An Exhausting Day

As I was walking up from the back chicken cage, I looked down the path to the back of the property and thought it was so pretty.   I had to get a photo to share.  Funny thing is, just to the right is a huge mess of fallen trees and limbs. 

This morning, after moving the ducklings out to their day pen, I decided it was time they moved to some outdoor digs.  They love their water a little too much and their "swimming pool" cage was a mess.  Not only that, but they can get just enough lift to get over the edge of the pool when frightened. 

I also decided it was time to get the six pullets (female chicks) to a new location.  

And thus decided that the older turkey poults would also go...somewhere...other than the cage that I needed for the quail chicks that are set to hatch any day. 

But, first things first...

We got the hens and rooster from the back chicken cage and put them back in the chicken/goat yard in the woods.  This didn't work so well since the hens are small enough to get through the fencing.  They ended up in the back yard again, free ranging and trying to figure out why they couldn't get into their cage, which was shut. 

Al and I then got to work putting up a new pasture for the turkeys and chickens, called Churkeys by me.  In doing this, we had to relocate the chicken cage (night time safety house), but the process proved a little more difficult than planned since the board snapped upon lifting with the forklift.  So Al and I had to drag it, to which it continuously got snagged on rocks in the ground. But...it got there.  

Then the fun part!  We wanted to put the sheep in to help eat the plants and unwanted poison ivy.  That proved to be a pain in the tush!  Sheep are not the brightest animals in my opinion.  Al tackled a few to catch them, and while one was herded out by the neck, the other was picked up by the legs by me.  When they were all finally in the pen, we were able to close them into the new pen (with turkeys and chickens).  The fence was tested for strength, and we moved on to the next job. 

We moved the back poultry cage over a bit in order to access the compost the chickensmade, and to put on fresh ground for the chicks and poults.  When that was ready, I gathered the 7 older poults and the 6 chicks and put them in their new home.  They are very content AND are getting along perfectly. 

After cleaning up the milk room where we were brooding all these birds, we decided to put up a pen in the front yard for the ducks to have a permanent and safe place to hang out.  So up went another electric fence next to my new garden area (that later). The ducks were collected from their temporary pen and placed into the new one.  They are enjoying the space, sunshine, and grass.

Later tonight I will need to go out and spray some neem oil on some of the garden greens and leaves that are being nibbled on by insects.  I had sprayed it this morning, but rinsed it off with water when I realized that the sun would possibly burn the leaves with the oil on them.  

I forgot to mention that Caleb helped me harvest my chive seeds this morning.  We have the blooms laying on a grain bag to dry.  After he finished gathering the seed heads, he gave the chives a little "haircut".  

So you may be wondering what I meant by new garden.  Well, I realized I just don't have the space for gardening all I want to grow, so we decided to put a small garden in the front yard, too.  This garden space will be for what I can't fit and for those things that need seed saved, but need distance for purity.  So there will be a tomato plant, some butternut squash, watermelon, and a few other things.  

Al cleaned out all the hay and manure from the goat dry lot and brought it over for me to start some garden beds with.  It was a bit smelly from all the rain, but the odor is dissipating.  The chicken compost was also brought over.  (Don't worry, this is from the composting chickens.  Not smelly at all!) 

On a sad note, our huge pear tree and an apple tree had to be cut down completely due to fire blight.  There was absolutely no hope for these trees with the extent of damage they had.  Another tree will also be cut down because of the spread of the disease even though it doesn't look near as bad as the other two.  The third apple tree, farthest from the pear tree (the source), does have some fire blight, but I was able to trim almost all of it off in hope of getting some apples this fall.  As you can imagine, this is quite the disappointment.  The pear tree was easily 30 foot tall and had so much fruit last year I couldn't even pick it all.  

Yet, on a somewhat positive note, we were able to purchase some new fire blight resistant trees from Stark Brothers during a sale last weekend.  We also purchased two young olive trees, and another elderberry bush.  The pear and apple trees will be planted near the house to limit the risk of contamination.  Even though they are resistant, doesn't mean it is okay to be careless.  

In other news:

We have had an absolutely amazing strawberry season, but I think it is coming to an end.  We have harvested close to 19 pounds of strawberries from our 2 by 12 foot bed.  I am so thankful for these berries!  We have made it a point to freeze every other batch for jams. 

We have been picking a lot of peas.  The kids like to eat them raw and they are so sweet!  I realized that one of the packets I planted were actually snow pea seeds that I put in the wrong packet!  So we have some gorgeous plants nearing four feet tall! 

