A Twelve Year Old

Noah turned 12 today!  This sweet boy has grown and matured much this past year.  We are proud of him and the wise choices he has made.  The greatest decision he made this year though, was to become a Christian.  We are blessed to have him as our "brother" and child. I love watching him grow into a young man.

Our bright, analytical, creative thinker had great plans for his birthday.  Sometimes, plans change. He had a great back-up.  Bike riding with his family and a buddy, picnic, and ice cream was perfect on this beautiful Saturday.

It is a tradition that each of the children choose whatever they want as their birthday treat.  Typically, they want Ma to make a cake or pie.  This year, Noah chose prepackaged cupcakes.  Maybe he was feeling deprived, since we never have these.  He was surprised and well pleased.  Unfortunately, it was too windy for candles.

A cherry seed spitting contest was great entertainment. Daddy won!  But Noah was a close second.

 Before heading to the bike paths, Daddy worked a couple hours getting bikes repaired and in working order.  Since moving out to the country, we have not gone on bike rides, which is unfortunate, since there are great trails in our county.  The little boys ride bikes all the time, but usually on flat tires.  It was a special treat for Samuel to get an upgrade.  He got Hannah's old bike, with a new paint job.  He certainly could not ride a "girlie" bike with flowers.  He can go FAST on this bike with bigger wheels and air in the tires. 

 Eli got a bike upgrade too!  He also started riding all by himself for the first time. 

If there is cake, then ice cream must go along.  The day ended with a trip to the ice cream festival.  A day spent relaxing and enjoying each other was well needed after the hard work these past weeks. 



Lap Goats

I think I have figured my favorite animal around here. The goats! Oh my, they are so sweet and curious! They are very much like dogs, following us around and crying when we leave them. These girls have been here about seven weeks. Alice, the younger is old enough to start weaning from the bottle. This seems harder than weaning a baby. She alerts us every morning and evening that she is ready for her bottle. She cries like a baby. I think we will decrease the amount she gets each day, then just put water in her bottle for a few days. Hopefully, this will keep her satisfied as she is gradually weaned. 

Alice, "Please Samuel, let me sit on your lap."

"Awww...love"

Eliza Jane getting some Hannah love.

Oh, but Alice must have some too. Here she comes.

There she falls.

"Make room for me!"

Poor Eliza is getting smashed.

Eliza gets Hannah all to herself.

Pure love and a little hat chewing.



Birds Birds Birds

Chickens are about the easiest animal to care for.  Throw them some food, make sure they have water and a safe place to sleep and tada.....EGGS!  Ok, there is the occassional coop cleaning, but even that is useful in the garden. 

This is our forth summer living the good ole' country life.  One piece of advice offered to us over and over was, "Take it slow".  So, we did.  We started with a couple rabbits and a few birds, and gradually grew from there.  This year, we have had an explosion of animals, from sheep to birds and in between. We will get to all that another time.  Until then, let me introduce you to the birds:

 

 

Meet the laying hens. They are two years old. Twenty special gals provide eggs and great entertainment.  If you want to know where to find the "chicks" head on over to the pine shrubs.  They'll be there dust-bathing and basking in the sun.

Next, head on over to the chicken coop and meet our next generation little layers.  Five Reds.  Notice how they perch on the box.  They are very agile and light.  On the other hand, the Cornish Crosses sit on the ground and eat, eat, eat.  These "frankenbirds" are bred for fast growing.  Our job is to provide them yummy food, lots of water and fresh air and grass.  They will live a happy short life here in the chicken coop. Then fill our freezer for a year of backyard bird.

These little fellows are only a few days apart.  The meat bird is bigger, fatter, does not have a lot of feathers on it's stomach and has huge feet.  The little layer perches, runs around and chases bugs. Both are neat birds, and fun to raise.

We must include the natives.  This little finch crashed into the barn window and knocked herself silly.  It took her awhile to get her bearings, but she was soon back to doing what little birds do.  Meanwhile, we got to check her out and examine her beautiful feathers. This time of year, fledglings flap around all over the yard. The children feel it is their important job to protect them from kitties and dogs.

Last, but not least, we have the goslings.  Four Ebdem goslings will be raised as Hannah's 4H project.  We drove to Ridgeway Hatchery in LaRue.  It was a neat experience going into the old building seeing boxes of hatchlings everywhere.  We listened to the peeps and got to peek into some of the boxes.  Before leaving, the lovely ladies offered each of the children candy and allowed them to peek at a box full of pheasants.  It was a long drive, but well worth the bit of happy learning. I highly recommend Rideway Hatchery for all your hatchery needs :) http://ridgwayhatchery.com/

Say "cheese" little gosling.

