Monday, December 27, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS-A few days late!!

Sorry-a really bad pic of the tree this year-and the first fake one we've had in too many years to count. We missed the smell of a live one-but not the mess!!

And this is one I promised of Mady and Cheyenne at the Christmas Play-it is still too cute!!
We finally got to come home on Christmas Eve-I got Mom home at 6:00pm on the 23rd. She's still a little weak and very sore-but is making progress. Her blood pressure is back to normal-Thank you, God! We had a very nice Christmas with turkey, ham and all the fixin's! Mom didn't feel up to coming over-so we took plates of food to her and Shorty in the afternoon. They got us a NuWave cooker-we are looking foward to cooking in it-Jeff cooked a few pieces of link sausage this morning-it was good!
I still have this week off-Shorty has a Dr. appointment at the VA on Wednesday-but he's riding the bus-won't let Jeff drive him. We have a party at Church on New Year's Eve-but other than that-no other plans for the week-although we do need to go into Baskin's-I picked up the wrong size overalls for Jeff. And he needs a new battery for the welding machine-Shorty needs some hooks welded onto the bucket on his tractor-then it needs to come home so we can start on the loading and squeeze shoot for the cows. We still have to take the black cow back to Shorty's and bring the other hereferd home.
Dad is STILL battling the staph infection in the new knee replacement. He's been going to Conroe everyday for a $750 antibiotic IV treatment. If this doesn't kill the infection-he may have to have the new knee removed and be bedridden for 6 weeks-with no knee-until the infection is all gone. That will be SO hard for him-he's on the tractor everyday feeding hay to his cows-and always busy doing something! Please keep him in your prayers!
And guess what-we finally are getting eggs! Well-we've gotten 2 so far-1 every other day! I can't wait for them to all really start up laying! I hate to buy eggs! Ricky is busy butchering his hog right now-with Jeff's guidance! Man-it was COLD this morning! Jeff got me a beautiful bird feeder and the birds are coming to it already! We've cleaned up and relocated some of the old feeders-I just love watching them!
And just in case I don't get back to my laptop this week-HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Mom

Well-alot's been going on with Mom-we've had her back and forth with Doctor/Hospital visits and running tests. We found out after last Friday's heart cath that things had gotten more serious. Right now-I'm in the waiting room at Conroe Regional waiting on them to take her back for a triple bypass and to clean out the artery in her neck-it's 90% blocked!Pray for her, please over the next few hours and days-the surgery itself will take 4-6 hours for the bypass and we don't know how much longer for the neck. She'll be fine-just awhile recouping! We'll have to stay with them for the next few weeks-Alana will be staying at our house to keep the animals fed and taking care of everything else!
We lost a very good friend on Friday. Bobby Conner was SO much a part of my growing up years and had a huge part in my early Christian life. I love this man just as much as my own father-he was such a kind and quiet soul. We ALWAYS shared a hug on Sunday mornings-I sure missed that hug last Sunday!! Jeff is serving as a pallbearer @ 10:00am this morning and will join me at the hospital as soon as he can.
The Children's Church had their Christmas program on Sunday night-it was a live nativity scene with the girl's being angel's and Jordan played a dual role-the innkeeper and a shepherd. They were great! We took Cheyenne and Pretzel and they both behaved beautifully-Cheyenne even moo-ed as if on que! When they were singing Away in the Manger-she lowed at just the right time-everyone asked how long it took us to train her-God is wonderful!! I'll post pictures later of the play-I got some good ones!
Gotta go for now-will give an update when I know something on Mom-just keep her in your prayers today!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Monthly Update

Well-we've been up to lots these last few weeks-for starters-the Dexters-who now number 3 (YEAH!) are doing wonderful. The bull calf is sporting the name: Diesel-courtesy of Kaytlynn. We don't have a clue where she came up with it, but she started calling him that when he was 3 days old and it stuck. I need to take a few pictures of them-they are all looking great!


And one of the pigs is now in the freezer-mostly as sausage-125 pounds to be exact! Here it is ground and ready to be stuffed~~~
~~And now smoked and ready to be packaged up and put in the freezer. We decided to get the girls and families-deep freezers for Christmas and they were delivered last Sunday afternoon-just as we finished up with the packaging. Alana and crew have a rooter to put in theirs' as soon as it gets butchered.

Here is our own farmer girl!! Kaytlynn loves almost everything to do on the farm and really enjoys riding the tractor with her Grandpa! She even enjoys taking a make-believe ride!



And the best of all-(maybe??)-We were gifted with a horse this last Friday. He's 15 years old and belonged to Hailey's step mom's family. The grandkids-including Randy-are loving him to death! He's a little bit head strong-but the kids have no riding experience at all-so they are only led around on him until they learn some skills. Randy is giving him some good work outs and making him behave. Hailey and Mady are being led here.


