Just for fun...

 Just for fun I thought I'd post something on the blog. It's been three years, exactly. Honestly I'm quite surprised anyone still comes here. So, for those special people who do still check up on this blog, here is a little update.

The gardening season is in full swing. I've moved our garden from the last time you've seen it, and I really like the new area. It's quite large, but I've integrated flowers into it as well as the usual vegetables. My hope is to sell some cut flower bouquets this year at the farmers market, as well as the vegetable starts that I currently sell. 

The hoophouse, below, has become one of my favorite places to be. After being almost destroyed in a storm early this year, we've repaired it and strengthened it, and it's currently filled with probably close to 2,000 plants. It's been quite a fun and educational experience growing all of these different plants. 

The little boys have grown immensely and it's a bittersweet thing. My big boys are almost grown up now and turning into such fine young men. It really is a joy to be able to watch them all grow into their own persons. They're all such unique and wonderful children. 

Our house is nearly finished from the housefire repairs, though we still have some minor cosmetic things to complete. 

Since we last spoke, we've had some major changes in our animal and pet world. We've lost our beloved Tank, as well as his little friend Bailey. 

We've also added sheep and a young cow to our livestock. Of course we are always having more goat babies, hatching chicks and ducks, and we raised a couple more pigs for meat. There's always something new!

But the most significant thing to have happened in the last 3 years was the death of my daughter. She was just 20 years old and her death was very sudden and unexpected. 

So that's it for a quick little update. If you get a chance, please check out our YouTube channel for a LOT more updates, like the most recent one, linked below:

https://youtu.be/-B8P9OZrT5k

Thank you all SO much for your continued support and friendship! I hope to "see" you all again soon!

Homestead Horror (Video)

A Boy and His Dog

Our sweet Tank is still a favorite amongst the kids.

After adopting him, Tank became an instant friend of Baby W's. 

And he still is! Their friendship of three years is still going strong. 

Rainy Day

I'm pretty sure it's been raining for a solid 36 hours. We have water standing everywhere! In fact, I'm certain the ducks would have loved it if their pen was moved a couple feet over. They'd have a lot of fun in that puddle!

We got a good start to our rainy day with this delicious egg scramble, made with Thrive sausage crumbles and chopped onions. It was so quick and easy throwing this together, and I loved that I didn't have to mess with raw sausage or chopping onions.  

  Having such a delicious, quick breakfast, ensured I had plenty of time to give our Lucky boy a hair cut. It was long overdue! The poor guy was so good while I was trimming him and he looks so much better now. It might not be a professional job, but it works for us!

Furry Friday

There isn't much that gets by these girls! From left to right, are: Meadow, Daisy, Maybelle, and Lil Ann.

RIP Sweet Old Bear

Bear was born in 1998, to our beautiful German Shepherd Chica. He was the shy, timid puppy that won our hearts.

Undercover Canine

Tank is such a snugly little guy. He always wants to be under the covers or sandwiched amongst all the pillows. He's so cute!

The Mighty Tank

We recently welcomed into our home dear little Tank. Although his human parents loved him very much, they were not able to keep him. Handy Husband, knowing how I love Chihuahuas and how badly I wanted one, checked the pet ads daily and found Tank's ad.  We fell in love with the little cutie the very first moment we saw him.

He is such a little character- very affectionate and cuddly. He loves going on walks with me outside and especially loves it when we come across a chicken. For being such a little guy, he picks out the biggest roosters to try and chase!

Signs of the Season

Winter is my least favorite of the seasons. Everything about livestock/animal ownership gets harder in the winter- making sure the animals all have adequate protection from the elements, fresh water available as often as possible, and extra feed to keep their bodies warm.

 

De-icing buckets is just part of the water chores. Because of hoses and outdoor faucets freezing up, we have to make multiple trips from the house hauling 5-gallon buckets of water to make sure everyone has enough fresh water until it freezes over again. 

Not only do the horses get extra hay, but the goats do as well, and also the dogs-- they use it as bedding to stay warm.



Flash!

Our family had the privilege of caring for "Flash" for a short time recently. Flash was dumped, or had somehow gotten lost, and was brought home by Handy Husband, who found him wandering around his jobsite. It was such a high-traffic area, that we didn't want to take the chance of him getting run over, and no one in the area seemed to know where the dog had come from.

 

So, Flash came home with us.

 

 

We immediately started looking for his owners, as we just couldn't believe that a dog like this would have been dumped. But no one came forward to claim him.

