Random ramblings of a Wednesday morning

Three little kittens

I found this picture this morning, I took it about 3 weeks ago.  They had been sleeping until the flash went off.  If you know me, you know I am not a cat person...they are ok, but I would rather have them outside.  These are Maggie's kittens that the kids are keeping...why inside you ask?  Well...

As you know we had a litter of puppies at the same time...guardian dog puppies.  And what do guardian dogs do?....they guard.  They thought they were doing a good thing, they took them from the porch and put them in a more secure place...under the shed.  It is a very defensible position, no one could get under there.  The problem was that the kittens never made it out.  The other litter of kittens were 4 weeks younger and didn't make it very long being away from their mother.  We didn't realize what was happening until all of them were gone.  I saved one of these little guys when I saw it happen, he was all slimy from being licked so much.  So in the interest of not having a mutiny in my house I have allowed them to have the kittens in the house just until they are old enough to protect themselves from the puppies...or until the puppies stay in the fence.

 Morgan loves her cats and they love her.  I find it amazing that this kitten likes to perch on her shoulder like this.

I realized I really don't have anymore pictures to post.  It is really sad all of the things we do here that are no longer immortalized in digital format.  While we were building the house and starting the farm I always had my blackberry in my pocket and was easily able to take pictures at anytime.  Last year I downsized my cell bill and went from the smartphone to the basic phone.  The cameras on those really aren't very good, no zoom.  So I have decided to dig out the old Blackberry and charge it up and use it as a camera...it easily fits in my pocket and I can snap all those pictures that I haven't been getting.

Today is one of those days where I have so many things that I should be getting done and I can't decide which is more important.  I just got back in from putting the cow and the calves back in the pasture...they were out of grass and took a wander again...just up the driveway a bit.  So I need to move the electric and check that fenceline.  Since it isn't raining again I could mow some grass, or I could put up the chicken fence.  I should also be working with the kids on their school work and the storage room needs to be reorganized and cleaned again.  Speaking of cleaning I have laundry to do also and the bathroom closet could use some reordering.  I wonder just how much of this I can actually get accomplished today before making dinner and leaving for church this evening?

Summer Grass

Well I had great plans for this post.  I had planned to take these before pictures and then take the after pictures of how wonderful it looked after I had mowed everything.  As you can see, that didn't happen.

This is the side of the house going out to the goats, sheep and dogs.  Those really tall patches are where the chickens had been a lot last year.

To the left of the drive is the orchard...if you can call it that.  The moles last year took out most of the trees and the sheep finished off the strawberries and tried to kill the blueberries and raspberries...they still live, but had a tragic year.

This is the dogs area, the shorter area...I use that term loosely...had been mowed not too long ago.  the part to the right is the part that I have been trying to get to for the better part of a year.  I really have way too much grass in the summer.

Better view of the kennel and the out of control grass in front of it.

This is inside the newest pasture.  The sheep are really loving having all this grass to eat.  I am loving not having to mow this part anymore :)

Last puppy delivered

This is Raphael

He was very unhappy about being in the car.  He also REALLY hated having a collar on.

He spent the majority of the time drooling all over Madison.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of Madison's face while this was going on.  She tried everything she could to keep his drool off of her, but he was moving around too much.  She found a towel in the back of the car so she just wiped his mouth off a lot.  All in all, he was a really good boy and he went to a nice family with goats.

Since we met them at Cooliage park we decided to take some time and make an adventure of it.  We walked across the bridge and got some Rita's Water Ice and then walked back to the park in a light rain.  Tanner spent a bit of time running off some energy.

Then they took a ride on the carousel.  They had a lot of fun and then we got in the car for the drive home.

Puppies

We have finally sold off all the puppies!  We had one person who put a deposit before they were born and drove from MO when she was 8 weeks old.  She was so thrilled to have her and I have heard she is doing just great...especially at protecting their 2 year old.

Last week we sold on to a lady south of Chattanooga and just this week we finalized the last 2 to be going this weekend.  I love having the puppies and watching them grow, but once they get to a certain age they really need to go to their new homes.

This was the day they were born.  Lizzy was such a good mother.

This was take a few days later.  These guys grow REALLY fast.

  Here is Tanner holding one at 4 weeks old.  Can you believe how big she got?

Here is Morgan and one of her favorites.  We named him Raphael and we even considered keeping him along with a female, but decided we would rather keep a male out of the next litter instead.  He was the last to be sold.

