Against The Grain

2017-12-07T17:32:00.000-05:00

It's been forever! But I thought I'd post some new pics, in case anyone's interested. Since no one seems to make it up here to visit, I'll show you the latest on the farm....

It's that time of year again!

The boys (15 and 13) are growing so big and sweet (for the most part!) They've both outgrown their dad's shoe size, and little E is almost as tall as his dad- he's 5'11". Rabbit's getting there at 5'8" School is going well... E is in 9th and Rabbit's in 8th, both still involved with Classical Conversations. Actually, Rabbit took a year off to try a different curriculum at home this year, which means I didn't teach this year either, but we are both going back next fall.

E is SUPPOSED to be studying his DMV material, but hasn't. He has no real interest in getting on the real roads, but Jack, of course, is chomping at the bit! Although both have been driving all vehicles up here at the farm

for years, and Rabbit's better at backing a 20' trailer than I am!

LuLu (aka Lucy) is still doing great. She scared us once when she disappeared for a week- highly unlike her. But just when we'd given up all hope, she reappeared- a little thinner, but fine. Apparently she was spooked by a bear we had up here, hunkered down till the bear smell was gone...and then came on home!

On to the farm animals....

We still have some of our original ladies- the Buff Orpingtons. They're 7 years old now. We also have 2 Rhode Island Reds (originally had 6 and these were Rabbit's- but a hawk or something got the other 4 right off the bat). The 3 Black Australorps were originally part of a group of 20 other Australorps, but we lost the others due to a weasel while we were gone on vacation a few years ago! SO these are the lone survivors of that group. And then we have Roady (aka Road Runner, cuz she's unbelievably fast), the little black and white. She's so funny... she's a bit of a runt, and gets picked on and chased off by the bigger girls, but she definitely holds her own- she's been "holding" for about 4 years now! So we have a total of about 12 girls now.

Our outside looks bit dumpy right now...STILL no siding on a 4 year addition! And we have trees that need to be planted, farm equipment, chickens, and misc. furniture in our yard because projects never seem to get finished, and there are always MORE projects waiting! It's a bit overwhelming, and I am trying to cope with all the chaos- but I have my days (serenity now, serenity now...) Any one who tells you that moving to the country is the simple life is either delusional, or lying! We've never worked harder (mostly Big Eric). I , too, was delusional- I read far too many Amish fiction novels before we moved. But we still love most of it- it's hard, frustrating and stressful at times (we have the rockiest, most un-fertile piece of uneven land in WV, I think! And with no water- we have to haul it in), but are constantly reminded of how good we have it- it's very quiet and peaceful, and a great place to raise the boys!

Eric's "swales" he has dug into the pasture for planting

trees for an orchard- it also makes "lanes" for the cows for rotational grazing.

Eric cuts trees and pulls logs out of our woods to cut up for firewood to sell, or for our own stash. He loves cutting and splitting wood- he built his own splitter. Men and their wood-splitting/chopping!

The 4 of us just finished building a pole barn for 5 of our 8 cows/steers for the winter. The 3 cows are all due to calve around February, so we needed shelter for the calves. Little E's 2 steers are in with them as well. The other 3 bigger steers (Lola's 1, and the twins from our late milking cow, Molly) are in the garden close by for the winter:

Eric found old bathtubs to repurpose for water troughs- catching rain from the roof.

And these are little E's steers that he bought himself and is raising. They are doing great! Brownie and Blondie... Blondie's a jersey, Brownie's an angus. They were born at the end of April.

And lastly, the 3 steers- Lola's calf and Molly's twins in the garden area for the winter:

The twins used to be light brown, but they've turned so dark, like their black angus cousin.

I don't have recent pics of the 3 cows- Lola, Ginger (Lola's calf), and Lindsay (Molly's calf). They are currently in a large pasture and will be moved in with E's little steers in about a week. So all the cows will pretty much be back together for the winter.

I don't have a recent pic of the 3 Big Black hogs either- but they are HUGE. They go to be slaughtered in January. Yay, pork! (and bacon and pork loin and ham roast and....)

Well, that about sums it all up. we're doing great. Trying to get ready for the holidays, and winter weather. Charlie and Jill sold the farm (we are very sad), so we will be getting a new neighbor. Wonderful lady named Kate, who owns a huge ranch in Texas, and has horses. So she will be bringing her horses up here to add to the menagerie of animals on the hill!

We miss you all...please come visit us sometime, and send us pics of your family- we would LOVE to see and hear all about the kids and you!

We love you all, and Merry Christmas- God is SO good!

We miss you, Molly!

2017-03-01T19:07:00.000-05:00

Well, it's a sad time up here on the farm. A couple of days ago, we lost our sweet-natured dairy cow, our Jersey, Molly. We don't know what happened except that she was dead when we came out one morning. The only thing we can figure is that it must have been too much for her to be nursing 2 calves. She was not meant to have twins, apparently, and I guess it's a fluke that she did. But she is such a great mom, that she gave everything she had. The boys are doing fine, but the cows were a little freaked out for a couple days... after all, 4 of the 6 cows up here are hers.

We will miss her and her sweet, gentle little spirit... we are not planning on getting another dairy cow at this point, but maybe down the road. Bye, sweet girl. You were a great family cow.

Besides that, we've been fine up here on the "hill." The chickens are starting to lay again, and everywhere this time- behind the hay ring, on Eric's tool chest in the wood shed, on the floor of the other shed. It's an adventure searching for them and figuring out if they're still any good! We are down to 17 chickens now. Poor Rabbit lost all of his chicks he bought last spring- mostly predators. And the Buff's we have left are still from the 1st batch we got 6 years ago!

The boys and I came to a big decision in that we are not going to do Classical Conversations next fall for our homeschooling. We are going to try My Father's World, and work on it together- all 3 of us, which will be great. They're excited to try something new, although I wouldn't be surprised if E wants to go back to CC either for the spring semester, or the following fall. He really likes it- the curriculum and seeing his friends on Fridays. But they will still see friends lots- whether at church, field trips or get-togethers.

Eric's contractor business is really keeping him hopping, thank the good Lord. We've been very blessed with business!

That's all for now- love to you all, and hopefully we'll see you soon! Blessings!

Post Christmas - Pre New Year

2016-12-31T11:36:00.002-05:00

Well, another year of celebrating the birth of our amazing Savior is over. We've had a very quiet Christmas time up here on the "hill." It was lovely, although we missed our loved ones near and far. The boys enjoyed their gifts- although not many, they know the real reason of the season, so we don't do a mess of gifts. We'd rather celebrate with family and friends, Jesus, and togetherness. Our love and prayers for a blessed New Year to our friends and family!

