A Gift from God

I first need to thank my God for the breath of life that He gives that all creatures may have the breath of life. I also thank my patient wife who continued to support me even when I had a real bad time trying to raise some beef cattle. She continued to support me and is one-hundred percent with me in this great adventure. Here are our first eggs before going into the incubator, there is also another dozen that was included. They are so pretty and good tasting but we saved these ones for the incubator.


Here are the eggs in the incubator day eighteen. They are in the kitchen pantry (My wife is so special). We are so nervous if one will even hatch, we can't get over the idea that there are little chickens in those eggs.


We were in the kitchen on day twenty and we both heard a little chirp and neither one of us said anything because we just did not think that it was a chick. Tanya (my wife) then asked me if I heard a chirp and I said yes. We both waited and we heard it again. We were so excited. That night the first chick hatched and the next day (day 21) they just started to hatch. I went to check on the chicks and saw one ready to hatch so I took this picture and was just amazed by how the chicks peck their way around the shell and out of it.


This is the same little chick a little later, little guy is really at work. He just keeps pushing away. No free lunch here just hard work for such a little guy.


One more successful hatch. They are chirping the whole time and we are just amazed at the work of God. A chick does come out of the egg. It's one thing to know, it's another to experience.


Wait a minute where did that little guy go? He just hatched thirty seconds ago. Already walking and falling all over the place. Well time for him to dry off. It's hatching day and moving day.


Our first chick. We will forget most of the chicks that are hatched but we won't forget this one. The first one. What a cutie! Black with white tip wings. The drying bucket is right below the incubator in the pantry closet. A nice warm ninety-six Fahrenheit. A little food and water with a sprinkle of sugar in the water. Home sweet home, lots of room I can hear him now, "Where is everyone".


What a crowd, things are getting a little packed in the new home but everyone is cozy and quiet. It's still mid-day and we are thinking room should not be a problem.


Well time to rethink things over, (day 2) the house is getting a little crowed. It's time to move again!


Much better into the mini coop we go. I constructed this out of pallets that the cranberry factory throws away. Just for safety we have two lights; a two-fifty (I.R) and a one-hundred.



An above picture of the chicks (all twenty-three) the two waters, feeder and one of the lights. Will be adding a trough feeder next week.


We're so happy in our new home, look at us how vibrant we are. We're so fortunate to be here for the rest of our days instead of some factory.

Thirty-Nine Days to Go

Well, we have 39 days to go until the due date of our son. I am hoping it will be sooner than that though. I had some contractions last evening from 11:00 until 2:00 or so. They finally subsided and went away.

I am tired today but feeling so content. Life has never been better for me. I am truly blessed. I have such a wonderful husband and children. I have never been happier. I never knew what it was like to be so happy and content and to feel so loved and cherished. I have never prayed so much that the Lord keep me here til old age. I have never prayed so much that He let my husband live another 40 years or so. I've never prayed so much for the health and safety for our children. I'm so happy I followed the Lord in everything. I've never had a richer life. There's nothing better than having peace in your heart and being content.

I have some more pictures to share and will upload them soon. After that I may not post anymore pictures until little Matthew is born. I had a test done recently at Labor and Delivery to see if true labor is immanent and it is not. Only a couple of more weeks and it won't really matter. I hope he comes soon. I can't wait to see his little face and body and to hear his little cry. I can't wait for the girls to see him. I hope they do well with the change. I try to explain to Elisabeth that baby Matthew is in my tummy. I don't think she has a clue! But, she's only 2 years old so I wouldn't expect any different.

We have a wonderful neighbor who will watch the kids when we go to the hospital and a couple of backups. Some people have really been a blessing to us here. I hope that we can be a blessing to others here too. We bought an incubator and will be hatching chicks in about 8 days or so. We plan on selling eggs and some of my pretty bibs, burp cloths, aprons, etc... on Saturdays from March or April through September. It will be fun! We both have our things to do and are enjoying them. Life is rich right now. It hasn't always been so and probably won't always be. I am holding fast to this beautiful season in my life. I thank the Lord for the beauty of it all.

