The South is not Made for Snow (and Neither are its Inhabitants)

A couple of weeks ago, we had a 3-inch snow in South Carolina. If you're from the Northeast or Midwest, please stop snickering now. The South shuts down when it snows. We like it that way. No work. No school. No snowplows. Get the picture?

Happy really loved the beautiful snowfall. Can you see her?

It's a good thing her tongue is pink.

One snowfall per winter is a tremendous accomplishment for South Carolina. We actually only achieve it every 8.2 years. Or something like that.

Two weeks later, the sky is at it again.

This was yesterday. A layer of ice, overlaid with a couple of inches of snow.

But today - Let's just say we are quaking in our boots around this house. We're preparing for a full onslaught of ice, "The biggest ice storm in a decade," the meteorologists say. I say, bring on the flashlights, generator, and bathtub full of water. I was in this very house a decade ago when the last ice storm hit. Even I was disgusted by my 4-day-old yoga pants and showerless aroma. Ever slept in mittens, a ski jacket, and a wool ski hat?

This year, I have a full-fledged Boy Scout living under my roof. No, he won't save me from power outages, but I have been rooting through his footlocker of heavy duty sleeping bags, headlamps, lanterns, and MREs.

Happy is exhausted just thinking about it.

(What? Never seen a dog play with a rubber chicken?)

Fingers crossed. Power on.

See you soon.
Love,
TCB

Dogs Love Snow Ice Cream, Too

A snow day in the South is something special. We had one a week ago. It was our first snow in three years.

The little man in our house enjoyed snow ice cream.

Happy did, too.

But apparently only slightly less than she enjoyed running in the weird, cold, white stuff.

She slept for hours later.

It's all gone now. Only took 2 days - the beauty of the South. Now we are looking forward to spring planting! We're crazy that way.

Love,
TCB

Keeping Chickens Warm

Even though we live in the South, there is occasionally a stretch of winter days where the weather is unseasonably cold. When it falls to the 20s and below, I turn on the heat lamp in the chicken coop. If you have added backyard chickens to your home site and you live in the South, you may not have given much thought about how to keep chickens warm. After all, it's rarely cold enough to worry about the lower temps. In the spirit of sharing information, I've rounded up some good articles on maintaining chickens in the colder days of winter. I hope you learn something new from them.

Caring for Chickens in Winter

Keeping Chickens Healthy in Cold Weather

Winter Care for Chickens

Happy Roosting during this cold snap!

Love,
TCB

Related Articles:
A Real Organic Egg
Double-Yolk Egg
Strangers in my Backyard

Composting

I am thankful I am able to waste less.

I started composting a couple of years ago, and it has enabled me to keep many food and paper items out of the trash can and ultimately out of the landfill.

Here's one day's worth of compost material. If I'm throwing it away, and it's not right for the chickens to eat, it makes wonderful compost after a few months for my vegetable and flower beds.

By living in the country and having a little space to move around, I feel I must compost to be responsible to Mother Earth. Composting doesn't take much space, and you can compost even in a small backyard. With the right mix of materials, there should be no odor at all. I talk about the proper ratio in this previous post.

Think outside vegetable and fruit peels. Used tea bags and coffee grounds (including the paper filters) make good additions to a compost bin. Flowering shrubs such as azaleas and camellias love the acidity they add to the soil when fully decomposed.

Composting always sounded so difficult to me before, but I have found it is an easy way to live "greenly" and improve my flower beds at the same time. And since it's November, it almost time to rake all the dried leaves from the ground and add them to the bin. By spring, it will all turn into black magic.

Hope you are inspired to do your part, too. It's a cinch!

Love,
TCB

Related Posts

Winter is Ideal for Composting

Country Life

We love living in a rural setting, but it's not always glamorous. Having a piece of land means a few extra chores have to be done outside when you'd rather be chillin' inside (like you might be able to living in a condo!). Hmmmm......

Time to spray some caterpillars who have tented in the trees before they emerge and eat ALL my flowers.

If you want a tree chopped and moved out of the way and you're not old enough to operate a chainsaw, here's how to get it done.

Sometimes you need to burn stuff. Not everyone calls this work.

Even with all the extra work, we wouldn't trade it for anything.

This weekend, I'm determined to do the final trimming of all the landscape plants and bushes around the house. Wish me luck. My sore arms will need it.

Love,
TCB

Here's a REAL Organic Egg

Here's my organic, home-fed chicken egg on the left, and the grocery store's "organic, vegetarian-fed" chicken egg on the right.

My egg can beat up your egg. Just sayin'.

Is that like birthing a baby with a big head?

Nothing can beat homegrown with a little love.

