Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Going Off Grid Tomorrow

Sewing Day Tomorrow!

Grain Mill Discouragement ~ Update

I am so discouraged with milling my own wheat flour.  I have an electric mill that I bought 3 years ago that works very well.  The problem?  Humidity.  With the cold weather I have noticed a problem.  Every time I mill the wheat the heat caused by the milling process brings up the humidity level and the mill gets coated with a layer of damp flour on the underside of the bowl that attaches to the mill.  The humidity also causes the mill to clog up in the areas where it needs the air flow.  So, instead of being able to mill enough wheat to do a week's worth of baking I am having to mill only 1/4 that amount of wheat at a time.  Here is a picture of the mill I have.  It is a Blendtec ( formerly called K-Tec) mill.

During the warm weather months, I do not have this problem.  It is very frustrating.  I make everything from scratch including breads, pasta, snacks, etc.  I really need the grain mill to function properly.  I cannot afford to replace this mill with a different brand.  By next winter we will be going non-electric anyways.  I am now thinking that I may have to save up a bit sooner for a non-electric mill.  So, I am looking for a low cost one that works easily enough that even with my fibromyalgia I will be able to mill the flour for my baking.  Being a non-electric model, I will likely only be grinding what I need as I am ready to use it.  No need to mill a week's worth at one time.  I don't know yet what I will do with the mill I currently have once we go non-electric.  I have some people that I know of who bake often enough that they may be able to use it. 

If anyone has suggestions or ideas on how to solve the problem, please share your ideas.  I try to mill only when the room is warm (we heat with wood) and I even have the mill in the same room as our wood stove so that  the air is as dry & warm as possible.  Trying to mill grain in another area that is not as warm, the humidity problem is even worse.

UPDATE ~~~  I called Blendtec about the problem.  The also thought the problem was moisture in the grain.  My solution:  I am putting the wheat I am wanting to mill into a roaster pan to set on top of the large vent on our wood stove.  The stove has a vented "lid" on it above the firebox which allows heat to circulate.  The vent is large enough that the roaster will not fully cover the vent.  By putting the roaster on the vent, the heat from the stove will dry the grains without becoming hot enough to cook the grains.  Though in thinking about it slightly toasted wheat grains given breads a more "nutty" flavor so if they did toast a bit, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.  The grain on the stove smells wonderful! 

Pay It Forward and Sewing Update

Thoughts and Ramblings

Winter Storm

This morning we woke up to the trees and ground covered in ice.  Not really thick, but enough that Beloved wasn't able to go to work.  We are currently at 22*F and the overnight temps will reach the low teens with more freezing rain & snow to come.  As I look out the window, there is lots of ice and snow already.  Lot of our area anyways.  If the main road is not clear in the morning, Beloved may be home another day.

We sent the day working on things here in the house.  Rearranging things that needed to be done.  Beloved helped to set up a laundry rack for me in the front room near the wood stove.  We are going to be hanging on laundry on it to dry.  We also have a wooden rack that is meant to be a DVD rack, but we are using as a drying rack for towels and smaller items.  It has been quite cold outdoors, but the house has stayed warm enough.  We were blessed that the firewood we bought is a very heavy hardwood that burns a long time and still provides a lot of heat.  I am not sure what type it is, but we are enjoying it.

I am getting a new sewing area set up near the woodstove.  What a treat it will be to be able to sew on a large desk.  Beloved was given a large computer desk with a hutch on top that he now has the computer set up on.  The old wooden desk that we had the computer on is now my sewing desk.   It has enough space for both the overloc and the sewing machines to be on it at one time. 

Tonight, I am making lentil & barley soup for dinner.  It is a very simple dish.  I am making it with both the green and red lentils.  I cook the lentils in water until nearly done.  Then add finely chopped onion, barley, and crushed garlic, salt & pepper to taste.    You can add a bit of tomato sauce if you wanted to.  I also wil sometimes add diced carrots to the soup.  It is a very accomidating recipe.  Nothing is measured, just add what looks and tastes good to you.