We've had a couple of additions to the "family" up here, taking place before Christmas, and all are well and healthy, thanks be to God. The twins worried us at first, since they are pretty rare, especially for a Jersey cow, but they are not only surviving, but thriving! Molly is such a good momma. Bad news... the calves are getting all our milk!

Meet Calvin and Hobbes...

Then, a week later, Molly's daughter, Lola, had her calf - introducing.... Blackie!

And now it's a nursery... wild and woolly!

We've had a little snowfall this week, much to the boys' delight.

And, much to their dad's dismay... the saturated ground makes for very slippery conditions for hauling water up hill...

Oops... hard lesson learned.

Truck is totaled, BUT, the blessing is we are getting a 2011 Suburban. Yay! This has turned out to be a HUGE blessing in many ways, not just in getting a car whose year actually starts with the number 2 ... God's plans and purposes are amazing!

We are all healthy and well, and pray the same for you....much love to you and yours!!

2016-07-04T11:12:00.004-04:00

Good morning! It has been so long since I wrote on here, and I got reprimanded on my recent visit to Richmond. SO, here I am!

As most of you know, it's been a bit crazy, tragic, and sad around these parts for the past week. West Virginia got hit by the worst flooding in 100 years, and it has devastated areas around us. We, on "the hill" are fine. No problems, but we have many friends who were/are affected, and it is sobering and sad to experience this with them. On the other hand, I have never, personally, seen so much outpouring of love, help and support in all my life. It reminds me of pics and videos we used to see about the aftermath of Katrina- but to experience it and see it first hand is something else, let me just tell you.

floodwater line at the bottom of our drive

3 of the four roads into Lewisburg have been shut down due to parts of the road missing and swept away. It is a nightmare getting around Lewisburg! Things are slowly getting better, though. 3 of the 4 are now open - yay! But it's pouring here again today, with flash flood warnings.

road on the way to our church

Our family has had the privilege and honor of being Christ's helpers by mucking out flood mud, tearing up carpeting and flooring, removing destroyed furnishings, salvaging what's left, helping to organize donations and supplies at police/fire stations, doing laundry for friends, offering prayer and support where needed. It is overwhelming, the needs of the people in this and surrounding areas. To be able to help just a little is humbling, and educational- it forces you to realize and prioritize what's truly important. We are not to store up treasures here on earth, but to value what is good, noble, true, right, praiseworthy. We are to look heavenward for what's important.

The kids helping out...

Experiences like the flooding helps you to take stock and realize that it is all about your relationship with Christ, who is your Savior and is the ONLY way to God and heaven - and your family.

One of my friends we are helping- Rachel and her husband and daughter live on one of the worst hit streets in White Sulphur. The house across from hers was torn off its foundations and swept away, with 3 people inside who were later found dead. The neighbor down the street's house burned to the ground while being flooded, and his nephew's house next door blew up, and then floated away, blowing his wife into a tree. She later died in the hospital, succumbing to her burns. 8 of the 11 homes on the street behind her are gone...gone. People's possessions are in piles in front of what's left of their homes, waiting to be picked up and thrown out.

Rachel and her husband have remodeled their bungalow in painstaking detail. It is precious. Every detail had been seen to. And they lost so much of it. She and Kevin had sent their daughter to family in Kentucky so that they could focus on the cleanup, salvaging, and moving. When we first got there on Saturday and saw the devastation of her home and neighborhood, I made the comment of how hard this must be... how she and Kevin had put their heart and soul into that house. And she emphatically said, "No, my heart and soul is in Kentucky."

Rachel's house

They are overwhelmed and saddened by all they've lost, but know what's important.

And the outpouring of love and support makes me cry (and most of you know, I don't cry that much!) To see people going door-to-door, offering hot meals, fresh water, cleaning supplies, the gospel and prayer- whatever these people need to help them get started on the aftermath- is unbelievable. God is good!

Help is going to be necessary for a long time. It will be months before those whose businesses and homes survived get things straight. And permanent homes found for those who lost everything. And it will never be the same for those who lost loved ones. My heart breaks for so many.

Please, please please.... keep praying. Even when things have died down, and other news stories bigger than this come out. Even when the sun shines and things seem bright and beautiful where you are - please remember to say a prayer for those still struggling.

On a lighter note- it was joyful to celebrate E's 14th birthday! I can hardly believe his journey. It is such a privilege and blessing to watch him grow into such a nice person. He loves Christ, his family, his friends, and life. He is enjoying learning and is so curious- and is so sensitive to injustices. He is a sensitive, sweet young person, and I am so blessed to be able to say I am his mom. Thank you, God, for my boy.

2015-06-13T10:24:00.003-04:00

Summer's Delights....

Mmmm... s'mores

E and the boys during he last cool night we had in June!

It's been a great beginning to summer, although incredibly hot lately. I think... no, I KNOW, if we could afford it, Eric and I would travel to and live up north, whether it would be Canada, or New England, or even out west somewhere, for 6 months and stay here in the winter... homeschooling the boys and seeing new sights together... ahhh, sounds delightful!

Morning coffee with one of my ladies...

Rabbit's newest girlies... Rhode Island Reds

But, we can't, so here we are. The garden is in and germinating, window fans are in, school's back in session (albeit a slower, more relaxed schedule), the annual father/son weekend with our church is happening as we speak (I am sequestered over here alone. Darn! Some quiet time to myself!!), and the pond has been open for several weeks for friends and family.

Newest additions... 3 Big Blacks (although, not living up to their name quite yet!)

I just finished my Director training/practicum for Challenge (CC) in Waynesboro for a few days, where the boys and I were blessed to be able to stay at my mom's place in Nellys Ford with her and Big Pop. I had a very tiring, but inspiring 3 days meeting with others and learning more about taking the time to wonder at God's creation. I know I don't always take the time to appreciate creation and all its complexities, and I live on a farm! I get distracted, running from one errand to another, while homeschooling and taking care of the house and family. All of the great thinkers... scientists, philosophers, artists, mathematicians, etc., discovered and contributed because they took the TIME to wonder. As we begin our summer lesson plans, I am going to make more of an effort to really get out there and take time, with the boys, to wonder and DELIGHT in God's glorious creation... its simplicities, complexities, symmetries, asymmetries, beauty, harmony and challenges. And I challenge you to do the same.... when was the last time you rested in and wondered about the graciousness, love and delight God has for us as he allows us to be a witness to and enjoy his creation?

hungry little piggies...

E checking them out...

"From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see His invisible qualities- His eternal power and divine nature." Romans 1:20.

The boys and me at Monticello...

At Aggie's (my mom's) place in Nellys Ford

2015-04-26T18:49:00.000-04:00

Farewell, Sam

(1998-2015)

(aka Sammy, Sammy-poops, Poops, Mister Poopie, Poopus-Magoo).

We miss you and love you!! You are the BEST cat ever!