And here are Jordan and Cayden-Luckily he will allow the kids to ride double-they even rode him bareback before we got the saddle. But he's really a BIG horse. I rode him a little on Saturday morning-it's been at least 15 years since I rode-so it was a little scary for me, too-the ground was a long way down!
We are getting ready for Christmas around here-the tree is up and the kids helped us decorate the yard today after Church. Last night we went to the Open House at our interm pastor's home in Magnolia-such a wonderful time of fellowship!
We'll be hosting Jeff's Sunday School class Christmas party at our house on the 18th. The kids Christmas Program will be a live Nativity Scene this year and they'll be using Cheyenne and Pretzel as 2 of the animals. It will be a walk through Bethleham with finger foods to follow-then we'll go on a hay ride to go Christmas caroling through the neighborhood. It'll be a great evening for all!
We still aren't getting any eggs, but did get another litter of rabbits born this week. And it's always so strange-we get 1 animal off the feed bill, only to have it replaced by another-pig in the freezer-now a horse! Jeff has been hunting many times-I've been with him a few times-but he hasn't even seen a buck yet! We would sure like to have some fresh deer meat in the freezer!!
The kids and me have 9 and a half days of school left-then we're off for 2 weeks! These last few day are full of activities and learning and end with parties. Our High School football team is doing great and are 1 more game away from going to state-go Trojans!





Monday, November 8, 2010

First Dexter Calf!!

Here he is!! We found him as we were leaving for school this morning-almost made us late-but we had to go check him out!
Up and moving!!

And we have a VERY protective mom! She hasn't let us get close to him yet-she shakes her horns at us when we get too close! I'm not really sure I want to tangle with her.
And Fozzie is almost the opposite-he just loves spending time around us and eating range cubes from our hands. The white face cow is becoming very friendly, too-she'll let you walk right up to her in the pasture and pet her.
Jeff cooked a pork roast for supper-along with mashed potatoes and homemade loaf of bread-yummy! We decided we need to get the rest of the pork eaten out of the freezer before we get the hogs butchered.
My boss sent a bag of pecans home with me for Jeff-he now has pecans, black walnuts and hickory nuts to pick out. They'll be added to lots of holiday-and everyday-baking!!
We have 9 more working/school days before our Thanksgiving Break-Sure looking foward to it! Jeff hunted Saturday morning-froze to death and didn't see a thing-I went with him that evening and a beautiful doe walked almost right under our stand. We could have had a big mess of squirrels-but we let them go, too. Jeff's itching to get back in the woods and hunt some more-hopefully he'll get the chance sometime this week-and surely on Saturday.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Fall on the Farm!

Hailey and Madysen feeding Cheyanne. Hailey has decided that it is her job after school to feed her.
This one is just WAY too cute! Mady decided there was just a little bit of milk left and the calf just had to have it!

Here are the pigs-whose days are numbered! A few more cool spells-at least ones that last all day-and the smokehouse will be "smokin'"-full of link sausage-YUMMY!


The pond now has some water-YEAH!! This has been the first time it has ever been completely dry. The water level has dropped-but only slightly since the rain the other night-we got a total of an inch and a half-boy-did we need it!
We've had our first fire in the heater-it got cool enough-along with the dampness from the rain to need one. It's been really windy, too. But the sun came out and it's been a beautiful fall day! Enjoy!



Monday, November 1, 2010

Farm Pictures!

The garden still looks pitiful-but the buttercrunch lettuce and broccoli is trying to make a go at it-it just got so hot again after we planted it. It should really enjoy the weather we're expecting the few days! Rain tonight and tomorrow-HOPEFULLY!! The change has sure given me a headache and wrecked havoc on Jeff's back!

Back view of Glory-is that side sticking out or what?? Backside is getting pretty floppy, too!!


Glory, Fozzie and Blackie enjoying a new roll of hay-sure hate to start feeding it now-we still have some grass-and can move them across the road-just trying to space it out as much as possible until it rains (hopefully tonight-did I mention that already?)


Here is my rooster-isn't he beautiful?? Mady noticed him crowing for the first time this morning-she couldn't figure out what that noise was! Julie had to be at work at 6:00am-so she's not used to being over here that early-then she thought it was SO funny that his job was to wake everyone up!!

Jeff put the other doe in with the buck today-so hopefully that means another litter in a month.

It is just so hot and still outside right now-sure hope that means the rain is on the way! Julie has Hailey at the Dentist now getting another tooth pulled-some fillings and some of the stitches out of her tongue. She just got in-she's good for 6 months now-and they'll let the rest of the stitches dissolve.

Don't forget to go vote tomorrow!!




Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!




Here's 4 of our goblins-not very scary, though!


We had Homecoming at Church today-a really good time. Lots of good times visiting and of course-way too much to eat! We had our Fall Festival yesterday-a great group of kids showed up and had a blast playing all the games set up. We had movie night afterward-watched "Letters to God"-a real tear jerker!
Yesterday morning Jeff & I went out to breakfast-then went to Cut & Shoot and bought 4 rolls of really nice hay. It is so dry-the grass is nearly gone-although we do have more than some folks do. It was nearly freezing yesterday morning, too! But back to hot this afternoon-but changes are acomin'!! It's supposed to start raining tomorrow night-hopefully it'll set in and rain for a few days-we could sure use it!
Of all things-we're watching HEHAW right now-ain't that just TOO funny! And Jeff's folding clothes. We had a litter of bunnies born yesterday-don't know how many yet-I didn't want to mess with them.
We're going to Waller next weekend to pick up some panels for the barn and the squeeze shoot Jeff wants to build. We need to have a way to give the cows their shots-wormer and tattoes. Glory seems to be getting wider and wider-sure hope she is bred! I really don't have any doubts-but you never know for sure 'til that calf is on the ground!! Still waiting on our registration number so we can get her papers transferred.
We've got a Trick or Treater!! Yeah!!
Have a great week!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Hereford Cow and calf