Crocheting Socks

I am having so much fun.  Finally, I have found a pattern for crocheting socks. Best part is that the pattern is free!  I found the pattern at the blog,  Needles and Pinza.  This pattern is extremely beginner level.  If you can do a chain stitch & single crochet, you can make these socks!  There is no gauge or stitches to count, with the exception of the chain stitches of course.

Using the instructions given, beginning with a chain of 33 stitches, you can make adult sized socks.  The socks are a tube sock style.  I am using Lion Brand yarn from the Vanna's Choice collection.  I am finding that yarn to be very soft and easy to work with.  This is my first time using the Vanna's Choice yarn and I am thrilled.  Depending on how much time I spend in the evening making the socks, I am making a pair in a couple of evenings.  I am going to adjust the stitching, using fewer chain stitches at the start and possibly a smaller hook size, to make socks for the little ones. 

If you have never tried making crocheted socks before, this may be the pattern to get you started.  They are fast and fun to make.  Depending on the thickness of the yarn used, you can make anything from a trouser-type sock to a heavy boot sock using the same pattern.   Enjoy!

Today's Blitz

Blitz seems to be the only word for it.  I have been going through the family room and kitchen today.  Anything not used on a daily or weekly basis, with the exception of books, are being cleared out.  Some are being boxed up, others are being tossed.  I have reached that point where the sparsely furnished rooms are what I am aiming for.  It will make housekeeping so much easier and efficient.  It will also give me more time for other things.  This spring there will be 3 gardens to plant (containers, in ground, and herbs), preparations for the new home building project to start, new lambs, on top of the usual daily tasks and activities involved with young children and a home.  Poor Beloved.  When he gets home tonight he will need CPR when he sees what I have done, but he will enjoy the end results.  He worries about me over-doing it and setting off my fibromyalgia flares.  It feels so good though to get this done.  Over the next few days, I am going to tackle the rest of the house and do the same in each room.  I can't wait to get it all done.  The things that are being boxed up are going to be stored in a place where if there is something we need, it can be retrieved easily.  Otherwise anything in those boxes will be up for donating to charity.

I am so looking forward to being done with this process.  It has taken a long time to reach this point.  Now, with a small home on our horizon, it is giving me just the motivation to not wait until we are ready to move to purge the last of the unneeded items.  I am doing it now while we are having a slow time with winter.  Once warm temperatures are here and the homestead begins getting busy again, I may not have a chance to do a thorough job of purging the home.  That is why doing it now makes so much sense to me.

Little by Little

I am always amazed at how the Lord works in our hearts and in our lives.  Some changes that we are lead to make are quite drastic, while others can be done in small steps.  It has been in steps that we have been working towards living a more plain lifestyle.  In previous posts, I have talked about the decluttering that we have undertaken in our home & lifestyle.  The process has been continuing.  Here we remove a little, there a little.  Each step we feel a sense of accomplishment.  In time though, we begin to feel the need to go further.  We haven't reached that point of contentment that comes from reaching the life of simplicity yet.  The Lord is stil guiding us in this gently.

This most recent round was prompted as I was cleaning. I realized how often things are put down and forgotten, only being moved when they are in the way.  These are items strewn around the home, but things that are put away!  I find things that are unneeded, but taking up much needed storage space that more essential items can be stored in.  I now am boxing up and putting into storage these unnecessary items.  Much will be donated or sold very soon.  One exception I am making is to store long term extra place settings of our dishes.  I only am keeping on the shelf enough to serve our family for 1 meal.  The extra settings will be stored in an area of the pantry where they can be retrieved quickly if we have dinner guests. 

I am purging old sewing patterns that I will no longer need due to the little ones having out-grown the size.  Also there is yardage that I have been given over the years, but it is a type of fabric that I do not use.  Instead of hanging onto it and hoping that I am able to find something to do with it, I am going to pass it along to someone else who may have a need. 

