Are You Crazy???

Thats what all the animals were asking me this morning. A friend and I had a yard sale today so that meant I had to feed and milk extra early in able to be at the yard sale. Well I go out before daylight with my trusty flashlight only to be ignored by the chickens. They lifted their head out from under their wing. Gave me a go to you know where look and went back to sleep. Diva and Nitro didn't even bother to get up when I fed them. Sammi was very unhappy that I made her get up so I could milk her. She kept turning around to look at my like she was asking if I knew what time it was. The ducks didn't even bother to look at me nor the baby chicks. They just slept right through the feeding. Chatty Cathy of course had to do her usual screaming but soon went back to roost and sleep. Only the dogs and cats were happy I fed early. They ran to greet me with tails wagging and smiles. Everyone had plenty of feed waiting on them when they decided to get up and I headed to get ready for the yard sale. I had went over yesterday afternoon and set up my tables and priced everything. I covered them with a tarp for the night so all I had to do this morning was uncover them and straighten up alittle. A lady that is going to open a antique shop in St Paul waited while I uncovered everything and then proceeded to buy just about everything I had. She left with 4 huge boxes and a big rubbermaid tub full of items. It was nice to sell it so fast but when other customers came my tables were kinda bare. I remembered to take fresh eggs and some of my soaps and ended up selling 6 dozen eggs (all I took) and almost all my soaps. It was fun chatting with my friend and her mom and having a break from the homestead for a few hours. Out of all the things I sold at last yard sale, this yard sale and on ebay you think my house would be getting decluttered. Its not! I still have lots more things to go through so I can downsize and declutter. I am getting to old and too busy to dust alot and I think keeping a few of my favorite things instead of lots of everything looks nicer. Now if I could just convince William to part with some of his stuff! I came back this afternoon and Diva and Sammi were upset with me. I hadn't been here to give them their afternoon snack before feeding time. Nitro just wanted to eat and he didn't care if they pouted or not. The chickens didn't mind either. They had 23 eggs waiting for me! I need to clean all the yellow pollen off the porch and deck but think I will wait till tomorrow. A nice glass of tea and a rest on the sofa sounds really good to me! Have a great weekend and enjoy spring wherever you are!

Easter Swap

Pea got a Easter swap together and my swap partner was Tammy. Today the postman delivered a awesome package! Thank you Tammy! Tammy sent me a cute easter apron, 2 easter kitchen towels, a tin of truffles that I am dying to open but will wait till after lunch. A adorable easter box with a cross with the words Happy Easter. And I got the book; The Tales of Peter Rabbit! I had planned on buying one as I loved reading that to my daughters and now want to read it to the grandkids. Am I not just the luckiest lady to have received just a delightful package! Tammy I love it all. Thank you so much for the package but most of all for becoming a wonderful new friend.

Shoes for the Spirit

Shoes for the Spirit, by Tamra Nashman, L.M.,M.A. is a guide to your spiritual walk. I have devotional books that I read daily but this book was one I couldn't put down till finished! Ms. Nashman has broken her and others stories into chapters. Fear, Conscience, Stress, Jealousy, Courage, Depression, Love, Rejection, Forgiveness, Healing, and Relationship with God. Each chapter has short true life stories along with scripture verses. Shoes for the Spirit takes a Biblical approach in answering the issues we face. It offers guidance in a straight forward approach. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate this book a 10. Its a book that you can read over and over again. Whatever problem you might be facing you can pick this book up and read the story of someone that has already been there, done that. The story gives you food for thought on how to handle your own problem. These stories are taken from personal experiences and help us realize we are not alone in fighting our way through life. Though it is a book of encouragement it is written in a lighthearted manner that makes a great read.

Tamra Nashman is an educator with a Masters Degree in Music as well as a BA in Fine Arts. She is also a licensed minister. She is a sought after professional speaker, and has traveled extensively as a solo vocalist and pianist. She has been in Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Showboat, Cats, Dream Girls, and Phantom of the Opera. She has worked as a model and television spokesperson. With all these accomplishments, she still considers her greatest achievement to be that of wife and mother. She is happily married with 2 children.

