A Sad Obituary...

It is with much sadness we announce the apparent end of a rocky 5 yr relationship. Our cat is MIA. We have traveled the ditches looking for "signs" of Thomas, but there is nothing. No meowing on the back porch, no stalking you as you walk out the back door. He never came home early last week and that is all we have.

He is just gone.

Thomas the cat was a good cat. He was named by a 3 yr old boy after a tank engine. He only needed to be fed for 3 months out of the year, the rest he fed himself as an avid hunter of mice and stalker of moles, birds and baby bunnies. Though mamma is happy this cat has gone missing(and the nests will no longer be robbed and the robins may raise their young in peace) there are many other young humans mourning the loss.

Thomas came to us the year after we moved in our home. A vehicle stopped, dropped the older kitten off and he walked right up to the front door and the rest is history. He knew his place. Though He is known to attack Paul's leg, he was quite affectionate. He was known for drooling puddles when having his ears scratched. He would jump on your shoulders if you came close enough, often causing eh unsuspecting human to shriek in pain.

So, here's to you Thomas, you "phsyco attack cat"...we loved you, rest in peace.

Now THAT is the epitomy of a friend...

Isn't he just the cutest chicken cuter-upper you ever done did saw?

I little note of recognition here. I reeeally needed help trimming my goat's hooves, I just couldn't figure it out. Mrs. W., my goat mentor, kindly offered to come show me how to properly trim the hooves and I promised afterwards to take her to Wood's Coffee for a nice sit down cup-o-java. She accepted and came over after dinner. She put on an apron over her pretty, going to coffee clothes, grabbed a hoof and went to town. She proceeded to clip and clip until the hooves were trimmed quite nicely.

Jessie says this picture is a chicken(who seems to be missing) flexing his big muscles.

However, my husband had started butchering chickens and well...remember? It is my job to quarter and package the chickens pieces? Things weren't going as planned and I could see two trains running on the same track and one was going to have to pull off. I was SUCH a bad friend! I had to get those chickens done and it became more clear coffee was not going to happen. So how gracious is this beautiful lady? If in her shoes, I may have made it known we'd just set another date for coffee and be perfectly content with that. What does SHE do? She leaves her apron on and asks me how we process the chickens. She comes in the house and proceeds to cut chickens up with me.

A freshly butchered chicken isn't as pertty to work, bless her sweet heart. We did all 9 birds in record time, she stayed until 10PM(!) until the birds were all bagged and in the freezer.

I mean, really, can you get much better of a friend than that?

I'm the blogging queen

Do you see that? Do you see all those posts in the last few days? Are you impressed? I've had so much time on my hands...eh-hem, not!...let's start again. I have been nursing so much(there you go) as baby is trying to get me to understand he wants more milk..it's working. No complaints here, boy, I am soooo thankful I'm nursing! Did I mention my baby is 3 months old and still never had formula? The last time that happened was 8 years ago, or four babies ago. So, thus come quick snippets of blogging time. Isn't he sweet?

The canoe is gone...

Jacob sold his canoe. Remember the canoe he restored last year? He finally sold it. A man emailed and asked if he'd take $50 less, Jacob agreed. When the gentleman and his wife came to pick it up, he didn't expect to be dealing with a 10 yr old. He pulled Daddy aside and asked him for the truth. Paul told him straight up Jacob refiberglassed the canoe last summer, painted it and finished it. The man asked Paul how much of the money the boy got to keep and Paul told him all but $50 to pay for the supplies. With a tear in his eye the gentleman handed Jacob what he originally wanted for the canoe!

They stayed for some time talking and before they left Jacob asked if we could take their picture to keep...what sweet people.

Play'n in the Sandbox

Here is proof big boys, as well as little, like to play in sandboxes. My brother Jeff on the backhoe and my son Daniel on the mini-backhoe, both play'n in the sand today. I love this pic!

Free Family Fun Festival

Starting June 23

Last summer we discovered this free fun. We don't have television or watch movies much so this may excite my children more than yours. We sure enjoyed the G rated films last summer. There were about five Daddy approved films that we ran in and saw, and at this price(free) you can afford that nasty, unhealthy popcorn!

