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Come see me if you get a chance.
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Is spring really on its way? I already had onions and potatoes in the ground before the blizzard hit. The onions aren’t looking too good, so I may grab another bunch of onions from mom’s store to make sure we have enough. Her supplier didn’t have anymore for her. They told her more people were planting gardens this year and there weren’t enough seeds to keep up with demand. So, I better have her set me back some onion plants before they are gone. The weight of the snow broke off two of our cherry bushes we had just planted. I pruned off the broken piece and will hope for the best. I don’t know if they can make a comeback or not. This weekend will be spent putting up a privacy fence between our sheep lots and our backyard. One of our dogs bit the ear off of one of our baby lambs. We plan to seal it up and close in the gate so it cannot happen again.
Can you imagine?
We had hoped this weekend would be spent tearing down a section of our old fencing in our pasture so we could replace it with new. Between the wind, snow, and rain we have not been able to get out there and get to work on it. We had the wire delivered, but we still need to count up how many posts we need and get them picked up. The old fencing is barbed wire and will have to be rolled up by hand. Not a fun job. Especially since just the one side we are replacing first is nearly ½ mile long. We are also installing a gate which requires more corner posts, digging, and money. One good thing is since we’ve had so much snow and rain the ground should be soft for digging posts and pounding in t-posts. Always look on the bright side, right. The wind has been so terrible here it just rattles you to the point of exhaustion. Randy and I are feeling the aftermaths of lambing and bad weather with complete burnout. We have also been trying to make up some time at work so this week our mornings start at 3:30 (that’s a.m.). We make milk for the bottles and buckets, feed the dogs, and both head outside to give bottles, baking soda water and electrolytes to a couple of lambs with upset tummies, let the sheep out of the building, let the chickens out and let Cooter (the cat) out. Then it’s inside to clean bottles, drenchers, and get ready to head off to work. Saturday evening family will start rolling into town. We are meeting cousins for dinner in town that evening. We have Easter Sunrise Service at a little pond in a pasture. There are large crosses driven into the ground, a fire going, and homemade breakfast is served afterward. It’s usually a little chilly, but it is such a neat way to celebrate Easter everyone braves it even on the coldest of mornings. Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter! |
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Well, the blizzard hit and it hit hard this past weekend. We are still lambing, so we were out every three hours to check on the girls and make sure everyone was okay. They got shut up in our barn and stayed there for 2 days. Feeders were hauled in to feed and 5-gallon buckets of water were lugged in for drinking. Not to mention bottle duty. Everyone did well even at Mom and Dad’s.
Underneath the blackish wall paper was this fabulous seventies wallpaper. One wall had the black, then a green, then this wallpaper. So fun!
My brother is coming over this weekend and while Randy is working on his fishing boat, Craig and I will be contemplating where to go from here. He will hopefully skim coat the walls this weekend so I can pick out some paint (while it is on sale) and go to town painting.
I believe we are up to 44 lambs on our farm. Everyone is happy and healthy despite the weather and the fact their lots have standing water all over. The lambs curl up in the feeders which are black, warm, and dry. I’ve tried to take pictures, but anytime you go near those feeders our ewes think FOOD, start bawling, and the babies scatter. Hay is getting slim and our pasture needs burned and new fencing. However, between the wind, rain, and snow we are having trouble getting it burned so we can rebuild the fence and get the grass growing. Hopefully we get a nice calm day so we can drop some matches and let it burn. Randy was off yesterday and cleaned house and did laundry. My MRH order came in, so with a clean house all I have to do on my Friday off is play. I hope to make lotion, shampoo, and hopefully a cuticle drop. I have to keep my nails short incase a lamb need pulled, so with that comes split fingers. Very painful.
Here is my Mountain Rose Herb order. I just can't get enough of that place. I love it!
