Yes...I'm still alive!

Early Morning Sunbeams
Hello to anyone out there still hoping I will post in my blog! (If there IS anyone.) LOL Between trying to heal from a few health issues the last couple years, and keeping busy doing whatever it is that I find myself doing around here, I found myself not blogging.  Part of that was due to trying to avoid as much stress as possible...and trying to think of something to write, especially when I wasn't getting out and taking lots of pictures, can be stressful, least enough that I decided not to try.  I AM still very much alive though, just not showing it here!

Just thought I'd share a photo I took early one morning  a week or two ago while I let anyone who has wondered, know I AM still here, and I think...hope and pray...my health is improving, just slow it seems.  I've had some issues for years, but they really had me down a couple years ago so I figured I HAD to try and figure things out.  I have to praise God for the journey, AND helping me feel better little bits at a time!


Violet, this years calf!
Lately, since I've been feeling up to it, I've been helping to try and tame the calf that was born here earlier this year. With my hubby always being so busy she didn't get a lot of attention, and was quite WILD!  But it was past time to wean her, so we had to get her caught and away from her Mom.

We had to have one of our wonderful Amish neighbors who is younger and more able to, come over and help catch her.  He had to do it twice, because the first time she broke the rope we had her tied to a tree with and went back in with her Mom.  LOL  Course that was just AFTER he left, so it was a bit before he managed to get back over and do it again.  This time we had a better rope I guess, cause she didn't break this one as she lunged trying to get away from it.


Violet & my hubby.
It's certainly been an experience, and I didn't know if we could do it, (I can train dogs decently well...but never have tried to a calf) but...she is coming along real nicely!  I think I won her over with apple cores when I was getting apple pie filling into the freezer. LOL Once those were gone, hubby brought home some alfalfa cubes, and we give them to her as treats. She loves them, and will come running for them sometimes.  Nothing like a bribe, to get those animals to calm down and come to us!  ;-))

She treats me differently than she does hubby, I'm not good at "cow speak" so not sure what it all means that she does, but it's just good to see her trusting us more. I've been leading her around the yard some, getting her used to being walked on a rope, and she is doing better that way too. I have no idea if she would come to us if she wasn't tied up...we haven't gotten that far yet, but least there is hope she will be a good milk cow one day. :-))

We almost tried to sell her...actually put an ad online and everything, but something kept telling me to keep her, so we decided to take the ad down and see if we could get her tamed down...thankfully it appears to be paying off! God willing she will be a good one for us, like her Mom appears to be! She is her Mom's first calf...so Mom is still young, so hopefully we will have them for many more years to come.


Beautiful Morning!
Anyway, just thought I'd share the fact I'm still here, just quiet and working on my health...along with my usual pursuits of keeping house here on the farm and enjoying my MANY hobbies. LOL I have to say it's GOOD to feel a bit better too!! I still have a ways to go, and who knows if I'll ever get to where I think I should be...but least I'm not where I was a couple years ago! :-))

No promises you will see me back here a lot...but...least I finally had the urge to post an update for once!  ;-)))

And then there were four...again!

About a week after Daisy left, we were sitting in the living room chatting when hubbies phone rang. He talked for a little while, told the people on the other end, he's have to talk to me then hung up.

I asked what THAT was about, and he said it was someone he had talked to several months ago, who had a cow for sale.

I laughed, and then asked how much...figuring it was sky high, knowing how the prices seemed to be going up...and up...every time I checked out craigslist.

He told me, and I replied..."whats wrong with her", cause it was pretty low, less than half of what I'd been seeing them for. Less than we paid for Daisy when we got her several years ago when cows WERE lower in price.

I guess she had a mild case of mastitis...she was located at an organic Amish dairy, so either they couldn't give her what most people do, and still be considered organic, or just wanted to get her out of their herd, if she was going to be having that trouble...I don't know just what was going on there, but we'd had good luck using Raw Apple Cider vinegar with cows that had mastitis...so hubby wasn't real worried about THAT issue.

Since I was tired of not having milk (cause our cows dried themselves up late last year, hopefully cause they were pregnant) and hubby wanted her...we decided to get her since she WAS cheap! She was still in milk...although is suppose to have a calf in July, so should be drying up soon, so least I could start having some more milk for butter, ice cream and cheese!

So...meet Poppy, our latest cow purchase. She was rather dirty when we got her as you can see...but has since gotten clean now she is out on good pasture enjoying what spring brings to this neck of the woods...nice fresh green grass!!

