Pictures of my garden and new babies.
I've been so busy, I haven't even thought about blogging... Every now and then some of you would cross my mind and I'd wonder what you've been up to. When I get the time, I'll read up in the blogs. Hopefully you haven't been as busy as we have been!
I went into this spring with 3 does (goats) and our one buck. The first doe gave us a set of twin bucklings (we've since sold one and the other, Ben, has been whethered and will be DD's pet). The second doe gave us triplets!! Two girls and one boy. The boy has been sold and we'll be keeping the girls. We've named them Cynthia and Rosemary. This is Rosemary.
Here is Cynthia. She's my baby.
This is our latest (and last) baby. We bought her dam, a purebred Alpine - just bred to a gorgeous Alpine buck. We named the doe Matty and we've named this little girl Nayeli (native american for "I Love You").
And now for some iris pictures. They are in full swing right now and are really putting on a display this year. This is an old historic named "Belvi Queen"
One of my seedlings.
Stress off my shoulders and Signs.
It’s amazing to me how much better I feel after writing things down and sending them out into the blog world.
When I was 18, I had a mental breakdown. In the support center, they taught us different ways to “get things out”. The one that worked the best for me was to write letters. I’ve never sent one, but I’ve found it does help. Writing things down in my blog seems to help even more. There’s something about writing it down and knowing people are going to read it that makes it easier to let go. Knowing I couldn’t go to the people responsible for this made it hard to take. But sharing it with you all instead made it a whole lot more bearable. I went ahead and deleted the last blog that I wrote because it was something that I had to get off my shoulders, and now that I feel a lot better about it, I don’t want to re-read it or go back there again.
We’re supposed to get snow today and then a really cold snap is supposed to follow. I would LOVE to see some more snow, but the cold I could do without. It would be great to have a white Christmas.
I’ve been busy lately and haven’t had time to blog. The neighbors have been leaving us alone which has made everyday life SOOOOOOOO peaceful! It’s been truly NICE!
We lost our old TB stallion, Definite Signs last Thursday. It was pretty hard to take! Especially since there was nothing we could do. We lost him to Pedunculated Lipoma.
We’ll miss the old man. He was a very gentle horse that Emily absolutely LOVED. He stood 16 Hands so she couldn’t comb the top ¼ of him, but he would stand stone still while she was around him. He love the attention from this small child. I’m sure he’s welcomed in Heaven and is running those ever green pastures. See you in Heaven Ol’ Man!
Moving inspirations and fears
My Internet Explorer has been keeping me from the internet until today when I figured out that by starting it with the add-ons disabled, I can atleast tour the web.
I have been reading two books that I feel God has led me to. “Profiles in Faith” by Harold Sala is an amazing book which tells about 50 people who, by following Gods lead, truly made a difference in the world. I read the following passage in the book of Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” In the Profiles inFaith book, Sala speaks about Abraham. He begins by saying< Risk your money on dice and they call that gambling, risk your money on the stock market and they call that business. But risk your future on God, and they call you a fool.” This really spoke to me as we are planning on moving to another state in late spring of 2008. This new adventure is scary to all of us and I find it very sad that I’m leaving loved family, friends and the place that has always been home to me. However, 3 ½ years ago, Virgil and I were beginning to feel the pressure of needing to move somewhere away from controlling people and find freedom that we’ve never had. We prayed and asked God to help us and he opened our eyes to a very small ad in an Idaho paper that was for 5 acres and owner financing. We’d been looking for another place with more land (than our then ½ acre) and buying the places that we liked were out of our reach for one reason or another. Plus, the last year had been especially hard for me with my family and I really wanted to move AWAY. Then we find this little ad and both of us felt an overwhelming urge to call right now. After speaking with the seller, DH made plans right then and there to go see the land on Saturday (this was Monday or Tuesday). It was a long week for us! Finally Saturday came and my bidding words to him were, “I trust your judgement.” He called late Saturday morning to tell me we’d bought the place and the owners sister had another 5 acres adjoining it also for sale with the same terms and low payments. We went ahead and purchased that too. We couldn’t believe the blessings that had just taken