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God Healed Baby, the Farm Cat

February 2, 2015 in Fresh Off the Farm with 2 Comments

Kitty face, bright eyes, cat whiskers, Close up cat face,It is interesting how things worked out. The vet could not get  to our place that day. Baby was not miserable, just disabled. Her eyes were still bright and she was eating well.  So we waited.

Farm life, for us, includes many animals.  It is not uncommon for us to ask God for things that they need.  I prayed for Baby.  I asked our grandchildren to pray for her, too. The children had befriended Baby over the years and were so sad to hear of her injury. We asked for her healing, not knowing that God was working on her.

Several days later, I picked Baby up and tried to find that large gaping wound on her underside.  It was gone! Her flesh had knit together. The leg wound was decreasing in size.  Skin was forming over the exposed muscle.

The bone still protruded and had to be removed. Our vet helped us with that. Baby had surgery and has recovered.

She can get around up and down stairs and is looking very fit. She has put on the weight she lost and is wanting more social activity.  She is returning to her old self again.

We never did decide how she got hurt.  Maybe she got run over by some vehicle. It remains a mystery.

We are sure, however, that God had a hand in her healing.  He gave her instincts to use in caring for herself. Our vet along with the auxiliary care we could provide all worked together for her good. Her accident was not pleasant nor was it good, but it does illustrate a principle we find written in the Holy Bible. In Romans 8:28 we find, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according His purpose.”(NKJV)

I hope you enjoyed this little story about how God healed Baby, our farm cat.

If you would like to ponder Romans 8:28 further you might like this blog. http://phyliciadelta.com/felista-all-things-are-working-together/

To view Baby’s favorite perch by the farmhouse door, check out this card in our store.

photo credit:Wenda Grabau

Heart-break For Baby, the Farm Cat

January 28, 2015 in Fresh Off the Farm with 0 Comments

sad face, sad eyes, eyelashes,The warm bath and the subsequent rub down with an old towel helped her look more cat-like instead of a rumpled mass of flesh.  Her eyes were bright and healthy-looking.  She did not like the bath, but it helped.

I made a soft bed for her to lie on and set it beside the warm wood-burning furnace. I found her old litter box and a nice cushion that she had used in the old days when she was a house cat.  I washed and filled her old dish with food to eat and milk to drink.  She gladly filled her tummy.

It was still not apparent to us how she had gotten hurt. Nor did we realize the extent of her injuries. I went to the basement to check on her quite often.

I caught her grooming herself.  She was actively trying to fix her open sore.  We medicated her her with antibiotics to help her with the healing process. Taking her medicine was not her favorite part of the day, for sure.  But all of these things must have helped her.

In the early days of her recovery, she kept quiet and quite still most of the time. She took time to work briskly at cleaning her wounded leg. The smelly, black-looking flesh transformed into clean, red muscle tissue. I did not understand why she would not leave the wound alone to heal, but later we decided that her active cleaning action removed the infected tissue.

I bathed her a few times.  Following one bath I noticed that her underside was split open.  How that broke my heart!  I could not see how she could heal from that large rip in her hide. We noted a protruding bone in her leg. It was broken. Her situation made my heart sick.  I almost despaired. Our veterinarian was due to come to the farm on another errand so, we considered putting her to sleep.

To see one of Baby’s haunts check out this card. http://angelatsansone.com/store/products/calf-shed/

For a lighter view on cats, visit http://www.jhphotograph.com/blog1/puppy-love-farm-cats-and-dogs

photo credit: liakapelke via photopin cc

Baby, the Missing Farm Cat!

January 22, 2015 in Fresh Off the Farm with 0 Comments

cat, gray and white cat, farm cat, I have a story to tell you today.  This story involves our farm cat, Baby.  I have told a few stories about her in the past, but this is a little drama that may be of interest to you.

My daughter rescued Baby as a kitten from a bulldozer. She soon became my daughter’s beloved pet. But when my daughter married, she left without Baby.  So Baby had to adjust to farm life outdoors.

Not all cats thrive at such an assignment, but Baby did. She weathered the elements well, but she did not figure out how to handle mice. To survive she ambled to the house for a handout often.

One of Baby’s favorite perches was on an old plow beside the farmhouse’s front door. In November, I noticed that she was not hanging around any more. Since cats keep their own schedules, I was not alarmed. But after four days of not seeing her at her regular place, we began to question what had happened to her.  The days were cold and snowy and Baby was unseen.

