Oh, boy!

These up coming four days promise to be fun! :D Between now and Saturday our days are PACKED!!

Today, tomorrow, and Friday we have to make two batches of yogurt, one batch of chocolate milk, possibly a new drink, and pasteurize plain old white milk at least once if not twice!

As well as go to yet another new market tonight in Collage station, called Brazos Valley Farmers market.

Friday and Saturday I have a conference. I am going to be a vendor with Swede Farm Naturals product. :D I need to make a few things for this and pack everything so I won't be worry about this late tomorrow night or way to early Friday morning. :D

Saturday we have two markets, Bayou city and Grogan's Mill.

Not to mention we still have a farm, animals, and children to take care of! lol That just never ends. :D

Oh! And did I mention that today is Emma's 11th birthday! :D HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!! (I will do another post just for her latter, after I have made a few candles for the conference. :D )

So, please pray that we don't go crazy, get sick, or overwhelmed and that we all have fun during Emma's birthday, markets, conference and anything else that we have to do the rest of this week. Thank you!!

Life On the Farm....

"Well life on the farm is kinda laid back
Aint much an old country boy like me cant hack
Its early to rise, early in the sack
Thank God Im a country boy"

This song happens to be a favorite in our family, esp. among the boys, though you will hear the girls singing it a lot. But there are parts of the song that the older people kind of always joke about.

As far as I can remember life on the farm has not ever really been "kinda laid back", there is always something that can be done, that has to be done, and that is being done.

There is also that part about early to rise and early in the sack. I totally agree with the early to rise part. Sometimes 6 comes WAY to early (and those are the lucky days when we don't have to get up at five!). And there are the times when I want to argue the "early in the sack" part unless he means early in the MORNING! During kidding season and when we have young kids that is when we normally get in bed sometime in the early morning hours.

Case in point, (both on the late nights and the laid back part.)--Last night I went to bed early (well, early for the past few weeks), I was in bed by a quarter to 11! Then I was up at 6:00. Now, unlike my sisters who were out milking I was inside watching the toddlers (mainly cuddling with Seth.) while three girls were milking, mom was helping, and dad was getting ready to be gone for the day. After they were done milking mom came to watch the kids, get breakfast on the table, get the children doing the days chores, and work on paper work. (No, not all at the same time, though it did seem that way!)

While mom was inside working on things, I was out in the dairy pasteurizing milk. While the milk pasteurizes I use the time when I am not cleaning up (had to clean up after the yogurt processing), I do my bible study, I am working my way through Acts and Proverbs. Proverbs is easy to work my way through, though Acts has slowed me down more then once. Along Bible reading, I read R. C. Sproul's Table Talk, and am working my way through four different books. That takes up the entire 30+ minutes that I have to stay out there.

After the milk pasteurizes, I set it to cool. While it cools I go out to work on the garden, I am woefully behind. As in I have NOTHING in place, no beds, no dirt, nothing! :-S After about an hour of garden working I go back and bottle the milk. (It just happens to be chocolate milk today. Yum-o!) After I finish bottling the milk I get called in for lunch.

Once lunch is done, I go and make sure that the processing room is cleaned from pasteurizing and bottling.

I then come inside to make some labels for the Vanilla yogurt. Being the artwork and label person can sometimes take more work and time then one would think! First, I need to come up with an idea for labels, then get them out on the computer, run them by mom and dad, fix anything they don't like, print them, put the correct dates on them, and then put the labels on the bottles. Sounds easy right? Well, that is before you think about the numbers of labels I need to make and keep track of. Milk, chocolate milk, yogurt, flavored yogurt, and kefir. And with each one there is at least three sizes to keep tack of!

Now, I am sitting here at a quarter to two watching/listening to the Astros on MLB.TV, with the chocolate milk made and bottled, with some work on the garden completed (though not that much), flavored yogurt labels made and waiting to be run by mom (since dad won't be home until late tonight). And am about to head outside to work on the garden yet some more.

So, tell me, does that sound "laid back" to you?

