FFA Creed speaking contest

 

 

Katie had her creed speaking contest for FFA last night. For most of these kids it is the first time they have had to speak in public, so they were verry nervous.

This is the creed that they had to learn and recite. Then after they recited the creed they had to answer three questions concerning agricultural. 

 

I think all kids should learn this even if they are not in ag as it teaches them some important life skills.  

 

 

The FFA Creed

The FFA creed was written by Erwin Milton "E.M." Tiffany of Wisconsin[11] and adopted at the 3rd National Convention of the FFA.[11] It was revised at the 38th Convention and the 63rd Convention. It is recited by new members to the organization, to reflect their growing belief in agriculture and agricultural education it also must be memorized and recited to earn the Greenhand Degree.

I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds - achievements won by the present and past generations of agriculturists; in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years.

I believe that to live and work on a good farm or to be engaged in other agricultural pursuits, is pleasant as well as challenging; for I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life and hold an inborn fondness for those associations which, even in hours of discouragement I cannot deny.

I believe in leadership from ourselves and respect from others. I believe in my own ability to work efficiently and think clearly, with such knowledge and skill as I can secure, and in the ability of progressive agriculturalists to serve our own and the public interest in producing and marketing the product of our toil.

I believe in less dependence on begging and more power in bargaining; in the life abundant and enough honest wealth to help make it so-for others as well as myself; in less need for charity and more of it when needed; in being happy myself and playing square with those whose happiness depends upon me.

I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life and that I can exert an influence in my home and community which will stand solid for my part in that inspiring task.
 

 

They have it in the ag shop.Here is the table that the officers sit at as you can see not to fancy.

 

 

 

Here are the officers and the teacher, Joleen

is the treasurer.

 

 

 

Katie reciting her creed she did real well with the creed but didn’t get one of the questions. She was so nervous she told me latter that her legs were shaking so bad she thought every one could see them.

 

Here the kids are getting there bronze pins for first year FFA students they have certain requirements to meet to be able to get these pins.

　

 

 

Joleen and Katie afterwards.

 

 

Was  a good night Katie got silver for her creed speaking. Joleen also

received her silver pin for her second year. I wasn’t able to get a pic I had to take pictures with Joleens Ipod and I am so technology challenged so I had issues with it haha.

Have to mend the new jacket.

 

 

I hate when I buy something get it home and it rips or as in this case the string pulls out. Couldn’t return it , it is Joleens new cheer jacket and they were ordered so I just fixed it.

This is the string that pulled out.

 

 

This is the other side how it is

suppose to look.



I pulled out the stiching on the end.

 

Then found a safety pin in my box of pins that I got at an auction for one dollar (I love good finds like that).



Put the pen on the end of the string.

 



It's kind of hard to see but I put the pen with the string into the hole.

 



 

 

Then I pushed the pen and string to the end where I had ripped out the seam.

 

Took the pen off and put the string right on the edge and sewed the seam shut.

 

Just need to trim the thread off.

 

 

I would say good as new but in this case it is better then new.

 

I am so thankful that I can do these repairs.

It would be nice though if they would make things a little better then they do so you don't have to mend it as soon as you buy it.

Onions and fried onions

 

One of our local AG stores had onions on sale for 8.95 for 50 lbs so I bought 250 pounds. We usually go to Olathe for onions but decided to buy these they are not as big as the Olathe onions but it will save a trip and with the price of fuel I can deal with smaller onions. I will can, dehydrate and freeze these to use all year long this way I do not need to buy onions when they are so high priced.

But today I fried some up to go with lunch they are so good fried.

 

First peel and slice your onions.

 

 

Melt some butter in a frying pan.

 

 

Add your sliced onions.

 

 

And fry until golden brown.

Then add a little Worchester sauce a little salt and serve

 

 

They are soo good, although the girls will not eat them. I think it has something to do with the word onion haha!

Weaning calves and preg checking cows

 

It’s the time of year to wean the calves from the moms.

 

 

We leave the calves in the corrals for a couple days as you can see some of the moms are hanging around on the outside. It is kind of interesting to see which moms will hang around the longest and which will leave sooner.Seems it's always the same moms every year. Guess they have more mommy instinct

 

After a couple days we move the calves to another pasture.

loading them up.

 

these are waiting while we go drop off a load and come back  to get some more.

 

Then the next weekend we preg. check and do pour on ( that keeps them from getting lice) here they are waiting for they're turn.

 

 

We are very fortunate that Andy can do the preg checking himself and not have to have the vet come out and do it. Saves us a lot of money.

 

 

 

We have one cow that we bought that has horns. We don't like to keep the horns because they will be mean to the other cows ( they know how to use them horns to push the other cows away from feed) and when you go to sell they bring less money.

