Ryans first fishing tournament

Saturday Ryan had his first fishing tournament!

He came in third place!!

Not bad for his first time, in total he caught 9 fish and he received his very first trophy which he is very proud of!

Way to go Ryan!!!!

Picking Cherries and a recipe!

Cherry picking time!!!!!

We picked several gallons of cherries and then made Cherry Jam!

We got 8 half pints of jam and 9 Quarts of pitted sweet cherries...Yum!!!!

Bing Cherry Jam

from the Book

" Blue Ribbon Preserves"

by Linda J. Amendt

4 cups pitted and chopped fresh ripe Bing cherries ( about 3 lbs)

1/2 cup strained fresh lemon juice

5 cups sugar

1/2 tsp unsalted butter

1 (3 oz) pouch liquid pectin

1 tsp pure lemon extract

in an 8 quart pan, combine cherries, lemon juice, sugar and butter.

Over med low heat, stirring constantly, heat the mixture until the sugar is fully dissolved. Increase heat to med high and bring mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in entire contents of the pectin pouch. Return mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat. Skim off foam. Stir in almond extract.

Allow jam to cool for 5 minutes before filling jars, gently stir mixture every minute or so to distribute the fruit. Ladle the hot jam into hot jars leaving a 1/4 inch head space. wipe jar rims and threads with a clean cloth. Cover with hot lids and apply screw rings. Process half pint jars in 200 degree water bath canner for 10 minutes, pint jars for 15 minutes.

We absolutely love this jam and I recommend this book to any one who loves to make their own home canned jams and jellies. There are over 300 recipes that are mouth watering and worthy of trying!

check it out for yourself!

I bought mine from amazon.com

Baby Horses grow so fast!

Dexter is now 5 weeks old and Sparta is a little over a week old, and they are growing so fast!

Sparta

Loving Sparta

Robin and Dexter

They both look alike but, they are very different in their attitudes!

Dexter is pretty calm and love to be pet and rubbed all over!

Sparta is very Independent and is already showing dominance over Dexter, I think he is going to be a hand full and a half!

Dexter now gets his own portion of grain and eats hay and grazes like his Mom, he is so fun to watch running through the pasture.. every time he runs, when he turns a corner he whinnies with this adorable little baby horse voice!

Sparta intentionally challenges Dexter and even Willow, I think he is saying " I am the ruler" Which is in part why he is named Sparta, he acts like a big, brave warrior ready to go at any moment!

Sparta carries himself tall and has a beautiful prance when he is walking!

We are going to have a busy, full of antics summer!!!

Robins Graduation

Robin Graduated and walked across the stage to

receive her diploma June 20Th!

Robin and her grandparents

Robin and Ryan

The proud Graduate!

It was a very good day for us all to watch our youngest daughter walk across the stage and officially become a Graduate!

After the graduation we had a cook out with family and friends,

On the menu was Hamburgers and hot dogs cooked on the grill, potato salad, Italian pasta salad, My Moms absolutely great creamy pasta salad, baked beans, fresh fruits and vegetables, veggie pizza, a homemade Hawaiian dream cake and home made ice cream with sundae toppings!

We all had a great day celebrating Robins achievements!

We are so proud of you Robin!!!!!

Badgers Foal!!!

Badger had her foal, a colt born June 16, 2009 at 9:40 PM!

I did not blog earlier because we were having computer problems, but I wanted to share this wonderful experience!

Meet Sparta!

Just the beginning

Waiting for Badger to push

Cleaning the amniotic fluids from his nose to allow him to breath!

Sparta, just moments after birth

Badger and Sparta bonding

Badger had a tough time with this big guy, she needed to have our help and she seemed glad for it. It was raining the night she had him, Badger was very restless, as she pushed she ended up getting her head and upper body outside the gate of the barn, we ended up having to remove the gate to allow her more room, as she pushed she sounded like a bear growling with each contraction but she wasn't getting him any where, she kept pushing and breathing so heavy, I knew she was having a difficult time. I stepped in and pulled with all of my strength with each contraction but we still were not getting him to budge so Alan joined in and we both pulled when Badger pushed and in no time she had a BIG Beautiful colt who could not wait to get on his feet, Sparta has so much spirit in him, he is going to be a challenge! He's as tall as Dexter is at a month old and he is already the dominate of the two foals and Sparta is just a week old!

This was such a great experience for me and I feel Blessed that everything went well for Badger and for us, this was a life moment that will never be forgotten!

