# Wyndsong - City Kid to Farmer Wife



## Wyndsong (Jun 10, 2021)

Since I am not really doing too much on my land right now I figured I'd just answer the questions that are in the pinned thread so y'all can get to know me a little better!

1.    What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? I'm in Northeast Tx, Tyler to be exact.  Smith county, the Piney Woods

2.    How many people are in your family? Marital status?  Living with me is just my Husband and my elderly mom.  We have two grown sons, one who lives near here and one who lives in Las Vegas (where we were living before TX).  My eldest sister also lives near us and so does my mother in law.  We'd like to have a tiny house on the property for both of them.... they aren't thrilled with that idea, not sure why.

3.    How would you define your farm?  ummm... I dunno, it's 6.5 acres of a mixture of pasture and woods.  We have a pond and a bit of a creek/spring that  feeds our pond.  Our dam is broken on our pond, so it's more of a mud swamp.

4.    What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?  have a nice veggie and herb garden, plenty of chickens for meat and eggs, sheep for milk and meat, maybe a pig or two for meat.  I'd be making soaps and other beauty products.  And crafting!  Ahhh retirement sounds really good right about now.

5.    Have you ever built a house, barn , or other types of building? Do you want to?  nope, but I really want to!!

6.    Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet?  hahahahaha, no

7.    Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer? My granny and her family were farmers back in the depression and on.  So I grew up with stories of farm life.  I visited my great-uncle in Oklahoma when I was about 6 and he had cows and chickens and goats and a strawberry patch.  I caught frogs in his little pond and it was wonderful!

8     Is it a hobby or an occupation? self sufficient lifestyle

9.    In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more?  I've been learning about chickens, growing your own food and sheep.  But I need to learn more about everything.

10.  In what types of farming will you never choose to do?  Probably cows.... they're too big.  The idea of a family dairy cow sounds appealing, but we really don't drink that much milk and I can make cheese with goat or sheep milk.

11.   Are you interested in providing more of your own food supply? That is why we're doing this.  We see signs of a very hard time coming and we want to be as self sufficient as we can be.

12.   Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? Usually on my back porch with a drink (coffee or tea) and reading a book or taking pictures.

13.   Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi?the small one we have,yes.  My mom could drive a semi when she was younger, but I never learned.

14.   Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these?  I do!  I love crafting!  I make junk journals right now.  But I've made jewelry and clothes and all sorts of things

15.   Can you legally have all forms of livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? yes and I don't h ave any just yet.  Working on getting some chickens and then maybe some sheep.

16.   Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood?  I've only used some drills and saws, but we're working on getting more tools, but we need a shop building to be able to store everything in!

17.   Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?  yes I love it!!  Right now I'm growing a bunch of onions and a few tomatoes.   I hope to get a winter garden up when my back is recovered.

18.   Do you fish? Bait or explosives?  I haven't fished in forever, but I want to do that when we get our pond fixed.  With bait though.

19.   How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country? we own 6.5 acres just outside of a small city, so country.

20.   Are you a Novice, Technician, degreed?  NOVICE !

21.   What is your farm specialty? Or what one would you like to learn?  no idea yet

Well work has gotten busy again so I better take care of that before I finish answering the questions.  LOL  Hope you enjoy!


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## Baymule (Jun 10, 2021)

Great start on your journal!


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## Wyndsong (Jun 11, 2021)

22.   If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take?  This has nothing to do with farming or herds, but I would create a degree and curriculum in how to homeschool your kids.  I homeschooled my boys their entire childhood right through high school.  Used almost every type of curriculum and style of homeschooling because I adjusted what I was doing to fit their individual needs.  I love helping other families homeschool their kids as well.  It's so much fun!  I wish I had had this land while my boys were younger, they would have had a lot more science and nature classes than I was able to give them!

23.   Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet?  Nope, but  I'm learning.  My husband is pretty good at all that stuff.

24.   Are you interested in herbal animal medicine?  yes!  I love using herbs and essential oils for everything!  LOL

25.   If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? Well I pretty much do live where I want to live.  Although my dream spot is in the mountains of Colorado!  However Tyler TX is the next best place!

