What I've Been Up To

Hello friends. It's been a while and I feel it is time to give an update as to the comings, goings, and general happenings here on the farm and beyond. We have been busy around here and life is always happening. Time is not in abundance and everything has to have a priority. I am doing my best to be a good steward of what God has blessed me with and so, I have begun a journal so to speak to keep track of what has been done, what needs to be done, and anything in between. Farmhouse, homeschool, barnyard, and garden are my main sections with other subsections to help keep track. I am a person who must write everything down, if I don't I either forget what needs to be done or become overwhelmed with all there is to do. Writing is what helps me to think better and to know where I am in all of my to-do's.

This Fall was so beautiful and the kids and I found ourselves always making excuses for going outside. Thankfully we were able to be a little productive by enjoying the sunshine and picking up walnuts from our

walnut trees. I had such a wonderful time talking to the kids about the blessing of where we live, while watching them load the overflowing baskets with the little gems of nature's goodness and laughing at the same time. It does my heart good to see my children find joy in the simple things and to see their imaginations soar

with what God has provided in nature to play with. I am constantly at war with the temptation to let my kids

watch TV and movies. Maybe others think it a little thing, but I want my kids to grow up in reality. That a person knows how to think, how to work, how to enjoy what God has made, and that nothing is more important, exciting, or amazing than God is of utmost importance. The glitz of this world gives a false glow and it is unfortunately so alluring to children...and adults. My children have no idea how to operate a computer, get on the internet, or how to work the TV. They do know how to shoot their bows, catch chickens, cuddle chicks, and hunt for bison, grizzly bears, stone sheep, and moose in our back pasture. I am thankful beyond measure.

We were able to harvest our first animal on the farm a few months ago and it was truly a special experience. To have a steer arrive in a shrunken and wrinkled frame and to have had him end his days as a healthy, vibrant, and large animal was rewarding to say the least. The children were all present when the butcher arrived and they got to witness the whole process. There was no crying or shock, just excitement and interest in what was happening. The butcher was great with the kids and explained everything he was doing and how to do it. The kids got to see what the lungs, kidney, liver, and heart looked like and were amazed at how big Gus's stomach was. My little ones got to see firsthand where their food comes from and I was a happy mama to see that for them, as it should for all, this was normal and a day to be thankful. I was very pleased with how well our steers organs looked and the butcher said that he was very healthy. This is an animal who was true to the meaning of grass fed, no antibiotics, no hormones, no grain - just grass, sunshine, and time. Let me tell you

friends, the meat is some of the best we've ever eaten and we are thankful to have an extremely full freezer. I had the pleasure in the days to follow to render the tallow from our steer and it has beauty in its own right. There is so much to learn from living on a farm and caring for livestock. No matter what I'm doing, or where I turn, I see the hand of God intricately weaving glimpses of himself in what He has made. I am convinced that in my life of being a wife, mama, and shepherdess, that I am never far from the daily graces and blessings from the Lord.

Last week we got 30 chicks and let me tell ya, they are cute. It's difficult to be productive when there are so many adorable, chirping fuzzballs in the greenhouse brooder box. I go out often with the kids for obvious reasons, but I also let them hold the chicks quite a lot so the newbies get used to us. I have no use for crazy animals and so we will win the affections of our livestock either by handling or food. We are getting 20 more
tomorrow and so I've officially become a crazy chicken lady. Seriously, we're going to have almost 70 chickens total by tomorrow evening. Crazy. Chicken. Lady...   All joking aside we are taking a step of faith

and venturing into the egg business. I think it's something that is doable for my kids and I and so we have remodeled a second coop and are going to go for it. You will never know if you can do something unless you try. I have quite a few breeds living here on the farm because I like to try new things and I had a few new breeds that I want to give a try. Here is our chicken line up: Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons, Ameraucanas, Barred Rocks, Cuckoo Marans, and Black Australorps. The Ameraucana chicks are especially endearing because of their unique markings. Here's my favorite.