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According to the weather forecast (that changes oh-so-frequently), we are going to have rain tonight turning to snow by early morning and throughout the day Friday and Saturday. Yuck! We laid new straw in the buildings for the mamas and babies and are hoping and praying the weatherman is wrong. I found a piano on craigslist.com for free as long as we load it and haul it off. It doesn’t have a bench, but is an upright and looks okay in the picture. It is first come, first serve and due to the weather it will be Sunday before we can pick it up. We will see if it was meant to be or not. My mom always wanted to learn how to play the piano and never did. I always wished I knew how to play the piano and have tried to teach myself off and on. If someday we have children in our home I plan to try my very best to afford them lessons and help them learn how to play the piano if not other instruments as well. I received yet another box of plants from Gurney’s last night. Randy was so good to help me get 2 cranberry bushes, 2 dwarf blueberry bushes, and a cherry bush in the ground last night. I also have two coffee plants that need to be potted inside. I’m short on pots, but do have some I have been meaning to paint and decorate. We’ll see if the two tiny plants setting on my counter are incentive enough to get them done. We still have 37 baby lambs as of this moment in time. Last night we discovered one of our mamas with a bad half (udder) and twins had gotten a split in the back of her udder. Once we got her penned up and started to clean up the cut and milk her out I realized her bag was enormously full. Not sure how this happened with two big healthy lambs nursing her, but it did. She is now off food and water for at least 24 hours to try to get her milk production down and her udder healed. We will supplement the lambs if needed and dry her off completely if she does not heal soon. We also lost a hen this week. Randy found her dead in the coop. Not sure what the cause of death was, but we suspect it could have been from ingesting the Styrofoam insulation on the ceiling of their coop. It’s tricky for them to get to, but we have noticed areas where it has been pecked. Hopefully she will be our only casualty. The insulation is so nice to hold heat in in the winter and keep heat out in the summer. We may end up having to cover the Styrofoam with wood, but our to-do list is so incredibly long right now the thought of adding to it is less than favorable. I am looking forward to a 4-day weekend. I am always off on Fridays and also have Monday off for a dentist appointment. So, I will be getting our neglected house back in check. It is all we can do to keep up with regular chores, lambing issues, and feed ourselves. Housekeeping is kept to a bare minimum during lambing season. We are just above “safe” and “livable” in our home right now. Hopefully after this weekend we will be in the “clean” and “comfortable” zone. Have a great weekend! |
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We have 37 baby lambs on our farm as of this morning. The girls have done so well. We worry about them since we are gone during the day, but we have a wonderful friend who stops in throughout the day to check on them and my dad goes down there throughout the day to look in on them as well. We have 17 boys and 20 girls added to our flock since March 13th. They are really blowing through the alfalfa. We are anxious for spring to get here, so they can head to pasture. The first calm weekend we plan to burn our pasture, start tearing down the old fence on the east side, and replace it with sheep/goat fencing. The fencing is on order and should be here in a week. We would like to burn this weekend, but there is a chance of rain, snow, and strong winds, so it’s not looking too promising. We have a handful on bottles and buckets of milk for one reason or another and a couple we are helping supplement. Other than that everyone is happy and healthy. Hank (our llama) has got his hands full. Last night Randy caught the kids playing follow the leader. They were running in a circle and jumping on and off Hank, who was laying down trying to catch some shut eye. He would groan as the little ones jumped on and off of his back. Poor guy! I will try to take some pictures over the weekend if it's not too crazy. Hope everyone is having a great week! |
