Animals, Animals

It has been so long...I almost forgot how to do this "blog" thing.  I was just reading through my sister Kara's blog.  She is always so on top of things.  And organized.  A true inspiration.  I thought I'd try to update all that's happened in the long months since I've blogged last.  And by "long months" I mean short months that have flown by in the blink of an eye.  Anyone else's life breezing by way too fast???

Above is the pig that we had for about 2 years...she saw 2 winters.  She is now in neat little packages in my freezer.  We are really enjoying eating our own meat.  It's the only pork I've ever been able to eat without getting sick afterwards.  This time we had the butcher make us some cuts of bacon and ham, but of course we didn't get it cured the normal way (with nitrates, food coloring, smoking, etc.)  Just good ol' side pork and fresh ham steaks.  So good.

 This spring I had a moment of weakness at the feed store and bought a bunch of little chicks and 4 ducklings.  They were so cute, but boy are they messy.  Ducks are walking squirty poop machines.  Only 2 of the 4 survived to maturity, but they are a breeding pair.  We ended up getting 3 more full size ducks a little later, and I am thinking they are all drakes.  This poor little hen duck of ours sure gets her share of matings.  We'll have to clip her wings so she stays with us this fall, and probably butcher all but one of our drakes.

We also started raising our own rabbits this year.  Here is our first doeling at about 4 weeks old.  She is now at the age I can breed her.  She is a mini-rex, not quite a meat breed, but it was what we could find at the time.  I have since aquired a few more rabbits.  Some New Zealand white, Florida Whites, and most recently an unknown breed, she looks to be a Rex with black and white markings.  She is due to have her kits on August 26th!  Our first litter due in just 8 days!  I need to build her a nesting box pronto.  Our long term plan is to raise rabbits for meat.  Rabbit meat has the most protein dense meat of any animal, and they dress(butcher) much easier than a chicken.  The problem is that rabbits are so darn cute and soft and snuggly.  I like the idea of having our own meat source in case of emergency, but perhaps we will just keep them for their amazing manure fertilizer for now.

This year also marks the start of our journey with dairy goats.  These are our first two goats.  Honey is the little girl, and the whether is unnamed because he will eventually have to turn into meat.  Right now he is just a companion for the little girl.  The reality is that it costs a lot to feed an animal, especially through the winter, so we have to get rid of any animal that is not productive in some way.

This is the first goat I started milking.  Her name is Pie.  Aila says that Pie is her goat.   Pie is a Nigerian Dwarf, so about 1/3 the size of a full sized goat.  I really like her temperament.  She gives about 1 quart of rich milk per day.  And she never makes any noise.  After milking I scratch right behind her ears and she rolls her eyes back in pleasure.

 This is me trying to make a go at my own business.  This is my self-serve stand set up next to the road.  No one bought trees this year.  I know it's been a hard year with drought, late freezes, etc... Maybe next year???

And this is Snowball.  This was Terra's birthday present this year.  She had been admiring this breed of chicken before, so I bought her a breeding trio of these bantam chickens.  They are about 1/2 the size of a regular chicken and have feathered feet.  They are really sweet.  This has been the only rooster I have never been scared of, cuz he is just so cute.  Snowball hatched out 4 chicks for us this summer and is a great mother hen.

This One's For Ryan

My cousin recently asked a few questions about how we built our house. So I thought I'd do a post about it, mostly so I can remember what we did. First off, you need to make sure you have the right attitude to get the job done...yep.



Then you need to draw up plans, and choose your materials. We wanted to do ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) because Joseph's brother had built a house with them, and they were highly recommended. We chose Logix brand ICF blocks...there are several different brands, but there was a distributor nearby, so we chose these.



The construction itself was very do-it-yourself friendly...the blocks are kind of like giant Legos. The tricky part is fitting in the window and door openings. And of course making everything straight and level.



We kept it simple and made the plans for our house just one big two-story rectangle.




Just keep stacking the blocks until you get to the desired height... then pour the concrete in between the foam blocks...