 

So we band them you can kind of see the bander in the pic.

 

Here is what it looks like with the bands on.

 

 

Then we put duck tape around the bands so they will stay on and in a couple months the horns will just fall off. 

 

Well we ended up with three open cows ( not pregnant)so they will be sold for butcher, or go to the sale barn next Wednesday.

 

 

 

Canning Elk ( Venison or Beef) Meat

Canning meat Elk or Beef is so easy. And it is so nice to have jars of meat on hand for those busy days plus it isn’t taking up freezer space.

Start by cutting your meat into one to two inch cubes.



Put the meat into your jars.

Pack it in tightly.

You do not add any liquid to the meat.
You can add a pinch of salt if desired.  

Boil your rings and lids.

Wipe the jar rims and put on the lids and rings.

Add a couple quarts of water to your canner then place the jars of meat. Let the steam blow out for ten minutes before you put the weight on. Then process for 90 minutes at the recommend pressure for your altitude. Pints can be done a 75 minutes at the recommended pressure for your altitude.

Let the canner cool all the way down and then remove the jars onto a cloth and let sit 12 to 24 hours till cool check after 24 hours to make sure they are sealed if not put in them in the fridge and use immediately or reprocesses.

It is so nice to have jars of meat on hand already cooked and ready to use.

How I treated my toothache

How I treated my Toothache


I have had problems with my teeth every since I took chemo for two years about 20 years ago. Have had lots of work done to them but ever now and again I can not afford to go to the dentist, well while we were hunting and I had a toothache.

I had read here how  to treat a toothache with out a dentist so I thought I would try some of the ideas. I cut some prickly pear cactus and skinned it ( you want to use very thick gloves because if you use thin ones the stickers will come through and you will be picking them out fo weeks don’t ask how I know ha ha.) I peeled a glove of garlic and chopped it real fine and packed this into my tooth, it was a top tooth so it wasn’t to easy to keep it in. I finally put a small wade of cotton in to help hold it in then I took a small piece of the cactus and put it between my tooth and my cheek I keep it in for several hours and the next day I did it for a little longer then I took it out, it had stopped hurting and hasn’t hurt since. normally when I have a toothache like that it will abscess It didn’t do that this time.
I Love when I find a new home remedy.

First snow of the year and I finally got my Buck

 

Well we got our first snow of the season we were up a little higher looking for Elk so there was a little more snow. It snowed pretty good for a while.

We stopped for lunch, was going to eat outside so we built a fire but decided the wind was way to cold so we ate in the pick-up it was sooo cold.

Never did see an elk or even a track. We ran into some friends who were camped up there also looking for elk they hadn’t seen any thing either.
If we had a few more days with this storm we might have had better luck.

 Started getting late so we headed home.

The next day we did find some deer down lower.

I finally got my Buck,

A real nice 4x4 I was proud. It was still cold I think I had on 20 layers of clothes and coats and was still cold. I got it in the field so we loaded it up and took it to the Hay Barn to take care of it so we could be out of the wind.

 

Our neighbors grandson was here from Washington and he thought that deer was pretty neat. His dad wanted the hide so he could try and tan it. Can’t wait to see how he does it. That is something I have been wanting to try and do.

Well Hunting is all over. I told Andy that next year we need to not have tags in every season all we have been doing is hunting and not getting any thing else done.

Medicinal uses for Mormon tea

Medicinal uses for Mormon tea.

Mormon tea is a shrub that grows in the south western desert of the United States as well as Mexico. Some of the other names are Brigham tea, Squaw tea, Popotillo, and Joint Fir. There is always a lot by the old Indians ruins.

Mormon tea can be used for colds. Flu, headaches, lung problems, water retention, rheumatism.

It can be used safely for urinary tract problems as a diuretic and a a urinary tract astringent and a moderate anti-inflammatory.

As a externally dressing for wounds.

Mormon tea is on of the best tea sources for calcium if using for calcium make it fresh each time. It is helpful alone or with other plants for a women at risk for osteoporosis and in early menopause.

If drank on a regular basis it can help alleviate seasonal allergies.

Mormon tea does not cure asthma but it can help with the symptoms related to asthma.

It can help stem diarrhea.

Dried and powdered stems can be used externally as a dressing on wounds and sores.

It was used by frontiersmen to cure venereal or sexually transmitted diseases.

To use Mormon tea you can use it fresh or dried to brew a tea and can be drank hot or cold.

I mix mine in my peppermint and spearmint tea and drink it cold I use about 1/3 cup of each and brew a strong tea then add to a gallon picture and fill with water I do add sweetener .

 In the winter I will brew a cup of Mormon tea to drink hot I can’t drink coffee anymore so it is nice to have something that I can replace it with, and since it grows wild here it is free.