God was with us all in the barn that night and I Thank him for his loving guidance, I have never helped any animal with the miracle of life and felt very comfortable with the whole event!

(Thanks to the books we read and the You Tube videos we watched about foaling!)

Badger is a good Mom and very proud of her new baby, after the birthing was over and Sparta nursed, Badger came up to where I was sitting and placed her nose in my lap as if to say Thank you, I'm glad you were here!

She is my pride, I love her with so much of my heart,

ours is a friendship like no other and I think she was telling me she feels the same way!

Alans Projects

Alan has been busy the last few days building some steps down to the garden and a new compost bin!

The steps are almost complete, we had a large pile of stones and Alan has put them to good use!
He also built this compost bin out of old pallets we had laying around, he wants to add two more bins beside of this one later on!

The really great thing about both these projects are the fact they were free, from recycled materials we already had on our property!!!

Flogged by the Rooster

I Guess our rooster doesn't like tattoos!

Charlie flogged Alan when he was leaving the hen house, got him completely by surprise and this is the result. Thankfully it was not as bad as it could have been. We know better than to wear shorts in the chicken house, for some strange reason that is the only time our rooster will try to attack and he always waits until you have your back turned.....Bad Rooster!

Remembering Our Fallen Soldiers

Memorial Day

Edgar Guest
The finest tribute we can pay

Unto our hero dead today,

Is not a rose wreath, white and red,

In memory of the blood they shed;

It is to stand beside each mound,

Each couch of consecrated ground,

And pledge ourselves as warriors true

Unto the work they died to do.
Into God's valleys where they lie

At rest, beneath the open sky,

Triumphant now o'er every foe,

As living tributes let us go.

No wreath of rose or immortelles

Or spoken word or tolling bells

Will do to-day,

unless we give Our pledge

that liberty shall live.
Our hearts must be the roses red

We place above our hero dead;

Today beside their graves

we must

Renew allegiance to their trust;

Must bare our heads and humbly say

We hold the Flag as dear as they,

And stand, as once they stood,

to die To keep the Stars and Stripes on high.
The finest tribute we can pay

Unto our hero dead today

Is not of speech or roses red,

But living, throbbing hearts instead,

That shall renew the pledge

they sealed

With death upon the battlefield:

That freedom's flag

shall bear no stain

And free men wear no tyrant's chain.

Our Thanks to all who paid the ultimate price for our Freedom today and loving prayers to the families that let them go.

We will never forget you.

The Horses

Dexter, Willow and Badger

Dexter and Robin

Badger and her big belly!

Dexter is so full of life and he is so much fun to watch him run around and play, he gets to running so fast that poor Willow has a tough time keeping up with him!

Willow is getting more comfortable now though and can actually graze a little more than the first couple of days that they were out in the pasture, She is learning that she can let Dexter run about and play and he will always come back to her! She still keeps a very close eye on him. Willow is being a great Mom!!!

Badger is showing a few signs that she will foal soon, her teats are full of milk, I was able to milk a little from her tonight for the first time... A clear sticky substance that is the colostrum I think. I saw movement in her belly today too, which is always a joy to see and feel!

Willow and Dexter

Willow and Dexter are doing great, Willow is a very good Mom, attentive and Loving to Dexter! She is very good about letting us around them and Dexter is very curious about who we are, he is getting more energy, moving around the stall and playing. He came up to me last night and kept stretching his neck towards my face like he was giving kisses!

Badger' Teats are still filling with milk, no waxing yet so I don't think it will be much longer until Badger has her foal, I hope it is soon though, She will not leave her stall, she wants to be by Willow and Dexter and she looks at Dexter like, "I want one of those"!

Its a Colt!!!

Introducing Dexter our new Arabian/ Thoroughbred Colt

Born May 13, 2009 at 11:25 PM

We were told by the vet that Willow should be due to have her foal sometime in March, We had no due date to go by because they were discovered to be pregnant when we bought them, so this lack of information and the vets guess as to when it "could" be lead to a lot of sleepless nights for us....since March 28th we either stayed awake watching Willow because she would show signs that it was very soon, only to stop her labor and then nothing.

When we didn't stay awake watching, We would take turns getting up every hour and looking at the monitor to see what she was doing.

It would figure that Willow would foal while we were not here, My car broke down Monday and Alan had to come pick me up from work, while on our way home Robin called to say she looked at the monitor and Willow had foaled!

So we missed the actual birth but we made it home in time to see Dexter get up for the first time and take his first steps, nuzzle with his Mom and nurse!
I checked the placenta and found it to be intact! Both Willow and Dexter seem to be very healthy and happy!