Baby is Still Here

This morning I am having some pretty good contractions again. I have a feeling I'll be going in again. I hope that's not the case. Three weeks is all we really need for him to stay put. It makes all the difference in the world for his health. Our hospital is just a community hospital. The nearest that has a neonatal intensive care unit is 2 hours away. I hope he stays put.

In Need of Prayer

I just got back from Labor and Delivery (L&D). I have had contractions since yesterday. They didn't seem to be doing anything but annoying me after such time. I went in to L&D just to be safe and the contractions were so mild most of them were not showing up on the monitor. They did an exam before releasing me to see if there had been any progress and found me to be at 2 cm and 50% effaced already! This is not a normal thing for me so I started crying. They gave me a shot to stop the contractions and monitored me and baby for another hour, then sent me home. I know it's very typical for many women to walk around 2 cm dilated until they reach full term. I hope this to be one of those cases. I'm really nervous right now as our little Matthew needs another good 4-5 weeks before I feel somewhat good about his arrival. He's in excellent health right now and I pray that he will stay that way.

Elisabeth and Hannah

Here's a good way to start the blog. A beautiful picture of my 2 little girls.

Favorite Pictures of Hannah

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Hannah around her 1st birthday.

Pregnancy

I can't believe I will be 30 weeks along in a couple of days. In just 6 weeks I will have to have the bags packed and be in ready mode. I know the time will continue to go by quickly. Matthew is filleting tuna at the docks right now as he does for a few weeks each Summer. So, I take the girls out with me to the park, the store or stay home and enjoy them and do some baking and sewing. By the time Matthew is done, his father will be coming up in mid-September from San Diego. I haven't met him before but am looking forward to it. When he leaves I guess it will be time to get ready to have the baby.

Little Matthew is a sleeper. He sleeps a lot! I hope he has the wonderful sleeping habits of his sister Elisabeth. She can sleep through anything and sleep forever! Hannah on the other hand will wake at any little creak in the house. Anyways, I am looking forward to the experience of having a boy. I wonder what he will look like. I wonder if I will feel as much love towards him as my girls. I wonder if it will feel different looking at his little face while he's sleeping in my arms. I've already had a few different thoughts. A couple of months ago I had concern for this little one in my belly that he will have to bear the burdens in his own family one day. He will have to be the provider and decision maker on the big issues. I felt for him and he's not even born yet. Yes, we as women have different roles than men and that day I thought of how nice it is to be under a man and his protectiveness and as a provider, etc... I am blessed. I have much.

Preparations for the birth.... I'm already planning of course. Next month I will make some extra meals to freeze for Matthew and the girls while he is home alone. We have a close friend that may be able to watch the girls so Matthew can be in the delivery room with me. I'm so glad he LOVES to be there and be a part of it. He shared the birth story of Hannah many, many times. We ordered a cute crib/bedding set for little Matthew. I will take a picture when we get it. It's adorable and so boyish. Of course I have bought little boy clothes. It's funny how quick you see what you like and don't like for styles for a baby boy. We're not into the sports themes or popular characters but love the puppy dogs, trucks, cars... you know, all the boy stuff!

It's getting nice outside. Something that never happens here so I need to finish these last posts and head outside with the girls.

Hannah Movin Around

As you see, Hannah is starting to move around. Climbing, climbing, did I say climbing? I took this just yesterday. She will be 1 year old in 2 days. I can't believe it. I was so close to Elisabeth last year that I feared not loving the next child as much. My fears were just fears. I love her so very much. They are both so different but so loved. With her birthday coming up, I will have to update this blog sooner than my normal monthly post.

Sleepy Elisabeth

Here's Elisabeth sleepy and ready for bed. She looks so relaxed.

Hannah's Messy Face!

