Planting Season is in FULL swing!!

Wow! Steve and his dad have been VERY busy planting so far this year.  We have planted broccoli, cabbage, onions (yellow and white), kennebec and pontiac potatoes, better boys, cherry, and morgage lifters tomatoes (enough for several armies I think--ha ha), cukes (pickling, yamatos and suyos), 2 kinds of eggplant, crooked neck squash, clemson spineless okra, silver queen corn, bell peppers (orange and giant), stars and moon watermelon (yellow flesh), green beans, 4 kinds of lettuce and I am sure some other things I am forgetting...

Next on the list are my butterbeans (mmmmmm). 

Some of the more exotic things like the strange cukes and peppers we grew from seeds first before planting.

More Chicks??? WHAT?

Steve decided we needed a few more chicks.  However, we didn't want to chance more boys, so he bought 6 pullets from Tractor Supply.  They are supposed to be White Leghorns.  The other 10 we original got are supposed to be 4 Barred Rock and 6 Buff Orpingtons.  However, we have noticed one of the barred rocks doesn't look like the others.  We'll have to wait and see what's what.  Fun! Fun!

Chirpin' Chicks!

We added to the farm today! They weren't supposed to arrive until Friday...but.......We now have 10 straight run chicks that look like 2 different kinds (based on color of the little fuzzballs).  We are hoping for pullets(girls), but with our luck...we'll have 10 roosters.  They are SO cute! Can't wait for egg laying.

Chick Coop Ready!

Steve and Larry finished re-siding the chicken coop.  It hasn't been used in at least 50 years.  Steve's great-grandfather had chickens many, many, many years ago.  The roof was in great shape, but the sides needed to be replaced.  The inside was in fantastic shape!  Great job boys!

New Summer Pasture for Genny and Snowball

Steve and Larry sectioned off a small part of the pasture closest to the house for Snowball and Genny to have another area to call their own.  This way we can move them between 3 smaller pasture areas to give the land a break.  Since we found out Snowball can't see all that well, it helps to put her in a smaller pasture where "Genny can't get away" from her.  This keeps Snowball from breaking fence to get to Genny.

No baby...boo hoo hoo!

Genny didn't have a baby!! Apparently, we just feed her tooooooo well! We waited and waited and waited.  We were just positive the donkey was having a baby. 

WreckingBall... I mean Snowball

We have discovered that Snowball uses Genny (Genevieve) has her seeing eye donkey.  Although it sounds strange, Genny walks in front of Snowball to stop her from walking into fences or other obstacles.  It's really cool! Snowball does not like for Genny to be out of her reach or at least range.  When this happens, Snowball will call for Genny and if there is an obstacle in between them, Snowball will try to go through the obstacle....whether it's fence, posts, brush, or whatever. This wasn't good when we were leaving gates open to connect more than 1 pasture together.

For this reason, we have moved Genny and Snowball into a pasture without obstacles or open gates to other pastures.  Genny can't get on the other side of fence or buildings to freak Snowball out.  This seems to be working well and keeps Steve from having to replace fence or posts. 

I'm just glad we figured out why Snowball was taking things out before she ended up hurt!

The birthday fairy has arrived....

Somehow, Steve and I managed to have 3 out of 6 children with December birthdays.  Steve's birthday is also in December.  That doesn't include our nephew, my mom, and Steve's grandma that also celebrate their birthdays this month.  It's party time! Thank you birthday fairy for blessing us with so many beautiful December babies. 

Vet is Back

The vet said that Snowball is partially blind.  She said that Snowball had scratches on her eyes that were likely caused by years of eye irritation that was left untreated.  She also has a condition common to appaloosas called UVitis that had been left untreated for many years.  It's such a shame we didn't know these things a few months ago when we bought her.  The vet's recommendation was to also leave a UV fly mask on her to block further damage from the sun.  She said it would also protect her eyes from irritants and things she could run into due to her partial blindness.

Also, she said Genny probably won't have her baby until February if at all???? She would prefer to not do an ultrasound of Genny since she is a miniature and the equipment may be too large for her and hurt her.  So we said it was ok and we'd wait and see what happens.

Snowball sees the Vet

Snowball is a bit skittish of shadows and sometimes walks into the fence.  It seemed a bit odd.  So, we called in the vet.  The vet gave her some eye drops because her eyes seemed irritated and said she'd be back in a few days with better equipment to check her out better.

Happy Birthday Noel!

Noel celebrated his birthday today!  He has been rocking out on his new paperjamz guitar and drums. 

Genevieve is STILL pregnant!

The vet came by and told us that we will be waiting until December probably for a baby.  She is going to bring a dopler with her in 2 weeks and see if she can hear the heartbeat and verify for sure the donkey is pregnant.  Can you believe we are still waiting for the baby??? AGH!  I'm like the impatient grandma!

Stirring up my witch's brew (I mean stew)!

Larry and Steve introduced me to stew making today.  It was a lot of fun.  The kids enjoyed helping and stirring.  Everytime Ruby can near, she would start singing about stirring the witch's brew.

Trick or Treating

We had a wonderful time trick or treating with the kids in town tonight.  Clarksville's businesses pass out treats to the kids for a couples hours.  It is a great event.  The street is well lit and everyone is having a super time.

SO Pregnant Donkey!

Well, Genevieve is going to pop anytime! She is so pregnant!  We can't wait for the newest arrival to the farm!  We are really hoping for a girl, but we'll just have to wait and see.  If she gets much bigger, I'm going to start worrying about twins!  -- just kidding! (I hope)

Miss Photogenic!

Lauren was in a pageant today! She was very excited and won Most Photogenic and 4th runner up.  She did a terrific job for her first pageant!  She is already asking to be in another one....not sure on my feelings on that! This one was A LOT of work!

Snow in September??? Meet Snowball!

We added to the family today! Snowball is our newest addition! She is an appaloosa.  Her white coat has beautiful black speckles.  The kids are ecstatic!  She is exactly what the children have been begging for!  Thanks Papa Larry and Grandma Peggy!

Steve is doing cartwheels!

The kids go back to school today.  Steve is relieved to get a little peace I think! We are planning on a surprise for them really, really soon.  Be sure to check back on here to see what it is!  I'll give you a hint....it's alive and will live on the farm.  It's taller than anything we have so far......

Crying the Blues!

Back to school today! I am always excited to start back to school.  I miss the kids and I always have great ideas I have found or come up with for my classroom over the summer.  However, this summer went by SO fast with all the things we had going on that I really could have used just another week or two!  Oh well! I'm sure Steve is crying the blues too because he is stuck with our own kids for the next 2 weeks until School Officially Starts! 

Genny (Genevieve the donkey) is getting really, really big.  We just can't believe she is going to make it to October.

Wolves on the prowl!

Not real wolves! We went with Steve's parents and his sister's family to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg for a few days.  It was fantastic.  The kids loved it! We went to Busch Gardens on Sunday, but really, it was so much for them to do at the GWL that we could have just stayed there for all 3 days.  It was a blast!