Love,
TCB

Fig Preserves

Part of living the country life is enjoying the bounty you or your neighbors grow. One of the things I love most about summer produce, besides homegrown tomatoes, is figs. My grandmother has a fig tree that has been mowed over, run over, and generally abused, but it will not give up. It was planted in the early 1930s before she even moved into her house. Can you imagine what it was like then when the tree was a sapling? Our country was going through The Great Depression and looked very different than it does right now. Still, the fig tree stands and flourishes.

Every mid- to late August, the tree's green figs are ripe. If you can beat the bees and birds to them, they are delicious to eat right off the tree or to make fig preserves to enjoy all year long. I like to do both, but my favorite thing to do is eat fig preserves in the morning on my toast.

This year, I tapped my 91-year-old grandmother's surprisingly easy secret to making fig preserves.

After picking the figs that were ripe, I washed and dried and put them into a large soup pot. If you don't have access to a fig tree, they often sell them in nice supermarkets in late summer.

For this amount of figs, I added almost 5 cups of sugar. I'm sorry for the inexact amounts, but I usually wing it depending on the quantities I have. Let me put it this way - you need to have at least an equal amount of sugar-to-figs ratio.

Then I cook the figs, covered, on the stovetop over a low temperature for 2-3 hours until they thicken, stirring every so often so they won't stick. In the end, they'll look like this.

While the figs are cooking, prepare your Mason jars and lids in a boiling bath as directed by the manufacturer. While the figs and the jars are both hot, fill them, wipe the rims clean, and apply the lids. They should seal as they cool. For those that don't seal, you can pop them in the refrigerator and eat them first. (Or share them with friends - they'll really appreciate them).

How beautiful in my refrigerator.

(These are the boogers that didn't seal).

Happy canning!

TCB

Happy to Wait

Sometimes you have to mark your days with regular highlights, or bright spots of anticipation. It's more than creating your own fun, which we happen to do a lot of in the country. Our pets - and other outside animals - are no exception.

When I open the back door, the chickens come running to the front of the hen yard. They see me as the source of yummy food - you know,  pieces of banana, the cut-off ends of squash and zucchini, and tomatoes (a favorite). Whether I have food or not, they anticipate I will bring something to them.

Happy, our golden retriever, has her own moments of anticipation. When I open the laundry room door, she doesn't see it as a chance for me to move clothes from the washer to the dryer. It's an opportunity to beg for one of her treats stored in a bin there.

Happy has another daily habit. When I go into the kitchen in the evenings to begin cooking supper, she heads to the window that looks out over the driveway and watches for her Dad to come home from work.

It's a nightly ritual she never misses. Boy, is it confusing when Dad comes home late and misses supper. She never runs to the window when it's breakfast or lunchtime, only at the prescribed evening meal.

It appears we humans are not the only ones set on creating a nice, worn rut of activity for ourselves.

It's these little moments that we always look back on with fondness.

Have a happy day.

TCB

Related Posts:
Make Your Own Fun in the Country

Joining a Produce Co-op

Even though I have a small garden, I decided to join a local produce co-op to take advantage of local, healthy and mostly organic seasonal offerings from area farmers. It has been a wonderful decision for my family.

Every Friday, I drop by a neighbor's garage to pick up my $13 basket of goodies. I always get more than my money's worth, and I often don't need to buy produce during my weekly grocery shopping trip.

Here's a sample from one of my weekly pickups:

Spinach, pineapple, broccoli, bananas, peaches, and apples.

I've also gotten blueberries, strawberries, kiwis, potatoes, sweet potatoes, two kinds of onions, leaf lettuce, and kale.

I had to wait a while to become a member of this co-op, as it only allows a set number of families to participate. There are options nationwide to allow your family to have fresh produce. Ask your friends to see which ones they know about. You also can search the web under terms such as "CSA, Community Supported Agriculture" and the name of your town.

It's fun to show up each week to see what surprises are in my basket. Then I get a chance to go to the kitchen and cook creatively for supper. I've used kale to make kale chips, peaches for peach cobbler, pineapple for pineapple upside-down cake, and bananas for protein-fruit breakfast smoothies.

Support local farmers and know where your food is being sourced. It's economical and healthy.

TCB

Related Posts:

Southern Blackberry Cobbler

Reminiscing about Planting Southern Vegetable Gardens

I'm still reminiscing all this month here at The Country Belle, writing about family and family activities. I've been gathering (a little) produce from my garden - mostly herbs and a few tomatoes - because our excessively wet weather this summer has our Southern garden saying, "What?! What?!"

I can count on one hand the number of days we have not had any rain this summer. Talk about the opposite of the drought-land I'm so used to in South Carolina in July. And 80 degrees for a high temperature? Unheard of this time of year down South!

I'm not complaining, but my garden kind of is complaining. It makes me remember when I was a child, and we often spent spring and summer nights and weekends planting something in my grandfather's garden, shelling beans until my fingers cracked, snapping green beans until my hands were sore, or shucking corn off the back of the pickup truck (and trying to avoid yucky worms!) until the sun went down.