I don't recall what we were eating this night but just look at this face!!!

Elisabeth's Nightie

Here is a nightie I was in the process of making for Elisabeth. I had not hemmed the bottom or neckline or added the sleeves yet. But, she looked so very pretty in it being incomplete that I had to take a couple of pictures. She's wearing it right now. I took a simple, cotton dress that her grandmother from Texas sent us last year and disassembled it. I used it as the pattern and added a few inches to it. It was used so much from Elisabeth that I couldn't use it as a hand me down for Hannah so I thought I'd try and make a nightie out of it. It took an hour to take the dress apart with a seam ripper but I'm glad I did. Now I have the pattern in a ziplock bag for life to use as a dress or nightie. Now I'm in the process of making one for Hannah.
By the way... I got this comfy, knit fabric at Walmart for .99 a yard. Great deal!

We're into Eggs!

Here is a picture of our first egg. We got it on July 21st and we are already up to 28 a week! We gave some away already but now have a customer as well. Usually by 2:30 or so there are 3 eggs down there already. Add another 1 or 2 by 8:00 that evening.

The hens are not broody.... meaning, you won't find them laying on their eggs. We've seen them laying in their nest box many times but that is to lay an egg. So, it makes it easy on us to just go down, throw some bread out to them so they all come outside and go check for eggs. It's fun, I wish I had grown up like this. I can't wait for our children to gather eggs one day.

Now how do they look? How do they taste? The yolk is actually orange... how it's supposed to look. Yellow is aged. Being able to peel an egg easily after hard boiling it means it's a few weeks old because there is an air pocket in there from the membrane separating from the wall of the inner shell. So, it's really hard to peel our eggs. We will start storing some so we can have some hard boiled eggs though. We've had 2 eggs so far that were double yolkers. The eggs are HUGE when they have 2 yolks in them. They would make a great rich bread like a challah.

How do they taste? Wonderful! They actually have a flavor to them. They are delicious! The white is actually pretty firm so a fried egg sandwich isn't really flat as I am used to. They look so healthy too.

Some of Our Eggs

Here are some of our lovely eggs. I think they look pretty. We would like to buy some Maran chickens this spring. They produce a beautiful, dark chocolate brown egg.

Colorful Eggs

Here's some of the variety of colors of eggs we have. Matthew just picked these up out of the barn a week ago.

New Baby Chicks!

They aren't so new anymore as they are about a month old now. But, here they are! We're going to add them to our other bunch in about a month. We'll put them behind some chicken wire fencing for a few days to get used to one another. We just love getting the eggs and already have a customer. We have the land, barn and everything else so why not?

The following 3 posts were written by my husband Matthew.

The Finished Product

What we have here is one good tasty bird, cooked then carved. If you think you could never kill and clean and turkey don't worry this was my first time also. Everything will turn out just fine and you won't believe how good it tastes.

Killing, Bleeding, and Plucking

The first thing you want to do before you kill a turkey is to feed it only water for a day. The next is to go in to where you have the turkey, put a pair of thick leather gloves on and put some food in front of him. When he reaches for the food grab him by the legs from behind and pull him to the upside down position put him back to the ground put one knee on one of his wings (or it will smack the day lights out of you). Take the twine that you have at the ready and begin to wrap it around his legs tightly. Secure the turkey and hold him upside down as you carry him to the chopping block. He will be flapping his wings JUST HOLD ON!!! Get him to the chopping block and whack his head off with one good swing of the ax that you have leaned against the chopping block. Take notice I used a five pound double edged ax. By doing so you will eliminate the chances of a miss. I chop five cords of wood a year and can place an ax well into anything and when I chopped at the neck of the turkey he moved a bit, yet I still chopped the neck off ninety-five percent. If I was using a small ax, I may have missed or had to take one or two more swings.

