Wedding days!! May 10!

May 10 Brother in law married beautiful day - the rain held off until the reception and was just an enjoyable beautiful day! So happy to see them both so happy and glad to finally have an official sister in law! 

Quilt #2 done

The groom, groomsman in kilts are brothers :) 

hubby and my girls

man and wife

poor puppy feeling neglected

May Days -- Garden mostly in!!!

5/19
Hubby and I were busy this weekend...37 tomatoes, 20 peppers, 2 rows of potatoes, eggplant, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, kale, spinach, various herbs, sweet potatoes, celery, beans, marigolds ...and maybe some more all planted....more to go but we are pooped. Need more space in our garden so may be adding on...

Peas are up and looking good, as is the onions! spinach didn't come up so replanted, lettuce is tiny but there, so will have salads soon! Even with flooding twice the strawberries that we planted are looking good.  The asparagus is seeding and didn't harvest any again this year due to not being much (I think the chickens were in it prior to the fencing being up the whole way around the garden in really early spring) Bartered some eggs for some plants today also! 

We got 23 eggs out of the coop today, have 1 broody hen who should be hatching this coming weekend.  Another hen just went broody and is trying to steal eggs :)  Lost one rooster a couple of weeks ago to unknown cause, but pretty sure there are a couple of roosters with the new peeps we purchased. 

Goats are doing well, the baby is getting big and mamma is doing well as long as hubby is the only one to milk her- we are getting a little more then coffee cream at this point so coming along.  Copper is low though and we ordered a supplement.  

Lots going on and lots more to do, busy weekend ahead! 

Hubby's new weed eaters

showing them the weeds to eat

good goats 

kid in the kids playhouse :)

I am a little spoiled turd sometimes but you have to love this face!

We are pretty and we know it

good spot

snowball bush <3

spinach in before the rain came, peeps are outside in the chicken tractor full time with the dog house, and tonight they went in by themselves... happy chicken mommy ;) Had a beautiful weekend, and was so happy for one of my friends to get married!!! The quilt I made for the bride and groom!!

Peas are coming up!!

rhubarb is up 

Peas are up, we have been so busy on our little homestead with milking and hanging with goats, oh and quilting since I have 3 weddings this year to make quilts for... Still haven't gotten our 2nd planting of peas, onions, carrots, kale and spinach in... but garden is tilled as of last weekend... rented a tiller this year which wasn't too bad since ours isn't working. Milking is getting better at times, discovered that both Ginny and Pepper really like animal crackers and don't care for rain or hail. Strawberries plants are looking good.

strawberry beds

fruit trees flowering

 

Happy Homesteaders

Hubby told me this am that doing this homesteading thing feels like it is giving our lives meaning and purpose, more then just the daily grind and connecting us more.  All because of some chickens, a garden and now some goats :) Made my day and my heart smile!!! I love my family and our little homestead!

Milking!!

yeah Milking --
Went well this am, she is going up on stand herself, is eating grain while milking, loves her brushing after, only tried to kick at me when washing udders before and after, and didn't step in the milk bucket!! Good morning!!! :) Oh and a little snack on the way back to her yard... she really liked eating the wild onions ;)

Goat addition to our homestead

Brought our first 2 little Nigerian Dwarf Goats to our little homestead last Saturday -- Mother (Pepper) and baby (Ginny)--girls named her because they are Harry Potter obsessed.  :) Having issues with our solar electric fencing still, wasn't done when we first brought them home so for the first thankfully warm spring days they were in our garden...my peas didn't appreciate the goats but will replant more this weekend...

Not very impressed with us or the dog, but seemed to relax after a couple of days... then we finished our fencing (although still not working completely...not sure why and we are thinking of buying one to plug in until they figure things out better... but while we are home they get to play in their yard ;) Temps dropped and had a massive rain storm, so the shed now has a goaty hole with lots of straw and hay that they spent most of the time in while it was cold and raining... This weekend we are back to warmer and hoping to get them completely trained to the fence.. Actually doing Goat things as you can see and they seem to really love the rocks and all the stuff turning green.  Pepper is still not very impressed with Link and he got nailed last night by the fence so is not as inclined to run laps around them, so not a completely bad thing.

Milking is getting some better and she is actually getting up on the milk stand mostly herself, we are getting more comfortable so she is also... we aren't getting much milk but Ginny who is only around 5 weeks still needs to drink so we are ok with getting coffee creamer amounts.  We have all tasted and seem to like it, tastes just like milk just a little sweater.  Good but stressful week on the homestead. Happy Easter!!!

Chickens, goats and garden 

A lot going on this spring -- the overwintering hoop house worked ok, we had such a cold frigid long winter this year, feet of snow, icy conditions, below 0 temps... Kale survived the winter and some of the spinach.  Not bad for the first year trying it, however didn't get to enjoy any in the middle of winter because I was afraid to open the hoop house up... will do better with that next year. 

Side garden ready for the strawberry plants I picked up this week, will be getting them in today-- decided that garden is going to be a permanent bed of rhubarb, strawberries and asparagus oh and the mint that is taking over ... 

Front garden the peas were planted and a little late due to the weather but they were in the beginning of the April anyway, hopefully the goal for the weekend is to get the onions, spinach and lettuce started today, oh and more peas!!! :) 

Took a bee seminar in March, learned a lot, but is costly to get started so going to watch a friend with their bee adventure and decide if I want to start planning on my some day list. 

18 peeps and 2 ducklings in the garage-- feathering nicely and will be out all day today in the grass to play :) Fencing is almost completed for our goat friends that we are possibly picking up today-- very excited and nervous about this new homestead friend... feel as though I need to read more, but know enough that I think I am ok to jump in as long as I continue to read read read... :) 

From the mouths of babes!!!

It amazes me how much we influence our children-- Our little rodent killer runt cat, who adopted our family and bonded with my 11 year old has been fixed~apparently while in heat~ which now she goes into pretend heat--- So she is doing this again and my 11 year old says to me " Mom this cat is driving me insane! She has gone BROODY again" I could barely stop laughing :) Yes I am creating little chicken addicts !!! :)

Goodbye Peeps....

The peeps find a new home ...

2 weeks old above and in 1 week check out these wings below...

Last little stretch at our house, outgrowing the brooder tote...

And don't forget the peep pre-school---watching the muppets --gonzo singing with the chickens 

Now they are off to their new home... made it there safely and I have a very happy niece and nephew... my daughter is sad, and then I reminded her the next hatch should start on Thursday!!! Why yes we are chicken addicts here :)