Ode to an Ernie Bob, or......It's a Pig's Life..........

I come from a long line of pig farmers.  We always had pigs when I was little and Dad worked for a farm that farrowed sows and raised pigs on dirt.  When they converted over to confinement Dad's lungs couldn't handle it so he found a job as a diesel mechanic.  The house we lived in was the hired man house at the hog farm so we had to move, but that's neither here nor there.  On to the purpose of this post!

You may be asking yourself, what in the heck is an Ernie Bob?  Well he was a pig of course!

This is Ernie Bob and he was my first baby.  When I was about 16 or 17, a family member called and said one of their sows had only one piglet.  The pig business bein' what it was, he didn't want to leave just one pig on his sow, so he called and asked me if I wanted a pig to bottle feed.  Well.......DUH!  Of course I did, so I went and got this little boar piglet.  Nobody ever told me it was hard to raise a bottle pig, or that you couldn't do it on plain old cow's milk, so I guess that's why I didn't have any trouble.  That little pig was my baby and I loved him!  He lived on our enclosed back porch and he'd squeal in the night to wake me up for his bottle. 

 My dad named him Ernie Bob (don't ask me why, you'd just have to know my dad) and he was a trip.  Dad wanted to cut him and pull his tushes because he was worried about him gettin' mean but I wouldn't let him.  I just knew that would make my Ernie Bob not love me anymore, so he stayed a boar with all his teeth.  I couldn't get him weaned from the bottle because he knew I'd just melt when he asked for it, so one weekend when I had gone to a friend's house my dad weaned him off the bottle.  He lived on the porch till he got too big and then we built him a pen out in the old chicken house.

At this time, I also had a pet chicken named Bernadette (after Bernadette Peters)

and I'd walk around the yard with Ernie Bob right behind me and Bernadette right behind him.  We got more than a few stares from the neighbors! 

He never got mean and as an adult boar would suck on my bare toes!  The only thing you couldn't do to him was push on his head.  Hogs fight with their heads and when he was a little bitty pig and living on the back porch, when Dad would come home from work, he'd take his boot and push on the side of Ernie Bob's head.  Ernie Bob'd go crazy, bucking and fighting Dad's boot while Dad cackled like a loon.  Well once he got big, he'd never offer to get rough with you.......unless you pushed on his head.  Uncle Big Dog was over one day and standing at the panel lookin' at him and scratchin' him.  Dad said.... Now don't push on his head, so of course baby brother Big Dog had to do it.  Ernie Bob climbed right up that panel and up the front of Uncle Big Dog.  There was nothing left of his t-shirt.  Ernie Bob ripped it off him! 

After he got about 8 months old or so, my dad arranged for a local hog farmer to buy him to use as a boar.  I was very sad to see my Ernie Bob go, but he lived a long life breeding sows for Johnny!

Before Ernie Bob there were lots of feed lot pigs.  Dad and Grandpa kept sows on dirt.  That's me in the blue flowered dress and my sister in the green t-shirt.  You gotta love that there was an old dead push mower as well as numerous other trash in the hog lot.....

And here I am makin' friends while my sister is doin' something and my cousin T is figgerin' out what that long thing attached to the rear of the pig is!  I was right at 2 1/2 or 3 in these pictures.

Since then The Man and I've raised feeder pigs several times, but they were always MEAN and I never got too attached..........

You may be askin' yourself why all of a sudden I'm waxin' poetic about pigs?? 

Well here's a hint........

What does a Goodwife like me want for her birthday??  PIGS of course!  Sorry OFG, I know you're disappointed in me.........

Tune in tomorrow for the whole scoop on the pig situation at Goodwife Farm........

God Bless.............

It's MY Birthday, but Somebody Else is The Winner!!

The Youngun is picking the lucky winner........and I have to tell you, that is Ellie's bowl we are using to draw the names, and she is sitting at The Youngun's feet patiently waiting for something good to come from that bowl!