I actually started a post January 2014 and didn't finish it, but here it is:

It has been since May since I last posted... absolutely crazy! I don't know why. It could be because Eric and I have never, ever worked so hard and stayed so busy in the last, almost 3 years than in all our years in Richmond.... or it could just be laziness. Whatever the case, it's been awhile. So for those who still care, and don't know what's been going on with us, here's a very brief recap of the last 8 1/2 months!

All summer we hang around and just took care of the farm, I guess. It's been so long, I don't even remember! I know we visited Blennerhasset Island, a cool place on the river between Ohio and West Virginia. You ferry over and visit the house and island, and come on back. The best part for the kids was staying at the hotel and swimming in the pool! It was a rather hot summer.... which has led into a pretty hard winter.

The hogs were butchered last spring, the chickens flourished and our two steer grew.

Little E had his 11th birthday, which if you know about his rough start in life, is still miraculous to us. And, as you can tell, he acquired glasses. His NICU doctors always said he'd need them by kindergarten, but he waited til he was going into 5th grade!

The boys went to camp in July at Alpine Bible Camp, and HATED it. They've never been so happy to come home after a week away... they say they NEVER want to go to camp again! Oh well, chalk it up to experience. This is their "we're so happy to be going home" face:

That's a little from last year's unpublished/finished post! So I thought I'd give this blog another shot... I obviously haven't written in a LONG time. And obviously too much has happened since then to put it all down here... but one of the biggest things to happen to us is the passing of our beloved cat, Sam. As far as cats go, he was the bomb (yes, I went there... the bomb). He is sorely missed. Aside from that, we have been plugging away with life up here. God, with His usual mercy and goodness, has consistently blessed us and our farm. We've had chickens, pigs and cows, a garden that improves with each passing year, an amazing church family and school family, several wonderful families that we are particularly close to, and each other. Our health is great, praise God.

Here are some pics from the past year...

At the Sod House Museum in Nebraska

Badlands, SD

Seneca Rocks in Canaan Valley

Thanksgiving in Bolar with my lovely family...

Big Snow Storm... 23 inches, right after the boys got bikes for Christmas!!

little E (12) and me after Christmas

Rabbit (10) and me the same day...

Truck stuck on driveway after storm... Eric trying to pull it out with tractor

The silver lining being stuck inside? Getting the bedrooms done...

and finally getting a dining area... (schooling with Dad)

The 1st bedroom mostly complete! (notice Sammy..)

Polar Bear Club 2015 ( late March- 2 weeks after snows melted!)

Rabbit won 1st prize in (elementary school) painting category in Creative Arts for Youth at Carnegie Hall!

Our newest girls (all Rabbit's this time!)... so ridiculously cute!

For those who don't know, we homeschool our kids, as we have for the past 4 years, and they are classically educated (https://www.classicalconversations.com/classical/classical-education). We are part of a Classical Conversations (CC) community (https://www.classicalconversations.com) who meet weekly to learn with other kids. We just wrapped up our CC year, but will continue to school throughout the summer. This is obviously important for both boys, but especially for little E, who will be entering the Challenge portion of CC this fall. And I will move from being a Foundations tutor to a Challenge A tutor. Both of us will be pushed next year academically and in our diligence and work ethic. Let's hope it's a year of maturity for us both!

Rabbit shot his first turkey just yesterday(1st time hunting turkey - he shot a button buck last year). He was pretty proud. Too bad we can't hold onto it for Thanksgiving!

Rabbit (middle with little E on right and cousin J on left)

The cousins!

And that about wraps it up in a nutshell. We are getting ready to visit Richmond next month to see family, which we are excited about. And unlike last summer, which involved a 3 1/2 week trip out west, camping every night (except for a week stay in Jackson, WY.), and visiting National Parks, etc., this summer we will be much closer to home. As usual, we miss family and friends, but are also blessed to have new ones here.

Welcome, spring!

2013-05-10T14:51:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time, and although I do love winter, I am so thankful for sunny, warm days again.
We have wrapped up Classical Conversations (Cycle 1), and are trying to wrap up the remainder of our schoolwork, such as math and language arts. The boys' testing (national IOWA tests) went great and we are very pleased with their scores, so they will be in 4th and 5th grade next year (although Rabbit does all E's curriculum except math). I am already excited about starting to plan for fall's Cycle 2 (but I don't think the boys are there yet!!) For now, we have been enjoying the outside and the animals...

We still have 22 chickens with no button to turn off! We are inundated with eggs, now that CC has stopped and I have no regular place to sell them. So Jill has suggested a couple of breakfast casseroles that require 18 eggs each, so I may be trying some new breakfast casserole recipes!! AND- we no longer have our 4 funny, stinky, silly hogs. They are now bacon, pork loin, Boston butt and sausage! And let me tell you, they are delicious (at least Charlie is, the one we kept for ourselves)! We will get more hogs this year since the experiment seemed to go so well...

We are still waiting to see if Molly's pregnant (I wish giant EPT sticks worked on cows, but alas, she has to be loaded up in a trailer, which is loads of fun with a cow who is stubborn and has two horns she likes to wield around!!) For now, all three are going to need ear tags to repel flies soon, and I won't be the one to put them on Molly, that's for sure. We'll let the vet take care of that one!

Eric is being kept busy with construction/handyman jobs. For example, he is (along with one or two others) building a barn for his dad right now. He has a tile job in town after that, and another barn and house addition coming up. And we are hoping to start our own mudroom and screen porch addition to the front of our house soon (Yea!!!!!!)

We have joined our s-i-l's and Eric's brother's church's Body Building class, which meets on Tuesday evenings. So while the kids get to play, we are discussing the Westminster Shorter Catechism book, which is great. It has cleared up and answered or reaffirmed so many issues about being a true Christian. It is a great resource and I highly recommend it. It is sad that so many churches today do not teach from the scripture, and avoid terms like "sinner" and "accepting Jesus as your Savior," trying to be politically correct without offending people, instead of teaching the truth. So if you have any questions, this book's a great place to start! I am SO far from where I need to be, but I am so thankful to God for the progress I have made. Thank you, Jesus.

We will be making a trip to Richmond in June for the HEAV's homeschool convention, the boys have their first camp experience this summer for a week, we have lots of dates planned for get-togethers, book clubs, meetings for a practicum for CC, tutor training (I "teach" or tutor the 3rd-4th grade class at CC), etc... and the boys will have a relaxed version of school this summer (I can't imagine them playing Legos ALL summer long!!)

We are all healthy, happy and just rollin' along up here on the hill... we pray you are as well! God bless...

Just a few recent photos:

New summer cuts for all!

Spring has sprung...

Gardens ready for summer crops...

Have a good day!

I have to brag on hubby....

