Frosty Morning

Newest Farm Addition

Meet Violet, an example of what happens when you have a stray female dog show up a few weeks before your dog is scheduled to be neutered. She is well loved, and is now running around the house with the kids. We may try to have a house dog again. May. Her mom isn't really much of a mom, so we've been feeding her and doing her care. We actually had to drill a hole in the bottom of the sheep barn to rescue her, after her mom buried her under there. There were others in the litter, but they were gone by the time we found them. She is awfully sweet.

Crushed Tomatoes

Quart after quart of these beauties keep heading down to our basement pantry. I love preserving our own garden goodies!

Summer Storm

After such a hot, dry summer-a genuine drought-any rain is welcomed. I rather love storms, though, and feel blessed to have seen the last few God has given to replenish the horribly arid land. I will take split tomatoes aplenty, if it means we get some regular precipitation again. It was a lovely storm this past Wednesday when I got these photos. The big kids were in the basement playing while G and I stayed upstairs while she napped. 70 mile an hour winds, the threat for hail, and loads of rain is just my favorite storm to munch cookies and drink hot tea to. I sat facing the back door and took it all in.

Frog Hunting

Two of the Three Muskateers

Foggy Mornings

The Three Musketeers

Rascal, Digger, and Sneakers

Cock-a-doodle-doooooo!

Sunrise on the Farm (Winter Scenes)

Beautiful views after a fresh snow last week. Just lovely to wake up to something so pretty, an experience unique to rural life.

Kittens, Lambs and Babes

Sneakers

Melodie and her mama, Jazzmyn

Rascal and Sneakers

Rascal

Superboy and Gen

Kitty Kitty...Kitty

Our barn cats decided to move out of the barn, but rather than spend their nights in the dog house that is decked out with bedding, we keep finding them here, in a flower pot on the back deck right outside our back door.

Change and Age

You know, through the years I have always enjoyed change. I like to change paint colors, change arrangements in the garden, change recipes and menus, change places we camp. That was then, though. Apparently as I get older (I am not getting old by any means, just getting older or growing up a bit), I find that I am changing, and my stance on change has changed. Now, it seems I am not so fond of it, which is news to me.

I think really this has to do with a lot of major changes at once. We found we were expecting in February, we reunited with some family we had previously been estranged from (and were more than happy to be able to do so), we decided to remove all carpeting from the house and install real, hardwood flooring, which involves moving everything from the first floor to the basement and living there for awhile. We usually live down there in the summer to avoid using the air as it maintains an ambient temp all summer long. We do not, though, move everything we own down there. Just clothes, really.

With the advent of baby and moving clothes we are examining what life has been like the last five years and finding lots of changes that will make life easier and help us prepare for baby, but are big changes in the way things are around the house. Different uss for rooms, adding furniture, taking away furniture, painting rooms, moving plans for a library and office around. All that is starting to make me suffer mini-anxiety attacks like I have not dealt with for a very long time-though that is mostly due to the fact that I know my stressors and avoid them. It is just a lot to take in. The worst part is that I really am happy about what we're doing, and will love my "new" house, but in the meantime cannot handle the stress of it all.

On top of that I have my usual pregnancy worries and have been thinking a lot about running the farm at the best of my game, plus keeping a large house and homeschooling kids, plus starting over with another little blessing, and I think we will be making a few changes. I don't like to do things halfway, and I currently feel like that is where I am at with a lot of the farm stuff. I just have to decide how much to change, and any change anymore seems to be a difficult decision.

It will be interesting to see how these next few months play out. I am really looking to the small respites we get from camping every couple weekends. It gives me a chance to clear my head and separate from the chaos that is currently living on the banks of Sugar Creek, as much as I love it here. I need that refreshing...change and I are not getting along all that well these days, yet it is necessary, really, all of it, and it is going to take all the healthy coping skills I can muster to not break down over the summer.

More Spring Busy-ness

I am not getting the chance to post much here lately. We have two ducklings in the laundry room right now. We have 32 chicks in the basement kitchen (see our sister farm's great post on starting your own chicks here along with pics of what the other half of our chicken order looks like). We have flowering fruit trees and seedlings popping up in the vegetable garden all over. We have lambs and goat kids. I am working on my own "kid" which is tiring even if no evidence is apparent yet. That re-organizing bug so common in the spring has caught on and the basement is in pieces as we re-do the storage room, and make plans for new wood floors throughout most of the main floor and built in bookshelves in the master bedroom. Things are just nuts. Things are just the way we like them. :)

I *heart* Spring

Little glimpses all over...I actually can't wait until we head out to hike a different park Wednesday, just to compare how much else has popped up with the warm weather and rain. Out here the grass is greening beautifully, and we actually had to mow this weekend. We got up around the frog pond and out camping area from last year, plus a few new paths through the part we leave wild and a really nice new spot to camp down by the creek. All the fruit trees have buds on them and in the flower beds daffodils, miniature irises and the mints are looking beautiful. My oregano has spread big time since last year. I see some areas that need moved around and improved. I love growing food, but I love my herbs and flowers as well-they bring such beauty to the house area. I cleaned off the patio and front porch this weekend, so we are ready for enjoying our outdoor living areas. Today I received my yearly order from the tree nursery and my coupon for the Central Campus plant sale. Spring is most certainly upon us. I love it. The kids were even in the sprinkler this weekend (though personally I thought it was too windy to enjoy waterworks, they were begging). That being said, if my posts are even more spacey than they have been (as in space between, though my brain has been in some sort of fog here lately. I would love to say it is diverted blood flow to the baby, but I have my moments when I'm not pregnant, so I doubt it), it is because we are outside enjoying this GREAT STATE, and GREAT COUNTRY full of natural beauty we live in. I'll play catch-up when it rains. :) Get outside!

Nearing the End of March

It's been awhile since I've taken the time get on the computer for too long. We have been busy-starting seeds, bottle feeding farm babies, making lots of plans for improvements on the farm, Spring cleaning/organizing and one of the biggest reasons is that we, as a family, will grow to number 5 in November, so I've been dealing with morning sickness and fatigue the last couple weeks. Things are starting to lighten up now, and just in the nick of time, as the real Spring work is starting to pick up. We will be cleaning up the yard and starting some landscaping projects, tilling and planting the Spring garden, mowing paths for our wildflower walk/pasture and seeding that in, shearing sheep, planting Spring trees and the new strawberry bed, prepping decks for staining, all on top of the usual daily milking goats, feeding animals, gathering eggs, cleaning house and schooling the kids. I'll try to get back in the swing of picture taking to keep you all posted. I just needed to get past those first daunting weeks of pregnancy. Here's to Spring on the farm!

The Knutson Clan Visits the Farm

Pony Gal holding Addie and letting Mr. A pet her.

The twins-Thebe and Karpo.

 

Mr. K and one of the twins

Superboy with the other twin.

Mr. M hanging out on mama's back

Mr. K with Kale

 

 

A rare shot of one of our guineas. They are so active it is hard to catch a nice look at them.

Lunchtime for one of the twins.