We then put in the upstairs floor. Next we covered it all up with a big tarp and took a much needed break until the next spring when we put the second floor walls up and did the second and last concrete pour. (It is possible to do this all in a much shorter amount of time, just not for us).

After that last pouring of concrete, we put on the roof and installed windows, doors, etc.


Hmmm...this all makes it sound so easy...and quick. I guess it should be, but it's NOT. This "project" has consumed our lives for almost 3 years. The house is far from being finished, but it is comfortable and functional. If I could do it all over again, I am not sure we would try to build our own home. Actually, I am sure that we would NOT try to build our own home. But, since we can't do it all over again, I am very satisfied and quite happy with the results. I really do love our house...and if you have decided to build your own home, I would highly recommend using ICF.

Excitement!

I just signed up for a pottery class! Yay! I think this will be so fun. First time I will have been able to work with clay since I graduated from college. I am giddy with excitement!

Snow, snow, GO AWAY!!!

This is our minivan. I haven't driven it all winter. I really don't like driving in the snow. That may or may not have to do with the fact that I almost drove me and my sisters off a seemingly large cliff when the roads were covered in snow up at Woods Lake. I still have nightmares.



This is the view from the girl's bedroom upstairs. This is looking down right where my garden will be. This week we had one good day where the snow started melting. And then it snowed again. And the wind blew really hard. And it's cold. That's all.

A Miracle of Modern Dentistry

We had a little trauma happen here on Monday night. Emery "accidentally" pushed Garrison down a few stairs and he landed on his face. There was a lot of screaming, no blood, but a very freaked out Mom. After making a lot of calls and consulting the internet, we were able to take him to a dentist early the next morning and his teeth are now as good as new.



Look at the "after" picture below- You can't even tell that they were chipped. Even close-up, it's hard to tell. He's a very lucky boy.

It's Coming Along!

You may wonder why Garrison is wearing a foil hat...
go ahead and just keep wondering.



This is a baby carrier that I made for Kara yesterday. I had to test it out...and Aila loved it. Not quite sure what Terra is thinking about it. I loved that it was comfortable to put her on my back as well as on the front.


This the flooring in Garrison's room. I put down Aspen tongue and groove boards and then put a clear finish on top. I love how it turned out and I think we'll eventually get around to putting this in as our floor in the entire upstairs part of the house.
And this is what I am most proud of lately. I think the siding looks so great...so finished. I still need to put the trim around the windows. The greenhouse is almost completely done, just in time to start some early plants for the garden this year.

Happy Anniversary!

Before The month is over...

It's been a wonderful nine years. Life is so good, and I am so happy. I hope to have many more wonderful years full of adventure, craziness and joy with my best friend by my side.

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time a goose drank wine,
a monkey chewed tobacco on a street car line,
the street car line broke,
the monkey choked,
and they all went to heaven on a billy goat.


This morning Joseph said, "Sing me a song." And I started belting out that sing-song riddle thing. Where did it come from, and how do I know it? I have no idea. Guessing from some childhood weird thing. Anybody know?



This is the bathroom floor upstairs that took me months to finish. Don't have a clue why it took me so long. We used all "found" tile...meaning it took me quite a while to collect it from yard sales...thrift stores, etc. This way it was cheaper for me to use nice tile.


This is the beginning of our siding outside. I started on the back of the house so I could mess up without anyone knowing. I love how it's looking. It's Cedar...I think it's very rustic looking...just what I wanted. I almost have the Front of the house covered, and half of the east side...but I can't do much more because the scaffolding is too slippery and it's just too scary.


And this is the best picture of our dearly departed goat. I think we somehow poisoned him with all the weird produce we've been feeding the animals. The pigs and chickens are fine. We had our first large animal butcher with the goat and saved the meat for the cats, since we didn't want to eat an animal that we didn't know the reason for death. We will never raise goats for meat. NEVER.

Kids are so cute.

Before I forget...I wanted to write down a few of the things my kiddos say that are cute...wrong, but cute. For example, when we get to the grocery store and there is an empty parking space close to the entrance, they say..."Look the handy captain space is empty!" And when they want to throw a frisbee...it's really a "crispy". C'mon, let's go play crispy. And Terra always calls an umbrella a "Dinderella". Cute!