The most exciting thing that I'm doing right now is a little surprise that I'm doing for my dearly loved little ones. I feel so blessed to get to be a mama to the three precious souls that I've been given. There are some seriously hard, fall-on-your-knees-in-desperate-prayer moments and there are many melt-your-heart moments where there are silent prayers sent in a continuous stream to the Lord for His abundant mercy and grace. I have never felt the depth of my selfishness until I became a mama, nor have I felt the fierce love and willingness to do whatever it takes to care for another person, until I birthed a child. It is a miracle and a gift to be a parent, but it is also a tool for sanctification. Letters are my love language. I have begun a box for each

of my children am filling them with letters from me - their mama. One might be about my love for them,

another about what we did that day, and another may be about a struggle we are going through and I want

that child to know the whys and reasons why their mama handled it the way she did. I want to give my children a glimpse of themselves from their mama's perspective and tell them stories of what they did and funny things they said. I want to write them letters that will encourage them in the Lord and offer wisdom that I've learned so far. This will be kept a secret from them until they've grown and are ready to move out of the house. I pray and hope this will be a treasure and blessing for them since this will truly be from my heart. If you know my kids...mums the word.



There is so much more that I can say, but this must be enough for now. Following is a little collage of random happenings and bits of beauty that I've captured on the farm. I am forever grateful to my God above for all that He's given me and am thankful for you friends, readers, and fellow believers. I will do my best to be a more regular blogger once again. I'm thinking of doing a giveaway. What do you think?

When Disaster Strikes

Well friends I had a COMPLETELY different post planned for today, but as the Lord would have it, plans change. Let me start at the beginning.

This day has started rough. I will admit I was a bit of a grump and then you add two children who have bad attitudes as well and let's just say it's a recipe for disaster. Not only do I have to deal with myself, but I also have to teach and train my children as to what it means to be happy, thankful, and not complain about every-single-little-thing-that-isn't-perfect. Oh, my what a hard job parenting can be! It's difficult to try to make myself get a better attitude let alone a 5 and a 3 year old.

Breakfast time was a task and we made it through. We all ate, were satisfied, and even smiled a little. I talked to my hubby during that time and he told me that I should just take the kids outside and go for a walk to get some fresh air. Little did he know...

When baby went down for her first nap I thought it would be a good time to go let the chickens out into their run and let Jude and Ella burn off some steam (literally). My mood was definitely perking up as I was putting on my tennis and feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin. The kids were thrilled to get to see the chickens and maybe, just maybe get to catch one. It's so nice to see how little things make them so happy. They catch chickens everyday and yet it never gets old for them.

As we were walking towards the coop together talking about how beautiful of a day it was, I looked up and about died. Yes died. Our whole garden was under water! The beautiful garden we just finished planting, the one I just finished weed eating, the one that we've been waiting for was under 5-6 inches of water. My heart dropped and I promptly turned around to go get my irrigation boots on. Damage control was in need and I had to get prepared. My first thought was about my beloved seedlings that I just planted, but alas I can't do much for them but wait and hope the the water will drain quickly. I hope everything doesn't die, but there's a good chance that it will. I'm thankful that we can flood irrigate our property, but we need to prevent it's passage into our garden and chicken coop.

Oh, yes I said it, the chicken coop. It definitely didn't escape unscathed. The poor girls were probably wondering what the heck happened. I just bought two sacks of organic feed for the chickens. You and I both know that it ain't CHEAP and I knew it was sittin' in the water. I got a empty garbage can and a bucket, two garbage bags, and pruning shears. Since the feed bags were upside down I couldn't open them properly and had to cut the tops off. I scooped out all of the dry feed and put them into the bags that lined the garbage can and bucket. Thankfully we only lost about a fifth of each bag so it definitely could have been worse. I decided to let the wild birds have some goodies and instead of throwing the damp food away I spread it out in our front yard and figured the sun would dry it and the birds could have an easy meal.

I seriously could cry over my seedlings. I know it sounds silly and pathetic, but I've been doting on those darn things for weeks now and only one week after planting them I might lose them. I so desperately want a garden and to be able to feed my family from the place. I want to spend time with my kids teaching them about the rewards of hard work and get our hands dirty together. All-in-all I want everything to be perfect.

That is the problem. Perfection is unattainable this side of heaven. Life happens and lessons are to be learned.

