Happy Birthday Kristine

Yesterday my very first grandchild turned 17! Just doesn't seem right to have the grands growing up so fast. Next year she will be graduating high school and going off to college. Time sure does travel much to fast in some ways.  Kristine "Teeny" I hope your birthday was extra special because you sure are an extra special young lady. Love you!

My Helpers

This week I am blessed to have 2 little helpers around the homestead. Elizabeth (Melody's Foster baby) and Harvey (Lisa's son) is spending the week here. Yesterday they were very helpful feeding the bunnies and helping with feed the chickens. Most of the day was spent with Harvey pulling Elizabeth in the wagon and asking for pay with a kiss. Think its going to be a interesting week.

Around The Homestead

With 80 plusF degree weather and spring not even here yet makes me wonder what we will have to deal with this summer. Usually winters are spent doing inside projects, dreaming over seed catalogs, catching up on reading, and just enjoying relaxing by the fire. This winter has been so mild I have been outside doing spring projects. You would think with them done I could rest and wait for summer... nope. Summer temps arrived and doesn't look like it will be leaving anytime soon. The seedlings in the greenhouse are almost ready to be planted in the gardens. The flowers are blooming and the trees have leafs opening up on them. Dogwoods are getting ready to bloom and birds are building nests. I so miss not having a winter. I also am not a fan of daylight savings time. Why would I want to get up at dark just to have a extra hour of daylight at night? Rather have regular time all the time and have that daylight in the morning so I can rest in the evening and not feel guilty about wasting daylight.

My daughter Megan, her children, a friends 4 yr old, a friend of Megan's and her daughter as well as a friend of her sons went camping last week. They went camping in Cherokee, NC where they had frost every morning when they came out of their tents. The campground did have a indoor pool that they enjoyed but most of the time they spent outside in the cold weather. They played outdoor chess, rode pedal cars, cooked over open fire and did a little fishing. Grandson Quintin caught a 17lb trout and won a fishing contest there. He won $50 so know he was one happy camper.

Quintin cleaned and cooked some of the trout he caught. Wish I had been there for supper!

Still checking goat "butts" as have one due any day and one due in April. Olivia is doing fantastic and back with the other goats. Lil Vicki is growing and still spoiled rotten. She is not afraid of anything. She goes right up to the dogs and climbs on them, licks their nose, or just cuddles up with them. They love her too and let her do anything she wants and just sit there.

Incubators are up and running. Hopefully we will have lots of baby chicks in a few weeks. The baby bunnies are growing and getting more adorable everyday. Can't wait till Easter weekend so they can have new homes. Tinker and Bella aren't showing much but sure act like tired pregnant doggies. They have gotten picky on what they will eat now and turn their nose up at food they use to love. Glad they will have their puppies before the heat of the summer.

Things around the homestead are still busy as usual. Can't seem to catch up but sure am blessed to wake up and enjoy each day no matter what the chores. Love having all the animals meeting me at their gates even if they are just wanting food. Hope you are having lots of blessings in your days!

A Good Day

The picture of Lil Vicki doesn't have anything to do with this post. I just love looking at this cutie!

Even with rain off and on all day I got a lot of things accomplished. Still lots to mark off the to do list but making headway. Had several trays of herb seedlings that needed to be put into bigger individual pots. Got 3 more trays of seeds planted. So looking forward to my herb garden this year.

Right before I went to the mountains for Christmas my washer broke. William was going to fix it before I came home. Well that didn't happen. He just didn't have the time. After I came home he was still busy with his handyman business that there just didn't seem to be time for him to tear the washer down to repair it. I also didn't seem to find the time to use the washtubs and washboard. I broke down and went to the laundry mat. I who usually wash at least one load of laundry a day was down to washing clothes once a week and having to pay to do that! I kept an eye on Craigs List for a inexpensive but working washing machine. When I found one I could afford I was always too late. Yesterday I saw a front loading washer (a dream come true) for only $125 and it was right down the road from our house. I talked it over with William and emailed thinking I would be too late again. Was surprised later to see a email with a number to call if I was still interested. The lady purchased the washer for $1200! She also purchased the cabinet it sits on for another $200. She said the washer would sometimes not finish the rinse cycle and she would have to reset it to rinse again. Her husband is a plumber and she also had a repairman out to check it. Well we decided it was something minor and purchased the washer. On the way home I was reading the manual and  it said if  the washer had a code pop up and it didn't rinse to check for kink in water line or if the screen on the waterhoses were filled with dirt or grit. First thing William did when we got home was check the screens on the water hoses. One was slightly dirty but the other one was completely clogged with a sandy grit. He took the screen off and cleaned it and then washed out the waterlines in case there was any left in the hoses. We  hooked everything up and I ran a small load to check it out. It worked fine. I have washed 5 loads of clothes, bedding, rugs, etc and not a single problem. The washer works perfectly. I got a $1200 washer for $125! Another great thing about buying it is we had sold the last 2 pigs and delivered eggs to our egg customers that morning and had exactly the money needed! God answers even the simplest prayers and I sure am blessed!