This book was given to me for review by the publisher through Stacy Harp of Active Christian Media.

So Glad Its Dark!!

I have been going since 6am this morning. After feeding and milking I soaked and scrubbed all 3 of the goats hooves! They got pedicures and all enjoyed them except Diva. She did not want me to soak or scrubbed her hooves so I gave her a snack to occupy her. William saw beginning signs of hoof rot so I wanted to nip it in the bud before it developed. After their pedicure I treated their hooves with some stuff the feed store owner's sister recommended. She's a vet. I can't remember the name at the moment. After their treatment I raked all the hay they had scattered and stomped in their pen. Got the whole pen raked and then burnt the old hay. Put down fresh straw in the stalls and sprayed for flies. Moved on to the chicken and duck pens. Raked them and burnt all their straw. Bleached and refiled all the water buckets, bleached the roosting poles. Bleached the nesting boxes and put in fresh straw. Have 3 hens sitting on eggs but they love stealing eggs from each other so have to divide them back out so one hen isn't trying to cover all the eggs. I set out more tomato plants. Weeded the cabbage and lettuce. I picked some lettuce for a salad for supper. Made a trip to the post office to mail out some packages. Caught the last of my teen roosters. They are going to be dinner for some families down the road when they get a little bigger. Gave Diva her vitamin E. Making sure she is healthy and happy when its time for the babies. Did 2 loads of laundry. I really need to get my washtubs and hand crank wringer back out. Thats how I do laundry in warm weather and its been warm here lately. I started on the camper but only did the bathroom. Decided to take it one room at a time. Got all the trash out of the dodge van so I can haul it off tomorrow with the other trash. Mixed up some miracle grow and watered all the grape vines, flower and veggie beds. I came in when it got too dark to work outside. I just love being outside all day! Now I really need to dust and vacuum the living room. I hope each of you are enjoying your day.Don't let it pass by while you are watching TV, playing on the computer or just doing nothing. Live each day to the fullest! We only have today for so many hours and then its gone. When your today is gone will you be happy with what you did with it?

Whats Going On Around the Homestead

Moved the young chicks to the teen pen. They were happy to be outside after being kept inside all the time.

Elvis, Priscilla ,Marie and Ann Margaret weren't too happy to have to give up the teen dorm and move into the big chicken pen. They didn't like being the new ones in the neighborhood.
The guineas were upset at all the change and started pacing and screaming. They are still in prison and have another 5 weeks before they are released. That is if they stay on good behavior.
Fred noticed the new family moving in the big chicken neighborhood and wasn't happy. He had to show Elvis that he was the head honcho by strutting his stuff.
Fa, one of the bunnies from the first litter found out he could jump and get up in the top part of his condo. Each time I put him down he jumped back up. So I gave up and left him there. He seemed to enjoy watching the chickens from his new perch.
The new baby bunnies are doing great. Even little Willy, the one that I had to bring in and warm up. Flower has always let me hold her babies, carry them around and then bring them back so I knew she would take little Willy back after he got warm.

Thumper is waiting for his back rub. He gets one every morning and evening when I feed. He will back up to my hand and wait. When I start rubbing his back he will start licking my arm like he is giving me a bath.
Betsy and Snow White are still fighting over who sits on what eggs. I put a divider in between them hoping that would solve things. Now they just climb over it and try to roll the eggs back to their nest. They don't want the other sitting on any eggs!
John Henry is on parole for the night and heading up the ladder to roost. He will go back out of the pen in the morning so he won't bother the hens.
Some of the other chickens decided to turn in a little early this evening. Guess they had a busy day and were tired.

