Blog of Joy

Critters critters everywhere...

Well, our critters are getting big and getting to be a lot of work!  LOL

Several of the pigs should be ready for the processor in the next few weeks.

Our meat chickens and several of our other chickens are scheduled for the processor on August 15th.  Just 2 days before we leave for Disney.  I was just glad to get them in before we leave.  I think it would be good for them to grow a week or two longer, but I didn't want anybody to have to care for them while we were gone.  So they might be a bit on the small side, but we won't have to worry about them while we are gone.

We have 19 meat chickens and 6 misc other chickens that we are sending to the processor.  Plus 5 turkeys.  The turkeys will also be on the small side, but they'll be gone and we won't have to worry while we are gone on vacation.  We'll only have about 12 chickens and 5 guineas for Lance's brother and SIL to care for while we are gone.

Ok, maybe less than that.  I have to do a head count today.  Something attacked them last night just before they went to roost.  I'm not sure how many are missing as I couldn't find them all last night.  The girls and I went out after dark and rescued the turkeys and several chickens from the girl's playhouse, where they decided to roost after the attack.  We put them in the coop but we couldn't find several of our laying hens.  I see them out there this morning, so it looks like most of them are ok.  I figure whatever it was caught 4 or 5 of them altogether.  There were feather piles in several places but it was dark and I could have missed something.

I sold our baby goat last week.  A guy came to the door asking for a goat and I told him I had one baby and one doe.  He said they were going to eat it so he wanted the baby (he was 3 months old and ready to wean.  That's the age they like them for eating).  Anyway, I sold him for $40.  The guy wanted more so he went to the fair and bought 5 wethers that were a little larger.  He said he'd sell me one of them if they didn't eat them all.  I would like a companion for my milk goat now that her baby is gone. 

We had to milk her for about  a week since selling the baby.  We just didn't want her to stop cold turkey and get mastitis or an infection.  I'll check her today, but I think she's fine now.  Lance milked her Monday night and she didn't have much, so she should be fine now.  She gave me almost a quart the first two times I milked after the baby was gone.  She is such a good milker, she'd give me a gallon per day if I'd milk twice per day.  I just can't milk right now.  We'd have to have somebody to milk her while we were at Disney and that isn't probable at all.  PLUS I want a home pasteurizer before we start milking again and that costs $400.  I could just put it on credit, as it really is an investment for us, but it's just not a good time for us right now.  Hopefully I'll get one before next year when we start milking again.

The steers are holding their own out in the field.  We still have the heifer but she's going to auction as soon as we can arrange it.  She is just not nice to the other steers.  We are also going to sell the other doe I have and get a companion for my milk goat.  I don't like that doe with the horns, she's hard on Violet (my milk goat).

We brought home a kitten from my mom and dad's and he's doing well.  He's adjusting to life on the farm and seems to like it here.  Lilli had named it Boots, but now changed it to Smoky.  I haven't seen him since we returned from GWL so I hope he's ok.  ?

Our other Tom cat, Socks is doing well and hangs around all the time.  He's a hambone and loves to cuddle against your legs when you walk.

RC and Biscuit are doing well.  Biscuit just keeps getting bigger!  He still tries biting your ankles when you walk outside but he is getting a bit better about it. 

The big dogs are doing good but I think we may be selling them soon.  They eat a lot since they are so big and we no longer have a goat herd for them to watch over.  They need a home with a job.  LOL.  We have one goat in there with them and they all get along great.  LOL

The turkeys continue to be the most entertaining critters.  They are just so funny.  They are almost as tall as Lauren so they love to run up to her and see what she has in her hands.  They peck at her clothes and it makes her so mad.  She hollers, "NO...NO BITE".  LOL.  This, of course, does nothing to deter them and really just calls the rest of them over to see what the fuss is about.

Poor Lauren also has to deal with Biscuit who is getting quite big now.  He starts pulling on her her clothes and won't stop until one of us goes and rescues her.  She gets so mad at that dog.  I don't mean to laugh, but it's hard not too.  He just wants to play and he thinks she is the perfect size.  LOL

Lilli is enjoying the critters and loves her puppy and new kitten.  She gets frustrated with Biscuit when he gets to pulling at her clothes and won't stop, but he really is getting a bit better about that...sort of.  The kitten is quite lovable but has scratched her several times when she was holding it and it got spooked by one of the dogs.

CHICKEN PROCESSING:

I don't know what everybody pays for processing, but we go to an amish place in Indiana and they charge $1.25 per bird!  That is so cheap that it is worth the drive down there.  We drop off the night before and then pick up the following evening.  It's worth the drive.  The chickens come ready for the freezer.  We do put them in individual bags, as they bag them 5 to a bag usually.  They are clean and we have always been happy with them.

They charge $3 per turkey under 20 pounds and $5 per turkey over 20 pounds.  I am sure our turkeys will be under 20 pounds.  LOL.  They don't even have all their adult colors yet. 

I was going to keep one male and one female turkey but we decided to just process them all rather than try to keep them through the winter.

That about covers our critters lately.  I'll be glad to have the meat chickens gone...they are getting to be a lot of work now that they are eating so much.  LOL

The still neverending audit...

Yes, it's still not over.  We received our final papers and even came up with the money to pay it.

Our grand total was $3748.34.

H&R Block was covering ALL of our 'amount due' for 2006 as  that is the year we purchased the Peace of Mind insurance.  They also pay all interest for every year we filed with them (2005 and 2006).  We didn't file with them in 2007, but we only owed $314.22 for that entire year, with only $6.22 in interest, so that's not a real big deal.  They also pay the self-employment tax for those years.

Our grand total after H&R Block pays:  $1945.22.

