Thursday, January 31, 2013

A Long Labor But We Have Puppies!

Bella was miserable yesterday. She was in, then out, every few minutes. She was on the sofa, on the floor, on the bed, in the hall, in the bathroom, just couldn't find anywhere to get comfortable. Late yesterday afternoon we swept her cervix to see if that would speed things up. She had a few contractions but far apart. I stayed up with her all night as she wanted to go outside in the storm for a walk. Then she wanted to be a lap dog. I massaged her back, her tummy, and even  gave her a pillow to rest her leg on.

  Finally around 3AM she started having contractions every 15 minutes. She wanted out so I took her back to the goat pen and put her in the stall where she delivered last year. That lasted about an hour. Then she came inside and rested where I had fixed a spot for her to have the puppies. That lasted a few minutes and she managed to dart out the door when William opened it. We searched and found her underneath a pile of lumber. I finally decided if that is where she wanted to have her puppies then leave her be. 30 minutes later she was barking at the back door and William let her in. I was sitting on the sofa when she came running in and jumped up beside me. She laid her head on my lap and looked up with her big brown eyes. I told her she finally realized she wanted her mommy. Before I could get up to help her to the birthing spot. She had a puppy on the sofa! 

Made sure she was breathing good and moved her and mom.

Wasn't be a minute and she was nursing away!
45 minutes later her brother made an entrance.Slowly throughout the day 4 more brothers were added to the family.





 I won't say Bella is done as I thought that an hour ago when she and the puppies took a nap. I cleaned up the birthing area and just got them all settled back down when the 5th little boy popped out.
Right now they are all resting after fresh, clean bedding was fixed for them. (Hopefully last time tonight). I am so ready for a nap but first I must wash up all the labor and delivery mess, put a closed sign on the labor room door and a welcome sign on the nursery. Its going to be a crazy time in my livingroom nursery for a few weeks.
P.S. The little girl already has a home when she is old enough. Her new family are going to call her Snow. Snow will be moving to Lexington, NC in 6 weeks.

Make that 6 boys and a girl. Time to change the bedding again. Guess labor and delivery isn't closed after all. Another update>>>> 7 boys and 1 girl. Wonder if labor/delivery nurses get overtime.




Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Wednesday's Wonderful Blog Neighbor

  Because I think I have the most awesome blog neighbors I wanted to share some with you. Each Wednesday I will post one of my blog neighbors and hope you will drop by their blog for a visit. You don't have to follow them or even leave a comment (though that would be nice). Just stop by and check them out. Who knows you might like them so much they become your neighbor too!

Today I am introducing you to Jaz at October Farm

 She is so talented!!! If you look through her archives you will see some of her decorating skills. But that is not all! This lady can cook! She should be a chef in the best restaurant in the world. But that is still not all. She not only cooks for her family and sometimes events her daughter hosts, she cooks and donates food to a soup kitchen for the homeless! Jaz doesn't just warm up can or frozen premade foods and breads. She makes everything from scratch and pays for items out of her own pocket. She has guys meeting her at the soup kitchen door anxious to taste what she has prepared for the day. When you don't find her decorating or in the kitchen you will find her in her gardens. She won't be alone because wherever she is you will find Teddy.

He is the baby of the family and loves to be treated as such. I sure hope you will pop over to October Farm for a visit. You won't be disappointed and I know you will enjoy the smells coming outta the kitchen. Jaz will be happy to give you some of her yummy recipes and while you are there ask to see her witch collection. Amazing!

Monday, January 28, 2013

My Book

I have been ask for several years to put the story of Nitro in a book. Well I finally did it! It is written as a children's but is actually a good read for anyone. The story of Nitro before he crosses Rainbow Bridge has a sad ending to the fun and happy adventures of his life here at Hidden Haven. Click on title below to check it out.

IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Little Bit's New Home

When we find homes for our puppies we try our best to find the best home possible for each one's personality. Little Bit loves to guard goats but she also loves people, especially children. She is in the perfect home for her and seems to be so happy. She has lots of goats to watch over, people to give her loving attention, and children to play and run with. A big thank you to D Goat Farm for making Little Bit a part of their family. In the picture with all the goats they said that the goats wouldn't have anything to do with Little Bit a week ago when she first arrived. A week later and they seem to have accepted her as their guardian and friend.




Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Animal House

 Rusty is in a corner pouting because I gave him a bath
 Bella is laying in the hallway where everyone has to step over her. She is due to have her puppies any day so its hard for her to find a place to be comfortable.
Whiskers is on top of the freezer.... because Bella is inside and Tinker will be coming in later since its going to be cold tonight.  The goats have extra straw in all their stalls to snuggle into. The rabbits have extra bedding in their houses and the baby chicks and their moms have heat lamps and extra straw. The ducks and chickens seem to want to stay out in the cold instead of going in their roosting houses. Well a few seem to have decided to go into the warmth. The stove has the house nice and toasty. I have a cup of hot tea and a ebook calling my name. If I can find a place on the sofa as Bella just came in the livingroom
  and took it over I will read for a little while. Tinker finally made it in for the night. She thinks she should be a lap dog.
What a boring life it would be around here without the animals. Have a blessed night.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Gone To The Dogs

Buck in front and Little Bit. They are only 9 months old and as big as their daddy
Saturday was the Flock Swap and we did really well. Sold 7 baby bunnies, 12 dozen eggs, and our last 2 puppies of Tinkers. They are 9 months old and well trained with the goats. Little Bit, the girl went to D Goat Farms and from the pics on their facebook she is in heaven. They have 30 goats and as well as children who enjoy playing with her. Buck on the other hand went to a small goat farm that we thought would be perfect for him. He loved the family, especially the grandchildren but hated being away from Hidden Haven. Whenever they put him in with their goats he would attack them and their pig. They put him in a pen by himself and he broke the gate and got out. He wanted to stay inside with them and he has never been a inside dog. In fact he had never been outside the goat pens. Well we got the call this afternoon and William went and picked him up. He is home and back in the goat pen where he thinks he belongs. Don't know what we will do with him. He is such a good guardian dog for our herd. Doesn't bother the chickens and at the Flock Swap sat right beside the bunny cage and never bothered them at all. We already have Falcor so don't need another male dog and we have Tinker and Bella (who is due to have puppies any day). So Buck is in the goat pen. Bella is inside waiting to go in labor. Tinker is inside as she got her collar hooked on something last night and couldn't move to her doghouse and got chilled. She is feeling lots better but is pushing getting spoiled a little too much. Of course wherever Tinker is Tramp has to be so he is inside laying next to her. If I make him go outside he stands at the door and barks. Rusty has no idea why he has to share me and is sleeping under the diningroom table. Whiskers the cat decided it was safer to sleep on top of the fridge away from all the dogs. Me, I am getting my stretching exercises by stepping over 4 dogs every time I need to move. I can only imagine the fun when we add Bella's puppies to this circus. Guess I better take them all outside for potty breaks before I go to bed. Maybe I should change Hidden Haven Homestead to Hidden Haven Dog Pound. Have a blessed week everyone!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Goodbye Sweet Leontien

This past fall I posted in Wonderful Blog Neighbors about leaves for Leontien. This sweet,wonderful, kind lady lost her battle to cancer. Blog neighborhood will not be the same

Leontien Oostdijck

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Wednesday's Wonderful Blog Neighbor


  Because I think I have the most awesome blog neighbors I wanted to share some with you. Each Wednesday I will post one of my blog neighbors and hope you will drop by their blog for a visit. You don't have to follow them or even leave a comment (though that would be nice). Just stop by and check them out. Who knows you might like them so much they become your neighbor too!

Today I am choosing my blog neighbor Lots of Scotts  

Besides being a awesome mom, this lady always shows by example her faith and love in God. In 2004 she had preemie triplets and soon after coded. She almost lost her life but instead has cherished every minute of every day. When you visit her blog please scroll down to the posts about the families visit to Honduras where her husband was a visiting surgeon. She and the children visited orphanages and took toys and supplies. Each year her family tries to visit another country and help in any way they can. I hope you will stop by her blog and read of their wonderful adventure and this lady's wonderful faith.








Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Rambling

My granddaughter Kristine had her first wreck Saturday night. She was on her way home from work ran out of the road and over corrected. She ended up going up a bank then flipping over. The whole family has been giving thanks to God for keeping Kristine safe. She crawled out of the wreck with only 2 scratches and pulled muscles in her back. Also for the first time she hadn't buckled her seat belt. If she had been wearing it she would either be dead or in intensive care. The top of the car was crushed down onto the steering wheel. She could have been crushed. It had been raining and she was driving slow thank goodness or that could have caused her serious injuries. She is a trooper though and didn't take any days off work or school even though she is very, very, sore.