place! Everything had come together so easily throughout all of this, we knew that it was God’s will and a prayer answered. The more I leaned about Idaho and the area which we were moving to, the more my heart burst with happiness. I often cried while researching as it all sounded wonderful and a place where we’d be happy. Then we drove over the following spring and found a lot of snow, mud and a long way to power and phone (we were told ½ mile, but we’ve since measured it and it’s only 1000 ft to phone and 2000 ft to power. Anyway, the road was nearly impassible and we had to walk to our land. We were dishearted and decided that God must have wanted us to use this land as a turn-over and make enough money with the resale to buy someplace more liveable. Another year passed with things growing worse in our little town which increased our stress and our need to move. So we began looking into selling the land and buying another place. Again, we found nothing but closed doors for one reason or another. Anyway, we started noticing that the places we were most interested in, were very similar to ours. So we again took the drive (to measure exactly how far power and phone were) and to again look at the roads and re-think all of this. I have to add, that both of our vehicles were not running very well and we planned on renting a vehicle for this drive. When we arrived to pay in cash, we were informed that they only took credit cards. We were appalled! We’d driven an hour to get to the rental place, and there we sat. I told DH that I felt we should continue on and pray. God again answered our prayer and our car sailed there and back. We again felt that God really wanted us to live on this land and so we are truly devoted to getting there this year.
We have found nothing but frowns and people saying there’s no way we can do this. I have listened to them at times and felt like they’re right, but then I read a scripture that sometimes screams at me and I am again reminded that with God leading the way, ALL things are possible.
In another part of the story, Sala goes on to say, “Can you imagine some of the conversations that must have taken place as neighbors said, “We see you are packing up your family, Abraham. Where are you headed?” And Abraham says, “I’m not sure; I just know that God is leading me.” “Uh-huh.” comments a friend. “How are you going to take care of your family>” Abraham shuffles his feet and says, “I don’t know, but I am sure God will take care of us.”
That’s how we feel too. Except for us it’s family who think this is nothing but a dream.
I’ve lived in this small town for 30 of my 36 years and I can whole-heartedly say that this move is very scary to me. BUT, living here is even scarier. We are victims here, and starting anew someplace with the knowledge that God has led us there is a comfort. The sunrises and sunsets will be missed, as will the mountains which I’ve called home for so many years. We have good friends here that will be missed and my gardens won’t be the same as I’ve been told you can only grow cold weather crops there. But we’ll have so much more. We’ll have PEACE and quiet. We’ll have new friends to make and won’t be burdened with people marking us because of bad family or a vengeful neighbor. The hurt that I’ve felt this last year as people whom I thought were friends have turned their backs on me because of something they’ve heard has been horrible, unbearable if I really think about it. I’ve known these people my entire life and for them to do this….. I just never thought it could ever happen…. Anyway, it has, and because of it, we’ve felt the need to move even greater than before.
Since our last trip over to our land in Idaho (last July), we have been busy getting as many things taken care of as we can (like bills paid, and our vehicles running well). Our truck needs a new engine so we’ve been pursuing that. We’d like for everything to be ready in April so we can be free to go in May.
In ending today, I would like to quote another book that I’m reading, “The Attributes Of God” by Arthur W. Pink. Throughout this year, I have thought horrible thoughts and have felt that I have been failing God. I have felt that this has been a test and I’m not doing so well. So when I read the following, I felt my heart lighten and once again can only say, “Thank You!”
Chapter 15 “The Love Of God”
….”Jacob have I loved,” declared God, and despite all his unbelief and waywardness, He never ceased to love him. John 13:1 furnishes another beautiful illustration. That very night one of the apostles would say, “Show us the Father”; another would deny Him with cursings; all of them would be scandalized by and forsake Him. Nevertheless, “Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.” The Divine love is subject to no vicissitudes. Divine love is “strong as death….many waters cannot quench it” (Song of Sol. 8:6,7). Nothing can separate from it (Rom. 8: 35-39)
Snow for Thanksgiving!!
