February Already!

While members of our family have been taking turns getting sick since shortly after mid January, that has not stopped the ambitions of spring from bringing bright thoughts about all the hopeful plans ahead.

The light is returning and with it eggs!  The twelve, 2-day old chicks we received last August are now laying.  In addition, our older girls, 15 in total, are picking up their production as well.  We hope to be able to sell 5 dozen per week and still have about 3 dozen for ourselves which would mean that we would be getting our eggs for free.   We have found a wonderful source for our grain.  A local Amish farmer makes his own - he sources all GMO free grains and then grinds them himself into a formula that works well for his 1800 layers!  So we are blessed to be able to buy from him.  With this feed, even in the winter, their yolks are nice and orange.

By the way, all our chickens have names (thanks to Sarah) and they live out their entire natural lives with us, well fed, loved and sheltered.

As far as the handmade holiday 2018 (#handmadeholiday2018) I don't have much progress to show, today, but I am almost done with Mike's first sock.  I have also been working on some other knitting including a sweater for Emily, which after working on several different sizes, am hoping to publish the pattern.

I gave in and bought my first flowers this winter.  When I go food shopping I generally try really hard to walk by the flower section - I love flowers!  I did really well, but it seems that each February, I give in.  I bought that little pot of begonias at the grocery store on Friday and it was worth the tiny investment to add a little beauty to our living room.

January was a really hard month for us financially.  Having a retail online business means that sales fluctuate quite a bit, but this January was slower than previous Januaries.  However, it is a great lesson about being even more conscious of using what we have, making do, and also formulating a plan so that we don't get ourselves in such a situation again next January.  (Like saving money!)  I know I have shared in the past, but while our life may sound idyllic to some, there are extreme give and takes.  However, even when we are on the brink of considering a job or a move, our hearts stay firm in this life and secure in the knowledge that God has always provided, we have always had healthy food, and our children, although I worry we aren't doing enough for them, they will tell you they are very happy right here.

Small Projects

It was one of those weekends where we just had bits of time between bringing our children where they needed to go.  Nolan off to a camp counselor training session and Thomas and Isaac to a  youth group outing.  Then yesterday we had to bring Nolan back to the camp where he will be a junior counselor for two weeks.

In between the car trips we were able to do some small projects around the homestead.

I cleaned the goat's barn and set up an area in our bedroom to put a crib size mattress on the floor for Abraham to transition him into his own bed before the baby comes. 

Mike was able to complete two small projects ~

a sink stand for an old ceramic sink we had for the children's outdoor play area

a small chicken tractor for the chicks - they are out of the extra large tote that went from in the house to on the porch and now outside!

Wishing you a joyous week,

Tonya

Kids and Chicks

We are enjoying all the new babies that have been added to our little farmstead this spring.

Mike finished the outside shelter for the goats that is within their outdoor fenced area.  We still have to enlarge their fenced in area, but it is a start.  They are still getting bottle fed three times a day and we will continue that for at least another month.  It is so sweet to hear them MAAAAAAing whenever I walk  nearby on my way to the garden or chicken coop. 

And just yesterday, 6 more chicks joined us, 4 comets and 2 rhode island reds - we also ordered 6 auracanas but they are not going to arrive for another month, so we may not get them as I don't think I want to start over again in four more weeks with little ones.

 

When we picked out the chicks at the farm store, Sarah chose one that has some obvious challenges.  We think she is probably blind as one eye is a dull color and smaller than normal and the other is also smaller than normal, but still black.  She is also smaller in size than the other chicks.  My first reaction was to think, oh my - why not choose healthy ones - these are our future egg providers.  Then I realized how selfless she was being and how selfish I was being.  At home, she shed some tears as she began to realize that maybe her chosen chick wouldn't thrive as well as the others and she feared that she might die. 

This morning the little chick ("Eyes" as Sarah  named her) is still doing well and Sarah continues to hold, care and give her lots of love.  Didn't Jesus teach, no actually command us to take care of those less fortunate than oursleves?  Thank you Sarah for the reminder.