Last night we had friends over for a last minute barbecue.  It was really nice to fellowship with believers new to the area.  

Alexandra was put into braces on Friday.  But unfortunately, a bracket popped off only a few short hours after having them put on - and -  of course AFTER the office was closed for business. She is adjusting well, but misses eating a lot of the foods she used to love to snack on like almonds, peanuts, and other crunchy things. 

Caleb has picked up on a few new games like Ticket to Ride and Dutch Blitz.  He is quick to learn! 

Well, that about sums it up.  My eyes are tired and I need to clean up the kitchen.  Hope you have a blessed week. 

Little Homeschool Triumphs

It is so strange that Caleb has taken to spelling words for his journals. Before his long break, it was like pulling teeth to even get him to write. He has been describing stuffed animals recently. He doesn't like to draw which is totally fine with me.

For science, Alexandra is studying anatomy. She worked for over an hour on her current lesson before I had her put it away to get something else done. She did a beautiful job on her food pyramid.

Abby says she hates math, but yesterday she surprised me when she started without the usual procrastination and whining.  When I applauded her and asked her about it, she somewhat sheepishly replied, "I like fractions." 

I require the kids to read a non-fiction book from the home library. So they have been really good about grabbing a book about what they want to learn. 

Meanwhile, I struggle with the kids and the balance between what is truly necessary and what the world deems important.  Over the years, I have learned so much and unfortunately, I have seen my children lose their joy of learning because I tell them what they have to learn and get mad that they don't like it.  

There is time...

Meanwhile, I focus on math, reading, writing, spelling, and Bible.  I also do history with them, but only because it is rather simple and Scripture based.  Caleb, since he is younger, does have phonics in the mix, but does the same subjects as the girls. 

 

Felling Trees

We had planned for some time to have the trees close to the house cut down.  While we realize this will increase the temperature inside the house, it protects the house from trees coming down on the house in storms.  

The tree by the garage was the most work.  It had to be cut down piece by piece to avoid the electric lines. After it was done, Al took the tractor and grappled up all the branches to get them out of the walkways.  

I counted the rings in the tree by the garage and it was about 70 years old.  

We have a lot of work ahead of us cleaning up and chopping firewood.  But we are very thankful for this wood that we will have it for firewood.  We had three trees in the front, three in back, and one in front of the garage.  There are also three or four in the ravine by the shop that will come down later today, if things go according to plan.  But the wind has picked up making it a bit dangerous.  We may wait for a day that is safer for the man (also a friend) who will cut them down. 

Unfortunately, when trees are cut down, animals can be affected.  In one case, there was a blue jay nest with three babies.  We are hoping momma jay will come and find them.  I keep telling the kids to leave them be, or no one will come back.  

  

A Hot Day, Then A Strong Storm

Al used the scoop on the tractor to lessen the work load for me. He took three scoops of mulch from the garden bed and put it up by the black berries where I later moved it around to slow weed growth, but provide a moisture barrier.  There are so many blackberries growing on these four bushes and I am so excited to be able to both enjoy them fresh and make jams. I did return my raspberry bushes for a refund since I wasn't too sure they were even alive.  

Then I got to work leveling the mulch that remained as well as bringing up wagon loads to fill in the top edge by the potatoes.  There is still some mulch that needs to be moved around, but I will put that around the elderberry bushes.  

Oh, and my potatoes are coming up!! 

Al and I were able to put an electric perimeter around the garden in order to keep the cats and other animals out of the garden.  I know it won't be the perfect solution, but at least the cats should be kept out.  

Meanwhile, the garden is growing...well most things.  I am excited to see my rhubarb seedlings are growing as are my loofa gourds.  I need to get my garden plot planned out.  I had planned to put in the squash there.  Since one "fire-ring" garden was decimated, I will put cucumbers in it.  I may also scrap the beets since they seem to be doing poorly, and put cucumbers in that raised bed as well.  

In my research, I have found that root veggies will do surprisingly well in mulch/wood chips, so I may try that to see what happens.  I am quite impressed with how the kids' gardens are doing pretty well despite being grown in straight mulch.  

And here are some more photos of the garden as of now:

And last but not least, look what the storm did...

Pretty minor considering they were pretty strong winds.  But that is a cattle panel! 

Am I Going Nuts?

It's a crazy story, but it is true.  