We got the cow and calf from Shorty last week-both are stunted and look like minis. It really is sad-but we'll make sure that they get plenty to eat and lots of love. Shorty had traded 2 of his calves for the 2 heifers-not knowing that this one was already bred-and she had such a little calf! He's been supplementing milk by bottle because it just doesn't appear that her mom has enough milk. Jeff made a deal with Shorty and they are going to trade our last black heifer for the other hereferd and give Shorty back the calf that she should be carrying now. Our black heifer just looks HUGE around the Dexters!-She just doesn't seem to fit in anymore!
The garden was looking better-but it just got SO hot and it hasn't rained-although we did get a little-small-shower Saturday night-it wasn't enough to make it through the trees-but the grass sure appreciated it! The hogs are growing so nicely-sausage is in the near future! It's been really windy the last few days and we have front on the way-dropping the temps into the high 40's to low 50's-I can't wait-90 degrees in October is just too much!
We have spent the last 2 nights at Mom's-Shorty had his 2nd eye surgury yesterday-and Jeff is on his way to the VA with him for follow up-he seems to be doing well with it. We might go home this afternoon-just depends-Bubba is supposed to help him get some wood split when he gets back. They set the deer feeders up yesterday-Bubba's been seeing 2 really nice bucks in the horse pasture.
Well-I need to get ready for work-lots going on there!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Dry Weather!

It is SO dry here! It seems like there is a dust cloud everywhere you look. We didn't get any of the rain this week and now they aren't predicting any til maybe next weekend.
The cows are doing great and I'm looking around for another cow to add to the herd. We are thinking about going to the breeders show at the Houston Livestock show early next year-figured we'd find alot of good info there. I applied for membershipin the ADCA last night and will get Glory transferred into our name asap.
We started working on the garden this week-even though it is so dry. We've got tomatoes, broccoli, onions and buttercrunch lettuce in so far-really don't know what else to put in yet-I know I've got some seeds-just haven't had the time to dig 'em out yet.
We put all the bitties in with the last of the layers-who are only laying 1 egg every other day or so-They are getting along fine and the rooster finally started crowing this week! It was so great to listen to-we haven't had a crowing one in a while-funny how you miss that wonderful noise!!
We're still working on getting the outside of the house finished-we bought 2 bundles of trim on Friday night-painted them yesterday and still didn't get too far-but it sure is looking good. I'll get pics as soon as I think about it again-Just seem to be having trouble remembering to take my camera outside with me.
Granddaddy went back to the home yesterday-he was so much better when we visited with him on Thursday. Daddy has his other knee replaced on Wednesday and Monday week-Shorty has his 2nd cateract surgery-so we'll spend a few days up there in the camper-he'll have to be at the VA early and will have to go back the next day for follow up-so Jeff will be driving him back and forth. He'll also have to keep a close watch on him cause he tends to do more than he's supposed to.
Have a great week!!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

More Dexter Pictures!!

Glory eating "cookies" from my hand-yesterday!! YEAH!!
. And just minutes ago-Fozzie is eating them from Hailey's hand!! She was a little nervous-but the kids need to have healthy respect for them! And of course our Nosey Rosie-aka Pretzel-has to be underfoot with anyone who is in her pasture! She is due anytime in the next 4-6 weeks best I can tell.

They seem to be settling in well-they come up from the back pasture when we call them and are greatly enjoying the belly deep grass. They are still spooked by the pigs and Randy's beagle and the neighbors dogs seem to bother them a bit. They will adjust in time.
Church was good this morning-we had a guest pastor who was quiet spoken-but brought a great message-Are You Ready? I only had 3 in my class and Jeff had his regular group.
Jeff found another hen dead a few minutes ago, too. It was the old one that had survived the coon attacks-so don't know if she died of old age or a busted egg in her. We've got 20 young ones coming on-but not all are pullets and we are having to buy eggs-yuck!
I have a dentist appointment in the morning-another yuck! I have a small cavity in one of my front teeth-last trip to the dentist he said lets wait until it needs to be filled-so I guess now's the time. I hate going to the dentist!
We've been having such beautiful weather-cool and dry-but now we're in a burn ban. We have slight chances of rain the next 3 days-I sure hope we get some of it!
Have a great week!!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Our New Dexters!!

This is Glory-she is almost 3 1/2 years old and has had 1 calf. She appears to be bred and could be due by Christmas-time will tell!
This is Fozzie and he is almost 17 months old. He will be our herd bull.

We finally got them! I am So excited!! Thanks so much to Kim & James-we really enjoyed meeting you and spending a little time at Little Patch of Heaven Farm. I have to get our membership done with the American Dexter Cattle Association so we can get them transfered into our name.
We've had another busy week here-we've lost 2 more members of our Church family-so we attended viewings and Jeff went to one of the funerals yesterday. Then we found out that a long time friend had a heart attack yesterday-he had 100% blockage!! They did surgury-put in a stint and he is doing fine now. Mike-you are in our prayers-get well soon!

Our New Dexters!!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

First Hog of the Season


Jeff's nephew, Jason, got the first wild hog of the season this afternoon with his bow. He got a nice sow-he's always so excited and fun to spend time with!

Tomorrow-hopefully-I will get to fulfill one of my dreams-I have found some Dexter cows in our area for sale-in my price range. We are planning to go look at them and maybe bring either 2 or 3 home. They are just too cute and if we get to bring them home-I'll post some pictures of them tomorrow night!

