Happy New Year!

It is the very last evening of 2010.  After an evening of reflecting on the past year, I conclude it has been a good one.  Not only for me and my family, but for the progress we have made on Hobble Rock Ranch, what we have learned and the experiences we have had. 

After almost a month we got back up to the property.  It was a beautiful, cold wintery day.  We found a huge leak in the trailer, and Dad and I had to tarp it.  It actually turned into a comical predicament.  The big ladder was at the Citrus Heights house because we had to clean gutters down there and put up Christmas lights, so we only had the small ladder.  After a good while of trying to throw the tarp over the trailer without actually getting on top, we had to devise a way of getting me up there.  We ended up moving our picnic table up against the trailer and putting the small ladder on top of the table and even that was barely enough to get my hobbit-size self on top of that trailer.  But after a little more effort we got the tarp on and tied down.  Did I mention the wind was howling against our efforts?  I really hope that the tarp holds!

On the way home we stopped at the bridge dividing Butte and Yuba Counties.  The nice little stream was a raging water.  It was crazy insane! 

Olive, the other Reindeer!

Today, my parents harvested the olives from our baby olive trees in the backyard.  We cleaned them off and now are soaking them in a glass bowl filled with a brine.  It should be three or four weeks until they are cured.  I can't wait to try them.  I really hope they are yummy! 

This spring we are going to plant the olive trees at Hobble Rock Ranch was the first two trees of a small olive grove.  We plan to make table olives and boutique olive oils out of the olives produced.  We will use all we need for ourselves and maybe even market some to local restaurants. 

Winter is Coming

I think I can safely say Winter is on its way.  It is chilly and breezy outside and I'm wishing I had a nice warm fire and a good book to curl up with.  Alas, we are low on wood and are rationing it until we have a chance to bring some more home from the property.  The last two nights it got down around 25°F and out little nursery in our Citrus Heights backyard had to be tucked in for the night.  We covered our baby orange and olive trees and the little blueberry bushes.  And my rabbits bunkered down for the night in timothy hay forts, while the chickies huddled together to keep each other warm. 

Today is Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to more Turkey, crab cakes, Granny Goose's rolls, and all the other yummy food we are having this afternoon!  Right now I'm watching the pre-Thanksgiving Day Parade and then the National Dog Show.  Now, I must go finish my triple chocolate mousse cake.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

Photo Update!

I was not fortunate enough to make a trip up to the property this week, so I thought I'd get caught up on photos from the past few months.  Next time I'm go I'm hoping to get some cuttings from the crape myrtle trees and propagate a few more.  And I'm hoping to have a giant bonfire!

Let the Rain Come!

So I guess I'm not too great at keeping this blog up. It's not that I don't want to; it's more like that I don't know what to say. But I will make more of an effort, because this really is a great adventure!

Summer has come and gone. It was hot! But we actually did a lot! Mom has almost officially completed the rock retaining wall around the crepe myrtle trees. It looks really amazing! We have all learned a lot about building with rocks, how to fit them together and use smaller rocks to fill in the crevices. Next week I'm hoping to cut the suckers off the Crape Myrtle trees to propagate.

I have painted and set up bee boxes for Dad hoping the bees would come...they did not. But in the spring we will catch a swarm from an area beekeeper or a home-owner with a swarm in their yard. As terrified as I am of bees I'm actually excited about this project. I want to have the home-harvested honey and the bees-wax to make candles and cosmetics.

Our current project is building a pole-barn style well/pump house. I can't remember the exact measurements, but it is fairly large and will cover the well, pump and our holding tank. It will also provide shelter for our barn cats.

I probably should make a statement about Hobble Rock's current barn cat population. Hunter is still watching over the property for us, but unfortunately Winchester is in kitty heaven. From our observations he probably caught and ate a rat that had eaten some poison and consequently died. We do have three (or so) young kittens born earlier this year that are Hunter's little buddies. We love our barn cats, they keep our rodent & snake population down and give us entertainment.

As I said in the title of this post "Let the Rain Come!" It is now Fall and we have had a couple good rain storms. Since the rain has started, our trailer has begun to leak. And I have become good friends with a product called Henry Roof Cement (or that's what I call it) and you can put it on in the rain! How awesome is that?! I have so far done two applications on last week and one today...I really hope it works for good this time. The view from the top of the trailer is really cool!

Since it has officially started to cool off for the Fall & Winter, Dad and I have started to cut out more of the dead brush. Next week we will hopefully hook up the tractor & trailer and haul what we have cut up to the fire pit and burn it! I'm so excited for bonfires!

Last but not least, we have started on the barn!  It will be a 24' x 36' pole barn.  We have started to auger the holes and hope to have it done by early spring! 

Seriously, Can't We Just Get A Goat?

So the title of today's post is a bit odd, but today we weed-eated (is that even a word?) and I goat would just be a huge help! Think about it. I goat (or ten) could eat down all the brush, weeds, and vegetation that is a fire hazard in the summer and would convert that into manure which could be composted and would do wonders in the garden! But seeing as no one is there to take care of them, it wouldn't work too well. Oh well, I guess Dad and I will be doing a lot of weed-eating the next couple weeks! But I do intend to get a goat in the very near future to help me with this daunting task!

County Fair!

Today, we went to the Sacramento County Fair. We saw a couple 4-H & FFA friends, check out my placings on my entries and watched the goat show. The weather was less than great, it started pouring rain and by pouring, I mean like coming down in sheets! I'm glad we weren't in the livestock barn when it started! I plan on spending most of Memorial Day weekend at the Fair, hopefully next year I'll be a 4-H leader or maybe I'll be at the Butte County Fair! Oh, and I got 1st place on my wood burned sign, 1st place on my beef jerky and 3rd on my strawberry jam. I have one more competition on Saturday and I'm hoping for another 1st! Wish me luck!

Oops! I kinda forgot about ya'll!

I seriously didn't mean to forget about this blog! But it has literally been months, over half a year in fact since I last posted. Anyways, lots have happened and Hobble Rock is coming along swimmingly. We have a nice crop of volunteer potatoes coming into their prime, crape myrtle trees in a healthy grove, olive and orange trees waiting to be planted, blueberry bushes waiting to produce delicious berries for us, and a two trailers waiting to be repaired. I'm going to make a commitment to my readers now...I commit to writing at least one blog per week for the until December 31, 2010. Let's see if I can keep this commitment! God Bless!