Arkansas Ice Strom 2009

Rarely do we have a harsh winter, but every year we seem to have one ice storm – generally in January. The worst I can remember happened in 2000, and effected the river valley and South Arkansas. The storm this year – by some estimates – topped that one, and effected primarily North West Arkansas. Because of the mountainous terrain, it doesn’t take much ice to make this state treacherous. Trees and overhead lines (electric, cable, phone) couldn’t bear the weight, and snapped across 25 counties. Most folks were watching the weather channel…

But I had about a 2 day jump them – because I was warned by the horses.

Anytime livestock group up in huddles and steadily eat – there’s bad weather coming. We’d just put out a new round bale of hay and in 2 days, it was almost gone.

I told JT and Tyler to cut wood, and get prepared for some rough and cold weather.

I made a dash to the grocery store just as it started raining and bought a few things I could cook on a wood stove – and by 6 pm – the rain began to freeze.

By 10 pm we were without power. Trees all around the farm began to droop over with the weight of the ice – and by midnight – it sounded like gun shots outside as limbs broke.

We built a fire in the wood stove, and the 3 of us snuggled in for a long night. By morning, it looked like an icy wonderland outside.

Businesses, schools, and roads closed – and many residents were forced to go to shelters because they had no heat source or way to cook. But I was doing just fine with the wood stove…

Once the storm was over, it was time to access the damages – and they were astounding. Power outages were widespread, there was no phone service, no cable. Many roads remained closed due to downed trees and downed power lines. Homes were damaged by debris and the weight of the ice. Metal buildings caved in from the weight, many garages and car ports collapsed. Here on the farm, our biggest concern was tree limbs, and luckily there weren’t any right over the house. We moved a tractor and the guys cut a few limbs they thought might fall and hit things below – but for the most part, our biggest concern was keeping the animals warm. We had record setting cold temperatures following the storm.

Clean up has been slow and tedious. FEMA came to North West Arkansas – but they offered little in the way of individual resident help. They passed out emergency packages of food – but then announced the packages contained salmonella tainted peanut butter. I have an opinion on FEMA, but it’s probably best if I just keep that to myself. *snark* The Red Cross also responded, and those guys were amazing! They went door to door passing out warm and dry clothing, blankets, water, and offering rides to shelters. Neighbors helped neighbors, and as the ice melted – more help came. This is our neighbor Shane…

The National Guard from Louisiana responded and launched a massive clean up around Fayetteville. And to my amazement – private citizens from Louisiana also responded around the river valley! They took off work. Made the trip – and were ready to roll up sleeves and go to work digging us back out. The amount of gratitude we all feel can’t even be expressed in words, and without all their help – I’m not sure what we’d have done. (insert more FEMA snark).

Slowly things are getting back to normal. I still have limited internet, because my service comes out of Fayetteville and they suffered the hardest blow up there. All customers are limited to an hour a day while they work to restore everything. This should be fixed by the end of the week – and by Monday – I’m expecting to be back in full swing. Until then, please bear with me!

 

10 Things To Remember When Cooking Southern

1. Gravy makes everything taste better!

2. Teaspoon and Tablespoon – means them ones there in your silverware drawer. The little one is a teaspoon, that big one is a tablespoon. If the recipe calls for a Cup – your coffee cup is just fine.

3. A “dab” and a “pinch” mean the amount of about anything you can hold between your pointer finger and thumb. Unless we’re talking liquid – then it means the amount you can pour from the bottle by quickly tipping it down and back up again. (Sometimes also referred to as a “nip” if we’re taking Sherry.)

4. “To Taste” means to the taste of the pickiest person you’re planning on feeding the stuff to. Always keep in mind, you can add more salt – but you can’t take it back out.

5. A “helping” means the amount of food it takes to fill someone up. This is a VERY different from a “serving” – a serving is the number of recommended portions in the dish. It would take 6 servings to feed some folks, whereas one “helping” would do them up right.

6. In desert recipes, if you see the word “glaze” with no explanation or recipe for making a glaze, this just means powdered sugar and water. Half a cup cold water and 4 tablespoons powdered sugar mixed up real smooth. You can squeeze a lemon or orange peel in for some extra zing.

7. The word “glaze” on meat recipes means to use the natural juices and pan drippings to make a light gravy. Remove the drippings and juice from the pan to a skillet. Into half a cup cold water, add 1 teaspoon flour and stir smooth. Get the juice and drippings boiling in the skillet – then stir in the water and flour. This will thicken the juice and drippings into a light glaze. Add salt and pepper to taste. Also referred to as “dobbin”, “sop”, and “gravy”.

8. The words “frying pan” and “skillet” always mean a cast iron skillet. When a non-stick skillet is needed, the recipe may say “seasoned” skillet. This means a cast iron skillet that has been used so often the inside is smooth so foods don’t stick during frying.

