The Blood Moon.

Papa took these pictures the night of the moon's eclipse. April 15th/14

It was pretty spectacular. We watched it from our bedroom window with J, L and E. Papa running outside several times to take pictures.  

Chicks Are Here!! May 3/13

Papa's home with the chicks!! 

Trek to the chick barn! 

Waiting for chicks :) 

Empty brooder.

The new watering system! 

Hard boiled eggs, milk and Willards water. Good first foods for chicks!! 

Grit.. also know as stucco sand :) 

This years feed has CORN in it :) First time ever!!! 

G's first look!! Love at first sight!! 

Awww!!!! 

She was so excited she was clapping and squealing! 

They are EVERYWHERE!!! 

J had the job of keeping G sitting and helping her pet chicks.. not pick them up by the heads! 

My job was to pick up all the more lethargic ones and make sure they got a good drink. Man they are smart! Caught onto those waterers super fast!! 

Papa taking chicks out of boxes!! 

Figured that out right quick!! 

Happy kids holding chicks!! I love J3's face.

Chick jungle J!! The chicks loved his boots! 

R is in LOVE!! 

L loves the chicks too.. but as he mentioned.. 'they are so cute now, but one day we'll have to butcher them.. I don't like that part!' Such a soft hearted boy. 

G is surrounded!! 

Ok numbers, we ordered 400 unsexed Cornish giants and we received 416 chicks!! All were alive when they got here!! Only one looks a bit down and has a weird wing.. so we'll see how it does. They are also all pretty much the same size!! Maybe two or three that are a bit smaller. 

Update.. April 15th :)

Oh this is a general life update. I've got a few minutes to type while the kids are doing school..

Papa's two weeks off went extremely fast. No surprise there :) We actually got quite a lot done considering the weather didn't do a lot of cooperating. On his last day home we got 13 inches of heavy nasty wet SNOW!! J is doing a weather chart for the month of April and lets just say the weather was NASTY for a good chunk of Papa's days off. We did have some nice sunny days were we spent hours outside; kids in the snow and mud and Papa and I working on the house. We also had some OK type days where the kids played outside or inside while Papa and I worked on the house and came in for short warm ups/kid checks every time we could no longer feel our fingers. We also had some cold days where we did a lot of critter planning and school curriculum planing and fiddling with our house plans.

It was MUCH too cold to stucco though we did get all our stucco sand, lime and cement mix home :) We also got windows in! Some of the frames are finished but not all of them and we are waiting for our front 6 by 4.5 foot window to come in so we can install it :) I'm looking forward to that!! Most of the lathe is at least up where it belongs if not done and the stuff that's waiting needs the windows to be done first. We also have two outside corners we need to lathe and stuff straw into.. but with the snow pile off the roof these areas are really hard to get at so it will wait until we can get to them.

We got our chicken order in, 400 unsexed Cornish giant meat birds,  and they should be arriving May 3rd. Papa also got the feed ration figured out and ordered what he needed for that. Our normal supplier for wheat will not have any this year so we are shipping up corn from down south which will add a bit to the cost of the bird but not a lot.

We called the local dairy too and they didn't have any calves for sale in the start of April but told us to call back. So we did and they'd had their first bull calf that morning. If all goes well we'll be picking him up this Wednesday or Thursday :) The dairy is close to the place where we are borrowing a boar pig and we are hoping to get both at the same time :)

We also took some time and made some memories, helped others and had some fun too :) We got quite used to having Papa around and now will have to get used to his new schedule of day shift. We are looking forward to having him home for supper every night and having Saturdays off. It does throw a wrench in any doctor appointments I have for Baby S but we think we have figured out a way to do the appointments on his lunch hour. Hopefully it will work well and I will not have to look for sitters every two weeks for the next 6 weeks and every week after that! That's a lot of sitters :)

Baby S is doing very well.. growing and showing and giving my internals a workout when ever he's awake. He is a very active baby at this point and I'm just hoping he slows down some before he's born as I'd like to cuddle him instead of watch him run off!! Mostly kidding but he is very active!! Between 9 and 12 weeks to go :)

The kids re-started school today and only have about 5 weeks left, at their current pace, to get done about a month early. We should have about a month off before Baby S's due date and possibly 6 weeks between the end of school and the his birth. Right now the weather is still mostly wet and cool and it's a good time to be homeschooling in the North! Our next years basic curriculum is ordered and I'm having a bit of fun looking into fun stuff to do on the side next year.

Other upcoming events are the hopeful arrival of spring one of these days bring us some warmer weather, dry ground and green grass!! When this event finally does happen, we have big hopes for the month of May, we are going to be having a stuccoing work day!!! Come one come all :) But first..

SPRING WHERE ARE YOU??? COME ON SPRING LET's HAVE SOME FUN!!!!


(From one of my favorite Franklin Movies EVER!!)