On a spiritual note, I was humbled today. I myself woke up a bit grumpy and then was irritated when my kids did the same. I wanted them to just change their attitude and be nice, respectful, and happy. Just like that. I wanted to quickly go let the chickens out so I could come back to the house and clean, clean, get ready for company, and clean. I have laundry that needs to be folded, a house that looks like kids live here (cause they do), dishes to do, and the list goes on and on and on. While scooping food into the dry bags I was thinking about how the day already is a bad one and then no sooner did I think that then did I realize it was a great day. What do I have to complain about? I have a house, food, children, a husband, I have animals to care for that will provide food one day (Lord willing), and I have a garden. Even though it's under water, I still have one. I'm one of the Lord's and He's blessed me. I should NOT complain, my life could be infinitely worse.

The Lord was changing my heart and helping me to see my blessings and not the  events that I was dwelling on as the makings of a terrible day. I got perspective in a hurry. While I was grumbling in the coop about the over-abundance of water, my children were outside playing and having a joyous time. Imaginations were running wild and I could hear them defeating the crocodiles and saving the lady bugs from imminent death. Such grand tales from such little souls.

Again, humbled.

Farm life has unexpected twists and turns. Sometimes it seems like everything is going right and that life couldn't get better. Seeds are growing, sprouting, producing, and animals are thriving, healthy, and reproducing. There are the times when disaster strikes and flooding washes over your garden (or a drought), animals get sick and die (or eaten/attacked), and I could go on.

If your dreaming of a farm, please know that there are highs and lows much like life. If you have farmed or are living on one, I'm probably preaching to the choir.

I have come up with a short list that I will leave you with. One that I think is a compilation of what you need to have on hand when you have to deal with a flooding garden and chicken coop.

• Empty and clean garbage cans


• Garbage bags (preferably the LARGE ones)


• Scissors (or garden shears when your desperate)


• Irrigation boots


• A good attitude


• Sanity

Ear Tags and Cooler Weather

Life on the farm has been a bit mundane lately.

Life has been busy and quite frankly, I've hardly taken any pictures due to always feelin' a bit behind. I have a hard time thinking about blogging when I feel like I have so much to do. You know? I'm sure you do.

I started homeschooling Jude a few weeks ago and it's been wonderful. He just loves it and its so great to watch him learn. I am not an extremely organized type-A person though and so having to be on a schedule is a bit rough for this mama. I am really having to learn how to prioritize and decide what needs to be done and what can wait.

Yesterday was an awesome day. I woke up before the family and thought, "I want bacon". And you know what? I went to the store and got some. Exciting stuff I tell you and it tasted amazing. The drive was worth it alone. It was a cloudy, tempestuous day and the sky just beamed of Gods handiwork. I pretty much just praised the Lord the whole time I was on the road.

Fall is here and I'm loving every ounce of it. Last year we felt like Summer until November and so I'm hoping with this cool and windy weather it's the Lord saying, "You will have lots and lots of rain this Winter." We need the rain, but I don't control that so I'll just wait and see what is in store.

When cool weather comes it usually means the sheep will start cycling soon, which means the ram needs to have all his ladies with him. As of yesterday we still had the lambs with their mamas and so we separated them out and ear tagged the newbies. I seriously could just stare at these lambs all day. It seems like a small miracle that we actually had lambs born to the farm a few months ago. Just amazing!

Let's just say he's happy, happy, happy.

When you have small children and are trying to move animals things always get interesting. For instance, they ALWAYS want to watch and see the action. That's when you have to get innovative.

Have a baby in a stroller and a bunch of hay in the way? Lock the tires and put the stroller on top. Oh yes we did and she was happier than she appears.

Jude and Ella of course wanted to help, but they settle for getting to pet the little beauty. 

Seriously, isn't this little ewe lamb just gorgeous? I would have gotten a full body shot, but lets just say she has springs for legs and Seth had to make her sit to behave.

Now anyone that knows my son knows that he's a mini warrior. He just has to be conquering and he was sure he could catch a sheep. Now we all know he's much to small, but hey give the boy a chance. And so we did. 

The pictures don't do justice, but in the last one he actually has hand fulls of wool and had a pretty smug look on his face. It didn't take long for the sheep to get away, but he threw his hands in the air and cheered because he got so close. I'm now kicking myself that we didn't think to have him ride one. He want's to ride a sheep so badly and we're even considering letting him do mutton busting in the Spring. We will for sure let him ride our sheep before then and let's just say, if he can ride our sheep he can ride any. These things are fast and can jump like a kangaroo. I hope my boy will still have his front teeth by Summer...