With our plans to build a small modest home on the property to move into by fall, I am looking at everything in the home with the attitude of "what do I want to have in the new home."    When considering everything in that light, it is surprising how little you want to take.  I am going to be investing in clear plastic totes for storing blankets, the extra dishes, etc. in until we have some other storage solution in place for them.  Then again, the totes may work out so well that we won't need any other option.

Both of our laundry machines are acting up.  LOL  Great timing!  Since we are planning to be off-grid in the new home, the machines were not going to be going with us anyways.  The dryer's eating element is acting up and not drying the clothing properly.  The washer's agitator is making a "knocking" noise.  This weekend, we are going to get a drying rack and also rig up an indoor clothesline in the bathroom over the bathtub.  This will give me the ability to dry some items in the house which will be much faster than line drying outdoors in the cold.  Very important with one child in cloth training pants & the other in cloth diapers!  I will be on the watch for a couple of washtubs and an old wringer to hook onto them.  Once I get those, I will have everything I need to do our laundry.  Then, we can remove the machines from the house if we wanted to and make a space to set up the wash tubs on a sturdy bench or low table.

I am enjoying this lifestyle of simplicity.  It is very satisfying to go to bed each night after putting in a full day.  I am still having to do the most physical work in the mornings.  In afternoons, I do the lighter tasks such as sewing, crochet, or light cleaning.  I have to rest a bit in between the tasks sometimes.  The work gets done though and I always feel so good afterwards.  The exercise that living the "old way" provides has done much for my health.  My endurance and strength is improving and I sleep well at night.

The Lord has blessed us so much in this.  It was only 2 years ago that we were looking to find me a power chair due to my mobility problems from the fibromyalgia.  Now, I have been medication-free for 2 full years!  I am not 100% of my activity level that I had prior to the fibromyagia getting so bad, but I am getting close.  If I were to never get closer to that than I am right now, I would still feel generously blessed to have what abilities I have right now.  My cup is running over so much that I am drinking from the saucer!  I thank the Lord each day for the blessing of having another day to be able to tend to my family's needs and be a helpmeet to my husband that is able to serve him and see to his needs. 

I pray that you will find in your day how the Lord is filling your cup to overflowing.

May the Lord's blessings be with thee,

Paula

Sewing Simplified

Subtle Teaching of our Children

Teaching our children can be a subtle, gentle experience.  Often the most teaching is done when nothing is said at all.  Over the weekend, we found a second-hand Little Tykes kitchen for Miss Abbie.  At nearly 3 yrs. old, she is enjoying the type of play where she is imitating what she observes.  She also is beginning to have imaginary play, which is a joy to watch. 

Today, while I was working in the kitchen cleaning up the breakfast dishes, Miss Abbie came to me asking for a towel.  I finally realised she meant a wash cloth and gave her one.  She handed it back wanting me to get it wet.  I did so and again gave it to her.  She promptly went back to her room.  A few minutes later, when I had finished the breakfast dishes, I went to see what she was doing.  She was cleaning her kitchen!  How cute!  I watched her for a couple of minutes until she realised I was there in the doorway.  I asked her if she was cleaning her kitchen and she gave me a huge smile and proudly told me that she was! 

Off and on today, she had played at cleaning her kitchen.  She also has been pretending to make lunch or a snack to bring to me or her baby brother.  It is so sweet to watch as she plays in this way.  It brought to my attention just how much our little ones observe and try to imitate us.  I am so glad that I try to never let my feelings for doing housework appear negative.  If I were to complain and gripe about the household tasks to be done, would Miss Abbie be doing the same even in her play? 

The example we set in how we go about our tasks will be reflected back at us one day.  Either through our children's play or in an older child's attitude when asked to help with a task.  I am so grateful to the Lord for showing me again just how important my attitude as a mother is to my little ones.

Homeschooling

It is hard to imagine that in about 2 years, we will begin to officially homeschool our little ones.  Abigail will be old enough to start Kindergarten level and Micah will be doing Preschool.  In preparation, we have been looking at homeschool curriculums for the children.  We have certain criteria that we are looking for that we feel are important considerations to make.