It makes me remember a story that I still sometimes get laughs about from my family members. I was a Southern country girl growing up in South Carolina but trying to somehow work some sophisticated "girlie" stuff into my life. So often on Saturday night, I would pull out my light blue manicure kit and give myself a full-scale mani-pedi.

I still have that kit after all these years.

I still use it.

Back to the story...I was getting my nails done for Sunday morning church. You know, looking all right.

Well, one weekend I got a little super ambitious and decided to work my manicure into my Saturday morning instead of Saturday evening. And then I found out we were going to the farm. And then I learned I would need to plant potatoes.

In case you don't know about these things, you can take a potato and cut a piece that has an "eye" on it, plant it in a hole in the garden and it will grow a whole new plant with a plethora of potatoes. (How's that for an alliteration?)

My grandfather hoed the holes and cut up the potatoes. So no problems there.

Then I  realized I needed to stick my precious manicured nails into the bucket of wet potatoes, pull them out one by one, and drop them in a hole to be covered.

Do you know how hard it is to do a job like that without getting dirt and other crud under your fingernails? You don't. And I protested. "But it will mess up my manicure!"

I was laughed out of the garden. But then I had to promptly return and do the job.

Rural lesson learned: No manicures on Saturday morning. Wait 'till the chores are done.

Hope you're having a wonderful day wherever you live.

Love,
TCB

Family and Freedom

I hope you all are enjoying time with your family and friends today, as I am. We are happy for the freedom to do so each day in our great USA. In the spirit of family and the freedom to be as crazy as we want to be, I bring you some photos of our country life. Crazy maybe, but there's never a time we are bored without the big city lights.

I won't explain any of these photos - that may just make them crazier.

Happy Independence Day!

Much love,
TCB

Single Girl Supper

When the fellows in my house go out of town to have fun - fishing, watching a NASCAR race, camping, or some such "boy stuff" I'd rather leave to the two of them - I usually putter around all day, doing this and that. At the end of the day, we live far enough out that it's not convenient to run out and grab a dinner to go. Besides, I usually have dirt under my fingernails from digging in the garden all day. The guys turn up their noses, but it's my idea of fun.

So, back to supper. When I get hungry enough about sundown, I'll find a few leftovers or whip up something "girly" that no one else in the house would ever consider fit to be called supper.

Here's what happened the other weekend when they ran off to the racetrack.

Leftover quiche from the meal I made the same morning, heirloom cherry tomatoes, and leftover grilled shrimp from the previous night. If there was any testosterone in the house, I would have been run out for suggesting this was a proper supper.

It was just right for me.

Here's one version of my quiche, but you can use just about anything you have on hand. I believe this one was ham and Swiss cheese.

Sometimes it's great to live simply, eat simply, and save money.

Have a wonderful day.
Love,
TCB

A Present for Me

Over the holiday weekend, our kitty cat, Miss Pitty Pat, brought me a present. I was minding my own business, taking a break on the front porch wicker chair when she decided it was the right time to present it.

Hmmmmmmmmm..........What kind of presents do Pitty Pats bring? (Warning to City Girls: Look away now if you get squeamish easily).

Let me tell you, she just plopped it right down at my feet.


I think I was supposed to show my total pleasure, but I wasn't sure how I should do it. At first, I was a little mortified because as a mother, my first thought was of the poor baby bunny's mother. What was she thinking?

Miss Pitty Pat pretended to show indifference, but I could tell she was proud to bring it to me. So I petted her head and said, "What a great hunter you are! Thank you!"

Then I thought about where I had left the shovel so I could kindly take it away.

After a full minute ticked by, and I didn't pounce upon the little bunny and eat it (well, of course not!), Miss Pitty Pat snatched it back up and ran off with it.

I"d like to say that was the end of the story, but later that night, under cover of darkness, I found her doing what all country cats do with their prize hunts.

I'll leave out the details. Let's just say she wasn't interested in dry kitty food for supper that night.

Oh, my. And I thought mothers developed a tough mind and stomach as a result of what their little boys put them through. Apparently, the pets help out, too.

Happy short week to you!

TCB

When the River Floods

We had lots of rain last week. After a couple of days of heavy rain, with the addition of heavy rains upstream from our house, the banks of the river flooded.

The land on this side of the far trees used to be all green grass.

Suddenly, the fire pit was under water. We held our breath to see if it would make it or be swept away with the current.

After about two days, the water receded. The fire pit made it - and so did the canoes. Yahoo!

While the water was swirling around on our land, my son did what any good red-blooded country boy would do.

He went fishing and caught a bream.