I just love my precious Leah. She makes my heart happy and is such a blessing. Here's my attempt at getting a picture with my kids. I'm always the one missing due to being the one taking most of the pictures. I'm trying to be more intentional about getting in front of the lens.

We got a good one...finally. After many attempts (to follow) I have a picture that I just love. 

Before you wonder why do many darn pictures let me say one thing, "Just look at their faces!" I couldn't help myself and I'm still laughing. And your welcome.

The Path Less Taken

I live a blessed life. Truly, I have a blessed existence. The Lord in His providence saw fit to place me here and gave me strong convictions about life and purpose. I have many thoughts coursing through my mind and at times, it is difficult to sort them through, to place them in the highest order of importance, and it can be draining to someone who wants to fix the worlds problems (me) and realize that I cannot. Only God can. I am His tool however and I pray that I will be used mightily.

My intention for this blog is not to show off my accomplishments (they are few) and to make much of myself. No, that is not my goal and I hope it doesn't seem to be. My goal for this blog is to journal mine and my family's life here on our farm so we can encourage others who would like to do the same. I want to be the Proverbs 31 woman. This may seem silly to you, but I desire to be her with every bone in my body. I can get discouraged when I read of her because I can see my failings so clearly, but God gave us this woman as an example of what a godly woman can and should be. I therefore conclude that He can also give me the strength to fulfill the role He desires for my life.

Every morning and evening when I go out to do chores I see God and His hand in creation. Life is bursting here on the farm. The fruit trees are already getting heavy with fruit. Apple, peach, plum, and pears - just to name a few. The walnut trees are absolutely majestic, so big and grand with their long branches and broad leaves. My seedlings - even under the care of a black thumb - are doing amazing. The tomato seeds I planted last week are growing like crazy! It seems like they grow every time I check on them, which is often. My pumpkins are still the greenhouse kings and they let the rest know it. Already, their vines are taking shape and towering over the other seedlings showing off their distinct leaves and quick growing ability. The chickens are pretty much full grown and we still have worries of a rooster. I hope we are wrong in our assumptions. *Only about 30 minutes after writing this post it was confirmed. We have a rooster.*

My sheep are another story. I called our shearer the other day and he's supposed to come out soon to clip them of their winter wool. I am awaiting this day with great anticipation because we aren't positive they are bred. Our ram is pretty young and even though his effort was never ending, we just aren't positive that he was - ahem - 'ready'. Time will tell and we still have a little while before we can officially say yea or nay. I so desperately want lambs this year, I may shed a few tears if we don't have any. Sniff. Wouldn't you?

I often wonder about this life that God has led my husband and I to. What is His plan, purpose, and direction for it? I read about, hear about, and witness people all around me getting the 'bug' so to speak. Right now it seems that people are really wanting to go back in time a bit and live a simpler life. People want to witness life in all it's forms. Really we all are wanting to see God and it is so easy to when you live this way. I'm not sure how you can deny His existence when you see a lamb be born, or your very first seedling pop up from the soil. It's truly a thrill! I believe 100% that the most miraculous event (physical...not spiritual. Salvation of course reigns supreme.) that a person experiences is the birth of a child. There is nothing sweeter than the reward of a child after the hours of travail and grueling pain. The sweet smell of a newborn, the warmth of their skin, looking them over intently and meeting the new little one that God has given you. I'm almost to tears right now, I love my babies!

Are you one of those people? Do you yearn for a garden, livestock, a simpler life? Do you desire a spouse, happiness, children? These are great things to desire, but I hope that all of us desire God the most. I hope that we surrender our lives to Him and let Him guide us. It is easy to get distracted these days; there are so many things that can take away our attention. The Lord is merciful and is always patient with this child of His - moi. He always gently leads me to the Rock that I can lean on, the River where my thirst will forever be quenched.

