Who took care of the farm?

Curled up by the fire, I'm reading emails and relaxing on this New Years day evening. I just opened a note from my father in law to his brothers. I had to share it with you. It's the perfect description of...well...I'll let his words tell you all you need to know.

I may or may not have told you what
our plans were for Christmas. We went to Kentucky to
take care of Charley's animals so he & Jackie & John
could go to Atlanta. We left here early Wednesday
morning (of last week) and got there about 3:30 pm.
Charley got home from work about 5 pm and then they loaded
up and left for Atlanta.

My job was to feed & water the goats, feed & water
the chickens, and gather the eggs. He has 9 goats of
various sizes (all miniature ones), 16 young chickens that
are not yet laying, 6 chickens that he just recently bought
from a friend, and about 26 chickens that are laying.
All of these are in separate cages or pens so they have
separate feed and water supplies. He has 3 electric
water buckets so all you have to do is keep the water filled
to the top. The chickens then stretch their necks up
and over to get a drink. But one small group of
chickens does not have so I had to keep get the ice out of
it twice a day. It was cold there (in the low 20's)
until yesterday.

He gets about 2 dozen eggs a day, average. He has
been taking these to a friend who sells them for him.
They have their own farm and sell stuff.

The chicken in the first two pictures is one that has a
twisted beak. When he & Jackie noticed it they
discussed whether to put it out of its misery because it
would not be able to eat and would soon die, anyway.
Immediately after that, it became very friendly. So,
they have not put it down. It would fly up onto the
wall in the shed, sit on the wall, then fly from there onto
my back, if I was bent over getting feed, or onto my
shoulder. I was sure glad I had a heavy coat with a
heavy hood, which I always kept over my head.

Charley had warned me that this would happen.

But it still scared me every time it happened,

which was every day, twice a day.

I wish I had taken some pictures of what it looked like
there with all the snow on the ground. It snowed there
December 18th and again Christmas eve and Christmas
day. There was probably 2 inches on the ground.
But it started melting yesterday and was mostly all gone by
this morning.

We drove back to Wheaton this afternoon.

Bob

Take a look!

You are excited!? I'M eXcItEd!!!!!!

Turkey & Family - or, One in the Same

We turned around and Kayla had put John's sweater over her shoulders

Kayla climbed up on John's stepstool all by herself!

Here in the Bluegrass of Kentucky we are so thankful for all that God has brought our way this year.

We haven't been able to meet the demand for farm fresh eggs! That's a praise! We weren't sure we would be able to sell a single egg this time last year. Our goat herd has increased with the birth of two kids - one buck and one doe. We hope to add two or three bottle calves this spring and possibly a small "hoop" house. And, our home is almost finished...we're 90% finished with the downstairs and the upstairs lacks just half to be completed. Often, we look back just 2 years ago and can't believe how far our family, home and farm have come in such a short time. We are so thankful for our families - they have labored along with us with nary a complaint!

Possibly the #1 praise of the year has been the home ministry of Charley's brother and his family. We are blessed by their baby girl, Kayla, as she and John have gotten to know each other during our visits this year. We've gotten to go on a double date while the grandparents watched the kiddos, shared meals, drywall/construction fun together, and most of all the lives of our children.

"Mother of 13..."

Charley and I were watching Katie Couric tonight when this came on...about adoption! I couldn't resist posting the link. Here's a teaser: "Mother of 13 urges adoption..." The couple look so young! And, a lot of their children are... Well, click on the link already, will ya!

Go here for a few Thanksgiving pix. I'll have more from my camera soon. Though, these tell it all!

Catch Up

It's been awhile since my last post. 2 months to be exact. We've been a little bit busy...family in town, shuffling of stuff upstairs to make room for drywall in the guest room, Trick or Treats on Main in Wilmore, Thanksgiving, raising Auracauna chicks, taking down the garden and moving the hens in to scratch it up, and more. We joined our local church several Sundays ago and could not be happier with our new church home! That first picture is John with my folks, his Gaga and Papa!

John and Daddy with Shawnee and her little girl, Katie, also from THOGL!

Our little tiger

John and Daddy making funny foil hats

My baby chicken enjoying a new baby chick

Charley's Uncle and Aunt came for a visit!

An update on egg sales is due: we sell out each week! Praise the Lord! Our hens are still laying 2 1/2 dozen eggs/day. It's been said that winter months bring molting and less laying with the loss of light, but we are thankful that our hens are still laying consistently.