1. The curriculum must be Christian-based.  No exceptions.  The curriculum must come from a reputable Christian resource that will not only teach the courses needed, but also include the Bible's teachings along with the material.

2. We want their curriculum coming from a single source.  We realize that many homeschooling families use the "buffet" method in choosing curriculums.  Math form one source, science from another, language arts from yet a third source, and so on.  For the sake of simplicity and also a continuity of the scope & sequence of the curriculum material we want to use one resource for all the curriculum.

3. We want the curriculum to come from a source that offers accreditation.  We wish for our children to be able to receive a diploma from an accredited school once their homeschooling years have been completed. 

4. We do not want to use a correspondance school system.  We do however want a curriculum that will allow us to homeschool & grade the children's work with us sending in reports so that the school can keep the records.

Part of the reason for the accreditation requirement is that we want our children to have the advantage of having a recognizable diploma after they finish their homeschooling.  We are also looking ahead.  Oklahoma has very few requirements made of the homeschooling families at this time.  We want to be prepared in case this should change at some point in the future.  By already being established with an accredited school program, we would be able to continue as we always have with very little changes needing to be made to accommidate any new regulations or laws that should come up in the future years.

We have been looking at Bob Jones University's homeschool program and are very impressed with it.  We are still researching though to make certain that the Bob Jones University program is what we really want to use before making the final decision. 

We have 2 years yet to make our choice.  There are so many options available that it is taking time to find the one that will be best for our family.  I would love to hear from other homeschooling families who use accredited school programs.  What program do you use?  What made that curriculum stand out and become the one you chose for your children?  Are there any out there that we should use caution with?

Keeping Warm

One of the downfalls of an old home is when you have a lack of insulation in the walls.  Homes built in 1890 didn't have insulation as we know it today.  My Beloved's and my bedroom is one of the original rooms of our homestead home.  Like typical homes of that period, there is no insulation to help keep the winter cold out.  Nothing can be more "chilling" than to climb into bed in an unheated, uninsulated room and lay between two icy cold bed sheets!  Yes, we have other blankets in the bed, but the top & fitted sheets are still very cold.  Here is the solution that we have been using with great results.

The first step was to remove the top sheet from the bed.  We left the bottom fitted sheet on the bed, but covered it with a large fuzzy acrylic blanket/throw that we have.  This acrylic blanket/throw is what we sleep on.  Next, we took a second fuzzy acrylic blanket/throw and used that in place of the top sheet.  Last came another heavy acrylic blanket, comforter, and quilt.  Yes, it is alot of layers, but it worked!  The first night we did this, we had temperatures reaching the freezing point.  Typically, the bedroom was very cold but instead of sleeping in a cold bed, we were kept very toasty warm!

If you are having problems with cold sheets when you go to bed on a cold night, try sleeping between 2 layers of acrylic fuzzy blankets.  It may be much warmer for oyu and save on the extra heating costs.

Additional note:  if you come across old acrylic blankets like the fuzzy type I described using, consider using them inside your quilts as a batting.  The blankets are very warm and would make a nice, easy to launder batting.

Family Update

First, I want to thank everyone for the prayers and well wishes for the children.  They are doing very well and are recovered.

Last weekend, we got a new addition to the homestead.  We have a 3 month old female pup.  She has the black and brown markings of a rottweiler, but is a Sharpei/Blue Heeler mix.  One grandparent had a very small percentage of rottweiler, which is how she got the coloring.  The pup's parents however were only about 30-35 pounds in weight, so she will be much smaller than a rottweiler.  We had named her Gracie, which was close to the name the previous owners had given her & also easy for Abbie to say.   Well, Abbie has renamed the pup and it actually responds to the name Abbie gave her.  How she came up with the name is pretty cute. 

