1st Annual Pig Roast a la Cas Crew

We'll after much excitement and chatter... and perhaps squealing of the pig, we had our 1st Annual Pig Roast. Don was declared a master griller! and is now recovering from smoke inhalation! We call it the "Kirsty Ally voice" w/ that deep husky bravado that she's got going on... well, that's Don for the time being.

We had 82 ppl show up for the event - 1/2 from church and 1/2 from the community! The pond shore line was filled w/ anglers hoping to catch the "Pig of the Pond" as we fondly call our huge porker of a bass! He and his bros have been caught and released many a times!

There was canoeing and eating and fishing and eating and corn hole (ok all you non-southerners... I hope I got a pix to put up, so you can get a visual on it... nope... so, I'll have to google one and put it up), and eating and basketball and eating and socializing and eating and still having 2 huge pans full of pork... and that was only 1/2 a pig.

Anyway - thx to all who made it a blast... and hopefully more of you can make it next year... we plan to do it in June... when it's cooler!

Blogger won't allow me to put up the last few photos... there's 30 below... so, the newest post will have the rest of the Roast!

Gardens

For most of you that receive our yearly Christmas letter (minus the one that never got sent last year), you would know that I always ended it by stating "Don needs to be on a farm!" Well, never dreaming it would come true, we now live the farmlife!

He digs in the dirt and does the tilling and planting.... and I'll help w/ the weeding and harvesting and canning. It truly is a family affair!






Don went from 6 raised garden beds in AZ to now a full-fledged 1/2 acre. He's always had a green thumb for growing any seed that he plants. He planted strawberries last year and this year they took off w/ a bang. In just 2 short weeks, I picked enough strawberries to jam/can 5 batches of jam! And froze 5 quarts. And gave away about 5 quarts. And had 3 more gallons that ended up going to the compost pile (they were forgotten in the basement fridge when I was in AZ....) I still have enough pureed and frozen waiting for Tammi to come over to teach her to can jam! exciting!!!





Watch out Philip Morris! Don has his own spread of tobacco plants, courtesy of my great uncle who is a 'bacco farmer! We'll be calling in all favors to harvest the tobacco. We'll need help cutting, sticking, and hanging in the barn. And then when dried, we'll need help w/ the stripping, pressing and packaging off to PM or the local coops... yes, folks, all 11 plants worth! No, really, we're going to do this! dad - grab your ticket now = we'll need the help! LOL

The kids run thru the corn... it's amazing how quickly they disappear and how you can't find them! No wonder ppl hid in cornfields! It's also the cats' fave hang out!

Jode chasing white butterflies in the corn!

Chachie & Don hauling wood for our some-day-to-own Taylor Made Wood Stove.

Kellar exploring 'what lies beneath!'

Where Has Time Gone?

Wow, it's been 3 weeks since I've blogged. Here's time in a nutshell:

I ended up going back to AZ to help mom out. She developed some clots and will need continued prayers for this! She's on thinners. She has a great mental outlook. Pray that healing continues and she will fully recover!

Between trips to AZ and back to AZ I got to see the girls at their soccer camp. They had a great time and learned a whole bunch. Hannah was on the winning team! Go Hannah!!!!

The last return trip landed me back home on the 4th of July. Fireworks is a must... and it's so great because you can do them in your own backyard! (which is easy when you've got lots of land available!) NO worries about who's driving on the roads... since you're already home!

Hannah and Grace went to camp for the fish and wildlife conservation camp. This is THE most awesome camp ever! They stay on a lake for a week and are constantly going from one activity to the next. They learn certain skills and if they pass the tests, they earn patches for the skills attained. They have the opportunity for swimming, boating safety, archery, hunting (rifle safety), outdoor survival, nature, and I think there is one more.

Last year neither girl got the archery. This year Hannah got it, and she also got the OutdoorsWoman patch. She received a letter stating her name would go in a drawing for the January camp, all expenses paid. This will be for waterfowl sporting. (she's not too keen at all to do that... but it would look great on the resume for college!)

The letter stated only 16% of all campers get this invitation.... 950 out of 6000 statewide! So, we're very proud of her! Pray she gets picked. They must take one adult on the trip... and let's see.... it will be January.... in the water.... it will be cold..... ummm yep - that means dear ol' dad will go!

Also, we learned that Grace is the poster child for their promotions! Last year she caught a trophy sized small mouth bass that measured in at 21.5 inches! anything over 20" is trophy size! So they snapped her photo... and now she's on the postcards, the posters that travel the schools, the lifesize posters that are at FW facilities! We had no idea! So, I called our contact and left a message requesting a 100 or so postcards so we can mail them out to everyone! She is so photogenic!

We had to canx our Pig Roast. That's been rescheduled for the future. I'll put up pix after the fact! We're looking fwd to that!

Oh... we've had a few mishaps... we have yet another mega snapping turtle in our pond. We know it devoured one baby duck... and believe me,the ducks are about full grown sized! And the other day when we were leaving, momma duck was screaming. Charlie ran up to the pond to see the snapper take hold of a ducklings leg... he wopped the snapper w/ a rake. Needless to say, the duckling didn't survive but a few more days. And then Sunday night our saddest of all, momma duck must have got in a tuffle with a baby racoon. We have the trap set once again.

(I forgot to mention that while I was gone to AZ, Don did catch a coon in our trap.... and a few days later, Shadow finished off a juvenile coon.... Shadow....the KoonKiller! whoddathunkit?)

So - to end this one on an upbeat note! The sky is brilliant blue ~ the pond is clear ~ the fish are biting ~ God is faithful...