So, we did NOT celebrate Halloween. We have every year until now...but I just do not like the holiday. I mean, why go out into the cold, dressed in creepy costumes, just to collect sugar from our neighbors? Then, while everyone is feeling screamy, I have to somehow convince the kids that they really don't want that candy...uhhh...not a good idea. So this year, I never even mentioned it, and no one knew the difference, until we had a trick-or-treater come to our house. That kind of spoiled it...but then I told the kids about the Harvest Festival that we would be attending the next weekend and they were allright with not getting any candy. At the festival we made applesauce, apple cider, some soft pretzels, painted pumpkins, listened to stories being told, and had some homemade butter on cornbread. Yay!! No candy at all this year. I think we'll make that a tradition.


Here's Garrison and Aila after a good night's sleep, just having fun with each other. They really get along well. She turned 2 and he turned 8 this last month. So now all the kids are even...2, 4, 6, and 8.



This was Garrison's Birthday. We went down the road to Sand Creek Ponds. It was really beautiful with the changing leaves.



This is just a picture of some baked oatmeal I was making, but I was amazed at the difference between the 2 store bought eggs and our last 2 eggs from our own chickens. Can you guess which is which?



And this is my 4 year old Terra really concentrating on her painting.



And this is the very last picture I have of when our garden was green this year. Now it is covered in snow.

Finally...sort of.

No pictures...I am having camera problems. Mostly it's that my camera is never where I want it to be when I want to take a picture...and partly because my rechargeable batteries are getting to have a very short lifespan.

But anyway...thought I would just update that we did finally pass our inspections and got to move into our house. We got our official Certificate of Occupancy, which I really thought would be an actual certificate that I could frame and put a back light on or something. But no, nothing... Just a pat on the back...wait, no...didn't get that either. I am feeling pretty proud that we actually pulled it off. Now I plan to spend whatever good weather we have left (by "good" I mean not horrible) to finish up the siding and the attached greenhouse. After that I get to focus on the finish work inside like mudding and texturing drywall, tilework, trim, painting, etc. Hopefully I will have that all done before spring comes and I want to be outside all the time. (Uh, oh...I am already looking forward to that.)

As much as I hate winter, I think I have decided that I DO like the changing of the seasons and that I AM looking forward to a more restful winter. I plan on reading, catching up on schoolwork with the kids, actually getting to play my cello and maybe my guitar...oh, and I guess all the finish work on the house. Maybe it won't be restful after all.

I am Shaking in My Boots.

I don't really have boots on...but I am shaking. I'm a little cold, but I'm REALLY nervous. Today I have the rough electrical and plumbing inspections scheduled. They'll be here sometime today...don't know when. I am terrified. What if they say we did it all wrong?!?!? What if they say we have to rip it all down and start over?!?!?

I guess it's more likely that they won't say those things, so I should just relax. This is worse than going to the dentist. I always get nervous at the dentist...the kids have dentist appointments coming up...hmmm.

So we did end up moving from our house to an apartment in town. We are right above a bookstore, overlooking the main street. It's kind of fun. It's kind of like going to a hotel room every night.

Okay...I should go. Wish me luck today.

P.S. Okay, I am silly. Just found out that I messed up the Inspection Requests, but I cleared it up and they WILL be tomorrow. So a whole day of pacing back and forth and not eating and biting my fingernails was for nothing. We'll start that again in the morning.

I Just Can't Sleep

Okay it's 3 a.m. and I can't sleep. Ughh. Well, it looks like we are going to have to move out of our home for a month or so. We lasted as long as we could and now the Planning and Building people have caught on to our plan. Darn. Now we have to waste money on renting another place just so we can say that we "officially" don't live here at our house. Hopefully it's only going to take a month of hard work to finish up...

Anyway, this month will be hectic.

My Plan is Working!

I am sneakily trying to get us all to eat better. And it's working! Today for lunch I was eating a salad and Terra started begging for some, so I made her her own salad, and then Garrison and Emery wanted their own as well. They were bickering over who got their salad first!!! Yay! Love it. Of course...they still had to have some cheese and croutons on it, but we are getting better. I usually have to hide the greens in a smoothie or some kind of sauce.