When we first pulled into the driveway, I ran into the house and changed out of my nurses uniform into jeans so fast that I think I may have broke some Guinness world record or something! I flew down the barn but then I took my time approaching Mom and baby because I was not sure how protective Willow might be and thought caution was needed! Willow was wonderful about us being there and let us touch and examine her new little one, we mucked out the stall around her and put down fresh straw bedding to remove the mess from the delivery, all the while Willow did not mind the interruption. Once Dexter got to his feet and started nursing, we felt comfortable leaving the barn to let Mom and baby have some quiet time and bond some more while we watched from the monitor at the house for a few more hours before going to bed.

It was a wonderful event that we waited what seemed like forever to happen and finally found ourselves with a sweet new horse!

Now we have to wait for Badger to have her baby. So I see more sleepless nights in our future but, it is such a great experience that we would not trade it for anything!!!

Ready to plant

These are our tomato and pepper plants, a few herbs and cucumber plants ready to go in the garden!

We have been busy preparing a new and larger garden for this year and this is the weekend to get everything in!!!

We already have our peas in the garden and they are almost big enough to trellis them, this weekend we want to plant all the plants in the picture above and start our seeds for everything else. My mouth is watering just thinking about all the good fresh veggies we will have in a few months!!!

New Babies and a little trouble

Wild Kitty had her babies Sunday night, 6 total! It is so exciting to see the new little ones, but the trouble here is that she decided to give birth in Badgers stall!

Alan tried to move them but.... wild kitty was so determined to have them stay in the horses stall that she tried three times to move them back in there, even as fast as Alan carried them to the nice bed of straw that he prepared for them she would carry them one at a time into the stall...I guess she really likes Badger but she has no idea how dangerous this is for her six little kittens. We ended up having to move her and her kittens to the empty brooder coop and close her in with them!

Other than wanting to share them with a 1200 lb horse, she is a good momma, very diligent with caring for her little ones!

Ryans 4th Birthday

We celebrated Ryan's 4th Birthday on Saturday with a western theme, Ryan dressed up like a cowboy with boots and a cowboy hat, he even had his sheriffs badge on! It was a great day with Family and Friends, We had fried chicken, baked beans, pasta salad and of course cake and Ice cream!

Ryan got a new swing set and a wheel barrow with garden tools, many toys and books. Yesterday he wore himself out playing outside with his new things and helped Nana and Pop pop work in the garden.

Its so hard to believe that he is now 4 years old!

Preparing for foaling

I know I have not blogged for awhile but we have been busy preparing for our new foals, Willow is showing some signs that the time is near, The muscles around her tail head are soft and wiggle like Jello! Her vulva is elongated now and swollen. She is like a yo yo with her teats, sometimes they are looking like they are filling up and then other times their down. She is cranky today for the most part. I have chose to leave her in her stall where we can monitor her closer, we have a camera system set up so we can watch the mares with out them knowing!
Badger's Teats have just started filling up but the muscles around her tail are still firm.
This is such a nerve wracking experience for me, I cant help but constantly watch them and yet I am very anxious but also reluctant at the same time for the moment to arrive!
I will try to post pics later, I have lost the cable to upload pictures to my computer, as soon as I find it I will show pictures of the girls!

Super bowl Champions!!!

The Steelers won!!!!

What a great game all the way to the end, both teams played great but,

we won!!!!!!!

More Basement Progress

We are still busy working on the Basement, Here are some pictures of that progress!

This is that back wall, I was talking about in my last post

This is a before picture of the wall across the room

And this is after painting!

We are going to try to work on the ceiling and frame out a few rooms down in the basement a little later, but we are going to have to focus our attention on the horses and the barn again real soon, we are getting closer to having baby horses and we need to prepare for them!

I will post more pictures of our progress around the house and barn as we get the chance.... Things are a bit busy here for now!!

Blog Header

My New Blog Header is compliments of my friend Robin of Robins Rest
Thank You Robin, I Love it, I will have to learn to do that someday!

A Needed Improvement

I have started to finally paint the basement! We have a very small house and use every inch of the space we have, The Basement seems to have been chosen as the Family room, Ryan's toys are all down there and the computer is in the basement, so we find ourselves spending a lot of time there, I couldn't take the dingy block walls any longer so I decided to paint!

Here is a before picture

And and After

We are hoping to frame in and finish that back wall too!

I have a lot more painting to get done and I cant wait!

it made a world of difference in the look and feel of that space, next I want to decorate and hang some pictures!