The next thing that will happen is that the turkey will go nuts for about one minute. Just hold on to the legs and keep the neck about two inches away from the ground. This will help to keep the blood from getting all over you. When the turkey stops wiggling somewhat place it in the killing cone, go ahead and feel free to help him in there. He will bleed out for about three more minutes. Then dunk him in the bucket of water that you have prepared for him. (one-hundred and forty degrees works well) Turn on your your hot water and fill the tub two thirds the way up, put in about one two two gallons of boiling water to obtain the extra heat needed. Keep him in the tub for about one minute shushing him around so that the water gets to the skin in all the places it needs to get. Pull the turkey out of the bucket within one minute you don't want to cook it you just want to get the feathers lose. Begin plucking, it is so easy the feathers just came out in about thirty minutes I was done. I dumped out the hot water from the tub and placed cold water in it with some ice packs. I removed the guts and wind-pipe by enlarging the rear off the bird with a vertical cut about four inches long. I stuck my hand in and removed the whole mess with one swipe of the hand. You will feel the guts and lungs which are close to the rib cage just place your hand between them and the rib cage and use your hand as a knife. I then placed a cardboard box next to the turkey and threw the head, guts and feet in it with the feathers and just threw the whole thing in the burn barrel and was done with it.

How to dress a turkey

The first thing you need to dress a turkey is not a turkey. You need the proper tools; axe, dunking bucket, killing cone, twine, pliers, table and a source of running water. You may also want to use a torch to singe the back of the turkey to remove the quills or you may want to just go skinless.

Turkey Dinner Coming Up!!!

I'm so proud of my husband! Our beautiful rooster attacked our turkey and injured it. We waited 2 days for him to heal and he just wasn't able to move though still very healthy. We knew today the best thing to do for him and for us would be to butcher him. My husband did a fantastic job being his first time. And such a clean job at that. He now sits in our refrigerator we have in our garage for 2 days and then we'll cook him up! My husband will share the story and pictures shortly. Be warned though... some of the pictures might be a little graphic (not bad), so don't say we didn't warn you. Stay tuned for our story shortly.

By the way... the sad thing about the whole situation is that we really came to like our turkey. We came to find out about a month ago that he was a male. His waddler thing came down past his nose and he would arch his neck back and fluff all out. He was really becoming pretty! And he was so very sweet. Matthew would shake the food by our fence and he would come running all funny looking and excited leading the rest of the gang. He had a soft noise he would make and we really enjoyed watching his eagerness about life. He became our favorite. So, we will miss him. I'm glad to see that we can be attached to our animals and yet do what's necessary too. Makes for a good balance and enjoyment in life.

Flowers In Our Yard

My husband took these various pictures of the beautiful flowers around our yard the other day.

Peonies and Lilies

We went to a peony farm a few weeks ago located in Elma. It was an older couple who ran the 4 acre farm who had been in business only a couple of years. They gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers after we toured the farm.

We then stopped by another farm that had lilies. They are so beautiful! We were blessed to be given some beautiful lilies from the lady there as well. They looked so pretty on my kitchen table for a week.

Pool Time!

Here is a pool we bought for Elisabeth's birthday. We had put them in my Rubbermaid storage container for my fabrics and sewing stuff. It worked for a couple of days. But, we knew they would just love having a pool they could actually cruise around in. Elisabeth still hasn't figured out the slide yet.

Happy Birthday Elisabeth

Elisabeth just celebrated her 2nd birthday on July 6th. Here are some pictures of her at 2 years old eating a cupcake and 1 years old finishing her cake. Oh, I love her 1 year old picture. I can't believe the change! We are so blessed to have her in our lives, we couldn't imagine not having her. We bought her an outdoor pool to play in for the summer. She could live in the thing!

Just Pictures

What is she thinking???
Cutie Pie!
Serious Look!