Then one afternoon, my husband came in the basement and called to me.  He carried in his arms a clump of something he had found.  It was Baby!  He found her lying in the straw in one of the farm buildings.  Her leg was mangled and she had lost a lot of weight.  She had an open would on her hind leg.  I cleansed a bucket and filled it with a soapy bath water.  Baby went into the water with no fight or fidgeting at all.  Perhaps she knew I was trying to help her.  As I lowered her into the bath water, I could smell the wound.  “Infection,” I feared.

Find out about another cat at this website,  http://wernercreekfarm.com/tag/farm-cats/

If farm animals are your passion, visit our product list and find our card, Faithful Cow Dog.

photo credit:Bretta Grabau

Parent-Friendly

January 19, 2015 in Family Ties, Fresh Off the Farm with 0 Comments

medium_4395453648I had the delight of hosting my daughter and her young son at the farm last week. Having not had his first birthday, makes the little one quite dependent on others.  As Grandma, I got to play with him a time or two.

At meal time, he sat in an heirloom, caned high chair. Finger foods were plentiful for my little offspring. They rested scattered on the food tray of the old high chair. The height of the chair is functional, but as you will see, it makes for trouble . . . sometimes.

During this particular visit, the good thing was that his eye/hand coordination had developed quite well. Picking up a piece of cereal and looking it over before putting it in his mouth worked just fine. Along with the eye/hand abilities, he practiced making verbal sounds like, “D”. I encouraged him to say, “Daddy.” However, that word was still a bit too complex for his young mind and body to perform.

Innocently, I started playing a game to help him use his D-sounds. When he dropped a piece of cereal or a utensil, I said a noticeable, “Oh-oh.” My grandson’s eyes dropped to find what had fallen to the floor. Studiously he exclaimed, “D.”  I chimed in with him to say, “Down.” This scenario happened repeatedly.  As a grandma, I thought it was fun to play with him this way. After all, he was learning a lesson on “Down.”

And now we get to the bad thing. The review went very well. He enjoyed dropping what Grandma picked up for him and I enjoyed the, “Oh-oh!”, and the “D…D” exchanges with my grandson. But now Mommy and Daddy have to put up with this funny little game, too.  They find it tiring.

I guess Grandmas can get away with a few things when the kids do not always live with her. But I will have to remember to control the games I teach him in the future. From now on I will consider whether or not the game is Parent-Friendly.

Babies are precious. You might enjoy a card that shows such beauty.  Find it in our product line.

If you are looking for a mothering-site try this one.  http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2014/03/motherhood-mondays-baby-foodan-epiphany.html

photo credit: brendan-c via photopin cc

Memory – A Winter Picnic

January 8, 2015 in Family Ties, Fresh Off the Farm with 0 Comments

indoor picnicHas the long winter gotten to you?  If you have very young children in your home, try the excitement of a winter picnic. We had fun with it when our children were small.

You need to work on the menu, the serving place, and the “setting.”

My home is not terribly big.  I decided to use my biggest room for the serving place.  I chose a blanket we use for sitting on the grass as my “picnic tablecloth.”  I served the food on paper plates as we generally do for picnics.

The menu is yours to decide.  Whatever your family typically enjoys on picnics will add to the aura of your experience.  We had “Fun Buns” and gelatin.  Fun Buns are a yeast bread baked in a 8-9 inch round cake pan.  After baking, slice the bread sideways to make a top and bottom of the bun.  Barbecue, pizza burger or cheese burger fillings go great for the sandwich filling.  Before serving, cut the bun/sandwich in wedges.

stuffed animalsTypically for a picnic, the setting has trees, flowers, rivers or ponds and even some small creatures.   So, for our picnic, I looked for ways to emulate such a view. I placed our indoor plants in conspicuous places where the family would see them on our picnic.  Because some plants did not have blooms, I stuck stems of artificial flowers in with the green plants to spruce up the scenery.  I gathered small mirrors into one place to fashion a ”pool.”  Bath toys served as fish or ducks for the “pond.”  I gathered various armfuls of stuffed animals hid them behind furniture and lamps.  After eating, we went on a safari hunting for the animals. We all had a fun time with our pretend “winter picnic.”

Home does not have to be boring.  Try making a memory with your very own Winter Picnic.  I think you will be glad you did.

