Country Diary Excerpt

For Christmas, I got a "Country Diary" in the hopes that I could carry it around with me and write more. Then, I could take my notes from that and add it to my blog here later to keep everyone more posted.

For today's entry, I'm writing that the chickens haven't been laying eggs in 2 weeks now! 2 weeks!! Right now we have 5 Buff Orpington chickens, 4 Rhode Island Reds and 2 black Barred Rock hens ... ALL NOT LAYING!

It's snowing!

Giving Thanks For You

Happy Thanksgiving, friends and avid readers!!

There's lots of cooking and good cheer here in the house on the farm today. Loved one are arriving and Michelle is home from school for the holiday. There's turkey (not for me) and lots of vegetarian options too ... with pumpkin pie and chocolate/oreo cheese cake cooling for later :)

Whether you are on your way here or another destination, know that we really appreciate your continued support of our farm and family. Here's hoping this fall day finds you well!

wordless wednesday

Company for the sheep?

Like my mom said earlier, we were getting ready this afternoon for visitors for the sheep. A woman called this morning and said she wanted to visit to take pictures of her children with our sheep. Well, technically, she wanted photos of her children with white lambs, but after a couple email exchanges to explain we had lambs (but they were several months old, though definitely little because of their breed) and, yes, they're friendly (but that doesn't mean they're going to pose), she was on her way down (a 2 hr drive!) with her children in their Christmas clothes.

Mom and I quickly cleaned out the sheep pen. Visitors for the sheep definitely calls for some cleaning since it's been awhile. Sure, I take photos of our sheep, but I know how to, well, to be frank crop the crap out. Here's a before photo...


(see all the old, wet hay around near the barn door?) Well, we got a wheel barrel, a rake, our electric leaf blower and got to work!! After cleaning it out, we got a little festive in celebration of this family coming for Christmas photos. We put out two bails of hay and put the bench back into the sheep pasture so that the kids coming down could maybe sit there if they wanted to give the sheep cookies. Look how nice it is now:


Hey! What the...


Quit eating the decorations you bad sheep!!!

Getting ready for some company - a family wants to come take pictures with the sheep for their holiday card!

Unearthed Gems

Digging around and weeding during this gorgeous weekend, my mom unearthed more crops she hadn't known that had grown in her garden. The summer was so hot that often times, the idea of weeding did not just seem unfun, it was dangerous! However, with fall here and cooler weather on the way, today was a great day.

In her side garden, today my mom found:
red onions
parsley
oregano
asparagus
beets
spinach
bib lettuce
hot peppers
tomatos
Rhubarb

Withe the help of these new found treasures and my mom's excitement over them, I have a feeling the farmer's market will be back next summer!

Wordless Wednesday