Here's a variety of pictures of our daughters. Hannah is already up and cruising furniture. She has bonked her head a million and one times. Poor girl! She is only 10 months old, yet she can say guck (duck) and num nums for food. She is smart like her sister. She's very mindful too. We can tell her no on something and she will crawl away from it with a smile. She loves to please! Elisabeth on the other hand likes to test... from 9 months old believe it or not. We can tell her no on something and believe me, she's going to go for it again! She's a little stinker. But, she is so loving too. She loves sitting on our laps all the time and having her back rubbed. We try to comply most of the time as we know this time is short.

Sleeping Beauties...

Here are some various pictures of our daughters sleeping. They are so precious when they are sleeping aren't they?

Sewing Projects

So far I have made several bibs - you can see Elisabeth wearing the bib. It is toddler size as it covers her down to her lap. I think they are much cuter than what you would buy in the store... one of my big motivations for sewing! They have a pretty, flannel print on the front with a chocolate brown backing I got for $1 a yard. It actually looks really nice! I've also made a navy blue, knit maternity skirt. It is so comfy and looks really nice too! Let's see... a pretty pillow for Elisabeth out of the same ladybug, flannel material for the bibs. An apron for Elisabeth with the same ladybug material. I have yet to do a hemming on her dresses as I got too excited starting other projects. I will be finishing that this week though so she can start wearing them.

My sewing classes did not turn out so good. But I got one good thing out of it... a new sewing machine. The woman who was teaching me to sew had shared with me that they had used sewing machines in good shape and serviced. I thought I'd fare better with one from her than a cheapie one at the store. I trusted her. Well, after a short time I was having trouble stitching. It kept jamming in the bobbin below - all the thread. The stitches weren't stitching, as well as other problems. I cleaned the machine, adjusted the tension and all I could do (I had read tons of books on sewing and machines from the library). But, none availed. I found the machine to be quite dirty and dusty while cleaning it (contrary to what she had told me). I called her one day and shared I couldn't make it to class on Wednesday as the machine wasn't working. She never offered to look at it or trade it in. So, I quit going to class as I don't like to do business with someone who isn't right and my husband bought me a new Kenmore at Sears. I absolutely love it and it even has a 1-step buttonhole maker. I haven't had any problems sewing since!

So, now I am going to have to take more pictures of my completed projects, my new machine and start on some new projects. I think I'll make a patchwork pin cushion. I can't wait to get some experience down (I'm thinking a good 2 years) and then start buying some gorgeous fabrics so I can make quilts for our children as well as ourselves.

Helping Already!

After Elisabeth's several attempts to grab dishes while emptying the dishwasher, we decided to let her help! She does a marvelous job. We grab the knives of course and then she hands us the silverware. She then pulls out the rack and hands us dishes and even the glasses. Mind you, our glasses are actually the Ball canning jars so they are really pretty resilient towards breakage. She then pushes the racks in and shuts the door. Now her sister wants to help. Hey, you can't turn down good help! Well, we'll wait another year on that.

Daddy's Fire Pit

A couple of weeks ago around the 4th of July, Matthew decided to build a fire pit. Now this isn't any ordinary fire pit in which you just dig a hole in the ground. My husband laid brick within on the bottom and sides so tight that you could step on it and it will not move. Then he laid the pretty rock around it - nice, flat rock perfect for the project. Unfortunately, it's been so windy and cold here in the evenings (and most days) that we have yet to go sit out and enjoy ourselves. We'd love to have a type of rotisserie across it one day for real barbeque! Notice the progress of his work.

Cockle Doodle Doo

A few weeks ago I picked up a beautiful red rooster off of Freecycle. I couldn't believe how big and beautiful he was. One of the first things I asked the people who owned him is if he crows. And yes, he crows! But, it is a lovely sound and he doesn't wake us up in the morning. We enjoy it. He also likes to escape his pen and walk up our driveway to pay us a visit sometimes. I took some pictures of him on July 4th walking around visiting with us. In one picture, you can see my husband in the background working on our fire pit. You can also see from the pictures how he was in our backyard. The girls thought it was interesting. Poor Hannah isn't so fond of his crowing, it scares her.