I just sat today for my second NCC exam this year. The first was for my In-patient obstetrics in May, which I passed. Today I sat for my RNC-EFM test. It’s a certificate of added qualification in electronic fetal monitoring. So if I pass, I guess my title will be RNC-OB, EFM? I’ll find out in a few weeks if I passed. My brains are tired. I’m going to keep this post short. With the CEU’s I earned today, and the 24 I’ll get when I mail out another at-home study guide I’ve been working on, I’ll have somewhere near 60 CEU’s this year. That’s quite a lot, in case you aren’t familiar with these things. If memory serves me correctly, I need 45 CEU’s over 3 yrs to maintain my RNC-OB. I’m not sure how many I’ll need for this one. But that number should put it in perspective…. 45 over 3 yrs…. 60 in one year…. thus, my brain is tired! I am not sure that I’ll be able to use most of them for my RNC recerts in 3 yrs. I’ll just have to find out later. But as for now, it’s bed time.

   This is our “15 year” event.   It has happened 3 times in the last 15 months.

These are pics from 8/07 flood, but it looks nearly the same.  The water is a little less high this time, but you get the drift.  This is our front yard, looking north.  I am probably standing directly over the field tile that runs through the middle of my front yard.  It is plugged with roots.  As you can see, clearing it of the roots might help, but it won’t take all the water, there is just too much.

This is our side yard, heading to the back yard, on the north side of the pines.  I got ahead of the flood water this time and took the fence down (mostly) early.  I had water up to my knees.  That pipe on the right hand side of the pic is about 4.5 feet tall.  Where the water goes, on the left of DH, the water is atleast 3 feet deep.  I just love the saying on DH’s shirt that day.

Our driveway, looking southwest. 

Our driveway runs next to the mailboxes, about where the water goes from reflective to having lots of currant (the ground slopes down at the edge of the drive, so it runs faster there)  So this pic is looking northwest.  This is my river (or moat) depending on your preference towards neighbors.

I also planned ahead, and as the waters rose, I parked my car in our side driveway (not pictured).  We also lifted the man-hole cover to the drain, and that helped take the water away faster.  Unfortunetly, the neighbors think the water is fun, and let their kids play in/near it.  Should one fall in, they’d get sucked under in a hurry.  Hmmm… drowned kids, or ruined homes??  A tragedy either way.

  Some time ago, I mentioned that I had compiled a yearly calendar for things that need done around the homestead… namely my homestead.  I think I’ll post it.  Now keep in mind, I made this by researching things that apply to my midwestern zone 5 self.  Each person’s yearly calendar will be affected by the seasonal changes that occur in their area.  Obviously, if you live in Florida, you don’t need to prep the snow plow in November.  On the flip side, if you live in a zone 3 area, you probably need to prep that plow… I’m guessing, sometime in late September?  Anyway, here is my calendar.  I excluded homeschool from this list because while it is affected by the seasons, it won’t be something I need to keep track of when my kid is 25 (hopefully!)  

  January:  -Prune older apples and mature pears mid month.  -Place orders for garden seed early in the month.  -Clean out filing cabinets, gather tax paperwork

  February:  -Start perenial flower seeds.  -place chick order for early April delivery as needed.  - Early in month prune mature apples if missed in January

  March:  -Prune mature cherry early in month.  -Late March start tomato/pepper seed.  -Assess deep freezer/ canned goods (supply, condition, etc…)  -Late in month prune young cherry

  April:  -start chicks, if needed.  -check sprayers, tune equipment.  -spread new mulch under trees.  -spring clean, check gutters, prep mowers and yard equipment.  -fertilize all but peaches.  -plant new trees in early April as needed.  -Rake leaves, yard clean up, cut back brush, fertilize and weed kill lawn mid month.  -Till garden, plant cold tollerant seed (pea/salad mix, etc) late in month.  -Apply Bordeaux spray to apple/pear for fireblight on susceptible varieties late in month.  -Apply peach leaf curl spray late in month, if not done last fall .

  May:  Early:  apply apple dormant oil spray, check for bugs.  -apply pear psylla spray, check for bugs (also early).   -Clean chicken house, slaughter broiler/roaster chicks.   -Mid-month: Plant garden.  -Peach bloom early to mid-month, after bloom- prune, apply calcium nitrate fertilizer, base on crop size.  Also mid month:  Cherry bloom.  Cherry need brown rot spray if wet weather during/after bloom.  -Check fences.  Mid to late of month:  -pear bloom.  Set tomato cages, etc.  -Tidy flower beds.  Late month:  Apple bloom.  -water garden if not 1 inch of rain/week.  -incubate eggs if needed.    (this is why I want to be done homeschooling by May!!)