So...we are back to four cows again. *sigh* No sign of more calves coming...so least we only have two in milk so far...but hopefully that will change. LOL Course...who knows, we may decide to sell one of our other ones...depending on how much trouble they get into. LOL Will see how it goes, as the year progresses. Just had to laugh, that yet again, we got a new cow...hubby just CAN'T cut down on how many we have...even if he's not really wanting to milk that many.

Poppy really has turned out to be a good cow...I think she is hubby's favorite!  Her very MILD case of mastitis cleared right up with the apple cider vinegar hubby put on her food...and we got to start keeping her milk, much to the cats sorrow.  Their warm breakfast they had been getting while we didn't use the milk, turned into the leftover COLD milk I had after skimming the cream and making cheese.  LOL

 Poppy got her name cause at the time we got her, I was learning to use alcohol markers (cheap ones so far) to blend colors together on a picture and get one that has different shades, where shadows and all would be. I happened to be coloring a poppy at the time, so said..."we could name her Poppy" and it kinda stuck. LOL  (Remember, we have been naming all our girls flower names.)

Thankfully our cow money is gone now...so we can't afford any more, if someone offers to sell us one hubby will just have to say NO!  ;-))

I think that's all the cow news caught up now...that I can remember anyway.  The "flowers" of our farm are doing well!!  :-))

Goodbye Daisy

After last year, when we had at least three cows in milk at the same time, I knew my hubby wasn't really wanting to HAVE to milk so many...so I started thinking we needed to cut down on how many we had (we had 4 that were of the age to be able to give us babies).   He agreed...so since my cow Daisy was the oldest one we had, we figured we'd get rid of her if we ever got around to selling one.

It kept getting put off...cause after all she was my FAVORITE cow...and I guess I just wasn't quite ready to let her go.  Then, I think it was November or December of last year, our neighbor lady was over, and we were talking about cows...and she mentioned she wanted to get one...but didn't know how she could for a while.  Knowing how strapped for cash she was (being a single Mom with 3 kids still at home) I mentioned we could give her a good price for an older cow with a few issues, but nothing that should be a major problem...she would make a great starter cow at the very least.

Since she did have a bag issue from being bit from her last calf...and since she has to be at LEAST 10 years old, I figured we could sell her for cheaper than most are going for on craigslist (it's hard to find one for less than 2000 on there now, YIKES!).  Since we've gotten several calves from Daisy, I figured we got our money out of her...and could help out our neighbor lady in the process.    I might have asked for more, had we sold her on Craigslist, after all she was pregnant...so it was a two for one deal, but this way she would be close so I could still see her.  So we all agreed on a LOW price and that we could take it in a couple payments, since she didn't have that much at the time.

Our neighbor finished paying for her in February...and when the weather was good...and hubby had the time, he loaded Daisy up to take her down to her new home...just down the road, where we could also visit if we wanted to.  I was still sorry to see her go...even though I'd had time to become used to the idea, but I was happy she would be close.  But...least we were down to three cows, instead of 4!

We have answered questions from time to time...and when Daisy dropped her calf, we went down to help get her back into the barn...and check on her.  She was doing fine...and she had a little girl!  So, now the neighbor lady has a backup for when Daisy gets to old to have calves...which is what I was hoping would happen.

Gotta love it when things turn out like you hoped they would...especially when you are trying to help someone out!  God is Good!!!

So...that makes two baby girls out of the cows we own or at least owned at the time they were bred, this year!  What will the other ones have...if they EVER get around to having one this year!  LOL  That is the question...we will just have to wait and see!!!  ;-))

First things first!

We had a calf born in April this year!! It was a little girl, and she is totally adorable!! You KNOW how much I love our farm babies...this is the first one of the year. So far, she is the only one...but hopefully some of our other girls will be giving us some babies sometime this summer! It's hard to tell if some of them are pregnant...but I'm sure hoping ALL of them are!! :-))

This little one will be sold once she is able to be weaned.  I totally think it's better for them to stay on their Mom till then, as it gives them a better start and a better chance of living a long happy life!  So...we don't sell them till they are wean-able...even though plenty of people do and plenty of people successfully buy a bottle calf and raise it, I just prefer that our precious farm babies stay here till they are able to eat solid food!  ;-))  That's not to say I might not sometime...if we HAD to, sell one early...just that I prefer not to.

But...really...isn't that little thing so adorable?!!  ;-))  It's so nice to see her scampering around playing and enjoying life!

More to come on my updates...just had to sneak this one in FIRST...cause I do love our farm babies!

Crazy for Carrots

"Do I smell CARROTS?"