Last night (Friday night), I was super tired and went to bed relatively early (for me).  However, I was constantly awakened by a child who would not stay in bed and sleep (not Caleb, but Abby).  After being awakened the third time, I ended up moving to the couch.  

That didn't help either.  Between the thunder and noises I kept hearing, I just couldn't fall asleep. 

I finally fell asleep for a bit, but woke up again to who knows what.  What was that sound?

I thought perhaps it was the ice maker, so I lay there listening, but I didn't hear it.  Then I heard what sounded like ice falling from the ice machine onto the floor. I just left it.  I didn't care.  

As I was falling back asleep, I hear noises again, but thought perhaps it was my instant pot cooling after I turned it off. (I had yogurt in it and removed it)  Just as I started to fall asleep again, I heard that noise like an ice cube falling.  I got up and looked in the kitchen.  I checked the floor and looked at the ice maker.  Nothing was off and there was not a single wet spot or ice cube on the floor. 

I started to look around and noticed two hickory nuts on the floor in the kitchen.  I instantly looked at the ceiling as if I had a squirrel tossing nuts from above.  I even looked in the lazy susan were I used to keep a bowl of hickory nuts.  That's when I got Al out of bed (he had just returned to bed after coming out for a drink). He obviously had already fallen asleep because he startled, but came out.  

We both looked around and were quite confused as to how two hickory nuts would fall.  We considered that someone had left them on the counter and the vibrations from the thunder storm shook them to the floor.  We both went back to sleep, he, to the bed, I, to the couch.  At this point, my posture headache was coming on.  I couldn't shut my brain off as I pondered what in the world was going on and where the nuts had fallen from.  (Believe me, when tired, your brain can think some crazy things.) 

Just as I was falling asleep, I heard what sounded like two nuts falling from somewhere, but near Caleb's room.  I got up and looked, but saw nothing.  I heard nothing after that either.  

In the morning, I slept a lot later than usual.  (8 o'clock rather than 6 o'clock).  Caleb was standing behind me on the couch.  I asked him if he had any hickory nuts in his room.  

He answered yes.  I asked him where he got them and he said he had them for a while "like back in February or March".  He told me he had "like five", yet when I asked him to bring them to me, he only brought two.  I asked him if he was awake in the middle of the night throwing hickory nuts.  He said he wasn't. 

I am baffled.  I am sure it was him, but what in the world?  How can one be sleep walking and "throwing" that long? And how could he be moving around so much without me hearing him?  

Later in the day, he thought it quite funny and acted like he had been throwing nuts.  I on the other had wonder...and wonder. 

Just The Little Things

Sometimes it is the little things that suffice.  Like fresh mint from the garden with which we can make iced tea.

A child who actually sits down to do school work without a bad atitude.

You praise Yah for the eggs that are coming in..finally.

For the first bigger harvest of strawberries...

And the fresh raw milk from a friend which you barter for newly hatched turkey poults. 

For the fresh goat milk you are blessed with every morning...

Homemade yogurt...

Banana bread...

And being able to mow the lawn around the back yard chicken coop. (We have chickens in three locations.)

We have been experiencing unseasonably warm temps this week. Not much can be done outside. 

Meanwhile I wait anxiously for tomatoes and peppers to pop out of the ground.  I decide what to plant in that small raised bed that no longer has carrots because the army worms ate every single sprout. 

Little Projects

First I wanted to show you the peonies in bloom.  Aren't they beautiful?  I just wish they were in a better place.  I think I am going to transplant them somewhere else. 

I was in search of more rocks for my little garden project and therefore decided to rebuild the fire pit as I sorted through the stones in the back.   I made it into more of a circle and used only the larger rocks unless one needed to be leveled a bit more.  Then I wedged a smaller rock into place.

I created this small bed the other day.  It is positioned slightly under the apple tree, but connected to the tomato garden and the square garden.  I planted chamomile, feverfew, bachelors buttons, and calendula.  

This is the one I built today with the rocks I found on the side of the house.  Caleb and I planted Merlot and Bronze Beauty lettuce, Red Torch sunflowers, and Zinnias in it.  

Earlier today, Caleb and I used garden sticks and hemp twine to make a trellis for peas.  It isn't pretty, but it works.  

I am working on ideas on how to use the larger, flat rocks for my pots to sit on.  I haven't decided yet what to do, but this was one attempt.  Personally, I am not too happy with it, so I will probably work on it again.  

And now we rest for a day before it is back to work on Sunday.  We are supposed to have several warm days without rain which will be nice.