Several have ask about the diet I am on. It is called "The 3 Day Military Diet" where you follow a strict diet for 3 days and eat normally for the other 4 days of the week.  The first 2 days I am fine but the third day is the strictest and I get cranky. I am going to be on this for at least 6 weeks. William is only going to be on it 3 or 4 weeks. Last week I lost 8lbs and hopefully I will lose at least the same this week. It takes willpower but it does work and you have 4 days of the week to eat normal but healthy. Let me know if you try it and how you do.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Imitation Potato Salad

William and I put on a few too many pounds over the holidays and been doing the 3 day military diet. You have a strict diet for 3 days and then eat normally the other 4 days of the week. First week William lost 7 and I lost 8 lbs. While being on the 4 day normal eating I came across this one in Backwoods Home magazine and loved it. Taste almost exactly like potato salad. Monday will find us back on the 3 day strict menu but still have tomorrow to try and enjoy new recipes.

 Imitation Potato Salad   This tastes just like the real thing, but is much lower in calories and nutritious, too.   Ingredients:
 2 (10 oz. each) packages frozen cauliflower
 2 hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup low far mayo
2 TBS bacon bits
salt and pepper

cook cauliflower according to package, mash then cool in fridge for 30 minutes. Boil and chop eggs. Add eggs and other ingredients to cauliflower and combine. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

 

Winter?

Grandson Harvey is spending a couple weeks here on the homestead. With all the rain we have been having he is going to get a lot of use out of his rubber boots.

Hopefully the almost 80F degree weather we are going to have today and tomorrow will dry up some of the mud so I can get some pens cleaned. (Yeah, its the middle of winter and 80 degrees.) With the goats due to start kidding at the end of the month and first of February I plan on mucking the pen I use for labor and keeping momma and kid for a few weeks. Need to clean out the sheds and put fresh bedding. Make sure the gate is secure so the other goats can't get in. Just saw where it is suppose to rain Monday, Tuesday, and part of Wednesday.. guess I need to purchase rubber boots for the goats. Have a blessed weekend everyone.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

This and That

Some of my sweet grands at Christmas. Quintin was on his way from FL and Julie was at her Auntie's when this pic was taken
Granddaughter Julie
The past 3 days have been a challenge  but with good results. William and I have put on weight the past couple of months and decided to diet. Most diets are for long periods of time and I give up and gain the weight back. I found after some searching a 3 Day Military Diet where you can lose up to 10lbs in those 3 days then you eat normally for 4 days before going back on dieting for 3 days. The first and second day weren't so bad but I stayed tired and sleepy. The 3rd day is hard as you eat VERY SMALL amounts of food. Today is our 3rd day and as of this morning William had lost 7 lbs and I had lost 8. Will weigh again in the morning after surviving this starving day. LOL I do know that in the morning I will have a cup of hot chocolate and a cheese omelet. I am going to watch what I eat over these 4 days and going to do some sweating the oldies. You can't exercise much during the 3 days because you don't have the energy. We both had a hard time coming down off our sugar high. But hopefully we will be at our goal weights at the end of 30 days. I miss being around the grands and listening to them laughing and talking. I miss playing the card game Mississippi with Julie,Justin, Christian, and Melody. That was such a fun night. Hopefully I will see all of them again this summer. Grandson Harvey is coming tomorrow evening for a 2 week stay. He will keep me moving.  While I was in the mountains Tinker and Bella started escaping the goat pens several times a day. William just started letting them stay in the house at night so now they think when its dark its time to be inside. They get me up super early to go outside and potty so I am getting chores done early and have time to get other projects done and some cleaning on the outside. Bella is due to have puppies near the end of this month. This will be her last litter. We decided not to breed Tinker and Falcor is not happy about that.  I have 2 hens and a turkey sitting on eggs. Not my choice but while I was away William didn't know where all the nests were and some days he didn't collect eggs. Hens thought that was a sign to sit. Tessa the turkey was suppose to hatch her eggs while I was away but none of her eggs were good. Don't think Fred topped her. She kept sitting on bad eggs so when I came home I took the eggs away and put 4 chicken eggs under her. She has raised chicks before with no problem. Hopefully spring will find her and Fred romancing and having fertile eggs.  As usual its a crazy but normal time around the homestead. I am truly blessed!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Wednesday's Wonderful Blog Neighbor


  Because I think I have the most awesome blog neighbors I wanted to share some with you. Each Wednesday I will post one of my blog neighbors and hope you will drop by their blog for a visit. You don't have to follow them or even leave a comment (though that would be nice). Just stop by and check them out. Who knows you might like them so much they become your neighbor too!