Joe bought a little beginning reader level book to read to Abbie called, "Hot Dog".  The story is about a little dog that is hot and gets itself into all types of mischief trying to cool off.  Well, this story has become one of Abbie's favorites.  She has now started calling the puppy, "Hot Dog".  Poor puppy answers to it and so the name will likely stick.  LOL

Over the past week. I managed to get 2 shawls crocheted to sell.  Both are made using a very soft & cuddly acrylic/polyester blend yarn.  One is done in earth tones of tan and other colors that remind me of a desert.  The other is in shades of blue, cream, and a little bit of a soft rose shade.  Both shawls are triangular and about 70 inches across at the top and 36 inches from the top to the tip of the point that the bottom.  I am so happy to get two done so quickly.  We have pictures of them on our website if anyone is interested in seeing them.

Sick Little Ones

Last Saturday, I had to take both of the kids to the Emergency Room.  The kids had been exposed to Bollous Impetigo, which is a contagious staph infection that causes blisters that are very fragile and break open easily & spread on their bodies.  The kids had been exposed as a community event when our 2 yr old daughter played with another child who was sick with this staph infection. 

This lays heavy on my heart to post a gentle suggestion.  With the cold & flu season upon us, PLEASE if you or your little ones are sick do not take them to places where the illness can be spread.  I am thinking about the elderly who were at this community event.  If they were exposed to this staph infection it would be very harmful to them!  What about people who are going through chemo treatments or otherwise have weakened immune systems?  A simple common cold could be very harsh to their health! 

Often, I have seen people take very sick kids to church, school, daycare, or other places where they spread the illnesses.  Yes, there are times when it is inconvenient to keep the little ones home.  It is not always easy - especially for single parents - to take a day from work to care for a sick child.  That is when you need a back-up plan set up ahead of time.  Find someone who is willing to watch your child in the times when they are sick.  Don't assume that just because you have plans for the day that it is okay to allow your sick child to expose others' children with their illness!  Besides the obvious health concerns, think about the financial hardships you can cause to others!  Not everyone has the ability to buy health insurance or the extra money for medications & doctor bills.  Thank heavens, our kids are fully insured!  My husband is insured through his job, but I have no insurance as we cannot afford it.  If I were to get this infection from treating my kids, it would cause a major hardship on us financially. 

I think about the number of kids today with asthma and other health issues.  Simple colds that are easy for otherwise healthy kids to tolerate can cause congestion in an asthmatic child that brings on a severe asthma attack.  Please, if your children are sick, take precautions.

Time for a decision

I have been blogging at a couple of locations, here and at blogger.  I have been getting a lot of traffic at both locations, but there is a problem.  I need to prioritize my time as our lives here are getting busier. 

I have loved both blog sites.  It is really hard to choose between the two.  I have been here at homestead blogger the longest.  The blogger site however is easier for me, with my very limited knowledge of computer skills, to update and change the look of the blog page.

In order to simplify my life more, I am going to be posting to this homestead blogger account only about once a week or so.  The main thing that tips the scales for me to the blogger account is that I have more than one blog there and will be able to manage all the blogs at one site.  I have the blogs separated, one being a simple living theme and the other is a recipe blog.  I will also be starting a small blog there on homeschooling & early education resources. 

I am hoping that by keeping the majority of my blog posts in one area, it will be easier for the readers to navigate and find each of the blogs.  I love blogging here at homestead blogger.  As I said, the other account is just a lot easier for me to work with as I do not understand HTML and how to dress up the blog here.

"Gimme, Gimme, Gimme"

 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." {Proverbs 22:6}

Every so often, you will notice something that seems to be a snapshot of today's society.  In our mail yesterday, we received an advertisement that sums up the attitude so prevalent in our society.  The ad was the weekly sales paper for a major discount store.  Most of the ad was geared towards Christmas.  One item in particular jumped out at me and just rubbed me the wrong way.  It is a negative image, but one that sadly is a truth of the way society in general thinks.  The item was a teenage girl's size t-shirt with the image of a kid jumping up and down with great enthusiasm while yelling "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!"