2013-01-08T17:27:00.000-05:00

he's just so talented and HANDY! I wanted to add a photo of the "barn" he built for the cows when the weather is icky, and for milking Molly, when the time comes. No, she hasn't returned to us yet, but hopefully she'll come back a "woman!" Plus there are a few more photos of recent days:

This came in REAL handy for THIS:

After some of it melted, and we got a much-needed sunny day, we had to clean the coop, which was much-needed! Peee-uuuuu! (I actually have to climb up into the coop to clean... let's just say I need a clean-up after this!) The boys stopped by to have a look (VERY nosy!)

Here are some happy ladies:

My Handy Man!! (he's so cute!)

And we can't leave out the other "boys," Fabio, Fred, Mr. T and Charlie:

They have gotten SOOOOO big! We can't let the boys in there to feed them anymore... we're scared they may get knocked down and eaten! (just kidding... I think).

A face only a mother could love....

Now for some older pics taken around Christmas....
Thanks for the popcorn machine, Aggie!!!!!! (we did it outside so our little 24x24 wouldn't smell of popcorn for days!)

Had a birthday cake for Christmas...

Ripping through presents,
(Rabbit's opening them so fast he's a blur of activity !!!)

Love the vests!

Now for something completely odd: I was getting cabin fever and since we have no place for gloves and hats when they're wet, I concocted this out of wood off Eric's firewood pile, and insulation "hangers".... weird, huh?! But it works!

And as for all our boots....sigh.... I am anxiously awaiting spring so we can build a much-needed mudroom:

(The rug remnant is actually a very light buff... can you see it through the MUD?!)

Well, school's back in session, and we head back to CC (Classical Conversations) on Thursday, so we are back in the groove! Hope all is well with everyone... God bless!

I know, I know!

2012-12-29T16:53:00.001-05:00

It has been ridiculously long since I last posted, and obviously a lot has been happening, including Christmas.... so I will just upload some pics and add some comments. Everyone is great... the kids are excited to have Christmas break, and we have been taking care of all the animals, trying to keep them warm. It's snowing again today... it never accumulates much, just 1-2 inches of either snow or sleet. Just enough to keep us up on the hill, getting cabin fever! We pray all of you are doing well, and had a blessed Christmas...


We are down to 22 chickens (lost one a few months ago) but they are doing great and still laying


Sam's 15 and lovin' life!


No, we haven't resorted to kidnapping! These are actually our newest members of the farm being transported...

...being released...


Ta-da! Aren't they cute?! We actually have 4, although only 1 is ours... the other three are for friends... we are raising them all for breakfast and dinner! Yum, yum!


They are Hampshire x Big Black, and let me tell you...they are FUNNY! They are like dogs! We've had them about two months now, so they are MUCH bigger than this now. They will go to slaughter around 250 lbs. They did escape about 3 weeks ago, and we panicked, thinking they'd be gone. That's what everyone told us to expect if they got loose. But as soon as I pulled into our driveway, they were all standing there, grunting and excited, looking for food! So I got a bucket of mash and they followed me right up the path and into their pen, like a Pied Piper! Big goofballs.... but VERY entertaining. And unlike what you hear about pigs, they are actually clean and don't like being messy. They only wallow around in a mud puddle when it's hot, to cool off, because they don't have any sweat glands. But their poo IS quite stinky... it's just as smelly as human poo, but they do find just one area to be their loo! We love them, although we know they will be pork loin and bacon come spring.


He-lllloooooooo! Actually, Molly, the big girl, is off visiting someone else's farm for a few weeks, being "courted!" We are praying she comes back happy, satisfied and pregnant (it's her first time, poor baby!) So hopefully, in about 9 months, we will be in the milk again! The little guys miss her, she's a force to be reckoned with... she also thinks she's a dog... she literally runs around, prancing and bucking and doing goofy things. We still need to de-horn her cuz according to a farmer friend of ours, "horns have no place on a farm!"


We get A LOT of wind up here, as you can see by our leaning icicle... we wear a lot of A&D and Vaseline on our faces during the winter!


This was the last snow... we have a real barn for them to go into now.... it's actually for milking Molly when the time comes, but it works great as shelter from the wind and sleet for them all.


There's our "smouse" in the woods.... now we just really need a mudroom!

Here's a flashback to Halloween... ours are Harry Potter and the black-hat detective, the other two are their cousins, who they LOVE to spend time with...


Here they are enjoying a nice afternoon outside...

inside drawing or doing school...


But their main love is still Legos!

Lots of baking...

and school projects.

We are plugging right along, and we all love it up here on the "hill." We miss seeing our family and friends, but we are happy with this lifestyle we've chosen. Eric has started a handyman business and sells firewood. I do the occasional drawing, when requested (I wish there were more!). On another blog featuring a couple who similarly uprooted and drastically changed their lifestyle, she says, "people either pity us or envy us." It's not always easy, but it's always rewarding, and it's brought us closer to God, and to each other. And for us, that's what's most important. Happy New Year to you all... with love.

Finally "finished!!!"

2012-09-17T07:51:00.000-04:00

Well, finally move-in-able! We still have work to do. We moved in about 10 days ago and are LOVING it! It's so great to be in our own "smouse"... so cozy and sheltered. Still haven't figured out where I'm going to put my hanging clothes, much less all the bulky winter clothes to come, but, one day at a time!

A few good watermelons....

A bounty of apples ready for canning applesauce...

We have had the BEST tomatoes this year

Blue corn silk

I love the look of sunflowers... so happy!

Meet our newest ATG member, Molly. We got her (Jersey heifer, 16 mo. old) off a Mennonite farmer, Ezra. He has Molly's momma. Molly will be bred this fall, hopefully calve 9 months later, and then we'll be back in the milking business!

School's in... we are still doing Classical Conversations this fall, with me teaching the 3rd graders, and using CLE's (Christian Light Education) curriculum at home, so we'll see how that goes. We spend from 8:10-12:30 or 1:00 doing our curriculum and then have our quiet hour of reading and then playtime for the boys.

We'll keep you posted! Thanks for staying tuned!

A few pics of what's happenin'

2012-08-08T17:01:00.000-04:00

House photos, so far... and can I just say: Drywall stinks!!! It's so tedious!

Rabbit's 8th birthday!:

SpiderMan, SpiderMan....

Happy Birthday, Rabbit!! We love you!!

Busy, busy, busy.....

2012-07-23T09:10:00.000-04:00

It has been a whirlwind of activity around here this summer. Once school was finished we really got into the house. We are at this point under roof, soffit up, plumbing and electricity rough in completed, ceiling drywalled, and 1/3 walls drywalled. We are so close!