The family is doing well-we took Henrietta to the county fair last night-along with Hailey and Cayden. We walked around and checked all the animals out and let the girls ride 1 ride and play 1 game. It was SO dusty-you could hardly breathe!
Our Sunday School classes are going well-I had 7 in my class last week-3 and 4 year olds-but they are so well behaved and such fun to be with! Jeff has had no new people in his class-just the regulars from the last class. He really is trying his hardest to teach-it just doesn't come easy for him. Next week we will listen to the pastor that the search committee is bringing before the church-keep us in your prayers that we make the decision that God wants us to make!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Update

Sorry for the long time between postings-we've been through quite a bit these last few weeks. Jeff's dad went from bad to worse and he went home to be with Jesus in the early morning hours of Sept. 10th. We lost a great little man-but heaven gained a wonderful and loving man!! He will be missed greatly-but we know that he is in a much better place!!
We hatched another incubator of quail eggs-a bigger hatch this time-but lots of them died-have 11 left-and they really need to go outside. The new hens layed about 3 eggs then stopped-I'm gonna have to buy eggs-yuck!
Jeff's been watching Mady nearly everyday for Julie-so they've been busy!! Yesterday they and with Shorty's and Randy's help-took the old patio door out of the kitchen and put in new windows. It looks so good-completely changed the look of the kitchen.
Work is going well-really about snowed under-We have so many computers-old and new to work on-job security!
I'll get pics posted as soon as I can get to it!! Have a great week!!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Oh, Well!!

Oh, well-no pics today! So very much has been going on in our lives-I do believe we are meeting ourselves coming and going!!
Jeff's dad seemed to take a turn for the worse this weekend-running fever-won't eat-not responding to anyone. It is just so hard for everyone to see him like this! He has always been SO full of life and laughter! He has said several times in his sleep that he is seeing angels-so we really don't know what to expect. I was telling Randy yesterday how much as a child I loved to listen to him pray-he was like a completely different person when he talked to God-such good memories!! But thank you Lord-he has turned around again and is feeling better today-talking and eating again!!
Mom isn't feeling well, either-just don't know what to do with her! I know she would like for me to be with her all the time-but I just can't and she is more than capable of taking care of things herself-she just won't!!
Jeff and I bought 4 new hens and a rooster on Saturday morning-the hens aren't laying-YET-they are sex-links and an auracauna rooster-yes-I got another one! I can't help it-they are my favs! The bitties he picked up nearly 2 weeks ago are growing like crazy! Oh-and Jeff got a picture of the coon on his game camera-so we at least know what we are up against! He also set another incubator up with 32 quail eggs-so we'll see how these hatch this time!
It's raining!!! YEAH!!!! It is SO dry-we had a few cool mornings last week-but the temps are still way up in the 90"s-I am SO ready for Fall!
Our best friends-Sheila and Alfred are the proud new grandparents of a baby girl! Leah had her on friday-we've not been able yet to see her in person-but the pics have just been precious beyond words!!
We threw Jeff's mom a surprise birthday party on Saturday afternoon-she was so happy!! We just did finger foods and Tracy made her a beautiful cake! Everyone enjoyed the visit-even if Curtis was out of it the whole time-we still talked and included him in the whole thing!
Yesterday was the retirement party for Bro Thom and Mrs. Dorothy at Church. It was very special and was enjoyed by all! Darryl said he counted 145 people that stayed for lunch-and SO much food!! He will surely be missed and we all wish him the best of luck and health! I got locked inside the old fellowship hall while I was getting my Sunday School Classroom ready for next week! I finally found my way out of the dark-after running into something in the hall-I now have a huge purple bruise on my leg!! I really didn't know how I was gonna get out if I couldn't unlock the door from the inside!! Leave it to me!
Mom just called-she has fallen again-but says she's ok-for now-But she is thinking she has Lupus now-someone mentioned it to her-so I don't know!
The guys have been working so hard to finish painting the house-I'll get a pic of it posted as soon as I can-I can now say I do live in a barn-maybe that's why I can't get the kids to shut the door behind them! Have a great week!!

Monday, August 23, 2010

First Day of School-2010!!


Well-today was the day! Only Kaytlynn got to come back home-Pre-K doesn't start until tomorrow and no one bothered to let us know! They had a great day, though!

So much has gone on around here this last month-and for most of it-we weren't even here! Mom went into the hospital on July 26th and stayed almost 2 weeks-we stayed at their house to keep an eye on Shorty and his blood sugar. We came home on my birthday and spent the night-but went right back the next morning and stayed another week. She is doing better and has an appointment with a new GI Dr. that she really likes and he thinks that she has been mis-diagnosd this whole time-testing will tell!

Sad thing though-while we were gone-a varmit seemed to have moved in-it wiped out all but 2 of our hens-including the new rooster!! We are SO upset-and Jeff can't seem to get it in the trap-this is another smart one. The quail eggs did hatch-13 of the 24-so I was very happy-so was Alana-she was the one who ended up tending to the incubator while we were up at Mom's. We bought 20 bitties from a friend of Mom's last week-but we have got to find some layers-I DON'T want to have to buy eggs!

The sheep are doing well-Pretzel is pregnant-and we've come to the conclusion that Midnight is a very old ewe-she appears to have arthritis and has trouble getting around sometimes-she hasn't put on any weight or gotten rounder-so we really don't think she's bred-and might not be a good idea for her to get that way!