Monday, Monday

Went out to feed and milk this morning and found one of the baby bunnies stuck. Flower had taken them out of the nest during the day because it was so hot. I didn't make my bedtime rounds last night as William made a surprise stop home for the night. We were busy grilling our supper so I was negligent on checking the animals. Flower had put them all back in the nest but this one had gotten its foot hung in the cage wire. When I found it, it was very cold and hardly breathing. I brought it in and ask William to keep it warm while I finished feeding. Afterward I came in and heated up a bottle of formula and once it got something warm in its tummy it was moving around everywhere. I kept it inside wrapped in a blanket till it warmed up outside. Now its back with its siblings and mom and doing well. While William was home we trimmed the goats hooves. Out of the 3 would you believe that Nitro was the easiest to trim! Guess it was his being a show goat and being use to the trimming. We took John Henry out of the chicken pen. He is running around the yard. He has been tearing up the hens with his spurs so am giving them a break. We also tilled up the neighbors garden for her and did a few other chores before William had to leave this afternoon. Still haven't gotten my tomato plants set out yet or the camper cleaned up. My to do list seems to have grown but I know things will get done. I am getting my Easter swap mailed tomorrow along with my give away. I had them both packaged to ship but didn't get a chance today to mail them. Now I am off to list some things on ebay and work on some soap orders. Have a wonderful Monday evening and lets not forget to count our blessings. Each of us have so much to be thankful for.

Thanks Pea for letting us copy this and carry it on!

HOLDING HANDS

Circle of Friends

This picture shows a line of little girls holding hands facing the immensity of ocean waves.

Alone they might be washed away, but together they stand strong.

Thank you for holding my hand somewhere along the way when I was facing a wave of my own. I hope you will reach for my hand when your own wave threatens.

All of us girls...

Old and young..

.Near and far...

Hold special memories of good times we've shared.

We've had our share of hard times when our friends were there to make us feel better.

We've shared..

.our hearts

our time

our secrets

our fears

our hopes

and our dreams.

Let us never break the chain of friends!

Happy Birthday To Me

Each year I may get older but each year I like myself a little more. I like to look back over the past year and see how I have changed and grown in many ways. I have been blessed with the love of a good husband (who sent me a dozen beautiful roses), wonderful daughters, stepchildren and fantastic grandchildren. I am blessed with being able to be home to take care of my wonderful animal family. I am blessed with my soap and ebay business, but most of all I am blessed with all the wonderful friends in the blog neighborhood. To each of you I say thank you. Thank you for the cards, emails, posts, thoughts, prayers, birthday wishes but most of all: Thank you for being you. Thank you for stopping by to read this old lady's posts about the crazy things at Hidden Haven. Thank you for being such a wonderful blog neighbor and friend!

Who Needs The Easter Bunny!

Dining Room

edited to add my give away winner is posted below this one so if you know how to get in contact with Vickie please tell her I need her mailing address.


Thought I would go to bed early tonight after a crazy day but it didn't happen. I started cleaning up the dining room from the dust and mess of hanging the ceiling fan and ended up putting some more things around the room. I still have to get covers for the plug-in outlets and clean my big crocks and set them beside the Hoosier, and put light bulbs in the light fixture. I thought I had bulbs but it was just empty boxes. Overall the dining room is done.

And The Winner Is....

I was going to do a big awards ceremony for the winner of my drawing but its been a crazy day. At 3:30am a big white pit bull decided he was going to try to catch my guineas. My dogs are barking like crazy. The guineas were screaming louder than normal. The goats were crying. I go outside and chase him off, calm the animals down and start inside when I hear my neighbors chickens screaming. I call her to tell her the pit bull is at her house and chasing her chickens. Go back to bed and don't even get the light turned off when the dogs are barking like crazy again. This time its my neighbors german shepherd loose. She is a cat killer and whenever she gets loose she comes to my house to try to kill my cats. Whiskers was determined the dog or anything else was going to catch him. Look real close and you will see a cat way up in the oak tree.

I zoomed in for this shot and he doesn't look very happy with me. He did come down on his own later, after the dog was back home and back on its runner. Groucho climbed a dogwood so it wasn't that hard for him to get on the ground when it was safe. After that it was time to milk and feed so I just stayed up and started chores. Sammi is back in season so Nitro is giving her a fit. I either have to keep her locked in her stall or let her in the chicken pen. She has lots of room in the chicken pen so she spends the daytime there sun bathing. With all that going on way too early in the day I didn't get a chance to do my awards ceremony.