We did have a stall in work due to the storm that hit hard. It was a MESS. By God's grace alone, most trees fell between houses or on outbuildings, but hardly any on actual homes. As I'm sure you heard in the news, West Virginia was a mess. We had no power for 13 days due to a power line down in the front yard across the driveway, and the next transformer is 2 miles through the woods down to Hamilton Ridge. We also had no water, which was the hardest. Without electricity, we couldn't get water from the well, so we had to boil it on the grill or go into town to fill up jugs/buckets of water.

We all did fine through it all- we have had "pioneer weekends" up here before and didn't mind not having power. We did our laundry out of tubs and clothesline, and cooked on the grill. We had rain barrels of water for the livestock, and garden. We even had little E's 10th birthday and baked a cake on the grill, which came out great. We used solar powered light that you would use to light your pathways at night, and we did use our generator to power on and off through the day to keep the fridge going (although we still did lose some food).

Our life in pics since I last wrote:


Eric and Rabbit shelling peas


E's grilled birthday cake (10th! Hard to believe!)


laundry day!

cavalry's coming!


The storm twisted this outbuilding 4-5 inches off the foundation- actually, that's what happened to alot of the trees.... they were twisted around and left hanging, or else completely uprooted. We had an impassable driveway due to 8 downed oaks across just in one spot

Hard to see, but it's a black bear at the top of the driveway

Monkey see and Monkey Do- finally weaned off the bottle!

2012-06-02T18:07:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to take a minute for a little "shout-out" to those who have helped us so much on our "smouse"-building-journey so far- you guys have been an absolute God-send and we are so very blessed to have you in our lives. Not just for house help, but for being such an integral part of our lives. We couldn't have gotten this far without you-

My mom, Aggie, who came up for a quiet, relaxing weekend with her grandkids, but ended up on top of the house helping to put the roof trusses up-- what a trouper!!!;

Eric's dad and stepmom, Pap and Gran, who have been so gracious and patient in letting us stay in their farmhouse up here while we are building our own;

Eric's mom, Nanny, who visits and takes the kids for a few hours here and there so they won't get TOTALLY bored while we're busy building - as well as my dad and stepmom, Bo and D, when they take the kids for the weekend;

Our great friend Lee, who came all the way from Richmond to spend a weekend with us, helping Eric and I to get our house square (!) while dealing with about a foot of mud all weekend;

Our other great friend, Travis, who is like family, who came over in a downpour, had to make his own dinner, introduced us to delicious brussel sprouts, and helped to put up roof sheathing;

Our good friend (new to us here in West Virginia), Keith, who we feel is one of those new friends God has put in our path, who helped to "wrap" our house in OSB, and remove tree stumps and boulders in the very beginning;

and last, but certainly not least, Eric's brother, Aaron, who constantly helps us, not only with our house, but he and his beautiful wife, Jennifer, provide us with wonderful fellowship and good times. Although I miss my brother, Trip, and his family back in Richmond, we are blessed to be so close to these two here in West Virginia.

We are SO grateful for all of your support, friendship and help. God bless you- we love you all!

2012-05-31T22:09:00.000-04:00

Goodbye, Number 41!!!!

We have had sooooo much going on I hardly know where to begin! It's now end of May, hard to believe, and things are rolling right along.... since I last posted, we have made great progress on our "smouse" (small house). We are moving onto adding the sheathing, and roof overhangs. The boys did GREAT on their standardized tests (although we have some work to do in math), so I thank the Lord for that. And I'm ready to start the next "year," but obviously the boys aren't on the same page as me!

We have added to our animals, and can now be called a small farm... a dairy cow and two bull calves, along with our 1 cat and 24 chickens!

Our journey begins 2 weeks ago when the 2 boys were at my dad's house for the weekend. Eric and I had contacted a local organic farmer who raises Jerseys. We knew the cow we were to buy was VERY pregnant, so we needed to wait til she birthed, and then give her a few days afterwards to make sure she doesn't develop milk fever (calcium loss- can kill the cows if not treated). So after waiting for a week like expecting parents, we get "The Call".... she's ready. We are high with excitement and visions of fresh, daily milk, butter, cheeses and whipped cream (can you see our cholesterol going up right about now?!) We head to the farm, which is a beautiful drive, on a beautiful morning, to get our cows (we have also purchased 2 bull calves (to be castrated) to help with the abundant milk we knew we were going to get). We pull up, and with the assistance of a couple of farm hands, we are smiling, hands out the window waving goodbye with our new cow family. Eric actually hears one of the farm hands yelling, with a thick Hispanic accent, "Goodbye Number 41!!" We laugh, and gaily drive home, ready to show our new farm members their home.

Everything has been going splendidly since then... the cows all LOVE their new home, everyone's healthy and frolicking, and we have been getting an abundance of milk daily!

How I wish....now, for the real story!

We get home, convince the cows to get out and into the pasture, and they all just stand there staring at us. The one calf won't have anything to do with us, the littlest calf (who, incidentally is the momma cow's we purchased) is laying down, looking as sick as can be. Milking the momma was not fun or easy, as she wanted nothing to do with us. Eric and I clumsily milk her and get about a quart before Eric has to pick up the "lifeless" calf and force him to drink off her. Not to be completely dismayed, we figure the next day will be much easier. So the next morning we arise with plans of harnessing the momma, getting her to walk with us to a stall to be milked (because Jersey's are SOOO docile, according to everyone we spoke to and everything we read!). So we go out, try to herd her down the chute, and out she runs! Now, remember, she has just given birth, and her udder looks like it's going to explode - a giant pendulum swinging around under her middle. So how she is actually running, I don't know. She has Eric and I on the run all over the farm and around the barn a few times, trying to catch her with a halter and basically looking like idiots.

Then I hear Eric saying something not very nice and see him and the cow rounding the corner, with her making this terrible clicking sound as she's running. Apparently, she has now hobbled herself and is running/limping back into the pasture, where she lays down and can't/won't get up! In the meantime, we still have a lifeless calf who we don't expect to make it through the night. And the first one still has nothing to do with us. Can you feel the joy?

Next morning, after managing to get her and the calves down into a shady spot, and drastically reducing their pasture space (she's still clicking, the calf is still "lifeless"), we manage to bottle feed milk and electrolytes into the calf, and after a few hours, miracle-of-miracles, he's five-alive! Good to go, and he's frolicking with the other calf. Things are looking up! Except.....

The momma cow is not doing so hot. To make a long story shorter, we had the vet out twice in one day, to tell us she definitely has milk fever! All he had to do was get out of his truck, take one look at her laying down with head back and limbs sticking straight out, and announced the sickness. After the second visit, he left us at 10:00 that night with instructions of: if she's sitting up and eating the next morning, she's more than likely going to be okay... if she's still laying in the typical milk fever position, basically she's a goner and shoot her in the head! OBVIOUSLY, we did not want or anticipate the latter. So the next morning, I go out to feed the calves their bottles, and find we don't have to shoot her in the head after all because she's already dead!!! Can you believe it?! So here I am, bottle-feeding two little calves while a dead, giant cow, covered in flies, is right next to me. I call Eric, and he has to rig the cow up to the tractor and pull her across the farm to lay her to rest, where other animals will find her. And as he was leaving her, he made sure to send her off with a tribute of "Goodbye, Number 41!" It took a couple of days, but the vultures ended up circling.