Thank God I'm a Country Boy-By John Denver

Well life on the farm is kinda laid back
Aint much an old country boy like me cant hack
Its early to rise, early in the sack
Thank God Im a country boy

Well a simple kinda life never did me no harm
A raisin me a family and workin on a farm
My days are all filled with an easy country charm
Thank God Im a country boy

Well I got me a fine wife I got me a fiddle
When the suns comin up I got cakes on the griddle
Life aint nothin but a funy funny riddle
Thank God Im a country boy

When the works all done and the suns settlin low
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow
The kids are asleep so I keep it kinda low
Thank God Im a country boy

Id play sally goodin all day if I could
But the lord and my wife wouldnt take it very good
So I fiddle when I could, work when I should
Thank God Im a country boy

Well I got me a fine wife I got me a fiddle
When the suns comin up I got cakes on the griddle
Life aint nothin but a funy funny riddle
Thank God Im a country boy

Well I wouldnt trade my life for diamonds and jewels
I never was one of them money hungry fools
Iid rather have my fiddle and my farmin tools
Thank God Im a country boy

Yeah, city folk drivin in a black limousine
A lotta sad people thinkin thats mighty keen
Son, let me tell ya now exactly what I mean
Thank God Im a country boy

Well I got me a fine wife I got me a fiddle
When the suns comin up I got cakes on the griddle
Life aint nothin but a funy funny riddle
Thank God Im a country boy

Well, my fiddle was my daddys till the day he died
And he took me by the hand and held me close to his side
Said, live a good life and play my fiddle with pride
And thank God youre a country boy

My daddy taught me young how to hunt and how to whittle
Taught me how to work and play a tune on the fiddle
Taught me how to love and how to give just a little
Thank God Im a country boy

Well I got me a fine wife I got me a fiddle
When the suns comin up I got cakes on the griddle
Life aint nothin but a funy funny riddle
Thank God Im a country boy
Thank God Im a country boy

Behind the Name

I thought I would explain why the blog is called Naturally Texan. But to explain that, I would need to explain why Swede Farm Naturals has that name, and then to explain that I would need to explain why Swede Farm is what Swede Farm. Then I was trying to figure out how to explain. Do I explain it all one post or three separate posts? Do, I do the blog name first or Swede Farm's name first. It was very confusing!


After much thinking I have decided to explain it in the order that they came--The Farm, the business, and then the blog, all in one post. So, here goes....

The Farm:

Dad and mom moved us out to the farm in '04 so that the kids would have a place to run around and play and so that our Grandfather could live with us. We named our farm Swede Farm after our uncle, who's nick name was Swede. He was dearly loved by us all, and this was our way of remembering him. Here is a quote form our website about him.

"It was through Swede's hard work and diligence that we were able to follow our dream and purchase our farm. Our lives were better for having loved him in life and forever changed by the provision he made for his family at his death."

The Business:

Since then any new project or business having to do with the farm has had Swede in it's name, one way or another. When I started Swede Farm Naturals, I was having the hardest time coming up with a name. One of the reasons was I had to have a name that I liked as well as both of my parents. At first we came up with Swede's Stitches and Scents. (Because Grace and I were going to start a sewing business as well.) Since I was the only person who kind of liked that name, it didn't stay around for long. Truth be told, I don't really know how we got Swede Farm Naturals, but to say I think mom said "How about Swede Farm Naturals?". Everyone LOVED it and it has stayed. :D

The Blog:

For the blog we went through a number of names, but I WANT my parents input when I do new things such as this. Esp. when I will be talking about their family, farm, them, and their lives. It took a lot to find a name that both I and my parents would liked. About three months of them thinking, and about a year of me thinking. (I am still not certain if dad really likes the name or if he just said is was O.K. because it was the one he preferred over the other suggestions.) Again, mom came up with the name (She is a LOT better at that sort of thing then I am.) We went with Naturally to kind of stay with my business (which is what they did with their blog, because we do have a part of the farm business called Dairy Berries.) And Texan because I am a 100% Texan and proud of it!! (Also Native Texan was already taken).

There you have it, the reason behind the farm name, the business name, and the blog name! I hope it made sense to you! :D