Totally unrelated, Garder snakes are a fun find in the spring.  Just please do not put them down in the house. Ignore the hospital band around Samuel's wrist.  It is from speech therapy. 

 

 

Sick Day and Fresh Air

This house has been filled with coughs and sniffles, asthma and congestion. We needed a walk with cool fresh air and warm sunshine.

A walk with my boys....







Trying to pick the little rocks out of the stone.





"Mama, take a picture of the trees.  They're neat."

Pre-boot/pants fix

 
Soon enough, we will be able to open the windows and air the house.

 



Wacky Week

This has been an unusual week. We've been very busy around here. Last week, we came home with two Nubian doelings. The 8 week old, Eliza Jane is like an awkward teenager. She is timid and shy and very cute. We are working with her to let us touch her legs and neck. The other is two weeks old. Her name is Alice. She is sweet and gentle and loves to give kisses. Since we got her at such a young age, she is eager to come to us...but maybe it's because we have bottle in hand. Yes, we have a bottle baby. It is so sweet watching a goat take a bottle. She downs 12oz in about a minute. The goats enjoy being around the children. They follow them everywhere. These little goats are very much like dogs.

Eliza Jane and Alice

Samuel has been having a lasting asthma attack. He's on meds to help. After having it for a week and a half, I think we have it somewhat under control.

Saturday, we swapped Noah with our friends' girls. For the rest of the week, he will be in Michigan. I miss having our little man here. He and Danny worked on converting our flat trailer into a livestock trailer. It was a lot of work, but it has paid off.

Working on the trailer

This morning, we used that trailer to haul our very stubborn hog to the processor. She was a little leaner then we would've liked, but much bigger than last years hogs. She's probably around 220 lbs.

"Here piggy piggy piggy"

"Just come on up here and eat this apple"

"Fine, we'll just put the bucket on your head and push you up backwards"

We are almost out of this years wood. That's not happened since we moved in here. We've burned more than usual. Hopefully, our stash will last through the week. Meanwhile, we may, ack...buy a cord.

Tomorrow, one of our cats is heading to the vet for a spay. She has been very naughty this week.

Next week, meat birds are coming and maybe baby rabbits. We're still waiting on lambs.

Making sand from soil...Making mud

Off to Market...Jiggety Jig

 

A Walk in the Woods and Hannah's Day




Our climber



Melting snow

Hannah and her lesson horse: Flicka, a Quarter Horse

Hannah riding Flicka

Eli and Licorice, the coolest Pygmy goat.  I think I we need one.

 

The snow started melting as fast as it fell.  I grabbed my camera and headed to the woods trying to catch a glimps of the beautiful snow before it all melted and turned to slush.  Happy little followers came along....a silly dog and the curious cats.  Abbie loves the snow.  This little Wheaton hops, rolls and throws her nose right into the cold fun. 

 

On the way to my quiet walk in the woods, I stopped and visited with some of the animals.  The pig...AKA....Little Tea, is almost ready for market.  She's scheduled for the end of the month.  The sheep have settled in and are doing well.  Hannah likes to sit in their pen and watch them.  They smell so good, except when going to guitar lessons with the boys, in a small room, and shoes smell like sheep.  Oh well, I guess it's better than pig. 

 

My walk this morning was peaceful.  All around,the sound of melting snow fell from branches.  Birds are returning.  Every morning, music of returning birds grows louder. New sounds each day.  Beautiful noise to remind me that spring is near. 

 

Today was also a special day for Hannah.  She finally started riding lessons.  I am pleased with the instructor and I think she and Hannah will work well together.  Hannah is a natural animal whisperer. There is something about her that connects to them.  She naturally works well with animals of all sorts, whether it be a bug or horse.  Today, she got to enjoy her favorite animal of all.  She did very well, and eagerly awaits her next lesson. 

 

 

A Walk in the Woods

Hunting for Eggs

Danny and Eli have been working on putting a floor down in the barn loft. Hannah is enjoying the view.

Naughty chickens are getting ready for bed.

An empty nest box.....hmmm....where are all the eggs?

If the nest box is empty it means we get to go on an Easter egg hunt. We find them in hay piles, brooder boxes, under rabbit hutches and inside cat houses. At least they lay in the barn and not the yard.