"How about you?...YOU have to have some for me!!"



"Someone has to have some...where are they?!"



Pearl...using the "force" trying to WILL us to give her some carrots.



Is it? ... Could it be?



"Oh Thank you, thank you, thank you!"



"I'll fight you for it! LET GO  of MY carrot!"

Our "Amish" LGD

DH set it up, so that one of our Amish neighbor's would come over with his two seater buggy, and give Abbie and James a buggy ride the day before their wedding. After they returned, he let us get some photos of them in the buggy and by the horse. While I was out there with my camera he bent down to look at Yani's sore foot, and put his hat on her head...I couldn't resist getting a photo of her looking like an Amish dog! LOL

Even our animals are going "amish"...just goes to show what wonderful neighbors our Amish neighbors are...if our ANIMALS are wanting to convert!  *giggle*

A "cute" break...

Hubby took this photo of our niece's puppy and a cat on his phone the other morning. I thought it was so cute, even though the quality of the photo leaves a bit to be desired. Maybe one of these years we will be able to get a phone that actually takes GOOD photo's...but I won't hold my breath! LOL

Loved this one even so, so thought I'd share it for a "cute" break from the canning/wedding posts I've had lately! ;-))

Loveing the spring grass!!

Our cows and Pearl (the horse) are sure loving the green grass! Hubby let them out on the east pasture yesterday, and a little later in the morning, I saw Pearl just running around in wide circles enjoying being back in THAT pasture. Course, by the time I was able to get outside, with my camera she had decided to settle down and eat, instead of running. I was hoping to get a running photo, cause she's so pretty when she runs...but guess that's for another time. LOL

It's so nice to have warmer temps!  It's a beautiful day today, although a bit windy.  The trees are starting to green up, the birds are singing...and I've seen humming birds looking for their food in the feeder.  Will have to try and get some into it soon.  We are ALL enjoying the spring weather here on hillbilly hill farm!  :-))

Shasta's first baby!

Shasta finally had her baby last week...three days earlier than our neighbor said she would...but hey, that's not to bad in the guessing department! I have to say I'm impressed, and I think he may actually know what he is talking about when it comes to when cows are due to calve! LOL

Course, who knows maybe it was a fluke...but I'll give him the win none the less. In fact, I made him a berry cobbler as a reward, because he had gotten in on one I made a while back for us and kept talking about how good it was...so I had to get some extra berries the last time we went shopping, so I could make him one. He has helped us out with milking a few times when DH had to leave early that day...so between that and guessing pretty right on when Shasta would calve, he deserved his own berry cobbler...although he had to share with his family and another Amish neighbor got some of it too I hear. LOL


Anyway, Shasta had a little boy for her first time as a mother. I was kinda hoping for a girl, but we can't go wrong with boys either, since we like to eat them. Seeing this one, I'm kinda glad he's a boy...cause his father must have been Trinity, with how dark he is...and he wasn't the best bull...so it's good it's a boy we can turn into a steer and eat, not a girl we would have wanted to sell for a milk cow.


All the "girls" seemed to be giving Shasta pointers when she had her baby, cause they were all gathered around her DH said. In fact, one day the weather turned cold again, before Shasta had her calf, and everyone was laying around Shasta, like they were keeping her warm, with Pearl standing over everyone. It's so sweet, seeing how all the cows take care of each other and each others babies...even if some of them don't want to share their milk with the others, they don't mind keeping each others babies in line and safe, not to mention each other if the need arises.

The temps have been up and down...we've had some really nice days, then a day or two of cold...then really nice temps again. Yesterday was pretty nice, till evening, when it started cooling off. This morning there was another couple inches of snow on the ground again. It's suppose to get warmer in the next day or two again though, so thankfully the snow shouldn't last long. It's kinda funny how it seems that every other Sunday is really cold and maybe even snowy...which seems to turn out to be "church" day for our Amish neighbors, so they have to get out in the buggies and travel to which ever person's house church is that week. I think they are wishing it would fall on their off weekend...not church weekend! LOL

Anyway, I just wanted to share the photos I had hubby get for me of the new calf.  I would have taken them, but didn't want to put my boots on and get out in the mud...so he did it for me with my camera.  That should be the last calves this year for us.  We haven't got our bull back from the neighbor's yet, and probably won't till summer cause then we can maybe have the next round of calves in the spring, instead of in the middle of winter.  LOL  I think a couple other neighbor's want to borrow him...which should work out just fine, since we'd like to breed ours in the middle of summer not to much earlier.