Just Some of the Little Moments

It's the little moments in life that make it all worth it. Life has been really good lately. Really, really good.
And then the Planning and Building Department decide they need to get more involved. But, we'll make it through this little adventure too.
The weather is just starting to really cool off at night. I am now in fast forward to get things done before winter sets in. I have sold a lot of trees...at least enough to pay for most of the expenses this year...which means our own trees were paid for by the ones I sold.


Here's a picture of us at our favorite place to be on a Sunday afternoon. Sand Dunes Lake. Love it. We always have the place to ourselves on Sunday. There are trees to shade us, the water is clear, and we get a great parking spot.


This is my newly installed kitchen sink. I still have to figure out what to do about the walls in the kitchen...the "backsplash" area.


And This is Emery with one of my Roses in her hair. She always has a flower in her hair these days.


Some more pretty flowers in the garden...these are hollyhocks.


And this is after a fun filled day in town. Garrison sits up front so he chats with me on the way home, but the girls all zonked out.

Just Some of MY Great Outdoors

I LOVE having a garden of my own. I LOVE having the kids roam free and wide. I have an elderly lady that lives down the road who is the same age as both my grandmother(s)...she is an avid gardener and likes to come and visit and walk through my garden. She doesn't understand why I can't "just plant in rows", and "keep things weeded", and "why, oh why do you have to use all that mulch everywhere". I think she is just trying to be helpful...

This is one of my rosebushes that Joseph bought me for my birthday last year. Aila just ripped off all the blooms last night.

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And this is inside my little greenhouse...should be getting tomatoes anytime now...



And this is right near our front door. That is all the lawn that I want to ever have. It only takes about ten minutes of maintenance per week and I just use a human powered push reel mower. It is just enough, but not too much.



And this is a section of my wildflower garden. It is in FULL bloom now...I've got to go take another picture...QUICK!

The Beautiful Ranch

Joseph was bribed with brownies to go and spend the day trying to get his parent's fifth-wheel trailer up and running. We haven't been up to the ranch since early this spring. I sure miss the beauty and simplicity of life up there.


For example...need a drink? Just take a sip from the creek. (Ummm...you said it wrong. It is pronounced "Crick"...just thought I'd let you know.) That is Attley(cousin)and Garrison.



And Grammy took the girls for a couple of long rides on the 4-wheeler.



Joseph took this picture...beautiful photography.






And a few pics of the kids...the last is Aila with her "Grandad". She LOVES her Grandad.

Long Time Coming.

I know...I'm slow. I am finally posting something. We've been trying to get more organized and "structured" around here. So far it's been great. We've had time for the important things, the kids are helping out, things look slightly more clean and less cluttered, and everyone is getting more sleep. I hope it lasts for more than a few days.

Here are a few pictures of some stuff that's been going on.


Here we are at the County Fair this last weekend. I love going to the fair because we get a free Sloppy Joe lunch. I go almost anywhere for free food. Aila was just enamored with this horse. Whenever she saw it she went running toward it with obvious excitement.



This is Aila and our newest kitten. She loves it...(Just in case you were wondering, yes, it is really hard for me to keep my kids clean.)



And this our newest addition to our chicken flock. I know it is kind of hard to see, but there is a little chick there. Just one chick hatched out of the clutch-the last living descendant of Crazy Rooster Head (you know-the rooster with the top hat feathers). He was killed about a month ago by a raccoon (we think that's what it was).


And these are our little pigs who have doubled in size since we got them a month or so ago. We've been feeding them spoiled produce from the local grocery store and we also have them in a movable pen where they can eat all the clover we have planted. We plan on keeping them as a breeding pair and selling the babies in the spring. All I know is that I don't want to eat them. Joseph asked me again today if we wanted milk goats and I almost thought we should for a minute there. Then I thought about it...ummm...no thanks. Then I'd get addicted to milk again.



Hmmm...none of that sounds very exciting, but we've been staying busy.