Incognito !

Umm Pete?  Yeah, you have something right....there......

We had the electrician come out and put power by the pond.  While the ditch was being dug under the sidewalk for wires, a nest was found.  What kind of nest you ask?

It was a big ball of salamanders.  Plus two frogs.  Ewww.

Farm man picked up a couple of colorful goldfish for the pond.  I consider ourselves back in the pond business!  Yay!!

Enginenerd, I mean Farm Man, has been working on the front of the pond.  Since our house can now be seen from the road, we have to make it look nice.  I am going to plant lots of chicks and hens all around the landscape blocks.

We have been having such nice weather!  I can't believe this is winter!  Spring is right around the corner!

Yes, the back of the property is still a mess.  But man, look at all the wood!

Slowly but surely we have been cutting and stacking, getting ready for next fall.

Here are my turkeys and some peeps.  Notice anyone missing?  I sold my whole flock of guineas!  I am out of the guinea business.  Maybe when we have the back cleaned up and more fencing put in, I will get some more.  Just not right now.  Did I tell you how quiet it has been in the back?

Tully loves playing outside.  She is such a typical farm dog, tracking in mud, digging in the dirt by the pond, playing with the cats.  She has a bit more energy then Pete and Molly.  She has been such a joy!

Is This Really Winter ?

Can you believe this weather?  And it's almost Christmas!  Oh sure, we have had rain, and even had a huge wind storm.  But man, this month is almost tropical!

Our cedar tree got the brunt of it during the wind storm.  We had a huge limb come down.

It took Farm Man about a day to get most of it cut. 

Even though it was only a limb, it was a huge limb!  And do you know what cedar wood is good for?

Cedar wood is good for kindling.  And by the time my wood cook stove is in and ready for heating, this cedar will be seasoned enough to start many fires.

Our shop got a new roof.  It was leaking in so many places.  But now that we have a new roof, we have another new problem.

The roof is a different color.  The one that was taken off was the same color as the walls of the shop - brown.  Farm Man selected the same color of the barn roof to go on the shop - which is dark green.  Well, the barn has beige walls - now we have to paint the shop to match the barn.  It just never ends.

                             

The weather has been so nice that I was able to plant some bulbs.  I have always wanted to plant around this stump, but was unable to because it used to be a tree, and it never got enough sun under the branches.  But hey!  The tree is gone, and I now have sunlight!  I planted 80 tulip bulbs and 80 daffodils.  Come on spring!

Edith and Archie were hanging around in the guinea pen.

Look what I found!  This is called an egg skelter.  You leave it on your counter and you put the eggs that you get from your peeps at the top.  They roll down to the front so you will always use the oldest egg first.  Do I leave my eggs on the counter all the time?  You bet.  When I bake, the recipe always call for a room temp egg and I could never remember to take them out of the fridge.  Waa-laa!  I always have room temp eggs.  Can you do this with store bought eggs?  No.  Store bought eggs have been washed so they won't last as long as an unwashed egg.

As you can see, the pond is filled.  With rain water.  Time to put in the overflow.

I made a cherry pie the other day and man, was it good!  Such a welcome change from all the apple pies, apple desserts and apple whatever!

Well looky here.  We have noticed our sunrises a lot more now that the trees are gone!  Beautiful!!!

The Grape Arbor Has Eyes !

I was cooking in the kitchen today and happened to look out the window towards the coop.  Something wasn't right, and I was going to continue to stare at it until I see movement of any kind.  Finally I saw it.  See the bird house on top of the grape arbor?  Yeah.  That turkey isn't supposed to be there.

Not only were the turkeys chowing down on some grapes, but so were some of my guinea's.  I guess they didn't want to eat the grapes that had fallen on the ground...

Looky at what I found!  I have been looking for one of these stools for the kitchen forever!  I would like to think that my grandma had one of these in her kitchen way back in the 40's and 50's.  I wouldn't know that she did since I wasn't around back in those days.  You gotta remember, I am a young'un.

Here is something else I found!  I am very excited about this little thing.  It is a Sweetheart wood cook stove.  And not all that old!  This stove is in such good condition, and I can't wait to bake my bread in this, and my cinnamon rolls!

It needs a good cleaning.  And a good polishing.

I will be able to add wood to the firebox either from the top or from the front.

It also came with the heat shield, exterior and interior chimney, the chimney cap, and other things.  What a find!

It has the warming cupboard on top, maybe to warm up the plates, or Thanksgiving rolls?