 

Since our feed bill has almost tripled since taking in Big Giant and Kayla, we could not afford to keep him. Besides, he is such an active, energetic dog, that really needs a LOT of attention, we decided to find a home for him that could give him more time than we could.

 

We temporarily put him in the goat pasture with Big Giant until we could find a new home for him.

 

And we did! Flash is now living with a wonderful family who were so excited to find a dog like him. He was exactly what they had been looking for as a pet for their daughters. I'm so glad that we could help Flash find a good home. I'm sure he'll be very loved and spoiled rotten there!

 



Giant Outdoors

We patched any of the openings in the goat fence that we thought Giant might be able to squeeze through, and he is now being housed in there with the goats.

 

We figured he would enjoy being back with some livestock, and out of the house. He's been mainly inside since his surgery, and I don't think that's been the best thing for his overall health.

 



Update on the Puppies

We couldn't keep the puppies without first checking with all our neighbors to make sure they didn't belong to someone and somehow had wandered off and got lost. And our hunch was right... our neighbors back behind us were missing two of their puppies when they had followed one of the older dogs through the neighboring pasture and down the road. The older dog found his way back home, but the puppies got lost.

 

With heavy hearts we returned Ollie and Stella, who's real names were Sampson and Hilda, to their rightful owners. I felt so much better about it when I saw just how HAPPY the little fur-balls were to get back with their mother and siblings.

 

It was fun fostering them while we did, and we know that they are well-loved where they are now. But I will miss those adorable teddy-bear faces!

 

 

 



Furry Friday

This edition of Furry Friday will show off Ollie and Stella. To read their actual story, click here. For this post, here's some images of their cuteness:

 

 

With a house full of kids, there is no shortage of cuddles:

 

These guys definitely know how to sleep. They just crash down and pass out pretty much anywhere.

\

 

Getting Ollie all cleaned up:

 

They had SO many fleas all over them, and ticks in their ears.

Stella is more people-loving than Ollie. While they are both super sweet and friendly, Stella wants to be near you all the time. She cries if she thinks you've left her.

Hanging out with Giant, who's learning to be patient with them.
He definitely doesn't like sharing though.



It's Raining Dogs!

Not only have we been blessed with the addition of Giant to our family, but we now have two more four-legged critters we call our own. Here's their story:

 

I woke up around 1am this morning to the sound of Giant crying- telling me he needs to go out and go potty. So I put his leash on and took him outside. Immediately we heard a young puppy's cries coming from down the road. I assumed that the nearest neighbors had perhaps got a puppy and left it outside, and I really didn't think much more of it. But to be safe, I called Handy Husband, who has been working nights, and let him know to be on the lookout for a puppy on the road on his way home.

 

Giant wanted us to go look for the puppy... he nearly pulled me down the road. But I resisted, as it WAS 1 o'clock in the morning. I forced him to come back inside where I closed the windows in the hopes that he wouldn't be able to hear the puppy cry. I tried to go back to sleep, but presently began to hear the puppy crying ever louder and louder- even with all the windows closed!

 

Once again, I got out of bed, put my shoes on and grabbed the flash-light. The puppy's cries were definitely louder and closer. I know realized that this was a dumped puppy... not a neighbors' dog. You could hear the sad, desperate pleas in his little voice. I took off down the road in the direction of his cries, and it didn't take long to reach the dark shadowy lump in the middle of the road. When I got close enough that I thought he'd be able to hear me, I started talking to him, and without hesitating, he ran right up to me. Wet from the dew, and wimpering the entire walk home, he seemed happy to be in my arms.

 

Thinking that this was the only puppy that had been dumped, since he was, afterall, alone, I never even considered that there were more out there. But this afternoon, on our way into town, we came upon another little ball of fluff in the middle of the road... this time an almost-white girl. These two puppies are obviously siblings... same age, same body type, same sort of fur. I just HOPE there are no more out there. It breaks my heart to think about how scared these little creatures were when they were dumped.

 

 

 



Our New Three-Legged Friend

Giant underwent his amputation Saturday morning, and we were able to pick him up from the vet's office today. They told us that he did remarkably well, and is the sweetest dog.

 

He was SO happy to be HOME.

 

 

 

He's doing very well, adjusting to life on three legs. He wasn't too sure at first about being inside the house, but he is soaking up the attention and is getting along just fine. We have to give him an antibiotic twice daily, and he does really well taking them in a lump of cheese.

 

We have quite a job ahead of us in cutting out all his mats and getting him cleaned up. He's been quite neglected for a long time.