The pigs are growing like crazy-the biggest one's days could be numbered! Jeff is already saying he's gone the first really good cool snap!
It has been SO very hot here! It was 101 degrees today-and my babies had to ride the bus home!! We are very ready for Fall to arrive! The guys started painting the house today-got the back and 1 side done and will work on it more tomorrow. It sure looks good-barn red and we'll trim it out in white. I want to paint all the out buildings when it cools off so everything will match-probally give the grandkids a brush and let 'em go at it!!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Meet Pretzel & Midnight

These 2 ladies are my birthday present this year! Pretzel is a Katakin cross sheep and Midnight is a Black Hawaiian sheep. Both are supposed to be bred-time will tell!
I do believe that Kaytlynn & Pretzel are becoming close friends! Pretzel is very friendly while Midnight is still very skidish!

We had another eventful week-Spent Monday & Tuesday in Conroe visiting a friend's mom who was in the hospital-we went up to Mom and Shorty's on Thursday and spend the day-and the next-mowing the pasture and cleaning up. They have 2 new calves-so cute! We met our friends Pat & Randy who owned the beach house next to us in Cleveland on Friday night and had the best visit! It was so great spending time with them again!


We started the incubator with 25 quail eggs this afternoon-2 weeks will tell if they hatch! The young pullets having started dieing off-we've lost 4 this week! Now we are down to only 6-so we changed their pen and will get some wormer for them tomorrow. They are very thin-although they have feed in their pen all the time.


I go back to work tomorrow-I really am ready-I know I'll have lots of things to catch up on! Ricky got the house pressure washed-so now we are ready to start painting it-but we have a 50% chance of rain most of the week-maybe by the end of the week we can get started on it!


Have a good week!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Happy 50th Birthday, Jeff!!!

Jeff with the cake Alana made for him!
The flounder he caught at Rollover Pass on Wednesday morning!

Hubby has made it to the half century mark!! He isn't having a very good day, either-major back pains today! But he won't slow down and let it get the best of him. I surprized him with a quick trip to High Island for the night on Wednesday so he could spend some beach time! We had a great time-but he fished a little too much-and was in so much pain-we came on home a day earlier than planned-still had fun though.


The bathroom is completed-finally! I'll post the before and after pics later. Nothing matched up so it became quite a nightmare-took WAY longer than expected and many trips to the hardware store.


The quail have started laying-Jordan ate 5 of them fried and 2 hen eggs for supper the other night-he loved them! I am planning to wait til we are getting about 5 eggs a day-then run an incubator with some and see what hatches. The young rooster started trying to crow just this morning-scared me to death-I was still asleep and heard what I thought was Jeff hollar in the backyard-I thought he had fallen! I ran out there and it was just the rooster! Thank God! We have lost 1 of the mamma rabbits-don't know what happened to her. Jeff is butchering fryers now-our out of town customer is ready for some more! We did get the steer back from the locker plant-320 pounds of grass fed beef-YUMMY!! The steaks are SO tender-they just fall apart in your mouth! The heifer is up at Mom and Shorty's being bred. We are still thinking about getting some meat goats-but what we've looked at so far wasn't healthy looking-so we passed on them. The grass in both pastures will have to be mowed-it is getting out of hand-hard to find the pig pen.


I have 1 more week of vacation then back to work! I've really enjoyed the time off and we've gotten a few things accomplished. Jeff got the pressure washer started yesterday-so now the house needs to be washed so we can repaint it. It is too big of a job for him so the boys will have to get in on this one for sure! We have some fence that needs to be repaired so the guys will need to get on that before too long also. It is just so hot and humid right now-it's hard to get outside to do much for too long.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Vacation Pics!

The crew with the Penquin at the Aquarium-Mady doesn't like him at all-Kaytlynn didn't either after this pic was taken!
All of our penquins!

Well, my summer break started today. It was so hard leaving work yesterday knowing I wasn't coming back until July 26th. We have so much still to do before school starts back again. I let my boss know that she could call me at anytime and I'll come in and do whatever needs to be done. But I do have lots to do at home before then!


I have an eye appointment in a little while-I've gotten to where I can't see with my glasses and can even see better without them! The crew has been working some on the bathroom remodel-but we've hit a snag-the clawfoot won't quite fit in the area where the old tub was! So now the plumbing will have to be rearranged to make everything fit! So much fun!


Jeff made 14 pints of pickles on Monday and I finished up the juice with 4 more this morning. We are still waiting on the call from the locker plant to pick up the steer-sure thought it would be ready by now-but the longer it hangs in the cooler-the more tender the meat! Jeff's been tinkering with the welding machine-the valves are stuck and it won't run-Shorty was needing it to finish up his new catch pen-he's making a little headway-only 1 valve is still stuck.


Hurricane Alex is not sending any rain our way it appears. It has given us cloudy days which mean cooler temps though! We do get a slight shower every now and then-but hardly enough to even drip off the house.


We are having Jeff's dad's 80th birthday party on Sunday-he still isn't doing very well-should be a pretty big crowd-he has a very large family. Gonna have hamburgers and hotdogs and birthday cake! We still have a good chance of rain on Sunday-but we'll just make the best of it!


Have a great day!




Monday, June 28, 2010

Time DOES Fly When You're having FUN!!