It was the longest 6 days ever... and we didn't get to work on the house at all during all of this. HOWEVER: the calves are now doing great.. they are soooo beautiful with huge, brown eyes and long lashes. They look like little deer and act like puppies! They chase each other, leap around and lick you all over when it's time to eat. We bottle feed milk replacer 2 times a day, and love every minute. We are working on getting another dairy Jersey to replace the first (the farmer's working with us- although we don't blame HIM for the milk fever- just bad first luck!) and should be getting her within two weeks. We DID make butter, and got abundant milk while we had her, and it was really fun- quite amazing to milk your own cow.

We've gotten back to the "smouse," and got the wall sheathing up, with the roof sheathing going up tomorrow.

It's been an adventure, but really, we expected nothing less! And through it all, God continues to bless us abundantly! We give Him praise and all the glory.

SOOOOO, our life in pictures since the last time I blogged:

"To Market, to market... "

Number 41

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Last photo of Number 41!

Sweetest face...

Rabbit feeding the calves...

E's turn!

One of God's creatures.... ain't he a beauty?!

I haven't blogged in so long.. we've been trying to get through testing for the boys....

2012-03-26T19:09:00.000-04:00

and things have been busy. Since my last post regarding tubing, let's just say the weather has changed slightly... the following are recent pics of the boys....

Testing the waters....

Oh My Gosh....What am I thinking?!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! It's cold!!!!

We Did It!... Newest members of the Polar Bear Club - March 19, 2012!

The air temp. was actually around 67, so it wasn't THAT bad! But they had fun in the pond..... So that's how they chilled out (no pun intended!) after testing week! I think they did really well, but we won't find out for sure until the end of May, I think (I hate waiting for ANYthing, much less something like this!) We also have a new friend in the pond....

And the beautiful red-winged black birds with their pretty song are back...

Eric made his first omelet ever..... and it was even more special because the eggs were from our girls. He was very proud, so here it is, in all its glory....

It WAS very tasty!

The ladies are all doing well, and we get an average of 18 eggs a day, with some days being 17 and others being 23. So they are doing great. We recently painted their coop and got them out on the newly grown grass, out of the muddy garden:

And we got our first double-yolker... can you guess which one?!:

Oops... I broke the yolk....

Anyway, I saved the best news for last....... drum roll please......... We turned in our plans last Tuesday and got them back APPROVED today. We are official, with our permit to build and everything! Eric left the courthouse with permit in hand, rented the digger, and is now on the site digging footers....... Just kidding! But we ARE all ready and excited to begin....

Please say prayers for this next leg of our homesteading journey... for cooperative weather, inspections, and lots of patience!!!

I have to go make our celebratory meal now, so if you'll excuse me, I'll see ya'll later!

Ahhhhhh, on the slopes again....

2012-03-04T19:13:00.000-05:00

after 17 years! It's been that long since I have been skiing... is that true?! Wait... yes, it is! I can't BELIEVE it's been that long! But alas, it has... and yesterday, the family headed to Snowshoe (Silvercreek) to hit the slopes... but this time for me, it wasn't about skiing...but tubing! E and Rabbit, Eric and I woke up Saturday morning all excited and goofy with anticipation (okay, except for E, 9, who thought it sounded "boring" and needed an attitude adjustment!). We got all of our gear ready (layers upon layers of, well... layers - Eric and I remembering, lo those many years ago, of freezing our patooties off and being miserable, so we wanted all of us to be more than prepared), went into town and then off to Snowshoe with the boys' cousin, 8 (who had also had an attitude problem that morning!) and uncle (Eric's brother). It was a "balmy" 50 degrees in town, but we were hopeful for cooler temps and snows in the mountains. Needless to say, when we could see the mountain upon which we were to tube, it was....snowless! Oh well, the run was snow-BLOWN and it worked out very well. None of us had been tubing before (except b-i-l and his son), and we were a tiny bit apprehensive about how you get your tube attached to the machine that pulls you and the tube up the hill... however, when we got our tubes and headed for the line, we were met with a cable with hooks that was not making the slightest movement. Okay, here's where I admit my physical weakness, and tell you of my HUGE disappointment and nervousness because I knew that after one, MAYBE two attempts at walking up the mountain with my tube, I would have to quit... there is NO way I could have done that, even if I had to!

But, the cable started to move, and we were off! It went remarkably well, and we all had a blast! It was absolutely beautiful, and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. It was so awesome to see Eric having such a great time with his boys. It turned out that our group was a party of 23 (from b-i-l's church) and we knew a bunch of them, so that made it even more fun. I ended up being the only mom to go, and quite frankly, I'm glad I didn't know that beforehand because I may not have gone. But I am SOOOOO glad I did. It was a great experience for our family!

I wish I could show you pics, and I had every intention of doing that, but once I took my first pic, the battery went dead (thanks, Rabbit!). So here is the one pic I have, of the pile of tubes to choose from, and the people in the pic aren't even us, but still....

I would highly recommend this for families!

Everybody say prayers......

2012-03-01T17:34:00.002-05:00

we planted our very first crop on ATG yesterday! Okay, it's really just our first ROW of our first crop, but that's just details! We planted a row of peas... it was a BEAUTIFUL late February day, so we decided to take advantage:

On our way to ATG :

Don't worry... they didn't really ride, just for posing... notice the "gun!"

Eric tilling up the garden...

Rabbit giving us his professional opinion on the soil quality....

E trying to find grubs and worms...

Preparing the row and putting in some "black gold" (compost)...

We're planting............PEAS!

Not very appealing NOW, are they? Let's hope they look better than this next time we see them!

Watering...

Fencing...

And the "pea patch" is finished with "help" from these goofballs!

Here's Momma on the tractor... It's so much fun to drive!

After our planting, Eric headed back to finish rigging up his solar panels for the ladies' fence...

(Cool, huh?! Hmmmmm, maybe a solar-powered house next..?!)

While I baked bread...

All-in-all, a very productive day on ATG!

It was a very busy day for us, on this beautiful, sunny Sunday...