Getting the timing down better for having calves is important...especially since I don't want to have to beg cream from the neighbors for Thanksgiving dinner again this year!  *giggle*

Least we should have PLENTY of meat for our freezer (and my parents freezer) in a couple years after having 4 boys this round (even if one will be our breeding bull for a few years)!  Who knows, if we don't want to take our extra ones through another winter, we could even sell one of the steers when they get a little older...but will keep him for OUR freezer, unless we just can't afford to feed him...least that's my thoughts for now.  LOL  God has sure blessed us this year with our farm babies!!!

Ok, I better get off here.  Have a good rest of the weekend...and stay warm if it still seems to be winter where you are!

Quick update

It's warmed up a little here...this photo shows the snow we had on the ground last week, but it's gone now and we are enjoying a couple really beautiful days in the 60's!!!!! Gotta like THAT! LOL

I took the above photo kind of as a good-bye photo for Clover, since I didn't get out and get one of HER before she was loaded in the trailer. We finally decided it was time to thin out our herd of milk cows...once Shasta has her baby (which should be any day now...she has lots of signs, but is taking her time pushing out that calf LOL) we would have 5 cows in milk, had we kept all of them, and that's a bit more than we really need...especially once spring hits and the milk production goes up...not to mention once all the calves are weaned.


Soooo....as of last week, since her baby was old enough to wean, Clover (shown above) is no longer our cow. She went to one of our neighbors though, so we can see her if we want. She is even close enough she can hear her calf bawling, looking for Mom...which I'm sure is not real fun for her.  LOL

We seriously considered getting rid of Daisy, since she is our oldest...but she is MY cow....and I was still having trouble with that idea, so we kept her.  Once we know Shasta is giving lots of milk, we may think about getting rid of Daisy (since I think she is about 10 years old) but that will wait a bit longer...maybe even another year or so, depending.  I think three cows would be enough to keep us in butter...but...since two of them are first time milkers, they won't be giving quite as much this year I don't think, so I'm not sure if I'm ready to get rid of Daisy till they are a little more "experienced".

Daisy is our only nurse cow...which is another reason I hate to get rid of her...but hopefully once we do, if we NEED a nurse cow, one of the others will step up to the plate.  DH said Shasta (Daisy's daughter) has a lot of Daisy in her...so who knows, she may turn out to be a nurse cow too, like her Mom.  I"m claiming Shasta as MINE too, since she is Daisy's baby...and her replacement.  LOL

So anyway, that's the biggest news around this hillbilly farm.  Still waiting on our last calf of the season...which should be here any hour now from the signs she is giving!  Course...it's not the middle of March yet, so...she still has time according to our neighbor's estimate last month.  ;-))

11 months later

Last weekend,  when I went to try and get a few photos of our newest farm baby, Pearl wouldn't leave me alone! LOL I had trouble getting a photo of her, cause she would come to close. Hubby finally had to stand by her and give her attention, so I could back up a little to get a little more of her in the photo.


We've had Pearl for almost 11 months now...hard to believe that a year ago she was still over at the neighboring farm, lonely, depressed, and kinda hungry. She has really filled out nicely in the last 11 months, and it almost looks like the color in her coat glows more...but that could be my imagination.  LOL She is MUCH happier now, with all her friends around. They may not be other horses, but hey, cows are better than nothing she says!


She still LOVES her carrots...and won't leave us alone if she thinks we might give her some. LOL  She still gets raw apple cider vinegar in her food, which has a lot of health benefits not to mention kelp...and will probably keep getting those extra goodies as long as she is ours, least as long as we can keep it around!  Our Cows get some too, when they are milked, because of the health benefits...so we figured why not give them to Pearl, since she needed something extra to get her back into better condition...and since she has done so well on it, she should keep getting it to my way of thinking.  :-))

I guess when Snowball had her baby this weekend, Pearl was all excited (I was on the phone with one of our nieces so didn't go out...although did see a little of her running around at the end).  She stood and watched the birth, and when they moved the baby and Mom to the barn, she ran around a bit, excited about the new baby.  I'm thinking she wishes it were hers.  LOL

DH said the neighbor who came over to help in case we had to pull the calf, said we needed to get Pearl with another neighbor's stallion.  We are thinking about doing that this summer once the grass is in...so we don't have to take hay over to feed her.  That way she can enjoy having a baby herself...and we can enjoy seeing a different kind of baby grow up!  Course not sure what we will do with the colt, once it's old enough to wean...cause it's not like we need another horse!  But...maybe one of the Amish would like it to train to be a buggy horse....we will see how things go, and figure things out when we have to.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share a few photos of Pearl, since she's been here 11 months now...and is looking much healthier...happier...and standing tall once again.