Can't believe I can't keep up with this all of a sudden! Well-we got back yesterday from vacation in Galveston with the whole family-minus Randy and Rascal! We had a blast at Moody Gardens and just hanging out at the beach. The weather was wonderful-even if I got sunburned the first day and at Moody Gardens no less! Alana and crew went home on Saturday-so we called Shelia and Alfred and they came on down for the night. The guys fished at the beach and caught a few small sand trout and gaff top. A great time was had!!
Jeff finally got his first SS check-YEAH! He won't be getting the back pay, though, but we are grateful to just have the income back! He's making pickles today-we stopped by the farmer's market on the way home and got a few cucumbers-Our garden is just not worth speaking of anymore-and so are alot of others around here. It has really been a weird year-either you have veggies EVERYWHERE or none at all.
We took the steer to the locker plant before we left-so we should be picking the meat up today or tomorrow-can't wait for a fresh steak! We are thinking about getting a few goats to keep the pasture eaten down-and they will be easier for us to handle than the full size cows! The pigs are growing and we still have rabbits to butcher-I won't breed them anymore this summer-it's just too hot for them! The quail are starting to sound off-they sound so cool-eggs will be coming before too long!! The pullets are coming along nicely, too.
All eyes are on the Gulf now-with the threat of the first hurricane of the season looming. The oil spill is bad enough-we really don't need that making it worse! Galveston beaches are still ok-just lots of seaweed! I'll try to post pictures later-took some really good ones this weekend!! Have a great day!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Long Time-No Posting!

A pile of baby rabbits!!
Squash and peppers we put up today!


I guess there really isn't much of an excuse for not posting-other than just being busy with the normal end of the year school stuff and having a mild case of poison ivy and a chest cold! We got all the year end awards and Kindergarten graduations finished. We are on the count down for Jeff's Social Security checks to start coming in-it will be SO nice to have a paycheck coming in again!



The garden is about done for-we've picked green beans 2X's-only about a gallon bag full so far. We have a few small green tomatoes-but aren't holding out too much hope for them. Our friends-Sheila & Alfred gave us some of their surplus-so we've been busy putting some of it up, too. The hens are back up to 2-sometimes 3 eggs a day!!Yeah!! We've got 3 litters of bunnies right now-Jeff killed a BIG chicken snake last week in 1 of their cages. It had eaten 3 or 4 of the babies and the momma rabbit was biting the snake! We've got 6 fryers ready to butcher-Jeff will most likely get to them this week while I'm at work.



We are planning a family vacation to Galveston in a few weeks-gonna take everyone down and visit Moody Gardens and just hang out at the beach for a few days! I still have 12 days to work this summer-We work 4-10's in the summer-so I'll work 3 days a week through June then be off most of July. Time off will be nice this year since Jeff will be home!



Sunday, May 23, 2010

ClawFoot Bath Tub Refinishing!

This is how BAD the old tub looked-it had been outside for along time-we sand blasted it and gave it a new coat of paint on the outside.
This is the finished product. We bought a refinishing kit from Lowe's-it wasn't very hard to do-just took almost all day long! Next we have to start tearing out the old bathroom and start the remodel on it!

HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY, JULIE!!!!




Our oldest daughter turned 29 today-someone PLEASE tell me where the time goes!!


We've been staying pretty busy around here lately-mostly with Doc appointments for parents and such! Everyone is doing fairly well at the moment-Thank God!!


School is winding down and the kids are getting excited about their summer break. I have to work 12 days after the kids get out then will be out all but the last week of July. We are trying to plan a big family vacation-my Mom & Shorty are wanting to go to Moody Gardens in Galveston-so it looks like we might take a big group of us and stay for few days-we just have to come up with a date when everyone can get away at the same time! Our friends -Sheila and Alfred are due back in today from their week long cruise to Alaska-we can't wait to talk to them! We know they had the time of their lives!


We went to the Trades Day in Conroe last Sunday-it was actually better than the last few times we had been-we did miss both shows last year. Jeff decided to get a few quail-so he bought 10 freshly hatched ones-SO tiny! We also got a new aracauna rooster and 6 pullets-3 aracauna & 3 marans. We had 1 old hen die yesterday-so it really is time to restock! We had a litter of bunnies born this week and another due this week.


The garden is still sick-but some things are still trying to grow. Jeff got 2 small squash and 1 new potato-the squash were really good! The green beans are blooming like crazy-so we'll have fresh ones soon. Only have a few small green tomoatoes so far.


We finally have 2 hummingbirds coming to the feeders and have a nest of wrens on the back porch. We moved the porch furniture around to the back porch and have been spending quite alot of time out there-it is so peaceful out there! The hot tub has been used alot this week, too! The kids are really enjoying splashing around in it in the evenings.


We have a long weekend coming up-school is out on Friday-a bad weather day and on Monday for Memorial day. We don't have any plans yet-other than going to Conroe on Friday to see if we can talk to the people at the SS office to make sure there isn't anything we need to do before Jeff starts getting his checks. And I have end of year awards at work Thursday evening-so we'll stay at Mom's that night.


We've had some pretty warm weather this week, too-so I guess summer is creeping up on us. We haven't done any fishing lately either-Jeff is really getting antsy to get out and start running his lines again-it's just been too windy to get out on the lake. Maybe one day this week!! Have a good one!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day 2010!!