  June:  Early June:  Check for strawberries/asperagus from local you-pick.  -apply insect killer to squash and beans.   Mid June:  Apple- June drop should occur.  Monitor for insects/scab development.  -Pear:  continue fire blight control as needed.  -Cherry:  watch for cherry fruit fly, harvest if early variety.  -Peach:  hand thin as needed, apply fertilizer again as needed.  -Check air conditioner.  Late June:  pick peas, radish, lettuces, check green beans.  -weed/water/fertilize garden as needed.

   July:  Early:  county fair time!  Apple-  prune bearing trees, train young trees, check for maggot and mites.  -fertilize, weed-kill lawn.   Mid July-  Cherry harvest fruit if late variety.  Harvest early tomatoes.   -Pick blueberries at local you-pick.  -Harvest zucchini/squash, cukes, herbs, beets and green beans.  -check for raspberries /blackberries.   -place order for fall beef/pork with farmer .  -weed/water/fertilize garden as needed

  August:  Apple:  check for summer variety harvest, prune if not done in July.  Harvest melons and corn.   Mid month:  harvest early pear varieties.  -Can up tomatoes.   Harvest peaches.  -Place beef/pork cut order with meat locker.  -Harvest potatoes

  September:    -weed kill/feed lawn.  -Apple harvest early fall varieties.  -continue tomato harvest, pull out/burn sick plants.  Mid month:  Pear -hearvest Bartlett and early fall variety.  Peach- harvest late varieties.  -Clean out chicken house  -end of month- local harvest festival.

  October:  -Apple:  harvest and process.   Pear:  harvest lates.  -fall cleaning of house.  -Prep home for winter ie- check furnace, replace filter, plastic windows, switch bed linen to flannels.  -Prep chicken house for winter.  -winterize cars.  -Hang holiday lights if desired.

  November:  -pull mulch back from fruit tree trunks.  -Paint trunks white in early month.  -winterize yard equipment.  -clean yard/rake leaves  -winter home prep if not already done.  -Clean gutters.  -Check snow equipment, shovels, pull out winter clothes, sort out summer clothes.  -Mid month Peach:  apply leaf curl spray now or in spring.  -Christmas shop.  -place order for seed catalogs if needed  -leave weekends open for birthday/family parties

(we have 6 family member b-days in November, including DS’s)  They are :  my stepmother and SIL (same day), then my DS and step FIL (couple days apart),  then FIL/MIL (both 1 day apart).   For this reason alone, I will try hard to not conceive any more children in late Feb/or March.  DH’s b-day is New Year’s eve.  So between the birthdays and Christmas, I am usually mentally drained during that time of year.  Family is nice, but the weekend parties wear me out!

  -December:  Place orders for fruit trees or others.  -Christmas- clean, organize, go crazy… need I say more? 

 So that’s it.  If you have any suggestions that apply to a Midwestern zone 5,  LMK, mmkay?  Hopefully something I’ve written will inspire you, my dear readers, or will at least be of some use.  That was a lot of typing, after all…. 

  Well, thanks to a few hurricanes, which amuses me, since I live in Illinois, it’s been rather rainy here lately.  That is a blessing, since for a month before, we were very parched.  Both of my baby Japanese maples I planted in the spring burned to a crisp.  I had to water the hostas even, since they were starting to fry as well.  I might end up losing some of them yet.

  Yesterday was nice out, so I was able to (mostly) mow the front yard.  I need to cut in a few tricky spots with the push mower, and mow the rest of the yard still, but at least some of it is done.  DH has been working 10 hrs/day 7 days/week.  His last day off was the holiday, and the next day off is ???  It is really good money, but very hard on the family and homestead.  He’s tired, rightfully so.  And he’s gone from 5:30 a.m. til 5:30 p.m.  The extra hours is travel/setup/cleanup time.  I’m just glad he has another worker he car pools with.  He’s nearly fallen asleep at the wheel when working long hours before.  No amount of money would be worth that happening.

  So anyway, yesterday we attended the township meeting.  They showed us the footage recorded by a company who inspected the field tile that runs through the area, including straight through my front yard.  They didn’t have the tile located, though, and we (the collective home owners) said that needed to be done.  We had a huge flood last August, and several homes were badly damaged.  Unfortunetly, the “drainage district” which is responsible for maintaining this drain, has done a poor job in the past.  The officials who run it are farmers from the area.  They are not a taxing district, which they love to point out, and thus don’t have any money to maintain it.  They love to throw out that “no one donates to the district,” but failed to mention how no one from the district asks the residents for money.   We pointed out how they are not following Illinois law regarding how the “drainage district” is run.  They didn’t like that much.  One gentleman suggested the residents donate $100/acre to the district for things like this, but I doubt the farmers, who farm hundreds of acres, will agree to any such thing. 

