Happy 62nd Birthday Farmer Bill

Thanks to daughter Maggie for the birthday greeting she made for Pop Pop. It made William and I both laugh!

Will turned 62 today and we spent it cleaning out the hay barn and stacking 50 bales of hay we got for the goats. I did bake him a cake. He doesn't have just one favorite but has favorites for different days so I took all his favorites to make his birthday cake. The cake has 2 double chocolate layers, 2 simple yellow cake layers. Chocolate frosting between each layer with buttercream frosting icing on the outside. The sides of the cake have crushed walnuts on the frosting and the top has roasted coconut on the frosting with farm animals sitting around. Yes, as grandson H told me, its on a Christmas plate. It was the first one I found that was big enough for the cake. It's a square cake that is 4 layers high though it doesn't look big in the photo.

Boring Post

Yesterday was a wonderful day. It rained off and on the night before and yesterday. It was a little cooler so I didn't mind working in the rain. Today not so wonderful as we are back to the awful hot and humid days with no end in sight. Records of triple digit temps have been broken and have a feeling we are going to be breaking even more. The cookout;/ pig roast for William's birthday has been postponed until fall. Hopefully we will have a cool fall so we can sit around the firepit and enjoy roasting a pig without roasting ourselves. So this weekend will find me baking a cake and cooking a birthday meal to enjoy inside with the a/c. It has been noisy around the homestead the past few days. Momma goats are weaning their babies and the babies aren't happy. They go around crying all day long. The only time they are quiet is at morning and afternoon feeding times. They are eating grain and hay really well but still want mommas milk to wash it all down. Hopefully they will get adjusted to not nursing in a few days and things will be quiet again. I separated the bucklings from the herd. They are now in their own pen and not happy about that either. I still have the goats I was caring for  but think the problem is about solved and they will be going to new homes in a couple weeks. The gardens are all but dried up. There are still a few tomato plants hanging on as well as cucumbers and peppers. Am hoping the fall garden will do much better. Grandson H is still with us but will be going home this weekend. I know why you have children when you are young. I am wore out at the end of the day keeping up with him. Yesterday I was working in the yard when he tried to take my shovel and pitch fork. I told him to leave them alone as they were grandma's tools. His answer to that as he kept dragging them away was: Sorry, but I can't hear you. He keeps me on my toes both physically and mentally.  Sold all the baby pigs and will be taking Porkchop and Dottie to be butchered this fall. Susie Q is due to have piglets any day now. Have already sold her and her babies but waiting to move her to her new home till after babies are born and a few days old. I have been painting the kitchen from white to a country beige. Guess I should have went with something different as no one has noticed yet and its been painted a week. Can't really say anything because their isn't that much wall space to see with the shelves, cabinets and appliances. Will paint the diningroom in a few days. This summer has really been the summer for baby chicks. We have had hens hatching chicks everywhere and still have another hen sitting on 13 eggs and one sitting on 3 turkey eggs. Tessa and Baby (turkey) have their nest with eggs in them but haven't started sitting yet. Daisy Duck has been given a new name... Fertile Myrtle. She hatched 3 ducklings early spring, then 15 ducklings late spring, and is now sitting on another nest full of eggs. Am going to have to start selling some ducks. A week from Saturday we will be taking part of Pets Day at Tractor Supply. They are setting up a nice shady fenced in place for us to bring baby goats, ducklings, bunnies, and chicks for children so see and pet. We may take Tinker or Bella but not sure on that yet. Of course Rusty will go. Tractor Supply is his favorite place to go. As soon as we walk in he goes right to the cashier and stands on his hind legs and begs. He knows they have doggie treats under the counter and he wants one when he goes in and when we check out.  Haven't canned very much this past week but have frozen creamed corn and kernel corn. Looking for green beans so I can can more as we and the kids use lots of these in the winter. As you can tell from this rambling post not a lot is going on. Am thankful for each day and still counting down the days till fall arrives. Have a blessed night my friends and count those blessings.

A Little of This and a Whole Lot of Nothing

Today is another hot and humid day. Like everyone else in the country we are having record breaking temps and heat indexes. This morning it was already 80F by 7:30 and its suppose to be 102F with heat index of 112. Friday and Saturday our heat index will be 117f!!!. I am past looking for fall and on to dreaming of winter. Nice cold, snowy, ice stormy winter.... the colder the better. I know I need to be careful what I wish for but I can so do cold weather much, much, better than heat and humidity.