 Right now there is a cow in the cupboard.  We really aren't sure where the stove is going.  We thought we would put it where our free standing stove is in the dining room, but we kind of want the option of heating with propane if need be.  We have a contractor coming out this week to give us some pointers.  It would be nice to be able to keep the propane stove, but we'll see.  Stay tuned.  And stay warm.  Beside a wood cook stove.  With a cup of tea.  You get my drift.

Busy Autumn Days !

It has been so long since I've updated!  We've been busy here at the farm!  First off, here is a hawk, I think, that we found.  I was putting the peeps to bed and heard some noise coming from the apple tree behind the coop.  I mean, it was a lot of noise - from up above in the branches.  I walked towards the apple tree wondering what was up there - it couldn't be any of my peeps because I had just closed up the coop. 

As I got closer to the apple tree, this bird fell almost at my feet!  I had Farm Man pick it up and bring it over to the back of the truck so we could get a closer look at it.  I think it is a hawk, and his head was injured and bleeding.  Not long after this photo, the bird died.  Now I don't know what was happening in the apple tree - whether there was another hawk or maybe an eagle that this bird was fighting, but either way, I have never had a hawk fall at my feet before.

My brother Joe, my sister Cindy and my brother-in-law Dave came down for a visit.  My brother has been having some medical problems and it was so good to see them!  Thanks Cindy for bringing Joe down to visit!!  Joe, get better soon!!  

Fall is here and this is the last of my flowers.  One lone black-eyed susan.

My second planting of corn is almost ready!

I don't think I have too many more days to hang clothes out on the line.

Miss Molly May has been getting ready for fall.  She had a spa day a couple of weeks ago with ....

Mr. Pete.  This would be their last haircut this short.  They keep their coats just a bit longer during the winter months.

And then there is Tully.  She is up to 4.4 pounds, and is just a happy go lucky farm dog.  I have never had such a sweet pup before.  She is so different from Pete and Molly - doesn't bark, doesn't have to be right by my side, likes to go exploring and be outside.  Just my little sweet girl.  And she loves Pete.  And Pete takes so much from her, and tolerates her, and they are the best of friends.

Now, lets talk sky!  Look at the beautiful sunrise!  Now that the trees are gone, we notice the mornings and evening skies so much more!

We've had some stormy weather this evening, lots of rain, but then again, lots of sunshine!

We even had a rainbow out behind the farm.  It is hard to see it here, but it was a double rainbow.  Nice.

One day last week, Farm Man started a burn pile in front.  It was a huge fire, but burned down quickly, then smoked for a week.  Also in this photo Farm Man laid the carpet down in the pond.

He then started with the pond liner.  This liner probably weighs between 650-700 pounds and it was tough pulling it over the pond.  But he did it, and now it is raining....maybe instead of raining cats and dogs, it will rain koi...

You Say Tomato and I Say Tomahto !

Here it is, almost October, and I am still getting loads of tomatoes.  This is the very first time that I am able to grow and put up enough tomatoes for winter.  Do you know how excited I am?  The hoop houses have really made a difference.  

I pick huge bowls every other day, and every other day I skin them and cook them down.

I also grab a couple of peppers and onions and make spaghetti sauce, bag it and freeze it.

I also have a lot of jalapeno peppers to pick.  I see stuffed jalapeno peppers in my future.

I saw this grasshopper and immediately a song pops into my head : Hold on tight to your dream, then hold on tight to your dream...la la la....

For some reason, I noticed a lot of grasshoppers this year.  The sound of the grasshoppers takes me back to age seven, living in Texas with my Aunt and Uncle.  I'm not sure if having grasshoppers is a good or bad thing, but they brought back a lot of good memories for me this summer. 

When its hot out where does everyone hang?  Well, at the cemetery!  Pet cemetery that is!    

My two turkeys and two of my guinea's were making friends with Tully.  These two guinea's are the ones that I hatched on Fathers Day this year, and after a couple of weeks I put them in with the turkeys.  So now these two guineas hang out with the turkeys and don't even notice the other guinea's that I have.

I still have a couple of hydrangea flowers that refuse to believe that it is autumn.  No matter - I love all of their blooms.

What a beautiful view of the Willapa hills.  I love living in this valley of ours.

Here is our house with most of the trees gone.  The pile of dirt that you see over in the left of the photo is where the pond is.  (Going to be.)

Little Miss Tully.  She loves to play.  With whom you ask?

With Lucy.  Its funny how little Tully is she thinks she such a big farm dog.  Hey, I'm not going to tell her that she is only 2 pounds!