Such a Simple Life

Sometimes as I think about what I am going to write about for a blog post, I am struck with how truly uneventful our life seems to be and maybe it would seem a bit boring to others.  The daily chores, homelearning, cleaning, baking, and handwork take up more than a full day for sure.

Over the past several days we have ~

Had a play date with a friend that lives on an organic farm who just happens to have a daughter born the exact same day and year as our Sarah.  This is in a town with just about 500 residents.  Quite remarkable, I think and they so enjoy their time together.

This past Friday we went over and it was a beautiful November day.  The girls made fairy houses, while our Abby enjoyed rolling in a blown up inner tube and Abraham engaged himself with hoses.

On Sundays we have Meeting at our house and this past Sunday we had a potluck after which was just so nice.  It was especially enjoyable talking while washing dishes after enjoying our meal together.

Although the days have been dark, we have still been spending time outside.

Outside the younger children have been hiking around looking for "Christmas trees" and decorating them with dried vegetation they find nearby. 

Later the same day, found Sarah weaving birch bark in a fence.

And bringing in the wood to fill up our woodpiles on our porch has become more frequent.

I am grateful that the chickens have begun to lay again after about a month of very low production.  I moved them to our smaller coop since it gets light all day.    We have also added crushed oyster shells to help with calcium and scratch to supplement their grain, food scraps, and free ranging.

Thank you for all joining in on the handmade holiday and for sharing.
Warm wishes, Tonya

Just Being....

... I envy her ability to do just that.

For the Care and Love of a Chicken

Sarah, our 6 year old daughter is our chicken keeper - she always has been. At two years old she would carry the girls around, talk to them, scold them when they picked on another chicken.

Her love for her dear chickens was expressed more than ever the day before yesterday as she cared for a sick chicken.

When I went outside she walked towards me carrying this ~

Tears streamed down my cheeks as my heart melted as I reflected on her tenderness and care.

I thought for sure that this chicken would be dying within hours as she could barely keep her eyes open. Sarah brought her on the porch and spoon fed her milk and then we gave her a bit of oil and rubbed her neck in case she had something stuck in her throat.

We prayed and talked about God's plan for the chicken and that she may be ready to die.

She continued to massage her neck and fed her and let her sleep off and on throughout the afternoon. By the next morning the chicken was up on its feet and seemingly better; not 100% but truly better.

Thank you Sarah for taking the time to care for this chicken. I know she wasn't one of your favorite ones that you had named, but just the same you taught us that it is important never to give up and with a little love and care anything is possible.

Warm wishes, Tonya

Weekend Gardening and Finds

On my way home from work Saturday, (I work as the librarian at our rural library - it is open just six hours per week), Abby and I stopped at a yard sale and I found the following ~

~hand knit wool felted blanket, hand embroidered handkerchief for Sarah (we don't buy tissues), and small plates and bowls (a pastoral print from England)~

I bought some chamomile and parsley from our local organic farm. One of my goals this year is to dry all of our tea to use throughout the year. No more buying boxes of tea bags. Chamomile is our children's favorite.

~chamomile~

Transplanted our tomato plants out to the garden and the luminaria seedlings (money plants).

~transplanted tomato plants with simple supports of cut fencing and stakes~

Lots of weeding and watering. The weather was summer-like this weekend and is suppose to continue through the first half of the coming week.

~the garden is coming along... we even had some little radishes this weekend thanks to Abraham's enthusiastic pulling~

Also, this season we are spending very little money on garden supplies, so until we come across some more fencing (like at a yard sale), we won't be making anymore gardens, so I had one of my teenage sons bring over tires (which the previous owner graciously left us a generous supply of... ) and I put some chicken manure on the bottom of the tire stack...

~chicken manure with stacked tires in the back corner of our yard~

...then added these funny potatoes I found in the corner of our pantry and covered with the beautiful, rich compost that we get from free from a neighbor. My hope is that the tire walls will be high enough to keep the chickens out. This is all an experiment though.