For some reason the puppies really love me.  I am not sure why, I am not the one that feeds them...I am the one that gives them medicine and shots.  With the other animals that means that they don't want to be around me and run away when I come out.  With these puppies all I have to do is yell 'puppies' and they all come running and gang up on me.  The one in my arms is Momo and she is the one that we are keeping.

Catching up

Well it has been awhile since I really sat down and looked at what we have been up to.  Since the new fence and the goat barn were finished I don't have too many more big projects here this year.  We put off the garden this year because we have excavating to do and I didn't want my hard work in the garden to get ruined...plus I really didn't have time.  

In the last few weeks we have spent out time mowing grass, chasing the cow and calves, mowing grass, doing various cleaning projects in the house, mowing grass, homeschooling and mowing grass.  Do you get the idea that I mow a lot of grass...it just grows so darn fast.

I haven't talked about homeschooling on the blog before so for those of you that may not know we are a homeschooling family and we love it.  It is so great to have the kids home all day with me and to be able to see the light in their eyes when they finally figure something out that was difficult to learn.  This year has been a bit harder on them since the divorce and we have taken a step back from some things. I admit I was a bit of a taskmaster before this year...they had a full schedule every day but Friday.  This year we slacked off quite a bit since I had to be out of the house a lot more and now we are getting to the point where we really just need to get back to a normal schedule and buckle down.  You can imagine that the kids really don't want to do that.  They love the fun parts...but don't mention math.

Now you may be wondering why I had been chasing the calves.  Violet and the calves have been in the pasture behind the house for a few days now.  They ate most of the stuff in their old pasture and the electric was down so Sunday morning they decided to go visit the neighbor.  When I got home from church the neighbor came over to tell me they were behind the house.  So we went up with a bucket and walked them back home and put them in a new pasture thinking they would be fine.  The next morning the calves were out in the driveway and the puppies were barking like crazy...at 6am.  So I went out and put them back and checked the fence.  The electric was fine so I went back in the house to do the morning chores.  A few minutes later the puppies were barking again...because again they were out.  Over the next few days I chased those calves back in the fence at least 10 times.  Hopefully they got it out of their system and will stay in now.

Day off at the beach

We decided to take the morning off and go to the beach since the weather was so nice.  This is really a lake and it isn't the best spot, but it is nearby and the kids have a lot of fun.

Somehow Tanner always ends up being some type of monster.

But in the end they always have a really great time.

 We caught up with some friends while we were there and they had lots of fun playing together.  Tanner loves getting buried in the sand.
  It was the most calm that he has been in days. If only he could stay that still at home sometimes.

He wanted J to completely cover him, but he just couldn't stay still long enough to accomplish it.

Happy Mother's Day

I don't normally focus this blog on my family or our life, it is usually just about the farm.  Today is a special day to me...it is Mother's Day.

Here I am with my wonderful children...isn't this the greatest picture?  It would have been just a bit better if Tanner had been smiling, but it was a long day and we had already taken a lot of pictures trying to get it right. 

I have some of the sweetest kids.  Morgan is the most awesome 16 year old.  She is my ever present helper.  I know that when I really need something done I can always count on her.  She looks out for her brother and sister even though they frustrate and annoy her at times.  She is sweet and loving and creative.  She loves to spend her time reading or listening to music in her bedroom or watching one of her favorite shows with us on netflix.  She is also the best shopping buddy around...I call her my personal shopper, I can always find something awesome when we are shopping together, but on my own...not so much.

Madison is my outside girl.  She loves to work with the animals and she helps with the fences and just about everything.  She is the one that nurses the lambs and she does a great job being the 'animal mama'.  She is super caring and giving and has such a beautiful heart.  She is great at playing with her brother and keeping him occupied when necessary or getting them both into trouble when she thinks she can get away with it

Here is Tanner, my little man.  This present was more accurate than his Sunday School teacher knew.  When he was just walking he would help clean up, put trash in the can, put dishes in the kitchen and try to sweep.  It was so cute.  He may not do all those thing now, but he tries really hard to me my little helper.  he has so much energy, sometimes I don't know what to do with it.  He is like a monkey climbing all over the furniture and balancing on things.  However he is also the sweetest little angel.  Every night he cuddles with me while we either read or watch a movie.  He tells me every day (many, many times) how much he loves me and how beautiful I am.  How can a mother not be absolutely in love with this little boy.

This was my best Mother's Day present ever.  They made this card...when closed it is a number 1 and says 'You're Awesome because...' on the inside are all these adjectives describing me.  If you can read them you know they think I am great...I just hope I can live up to it :)  I don't know if I am the luckiest mother in the world...but I sure do feel like it, even on the days when things go bad and it is tough to get through.