Lehman's Country Life

No matter who you are, we all have a pair. It’s those beloved old jeans that don’t fit anymore, or have more holes than fabric. They sit in the drawer because we can’t bear to part with them. Well, now you don’t have to. Turn your old favorite pair of jeans into a functional purse that you can use every day.

Your supplies for this project are simple:  old jeans, decoration – rhinestones, beads, etc – a sewing machine or needle and thread, and scissors.  Now let’s bring new life to an old pair of jeans.
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Many people think that having a milk cow (or goat, as the case may be) is time consuming, shackling you to the farm day and night, night and day until your cow (or goat) has dried up. And then after she freshens, it’s back to the grindstone again.

But wait! There is a plan that allows you to be free as a bird whenever you want yet still be able to have a milk cow and all the goodies she gives you in return for feed, care and affection (whether she likes the affection or not).

I used this plan back in the “old” days when I was young and fancy-free, stronger and more able to handle four-legged beasts on my own, with no assistance from a husband (who was gone more often than not, at his “real” job).  However, he supported me in the plan and helped, when he was home at night and on weekends, with building fences, sheds, etc.
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I recently discovered the root of some health issues I was concerned about. I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly was troubling me. I just knew something about my body chemistry was “off.” Turns out, my thyroid was not functioning at its finest, and a simple homework exercise revealed the culprit: iodine.

Like many other women my age, I was low on this essential mineral. Even for those of us who eat a nutritious diet, it’s surprisingly easy to skimp on the daily amount of iodine we need. Deficiency doesn’t necessarily lead to the telltale goiter that is often associated with thyroid problems. It can reveal itself in rather ambiguous ways, such as dry skin, hair loss, fatigue, cold extremities and slower reflexes (a few of which I experienced). But I wasn’t comfortable resorting to pharmaceuticals to fix the problem. So often, pills only mask symptoms and end up throwing our systems further out of whack. Nor was I comfortable with chemically iodized salt, which doesn’t react in the body the same way natural iodine does.
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This engaging story was written by Judith’s daughter, Brigit Brown, age 10.

For some people, certain kinds of music and singing will calm them, ease them, and, for some, even guides them back to faith. Well, I personally have found this is the same for animals. On several occasions I have been able to form a bond with animals through singing. The most recent time was when an unexpected guest invited himself for breakfast!

On the morning of November 4, I went out to feed the animals before getting on the bus. Like always. But this day turned into an adventure. One of the horses was going crazy.

“Why?” I wondered to myself. I went into the barn and got some grain. Then I heard the bleat of goat.
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I arrived at my Texas farm in September, in time to see in a fall season’s plantings in the Community Supported Agriculture garden.  This was novel enough for me, coming from much further north where planting tends to end in the summer or maybe early fall, but certainly not in November.  But here, we still haven’t had our first frost and it doesn’t seem to be coming up any time soon.  Furthermore, here we very rarely have hard frosts—the high teens are the coldest people near Waco ever expect to see.  In a winter like this, brassicas, lettuces, and root crops can make it all the way through with little to no protection.

Our Community Supported Agriculture program runs from April through July and then from October through December—that’s right, a break in the summer because of the heat—but I have been told that the only reason we take a break in the winter is for our own rest.  If it were up to the vegetables and the weather we could go all year round, planting crops for the weather that suits them of course, but never running dry on harvest.

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With entertaining this holiday season there can come some risks and hazards.  Good preparation and planning is vital to make sure your celebrations being healthy and fun.

Many times we only think of food borne illnesses as a threat in warm summer weather. That is a perfect environment for food borne illness –but not the only one.
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MARYJANE’S EVERYDAY ORGANIC

If you’ve ever paused beside a window in wintertime, warm coffee cup in hand, and watched a sprightly flock of songbirds flitting among the branches of your backyard, you have been blessed. There is no trove of precious gemstones as spectacular — or as heart-lifting — as ruby-red cardinals, lapis jays and citrine goldfinches. It doesn’t matter how gray the day, even the most weary winter spirits are bound to take wing while watching those bright and busy little bodies.
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The holidays mean many different things to people and for most of us, one of those things is a pile of holiday cards.  You receive them from family, friends, neighbors and businesses.  Most of us will run out of room for all of these cards long before the season is over.  A holiday card arch is a clever and beautiful way to display all of your cards without taking up extra space.

Building this arch is a fairly simple project.  You can find the supplies you need at your local home improvement store.  For this project you will need:
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Fall provides an abundance of natural materials for decorating and crafting. If we search our gardens, farm stands and even along the roadside, we can collect items just waiting to be transformed into an autumn creation. From gourds and straw bales to pumpkins and corn shocks, it’s wonderful to use decorations that can be eaten or tossed in the compost pile rather than the trash can at the end of the season.

From our popcorn patch, we tie together bundles of three colorful ears for decorating and later dismantle the trio to shell for winter popcorn. Our compost pile was generous in growing an assortment of gourds and even a huge pumpkin this year. The pumpkin stood guard at our steps for a week before becoming a pumpkin cake for a November birthday boy. Our family raises a small patch of sorghum cane and we save the beautiful burgundy seed heads to create fall swags embellished with wheat, sea oats, rose hips, teasel and other dried finds. Once Thanksgiving arrives, we hang the swags in a tree to feed the birds so they can enjoy their own feast.
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United Feature Syndicate

MARYJANE’S EVERYDAY ORGANIC

Along with all of the wonders of the upcoming winter season comes the inevitable flu. Despite our best attempts to stay busy baking and planning celebrations, pesky cold and flu viruses often creep into our lives and put a damper on our plans. It usually starts with the sniffles, which shouldn’t be enough to waylay any party plans, but headaches, coughs and fevers can knock us down for the count. With characteristic can-do spirit, an old-fashioned farmgirl will likely face the flu with homemade chicken soup, hot tea and plenty of rest. She’ll try fresh air. She may even improvise her own neti pot using a repurposed dish-soap bottle — anything to avoid a trip to the doctor and the requisite dose of prescription pills.
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