Country Mornings

Country Mornings are a truly a blessing from God. They often bring peace to my heart when it needs it most, and it never fails to put a smile on my face. Country mornings are the best, I can sit on the front porch with a good cup of coffee looking out over the pond, and watch the ducks waddle about here and there.Maybe take a stroll through the garden with my chickens, stopping to chat with the horses abit, or maybe just sit out on the porch upstairs and take in a better view of the "farm". Early mornings are one of the few times I can sneak in a little "ME" time, so I often spend it lost in thought, or just lost in God's beauty that surrounds me. I'm telling you country mornings can heal your hurt,and after three days of watching the devastaion caused by all the storms, making phone calls to check on friends, and praying for all those who need it so badly this morning... My heart needed it something bad.

Spiders, Froggies, and Beavers?! Oh my!!

So with our kiddos all snuggled and snoozing in their beds, my hubby and I decide to take our glass of blackberry wine and head out to the porch armed with our trusty baby video monitor.(Man you gotta love those things!)The weather was just right,the stars were twinkling,and the frogs were croaking. So with the dogs at our sides we decide to stroll around the yard discussing where to plant our roses.Well as were walking we see a small dark blur take off and of course our dogs sprint behind it. So what do we do? We follow the dogs of course! Now it's dark and we can't see, but suddenly this blur which we were thinking was a cat now jumps into the pond. Okay now were really thinking what in the *$%* is that?! The dogs are still going crazy and trying to jump into the pond behind it, at this point were thinking it's a duck, and then it growls. What kind of duck growls? So Bob goes poking through the trees and bushes along the bank until finally he gets a look at our blur, and it's a BEAVER! So while the babies were peacefully sleeping Mommy and Daddy were chasing beavers. To top it off while I go stumbling along tripping over tree branches and rocks I walk through a BIG spider web, scream, run, and spend the rest of the night thinking there are spiders on me. We had a great laugh at our moonlit adventure, and went to bed talking about Spiders, Frogs, and Beavers. Then when I woke up this morning I had a spider bite on my arm, and I yell at my husband "See, I told you there was a spider on me!" And to think if we still lived in the city we wouldn't be chasing beavers. =O)

Flashlight Fun

Our power has been out off and on tonight due to bad weather, so what better time to break out the flashlights, and of course once the flashlights come out the kids go crazy. I love just sitting back and watching them run around the house with their flashlights, stopping now and again to make shadow puppets on the wall. It's a great way to pass time while the lights are out. Right now they are camped out under a make shift tent(my bed sheet) reading books to eachother. It's times like these that I just have to stop what I am doing and thank God for all that he has given me. There may be thunder and lightning outside but inside all I hear is the pedder patter of little feet and laughter that fills the house. A night spent snuggled up with the ones I love, you just can't beat that!

Billy the House Goat?!

We got a cute little bottle fed Billy Goat for the boys about a week ago, who decided to name him "Billy". "Billy" the Billy Goat loves the kids, he follows them every where he can, and recently that means into the house. Billy is a bottle fed goat so we must bottle feed him several times a day, I made the mistake one morning of letting Billy come in the house to feed, and that was pretty much the beginning of the end. Now every chance he gets, Billy is running into the house and the kids seem to think he belongs inside with them,and so every chance they get they let him inside. Trying to convince my 5yr & 3 yr old that goats are not house pets is not going so well.So here I am every time I turn around putting the goat back out side,and when I do he sits at the door screaming to come inside. I don't know how many of you have ever heard a baby goat cry, but it's not pretty. It's bad enough that he follows me EVERY WHERE when I am outside, but to have him under my feet inside is driving me NUTZ! I have to admit it though seeing him curled up with the boys on the floor watching TV is pretty darn cute, but just not cute enough to clean up goat pee.

~Spring~ Time to Garden!

Well we made it through yet another Winter, one of our most trying ever, and now it's Spring. I love everything about Spring, beautiful green grass,blooming flowers, busy buzzing bees, and yes even my pollen covered MiniVan. It's once again time to plant my garden, and this will be my first garden in our new home. We are planning a large scale garden, much larger than any in the past, but I am excited. I live by trail and error so everything is a learning experience for me. This year I decided to start most of my peppers and tomatoes from seed, and let's just say I'm glad I started early because things did not go as well as I had hoped. =O( However things are looking up as my second batch seems to be going smoothly and the surviving seedlings from the 1st batch are now ready for transplant. Learning to start from seeds is important to me because it will not only cut cost but it allows me to grow vegetables that can not be found it seedling form in my area. We are hoping to sell our extra produce this year, and while a profit would be nice I am just hoping to cover the expense of growing our garden. Our garden has been a real family affair, everyone gets there own job to do, and they all get to pick what they each want to grow. The boys are great helpers,the garden is a great way to keep them busy, and as Andruw says "Farming is hard work". So to all of you gardeners out there good luck and happy planting. We will keep everyone posted and hope to post pictures soon.