  So all in all, the only suggestions they had to offer was that I need to cut down all the trees with roots growing into the drain, and we need to go and dig up the tile, fix and pay for it, at the homeowners’ expense.  Well, I venomously denied that will happen.  I happen to have 6 mature maples in my yard, and a wind break of mature cedars.  Cutting them down will severly devalue my property (not to mention increase my heating/cooling costs, since my home is protected/shaded).  I admit, I was rude when the leader of the drainage district said “well, what would you rather have, water or trees?”  I said “My basement didn’t flood, so I’ll take the trees”.   I will gladly donate (with the other homeowners) to a collective fund, to have ALL the tiles roto-rooted every few years.  The last time they did it was 8 years ago, and they only used an 8 in blade.  The pipes are 20-24 inches, and more.  They barely did anything to help the drain.  Oh, and the cost of repairing the tile, and removing trees?  SEVERAL thousands of dollars.  Probably well into the 10’s of thousands.  No thank you!  And for what?  I will still have surface water run through my yard, since that is the natural course for the water.   So I can cut out the trees, but there will still be water during a 15yr+ flood event.  The tile can only handle so much.  So nope.  I say build a bigger tile.  But first we have to locate it.  This is going to be a very big headache, but one I absolutely must stay on top of.  I do feel bad for the other homeowners who rec’d damages, but I do have to look out for my own rights.

  So that’s all the excitement from us.  I did speak to a lawyer before this meeting.  He said “don’t go in with your guns blazing”…. well, I didn’t, but I had them at the ready.  I wasn’t the only one, either.

http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/7440/1/

  Wow…. ’nuff said. 

http://www.chineseastrology.com/wu/birthchart.html

   At work, this has been accurate for my fellow nurses.  Take a look and compare to your own personal experience(s), and let me know if it was accurate for your children.  I only have one son, and yes, it says I’d have a boy.  I’m curious to see how other people’s results turn out.

  Well, I got home from work tonight, and opened my car door, and in on my lap jumps a healthy looking chocolate lab.  That was quite a surprise.  Then as I was picking up my bag (which is like a purse, but larger capacity), I threw my keys into the bag (as per my routine) and my car started.  That was also surprising, since you have to hit the key fob just right to use the remote starter.  So there I was, key-less car running+ strange dog trying to get in for the ride= slight confusion on my part of course… Talk about a wierd night.

  So my first thought was the dog was “Cindy”, our neighbor’s dog.  I woke up my son, and he confirmed it was.  I walked the dog over, since their lights were on, and asked.  Nope, not their dog.  The only other chocolate my neighbor knew of was the crazy Russian woman who lives kiddie corner to me.  I saw that lady’s dog just yesterday during our walk.  It was not a friendly dog, with much protective barking… plus I think it is a male.  I walked past their house anyway, but all the lights were off.   So I brought her home, and now she is in the back yard.  I can’t call her “dog”,  so I guess I’ll call her Sadie.  And tomorrow we’ll walk the neighborhood and find her family.  Wish me luck!

 UPDATE:

  The dog spent a very quiet evening in the back yard… no barking, whining, or clawing.  Even when the chickens came up to the fence to investigate the new beastie in the back yard.  So bright and early this morning I walked over to Crazy Russian’s house and rang the doorbell.  Her (seemingly normal) husband answered, confirmed that their lab was indeed a male, and said maybe it belonged to the house on the next street over.  So I walked to that house and knocked on the door.  That lady had her doors and windows open, so I just asked her thru the window if she lost a dog.  She said ”Yes!” and came running to the door.  Well, my dog was not her dog.  (Geeze, what kind of dog did YOU lose? ran thru my head).  She thought that maybe her dog had gotten loose, since they had just turned off their electric fence, and the dog just runs out when it’s off.  But she took my name and number and said she’d make a few calls.   The dog and I walked the neighborhood for about an hour.  I was getting ready to put her into the back yard when my cell phone rang.  It was the dogs owner!  Apparently the dog lives over 1 mile away.  She was very grateful that I had tried to find the family, and had taken care of her.  The dog’s name is Abby, which she responded to immediately when I said it.  She wasn’t responding to any of the other names I tried.  Think chocolate lab, and you’ll think of many names to try, none of which are Abby.  So mystery solved!  And DH will be glad we don’t have a new dog. 

  Yesterday I started cleaning out the garden.  I pulled out a few tomatoes who have succumbed to the wilt disease.  I fought, and won, the war with the garden hose, who had gotten tangled in amongst the weeds.  I picked another box of tomatoes and peppers.  Then I pulled up all the carrots.  I origionally planted 2 double rows, but never got out to thin the radishes from one, so those carrots really didn’t grow.  They obviously don’t like to share the root space.  Instead of carrots there, I now have huge woody radishes that have gone to seed.  No, I’m not saving any, but the idea did cross my mind.  I think next year I’ll do the slightly-raised bed w/a plastic cover to kill the weed seed, then a floating row cover after removing the plastic.  I’ll use that spot for carrots.  I’ll probably do a 4×8 foot area.  I might repeat that concept for herbs, since Japanese beetles apparently love basil, and the rest were lost among the weedy wilderness.