Let it snow, Let it snow, LET IT SNOW!!!!!!!!
It is still snowing… We have about 4+ inches and oh is it beautiful! I’m listening to Christmas music right now. I can’t help but get into the Christmas spirit when it snows.
I’m going to put on a pot of apple cider with a couple of cinnamon sticks and whole cloves, bake something outrageously fattening, and crochet something warm and comfy. There is such a peacefulness when it snows (unless it’s a blizzard that is).
I’m looking forward to all of the snow we’ll be getting when we move.
Rarely do we have snow like this before Thanksgiving. And more often than not, we don’t even have snow for Christmas. We love to do pretty much any outdoor activity that’s in snow, and we just don’t get to do them often here.
We all have a cold, DS and I seem to have it worse in our bronchial tubes so I’m not letting DS outside right now. He wants to play in the snow SO BAD! DD, bless her heart, brought in a bucket of snow for him to eat and play in. He’s been having fun and I’ve been busy picking it up off the floor. :o] I’m hoping he’s feeling good enough tomorrow to play outside. I’ve learned from experience that cold air makes coughing much worse.
Our 2 year old nanny goat isn’t feeling well. We let them out Sunday so we could clean their pen and barn before the snow hit. Well, they decided to nibble on the old straw for the ducks. We kicked them out when we saw them eating it, but I’m pretty sure it gave her a tummy ache. She wouldn’t eat anything yesterday morning, so we went around picking anything I knew of that would make her tummy feel better if she’d eat it. We offered her some mint, cedar, and willow leaves. She really went to town on the willow leaves, then later in the day she started eating some hay. This morning, she nibbled on her grain during milking, but she’s still looking a little sick. I pray that she’s back to herself soon.
We got our Christmas shopping done already! I’m SOOOO happy to have it done. Now we can avoid the rush and our selection was awesome. The gifts are even already wrapped. :o) We had to so the kids wouldn’t stumble upon them.
Well, that’s all that’s been going on around here… The neighbors are still their sociopathic selves, but they just got a hefty fine from BLM for stealing boulders yet again, so they’ve been pouting and pretty quiet, until this morning when my shoveling the snow away from my mailbox was taken as a threat by the wife so her husband had to hop into their suburban and drive by very slowly. Course, by the time he went by, I was already back in the yard and didn’t even look at him.
To end on a lighter note, I’m planning on making a few pies tomarrow for Thanksgiving. We always spend Thanksgiving with my mom and step dad. My mom makes the BEST main course (turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, string beans, and macaroni & shrimp salad). I always make pumpkin pies and then whatever sounds good. This year DD wants apple pie, DH wants cherry pie, Pecan pie sounds wonderful to me as does a new recipe I found called Kona Banana Cream Pie. You can find it at recipezaar (recipe # 202442). Oh my!!!!!!!!!!!! We’ll see how many pies I actually get done. :o)
If I don’t write again until after Thanksgiving, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Carved pumpkin pictures
Here are our favorites:
Coyote howling, Happy Feet (the penguin), horse running
Wolf
We had a ton of fun - even though we carved for about 5 hours between yesterday and today.
Could it be Big Foot?
Have you guys seen this?
Hmmm…. What do you think it is? http://thehendricksreport.wordpress.com/2007/10/26/jacobs-creature-brings-up-the-age-old-question-are-we-all-nuts/
I’m guessing either a chimp, someone dressed in a monkey suit or it’s a Big Foot. Wish whatever it was would have looked at the camera when it flashed. I’d like to see the face.
Learning as I go...