The winner of my easter basket and homemade soap is:

Vickie Culbertson!!!!

Vicki please email me your mailing address so I can get the basket to you. If anyone knows how to contact Vickie please tell her she won. Thank you Lisa for getting this together! I am so happy that so many took part. It really is One World One HeART!

Sunny Day Chasing The Clouds Away

It has been a beautiful day! I moved the baby chicks house into the soap shop from the back deck. I put Diva and Sammi in with the chickens to get a break from Nitro. They enjoyed sunbathing all day. I took my neighbor to pick up a peafowl hen. It was a 2 hour drive one way but we enjoyed chatting. I am going to get a pair next week when I have a pen built for them. The man also had ducks so I can finally get a couple of female ducks for Donald and Daffy. They are driving Sally crazy. I sold my antique icebox on ebay. The items I have listed so far are doing pretty good. I listed the vintage picnic set today. I had forgotten I had it and was packing away more items from the kitchen remodel and found the set in the cabinet. I think it would be better to be with a person that would enjoy using it instead of sitting in my cabinet. I finally got my diningroom light up. I went with a ceiling fan and light but I like it. It wasn't my first choice but I didn't want to wait for a special order. I will take a photo tomorrow as I need a shower and some dinner. I haven't stopped to eat since breakfast and my tummy is crying "feed me". I will list the winner of my One World One HeART give away in the morning. Can't wait to see who the winner is!! Have a great night and don't forget to give thanks for your blessings.

We Have Baby Bunnies!

This morning as I was feeding the rabbits I noticed Flower pulling her fur out to line her nest. I figured she would have babies tomorrow. They weren't due till Saturday but she decided she had been pregnant long enough! When I went out after lunch she had 10 babies!! One was dead but the other 9 are doing well. There is one tiny little runt that I will be keeping a eye on. I will supplement that one with a bottle once a day. The runt always gets pushed aside and since Flower only has 8 teats it will be hard for the little one to get enough milk from her. Baby bunnies only nurse once every 24 hours so one bottle a day should be plenty to help it catch up with the bigger babies. Once again they all look like Flower and none like Thumper. Poor guy, you think at least one would look like him.

Sammi, Diva and Nitro must be growing as they are hungry all the time. You can feed them and as soon as they eat they are hungry again. They get a mix of goat feed, sweet grain, oaks, black oil sunflower seeds and corn with a carrot thrown in. When they finish their feed they have alfalfa waiting for them to munch on and they get 2 0r 3 cookies each after each feed. Diva and Sammi get a half cup of herbs. It helps Diva with her pregnancy and helps Sammi build up from having her babies. I just came in from giving them some veggie scraps I had from cooking dinner. I am going to think on changing their feed around and see if that helps. They already get more than they are suppose to be getting each day.

Don't you just love my hay rack? LOL I am using a old wheelbarrow tied to the fence so they all can get to the alfalfa without fighting. Sally had 10 duck eggs and since the incubator is already full I put the eggs under Snow White and Betsy. They both want to sit on eggs so now they are sitting on duck and chicken eggs. Think they will wonder why the babies quack instead of cheep?

I hatched one baby chick from the incubator and he is in with the other chicks doing fine. I was surprised the bigger chicks are acting like mothers to the younger chicks. I thought I would have to divide the chick house so I could separate the older from the younger but they are doing great together.
So thats whats going on around Hidden Haven. Whats new in your part of the world?

Day of Rest?