  This morning I put into the deep freezer 3 and 3/4 quarts of chopped carrots.  I think it’ll be good for soups, and our favorite -chicken pot pie- that way.

  I think I’ve come up with the perfect solution for what to do with the corn stalks.  I can either A:  rent/borrow a chipper shredder, shred them, and use them as mulch or chicken litter.   Or B:  Freecycle!   Since I live where the urbanites roam, they’ll probably go ga-ga over the opportunity to have free corn stalks for decorating.  I would do that myself, but I haven’t the time or the gumption to decorate seasonally, unless it’s Christmas, of course.

  Last, but not really the last thing yet…. I put the potatoes into the rack that my DH made for me.  He’s so handy to have around.  I have been blessed in many ways.

  The winter prep season is just starting.  I need to still finish cleaning up the garden, contain the compost pile, winterize the chicken house, and ours as well.  I’ve started making a calendar of yearly tasks that need done, and I think I’ll post it next time.  I have to go to work (the hospital job, that is).

  Yes, it was Labor Day… so what did we do?  Labor!  Who can stand lounging by the pool when there’s a chicken house that needs cleaning before winter!  So this morning I raked, scooped, and swept out the entire chicken house, all before noon!  Thank goodness, too, since it was in the 90’s later on in the day.  I also got all the dead trees/sticks burned.  They’ve been in a big pile for a while now, just waiting.  DS learned how forest fires start by watching a big piece of cardboard that flew off the fire ignite our lawn down by the pond.  It burned a large spot rapidly, so it actually was a good lesson.  I let him see the fire start, and then sent DS up to the garage to get a rake so I could put it out.  I had to stomp some of it before he returned, because I didn’t want it to burn too wildly… but he got to see how far it had spread in such a short time.  He made the comparison to a forest fire himself… it was a real “aha” moment for him.  See, lessons can be learned while not actually ”doing” school.

  So all the while I was shoveling the ___ , DH laid faux wood floor in the polebarn “bathroom” area.  His intention was never to use that type of flooring, but it cost way less than the vinyl he had planned.  I can only surmise that vinyl must be related to the petrol products, since it is sooo expensive now.  So anyway, he is edging closer to being done in there.  Yay!

  Once I had finished the coop, I shoveled more ____.  I cleaned up all the landmines in the land of poo…. it was getting wiffy…. I’d slacked off in that area for a while.  It was easy work, though.  Since we are so parched for rain, even that ___ dries up fast. 

  Once that was over, I wanted to weedwack around my raspberries and fruit trees.  That didn’t go well.  After fighting with the wacker, and being pelted by sun-hardened weeds (and nicking a fruit tree), I decided I was done for the day. 

  DS spent his afternoon playing with the public school neighbor kids.  Tomorrow is back to the grind.  Laundry, lessons, then it’s off to the first swim practice for him.  Maybe even piano, but I have to call the instuctor and check on that schedule. 

  Three cheers for the return of the “rut”!  I’ve missed my rut.  Everyone thinks they are such bad things, but not me.  I like stability and continuity.  And fall.  It is my favorite season!  I know, I know… something like 22 more days or whatever.  Close enough!

  Well, after a few hours of work, I was blessed with 13 and 1/2 quarts of fresh homemade stewed tomato sauce!  We didn’t get all of the tomatoes done…. I’ll go back in a few days and juice up the rest (they weren’t quite ripe enough anyway).  Making juice is very fast compared to the blanching, peeling, de-seeding, chopping and cooking that goes into the stewed tomatoes.  Not to mention water baths are so much faster than pressure canning, even with two canners running.

  So all together now I have put by 23 quarts of stewed tomatoes and (with still more to go) 12 pints of juice.  I already used 1 of the quarts, and 2 of the pints.  On an average month I think we need about 4 quarts, and a few juiced pints. 

  Self sufficiency is something my dear son is excited about.  Just a few days ago we were making pancakes, and he asked if we could make something like the Bisquick mix we use.  In his own words… “We should figure out how to make this ourselves!  We’re doing pretty good, by growing our own food in the garden, but we still have a ways to go.  That way, you can save money for things, like… paying taxes, and I can have lots of good food to eat!” 

  <grin>   DS thinks of the cutest things sometimes…. Like I want to save money just so I can pay my taxes…. I’m glad he’s excited about what we do… I can only hope to instill the joy of homesteading in him on a long-term basis.  It would be nice if he carried on the tradition with his own kids someday.