Farm Antics

Charlie, Kellar, Bo - last summer

Hannah on BoomErRang

The cousins with their Gparents! (last summer)

The cousins together in March.*

Life on the farm. What could be better? My crew tells me how much they miss me each time we talk on the phone. I've asked if they've missed me as their maid or their mama! They assure me it's as their mama.

Last night our neighbors came down on horseback. J, B, & J each on their own horse. They're helping us 'finish' training Star. Grace saddled up Star and away they went in our paddocks. As they went to the front of the property, the cows followed behind curiously. When the horses turned around, the cows tho't they were being chased, so they took off running. At one point, Steve the Steer, got his head caught in a "V" of a tree. Grace said that he eventually broke free and had bark all over it.

Dory, our cow that jumps over the moon, decided to be precocious and boldly approach MoonMan, J's horse. She's trained him to take a few steps backwards and then he rears up. So, MoonMan did this to Dory. Grace said Dory came out of her hide! She was so freaked out, that she ran off to hide. Put her in her place, I'd say!

I miss my kiddos, I miss my hubby, I miss my home/farm/way of life. It's wonderful to be with my family here in Hot Country, but after a week of 110*+, I'm fried!

Mom thinks she may have a broken rib. This would be a huge set back post-op. So, we'll see what will happen as far as me coming home. Continue to hold her in prayer.

*When you look at the tree pix... look on the upper right portion of the trunk. Tell me, does that not look like Baloo, the Bear, from The Jungle Book!!!!

Long Day

Today we got to bring my mom home from the hospital. It's a huge relief and prayer answered to getting her back on the road to recovery! Please continue to hold her in prayer for full recovery... and that once she's feeling better, that she'll limit her activities to 'doctor-approved' activities... ie - not lifting or holding the g-babies!

I learned that in my absence today - back on the farm my mil took the kids swimming again, while my fil cleaned the fridge! While I'm so grateful for that act of kindness, it is completely and utterly humbling! However, I will say, with 7 sets of hands going in and out of the big box... it doesn't take long for spills and thrills to happen... and get lost in the crowd in the shuffle of milk and catsup and 20 different types of mustard and breads from around the world, not to mention the countless opened cubes of real butter. Thanks Boboo!

No news on the rooster, but Don did come up with one more farm cliche': "he's a tough ol' bird." I hadn't tho't of that one until this 'coop raider' fought the rooster, and hopefully lost!

I'm bone tired. I'm crawling into bed next to mom to play Nurse Hatchett all evening. I've got their cat begging to be pet... and I've no energy.

Silent Night folks.

ps... if any words are mispelled, it's spell-checker's fault, it's not functioning either!

Coop Raider

Some of you know that I'm not home right now... I'm in AZ helping care for my mom who has just had a major surgery. My in laws were so kind to come and care for the kids in my absence. While the kids might be crazy at times, I don't think they could hold a match compared to the stunts the animals have pulled since I've been away.

Farm life has many exciting moments: exciting in the way of terror of nature being nature as well as the opposite end of the spectrum of being absolutely rip roaring hilarious! These past few days have been no exception!

Don came home from church Sunday to find a flock of Turkey Vultures in our poultry pen. Well, if you're around us long enough, you'd know that when we see a T.Vulture we scream out, "I'm alive... I'm alive..." as they only feast upon dead things. Evidently the dead thing they found was one of our hens. Turns out we have a creature raiding our coop at night.

Don started the next day by being awakened at 530a by Jode, our newest cat, bringing a gift of fresh, screaming bunny! Jode thought my in laws should dine on such a tasty morsel for breakfast. But, instead, Jode was shocked to have Don chasing him down the basement, as the baby bunny is screaming his head off! (if you didn't know bunnies made noise... have no doubt they can be LOUD!) Don retrieved thus said bunny and cat, banned them from the house and started his day a bit behind schedule.

He headed off to the barn to learn the coop raider came back that night for his 2d course to dine upon, Hen Head... ummm... quite a delicacy (NOT). This creature also took on our Rooster with head to tail combat. Don ended up doctoring the rooster w/ hydrogen peroxide and bag balm, not believing the rooster would survive. Needless to say this cocky rooster has been taken down several pegs and has one tail feather remaining and very little beard about his neck! But was found crowing the next morning...

That evening, not to be outdone by Jode, Baby, our precious kitty, thought so highly of my in laws as to bring them a headless mouse for dinner! He was stopped on the deck with the cat door being blocked off! I'm certain he got quite huffy on everyone refusing his gift!

By the time I come home, who knows which animals will be left on the farm... guess when momma's gone, nobody is safe!

DUX

Our Momma Runner Duck successfully hatched all 9 eggs that were viable. These babies are now about 4 weeks old and are starting to lose their duckling down. They're so sweet and soft and utterly terrified of us.... I'm sure it has nothing to do with the kids going into their pen to catch them.... by means of conquer and divide!
Duck Cliches:
Like a duck takes to water (not always true... it's definitely learned behavior, IMO)
Sitting duck.... (just as the fox who went out on a chilly night, he prayed that the Lord would give him light. He had many a mile to go that night before he reached the Town-O, Town-O, he had many a mile to go that night before he reached the Town-O..... this 'catchy' tune is on the Nickel Creek - our kids LOVE it.... )
Duck soup... well, that would be the best garden fertilizer left behind in their waters... and you tho't it had to do w/ a soup found at an Asian restaurant, eh? Let's hope they're not one and the same!
Duck Muck... see above

As a kid I learned this little ditty.... let's see if you can read it correctly. Leave me a not if you can! or cannot!

C D E D B D DUCKS?
M R NOT DUCKS.
O S A R.

C D E D B D FEET?
O, I B, M R DUCKS!