Merry Christmas!

Hope you have a wonderful holiday from life in general and wishing God's blessing on you and your family for the new year!

Christmas hasn't started here yet this morning. The tree lights are on. The fire is cracking and popping merrily. The stockings are full and waiting. My mocha is almost finished. Papa is sleeping beside me. The kids are in their beds, asleep, I checked. We watched The Nativity Story with them last night and they got to bed after 10, so it's not too surprising. The house was a bit chilly with -15C outside, but the fire is warming it up. When the kids get up we'll pour Papa a cup of coffee and bring him his Bible and he'll read to us the Christmas story in Luke. Last year he planned on changing it for this year and going through Jesus's life with the kids Christmas morning. The prophecy's surrounding Jesus before his birth, his birth, life, death on the cross, his resurrection and the second coming of Christ. I believe he's changed his mind though as our wonderful friend Mr. M preached that very same thing last Sunday in our house church. What a wonderful way to see the WHOLE gift of Jesus and what he did for us.

After the Bible reading we will decide what gifts to open and when to open the stockings. The kids used the stocking like mail boxes this year for gifts to each other. I added a few things after they went to bed. I think the new minnow nets I found for each of them are going to be a big hit! At the beach last summer they were catching minnows in cups which is a LOT harder then nets :)

Papa wants to make waffles with bacon for breakfast. I'm hungry already :) Being pregnant I will probably eat a little something, like cinnamon rolls :), before then! The kids requested blackberry sauce on their waffles and we still have some, I've been HOARDING it, so we'll have blackberry sauce on our waffles...maybe even with whipped cream :)
Anyway I better go Papa's waking up and it sounds like I need to shut my fire down.  Hope you all have a very merry Christmas and enjoy the smiles and awe of your children this morning. Make many happy memories and maybe even a new tradition :) Merry Christmas!!

First Fruits 2012~ Rhubarb

J and L cut up the rhubarb they harvested from our plant. We made a rhubarb crisp with it and stuck in in the oven. When Papa went to work in the morning he turned it on and we had a nice hot breakfast to wake up to! We are going to try and do more breakfast prep like this as the house is cool in the morning but not cool enough for a fire and the oven on for an hour or so warms us right up.

Next time though I'm going to remember to put sugar in the rhubarb!! 

Here is what we did.. it was pretty good, but not the best we've made.

Chop rhubarb into fairly small pieces.. too big and they will not cook through. 

We had about 8 to 10 cups of rhubarb.

Pour about a cup of sugar? (this is the part I forgot!) over the rhubarb evenly.

Mix together 

 1/2 cup flour, 

1/2 cup of sugar,

About a cup of melted butter,

1tsp salt,

2 cups and a bit :) oatmeal,

1 tsp cinnamon 

until well mixed..
I used my new mixer with the whisks.

Dump this over the chopped rhubarb in the baking dish.. we used a roaster :) 

Make sure you cover all the rhubarb.

Bake at 350F for about an hour.

 ENJOY!! 

We love rhubarb crisp with cream or milk on top for breakfast, lunch or dinner :) Or dessert :) 

Or all 4 :) 

~Two Way Street~

I find it amazing how different perceptions change your out look on life. Every morning I take a quick walk down the driveway. It's short, our driveway, but big things have been coming to me on these short walks. On the way down the driveway I can hear the road traffic, horns are often heard, but mostly it's just the rumble of trucks and the whine of car engines or the sound of some truckers jake brake. I can see the mountain and when I reach the end of our driveway and step on to the road we live on, a quiet country road that parallels the highway, the wind hits me on the face and brings with it the smell of ADVENTURE! I'm not sure which part of the walk out appeals to my adventurous self or if it's the whole of it but it does. On the way out my driveway I feel like I could just keep walking and find the adventure that is waiting, and start to live that adventure. I have no idea what that adventure might be. Good, bad, just different? I suspect it's not a God driven wish for a new adventure, but man or self driven wish for adventure. I stand in the road and look one way and then the other. I smell the wind and it flows my hair over my face. There is always wind on this road and some how it smells like a new adventure that calls to me. A fresh adventure. An unknown adventure. A new and wonderful or new and terrifying adventure. A happy or sad adventure. A long or short adventure. 

I smile and I turn back down my driveway and look at our house and home, farm and yard, family and love and I keep walking. Down the driveway towards my adventure. I stop to check the puddles for run off and the earth for the tiny bits of green that will mean flowers or plants later on. Flowers and plants that I planted in this soil. Soil I dug and prepared. The soil of my home. I see green grass, the first small shoots standing impossibly green beside a stump, in an area we prepared for grass, by clearing, burning, picking up sticks and planting. An area that a few short years ago was useless bush, now thrives with grass and health. I see Chip. Waiting half way down the driveway. Eager to see me though I've been gone only minutes. He seems to sense my feelings and is happy that I turned back his way. I feel the lack of wind and hear the calf Star bawl for her morning milk. I can still hear the highway but it's no longer calling me. Midnight the little cat is sitting watching. I reach the raised beds, which Papa and I built and filled, seeded and harvested, protected and dreamed about. Chip lunges, eager that I've reach the allowed spot and runs to greet me. I remind him of his manners and he sits so I can pet his head.