Someone once told me that goats could and would breed at very early ages (2 months!) so naïve me just figured that Happy Feet, our billy, would easily get the job done at 5 months if he met the weight requirement (70 pounds). Well, he bypassed that weight over 2 months ago and I didn’t give my whole goat plan a second thought. I’d breed our two does in October or November, the kids would be 2-3 months old when we moved, which was old enough they wouldn’t get too stressed with the move, and still young enough to take all or most of their dams milk so I wouldn’t be tied down with milking, and everything would be peaches and cream. HA!!!! Well, good ol mother nature once again has humbled me. Happy Feet, as much as he’s trying, just isn’t quite there yet. Both of my does have just completed another heat cycle and I’m pretty sure neither was covered. :o( So, my big plan is out the window and down the road. Infact, so far down the road that I may end up at Elaines house (who raises Nubains). I guess we’ll see what next month brings, but I really do NOT want these does to stay open for another year. The whole reason we got them was for their milk and I couldn’t image going a whole year having to buy milk. I think I’d buy another doe (bred!) than go through that!
So, as much as Happy would like to think he’s top dude around here, he’s still got a ways to go.
Lesson learned!
First snow in pictures
We’d heard that we were supposed to get snow last night, but yesterday’s high was nearly 70 so it was hard to believe. Well, this is what we woke up to. :o]
We LOVE snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DD took this picture. It’s now our screen saver. :o]
This is our hen, Snowflake (named by DD (who is going through a faze where everything is named snow something or after a flower)) trying to stay out of the snow. She is a blue andalusian cross.
Plum tree
Front left – Amas, Front right – Ulie, back – Akisha
Bad time of year to be a baby chick. The mother to these had spent the night in the secret garden so they had to travel through snow to get anywhere. I caught the mom and two babies and put them under the shelter.
On a bad note, last night Chipper tore half of his stitches out. The wound must be really itching as he will NOT leave it alone! I think we’re going to revert to the old rinsing it out 3 times a day with water and pray the remaining stitches hold!
Emergency trip to the vet.
What a night! DH and I decided to clean up the hay that the deer had stomped into the mud late last night (about 10:00 PM) while the kids were sleeping. I had to open the two gates in one of the pastures for him to drive the truck through. Chipper was in the pasture that we needed to get through and he met me at the gate. He hadn’t eaten any of his hay and seemed agited. He normally greets me with a soft nicker but this time he barely made a sound and kept pushing me around. I petted him and tried to comfort him, not knowing what could be upsetting him. But DH saw it as he drove through the first gate. He rolled the window down and said, “Did you see the cut on his chest?” Thinking Chipper might have scraped himself, I glanced down at his chest and couldn’t believe my eyes. His right peck muscle was tore open with a huge flap of skin hanging down. I grabbed the flashlight and could see a large puncture hole as far up as I could see. I shined the flashlight around us to see if I could see what caused it and noticed the metal post that had been straight up and down holding Charges pen in place was now bent over. I knew exactly what happened. Chipper must have got to playing with Charge and rared up and came down on the post. YEOW!!!!! Well, this is a no-brainer. We need to get him to the vet. The thing that worried me the most was how far in the post had went. Of course, the vets we normally use couldn’t be reached, so I called a specialist whom we haven’t seen in 7 years because he’s pretty expensive. They just built a brand new facility that’s a lot closer to us, so that would be helpful.
After examining Chipper, the vet said the post had only went about 4-5 inches in. He washed and flushed it really well (thankfully it didn’t have any foreign matter in it!) then sewed layer after layer until he finally stapled the skin together. He put a drain in it as he said it would drain a lot and probably have a lot of swelling for a few days. I’ve seen a lot of animals stitched up and he did a fantastic job. I believe Chipper was in the best hands we could offer him. He was a trooper the entire time and even loaded extremely well considering he hadn’t stepped into a horse trailer since he was about 4 months old. We got home about 2:30 AM and then had to get a pen put together for him. I’m going to clean up the barn today so we can stall him if we get any moisture.
We are all tired today and the horses are still upset. I think they know we took someone last night but they haven’t quite figured out that everyone is here. It’s amazing how, even though most of them are separated, they all consider themselves a herd.
We went up the creek and retrieved our game camera yesterday. Here are some photo’s: (I had the camera pointing downward for smaller game like bobcats, mountain lions, and such).