~Sarah and Abraham running towards me with their eggs~

~Yes, she collected her eggs in her Boston Red Sox cap~

How was your weekend?

Warm wishes, Tonya

Our Chickens

One of our homesteading goals was and continues to be to keep chickens for our eggs as well as manure.

We also hoped to have enough surplus to sell a few dozen each week to off set our cost of grain. We thought it would be wonderful if our own egg cost would be zero. Our family uses about 3 - 4dozen each week. I do lots of baking.

This weekend we sold five dozen from our little stand.

Not only would it be a good idea financially, but we would also be able to provide ourselves with healthy beautiful free range eggs.

... so orange ....

Another benefit has been the pleasure of watching the children with our chickens.

... Abraham and Sarah with two girls ~ I am sure they know their names ....

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Homestead Happenings

"In the spring,

at the end of the day,

you should smell like dirt."

~Margaret Atwood

Our snap peas are up! That is one in the photograph above... it is a little hard to see, but so exciting.

We have been fencing in our gardens to keep our chickens out. Creating new garden spaces does take a lot of work, but it will be worth it. We chose two areas on our new homestead that show the most promise and now we are in the process of covering them with composted cow manure that we can get for free from a neighbor down the road. It is the really good black stuff full of red worms.

Now, chickens and gardens don't mix. Originally, we were going to fence in the chickens in an area around the barn. Well, after dear husband made branch posts, sledge hammered them into the ground and wrapped recycled fencing from our neighbor who has a rubbish collection business (in other words we didn't have to go out and buy new fencing), I just couldn't leave them fenced in. I have such a soft spot for these chickens and probably would for any animal. They just need to free range - to eat insects, grass, worms, but - NOT my garden!

So, Michael has been fencing in our garden areas. It isn't pretty, but the benefits out weigh the negatives.

Here is a picture ~

We have another garden area to go.

I have been planting seeds in egg cartons to grow on a card table in our bathroom window. Oh, we are just so blessed with this home with sunny spaces. My homesteading neighbor gave me a packet of tomato seeds she wasn't going to plant and a farming friend gave me some of her own tomato starts. With 30 tomato plants started, I may not be buying any tomato six packs from our local organic farm this spring. I also started 12 melons, and a dozen money plants (seeds from our neighbor - an herb and flower seller). Money plants or luminaria. They are a biannual with pink/purple flowers. The second year they leave disk-shaped seed heads which you can gently pull off the seed hulls by rubbing between your fingers to leave "silver dollars" which are great for dried flower arrangements.

I snapped this picture this morning by holding my camera behind my back as I was walking down the driveway to put some mail in the mailbox. My ladies love to follow me whenever I am out.

Enjoy this day. Warm wishes, Tonya

Spring on our Homestead

Sarah in our kitchen garden.

We will be still using our garden plot one mile down the road and a plot on some neighbor's land as well. Our soil on our new homestead is full of clay and much of the area is wet. It will take some time to build up the soil. I am starting with an area that probably was a flower garden at one time. There are lots of roots to pull up but the soil is rich. We will extend this garden a bit more each year.

As we work the soil we have to fend off the chickens as they come right where I am working to get the worms as I expose them I worry that I may hit one with my tool by accident.

Here is a picture of one of the girls sunning herself after giving herself a dirt bath nearby where we were working.

We have eight maple trees tapped this year. Our new homestead was overgrown and as we clear out and open up the land a bit, the maple trees should grow at a faster rate. Right now they are on the small side. We had our first cup of syrup with our pancakes the morning before last and should have just a bit more than that for tomorrow morning.

Overlooking our pond

Finally, we all need a little rest after a hard day's work. Our neighbors didn't want these chairs. They were still in their boxes and our 11 year old son, Isaac, put them together for us. Can you believe that they are the same color as our home? .....

Warm wishes and joy, Tonya