9. If the recipe say’s “big” – it ain’t kidding! If it say’s big pot, it generally means the largest soup pot you got. If it say’s big pan – it generally means either a Dutch oven or a 4 quart sauce pan. If it calls for a big bowl – you might even consider using your 4 quart sauce pan unless you have some really big bowls. Some of these recipes are very old, and families were quite large back then – so “big” means BIG.

10. Milk means whole milk – not 2% or soy or some other strange alteration. If you see the words “sweet milk”, this just means plain milk. In the old times, there had to be a distinction made between buttermilk and whole milk, so whole milk was called “sweet milk”. You may also see “sour” milk – which means buttermilk.

 

Bottle Kitties

Last Spring my husband found a cardboard box on the ground by our gate. At first, he assumed it was a package that UPS had dropped off. After walking over to it, he soon realized this was no “package”… something had been dumped on us. Inside were 6 tiny baby kittens. On the internet you can find very detailed information for raising abandoned or orphaned kittens, and I recommend you read some of these resources. You can also call an animal shelter or rescue in your local area and get information on where you can take the kittens if you’re not capable of raising them yourself. Of course, it’s always recommended that you conference with a Veterinarian, and get any recommendations he/she may have. I’m sharing this story in case this ever happens to you and you’re forced into immediate – uneducated – action, as I was.

I was so unprepared for the sight of a box of baby kittens that I forgot all of the aforementioned advice – and jumped right into the role of caregiver! The kittens had been in the box for so long one had already died. The remaining 5 seemed slow to respond and listless. I knew they were probably dehydrated, and past the point of hungry. I didn’t have a rabbit or kitten bottle on hand, but I did have a baby bottle I’d been feeding goats with. I also had powdered multi-animal replacement milk on hand. There was no directions for mixing it for a kitten, but I figured a rabbit’s mix would be close enough. The kittens were way too small to nurse from the bottle, but with some patience and lots of dry towels – I was able to give them all enough milk to fill their little bellies and put some life back into them. I continued to do this until the next day when my husband was finally able to go into town and get a kitten nurser and some kitten formula.

The most important thing to remember with baby kittens is that they need help eliminating their waste. A mother cat would help them do this, and you can simulate the process with a warm wet wash rag. Simply wash and rub their little bums until they relieve themselves. You may be amazed at how much urine such a small kitten can produce! So have plenty of paper towel on hand. I can’t vouch for every kitten in the world, but my little guys were fed on demand, and it averaged about every 2 hours for the first week or so. I let them nurse until they fell away from the nipple on their own. I used the wet rag trick to relieve them before and after each feeding. I didn’t stop doing this until I noticed wetness and elimination in their box.

To keep them warm, clean, and dry, I used a large sized Rubbermaid container, and I lined it with old rags and towels. I left plenty of “hidey holes” and crawl spaces for them in the folds of the material, so they could snuggle down for warmth. As they grew, they began to want out of the box, but I didn’t turn them completely loose until all 4 could climb out on their own. I’d let them out after a feeding to run and play, then put them back in until the next feeding. Once all 4 could get out on their own, I took their bedding from the box and moved it to an area inside the laundry room. This gave them the protection and warmth they needed – and allowed me to line the immediate area with newspaper to catch their eliminations, and a door to close in case I had to leave. Very seldom did one wander off the paper. By the time this became an issue – they were old enough to begin box training. Soon they were also eating solid foods. I started them on canned food of course, but slowly switched them over to dry by soaking it in their kitten milk at first.

Of the 5, we kept the males and found homes for the 3 females. Grayson and Honkey Cat (named after the Elton John song) are now full grown (and spoiled!) Toms. And living proof that you can successfully raise baby kittens – even if you have NO idea what you’re doing! This is the pair when they were about half grown.

 

Earthquake In Clinton, AR

An earthquake with a magnitude of 2.7 hit an area just outside Clinton, Arkansas around 2:30pm today. There were no reported damages, but several people in the surrounding areas reported feeling the tremble. Some of you local guys may remember that scientists from the USGS placed portable seismographs throughout central Arkansas in November after a series of small tremors. I’m really not surprised that the ground under us is moving – I mean – look at this beautiful state and it‘s easy to see that it took major natural disturbances to form this landscape. We have several mountainous regions, we’re plentiful in natural water sheds and waterways, we have an abundance of quartz deposits and even some diamonds. We’re fairly rich in fossil fuels, and bauxite as well. These pictures were taken in Johnson county, Arkansas over the Christmas break.

This is the cliff area that borders Hall creek, some of the crags stick out over the little dirt road. During winter melt off you literally drive under the small waterfalls coming from the high land above.

The water that drains from the rocks was freezing and forming massive icicles, some were as long as 15 feet!

And this is Hall creek on the opposite side of the cliffs. It’s just one long series of waterfalls and scale formations. That’s Tyler way too close for comfort at the edge!