Another blessing to come!

It appears we STILL have another calf to come!

This is our little Shasta, she was our last gift from Daisy...before the little boy she had a couple weeks ago. She is a little young yet, to be this far along in a pregnancy, but...not being able to separate the bulls from our herd last year, we figured she might end up giving us a calf a bit sooner than we would like.

We've been wondering if she were with calf...I couldn't tell when I'd see her, but I'm not with her that much. Hubby was pretty sure though...but this weekend, when a neighbor was over, he said YES she was....and she should have her calf mid March. (How he could figure that, I have no idea...but we will see! LOL)

So....the wait begins again...when will our NEXT baby be born, and what will it be? If the hair on top her head isn't lying, DH figures it should be a girl.  The other calves were what they were suppose to be, from how the hair lay on top of their Mom's head...so who knows, maybe this one will be too, and we will get another girl!  Sure wouldn't mind having two to sell this year...but, sure don't mind having boys either, as they are nice to fill up our freezers (although frankly, I think we kinda have enough boys for this round for that purpose LOL).

Right now though, I would just like to know HOW our Amish neighbor's are able to say YES they are pregnant just by looking at them...and even better, how they can figure WHEN they are due, when we didn't see the cows bred or "feel" the calf?!!  That's a trick I'd love to learn!  LOL

A few months ago, another neighbor had told us that at least some of the other cows were for sure pregnant (and they weren't this far along...so not showing as much)...and he was right.  Wish they could teach ME that trick!  ;-))

Hopefully we can manage to have enough grass this summer for all our animals!  LOL  I'm thinking we need to get rid of a few...but yet, which do we sell...we love all our cows, and while Daisy is the oldest, so should probably be the first to go, she is MY favorite in some ways, so I hate to let go of her...besides I think she is our best milker so far which means more cream for butter and ghee.  Guess, if the time comes that we NEED to get rid one one or two, we will have to come to a decision...till then we will enjoy having them!

Can't wait to see if our neighbor was right though, on WHEN Shasta will be having her baby.  LOL  We will see what happens in the next month or so!  We sure have been blessed with a nice amount of farm babies this round...which we are extremely thankful for!  :-))

And one to sell!

We had another calf born this weekend! Snowball had her first little baby...and it's a girl!!  She seems to be a good mother too, as soon as it was born, she turned and started licking it.

It was born Saturday late afternoon, just before supper.  Snowball is a little on the small side still, but the baby wasn't to bad a size...almost looks bigger (or at least the same size) as Daisy's baby boy who was born a couple weeks ago.  We were hoping she would have a girl...and it would have a lot of white on it, like Mom does...but hey, least we got a girl, even if it doesn't have those cool white patches.

That makes 3 boys and 1 girl, so far, this round!  This will give us one we can sell now, once she is old enough to be weaned! I'm sure we should be able to find someone around here who wants a future family milk cow!  :-))

Love our cute little farm babies!

Now I better run, gotta get a few things done this morning before one of our nieces comes for a few hours!!!  It's just a short visit, but I'll take what I can get, cause I love seeing our nieces and nephews when I can...which isn't to often sadly.  LOL  This niece lives a couple hours away, so one would think we could see her more...but we don't make it to the city to often, and she can't get away to come here to often...so we enjoy seeing each other when we can.  She is the closest niece (in distance AND emotionally) on hubby's side of the family...and the one we hear from the most from either side.  Love her dearly and can't wait to see her!

Love it when blessings seem to pour in...a new calf and a visit from a niece in just a matter of days!  Yippee!!  *grin*

Pretty Boy

This little calf is still so pretty! I call him pretty boy for now, cause DH hasn't come up with a good name for him yet, and that lets him know which one I'm talking about. LOL Hate to call him that forever, but...who knows, it may stick.

He is growing too, just not as big as Clovers boy is. His Mom was Button...the newest milk cow we have (not youngest, just newest to us). We didn't turn him into a steer, cause we love his coloring so want HIM to be our herd sire...instead of the one we had last year from Honey that DH calls Buddy. (Buddy is visiting the neighbors cows for now...so I couldn't get a photo of him to share. LOL)


Anyway, this little one is sure going to make a cute and pretty bull for our "girls" to my way of thinking...least he will in another year or so!  Can't wait to see HIS babies...and hopefully they will have a lot of white on THEM too!  :-))

Wicked

This is Clover's baby...he was born on Thanksgiving, and was the first of our newest calves.  He is growing quite well...is the biggest, both when he was born and NOW, even though the other one we had last fall wasn't born to long after this one, it's a lot smaller.  Clover however is a bigger cow...so it's no wonder her babies are bigger. (Course...we also turned him into a steer, so that could have something to do with it too...maybe?!)