Hee Hee, I love this one.
It took me about 30 mintues to figure this one out. Anyone want to take a guess? :o)
Dreaming...
I find myself dreaming all the time about our new home in the woods.
DH and I have the same ideas for our new place. We want a lot of windows on the south side of the house, for one. The house we’re in now (well, mobile home with an addition) doesn’t have many windows and the winter can get so gloomy. I have a semi large window on the west end of the addition that seems to germinate seeds relatively well, and the house plants that are there grow well also. But the thought of having large windows where we can bask in the sun on cold days really makes me smile. I would love to grow sedums and orchids someday too. We visited Bush Gardens in Florida a few years ago and I was in awe of the orchids growing all over the rock walls. I would love to re-create that if I could…
I often imagine myself sitting between the windows and stove crocheting or reading a good book and glancing out the windows at the wildlife (deer, elk, birds, etc.) or the kids playing in the snow (we’ll have a lot more snow there than we do here). Every year DD dreams of making snow men and sledding but only every 3 years or so can we do them due to lack of snow. We do get the cold though! Minus 30 F is common for here, but where we’re moving, the temps are much more mild in the winter.
DH and I are beginning to draw up plans for our barn. We’d like to house as many of the animals under one roof as we can. We have such a gorgeous view from our land, we don’t want to obstruct it with a bunch of sheds and such.
We also have lions, bears and wolves where we’re moving so a good fence is also in the plans. 5 foot no climb is on sale at our local hardware store right now and we’re going to buy 4, 100’ roles. We’ll have a strand of electric wire about 2 ½ ft high along the outside of the fence and mabe another along the top. I think this will help with our goats leaning on the fence too. Hopefully the kids can play outside without me worrying about predator critters. The animals will all be locked up at night to keep them safe, and I think we’ll install a few motion detector lights.
We’re not going to have power for the first couple of months so things will have to be run from the generator and solar. We’ve thought about going totally solar, but we use so much power (two freezers, one fridge, washer, dryer, hot water tank, etc) that we just don’t think off the grid living will do for us right now. However, the downside to bringing power and phone in to where we live is it will increase the value of the property around us and we may get neighbors…. Hmmm… So we keep tossing ideas around about that one.
Well, it’s breeding season for the goats. I’m trying to get our doeling, Honey, bred this month. Since I’ve never had goats until this year, I’m just learning about their heat cycles and what to look for. I don’t think Honey has cycled yet this month, atleast I’m hoping she hasn’t. Every day she’s in with Happy Feet (our Nubian buck) for the day and I put her back in the does pen with Mrs. Paign at night. I’m hoping Happy (who is also a youngster but seems to know his stuff) will know when Honey is in standing heat.
Anyway, I know things never go exactly as planned for me, but if I can get Honey bred this month, and Mrs. Paign bred next month, the kids will be taking most of the milk during the time we’ll be moving. That would be SOOOO nice, not having to milk during that time.
Well, I’m actually boring myself, so I’ll go for now.
*This photo was taken this summer. I just found another disk with more flower photo’s. Man I take a lot of pictures!*
Today up the creek pictures
We didn’t know if we were going to make it up the creek today, but we did.
It won’t be long until the trees are bare, which is always a touch sad for me, but until then, they are absolutely stunning.
DD and I took a hike and ended up at the top of a rocky ridge. We bugled (just playing around) for awhile, course we didn’t get any bull elk to answer. It was fun, though, and that’s what it’s all about. On the way back down the mountain, Emily began beating on the top of a frisbee we’d found at the beginning of our hike and singing like a native. I chimed in for awhile.. :o) There’s something about singing to a simple beat while walking through the woods. It seems to reach into the spirit and bring the singer a bit closer to your surroundings.
Here, Emily is bugling. She doesn’t know I’m taking the picture.
Here’s another view from our rocky ridge.
Another beautiful fall day.
Today in pictures...
What a gorgeous fall day!
Finshed scarf for DD
Made Salsa
Had fun up the creek.
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