Physically my family is taking the path less taken. Farming is not necessarily glamorous and it seems that celebrity and glamour are what a lot of people want today. Farming is definitely not the life of ease.  We want a life that is spent growing, raising, and nurturing life so it can in turn nurture us. We desire to spend our time helping others, for we truly desire with our farm to bless others. Right now we are still figuring out the kinks, but this farm is not ours, it's God's and we want to use it to bless others, feed others, and point others to the One that matters.

Spiritually we are living the path less taken. It seems that the idea of God is attacked from every corner. And let me just say, God is NOT an idea. He is not just some moralistic 'being' that floats in the sky and tells us the things we cannot do. He is not some goody-two-shoes that is a pushover and merely makes suggestions for how people should live. He is not a figment of the imagination that people have created so they can explain away their fears. No, He is the embodiment of perfection. He is truth, He is holy, He is righteous, and He is just. He is the Creator of life and without Him, we wouldn't be.

May my life, my family, and yes, this blog point in one direction...up. I am living proof that God loves and saves sinners. Lord willing, my life will not be lived in vain. Lord willing, my husband and I will use what we've been given to bless and teach others.

When I am old and my life is spent, I hope to look back and see Christ and all the He's done through His servant.

I hope I will always continue to take the path less taken.

Homemade Tallow Balm

For the past year and a half I have embarked whole heartedly into my whole foods journey. I have always had more of a "natural route" approach when it comes to feeding and caring for my family. In finding out about the Weston A Price organization I had an 'ah-ha!' moment. It was like I found what I never realized I was looking for. An organization - more like a group of people -  who are dedicated to eating what is nourishing to our bodies and are committed to helping others do the same. I became a member immediately and in doing so I received their quarterly journal quickly in the mail.

I devoured it. I read it. I scoured it. And I learned from it.

I can't emphasize to you enough of my enjoyment of reading that lovely journal. In it I found a jewel, one that I have been looking for long and hard.

I have been battling diaper rash with my daughter for months. It seems like I have had an issue with it since she was born last July. It has been terribly frustrating to not be able to figure out why it wont go away and not have any home remedies work in healing her poor bottom. Weston A. Price to the rescue! In the quarterly journal there was an article about tallow balm, it's history, it's healing properties, and a 'how-to' in making your own. There even was mention of a mama using it on her baby's diaper rash and it was cured. Say no more, I decided that I was going to try it out. What was there to lose? Nothing. Absolutely nothin'.

There I was, standing in my kitchen looking at something that should be in a sci-fi movie sitting on my counter top. I had made several calls earlier in the week and had walked into a local grocery store/butcher shop and finally obtained what I was looking for. Beef tallow or as the butcher called it suet (I will proceed to call it tallow/suet since I have had so many people call it these two names). Since I have my quirks and like to have fun with my food I decided to name the newest addition to my REAL foodie journey.

Meet 'Little Miss Suet'.

Isn't she disgustingly awesome?

I think so too.

I'm serious, she was and is awesome in so many ways. I never knew the greatness that I had before me. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let me give you a few facts on tallow balm and why I am so excited about this. Once rendered you can cook with this, bake with this, and make your own skin care products with this. You heard me correctly. Skin. Care. Products. This is where I am heading with this post. Food tastes amazing using tallow/suet and it is full of natures goodness, but I want to focus on what it does for your skin.

In the article it states that, "From biology, we know that the [human] cell membrane is made up primarily of fatty acids, a double layer, to be exact. Saturated fats constitute at least 50 percent of the cell membrane. Since saturated fats tend to be more solid  than unsaturated fats at a given temperature, they help give the cell membrane its necessary stiffness and integrity for proper function...Healthy, "toned" skin cells with sufficient saturated and monounsaturated fats would undoubtedly make for healthy, toned skin. Interestingly, tallow fat is typically 50 to 55 percent saturated, just like our cell membranes, with almost all the rest being monounsaturated, so it makes sense that it would be helpful for skin health and compatible with our cell biology."

Isn't that just so amazing? I love learning about how the Lord made our bodies and how intricately we were designed. Did you also know that "tallow also contains fats like conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as palmitoleic acid, which has natural antimicrobial properties?" (quotes cited from article)

I could go on, but I'll spare you. I'm hoping this will lead you to do some more reading and research on your own.