Description;

"Selected G & PG(though in my opinion PG is rarely fit for children or adults) movies start at 10AM each Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. First-come, first-served seating is limited to theatre capacity. The Free Family Film Festival is safe, lots of fun and a great way for kids to spend a weekday morning in the summer."

Emma's gonna be a grandma!

We joke about Emma and her chickens. This child is seriously in love with chickens. She knows chickens inside and out, except one very important detail about chickens. They get broody.




Eeeearly the other morning I went out to get my breakfast(2 eggs) as the egg box was empty in the fridge. I opened the door and saw it. Two broody hens. I knew right away this was something special for Emma! There they sat, poised to take on the enemy(me) and looking as vicious as a chicken can..just daring me to go after the straw underneath her. Emma, not realizing the hens were broody, had taken all their eggs in the last few days.




So here they sit, because the Lord programmed them that way, protecting their straw. You think that is strange? Yesterday while visiting my good friend Mrs. B, we found her chicken sitting on and guarding a BAGEL. Now THAT was cute. Poor thing...I wished her good luck with that one.



It was good timing for these hens though. We had just stuck a bunch of eggs in the incubator instead of the fridge, so their chicks were already cooking. Emma and I went to the incubator and took out 6 eggs for each hen, handed them one at a time to the hens. Each hen took the egg with their beak, stood up and gently roooooolled it under her, adjusted her feathers and sat down, waiting for the next treasure. They are now happy chickens, waiting to be mommies!

Butter butter bo-butter banana...

Got butter? Yippee, hooray, Oh happy day! Guess what I found? Organic dairy cream. I am hoping to start buying this regularly, in gallon form, from a local dairy. I read the Little House on the Prairie series, I know what to do with cream!

Four gallons, oh joy!

We broke out the Bosch and started running a half gallon at a time. I took about 15 minutes for each batch just to get it to turn, but man was there a lot of butter when it did! There was maybe 2 C of buttermilk left in each batch. We are going to make a gob of buttermilk biscuit dough tomorrow, shape and freeze them...I really need a third freezer Paul!



My balls-o-butter after kneading and rinsing the buttermilk out. I have done 2 gallons before starting dinner and there is over 12lbs of fresh butter. Gotta love the chubby foot in the pic.


Yummy, creamy, smooth butter. The girls were absolutely amazed as the mixer mixes for what seems forever, then all of a sudden, right before your eyes it clumps into butter like magic.





MMMmmmmm, mmmm good.



Meanwhile, Micah waters the tops of my flowers, carefully pouring a few drops on every blossom. And you never know when those flowers are going to make a loud scary noise.

It's "B" Time! (warning graphic to some) ;)

Again, if you are affiliated with PETA, please don't read.

It's butcher time!! Don't ask me why we have so much excitement on this day, but we do! We bought 40 birds to butcher, 36 made it to maturity(2 died in an accident, 1 had bum leg/put to "sleep", and one mysterious death)

Each bird gets a kiss on the head(at least when I'm around) and off to birdy heaven they go. What beautiful birds Jacob & Daniel raised this year!! They are huge, just like I like them. One grocery store bird will NOT feed our family, but one of these guys and there is more than enough meat to go around and it is organically raised.


Look at those meaty stinkers...yum, yum. I stayed in the house for my first year. Never had to step out once. Jacob rose up and took my spot skinning. Daddy is the grim reaper, Jacob skins, Daddy guts and Mamma de-bones, quarters and bags...in her nice warm kitchen. Jessie held the baby to make it possible as he cried and cried and...remember? He is a J*****ski baby.







We(Paul and Jacob)only butchered 4 birds last night but I got a jelly roll pan filled with boneless/skinless breasts(frozen individually and packaged), 2 gallon ziploc bags stuffed with legs and thighs, one qrt bag of wings. Daddy eats the hearts and gizzards(ewe, ewe, ewe) Grandpa placed dibbs on the livers(ewe, ewe, ewe) and I boiled the rest of the carcasses and picked them clean for an additional 2 C of chopped casserole meat. Not an ounce wasted. I say this not to bore you, but because I LOVE reading fellow butcherers ideas on how they do things.

Homegrown chicken, there's nothing like it.

Yesterday we left early in the morning and drove to Anacortes to board the ferry Chelan for a trip to San Juan Island. We would have stayed a night or two in the campground, but we have this goat and these chickens, and dogs...and well you all know the rest of the story. We had a WONDERFUL time and we can now cross a ferry off our list.