And saved a baby turtle by expediting its trip down to the water. (Baby T had just hatched up on the hill and was making its way down to the water).

There's so much to learn in the country even when homeschool is not officially in session!

Love,
TCB

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Something's Burning in the Country

Something's Burning in the Country

When living in a rural area with a few acres to tend, it's inevitable there will be heavy yard work and maintenance. We are surrounded by hardwood trees, which are quite beautiful but sometimes messy. Take for instance spring pollen season. (We're finished this season, hallelujah! Here's how I deal with that and the mess it makes.)

Besides pollen, our hardwood trees often fall. Whenever we have heavy rains followed by heavy wind, I close my eyes and start praying they'll fall the other way. And by other way, I mean NOT on my roof.

We have found a solution to lots of excess wood.

The pyromania evident in my son from a young age is very satisfied.

Mr. Country Belle, however, needed something larger for the land down by the river.

Why do men like fire so much?

If I lived here alone, I probably would never build a fire. I would just call a nice, burly man with a chainsaw and a big truck. Oh wait, I have that now, only Mr. Country Belle has never been accused of being burly. (I feel a hint of dislike coming on for someone close to *ahem* a certain age that doesn't think twice about weight gain. But I digress....)

Here's the story:

Just a few days ago, Mr. Country Belle said to me (casually, I might add): "The tree in the side yard looks dead. I don't see any leaves on it."

I didn't notice the lack of leaves. After all, spring just started and the tree was lively and healthy last year.

I took a peek.

Uh-oh. I smell something burning.

Happy Day to you! (I'll be out in the side yard trying to nurse a tree back to life before Mr. Country Belle gets back with the chainsaw).

Love,
TCB

Spring Planting Time

It's time for spring garden planting. I am still using the"square foot gardening" method I used the last couple of years. That may seem strange considering we have land to spare living in a rural area, but somewhere along the way I got tired of fighting weeds and deer. Plus, our family is small, so a couple of square-foot gardens are perfect for our needs.

The beauty of a contained, raised garden bed is that once you mix your soil the first year, there is really not much follow-up for subsequent years. Just a trowel-full of compost into each "square" before planting, and you're ready to go.

This year, I mixed commercial mushroom compost with my own backyard compost, made from decomposed fruit and vegetable scraps, yard debris, and chicken manure. (Those chickens are good for something besides eggs. It's a 2-for-1 deal).

Doesn't that look like rich soil?

I'm into simple. This bed contains herbs - rosemary, lemon balm, and thyme with a space left for basil - and vegetables - broccoli and squash. The screen contraption is the only way I can keep out deer and rabbits and supposedly domesticated critters like cats.

This bed is all about the tomatoes - four different kinds. The best part of summer is home-grown tomatoes. I squeezed in a little cilantro and parsley. I love herbs for cooking and fresh ones make a big difference. They are expensive at the grocery store but so easy to grow!

Hope this inspires you to plant a garden even if you only have a small patio. Herbs and tomatoes will grow wonderfully there!

Happy Spring,
TCB

Related Posts:

Spoils of the Day
My Secret to Easy-Does-It Spring Gardening

Country Critters

We've had some beautiful days recently by the river, with temps in the mid-70s. Perfect March weather.

My son and I packed up some vegetables and headed to our neighbors' pasture to feed the goats. He has been hankering for one or two of his own, but I don't think Mr. Country Belle wants to spend his weekend afternoons putting up pasture fencing. So we're doing the next best thing.

The animals always come running as soon as my son makes his nanny goat noises. (Next time I'll video that for you).

The Big Hoss always gets fed first. You don't feed him, NO ONE else gets by.

Spring babies on the farm! These are siblings.

Awwwww......

It is so much fun to see the babies grow while I see my baby grow.

Have a happy day!
TCB

Related stories:
What I've Learned from my Pets
Life in the Country

Golden Cutie Pie

Is there anything cuter than this? (I may be a wee bit biased. You are warned.)

But, oh, yes. I can top it.

Hola, dudes!

Have a happy day!
TCB

A little correction

It appears this morning's post included a strange, blurry photo of my dog at the end. This is actually a video that apparently didn't come through! I won't win any photography awards, but I can take better photos than that! If you want to see the real action, here's a link to the actual blog page that displays (and plays) the video correctly.

http://thecountrybelle.blogspot.com/2013/02/make-your-own-fun-in-country.html

Have a great day!
TCB

Make Your Own Fun in the Country

Sometimes it gets a little quiet in the country.

That what I love about it.

But sometimes it gets a little boring. That is, if you ignore the weeding, feeding, housekeeping, painting, and general fixing that needs to go on every day.

Sometimes the animals make their own fun.

And sometimes they get a little help.

We call this "Laser Light Show Extraordinaire."

Wonder when Happy will figure out we're playing her?

Happy day!
TCB