2012-02-26T18:39:00.002-05:00

The girls are very happy to be back in grass again....

doesn't bother them that it's brown!

we moved the girls from the enclosed garden area to the new "pastured" (I use that term loosely considering the "pasture" is brown!) area. We ordered extra fencing to make their area bigger, now that they're bigger also. We also had to clip one wing on each girl so they couldn't try to fly over the fence! It went much better than I thought...we had never done that before, this being our first batch of chickens and all. We weren't sure if they had a quick or something that we could cut, but apparently not, because it went well. Although in the middle of clipping their wings, we noticed bleeding from one of the girls and thought we HAD nipped her, but she apparently has done something to one of her toenails. So we had to do first aid... on a chicken! (we're trying not to have a repeat of the "Helmut incident!") We had to wash the wound to see what was going on, sprinkle cornstarch on the wound to stop the bleeding (read it in our chicken book.. who knew cornstarch had so many uses!), and put liquid bandage on it so she wouldn't get it infected with poop or dirt... so we'll see if she makes it, or if she'll be stew... i know you'll be on pins and needles waiting to hear the outcome, so we'll keep you posted... Meanwhile, here are the new digs...

Eric's hooking up our first solar panel device! To keep predators out... so cool!

Alright, I am embarrassed to show this, but apparently not ALL of our ladies are keeping up with their hygiene... I'll be having a little talk with this one later tonight!

In spite of SOME of the ladies' hygiene deficiencies (ahem!), all the eggs come out remarkably clean!

And this pic pretty much sums up my life now, not that I'm complaining at ALL... I love it! Dirt, poo, and boots... and notice the stuck feather...

We had a first big snowfall of the season...

2012-02-22T08:59:00.000-05:00

and it was beautiful! The boys and I were in Virginia visiting with Aggie and Big Pop, and had a great time catching up. We went to see the Christian Youth Theatre's (CYT) Mulan. It was really good and the kids enjoyed it a lot. The next day we went to see Ariyetty (sp?) at the movies (based on The Borrower's, if anyone remembers) and the boys were pretty bored with it. Mom and I really enjoyed it because the images were reminiscent of illustrations that we remember from books of our youth. Pixar it isn't, but it's a nice departure from the images today. Don't get me wrong, I love Pixar, esp. Nemo and Cars (and in case you didn't know, Nemo is coming in 3D soon, according to the previews in the theatre), but it was a neat alternative.

ANYway, while we were there, Eric had to stay behind to take care of the ladies (who are laying an average of 21 eggs a day now!) and deliver wood, etc. So while we got about 3-4 inches in Virginia, we got 8-9 inches at the farm. Eric took a lot of pics, and they are so pretty. So here they are:

Here's what it looked like on Monday, the day after the snow when the boys and I got home:

And the ladies weren't quite sure what to make of it:

But they needed to go out... after a day of being cooped up (notice the pun!), their house stinks! Pee-u! The girls needed their house and themselves aired out... But aren't they pretty?! One of them recently tried to "fly the coop" and landed on the top wire around the garden... she must have been up there for three whole minutes, swinging back and forth, frantically trying to keep her balance on this little wire, all the while flapping her wings, until I could get out to her, pick her up and show her the direction home! It was quite amusing... she must have been pooped after that exercise!

And speaking of being pooped, it was another exciting day for Sam ("Poops"):

I loved being able to spend time with my mom and get together with my 4 closest friends from Virginia... we had coffee together and tried to catch up, but the time together was too short. Sheryl, Laura, Rach and Cath.. I love you guys, thanks for meeting with me!

But it's always good to get back home, and I missed Eric so much, I couldn't wait to get back to him.

Life (and love) is good!

I love the way the clouds and fog roll across the mountains up here...

2012-01-21T10:47:00.000-05:00

I think it's so pretty and wispy. I have to say, though, as much as I love winter and would love one good snow (so the kids could use their new snow shoes and sleds!), I look forward to how green it is up here in spring/summer. But every season has its own beauty...

For those of you who are interested in what we do during the day, here's just a tiny sampling... in between the math, reading, grammar, etc., we were doing a study on Ancient civilizations and this is an Egypt project we were working on. the boys had so much fun constructing their desert scene that now they want to do it for Mali, Rome, Greece and China! Me thinks they may get bored with doing these scenes for all of them, but we'll see....

Nothing warms the heart (for me) than seeing the boys into their work (cuz let's face it... it's not like that all the time!) And I love walking into a room and finding them quietly reading a book (especially when I'm such a bookworm and LOVE to read), even when Rabbit is reading something wholesome like Little House on the Prairie books, and E is reading Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets!!! Oh well.....

Rabbit lost his second tooth last night (it's been practically hanging out of his mouth for the past week!) So he is 7 and this is only his second tooth loss.... I think his teeth are as stubborn as he is! Is there a correlation here somewhere?! After all, he did end up hanging in there after I was induced and they STILL had to go in after him via c-section... I think I'm seeing a pattern?!

Sammy Poops curled up in front of the woodstove... he's been doing this alot lately. I'm afraid my kitty may be getting a tad old at 14....

Anyhoo.....the chickens are averaging 18 eggs a day. And we are now officially licensed to sell eggs...TADA!

Good luck in your recuperation, Big Pop! We're praying for a speedy recovery....

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?! Blessings...

Okay, maybe it's just me, but....

2012-01-16T14:39:00.000-05:00

does anyone else think it's funny when your 7 or 9 year old gets calls from buddies, or they call their buddies? It's like they're little people just talking on the phone.... it's so funny to me (and a little scary that they're growing up) Weird, huh?! (BTW, they're discussing a Wii game and trying to get advice!)

Oh, and E is puking now.... joy.

Okay, I gotta say, comfort to me is....

2012-01-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

a fresh pot of homemade chicken-vegetable soup, a loaf of fresh homemade bread, all three of my boys at home, snow on the ground, and a stack of firewood all ready. Aaaaah, this is the life! Thank you, Lord.

The girls are sooo busy laying, we are averaging 16 eggs a day! We've given some away and try to bake with them, but that's a lot of eggs... and it's not even close to spring (peak production time)! Eric and I have an application in to get a permit and license to sell the eggs, which we will do out of my b-i-l's pharmacy, and at the market in town, come spring. In the meantime, anyone want to buy some eggs?

It really is so cool to go out and collect eggs a couple of times a day.... between that and eating out of your own garden, you get a sense of how God originally created things to be... for us to be more self-sufficient than we all are this day and age. It's SO satisfying being a little more self-sufficient and closer to nature. I feel like we are starting to get our priorities straight up here, which is the reason we made this move to begin with. We've got a long way to go, but we are on the right track, for our family.

I've been sewing (hand-stitching) aprons in my spare time, and that's a lot of fun. I'm getting out the sewing machine today to see if I can become familiar with it... it was my great-grandmother's- the kind where it is in the table... an old Singer. I feel like I'm channeling her a little when I sew, although I don't have her talent. She, apparently, could sew! But I do think about her quite a lot when I 'm sewing... she died at 92 (?) when I was in college, and she was a character. I still have her Christmas ornament that I hang on the tree every year.. "Nannie, 1965"."