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The babies are dropping on our farm this week. We started last Friday (March 13th) and haven’t really caught our breath yet. We have 22 babies on the ground which may not seem like a lot, but when you are working a 40/week and both commuting 2 hours/day each (making it a 48-50/hour week); it can get a little crazy. Yesterday took the cake for craziness. Our registered Texel ewe (June) had a baby girl at 10:00 am, Dad pulled a big baby boy out of a first timer for at 12:00, and when I arrived home at 5:00 pm we had one in labor with twins (the first one with a leg back and I don’t even remember how the second one came). We also had a beautiful ewe who had stopped laboring, so we knew she was going to need some assistance. Her first baby came backwards, the second baby was a tangled up mess with what we later found out was the third baby. This girl didn’t even look like she was carrying twins, but produced three nice-sized little lambs. We finally got all of them, 4 mamas, and 7 babies situated and at 8:00 pm made it inside for dinner. We showered, went out to check on them at 9:00pm and had to change back into our chore close rearrange a baby that was coming with a leg back, come inside, shower again, and finally made it to bed at 10:00 only to get back up at 4:00 and start all over again. We have really been focusing on our nutrition up to this point and although we have gotten worn down and different times throughout the week. I think it has played a part in keeping us healthy and somewhat able to cope with the disrupted sleep and physical labor we have subjected ourselves to. I have been trying to implement eggs, kefir, and/or raw milk into our breakfast schedule. With the onset of spring I have been able to include a fresh vegetable (broccoli, cauliflower, or asparagus) with almost every dinner. Now that time is a factor I am resorting to frozen soups and dinners I made up ahead of time, and have substituted Bolthouse and Naked juices in place of kefir smoothies. I realize store-bought smoothies are a far cry from a healthy, homemade smoothie with coconut oil, flax seed oil, vitamin c powder, and homegrown fruit. However, we aren’t perfect and are doing what we can to improvise some quick meals and still stay as health conscious as possible. Our latest love is to make hash browns or NT cottage fries with organic potatoes. For the hash browns I just run them through the food processor peel and all throw them in my cast iron skillet with some butter and olive oil. Five minutes on each side, a sprinkling of sea salt and you have the most fabulous hash browns ever. I hope to get some lacto-fermented foods back into our diet. NT salsa and sauerkraut are at the top of my list as soon as the tomatoes hit the garden and I find an organic cabbage at the store. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying some spring weather. We are in for thunderstorms all weekend. The rain won’t be all that fun for lambing, but will help my new planted trees, bushes, and vines. Just planted: 2 pecan trees 8 blueberries 3 raspberries 3 cherry bushes 2 apricot bushes 2 cranberries And 2 coffee plants (for inside the house) for fun
That's all for now. Hope everyone has a great day! |
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So everyone remembers our little crooked neck baby from 2007, right?
Well, the little missy has done it again. For the second year in a row she has kicked out twins (all by herself I might add).
A boy and a girl. In this picture she is loaded in the trailer. Dad moved her, her babies, and another mama and baby up to Grandma's to a pen where she wouldn't get confused with all the other mamas and babies. Since she can't look to her left, Dad worries about other lambs nursing her or her babies getting lost in the mix. So, she will be in a semi-private pen where she won't be stressed. She's such a diva! Have a great day! |
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Okay, I haven’t posted in a long time. So sorry. Things are busy as usual at our home. We now have a total of eleven bottle lambs acquired from Dad’s farm. They are babies who were either abandoned by their mom, a triplet, or some other reason. We have battles sickness (even though they received colostrum) and now have a cute little group of multi-colored ewes and rams. We also located a fresh seafood (never frozen) shop nearby and stocked up on oysters, mussels, crab cakes, and tuna steaks. We have also implemented liver, wild game, and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables into our diet. Our food bill has increased, but our visits to the kinesiologist have decreased. I also made a really good smoothie this morning for breakfast: ½ c. kefir 2 T. flax seed oil 2 t. coconut oil 1 handful organic blueberries 1 handful strawberries 1 banana 6 ice cubes 1/8 t. stevia (powder) Blend and enjoy! *I put three drops