

Introducing Emma

A few weeks ago I introduced you to our new kitten Gizmo, and today I'd like you to meet Emma!

She and Gizmo just showed up at our place a few weeks ago and we don't know where they came from. They were both truly terrified of me at first, but I worked my magic on Gizmo and he came around before I knew it. Emma, however, wasn't so quick to become my best bud. I had to give her some space and show her that she could trust me before she would open up. After several days of feeding her and slowly getting closer and closer, she eventually caved and now plays with me all the time.

As much as she likes me, she is completely enamored with our older outdoor cat, Sylvester. Whenever Emma sees him coming, she runs to him as fast as she can. It's insanely adorable! Sylvester seems to adore her, too, and I often see him tumbling around on the ground with her or giving her a quick bath.

He used to roam most of the day, but now he spends nearly all of his time with Emma down by the chicken coop just watching over her. He is really taking his role of watchdog (er, watchcat) very seriously.

We've decided to keep Emma as an outside cat because she seems to really love being outdoors and she stays around the chicken coop area where Duchess (our chicken guard dog) and Sylvester protect her. Duchess doesn't mind her at all, but Emma still hisses at Duchess if she gets too close. It's so funny to see a tiny kitten stare a huge dog in the face and hiss at her! But Duchess just backs off and gives Emma her space when she needs it. This little girl has already found her place in our crazy animal menagerie and now I can't imagine our homestead without her.

~Tammy