Each year, kids write up their Christmas list or tell their parents what they want.  Each year, it seems that the price of the child's "wants" gets higher and higher.  The list often puts a financial strain on the parents as they spend beyond their means, buying the Christmas gifts on credit and later paying not just the original purchase price but hundreds of dollars more in interest on those credit purchases over the next few months as they pay down the balance.

At what point do we step up and tell our children the realities?  In giving in to their whims and wants so freely, are we really doing what is best for them?  I remember times as a child when my parents had to say "No" to us, even when it hurt to do so.  There is nothing wrong with a child learning that they can not always get the "biggest and best" things that they are wanting.  There is nothing wrong with teaching our children that family needs take priority over the whim and wants of the individual family members. 

If you, as a parent, are feeling the financial burden of buying the "wants" of your children what blessing are you giving them?  Yes, they will enjoy the gifts......for a time until something better comes along.  In the meantime however, they have a stressed parent who is trying to pay off the debt of those gifts.

I am not trying to say that you should never give your child a gift they are wanting.  I only mean to say that we should use caution and careful consideration.  Our children deserve to have a parent who is not stressed.  I have seen children who are continually indulged and given their every "want" when they ask.  Often, these children grow up to have a sense of entitlement.  They feel that they are entitled to be given whatever they want and have never really understood that you need to work for what you want.  Not all children turn out this way, but it happens more often than not.  On the other hand, children who are not continually indulged will often learn the value of what they have.

In the scripture I posted at the beginning, we are told that how we train up our children when they are young will influence how they will become as an adult.  If we teach them that their every whim is theirs for the asking, what kind of adult will our child grow to become?  Yes, the verse in Proverbs was speaking about training up your child in the faith.  Child rearing is a double edged sword however.  It cuts both ways. 

Fleecing the Window, Part 2

Wow!  The questions I am already getting about my post this morning has me thinking I better do another with more details.  LOL

You can fleece the windows in a couple of ways.  If you have some tension rods that fit inside the window frame, you can make a little casing at the top hem of the fleece, blanket, or quilt material.  Then you simply thread the fleece onto the casing and place it in the window as close to the top of the window frame as possible.  If the fleece is a couple of inches wider than the window, then you can have it slightly gathered to be able to tuck the sides in and prevent cold air from coming around the sides of the fleece.

Another method would be to make the fleece about 6 inches wider than the window opening.  You can then thread it through a curtain rod and hang in place.  If you want it to fit snug, you can always tack the sides in a couple of places to keep it against the window trim.

For doorways we simply tack the blankets or fleece at the top of the doorway or entry and let it hang down.  You can always get a heavy tension rod to use also.  If you want it to look fancier, you can place a curtain dowel rod on brackets on the side of the entryway that most guests would see.  Add a pretty bracket on the side of the entryway to tuck the blanket in when you need the entryway left open.  This would be especially helpful in entries where you may have to walk through while carrying something such as a basket of laundry.

Entryway curtains were something often used in the previous generations.  They were especially used alot before the invention of the accordian doors.  They gave the privacy and function of a door without having to open and close a wooden door in small areas.  In our home, we have a very small bathroom.  A hinged door would never fit as it would bang into things whether it opened into the bathroom or into the laundry room where the bathroom doorway is located.  To solve the privacy issue, a curtain or an accordian door is used. 

I have often seen the same idea of a tension rod with a curtain used for kitchen cabinets or pantry shelving to keep the items on the shelves clean from dust.  If you have home canned items, the curtains also will help to protect the jars from direct sunlight which can cause the home canned foods to discolor.

Fleecing the Window

Last night the temperature dropped low enough that we had our first frost of the season.  My Beloved has been working on the bathroom as time permits to finish a wall.  When he took down the plastic tarp that had been there for quite some time, he uncovered an old window.  The top part of the window was broken, so while the weather was still warm, we put in a temporary screen so that we could take advantage of the natural light and breeze.  Now that the temperatures are colder, he put up plastic on the outside of the window to help keep the cold air out. 