I was blessed with roses this Mother's Day-I have a total of 40 on the dining room table!
These are the catfish Jeff & I brought in last weekend-boy was it fun!!-Jordan, Mady, & Aiden are checking them out!!

Hope everyone had a great day-I sure did!! We watched the girls for Julie today-they scheduled her to work-how sad is that-a single Mom having to work on Mother's Day! The weather has been cool today-I don't think it even got in the 70's-maybe lower ones. It was cooler outside than inside with the a/c on!


We've been to the lake a few more times-Jeff picked me up after work on Monday and we got 18-then Jeff & Randy went later in the week and got 29. Randy and Ricky went Friday and got 9 off the lines-and now it has been a little too windy to get out on the lake-maybe they can get out there in the next few days. Jeff fried fish for supper tonight-Yummy!


We stayed at Mom and Shorty's Friday night and spent a great deal of yesterday cleaning up the yard and mowing-got most of one side of the yard done-it looks really good! Bubba cooked crawfish-so we had mud bugs, corn and potatoes for supper. Shorty sent some kind of citrus tree home with me-he just sticks seeds in the ground and they come up and then he can't remember what he planted! I tell him all the time he could put a dead stick in the ground and it would grow-people with green thumbs!!


Well-they have stopped Jeff's short term disability-now they are saying he wasn't supposed to be getting it. He was only supposed to receive it for a few more weeks-then the Social Security Disabilty is supposed to kick in come the middle of June. It'll just be a long time in between paydays-only having my check from school to depend on. But God is in control and everything will work out in the end!! Have a great week!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

CATFISH!!!




Jeff & Randy put a trotline out in the lake yesterday and this was what they brought home today! Yummy!! They caught 21 nice catfish-about 50 lbs-so 7 bags went into the freezer and we're having grilled fillets for supper! Randy is having to do most of the work running the lines-it's too much for Jeff's back to handle.


Our weather has just been wonderful so far this week-we got some rain the other night. Parts of the garden are coming along nicely-the green beans look great! I've got some okra up-along with a few watermelons and cantaloupe Jeff planted. He butchered 5 fryers last week and they were picked up Monday for delivery-works real well!!


It is so hard to believe that April is almost over-it hasn't gotten warm enough yet to turn the A/C on -but it won't be long! The hens are still laying up a storm and I'm hoping that at least a few of the bitties will be hens-they are sure looking like little roosters right now! I lost my big Rhode Island Red rooster-he never really recovered from the coon attack-I've got several of his offspring crowing out there now. I would like to get an aracauna rooster again and some hens-the grandkids like to gather the green eggs!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Time Rolls On!

Don't know where it goes-but time just keeps moving on around here! I look back and can't believe I let days go by without posting. Work is going great-we just seem SO busy lately! Mom had carpel tunnel surgury last Thursday-we moved our camper to their place so we can help them out and Shorty had cataract surgury yesterday-so we spent last Friday night with them-Jeff took them to Houston yesterday to the VA for Shorty's procedure and we stayed in the camper last night and will stay for the next few nights until they are able to get back on their feet. I already miss my grandkids-I bring them to school everyday!
The garden is starting to grow a little-somethings anyway! The green beans I planted last week are up and growing like crazy-about time something is! Jeff replanted some tomatoes and a few are looking up! Only a few cukes have popped up-none of the watermelons or cantaloupe, though. Maybe they'll all look better when we get to go back home.
The calves are about ready for the locker plant-the heifer just looks too nice to send to slaughter-we might just take her on to the sale barn-don't know. The hens are still laying like crazy-minus the one Jeff ran over with the truck last week-don't ask!! We had another litter of bunnies on Sunday-she wasn't due for another day or so and had them on the wire cage bottom-lost one-but the others seemed to be ok at last look-Jeff did butcher 1 pen of fryers last week-I really need to update my harvest count!
The afternoons have really begun to warm up-we haven't turned the a/c on yet-but the mornings are still a little cool. I love this time of year! It's a little breezy now and we have a chance of rain the next day or so-but we can always use it this time of year! Have a great one!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Our New Farm Toy!!!

The antique rose growing at the entrance to the house-just covered with yellow flowers-Beautiful!

The farm's (?-hehe) new toy!

We bought the Cub Cadet on Saturday. Jeff & Alana found it in Cleveland on Friday-and we picked it up the next day-What fun we've had in it so far!! It is SOO much easier on Jeff-he can just get in it-not have to climb on! We can hardly keep the kids off of it-they even use it as a jungle gym. The dump bed has already come in handy-hauling off trash!


The garden is just sitting there-not really growing at all-I don't understand it at all. Jeff bought a few more tomato plants today-but he doesn't want to plant them in the garden! I just keep watering it!


Everything here has turned green and it just cast a different look on everything-I just love it! Spring is my favorite time of the year! Jeff has been working on the back porch-little at a time-It looks so good! His doctor wants him to do just as much as he feels up to-he's had a good day today-but was in quite a bit of pain yesterday-good days and bad!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Wonderful Easter Weekend!

Cayden, Madysen, Jordan & Kaytlynn at the Lufkin Zoo!


We had a really great-although busy-weekend! The trip to Round Rock with Aunt Linda & Uncle Gary was exciting-we didn't get close to seeing everything there! Next time we'll have a better idea of what to do! I did get my big star to go on the house after we get it painted.