 Guess you can tell by the water marks on the glass it was still in use when I snapped this photo. Guess I better get busy folding and putting away laundry. Have a blessed weekend!

A Trip To The Vet

Lil Vicki had to get one last snack before going inside to get Olivia's staples removed. Lil Vicki wanted to dress up for Dr Ast because she saved her life. Dr. Ast calls Lil Vicki a miracle as she was found sitting in the middle of intestines when they did the C section on Olivia. Everyone was shocked she was alive. Olivia stood still and did really well while they removed the staples. Everything looked good and healing nicely. She does have a urinary track infection so is back on antibiotics  and mild pain meds  for 10 days. Was hoping to get a clean bill of health and be finished with Vet visits for a long time but glad they caught the infection and we are able to give her the shots here at home. Lil Vicki won the heart of all the staff and had to make the rounds of the whole hospital before we left. Am proud to say she was on her best behavior.

Dr Ast with her favorite patients. She is a very caring, gentle, and kind Vet. She has such patience with animals and they seem to sense that and trust her. Olivia stood perfectly still while Dr Ast examined her. She did twitch a little when they removed the staples but didn't try to run or get away.

Staples are out. Exam over. Shots given. Pictures taken. Baby back with Momma. Olivia says its time to go home.

On The Mend

Olivia and Lil Vicki have been moved from their private goat stall to their own private goat pen. They have lots of room to for walk abouts and Lil Vicki has lots of places to explore. She has things to climb on and jump off and just enjoy being a kid. Olivia still has staples in her side (the other side from this pic) but will be calling tomorrow to set up appointment to have them removed. She is eating well and not having to have any pain shots. She had her last antibiotic shot today so know she is happy. I am still giving her Vitamin B complex to give her a appetite as well as a cranberry,vitamin C, pro biotic  pill twice a day to help with her urination. Olivia wants to get back in the pen with the other goats but until staples are out and she is totally healed that is out. Thank each of you so much for the prayers and thoughts you have given Sweet Olivia and her baby. A very, very, special thank you to a special blog neighbor and friend in CO that sent a check to help with the Vet bills. I am so blessed to have each of  you in my life. I am also very blessed to have Olivia alive and being such a wonderful mommy to Lil Vicki.

Why Am I Shocked?

Last night I was talking to my oldest brother Marshall on the phone when he brought up his age. For some reason it has shocked me for loss of better word. I am the baby of the family. Marshall is 71 so that would make Don 67

Marshall, Don, and Mother before Gaye or I were born

 and if my sister Gaye were alive 63 and in a few weeks I will be 59. We are all 4 years apart. I have no problem whatsoever with turning 59 but my brothers shouldn't be getting old!! My siblings teased and tormented (in my opinion) me when I was little. They also taught me how to play poker with matchsticks at the age of 5. They took me fishing and hunting. They played hide and seek with me though their idea was for one of them to hide me in a "really" good hiding spot and then would leave me there while they went off to do something else. I fell for it every time. Marshall and Don took the head off my doll to use as a ball when they couldn't find their baseball. I got a beautiful 2 foot doll with long hair for Christmas one year and let Gaye talk me into giving it a haircut. Have so many fun and not so fun memories of our childhood and our times together as adults. My mind just can't seem to wrap around the idea that Marshall is 71. He should still be the older brother waking me up at midnight each Saturday night to watch roller derby with him. I don't want my brothers to grow old.