Rabbit was too embarrassed to show his face wearing an apron... go figure!

I'm also trying to wrap up a scarf I'm knitting (no pun intended!) and found a couple of other small knitting projects I want to try this winter... did I ever tell you that the first knitting project I EVER attempted was a grey sweater for Eric, who is not a slight man!? It took me five years to complete (in between having two babies!) and is so baggy in one arm, he could stick a loaf of bread up there (although why he'd want to do that, I couldn't say) along with his arm. But all in all, it really isn't TOO bad. He CAN actually wear it, so I'm pleased. But I've learned my lesson and now pick small projects...

Anyway, the boys are really great, although Rabbit just got over a little stomach bug where he was up every half hour puking, poor thing. He was exhausted yesterday but got a good night sleep last night and feels MUCH better today (so good he could keep down an iced cupcake- that was his test! Although he pretty much just licked the icing off the top and drank a cup of milk. I figure, if he can handle that, he's okay!) But I asked E if he missed Richmond, and he said no, he really loves it here... so that was great to hear. He and his daddy are off riding the four-wheeler... you can't even see their faces, what with all the face masks and hats.... Rabbit's in here recuperating, watching Scooby Doo while I'm baking the bread.

So it's a great day.... hope everyone else's is great as well! Blessings....

Follow up...

2012-01-05T13:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, we tried... but we just couldn't bring ourselves to eat Helmut! Rabbit wouldn't even try, E took one bite, I had a couple of nuggets, as did Eric, but when Eric looked at the leg and thigh on his plate, he just couldn't do it. I think it's because it was so fresh in our minds (it had just happened that morning), and his death wasn't exactly planned... I think if we had processed him earlier and had frozen him, it would have felt more like pulling regular chicken out of the freezer and we would have been okay! Oh well, so much for being pioneer people...we aren't that hardy, apparently!

Now the girls have been laying up a storm, which is really exciting. And they seem to be getting along fine without Helmut jumping on them with his happy feet every few minutes! They even seem to be enjoying the snow we recently had. And Eric and I have decided on getting 3 feeder pigs this spring, so we're excited to try that little adventure.. we'll keep everyone informed!

In Memorium....

2012-01-05T13:21:00.000-05:00

Helmut (June 2011-December 2011)

Dec. 28, 2011

Happy New Year, everyone! Things are great here, very cold. We’ve had a dusting of snow a couple of times, and lots of wind, but it’s been beautiful. Christmas was wonderful… very low-key. Dad and D visited for a couple hours (way too short! We miss them already!) and Eric’s mom spent a few nights with us, which was great. Mom’s coming to visit soon, so we’re anxiously awaiting that…. The boys had a great Christmas… it’s the first one ever celebrated at the farm and we can’t wait to spend it next year at our new house! We ate lots of food, opened lots of wonderful gifts, celebrated Jesus’ birthday, and enjoyed great fellowship. We hope everyone had as great a Christmas with their loved ones….

The boys waiting to come down and check out the Christmas booty....

Speaking of the new house, we haven’t been able to do much this year, between weather, waiting for permits and other obstacles, but we plan on putting in the foundation come early spring. Once that goes in, it should roll along pretty quickly. We’ve got our site ready, road in and wells dug. We’ve got our 24 chickens (originally 27, as you may remember, but we’ve lost two to predators (hawks?) and our latest loss is our rooster, Helmut… more on that in a minute), and we plan on either 2-3 pigs, or mom/calf for beef (we’ve decided we’re not ready for 2 milkings a day yet!) in the spring. Haven’t decided which yet…or maybe both?! We will have the fence up and the pasture ready, so we’ll see!

About Helmut (formerly Helga until he started cock-a-doodle-doing a few times!)…. Sad, really. We were just getting used to his silly antics, like his “happy feet” dance he would do every time he got ready to do his business with one of the girls (wink, wink), or his strutting around, thinking he’s something and crowing at us all the time (it’s NOT true that they crow just in the morning, BTW… it’s all day, showing off his male-ness!) But we noticed that he was limping a couple days ago, and I mentioned it to Eric, but we really didn’t think much of it… well, Eric found him dead in the coop this cold winter morning (exactly 6 months to the day of when we got him). His foot and bottom part of his leg was cut and very swollen, and getting stiff. We figure he just ended up going into shock and died…. his body was still fairly warm so it must have happened early this morning. So we ended up performing our first butchering of our chickens this morning, much unexpectedly. It wasn’t as gross as I thought it was going to be…at least it wasn’t smelly. So I got through my first chicken preparation! The worst part was hearing the bones snap and such, but after Eric cut the meat out, I cleaned and prepared it, and we will be having chicken for dinner.

Helmut as dinner (along with some fresh eggs from the girls)

The boys were sad, but not crying like I thought they might (although they did get a little teary-eyed… it might have helped that Helmut was not the Rabbit’s (7) best friend after Helmut pecked him hard the other day and scared him!), and although Rabbit doesn’t want to eat him, E’s (9) willing to give it a go! Life on a farm… hard lessons to learn! So hence the 24 chicken count instead of the original 27. We just recently enclosed them in the large garden area to hopefully protect them from other predators…we’ll see.

Well, Surprise, surprise, surprise....

2011-12-05T14:49:00.000-05:00

we finally figured Helga out.... we now call "her" Helmut (hel-MOOT)! After 5 months of wondering, we heard a few high-pitched cock-a-doodle-dos! So out of 27 chickens, we have a rooster! Although we ordered a straight run of hens (all same sex), why they threw in an exotic male is beyond me... we now have to figure out what to do... do we keep him and give him a few hens of his own and have some potentially odd-looking chicks, or cull him, or find him a home... we'll keep you posted. But otherwise, they are all very healthy, non-laying chickens! Although we have the nesting boxes all ready, with golf balls and all, no eggs yet :(

Thanksgiving's over and now we are looking forward to the Christmas season... to our Savior's birth... such a glorious time of year! Our prayer is that everyone will stop to remember, in this, the most harried season, the real "reason for the season." Amid all the hustle and bustle, the beautiful lights and decorations, the crazy shopping of gifts, and the parties, don't forget to take time to remember WHY we are celebrating Christmas. After all, we've already been given the greatest gift we'll ever receive, Jesus.

The boys are ready for some snow, so we are also praying for a little white this year! Here are the boys, taking a break from school, to lick a few snowflakes....

Well, I gotta get the oatmeal raisin cookies out of the oven, and finish decorating the tree with the boys... Eric's outside cutting/splitting wood, and Sam the cat is all snuggled in upstairs. All in all, it's a very blessed life! We love all our family and friends, and miss everyone. We hope all is well... God bless.