This little one however, looks downright wicked at times.  I think it's how his hair stands up on top of his head...and the black around his eyes.  LOL  I thought he was kinda cute here though...even if he does look rather wicked.

He is eating quite well too...not just sucking down his Mom's milk, but eating some grain (he doesn't get much, but does some) and hay too.  In another month or a little more we can wean him....so I get more cream, instead of HIM getting it all!  Yippee!  :-))

Love seeing how our farm babies change as they grow up!

It's about TIME!

Daisy FINALLY decided to have her calf this weekend! Seems like she always holds onto her baby as long as possible...showing signs she is about to give birth, then NOT giving birth just to throw us off. LOL

I'm just glad she had it when she did...cause the NEXT night (last night) it got below 0 again!

She had another little boy...so that makes three boys this round...and means we now for sure have enough to keep us and my parents in meat in a couple years. Yippee!!

Now...we just have to wait and see when Snowball will decide to have hers.  Hopefully she has a little girl that looks a lot like she does, but if she has a boy we can handle that too!

Praise God for the future meat for our freezer...and another little cute farm baby to enjoy in the meantime.  :-))

It's been a BERRY good year!

ROFL I couldn't resist that title to the post, because of all the wonderful berries we found to buy from the Amish around us this last spring. It really WAS a BERRY good year for berries! LOL

Wasn't to shabby for us in other ways too. Yes, there were trials...gotta have them, and tribulations....gotta have them too, but there were also good times and while our large family doesn't seem so large anymore, with so many holding grudges, that's ok too. God has his reasons for things happening, and I don't have the energy any more to worry about it so much. What will be will be.  I enjoy seeing family when they come around and thank God for those we have who are still a blessing in our lives.


Our animals are some of our best blessings and they have blessed us with good times again this year! Yes, we lost a few...sadly it was Autumn's year to go...but we gained some too.

While Belle, our newest doxie fur baby,  has been a little more of a challenge to train cause she likes to do her OWN thing, she has been a blessing too in her own way. It's been so good to see her and Peaches play together, since Peaches never was able to really play to much with Autumn...they tear around the house after each other having a ball at times, which in turn makes me laugh!

The cows have really been enjoyed, both for the milk, their meat, and their babies! Loving having a couple calves around to see them romping around the pasture again! Course Pearl (our horse) is always a pleasure to look at, she's so pretty and adds some interest to our menagerie.


There are so many things we enjoyed this year! The beauty around us being one of them of course, both in the colorful sunrises and sunsets...


...the beautiful fall color we get here in Missouri...


...and the oh so pretty wild flowers along the road sides here.


The time we spent with family, (Having my Aunt and Uncle stop in one afternoon when they were back in the states was wonderful! We haven't seen them all that much in the last few years, but sure enjoy them when we do, and it was so good to laugh with them and make more memories.)...


...and friends, were of course the high light of our year. Having Galen's best friend spend a couple weeks with us...and not just cause one of those weeks he spent building Galen's shop...was great! We had some good times, laughing, playing games and just hanging out when they weren't off doing something on their own. The new friends we've made here have also added to our blessings for the year.


As much as I loved all of the above mentioned things, the BEST part of my year was spending it with that wonderful hubby of mine!  He lights up my life and is so understanding, I've never know anyone who understands me as well and is as accepting of my limitations.  That's not to say he ALWAYS understands why I do something...LOL...but he understands more than anyone else ever has.  I love being with him, and watching him with our animals, because he is so gentle and kind to them...kinda like how he is to me.  I am SOOOO BLESSED!!!! :-))


All in all it really was a BERRY good year! Good friends, family, furry friends not to mention all the good eats we've been blessed with this year has really helped us settle in for our first full year back in Missouri.

 Here's hoping that 2014 is at LEAST as good! I'm sure looking forward to berry season again...between the berries and the peaches I'm longing for warm weather and fresh fruit! LOL

Hope everyone had a wonderful year...and will have an even better 2014!!

 Happy New Year!

Mean Mamma!

I went outside with the dogs this afternoon, to see what hubby was doing. The dogs were ahead of me, and we were walking down the front steps when Peaches gets almost to the bottom and gets attacked! This big mean white monster pop's up over the last few steps and attacks her for no reason at all. She's not fond of chickens, and this sure didn't help matters out! LOL She went yipping back up the steps till she was behind me as I laughed at her. Yep...guess I was mean too.