Saturday we made the trip up to Lufkin to the zoo-the kids had a ball! Hailey was with her dad-so she missed out this time. The kids were looking forward to seeing the hippos-but they weren't there. They really enjoyed their time there-along with a picnic lunch, train ride, and time to play on the playground.

We stopped by Tractor Supply on the way home to buy some live traps they had on sale-and just had to come home with 6 baby chicks-we'll give it another try! At least this time-we have traps ready to catch any critters trying to get to them! Jordan & Kaytlynn got to pick these out-straight run-hopefully they won't all be roosters!

Sonrise service was a little drippy-with all the HEAVY fog-but it is always such a special service! Bro. Tom is not feeling very well-he wasn't able to make it to the regular service-he even had to sit down during his message at the Sonrise service-he never complains-so we know he's really feeling bad! The choir's contata was probably one of the best I've ever heard-it was beautiful! Julie, Alana & Ricky and all the kids-minus Hailey made it to Church-so it really was a wonderful time.

We spent most of the afternoon at Jeff's parents-the kids had an Easter egg hunt and we sat around and visited for several hours.
I weaned the last 2 pens of bunnies this afternoon-I didn't have a chance this year to try to sell any for Easter bunnies-so looks like we'll have lots of fryers in a few more weeks-several are big enough to be butchered now-Jeff will more than likely take care of that later this week. The squash has come up like crazy-man I wish everything else looked as good as it does! Time will tell!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Spring Flowers on the Farm!




Things are blooming all over the place here-just beautiful!!! These picture are from nearly 2 weeks ago. We've had SOOO much going on-I don't even know where to start! Let's see-Jeff did get approved for his Social Security benefits-HEY!!!!! What a weight off our shoulders-God is SO GOOD all the time!


We did decide to give up the beach property, though. It was VERY tough for us-we talked to the title company that did the original paperwork-they referred us to an attorney who drew up the papers for us to deed it back to the owners. We brought the camper home-actually to our friends river property-and cleaned up all of our stuff and had the utilities turned off. Very sad time for us!


Any one looking for Easter bunnies? I have 14 really cute ones for sale! We had another fight with a critter-got all but 1 of the bitties-and messed up the rooster-But Jeff got the coon yesterday morning-another one bites the dust!


The garden is coming along slowly-the tomatoes look awful-Jeff is threatening to pull them up and start over! We have some squash and beans up and I'm slowly getting other things planted when time allows. The potatoes are up too!


My job is going great and we seem to be settling in to a bit of a routine here. It is taking quite an adjustment for us with Jeff being home all the time. He has been handling the majority of the housework-I'm SO grateful to him!


We are planning to go with my aunt & uncle Friday to Round Rock to a big flea market-Saturday we may go to the Lufkin Zoo with Julie and the girls-we'll see if the weather holds out. Sunday will begin with Sonrise service @ 7:00 am with breakfast to follow. We'll have lunch with Jeff's parents.


Have a Happy Easter!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

No More Pigs! :(

Well-to start off-I lied-I thought there were 8 pigs born-actually there were 10. But to end a sad story-as of yesterday-there was only 1 left. A friend of the kids came by on Sunday and took the boar and the last remaining pig-then picked up the sow yesterday. We no longer have any pigs at our house! We do intend to try to get another feeder pig shortly-what are we supposed to do with the slop when there are no pigs to feed it to?
We got potatoes, brocolli and some lettuce planted on Saturday-followed by the tomato plants on Sunday afternoon. The weather has just been great-FINALLY! It did rain some yesterday-but we needed a little. I leave shortly for the MRI on my knee-it doesn't seem to be hurting as much today-go figure! I just want it feel better so I'll want to get out and get busy!
We bought all the material to redo our front bathroom and also to finish the deck around the hot tub. Now we just have to find the time to get it done. We also got some fence wire to go up around the pasture side of the garden-we're having a hard time keeping the chickens out of the garden-so we don't want to plant too much yet!
Jeff has a Dr. appointment tomorrow and we're still waiting on an answer from Social Security-they are supposed to let us know something this week! We are on Spring Break next week-we plan to go to the beach Monday morning and come home on Thursday-or whatever! Hailey and Jordan both have Birthdays this weekend and we have a Wild Horse Ministry event at church on Friday night-so we have to be back to help with that. As usual-busy-busy.
Enjoy the great weather! :)

No More Pigs! :(

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Baby pigs!

See how big the bitties have gotten!!
Is this a look into the future for this pig??




Well-she finally had them on Monday-but only had 8!-But 4 have died. She built her nest right out in the rain and cold-with the shed right next to her!



Our weather has just been beautiful since Monday-a few degrees warmer each afternoon. We will more than likely get some if not most of the garden planted by the end of the weekend. The potato eyes are cut and ready to go!



The hens are laying like CRAZY! We are getting a dozen most days! We have 3 litters of bunnies-the oldest will be ready to wean in a week or so. The calves are growing and will be ready to go to the locker plant in about a month.



Still no answer from Social Security-They told Jeff last week we should hear something by the end of next week. My x-rays came back showing nothing wrong with my knee-so a mri has been scheduled for next Tuesday. It is staying swollen-the more I'm on it-the worse it gets.-I just want it to quit hurting-I have too much I want to do outside!



We're babysitting tonight-Julie & Hailey have gone to Houston to the Rodeo to see Kenny Chesney. We watched the girl's last Saturday, too, while she was at work.



Have a great weekend!