It's Brenda!!

Brenda of Granny's Best is the winner of my birthday giveaway!!

Thank you all so much for your birthday wishes and for entering the giveaway and Brenda if you will email me your mailing information I'll get this package in the mail on Monday!

Thank you for being my blogger buddies, you are all the best!

God Bless.................

Quality Time With The Youngun........

This week I've been a little lazy and not my normal, go-to, productive self.  This tends to happen to me in winter, but I'm happy to say this is the first time this winter and I'm very thankful for that! 

Anywho, The Youngun has never been one to play with Barbies.  She has a few but really never does anything with them, so she doesn't have very many clothes for them.  That said, one day this week she asked me if you could buy clothes for Barbies.  I told her when my sister and I were young, my mom (Granny Bob) made us countless beautiful Barbie clothes.  That prompted an online search for free Barbie clothes patterns and the next day The Youngun, Steve (Steve is my sewing machine for those of you who didn't know), and I got busy!

We used this pattern for our first attempt.

I've got the pieces pinned onto the material.....

Here they are all cut out and ready to start sewin'.......

First Steve and I had to zigzag stitch around each piece.....

This is the bodice with lace straps.........

Evidently I forgot to take pics of the rest of the steps, but here is the finished dress.

Now, I'd like to tell you this was a peaceful day and I was sitting there with Steve and The Youngun, humming peacefully as I sewed.......but we all know the Goodwife can't lie right??

Sewing Barbie clothes is......how shall I say it.........exhausting, maddening......craplousy hard!!  It gave me a whole new appreciation for the dozens of outfits Mom made for us with nary a complaint.  I even called her to thank her for it!  Steve and I quarrelled over it because he didn't like it any better than I did.  However, today we made another dress and it went much better.  I knew what I was doing this time and that makes all the difference!

Yes that is a skull ballgown........who are you to judge us?  LOL!!  By the by, doesn't my baby girl get more lovely every day?

Anywho, The Man has to work this Saturday so my folks are comin' to spend the day with me for my birthday (a day early but that's ok).  Mom is bringing her patterns and we are gonna have a Barbie clothes makin' day!

If you haven't entered my Birthday Giveaway, please feel free to go do so, it's open 'til Saturday at 5 pm.

God Bless.........

Someone's Got a Birthday, I Wonder Who??

Me, Me, It's meeeeeee!!!!!

On Sunday, I will be turning 34 years young!  What is the best thing to do for your birthday?  Give somebody else a gift of course!  And since you all are my favorite folks in the world, there is nobody I'd rather give a gift to!

So......what can I make you do to enter to win my birthday present??  Hmm........let's see........GOT IT!

Stand on your right foot, in a corner, with the middle finger of your left hand in your right ear and your right hand rubbing your tummy while you twirl around in a circle............

Huh?  What's that?  Too hard!?!!  Ok, ok, I guess all you have to do is leave me a comment then.  That should be good enough!

What's that?  Now you want to know what you are entering to win, just in case it's a piece of worthless trash?  Hmmm, awfully demanding aren't ya?  Oh well, I guess I'll tell ya anyway. 

The winner will receive this bundle of goodies......................a hand knit scarf and hat set; knitted up with lots of love and only a couple mistakes, this gem of a handmade duo could be yours, as well as this pretty little crock and a button doll made by my mama!

The giveaway starts today and will end on Saturday at 5 PM.

  The winner will be chosen at random Saturday evening and will be announced Sunday morning, January 30, 2011............MY BIRTHDAY!!

 

Thanks for reading my blog and helping me celebrate my b-day!

 

 

 

God Bless.................

 

 

More Projects...........

Tuesday was devoted to my latest project; making a tote and a purse from a recycled sweater.  I found this sweater at Salvation Army for 3 bucks.  It is 100% wool so perfect for felting.  This picture was taken after I felted it down in the washer.  My washer water doesn't get hot enough so I had to boil a giant pot of water on the stove and add it to the washer!  It started out as a size XL and probably would fit a 4 or 5 year old now. 

