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!