of liquid kelp in mine. I also purchased some tea from Harney & Sons. Their Hot Cinnamon Spice is the best. I also purchased a Valentine’s Day surprise and will hopefully remember to post about it after Valentine’s Day. Tonight’s dinner will be liver and onions with mushrooms. Tomorrow we have our annual eye appointments in the evening, so I have beef stew already made up for a quick dinner once we get home. Aviation is a very scary industry to be in right now. Randy is fortunate to work for a good company who rarely has layoffs. However, we are still playing it safe, putting back a little extra just incase and will hopefully be restocking our pantry with dried goods soon. Our supply has gotten really low, so this just needs to be done anyway. I promise to try to get pictures of our herd of bottle lambs soon. We should have 13 more chickens (give or take a rooster or two) start laying in the next month or so. We have way more demand than supply in the egg department. We also hope to get a second coop set up soon to accommodate broilers this spring. Lambing should be underway come mid-March, so we will have preparations for that as well. Spring is already in the air on our homestead. Friday I planted 2 pecan trees, 6 blueberry bushes, and 3 raspberry vines. I should have another batch of fruit bushes arriving soon. Now to keep them watered, mulched, and fertilized properly. Hope everyone has a wonderful day! |
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A friend of Randy's hunts every year, but his family doesn't like venison. So, guess what! We get it. Our neighbor processes it and all we have to do is pay him for processing. Yea! We will have more meat to add to our dwindling supply in the freezer. We also just got our pork from Mom and Dad's freezer. They were storing it until we got more room in our's. So, we will have plenty of meat to get to get us through the winter and summer. We hope to raise broilers in the spring so we will have plenty of chicken also. Hope you all are staying warm! |
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My Dad has ewes lambing right now. They are tired and don't have the time to take care of bottle lambs, so I volunteered.
How could I refuse. They now inhabit a dog kennel in our home. We named them Ebony & Ivory. Ivory cries his head off when he's hungry. It sounds like he's saying Maa...it's so cute!
Ebony wasn't feeling 100% last night. Do you think her brother may have known? Hope you all have a good day! |
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I got the recipe from Countryside Magazine and it is de-lish! No-rennet Cottage Cheese 1 gallon milk (I use raw) 1 cup cultured buttermilk Warm the milk to about 95 degrees F. Stir in buttermilk and allow to set at room temperature for 12-18 hours. The milk will clabber, or become thick. Cut the curds into 1/2 inch cubes and let rest for 10 minutes. Place the pot into a double boiler-type potand heat at a very low setting until the curd reaches 115 degrees F (I didn't use a double boiler, I just kept it on low for a little over an hour). Stir often to keep the curds from matting together. This will take an hour or more. The curd is ready when it is somewhat firm on the interior of the cheese. Cook longer if necessary. Some whey will rise to the top. Let the curd settle to the bottom of the pot, drain off the whey and place the curds in a cloth-lined colander to drain. Be gentle, as the curds are rather fragile. Allow the cheese to drain until it stops dripping (I let mine hang overnight). Place in a bowl and add salt to taste. I usually use about one teaspoon of kosher or canning salt per pound. Stir in about four ounces of half-and-half or cream ( I used cream off the top of our raw milk) per pound if you like a creamed cottage cheese. I had some for breakfast this morning and it was the best. Hope it turns out as well everytime I make it. I have been fighting a cold since Saturday. I have been consuming a lot of Vitamin C poweder and Echinacea/Goldenseal along with Throat Coat Tea. I prefer Gypsy Cold Care, but I drank what we had on-hand. I want to make my own by buying my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs, but I just haven't gotten around to it. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. |
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I just thought I would post a couple of books I have read lately that I really enjoyed. Serve God, Save the Planet: a Christian call to Action by J. Matthew Sleeth The Total Money Makeover: a Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey Both were great books. I just checked them out at the library. Have a great day!