First I cut it in half right under the arm pits....

And then Steve and I sewed the bottom closed.  Then I sewed in between each button to make sure it stays closed.  I like the buttons on it, but had to be sure if they came undone the tote wouldn't spill it's guts!  Then I laid it aside because I've got to get a zipper for it and figure out handles, so I moved on to this......

This is made from the sleeves of the sweater.  I wish I'd gotten a picture of how I did it, but I'll try to explain.  I took each sleeve and cut it up the bottom seam.  Then I opened it out and cut it off about half way, discarding the top part.  Then I put the two sleeve parts right sides together and sewed around them.  Then I turned it right side out and this is what I've got.  I then cut strips off of the upper parts of the sleeves, folded them in half and sewed them, then sewed them to the bag, getting this.....

Isn't it adorable??  So very cute, and so very easy! 

After getting those two projects from my $3 sweater, I had this left over....

Which The Youngun and I thought would look simply divoon on Mr. Stuffy.  Mr. Stuffy is her best friend in the whole wide world...and I must say he does look quite dashing in his new sweater vest.....

So from one sweater I made all this...........

And had such fun at the same time!  I'm thinking leather for the handles on the big tote?  Whatcha think?  My mom's got tons of scrap leather laying 'round.  Rolled leather handles and a zipper and it will be faboo!

I also made this bread today and it is soooo very good!  I halved the recipe to only make 2 loaves so my bread machine could do the dough work for me ;).

God Bless..................

Detailed Homemade Shampoo Instructions......

It's come to my attention that some of you dear readers might like to make your own homemade shampoo and I didn't exactly give you the whole scoop on how to do it!  I'm sorry about that, but will tell you now.....

The ratio of liquid to grated soap is 30 oz liquid, to 5 oz grated soap.  So, you grate and weigh your soap and put it in your soap pot.  I only use this pot for soap making or milling, nothing else.  Then you steep your herbs in your boiling water, or just use plain water, and add 30 oz of it to your 5 oz of grated soap along with 1/2 tsp powdered pectin.  Then you put your pot over low heat and gently stir once in awhile until all the soap is melted.  Remove it from heat and add in 5 drops of rosemary essential oil.

If you don't have homemade soap on hand, I've read you can also do this with castile soap from the store, but I've never done it.

Then pour it into a clean shampoo bottle or other container.  At this point it is going to be very thin, but it will thicken up dramatically after cooling down.  I like to shake it every once in awhile as it's cooling.

Anywho, once again I'm sorry I forgot to put in the detailed amounts in my post.  I'm going to edit the original post to include these amounts as well.  Good luck if you decide to do this and I'd love to hear how you like it.

God Bless.................

Homemade Shampoo Updates............

Day One............

Shampoo'd as usual, then let air dry.  I never blow dry my hair, so this was in the evening after shampooing in the morning.  It takes my hair a long time to dry, plus I had it up in a clip for the biggest part of the day.

Day Two..........

I didn't shampoo today, just got up and brushed my hair as usual

Day Three.............

Shampoo'd in the morning, let air dry.

Are you tired of lookin' at the back of my head yet? 

Day Four............

No shampoo, just brushed and went about my day.  Static is a big of a problem, but then static is always a problem for me this time of year!

Day Five.........

Shampoo'd the night before, went to bed with wet hair.  Brushed in the morning....

Day Six.......

Shampoo'd, let dry, combed, took picture.........don't worry we are almost done with this.....lol!

Day Seven...........

Didn't shampoo, just brushed and took the picture....

This concludes the week long review of my homemade shampoo.  My conclusion is that I like it very much!  I hope to make this my permanent shampoo choice and hope to experiment with different herbal rinses this summer when my herbs are growing.  I'm able to shampoo every other day and my hair still looks good, although it looks better on the day I shampoo.  It is also a lovely total body wash. 