My days have been full caring for animals and making sure they are as cool as possible. Making sure grandson H doesn't get into too much mischief. He plays outside early morning while we feed and then again in late evening. It is just too hot for him to be outside during the day. Inside games, stories, playing with his cars, and watching cartoons seems to keep him happy. I am also trying to plan a cookout/pig roast for William's birthday the 30th. Hopefully the heatwave will break by then. He has never had a birthday party so thought it might be fun to have friends and family over for a farm themed party since Farmer Bill is turning 62.
I also had an idea about flooding the mailbox with birthday wishes for him. If anyone would like to send a birthday card  the address is:
William Lineberry
584 Stoney Point Road
Fayetteville, NC 28304
He will be very surprised when he checks the mail each day. He is excited about the cookout and helping get things cleaned up around the homestead. Lots to do if only it wasn't so hot I could spend more time outside getting ready.

My daughter Melody is having a lot of stress in her life right now. Please keep her in your prayers. So many things she is having to deal with or eliminate that its a bit overwhelming for her. Megan is alone for a week. Her two have gone to Florida to visit grandparents and go fishing. Maggie is doing great and staying busy with work and getting the girls eye exams and clothes before school starts.
My friend Perri had a very near death experience but has such a wonderful outlook on the whole experience. Her faith gives me so much strength. She is truly one that counts each and every blessing! Give her a visit, read her story, and leave a comment. I bet you will be counting your blessings too.

Rain, Beans, and a Little Boy

We got rain!! Wonderful thunderstorm yesterday afternoon and then it settled into a nice steady rain. I just love the sound and smell of falling rain. Everything looks so green and happy now that it got a good long drink of water. Hopefully it will help save the gardens but not sure if it is too late or not.

I spent yesterday canning green beans and carrots

. William went to Lexington, NC to be there for his grandson W's foot surgery so I canned all day inbetween caring for the animals of course. W had to have the bones broken in both his feet (2 different surgeries) and have pins and screws inserted. The bones were trying to grow up through the top of the foot instead of straight so he was having a hard time walking. Once he gets the screws, stitches, etc. out and both casts off his feet he will be as good as new. Anyway when William came home he brought grandson H with him. H's babysitter is on vacation so he will be staying with us until the end of July. He loves the farm and the animals. I do have to keep a close eye on him though as he is the one that let the goats out of the pen last time and thought it was funny. Right now he is relaxing and watching a movie after being outside a few hours playing. He isn't still very often.

Almost time for evening chores and then H is helping fix hamburgers and home fries for supper. We are going to finish it off with a scoop if birthday cake ice cream... H picked the flavor and says its yum yum.

Hope you are having a cool relaxing day. Don't forget to count those blessings! Even the tiny ones.

Surviving The Summer Heat

                                       What do you do to keep cool on these 100F degree days?

 

             Have a nice green salad with wheat bread and cozy up to a frozen water bottle?

                                         Bite into a nice cold, juicy cantalope?

                                       Enjoy a nice, long, cold, drink of well water?

                                        Or just hide out inside in the air condition?

Happy Birthday Megan

Happy 33rd Birthday to youngest daughter Megan. She is busy at work (doctor's office) so won't be doing very much celebrating today. Megan hope your day is as special as you are to me. Love you!

Keeping A Schedule Is Not For Me

The first day the schedule worked kinda well. The second day when I was feeding and watering the bunnies I found Jack Sparrow had ear mites in one ear. So the schedule went out the window as I cleaned and treated his ears and figured to play it safe and do the other 12 bunnies. I now have claw marks and a bunny bite on one arm from Angel. I think I need to change her name to She Devil Jr. after her mom. They both are sweet loving bunnies most of the time but once in awhile their eyes get a red glow (not kidding, really they do) and if you go anywhere near them they will jump right at you with their mouth wide open wanting to bite and scratch you for no reason. Yesterday was that time for Angel. After getting my arm cleaned and bandaged I thought I  might as well clean and bleach their cages, food bowls, and water bottles. Couldn't just leave all the bunny poop under their cages so I raked and hauled that to the mulch pile where on the way I saw the feeding table needing cleaning and the feeding area and hay barn needed raking so stopped to do that. Then I happened to see our firepit had a pile of limbs and twigs that had been picked up from the last thunderstorm so decided to burn those and of course the area around the firepit needed raking and hauling off to the mulch pile. Then there were baby chicks that had gotten out of their pen leaving momma hen freaking out inside the pen and the chicks forgetting how they had gotten out. Of course baby chicks are a lot faster than I could ever dream of being so that took awhile. By that time it was feeding and watering time again and none of my scheduled things got done. I have decided I will just have a mental list of what I would like to do each day and just hope I can get part of it done inbetween the unexpected things that always happen.

Yesterday my oldest daughter Maggie turn 40! I have been teasing her all week about being over the hill and she has taken it really well. I know with all her friends and family she had a very special day. She lives 6 hours away in Tennessee so there was no getting together for lunch or cake. Love you Maggie and hope your day was as special as you are to me!