The Lord introduced us to another wonderful homeschooling family with 10 children on the ferry, I love those meetings! The father had noticed our 15 pass van loading the ferry and took note it might be either a school group or large family, lol! I had really hoped to talk to them longer as we had a bit in common.

We studied up on the 1859 Pig War(which was never a war to begin with, the only casualty was the pig) and knew our stuff when we arrived. We visited the American camp and British camp, Lime Kiln State Park and the beaches. I whole-heartedly cherish these days with my children while young and in our home. I am so thankful to the Lord for allowing us to have these sweet days together and build memories and strengthen our bond with them. They are our children now, but will be, Lord willing, our brothers and sisters in Christ that we will spend eternity with.

Sorry the slide show is a bit slow, I am learning.

2009 Farm Review

Ah, how I love Spring and Summer. I love being outside though the moments have been few and far between this Spring. Even though the gardens are weedy, I still love them. I'm stick'n with them until the end!

Columbine is one of my favorites, you never know what you are going to get.

They are perfect for tucking in you hair for church…

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2009 Farm Review

Here is my husbands first garden.

He has never been a gardener, could care less. I've tried and tried to excited him no avail...then out of the blue he reads this book by Joel Salatin and wallah, we have this super garden. It is beautiful, I have to admit, and quite intimidating to me. I, myself, would NEVER start with a garden that has over 30 - 40 ft rows. Yikes. Talk about jumping in with both feet! Every evening he goes for a walk to see what is popping through, with me. I love the garden already for the quiet walk we have just about every evening. ;) He planted corn, green beans, yellow beans, snap peas, radishes, sunflowers, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, watermelon(I have a bet against this one!), cucumbers. Jessie found a seed head of wheat in our straw bale, separated the wheat from the chaff(a fun visual bible lesson in itself for the children) and planted it. It is one of the tallest plants!

This sudden garden has been quite the educational tool. So much of what we are told to teach our children isn't exactly practical in their upcoming roles as husbands, wives, providers and home managers. We have had such wonderful conversations over this garden as to what veggies keep through the winter, how mamma does it and using what little(or great) land God gives us to provide for our family and how best to do that. What a wonderful, practical education. A plethora of questions, activities and learning opportunities arose from this simple garden.

I have officially been put to shame by my husbands gardening. The above picture is my once gorgeous flower bed, mingled with all types of perennials, now all green with tall weeds, sigh.

Here is Paul's berry garden, complete with salvaged raspberries, blueberries and strawberries, you go hubby.

And this, my dear readers, is my Mamma’s Garden. There are dahlia’s, squash & tow-mators, they are just playing hide and seek. Yes, I did this purposefully to create an eye-spy garden for my children. Do you buy it?

This is Paul's other blueberry garden.

We were given 20 young plants from a neighbor blueberry farmer who was throwing them out.

I put two new kiwi vines on either end.

Thank you Lord.

Here are our oldest meat birds, ready for butcher in about a week and a half. Notice they are all so meaty now, they do not walk much!

Here is our 2010 laying flock. We have had barred rocks and rhode island reds for yeeeears. They are a dual purpose bird which eats way too much food for the amount of eggs they put out. We never butcher our layers(no reason really, other than once you are used to cornish cross, a barred rock is scrap) so instead of a heavy duel-purpose bird we went with the feed stream-lined leghorn. Skinny little birds that can outlay most any breed. I had to have a few Americauncas(green and blue eggs) sprinkled in there for fun.



Our other meat bird hoop house two weeks behind the birds previously mentioned. We raise two flocks two weeks apart. That way we butcher the larger roosters from the first flock one week, then the hens the next, then the roosters from the second flock the next week and the hens the last - giving us an easy 4 week butcher schedule.





I have never cared for rabbits because of the waste under the cages, the smell, the yuck. After reading Mr. Salatins book Paul decided to get more rabbits and put all the cages in the chicken pen. They scratch and peck through the droppings which is great for them and makes conditions now sanitary with no smell! Can't beat that. BTW, we do not free-range our chickens because I love my flower beds and chickens have built in homing devices for neatly tended flower beds.

Daddy was quite the hacky-sack player in his day. He tried to teach Jacob how to play the game, move the moves, but more practice will be needed...Daddy ain’t moving like he used to.