So anyway, I had an appt with H&R Block to give them the final papers and so they could send in their paperwork to pay their share.  We also had to have them file an amendment on our Michigan taxes, as the audit changed our gross income for those years.  So now we'll owe something to Michigan as well, but that should be very minimal, hopefully.

They made copies of all the paperwork and I was told to pay the total amount owed and that H&R Block would reimburse me.  The rep would also refile our Michigan taxes and we'd be called to sign the papers and send them in at that time.

Well, the rep found an error in the audit.  Yes, an error.  She couldn't make the numbers work.  So she called the auditor, who called us.  The auditor made an error.  Go figure!  The IRS makes mistakes too!  Ha.  It's even in our favor!  Woohoo!  I don't know how much it will save us, but anything is better than nothing. 

Somehow the auditor's computer (it wasn't her fault, of course) didn't compute our losses for any of the years in question.  They also charged a self-employment tax because the income went up so much from the original paperwork (because the losses weren't there).  Anyway, it probably won't save a lot, but like I said, anything is better than nothing.

So our neverending audit is still neverending.  We were told not to do anything until we receive yet MORE paperwork from the IRS noting our final amount due...again.  LOL

Great Wolf Lodge :)

I thought I'd post about our 'mini' vacation at Great Wolf Lodge earlier this week.  We had a great time and we were all sad for it to end.

We drove in separate cars as Lance had to come home early to go to work on Tuesday.  Our reservations were for Sunday and Monday nights and I didn't want to cut the trip short for the girls, so the three of us stayed until check-out on Tuesday.  Lilli stated that it just wasn't the same without papa.  :)

If you've never been to a GWL or similar, I highly recommend it.  There is so much to do, it's fun for children and adults, age doesn't matter.  If you shop for your reservations online, you can usually find a pretty good deal.  I found our room for $150 per night.  That really isn't bad when a standard hotel (a reasonably clean one anyway) is near $100 anyway. 

Anyway, there is the entire indoor waterpark that is great for all ages (kiddy area for young ones, pools, water slides, climbing and play area, lazy river and hot tubs...not to mention an outdoor pool and miniature golf.

When you are tired of swimming, there is a game called MagiQuest.  It costs extra, so be prepared for the extra $$ if you plan to play (I definitely suggest playing).  You buy a magic wand and pay to have it activated while you are there (you save your wand for the next trip and then just pay to have it activated again).  Then you go on a quest with your wand and find all these hidden clues that are along the hallways.  You zap these items with your magic wand and they light up or treasure chests open, or or or...Then you can go on adventures and fight goblins and dragons with your wand.  It really is a lot of fun.  I believe the wand is about $20? (we bought ours last time) and then it's $10 for activation.

Now on top of all that, there is the Cub Club.  They have crafts for the kids to do throughout the day.  Some are free and some cost a little $$, depending on what they are.  We didn't even make it to the Cub Club this time, we were so busy with swimming and MagiQuest.

At 8 and 9PM they have story time in the lobby.  They have a large display of animals and the animals 'come alive' and sing and talk.  Then somebody reads a story to all the kids in the lobby.

At 9AM they have a kid's 'critter walk' around the lobby and talk about all the different animals on display.

I always pay extra ($15 per night) to have warm cookies and cold milk delivered to our door at bedtime.  This is pretty pricey, but it is truly a highlight of our trip.  Their mascot (in costume) brings the bedtime snack and the girls just LOVE it.

Lilli really wasn't into the slides this time.  She was much more excited to play in the pool and practice swimming, and I'm happy to announce she has almost mastered the doggy paddle.  :)  She loves to go under water with her goggles on, and she loves to jump into the pool.

Lauren loved it all.  There is no fear in that child and we are really going to have to watch her around water.  She saw Lilli jumping into the pool so she had to do it too.  She would just step right into the pool, go under water (I was holding her hand and she had a life jacket on), and she'd come up smiling and laughing and saying, 'more, more'.  I cannot believe her.

We had bought her a wand last time we were there (so I could use it since she was only 4 months old...ha).  Anyway, we didn't activate hers this time, but she opened several treasure chests as we were passing by them in the hall.  At first Lilli and I thought Lilli was doing it, but then we realized that Lauren was waving her wand around (copying Lilli) and actually doing it herself.  LOL

It was actually 'Christmas in July' while we were there, so it snowed in the lobby in the evenings after story time.  It was very cute and the girls loved it.  We also had cookies and chocolate milk w/ marshmallows in the lobby in the early afternoons.

The drive is a long one though.  It takes us about 5 hours to get there with our stops.  Probably just over 4 if we drove without stopping.  We usually take back roads into Baldwin and then up to Traverse City.  I took 31 home as I didn't want to take a chance on getting lost, I really don't know those back roads as well as Lance.  It's about 220 miles for us (one way).

I have heard that there is an indoor waterpark in Indiana and I think we'll look into that.  Gas prices are just so expensive to drive such a long ways.  We do only go once a year, so we may still do it anyway, we'll just have to see.  It is a nice 'mini' vacation and Lilli really looks forward to it each time.

We had a great time, but were bummed that Lance had to leave early.  Hopefully he can stay the entire time next time :)

TODAY'S VERSE from HEARTLIGHT

Free Potholder Patterns...TipNut

Here’s a fun freebie download, it’s a set of six different panhol potholders.

Free Potholder Patterns...TipNut

Todays Quote...Our Nation needs to heed this quote

Bumper Stickers

Finished some more knitting

Emergency trip to the Dentist

Confidence in The Faithful One

Confidence in The Faithful One

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,

Hebrews 10:23,24 NASB

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God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Cor. 1:9 KJV

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And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:28-31 NIV