Where did my spring weather go to? I have had a fire going all day. I thought I might get to take a nap and enjoy the fire but that didn't happen. After feeding and milking this morning I had to run get chicken feed. While I was out I got a nice little box to package my vintage Easter egg I sold on ebay. I was really surprised at how much it went for so thought I would package it really nice. I cleaned all the water buckets and gave Sammi a shot of vitamin E. She is eating good and adjusting nicely. She just looks too skinny to me so I am trying to build her up. Jane and I went to the bread store and got bread for the chickens. They all stand at the gate waiting for their bread. You could feed them the best chicken feed in the world and they would stand there and wait for crumbled bread. So I give them bread and chicken feed. Yeah, they are spoiled rotten too. I also got a little paperwork done. After milking and feeding and gathering eggs. I found Snow White sitting on eggs and Sister Sister was sitting there waiting to sit on the eggs and Betsy stuck her head under Snow White and roll a egg from under her so she could sit on a egg too. Think I will divide the eggs tomorrow so they all can sit on them. I had one chick hatch in the incubator today. Its doing fine and I am hoping the others will start hatching too. Flower has made her nest in her house and she is due next Saturday. Babies are popping up around the homestead. Well I have laundry and dishes to do and I want to list some more items on ebay. Everyone have a great night and hope your week is filled with lots of blessings.

Today my granddaughter Kristine is 12 yrs old. She was my first grandchild. I will always remember the first time I saw her. There was a special feeling that seem to flow between us when I held her for the first time. She has made all A's and B's every year. She plays basketball and flag football. She helps do housework, helps take care of her little sister. She helps care for rescued squirrels and raccoons which includes getting up during the night to give the baby ones a bottle. Her smile lights up a room. Her tenderheart and kindness makes her a friend to everyone she meets. Happy Birthday Kristine! I love you uddles and unches!!!

Too Tired Too Party

Stayed up till 1:30am putting up the wallpaper border, then got up at 5:30am for the yardsale. Yes, there are still tools laying around as there are a few more minor things to do. I also haven't gotten the light fixture yet. Yeah, I know, I know. It wasn't suppose to start till 8am but we had people stopping to look while we were setting up and it was still dark! I lucked out though. Some people with a big uhaul truck stopped and bought almost everything I had. Funny that I took it out of a uhaul to get rid of it and it ended up going back into another uhaul! At least I made a few hundred dollars while freezing. All week it has been hot and this morning it was in the 30's and all day it was windy and cold. I packed up the few things I had left and came home at 2pm. I have done the evening milking and feeding. Got 17 eggs today. Going to take a nice hot shower, eat a bowl of hot soup, grab my blanket and settle down on the sofa. Watch tv till I fall asleep. That will be how I celebrate St. Paddy's Day. Hope you are having a great one.

Thought For The Day ( Sorry I have gotten behind on doing these)

If you expect more from yourself that from others, not only will others not disappoint you, their actions will often be a pleasant surprise.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

Have a wonderful St. Paddy's Day! Stay safe, Wear green, Have fun, And may your day bring as much pleasure as a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

What a Nice Surprise

I got the nicest surprise in my mailbox today! Connie sent me the most adorable little angel and beautiful card. I wasn't expecting anything but bills in my mailbox and look what I got! I have enjoyed being your blog neighbor and friend the past year. I love reading your blog and seeing the photos of Ethel and the different costumes. But most of all I have been blessed with a friend that I think is a wonderful, caring, talented lady. Thank you for bringing sunshine to a rainy day!

In The Groove

Mom to be doing what she does best- eating!

I have moved Sammi away from Nitro so she can have a break from him. I have already been to the feed store for alfalfa. Gave the rabbits new straw for bedding. Flower should have babies next weekend. Gotten 2 soap orders ready for shipping and listed 3 more items in my ebay shop. The day is going great so far. I still have to haul off more trash from yesterdays sorting adventure, load the trailer with the yardsale items and cover with trap as its suppose to rain tonight and tomorrow. I still need to set out my lavender and rosemary. Need to worm Nitro and Sammi and give Ms. Diva her vitamin E injection. I have a ton of laundry, wallpaper border to hang and a gift I need to work on as well as a mountain of paperwork but I am getting lots done! If you get bored take a peek at my ebay shop. If you are looking for something special or collecting certain vintage items let me know as I have boxes and boxes of items left from the antique/ collectible shop. If I have what you want I won't list it on ebay. Well its off to finish outdoor projects before the rain hits. Have a wonderful day and don't forget to count your blessings... especially the small ones.