People Folk Around Here

Abraham practicing some moves.

Mike back from harvesting more birch for our business.

Isaac just waking.

Emmy asked for the tea basket and unfortunately found this hidden lollipop.

Abraham and Sarah playing Monopoly.  They will sit and play for an hour at at a time which seems pretty long for Abraham just being 6 years old.  Our set has the paper money and it is great to hear them using math and talking through giving change and how much it would cost to buy two houses, etc...  I have been told that some of the new Monopoly sets come with an electronic device where everyone has debit cards that you swipe - I am thinking there probably isn't nearly as much mental math with that version.

Emmy and I doing dishes.

Emmy putting jam on her bagel.

Animal Folk Around Here

Madeline

Our buck Nigerian Dwarf, Dante.

Sparky, who we are hoping is pregnant - so maybe babies in March.

This is our rooster, M.C.  He was one of the three eggs that were hatched by one of our broody hens this past June.

He is half one of our breeds of layers (probably Buff Orpington) and half meat chicken, Red Ranger.

Because of our daughter Sarah's attachment to her chickens it seems as though he will probably just remain a pet.

Making Yesterday

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It was nice to have our own home grown pumpkins to carve this year.  

This is Abby's cat

This is Abraham's.  His first year doing it all by himself without any frustration and enjoying the process.

and finally we made bagels - something we hadn't done for years.  

Knitting and Reading

Happy to be joining in with Ginny today for the Yarn Along.

I have been reading off and on this great book which validates what my heart has told me about parenting but is from a Christian perspective and includes practices that are not so common to hear in the more mainstream conservative Christian circles... but instead  provides grace-filled and gentle solutions.

I am knitting baby things for a young woman at church that is expecting in November. 

Both the socks and bonnet are knit with baby alpaca yarn from Knit Picks.

The sock pattern is from a knitting book I borrowed from the library, More Last Minute Knitted Gifts and the cap is the Modern Baby Bonnet from Vintage Knits for Modern Babies (I own a copy of this book and turn to it over and over again).

Garlic

Two years ago we harvested our first crop of 50 heads.

This past first of August it was about 60.

This past week, 105 cloves were planted, all coming from our own garlic harvest.

I am finding garlic to be one of the easiest and most rewarding crops to grow and store and plan to do more each year until we have more than enough for ourselves, neighbors and friends, gifts and to sell.

(Side note:  Here is an interesting article - what do you think?)

Wood Burning

I enjoyed doing some lettering and painting on our birch slices.

Already a Month In

already a month into autumn with daily reminders of the season to come

Around the Homestead

Today is one of those amazing days where you don't want to be inside for even a minute.

The air is warm, in the seventies and there is a gorgeous contrast of colors with the evergreens, the browns of the bare branches, the yellows from the leaves still hanging on, and the bright blue sky.

I have been digging up new garden areas.  Loading up and dumping compost.  Thankful for our animals that provide the nutrients for the soil which in turn provides food for our family. 

We are planning a flower cutting garden for next year, perhaps even selling bouquets. Sarah is wanting to work on this with me.

The most exciting news around here has been what is going on with the goats.  Dante is finally in rut and Sparky is in heat!  Babies in March?  Milk in March?  We are hoping so.
It has been a long wait.

Nurturing Her Passion

Sarah has asked to ride horses since she was four.  She has always picked out horse books at the library or bookstore.

We promised her when she was nine she could start lessons - nine came and we worried that we wouldn't be able to afford them.

Ten came and the desire hadn't waned.  We probably still can't afford them really, but we are going on Sarah's passion and our faith that God will provide.