For other fun ideas for picnicking in your home try this link.  http://carriethishome.com/2014/02/indoor-picnic-activity/

Check out our fun, kid-oriented card designs in our website.

photo credit: foilman via photopin cc

photo credit: NicoleAbalde via photopin cc

A “Home-made Christmas”

October 13, 2014 in Family Ties, Fresh Off the Farm with 0 Comments

632-Nativity-SceneMany of us have traditions of family Christmases long ago that we zero in on each year.  Christmas, based on the generously lavish gift God sent into the world, i. e., the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior, awakens generosity and gift-giving in people all over the world. Our little home is no exception.

One Christmas, it looked like we would be short of cash.  We determined that we would all have a “Home-made Christmas.” We included the kids in this little concept. Each of the kids got a chance to make gifts for one other and for Mom and Dad.

  • Our eldest made me a foot stool of wood with an upholstered cushion.
  • My husband and I fashioned a doll out of wooden spools for our young daughter.
  • My husband made me a small wooden nativity scene to set on our window sill. He designed a second one as a toy for our small daughter.

Not all of the gifts were made of wood.  My husband likes candy. What a perfect gifts we made for him from our kitchen…peanut brittle and toffee.

Though the home-made gifts worked for us when money was scarce, we need not wait for that reason to make Christmas home-made. Let me encourage you to try it. You may have many resources in your home and garage with which to work.  Be creative. You have plenty of time to get working on it. There are still over 2 months till Christmas. Not only will you be making a gift, you will make a memory!

To purchase cards with the “Nativity” design, drawn of the gift my husband made, follow this link to our store.

Would you like ideas for gift-making? Try this website: http://www.mommysavers.com/frugal-christmas-25-days-of-homemade-gift-ideas/

Sketch by Wenda Grabau

Velvet:Cat Epilogue

October 10, 2014 in Fresh Off the Farm, Snippets with 0 Comments

cat hunting, cat in grass, black and white cat,Epilogue: This little story illustrates a spiritual lesson or parable, if you wish.  The cat is like people, beloved by the farmer and his family.  The farmer and his family represent God, the Father and God, the Son.

Velvet, the cat, was doing her own thing, trespassing on the farmer’s territory.  It was natural for her look after her needs, but she was not aware that doing it on the farmer’s field was placing herself in danger. It is true that man is like this cat.  He lives life on his own not aware of God’s authority and rule over his life or of His wishes for man’s welfare.  Man does not recognize that in taking charge of his own life, he is trespassing in God’s territory. Man may even be ignoring God.

The farmer’s wife cared about the cat, a fact of which the cat was unaware.  The wife expressed her concern for the cat’s welfare in words to her daughter. Similarly, when God sees that man is in danger of destruction, He says so.  He provided His Word to communicate that to us.  In John 1:1, it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The gospel continues in John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Just like farmer’s daughter coming to the cat to rescue it from danger in the hay field, Jesus came from His home in heaven to rescue mankind from the danger that he was in.

Real life situations can illustrate things about God, like it did in Velvet’s case. Though these are imperfect reflections of God Himself and His deeds, there is a perfect place to learn about Him.  God’s Word, the Holy Bible, provides the information and the power to change our lives.  Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper that any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (NKJV) I hope you were encouraged by Velvet’s story. Let God’s Word be your biggest encouragement.

We have a card that may bring you pleasure.  It is called “Family Bible”.  Find it in our store.

photo credit: wallygrom via photopin cc

Velvet:Cat Exposed

October 6, 2014 in Fresh Off the Farm, Snippets with 0 Comments

black and white cat, cat,Unbeknownst to me, eyes had spotted me.  The Farmer’s wife seated on the tractor saw me in flight as I pounced on my lunch. She also saw me disappear from sight.

The time to bale the hay in the field where I hunted had come. This field was next on her list.  The tractor began to move along the rows of fluffed hay, pulling the baler that picked it up and packed the hay into small bales. Farmer’s daughter removed the bales from the baler and loaded and stacked them on the trailing hay wagon. This didn’t bother me, I stuck to my job of hunting.

Hay just before it is baled out in the field,Farmer’s wife and daughter both knew I was in the field, but since I had already dove beneath the hay, they could not figure out in which row I was hiding.  Farmer’s wife temporarily parked the tractor. “I sure would hate to bale that cat!”

“Me, too,” her daughter agreed.

They began their job once again and baled more hay. The workers and machinery circled the hayfield several times. Still I remained cool and hid in my fluffy cover. All at once, another field creature happened my way. Farmer’s daughter spied my reaction. She lit off of the hay wagon running toward me.