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For those of you who have never had the opportunity to be the proud owner's of a blue heeler....well you just haven't lived. This little girl has given us more headaches and laughs than any of our other animals put together. Her list of catastrophes is endless, but here is a quick rundown of what occured the other evening. I got home from work and let all three dogs inside as usual. I started getting stuff around for supper and putting things away from the day. I kept getting a wiff of something not-so-pleasant. After searching and searching for what I thought might be an accident in the house (which hasn't happened in FOREVER) I bent down to pick up my purse that was laying near our blue heeler, Ash. Eh hem, I found out what the odor was. She smelled somewhere between a dead animal and animal poo. I hurried her outside to wait for Randy to get home to deal with her. She's techinically his dog by the way! When he got home he tried to wipe her down (with a wash cloth I (used to) us to wash my face with, it was promptly disposed of after (I threw a fit) he wiped our poo covered dog down with it) to no avail and deteremined a bath was in order.
And so it begins!
Poor thing!
And finally, when she knows the end is near, she forgives her dad with a kiss.
This did NOT, however, rid her entirely of the smell. She was definitely more pleasant to be around post bath anyway. Just remember, when your dog is bad, we probably have one who is worse if that makes you feel any better at all. Have a great day! |
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I thought I would post some pictures of what we have been up to lately.
The pumpkin soup did not come without casualties.
Notice the pumpkin puree splattered across her back. heehee
This is a fun little area by the pool. We like to sit here in the evenings after we do chores and give our two cats some attention before putting them in the pool house for the night.
Randy throwing corn for our sheep.
We just recently fenced in our pool. My dad and brother were nice enough to help, along with a friend of our's not pictured.
The progress.
A gate in progress.
Randy and I after church a couple Sundays ago. Here is a quick tour of our home. Where I spend most of my little life... the kitchen.
The next two are of our living room. Our bad little dog likes to curl up in a ball on the back of this particular chair. He can see out the windows perfectly and no matter how much we scold him we he continues to perch here when we are not around.
This is our family room. We like to snuggle up back here with our heater cranked up in the wintertime and relax.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week.
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Randy will be working late tonight, so I am on my own with chores. I thought this might be a good opportunity to give a little rundown of what our evening chores consist of as of right now. The first thing I do when I pull in the driveway: Let the cats (2) out of the pool house so they can get some fresh air and stretch their legs. Unload the car Let the dogs (3) inside, and take off collars. Feed them and add cod liver oil to each bowl. Give them fresh water inside and outside. Let them back outside after they have all eaten. Change into work clothes and head outside. Cats: feed, water, change litter box, and feed our stray kitty Chickens: collect eggs, feed, and water, give kitchen scraps, and check oyster shell Sheep: feed grain to three separate groups, fill stock tanks for three separate groups, give a handful of grain to the llama, move protein tubs around, check salt and mineral and fill if needed, look over well to make sure everyone is healthy, and close pasture gates. Get the mail. Head inside to assemble dinner, eat, hand wash dishes, and wash the eggs that have just been collected. After dinner it’s back outside. Before dark: Lock up cats in pool house. Close up the chickens. Let the dogs out again (and back in). Change into pajamas. Snuggle with the dogs for awhile. Read. Go to bed. This is daily. Rain or Shine. Hot or Cold. Sick or Well. This doesn’t include the extras when someone is sick and in need of doctoring, lambing, bottle feeding, baby chicks (which should be arriving in a week or so), etc. Luckily, although my workload will be increased significantly without Randy there to help, I will not have to make and clean up dinner. The “simple life” isn’t always easy, but it is rewarding. I was just talking to a co-work about lambing and having to pull lambs. She said the usual, “I could never do it” (pull a baby lamb). I told her I never thought I could either until there is an animal who counts on you to take care of them. They look at you with those eyes saying, “help me” or “I don’t know what to do” and you know you have no choice. I told her I have two baby lambs (not really babies anymore) walking around our farm that would not be here today if I had not pulled them (mamas either). You do what you have to do, for their sake and for your sake. It’s not for everyone, but it is the most rewarding way of life I have lived so far. I hope to be able to live this life for a long time. |