Today I have picked blog neighbor: Rocky Oak Homestead . Rocky Oak Homestead is a partial off grid homestead on 18 acres in north eastern Oklahoma in the Ozark mountains. The Homestead Lady is amazing in all she accomplishes in a day. Her faith, hardwork, and determination gives me inspiration each and every day. Love reading about her daily life, about her animals, her gardens, her dreams, and plans. Rocky Oak Homestead   is what I want Hidden Haven Homestead to be one day. Being more like The Homestead Lady would be awesome too!  So please take a few minutes to stop by and pay her a visit. I am sure you will enjoy her blog even if you aren't interested in homesteading. You will feel very welcomed and blessed.


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

New To Me Laptop

Until tonight William and I have been sharing a laptop (his as my computer bit the dust couple years ago). Now I have a used but in excellent condition laptop and love it. I am having to learn my way around and I still have to move over my files,folders, pics, and some sites that I hadn't put in bookmarks or favorites yet. I am still wanting to get back to blogging every day as well as posting more frugal things going on around here, more animal stories, more projects I am planning, more gardening (veggies,herbs, and flowers). Just more homestead happenings in general. Thanks for still stopping by to visit. You will be seeing more of me!

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Coming To An End

For some reason there are words highlighted in my post that if you click on them take you to ads. I didn't do it and don't know how to delete it. Am sorry and please don't click on anything highlighted in this post.

My time here in my beautiful NC mountains is coming to an end. Being here with daughter Melody has been more relaxing for me instead of helpful for her. She found out just how strong she really is and didn't need mom as much as she thought. I got to spend a wonderful Sunday afternoon with all 3 daughters and most of the grands. Lots of laughter,talking, and eating with everyone getting along. I got to attend several church services with Melody and Megan. What a blessing to attend Grace Baptist Church. A lovely Christmas service with a couple of solos by young talented children. A awesome  gospel singing and service to bring the New Year in with lots of yummy finger foods made by church members (of course I took some of my brown sugar cookies). I enjoyed the preaching, the bible studies, and the Sunday school lessons. There was one sermon our whole family felt like the pastor was talking directly at us...good sermon! I did a little thrift shopping, got a much needed haircut at a super sale price of $6.99. Did lots of reading and too much eating. Caught up on movies and TV shows. Enjoyed short walks with Rusty and just being able to be with and talk with daughters and grands. Tonight I will be spending night at Megan's and having fun with Quintin, Gabs, and Skyler. Tomorrow night will find me packing and getting ready to head home Saturday. As much as I am going to miss being here I am looking forward to going back to the homestead. Animals need some of my love and attention. Christmas decorations need taking down and put away. Chicken and goat pens need raking and cleaning as well as bleaching water bowls. Housecleaning, laundry, and just getting back into routine makes me content. William needs help with fencing and in just a few short weeks kidding season will start.  I wouldn't miss that for the world. Yes, I love these beautiful, awesome mountains that I was born and spent most of my life in, but there is no place like Hidden Haven Sweet Homestead.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Wednesday's Wonderful Blog Neighbor

  Because I think I have the most awesome blog neighbors I wanted to share some with you. Each Wednesday I will post one of my blog neighbors and hope you will drop by their blog for a visit. You don't have to follow them or even leave a comment (though that would be nice). Just stop by and check them out. Who knows you might like them so much they become your neighbor too!



 This week I am picking Lisa from Fresh Eggs Daily . Lisa has been blogging for a year but has lots of chicken knowledge. She cares for and loves her chickens more than anyone I know. You should check out her wreath she made them for Christmas. Lots of frugal,easy but healthy recipes, etc can be found on her blog . Pop on over and pay her a visit. Even if you are not a chicken fan you will enjoy her blog.






Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Enjoying my last week in the mountains before heading back to the homestead. Was blessed to spend an afternoon with the grands (except Quintin who was on his way home from FL). They sure are growing up fast. They keep me laughing which should help keep me young....right??? Have a very, very, blessed 2013.