26.    Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking?  We did during the great Texas Snowmageddon of 2021!  LOL

27.    What would your ideal super hero/villain be?  hmmm... this is a harder question to answer than the curriculum one!  There are already so many awesome super heroes and villains.  I'll have to think on that a little longer

28.    Are your family or friends also interested in animals?  Some are some aren't.

29.    Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs?  I love cooking!!!!  Love love love cooking!  Farm fresh eggs are the best and I can't wait  till I can get them from my own back yard!

30.   What was your best animal experience? Worst?  There are too many to list, but one just popped up in my mind.  I was about 6 or 7 and my sister took me to Marine World in southern CA.  It no longer exists, but it was a smaller version of Sea World.  One of the first things I got to do was pet a dolphin.  I fell in love with them and never stopped.  The WORST experience was with our own dog.  We got her from a breeder at 10 weeks old.  Such a cute little puff ball.  Bernese Mountain Dog.  But as soon as we got her home she decided to turn into a pirahna dog.  All teeth!  For the next two weeks we were all crying because all of us from the knees down were shredded by her teeth.  We almost thought about taking her back!  Then we found a trainer and she became the stubborn but non-biting dog we all love now!  LOL  Boy howdy, that has put me off of puppy love though!  haha

31.    Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs?  not yet!

32.    What skills do you have that help you be more a self sufficient farm?  I can shoot  pretty well, I can usually grow whatever I try to... although I haven't had too much chance to grow much food yet, but we've got onions growing and some tomatoes too!  So we'll see about the rest.  

33.    Do you process your own meat? Can or preserve?  We don't  yet, but that is something I plan to do.. both processing some of our own meat (the smaller animals) and canning/preserving food.  Been practicing a little bit of dehydrating and fermenting.

34.   Do you use alternative energy sources on your farm? Would you like to?  We are looking at building a little solar power for ourselves, but that's the only one that's fesible for us at the moment.

35    What is on your to do list?  omg!  Too much... I'll probably make a whole post just for that!  For this weekend though, we're going to finish up the chicken coop to get it ready for chickens (hopefully this weekend), installing a new fan in our living room, chopping up some of the tree that we had cut down.

36.   Have you ever lived completely off what you produce? Would you like to? nope, and yes!

37.   In what do you trust?  God!

38.  Do you make and fix things yourself to save money?  sometimes!

39.  Has the experience with animals changed your attitude or habits?not yet  LOL


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## Senile_Texas_Aggie (Jun 11, 2021)

Miss @Wyndsong ,

THANK YOU for starting your journal!  I am now following along.

Senile Texas Aggie


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## Baymule (Jun 12, 2021)

You are on the best adventure of your life. 
I love canning and do a lot of it. I recommend the All American canner. It’s the ONLY one still made in America. Heavy machined aluminum with no gasket to wear out and have to be replaced. I absolutely adore mine and named it The Beast. It is a work of art. A friend said there is a waiting list, so look them up and get on the list! Mine will hold 7 quarts or 17 double stacked pints.


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## Wyndsong (Jun 14, 2021)

Baymule said:


> You are on the best adventure of your life.
> I love canning and do a lot of it. I recommend the All American canner. It’s the ONLY one still made in America. Heavy machined aluminum with no gasket to wear out and have to be replaced. I absolutely adore mine and named it The Beast. It is a work of art. A friend said there is a waiting list, so look them up and get on the list! Mine will hold 7 quarts or 17 double stacked pints.


We've been looking at that one and thought about getting on the list, but we've got so many other things that we need to get first, we decided not to.  I have a water bath canning system so that should be fine for now.


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## Baymule (Jun 14, 2021)

I totally get it, they are not cheap. I had another pressure canner I didn’t like for 30 years. I learned about the All American and ordered one. I love The Beast! I consider it an investment in our health, eating good food that we raised.


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## Wyndsong (Jun 16, 2021)

Happy News: We have chickens!  Saturday we spent the day finishing up the chicken coop & watering system.  And did a little shopping too.  I haven't felt so good physically in years!  I got up at 7am, which is early for me on the weekends but late for weekdays.  My hubby was already up, which is usually the case.  I ate a little something, got dressed and we were ready to get to work by 8am!  We did what we could on the frame of the coop to fortify it, then we had to go shopping for some supplies.  