*wink, wink*

Back to my baby's diaper rash. I'll admit, this was my last ditch effort before I resorted to more drastic measures. I am so glad that I tried this because it really worked wonders and I love that I'm putting something on my baby's skin that not only is helping her, but is also healing her.

Tallow/suet balm is so easy to make. If your interested in learning how to do it follow along and then...get you some suet!

You'll want to cut up the suet in small pieces and cut out anything that isn't hard and waxy. The kidney you can either throw away or if you have a dog...give the dog a treat! Franco loved his treat so much he buried it. What can I say?  He's a smart one. There is major sarcasm going on here.

Once that job is complete, put the tallow/suet in glass cooking dishes and preheat your oven to 220 degrees. Just a warning, it takes quite a while to cut up this hunk of fat, so make sure you do this early in the day. By early I mean, start in the morning so you can have this whole process done well before bedtime. And yes, I was straining tallow/suet while the rest of the family was snoozing. I didn't get the early start that I'm advising...

You'll want to bake the tallow/suet for 6+ hours, or until all the fat is cooked out and the hard tissue is floating in the rendered fat. During the cooking process I took my potato masher and gave everything a good smooshing.

Once this step is finished you'll want to put a metal strainer over a large bowl and strain out all the large chunks. You will need to do a final strain through a cheese cloth to make sure that you got everything. I draped the cheese cloth in the metal strainer and then re-poured the fat through the cheese cloth. It was pretty simple. Don't worry about your cheese cloth, after I used it to do the final strain, I rinsed it out with warm water, gave it a good hand scrubbing with dish soap, let it sit overnight in soapy water, and then washed it the next morning with my laundry. It was as good as new. Whew, that was a mouthful!

Pour your liquid gold into jars and let cool. The rendered fat will stay good for a looong time in your fridge. I use it for all my cooking now and let's just say...it's delicious.

I didn't make my tallow balm right away and so I just let it all cool. When this stuff cools it turns white and once you place it in the fridge it gets hard. When it came time for me to whip up some tallow balm, I just took a jar out of the fridge and let it warm up a bit so it would easily mix up with my other ingredients.

Long post made longer, here's my recipe for my tallow balm.

Homemade Tallow Balm

Here's a wonderful skin balm that has a wide range of uses. Such as face lotion, hand and body lotion, diaper rash cream, and etc.

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons soft tallow
• 1 teaspoon organic olive oil
• 4-7 drops lavender essential oil* (or desired scent**)

Instructions

1. Mix tallow and olive oil together in a small glass bowl.
2. Add essential oils and mix.
3. Once the desired consistency and scent is achieved transfer to a small glass container with a lid, keep at room temperature, and enjoy!
4. Makes approximately 2 oz.
5. *I would start with a few drops and then add more if you are wanting a stronger scent. You can always add more, but you can't take away.
6. **Use essential oils that are known for being good for skin and skin health. I wouldn't use anything strong that could be an irritant. Peppermint for example would NOT be a good choice.
7. ***I wouldn't recommend using any essential oils that aren't 100% pure therapeutic grade. DoTERRA essential oils are what I use and I highly recommend them.

I hope you love this tallow balm as much as I do.

However, I know that not everyone is up to making their own skin care products. If you are still wanting to have this skin care goodness but don't want to make it you can go HERE and buy some. You won't regret it.

And just so you know, I also use this on my face. Don't be shocked, it's wonderful.

If your in need of essential oils click HERE and you can find everything you need.

*** Excerpts in this post were from the article written by Andrew J. Gardner titled, "Traditional Nourishing and Healing Skin Care". It can be found in the Winter 2012 Volume 13 Number 4 edition of Wise Traditions.

Death Lurks in the Shadows

We had a death last night. A healthy reminder of what can and does happen on a farm. When darkness covers and the shadows reign supreme, death lurks and waits for the opportunity to strike. It's ugly and it's grim, but so is life in various seasons.

Death has a name.

This morning, Seth and I saw two large dogs running in our back pasture. We've never seen these dogs before and due to losing a ewe last year, we are highly cautious and will take action if need be to protect our property. We would expect the same from neighbors if our dog was roaming; all is fair, which is why I always make sure Franco is tied when I'm not outside and that he's in sight when I am. We watched these dogs chasing something (probably a rabbit) and I was amazed at the ground they could cover. Such great strides.