Whenever I see polar fleece on sale, I try to pick up a few yards.  There are so many wonderful uses for it.  Today, I am using some of the fleece to make a window covering for that bathroom window.  A doubled layer of polar fleece made into a single panel curtain will help to reduce the cold coming in a window.  You can also take the fleece and use it as a quilt batting in the window covering or when making a quilt for the doorways to help keep the heat in a central area. 

Each year, we put blankets or other heavy material over our old single pane windows.  It makes a big difference in how warm the rooms are able to stay.  In the hot summer days, a heavy window covering like that will also help to keep the rooms cooler.  We have 3 doorways that also have blankets over them in the winter.  By doing this, we are able to best utilize the heat from our wood stoves by keeping the heat in the central 3 rooms: livingroom, kitchen/dining room, and the little ones' bedroom.

Earlier this week, I finished a crocheted shawl that I am going to sell.  I am trying to finish a second one so that I can have 2 for people to choose between.  I am also cutting out and preparing the sewing projects that I want to work on over the next couple of days. 

Prairie Mom's Kitchen

Yesterday, I worked on a new recipe blog called, Prairie Mom's Kitchen.  I have been getting so many requests for recipes that I wanted a central location to place them.  I added about 13 recipes to the blog yesterday to get it started.  I will be adding more recipes each day to get it built up.

In an update, Sunday I had an experience with our sheep.   I think that the ewe may be going into heat again.  She is getting aggressive and so is the ram.  It seems that each time she is in heat, she gets the sheep version of a PMS attitude I think.  LOL   Basically, she will lower her head and hit my hipbone.  She nearly knocks me over when it happens.  Her back is the same height as my hip, so we are not talking about a little small sheep breed.  She is approximately 20 months old and 150+ pounds in weight.  The ram, who was born last February is already her height and weighs as much as she does.  At full size, he will be about 250 pounds in weight.  I was helping out Joe by feeding the sheep since he was busy putting plastic on some windows in preparation for winter.  The sheep still had a bit of feed in their dish from the day before, so I only needed to add a small amount.  Well, as I was walking to the feed pan the ram ducked his head and bumped me in the hip.  I got hm to stop after the second hit, then turn to pour the feed in the pan.  Suddenly, I got hit by the ewe!  Naughty girl!  Unlike the ram, she kept it up hitting me 3 times before I could get away.  Such naughty behavior!  She only gets weird like this when she is in heat, otherwise she is very docile.  Thank heavens this breed doesn't get horns. 

It is now 3 days later and I am still very stiff and sore.  I had tried eating a bit of catfish on Saturday hoping ti would be a meat that I can eat without my fibromyalgia flaring up.  No such luck.  Between eating the fish on Saturday and the sheep being playfully aggressive on Sunday, my fibromyalgia has done a complete flare up causing pain throughout my entire body.  I am also stiff in the hip area since they both went after the same hip. 

Joe now wants me to not feed the sheep unless he is with me.  They don't get frisky with him as they know he would prove that he is the "Alpha" of this homestead.  LOL   The children are never in the animal enclosure at all unless Joe is right there with them for safety reasons.  I am hoping that the ewe will calm down once she has a lamb.  We will be separating her and the ram in December and we know she has been bred.  With them bumping and being playful, we can't risk the ram hurting her when she is bred.  Basically, they will only be together during the fall when she is ready to breed.

Abigail and Micah are doing great.  Abbie is enjoying the fall weather while she can.  Soon enough, the weather will turn too cold for her to play outdoors all day.  I am not looking forward to that time as she is definitely an outdoors person like her father.  Micah seems to be the same.  We toss a blanket on the ground and let him lay on it to get some fresh air and sunshine.  He loves it when the breeze is blowing.  He lays there cooing and laughing alot.  He rolls over and then tries to wiggle across the blanket.  I am looking forward to him being mobile.  By this time next year, he will be out there with his sister playing in the sandbox and enjoying the outdoors.