There are memories all around me. Every piece of the land I can see I've stepped on, worked on, battled with, watched my children play on, enjoyed and mulled over.  I hear the rhythmic thump thump of the milking machine as it pulls milk from Isabels udder while I walk. Chores go on without me. I see the house, that on going project, and I picture in my head what it might look like... it's always different and that is part of the adventure. I see the trailer and I think of my children. Sleeping inside. I am swarmed with memories.. My biggest adventure!!  Soundly asleep in their beds, giggling madly in their beds, running across the house to 'see if they can get up yet'. Every day is a grand adventure. I see my adventure, and their adventure, in their eyes every morning, and I hope they can see the adventure in mine. The highway noise is fading, almost gone, the wind is gone, the house calls to me, the cow in her stanchion, the children in their beds, the empty spot where the car sits when Papa is home from work. 

 I smile that secret smile as I walk by the empty spot where Papa parks his car. He is not my adventure. He and I are. He and I are one! Are not separable. We are in this adventure together. There is no adventure without him. He is me and I am him. I remember the kiss, the one he gives me before he leaves for work. On the forehead in bed as I sleep, on the mouth at the door. The smile. You know the one. The one that says I am yours and you are mine and I love you. The knowing look he gave me as he left for his side of our adventure, while I stay home with my side of our adventure. Sometimes we wish we could switch. Share a bit more of the others adventure. We cherish the part of the adventure that we get to share together. Everyday is an adventure. 

My adventure is calling me. The calf bawling for her milk, the pigs grunting good morning, the thump thump of the milking machine marking off the time until chores are done, the chickens clucking in their pen as they walk the fence line in hopes of a bucket of food, the excited whimper of Chip as he tries to convince me to throw his stick, the mew of the cats as they beg for milk, the sound of the birds in the trees, the children waiting asleep inside, and the thought that a new day has started. A brand new day. 

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22 & 23. 

Today is a brand new day with no mistakes in it. *

I know inside there are chores to be finished, coffee to drink, breakfast to make, kids to wake and kiss, smiles to exchange, dreams to hear, life to live, diapers to change, babies to snuggle, fun to be had, training to do, schooling, dishes, laundry, WORK to be done. Just like I know outside there are sticks to pick up, grass to seed, house to build, animals to care for, land to clear, firewood to haul, races to be had, toys to enjoy, challenges to face and all of this are ADVENTURES TO BE ENJOYED!!! 

Go out and make the most of YOUR adventure!! 

*Anne of Green Gables.. actually the quote is 'Tomorrow is a brand new day with no mistakes in it.'

Operation Steers-eye And Mountain Memories.

Bullseye enjoying the sweet mix of beet pulp, mineral, molasses, and flax we feed Maggie while we milk. 

It went super well. He loves the sweet mix we make for the cow and walked right in and BAMM the head gate slammed shut when Papa pulled on the rope attached to it. A couple of boards on either side so he couldn't move around too much, a piece of plywood to block his view of the humans. Then Papa tied a rope to his tail and I pulled the rope and kept his tail up, cutting off the feeling in his back legs and keeping him from kicking. Then Papa did his thing and TA DA we have a steer. And we no longer have to worry about if he 'can reach' when Maggie goes into heat! That was about a week ago now and he's doing really well. We wanted to do it before spring because of the flies and that whole 'reachability'  thing. He will be 1 year old in May.

He looks so tiny in there compared to big tall Maggie. The cat was PRETTY SURE we'd forgotten to feed her that day! We had fed her, but they have to try it. It was a warm wet snowy day and we had PUDDLES on the ice! 

I have to remember the last time Papa and I did this to a little bull. We were living on the mountain in WA. state and the calf was a Holstein bull calf we'd gotten as a 3 day old and raised on our goats. He was TALL and we placed two trucks side by side and tied him between the two of them. Then I stood with a pair of gloves and great balance on the truck bed sides.. OVER the calf. So one foot on one truck bed side and one foot on the other truck bed side and held his tail up while Papa 'did his thing' and Gaffer the calf bawled for his goat momma. Looking back we should have tied her to the front of the truck.. he would have been quiet then. Gaffers goat Momma was named Little Girl and she loved him as much as he loved her. She was always looking out for him and would let him nurse any time he wanted.. even though he was twice as big as she was. He was a lot older then this picture shows when we steered him. He's only a couple weeks, if that, old in this picture. He'd follow her anywhere. If he got scared he would hide behind her... well as good as he could anyway! Very funny!