Then, the chicken turns her attention to Autumn, who had already reached the ground. The hen attacks her, and Autumn attacks back, like she usually does...although maybe not quite as aggressively as she used to cause she's getting old and showing her age more now.

The chicken didn't back down though, and even though Autumn was able to beat her back a little bit the first round, the chicken came back for more and got my poor Autumn down on her back. Now don't get me wrong, she was STILL snapping back trying to fight the chicken, even though she was on her back, but I had to stop chuckling at the spectacle long enough to continue down the steps and chase the chicken away before Autumn got hurt.

Poor old girl...she really is getting old, when a chicken almost gets the best of her! She still has a little fight left in her though!

It seems this "mean" chicken was right around the corner from the steps, with her two baby chicks when we decided to come outside...and she doesn't like ANYTHING around her babies...be they dogs, cats, cows or other chickens.

 DH said he saw her take on a cow earlier today, cause they were within 5 feet of her babies just minding their own business eating grass. She also took on Yani when I was outside, claws all up in her face and everything...and she is a BIG dog!

Guess that's how this Mamma hen can raise up chicks and have them roam around with her without us putting them in the "brooder house".  She may be mean...but that's a good thing when she has chicks!

There seems to always be something to make ya laugh, when you live on a farm with animals! (Or maybe this just goes to prove how easily entertained I am!  LOL)  Guess that's why I LOVE living on our farm so much...even if I was kinda mean when I laughed at my fur babies misfortune.  Least they didn't get hurt...other than their pride...and Peaches fear of most all animals was reinforced!  LOL  No problem with Peaches wanting to spend a LOT of time outside...she is usually ready to come in before I am! *giggle*

Drying Up and other ramble's.

While some of you may think I'm talking about the fact we haven't been getting much rain the past three or four weeks (which has been helpful for people getting hay in, but it's a bit long for the crops that need moisture...even after all that rain we had this spring) with the title of my post, that's not what I am talking about.

As you probably know...from the photo...I'm meaning that we think Button is drying herself up slowly...thankfully it's slowly so far and not quickly, getting ready for her calf that she will hopefully have in a few more months. Not exactly sure when, as I don't know how far along she was suppose to be when we got her...but she was suppose to be bred when we got her, so we think we should have a calf sometime towards the end of the year.

I'm so not ready to stop getting so much cream!  LOL  After the long dry spell we had last year, I wanted to REALLY stock up on butter and ghee...not to mention sour cream, so hopefully we didn't have to buy any before we start getting it again, but...guess we will get what we get.  The worst part about it is, with hopefully Daisy being bred too, I'm not sure if we will be getting ANYTHING come thanksgiving...so that means no fresh whipping cream that doesn't bother my tummy like the store bought does.  *cry*

I'm going to look into seeing how whipped cream freezes (I know the cream doesn't freeze well if you are wanting to whip it later...but maybe already whipped cream would work...we will see)...but if that doesn't work real well, guess we may be having to resort to that nasty stuff in the store, and I won't be able to enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner quite as much as I usually do.  I tell you, this year the breeding schedule just didn't work out to well!  :-((

Speaking of cows and hay...this last weekend we did get all our hay moved over here to our farm, from the farm we bought it at. We SHOULD have plenty for this winter, even with several cows and a horse...but we would like to find some Alfalfa bales, just not sure if we will be able to afford them.  They may be stuck with Alfalfa cubes, which they don't enjoy near as much as they do the hay.  LOL  I'm just glad we got the cow's winter food supply here now...even if it does still need organized and covered, once the tractor gets repaired.

It just figures that the tractor would die at a BAD time...we had to roll the big bales of hay off the trailer and let them lay where they landed, cause the carburetor went out on the Tractor (the good thing is it's under warranty, cause DH just replaced it last year!).  Some of those big bales were HEAVY...so it was a pain to get them to roll off the trailer, but we managed it!  Dad helped with my brothers tractor, to get them loaded over at the other farm...otherwise they would still be over there where we bought them.  It will be good to get them lined up so we can cover them...but I'm really thankful that at least they are HERE!  :-))

In other news...the peaches are getting ripe here.  Unfortunately, we have a problem with ours this year.  I picked several the other day, cause they were getting soft, and went to fix them for a pie, and found out they had worms in them.  I could cut around them, and eat the rest, but the peaches are really small, so it turned out we didn't get to "save" very much of each peach, which means it wasn't worth the hassle, least in my opinion.  I'm so bummed that we don't get to enjoy these yummy peaches this year!