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I have decided if Randy and I are going to keep up with our evening chores we are going to have to make some changes to our evening meals. Cooking from scratch is healthy and yummy and all of that good stuff, but it is also time consuming. With both of us working full-time it’s going to take some doing to eat healthy and get everything done that needs to be done. So, I am working up a menu plan, fairly general, to make our evenings more open to taking care of our animals (especially with baby chicks on the way). Monday: Crockpot Tuesday: Soup and Sandwiches (usually egg or grilled cheese) Wednesday: Crockpot new or leftovers (add tortillas, cornbread, etc.) Thursday: Grill (from the freezer) Friday: This will be our big meal of the week because I am off on Fridays. I also hope to do some cooking for the freezer so we have casseroles in the freezer to get us through the following week. We will probably have to implement some rice and beans back into our menu to allow for some bulk cooking. Our menu this week isn’t on track with this new menu plan, but here is what I have planned for the week. Monday: Egg (homegrown) sandwiches on homemade bread Tuesday: Link Sausage cooked over sweet potatoes and turnips in our cast iron skillet. Wednesday: Stir-Fry (bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, turnips, and sweet potatoes over brown rice). The rice is soaking as we speak. Thursday: Pork chops on the grill and veggies of some sort. Friday: Roasted Chicken, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Turnips, and a salad. Cook ahead: Bierocks Hopefully I will get some tortillas made, but we’ll see how the day goes. I also have a lot of housekeeping to do. One day a week just doesn’t cut it when you are trying to cook for 4 days and clean for 7 days worth. Hope everyone has a great week. |
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Pretty sure we have lost it. Yesterday we placed an order for more Rhode Island Red chicks. We had another one fly into the backyard (two total) to meet her end. We have debated on clipping their wings, putting chicken wire of the back of their yard, and some other ideas. We want them to be able roam free for a couple of reasons. The cost of feed would kill us if we had to feed them 100% of their food intake, the eggs are healthier due to their foraging, and it is healthier for our sheep when they forage and eat larvae so the sheep don’t pick it up. We will see what kind of winter project we come up with to keep the chickens and dogs separate. In the meantime we will be preparing to have babies on our farm once again. We have been roofing our house the past two weekends. I will post pictures once it is presentable. We did dark green shingles and they look so good. I love it! We had our first big freeze early Monday morning, so the tomatoes are history. It wasn’t the greatest gardening year, but financially we did just as well as the previous year (thanks to supply not meeting demand which enable us to raise our prices some). Now we are relying on our eggs for some cash flow. Not only is the number of hens slowly dwindling due to lack of brainpower, but the onset of winter and shorter days will begin to take its toll on the girls laying ability. By spring, if the girls stay out of the backyard, we should have a nice sized flock again and be able to meet the demand we suddenly have. Hope everyone is doing well. We are keeping busy and enjoying our little EdenPure heater to keep us warm on these cold evenings. We still haven’t turned on our heat and with the price of propane hope to hold out awhile longer. We couldn’t make it without our little heater. |
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I have been doing a little competition with myself. I am trying to not buy groceries for the rest of the years (4 mos.). I have a few stipulations such as: I can buy meat from our neighbor (a butcher) if any comes available (deer season). I can also buy pumpkins from the farmer's market. Lastly, I can buy fruit (oranges, apples, and grapefruit) from the FFA (Future Farmers of America) kids when they sell it in Nov/Dec. Well, I cheated. I went to the farmer's market yesterday and bought: lettuce green onions bell peppers okra and bison liver I couldn't help myself. I have been wanting salad and okrafor so long. My lettuce died, my okra is producing about 2 a week, and I have no self control. Hey, it's not like I ran to Walmart and bought a family-sized bag of Snickers or something. Dinner last night was: Chili with local beef and venison a fresh, local salad (some of which was home grown) and okra cooked in bacon grease It was delicious! I would call it a complete failure, but I am going to try to do better in the future and fight off those craving for fresh veggies, haha! |