Daniel is content as a anything to tinker in Daddy's shop.

I tell ya, this guy is going to be one handy man.

So much to post

and an uncooperative Blogger.com

I have spent much time blogging only to have it disappear before publishing. I am fed up, so it may be a few days.

Frustratingly yours,

Jenn

When I was your age...

I used to play at this same park. My stomach would get butterflies as my mother turned the car into the park to head up the same hill under the same maple trees. Back then the park had a large circular cement disk in the ground that served as a swimming pool and we would run through the cold water on hot days. And there was The Slide. The big metal HOT steel slide. My knuckles would be white by the time I got to the top and I'd sloooowly maneuver my legs under and in front of me, sit down and push off! Never in shorts. And the heavy metal adjustable teeter totters that would pinch your fingers off if you weren't paying attention. The big awkward merri-go-round that you would quickly exit stage left when the big kids came, their only goal was to turn the little kids green. Maybe that is why they are all long gone? Hmmm...

Welcome to the park circa 2009.

An over $250,000 make-over in 2006 made it a safer and gobs more fun.

The Fishtrap Creek got a make-over too with new pebble beaches and filler for the deep spots. When I was young we'd find a ton of clams, crawdads, salmon fry and other little creatures. Now there are fry in smaller numbers, crawdads occasionally, but I haven't seen a clam in years.

Gracie was enamored with the swings. So she swung...the whole time.



Emma discovered either volcanic rock or conglomerate, so we presumed.



Baby Elijah "hung" out.

And look! I even got a picture of myself!!

"No hands!"

The perfect creek! School groups were learning how to evaluate a healthy stream. Daniel's curiosity would get the best of him and soon he'd be part of the class asking questions.

And she swung, swang..swinged...swungded?

And guess what my son found? I hadn't seen one since my childhood, it almost brought a tear to my eye! A clam! He wanted to open it. Such a boy that one is. I listened to my treehugger feelings and said maybe we should put it back so someday, when he brings his children here, they can find a clam. He found a nice safe home and placed it back.

Who is this young lady?I certainly do NOT have a daughter this old! We cut 6" off her hair last week and she aged about 4 years! What a blessing this one is to us!!

And swung....

And posed.

Finally, I can go to the park and not leave frazzled, but rested and with a smile on the childrens faces as WELL as mine, yippee! The four oldest do not need supervision anymore, they explore the creek and run its banks without a nervous mamma hollering "That's too deep!" I am back to just pushing a toddler in a swing, watching Micah and packing my babe. The easy life.

And the winner is...

We got carried away and drew three names. Hey, when you are drawing names at a table with 6 children, it is kind of hard to limit it to one person, everyone wants to draw one. So, Marie you were the first drawn! Yippee! Then Dawny(Life in a Nutshell) and my good ole neighbor Dee! All locals, since I intended to mail something we used that excuse to draw three more and Cynthia, my other neighbor Kristy and Mrs. Dole came out of the pan! Congratulation! My order for soap ingredients comes soon to start that first batch!

Sorry for the lack of posts this last week, busy, busy! We are trying to get in lots of Park Days before the local schools get out, then the park becomes a zoo! This morning we were there at 8:30am! How fun! Pictures are coming. I've had caffeine today, can you tell by all the exclamation marks?!

You Texans will laugh at me but we are having sweltering heat! upper 70's, 80's and yes...even 92 at our house today. Uhg, I am going to die. I do not go outside other than to milk my goat and water the animals, otherwise we are holed up in here. Oh, it is killer.

BTW, I am an official member of the Whatcom Dahlia Society(as one dahlia snob((all due respect)) corrected me it is pronounced DAYL-yahs, not DAHL-yahs. You need to put on an English accent, too) ...I have always wanted to belong to a "society". Don't I sound uppity? Yes, I am meeting my society members at the country club today....o.k. it is really the local grange hall, but I think anyone who belongs to a "society" should meet at the country club. I even pay membership dues! How cool is that?! Oh, how much, you ask? $8 a year...hey, it still qualifies. Now I can learn how to grow the most beautiful dahlias on Hammer Rd, watch out Dee. You may have a greenhouse, but I'll smoke ya.

On to other news...and the winner is...going to be drawn at the dinner table tonight...stay tuned.