Last year we didn't have that trouble, and the ones we had in Nebraska didn't have that trouble either...so I didn't know anything about needing to spray the tree or anything.  I'm going to try and come up with a more organic way of treating for the worm...as I really don't want those nasty chemical's on our place, but we gotta find something to solve this problem, as I don't want to have peaches growing and not be able to use them every year.  Guess I'll have to start researching THAT now...*sigh*  as if I didn't have enough other things to do.  LOL  Darn bugs!

Thankfully we found out a local Amish store will be getting some in, and if they are the price people say they were LAST year, we will be able to get several that way...enough to put several pie's worth in the freezer, and we will see what else I can do with them!  A bushel of peaches for less than 15 bucks is a pretty good price to my way of thinking...even if they are 2nd's!  Here's hoping they aren't much more than they were last year!  :-))

Speaking of fruit, we DID finally get enough blackberries picked for a cobbler!  YUM!!!  Thankfully hubby found a nice big patch down to the east of the house, otherwise we would have had to make a tiny cobbler since the patch in the barnyard didn't net us as many as it did last year.  Unfortunately for him, this new patch he found is out in the pasture, which I avoid in the summer cause of the fear of running into poison ivy (since I get poison ivy BAD if I get it), so...he has to pick them.  I'm hoping to get some more for the freezer, but will see.  Even just enough for one cobbler for the freezer would be nice, as it adds a different kind of yummy desert for the winter!

Other than that...not anything major going on here.  The weather has been cool enough to turn off the air and open the windows, and it's been SOOOO nice to have that fresh air in the house!  Today was suppose to reach 85 and be the hottest day for the next week...not getting out of the 70's on Saturday and maybe a day or two after that...sure hoping it really happens, I LOVE having it cooler for a change!  Praise God for the nice temps!

Another Funny

I found this photo on my camera after I was sick a couple weeks ago...it's from before I got sick, and I totally forgot I'd taken it. One of our little fruit trees is a red delicious apple...it's probably the only one I remember the variety of...the last owner told me what most were, but I've forgotten. (yes I should have written them down...but it was a casual thing and I had no paper LOL)  We were standing close to this one when he told me, and I was happy to have a red delicious apple, cause they make great applesauce...so I remembered what this one was. LOL It only has three apples on it I think, but I'm hoping they make it so we can at least see how they taste! Hopefully in a few years we will have enough to actually use them for applesauce! :-))

Ok, on to the funny! LOL

While I fighting the tummy flu the other week, DH was off doing what has become his "usual" thing, helping the Amish out. He took one to the city one day, and before they got on the road to far, they stopped for a egg and cheese biscuit in town.

I went to school with the manager of our local Hardies, although I didn't know her well then (or now...we don't move in the same "circles". LOL). Course truthfully, before we moved, I had gotten so good at "forgetting" my school years, that my Mom was actually the one who told me I went to school with her cause I had totally put it out of my mind...now that we are back here some of my time at school has come back to me, so I can actually remember more than just two or three people from my school days. (What can I say...I hated school, mostly cause there were to many jerks that went to our school.)

Anyway, I'd mentioned I went to school with her to my hubby several times, so he got it in his head to say something to her when he went in to order...since she happened to be taking his order that day and he loves to talk to people.

Hubby said "Did you graduate in '88?"

Manager said "Yes...I graduated with your Daughter."

HAAAAAA-HAAAA-HAAA-HA.....I guffawed in his ear when he told me that on the phone after it happened...probably almost breaking his eardrum.  *giggle*

I've got a good laugh out of that one several times...his daughter!  *snicker*  As funny as that is, I didn't REALLY think hubby looks old enough to be my father, not sure where she gets THAT idea!  LOL  He  is ONLY 8 years older than I am, which yeah may seem like a lot when you are in highschool...but not so much now.

A lot of people think my brother and my hubby are brothers when they see them together around here...but this is a new one.

Hee Hee Hee...I'm STILL laughing at that one, it's just Hilarious (to me anyway)!!

Needless to say that's one I'll be remembering for years I think, gotta love a good laugh...besides, I can always take it out, dust it off and tease DH with it, if he gets to saying I'm getting "old"!  ;-))

His daughter....*snicker....snort*  :-))

***Please note...I'm NOT laughing AT her, I'm just sharing a funny story, that made me laugh.  I don't hold it against her, I actually love the story, and am glad it happened, cause I do LOVE a good laugh!