I can't tell you how good it feels to get in the shower and use homemade soap, homemade shampoo, and then slather myself down with homemade face cream!

God Bless........................

Goat Lovin' is in the Air..................

Thursday as I was cleaning up from my face cream expedition, I was washing dishes while looking out my window as I always do.  I noticed a little goat lovin' was in the air.  When I did chores that mornin' I was pretty sure Tulip was comin' in and it turns out she was!  Star and Tulip both came in on Christmas Eve so I knew if they weren't bred they'd be comin' in soon.  Star didn't come in so I'm crossin' my fingers that she's bred and will kid in May. 


I apologize for the picture quality.  My barn at night isn't the best lighting for photos!  Star hanging out..

 This is the first time I haven't hand bred my goats and I'm not sure I like it.  Always before I've housed my buck in solitary confinement with his wether.  When my girls came in, I'd let him out with them, he'd jump on and do the deed, I'd put him away and we were done.  How did I know the mission was accomplished you ask?  Well in extremely technical terms........when that buck juice gets where it needs to go, the Mrs. will hunch her back up and waddle forward.  When hand breeding, as soon as I saw that hunchback waddle, I knew were were in business.  This way I'm not seeing that and I don't like it.  I saw a bit of foreplay and action out the window but no hunchback waddle.  Of course she'd been in heat since morning and with the ever so balmy temperature of 17* it's not like I'd been out there all day!


Fatty Tulip can never get enough to eat!

Why am I keeping them together all the time you ask?  Well in short, my hay isn't the best this year and I want Tommy to be able to browse all the time instead of having to live on mediocre hay.  I also don't want Tommy to live entirely alone.  I don't have a wether to house with him, so he's living full time with the girls. 


Who could resist that face?  I know if I were a doe, I'd be putty in his hands! 

   I know some of my darlin' readers pasture breed their goats with great success, so hopefully that will be the case here as well! 

 

God Bless.........................

Homemade Face Cream............

Has the Goodwife lost her ever lovin' mind?  Well that is always a possibility!

Last Thursday (12/13/2011) I made face cream in my kitchen.........

This took a total of about 20 minutes start to finish and made enough face cream to last me a long time.  As a matter of fact, I'm storing it in the fridge cuz I'm afraid I won't be able to use it up before it goes bad.  It has no preservatives so it is liable to mold.....

I found this idea here.

First I added two chamomile tea bags to 2/3 cup boiling water in a 1 qt wide mouth jar and let it steep for 15 min, after which I removed the tea bags....

Then I melted 1/2 oz beeswax, 3/4 cup grapeseed oil, and 1/2 cup coconut oil in the top of a double boiler.......

I added 1/3 cup aloe-vera juice (not gel) a few drops of lavender essential oil, and the contents of 5 vitamin E capsules to the steeped chamomile tea.......

After the oils were melted and the tea was steeped and mixed with the other ingredients.........

I whooped the tar outta it with a stick blender!

You have to do this really well and check the sides of the jar to be sure it's all incorporated together.

Then I poured my cream into a clean glass bowl with a lid and put it in the fridge.  This is the cream that wouldn't fit in my bowl.  I put it on this saucer and put it in a baggie and kept it in the bathroom, but I've already used it up.

How did I like it you ask?  Well.........it doesn't smell as lavender-ish as I'd hoped.  I should've put more lavender in it.  How does it work?  It works good!  It takes a little bit to soak into your skin, but my skin feels smooth and silky.  I really really like this face cream and have been using it all over my body.

I cleaned out a mini candle jar to fill with the face cream to keep in my bathroom.  I will refill it from the large container in the fridge.

The only thing I had to buy was the beeswax, the aloe-vera juice and the stick blender.  I've never had a stick blender, but it will come in handy with my soap making I'm sure.

Now go have some fun in your kitchen!!

God Bless............................