She startled me so that I missed my target and ran for dear life.  I left the field for my shed and my little ones. The tractor and baler kept moving ahead and cleaned up all the hay on that field.  I am glad I did not stay there after all. I will try again there tomorrow, but with all of that hay gone, there is no place to hide.  Hunting will be different, I might need to find a new place to work.

For a good look at tractor, see our antique tractor card in our store.

If old tractors are your interest, you might like to visit this website: http://marvinbaumann.com/index.php

photo credit: Bev Goodwin via photopin cc
photo credit:Wenda Grabau

Consider the Hay

September 29, 2014 in Fresh Off the Farm, Snippets with 0 Comments

Rows of hay, Raked hay, alfalfaMany things can be learned from the world we live in.  During His life on Earth, Jesus advised, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:28b-30 NKJV) If, as He stated, we can learn things from things that grow in the field, it will benefit us to consider the fields.

corn plants, corn in the field, field corn, green field corn,As we worked bringing in the hay harvest, I particularly enjoyed the view. Elevated in the tractor seat, I get a wider view of the the landscape.  On this particular day, we baled a hilly field.  From the tractor seat, mounted on the rise of a hill, I saw acres of cut, dried hay neatly raked into rows awaiting the harvest.  Between each row, stubble, alive and growing, remained. Fence lines sported colors from goldenrod and other wildflowers in bloom. Beyond the hayfield, acres of corn waved in the breeze.  Still further in the distance rose hardwood forests.

Before this day came, rain loomed in the forecast. Steady sunshine was a must for the hay crop. Without the sun’s drying influence, the hay could mold in the storage shed or be unfit for storage altogether.  With winter sure to come, feed for our cattle is a necessity.  Waiting for the good crop and abundant sunshine came along with much tension and concern.  How grateful we were that though rain was coming, the Lord parted the clouds for the morning and afternoon to bless us with the sun’s warming presence.

The cut, raked hay dried and baled well due the sun. The short stubble hay needed the sun for growth, as did the corn as it matured in the neighboring fields. Trees, off in the distance, craved sunshine for photosynthesis and the production of sugar to support their very lives.

I pondered this question.  “In 3-square feet of the field, how many plants might be rooted and dependent on the sun.”  Of course,  I had no time to measure this exactly.  But this question illustrated to me how massive an influence the sun has on the land.  Not every plant which depends on the sun is the same or even similar.  Their needs and growth differ. But this one sun affects each small plant or seed that embeds itself in the earth.

God is like that.  So many individuals on Earth are similar in that they need Him.  They are not all the same, but God supplies them with life itself. People have a vast amount of needs and yet, only this one God supplies all for everyone. He cares about each one of them.

I hope that this time of “considering the…fields” of hay helps you to picture what grows in the field and to understand more deeply how God reaches out everywhere and knows each of His creations.

photo credit:Wenda Grabau
photo credit:Wenda Grabau

For a fun look at another hay field try  http://artbyannaayres.com/works/1270914/hay-field-triptych .

photo credit:Wenda Grabau
photo credit:Wenda Grabau

Beans, Beans, Beans – Part 3

September 2, 2014 in Fresh Off the Farm with 0 Comments

green beans, pole beans, cleaning beans, beans,

Washing Green Beans

Processing green beans can be tedious. First, the beans must be washed.  Bush beans hang close to the garden soil.  They come in pretty dirty.  These pole beans are mostly hanging in the air off of the garden floor.  That makes the cleaning phase easier.  I rinse them several times in cold water. Then I move on to phase two.

green beans, beans, snipping beans, knife, cutting board,

Snipping Green Beans

 

 

This phase is snipping.  The stem-end of the bean and the tip of the other end must be removed.  This can be done by hand or with a knife and cutting board as shown here.  The knife and board method is much quicker when time is of the essence.

At this point there are a few options for the cook to decide upon.

    1. Cut the beans
    2. French the beans or
    3. Leave them whole
Stainless steel kettle holds 8 quarts or more

Stainless Steel Kettle

When this part of the processing is done, we are ready to blanch the beans. Blanching partially cooks the beans in preparation for the freezer. To blanch bean, bring water to a boil, then add the beans, cover the kettle with its lid and time the boiling for  4 minutes.   Then plunge the beans in a cold water bath to cool them quickly. When the beans a sufficiently cooled, you may package them in your freezer bags or containers. Label the packages with the contents and the year in which the processing was done.

There you have a little information on how I do my bean, beans, beans.  You may find other sources stimulating, too.  You might like to check out how to freeze green beans at this link as well.

 

photo credits:Wenda Grabau

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