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On my way to work this morning I saw a small deer in the ditch alongside the road. As I drove by I saw it jump up to run like it had been sleeping. I drove a little bit further wondering if it was okay and couldn't talk myself out of turning around to make sure it was okay. I didn't see the deer the first time by and thought, "good, it was okay" and turned around to head back to work. As I was driving back by I saw it move in the ditch. I pulled over, shined my lights sort of in the direction of the deer, and got out of the car to see what was wrong with her. I got a foot away from her before she tried to stand and turn toward me. She fell instantly due to what looked like a broken back or rear legs. I cried all the way to the car to call my husband to get the phone number to call someone (Sheriff, Wildlife and Parks, etc.) to come put the dear down. It is bow season here, but from the looks of it she wasn't injured by a careless hunter, but a careless driver. I think someone hit her on the highway and kept right on going. She wasn't a full grown deer, merely a baby, and probably didn't do a whole lot of damage to the vehicle to warrant double checking to see if the deer was okay. People make me sick. Maybe I'm wrong and the driver was not at fault for leaving an injured animal behind to suffer and die in the ditch. I hope I am. I hope people are not in such a hurry they can't show any decency or kindness to an injured animal. I cried for the next 5-6 miles, wondering if the person on the other end of the telephone line would really do their part and call someone to take care of the deer. This is the second time in the four years I've made my morning commute I have had to call in for an injured deer along the side of the highway that someone else had left behind. Life needs to slow down. Life needs to have meaning and purpose and compassion. I’ve always wanted to do something more with my life. I want to be a missionary, to help abused or abandoned animals, to change someone’s life by simple human kindness. This morning was just another reminder of how I want more out of life than the motions I’ve been going through. I don’t want to look back and wonder why I was even put on earth. I want to look back and know that I changed someone or something, that I made it better for them. I may never get to be a missionary in Africa, I may never get to save primates or their jungles, and I may never be able to save every abandoned dog or cat or child, but each day I can try to brighten someone else’s day by a simple smile, warm conversation with someone who’s lonely, or donate to even one organization I believe in. I went to lunch with my grandma Tuesday at a little deli down the street from where I work. The minute we sat down a mentally handicapped man next to us began talking to us. At first I was kind of annoyed. Here we were trying to chat and have a nice lunch and this man kept asking us questions and telling us small stories. After a couple of minutes of being annoyed, I realized this may be his only conversation all day, all week, or even all month. I get to talk to people all the time (like it or not). Here this man, Hamilton, is starving for conversation, for someone to listen to him and respond to what he says. I realized it wouldn’t kill me. Not only would it not kill me, it would change me and it might possibly change him. Have a wonderful day and take the time to show kindness to someone or something today. |
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I'm going to play catchup with some pictures now that my camera is reading my memory card again.
Here is a Hoosier cabinet passed along for my cousin. It was my great grandma's, and I'm excited to be the one to acquire it.
My latest library books!
What's living under our house. I call him our "Army Pig."
One of the many moths that flutter around our four o'clocks.
More herbs for winter use.
A fun little home in Michigan on our way home from a wedding.
Me (left) and a friend, Sarah in Lawrence, Kansas. Last night I was home alone while Randy was visiting the chiropractor for a back injury. So, the critters and I decide (well, I decided they really had no choice) to do a photo shoot. Here is what we came up with.
Ash playing ball.
Koal just being entirely too cute!
Thai, "on you mark, get set....."
Rooster on the run! One of our ewe lambs, Minnie, keeping cool by the stock tank. We don't name all our sheep, but this little girl was a bottle baby. That pretty much sums up August for us. The garden hasn't been all that impressive. Luckily, there is a farmer's market right across the street from where I work (I'm headed there today). So, I can stock up on fresh produce from other peoples good fortune. Oh, and the fall weather came and went here. We are back into the mid-upper nineties for the rest of the week. It was good while it lasted. Have a wonderful day!
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