Later this morning, my Father-in-Law came in and told me what happened. My heart sunk and the dogs came instantly to mind. I grew up on a farm and I KNOW what dogs can do, even the nice ones that no one thinks could hurt a fly. You get two dogs together and the 'pack' instinct kicks in...and it's a strong instinct at that. Now I can't blame a dog for their instincts, in the wild with out it they'd die. Fact is fact.

However, we also can't let dogs run loose. Any farmer you'll meet will have a story or two about loose dogs. This is fact too. Dog owners need to be responsible for their pets or in turn farmers will be responsible to protect their livestock.

After the breakfast dishes were done, I decided to go have a look.

My mind was changed.

Death didn't come in the form of dogs of the domestic kind.  They don't kill the way the wild ones do. Coyotes will kill, devour, and strip their prey. The word 'thorough' comes to mind when I think of a coyote kill. Dogs will kill and maybe a chew a bit, but not the way their wild counter parts do. This friends, was a coyote kill.

Protective measures will be upped. Sheep will need to be locked in the barn every night, the electric fences will have to be in working order, and ears will need to be tuned in the the yip's and yowls of these night seekers.

Lord willing, we'll have lambs in a few weeks and you can bet that these opportunists will have to find their easy meals somewhere else.

Or else.

Coop Du Jour

Remember this?

I'd like to forget it. This has been one part of our farm that is...how you say, less than desirable to look at? It was an old green house and it also was the pump house. Even in it's 'day' I think it probably was still hideous. I'm serious. Look at this thing, it was definitely built for function with no aesthetic appeal. My opinion and I'm stickin' to it.

Now however things are different and we've torn down this wretch of an eyesore and replaced it with this!

Seriously, do I really even need to say anything? Probably not, but I will. Just continuously scroll up and down and join me in singing, "Hallelujah!" We've been needing a coop for our 'girls' for sometime now and finally finished this beauty. I've been wanting to post updates, but I knew that if I held back I could to an unveiling that this coop deserved. As you can see, this coop blows the ole shed out of the water. Or out of the field you might say. Or the universe, it might be a stretch, but I'd go with it...

***In the second picture you'll see a door, that leads to our water pump that goes to our well and is walled off from the rest of the coop. Just wanted to interject this cause I didn't add a pic of the inside of the 'pump house' part. Not very exciting looking at a water tank.

On the contrary THIS is VERY exciting!

Here we have the doors that open to the back of our nesting boxes. I had to leave for a few hours and had NO idea that my awesome superman of a hubby would make them look so nice. What a guy I have!

Bear with me, my excitement may manifest itself in words...and pictures.

My father-in-law built the roost and I must say it was very smart of him. What a great use of space! I love it and the girls love it too, which is a plus cause ya know, they like to roost and all.

My precious Ella wouldn't stop sitting on the bar. She found out why I told her it was not a great idea. Can you figure out what happened?

I wish I had this on my front door. I am always amazed at how many sales men and random people show up on my front door. I at times want to tie our dog to the door, I'm pretty sure no one would come a-knockin'.



Franco actually is the sweetest dog EVER, but for the undesirables comin' to my door...they don't need to know that.

Rabbit trail, back to the coop.

I love the men that God has placed in my life. What blessings to have a husband that is far beyond what I deserve and a son who lights up my life! Speaking of my boy, he LOVES the girls (the chickens that is) and has declared himself the best bird catcher ever! He may be right.

I am thankful to the Lord to be able to have such a nice coop and the ability to own and raise chickens. Such a blessing and I'm convinced that that first egg will taste so good. Mmmm.

Now that the coop is done, we are wasting no time and getting started on the garden. I hope it actually grows this year. Last year was a flop. Big time.

I will give you a quick glimpse into our gardening endeavor and also a look into the crazy stuff I find my adrenaline junkie hubby doing.

Yep, he's not satisfied with just moving the mound of wood chips, he has to be on it at the same time. Ugh! I keep telling him that I want to grow old with him. I hope he is listening...

If pictures are worth a thousand words, than I have spoken thousands upon thousands.

I have one more picture for you and let me tell you...it speaks millions.

I'll let you guess why...