First stop was to Steel's Feed & Seed in Troup.  I think a couple of people recommended the store on here and a few local friends did as well.  We probably spent an hour there!  LOVED that place!  For such a small store, they sure did have a lot of stuff!  I probably could have shopped there the entire day and spent a whole lotta money there too!  But unfortunately we had gone by the local coffee shop first and we both needed to run back home for a potty break.  LOL

Next we went out again and headed to Home Depot to get some hardware that Steel's didn't have.  One our way back home we stopped at a little antique shop.  Didn't really NEED anything there, but they gave me free homemade ice cream, so it was only polite to bring home a few items!  LOL  I got a basket to collect eggs in, a nice little frame for a project I'm working on, and a beautiful wood   table that will go perfectly in our entryway with our  palm tree sitting on it!  Then we went back home to finish the coop.  

By the time we were done it was 8pm!!  It was still LIGHT out!  I was tired and my muscles and feet were a little sore, but I was not wrecked like I usually am from being out!  Before my back surgery if we went to ONE store or worked on a project for an hour I would be laid up for days afterwards!  This time, I was sore, even the next day I was sore, but I wasn't dead like normal.  It's amazing how good I feel now.

Sunday was supposed to be me mowing the lawn, at least part of it, and my Hubby and son were going to install our new fan for the living room.  Instead I was a little too tired to start on the mowing and my Hubby decided he didn't want me to risk hurting myself doing it anyway.  He felt like the jarring might be too much for me and didn't want me to ruin how far my recovery has gotten.  I agreed.  Then we found out that the fan needs an extension to fit right on our ceiling, so that was put off until next weekend.  I did cook us a nice home cooked roasted chicken lunch though. I haven't cooked a nice home cooked meal for my son in a long time.

After lunch and my son went back home, my  hubby and I decided to go get us some chickens!  First we had to stop off at the hardware store again to get the last couple of things for the coop, and then we went to a local farm that had grown chickens already laying eggs!  Luckily she lives just a few miles from us and she was a super sweet lady.  We bought two gorgeous Leghorn hens.  You can read more about the coop and the chickens here, Wyndsong's Journy to Chicken Lady.  

Currently, they have given us 3 eggs now!  They seem to be adjusting to their new surroundings alright.  Our dog Rhennie is still way too super interested in them.  We've got to keep working with her on that.  She's kinda spoiled, so that may be something we can't break her of.  Not sure, but we'll keep trying and won't let her out there alone with them if we're not sure of their safety!

Sad News:  Then Monday came along.  I"m sad to say that we had to say goodbye to our dear cat, Zelda.  He was a beautiful Maine Coon / Ragdoll mix who had adopted us in Las Vegas 11 years ago.  When he came to us he was at the youngest 2, but he could have been older.  He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Cancer before my back surgery in March.  While I was in the hospital, my husband wasn't sure if Zelda would still be here when I got home.  But we got almost 3 more months with him than we expected.  We're all heart broken, but it was for the best.  He was having more and more trouble eating, breathing, and sleeping.  He'll be forever in our hearts though.


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## Baymule (Jun 16, 2021)

So happy to hear how great your recovery is going. What a wonderful day!

That’s too bad about your cat, I know you will miss him. Our beloved pets leave us all too soon. Time will heal your heart but his memory will be with you forever.


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## Wyndsong (Jun 17, 2021)

Thank you @Baymule , that is very true.  We have many years of wonderful and funny memories of him.  As well as many other beloved pets.  We have a little area on our land that is more wooded than the rest.  We have a Buddha statue in there on a cement table that looks like where an old well may have been.  I think I will make that area where we have our beloved pets who have passed on.  Gotta make sure there's no curse on the spot so we don't trigger a Pet Cemetery incident.  LOL  I know I know, my sense of humor is a bit dark and comes out in the most inappropriate times, but I can't help it!  LOL


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## Baymule (Jun 17, 2021)

My humor is a bit inappropriate also. LOL That sounds like a lovely place to put your beloved pets to rest.


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## Senile_Texas_Aggie (Jun 18, 2021)

Miss @B&B Happy goats also has that sort of sense of humor.


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## Baymule (Jun 18, 2021)

Senile_Texas_Aggie said:


> Miss @B&B Happy goats also has that sort of sense of humor.


It’s a good thing nobody can see the texts we send each other! LOL


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