Then this space will really feel like a family room!!!

Winter is NOT for butchering!

What do we do when it is 25 degrees outside with 14 mph winds?

We butchered, not that we really wanted to but, we had to, we butchered 6 chickens and 2 rabbits today for a total of 47 lbs 10 oz. of meat,
I would rather accomplish this in milder weather but we were low on meat in the freezer and these animals were way past the time for butchering.
It is very expensive to feed so many animals in the winter, not to mention the hardship that cold weather brings to both man and beast.
We had intended to have this done way back in November and not have to worry about it at this time of year but, a series of events had taken our time away from those chores. so now we are left to do our butchering in the middle of winter, we have 19 more chickens and 6 more rabbits to do before we are done.... not a chore I look forward to doing in warm or cold weather, but enjoy the benefits once it is all done!

Happy Birthday Badger!

Today is Badgers Birthday!

Happy Birthday to such a sweet girl, We Love you Badger!!

Badgers Pregnant Belly

This is Badgers pregnant belly!

It wont be long, she is due in April and Willow is due in March!

Taking care of the Animals on a winter day

Robin and Willow

This morning is cold, its the kind of cold that chills you to the bone as soon as you walk outside. I greeted the Horses who are always glad to see us come down because they know they are going to get their sweet grain, Badger will whinny in excitement and then bite at her gate until she gets her grain, Willow whinnies and then gets aggravated with Badger biting at her gate. While the horses eat their grain, we feed and water the Chickens, Turkeys and our flock of Meat chickens and open the door to the coop to let everyone outside. The Rabbits are next, we fill their feeders and collect the water bottles to take up to the house to thaw by the wood stove, we will take the water bottles back down to them after they thaw out later. We put the Halters on the Horses and let them out, Willow has to go first, then Badger. They get fresh hay thrown to them because there's no good grazing right now, everything is frozen.

We of course spend a little time loving the horses before we return to the warmth of the house.

In the evening we return to the barn to feed and water again, Brush the horses ( I have learned to do this in the evening because they usually like to roll during the day) We clean out their hooves and muck their stalls, then they go in the stalls and impatiently wait for us to bring them more grain and throw hay into the hay racks. We collect the eggs from the chickens and close them in the coop for the night. When it is really cold out the chickens and Turkeys get some scratch grains before roosting to help keep them warmer through the night. We give the rabbits each a little hay and say good night to all the animals.

Sometimes going to the barn feels like a drudgery to get myself motivated this time of the year ( I am not a cold weather type of girl)but, Once I get down there, I actually enjoy it, I love being with the animals, petting and holding the rabbits or hugging the horses and watching the antics of the chickens. The animals provide me with a sense of calm and help me forget the stresses of the day and they always do something that will amuse me and make me laugh, Its then that I forget, for a little while that its cold out side!

Home Made Bread!

There is something about homemade bread that is just so satisfying to your whole body! With just a few ingredients and some kneading mixed with a little patience you get something wonderful, oh and the smell that wafts through the air as you bake your freshly risen bread is just as rewarding to the senses!
and last but not least is the taste.... no store bought bread can stand next to home made in flavor and texture!

I enjoy baking bread and look forward to that fist slice, still warm from the oven with a little butter and home made apple sauce... it just doesn't get any better!
If you have never baked bread, I would recommend you try!
it really isn't as hard as you think but, I will warn you,
there wont be any left overs to go stale!

First Ice Storm for 2009

These are some pictures of the Ice Storm we got on Wednesday and Thursday early Morning, this was what we woke up too!

Ice on one of our bushes

Icy cold view from the back yard

This picture looks out of focus but, it was actually Fog!

Several people in our area had power outages due to the trees falling over onto the power lines from the weight of the Ice, we were fortunate that we maintained our electric!

The horses were upset about staying in the barn, I just didn't want to take the chance of them slipping on the ice in their current state of pregnancy, Today they are out and about but it is windy and I think they will opt to return to the barn!

We are in store for very cold temperatures this weekend and the possibility for more Ice on Saturday........ Hurry Spring!!!!!

Horse Love

The Horses have really settled in at their new home and we are all enjoying them very much!

Ryan and Willow

Ryan and Badger

They are both very healthy and the time is getting closer to them foaling, we are learning as much as we can about pregnant horses and preparing the birthing kits, Willow is the first expected to foal in March and Badgers due in April.

We have been very busy with all the animals and preparations for winter.

We also were having computer issues but now we are back and I hope to blog regularly again, I will post pictures of the horses growing belly's soon!