Have A Safe Blessed Memorial Weekend

The day started early. Fed the animals so that we could go to a yard sale a big church was having. I was very lucky and found several items and only spent $7.10. I got a GE electric skillet that also has the crock insert to turn it into a crockpot for only $2.00. A beautiful ceramic oil lamp for $3.00. 2 Old Navy shirts for 25 cents each, a pocket cassette player for $1.00 and a audio mystery book for 25cents. Now I can listen to a book while working in the garden. A nice flower arrangement to hang on my front door for 25 cents and several vintage Christmas ornaments for 35 cents. I would have posted pics of my finds but my camera batteries are charging. After the yardsale we came home and I got busy setting out the monkey grass I was given. There was a lot of it so I set out some on each side of the birdhouse fence, some around the big pine tree beside the parking area and the rest in the flower bed beside the parking area. I raked and picked up a few piles of leaves around those areas before heading to one of the gardens. I planted more bell peppers and mulched them as well as picking my first cucumber and bell peppers of the season! For supper I fixed the last of the green peas from the garden, the first mess of green beans from the garden, squash from the garden, homemade cole slaw, hamburger helper with venison burger from the freezer (thanks to my brother Don who supplies us with venison every year) and dinner rolls. I have been picking mint from the herb garden and making fresh ice cold mint tea each day and am hooked! I have made peppermint, spearmint and even chocolate mint tea. They are all wonderful. I am also drying some of each so I can make tea this winter. There is laundry waiting to be folded and dishes to put away before I settle in for the night. I hope each of you have a blessed weekend. Please don't forget the reason for this holiday and say a prayer for those families that lost someone fighting for our freedom.

Around The Homestead

The acre garden is L shaped. Yesterday, which happened to be the hottest day of the week William decided we needed to go work it.

This is the beans and potatoes. There is a beautiful purple hydrangea bush at the end of one row.

Another picture of the beans and potatoes. You can see a little of the rest of the L in the background.

William tilled between the rows while I went behind him hoeing dirt up around the plants and pulling weeds the tiller didn't get. This is 3 rows of tomatoes, 2 of cucumbers, 3 of squash, 2 of broccoli and2 of broussel sprouts You can see the L shape of the garden from this picture. The top right the garden goes on up to make a big L. Believe me after working and sweating I can verify its a BIG L! LOLAnd Rusty was right there taking every step with me. I had to make sure and take lots of water breaks so he wouldn't get too hot. He refused to sit in the shade and wait on me.

This is Mrs. Gray and Mr. Black. They get to live and run around in the teen chick pen instead of being in a rabbit hutch. The only problem is the chicks like to steal their apple slices so I have to hand feed them so they can get their treat.

This is Pandora a chocolate English Angora. She is a sweetheart and hopefully will be getting her hair trimmed today if the rain stops.

This is Ms. Porky. She got her name because she eats all the time and will eat anything. At each feeding I give the rabbits their rabbit pellets, a slice of whole wheat bread, and either a slice of apple or lettuce or cabbage. As you can see Ms. Porky ate the bread first.

When I go out to feed I find Wizard waiting at the gate with the chicks.

Wizard walks right along with me as I fill the chicks 5 feeding trays.

Then he enjoys eating out of the feeding bucket while I crumble up bread for him and the rest of the crew.

Wednesday Around The Homestead

Have been enjoying the day as tomorrow brings back the 90F weather. I am so not a summer person. Give me snow, cold winter winds and a nice warm fire and a mug of tea or cocoa any day. I love being outside in the snow. Its beautiful and so quiet and peaceful. I can always bundle up but I think there would be a problem if I went naked to try to cool off in these hot humid days! But anyhoo I did a little gardening. Got some beautiful squash from one garden that will be tomorrows supper. I gave Rusty and Kuma baths. We took our trash to the dump and let them both ride and believe me they needed those baths just so they would smell better! I cleaned off the front porch and did a little rearranging. Set out some moon flowers and purple sage that a friend gave me. Got the kitchen and back porch cleaned and swept. Folded and put away laundry, cleaned the rabbit cages, and the duck swimming pools. The baby bunnies are so cute! Time for them to find new homes. One I call Mr. Bean as he is the runt and is long and slim. I want to keep him but will let him go because I really don't need any more rabbits at the moment.
Grilled baby back ribs, homemade coleslaw, sauteed squash and potatoes, homemade mac n cheese and biscuits was supper tonight followed by strawberry shortcake made with strawberries from the homestead. Thank you Pam for the biscuit recipe. I also made a batch of cookies and will post the recipe tomorrow. I found the recipe on a blog and can't remember which one so will try to find it tonight. They are sooooo good! Life here on the homestead keeps me busy but its a good busy and I am blessed to love and enjoy every minute.

Around The Homestead.

Nice rain, heavy rain, hail, winds, and sunshine. That has been my weekend but did get a lot done. I was working in the herb garden this morning when it started raining but it was a nice warm rain so I just kept on working. Not even at a halfway mark of being finished but its getting there. Still have the wooden fence and gate to put up as well as the other half of the herb garden to plant and finish this side. I have lavender, pineapple sage, 2 kinds of parsley, rosemary, lemon balm on this side so far as well as my yucca plant I just didn't want to take down when I moved the garden here.
I also have this herb in the garden. I cannot for the life of me remember what it is. It came up from last year and at first I thought it was one of my lemon balms but its not. Anyone have a idea what it is?Yesterday a storm came up quickly and I had to run out and make sure the chicks were in their shelter and the 6 baby turkey we got Saturday night were in the dry. While I was chasing a baby turkey it started hailing... hard! It didn't take that little one long to decide it was a lot dryer and safer in their house. I had on rain coat and boots would still soaking wet. The ducks and geese were loving it. Especially Crackers and her 2 babies. They had just finished swimming and bathing when the storm came up.We sat out another 50 tomato plants Saturday. My back sure could feel everyone of them by the time we got home. Besides the 3 gardens we have here we are sharing a acre garden with a elderly couple. They aren't able to work in it much so that leaves most of the planting, tilling, hoeing ,etc to us. They have grown children and grandchildren that are busy with their own jobs and stuff so don't have time to garden. They do have time to come visit their parents and get the fresh, canned and frozen veggies though. The parents enjoy putting it up for their family so that's a blessing for them. I hope to have a lot canned and frozen veggies this winter from all the work as well as selling some of the fresh veggies to our friends for their produce stand. Have a fence to build for the blueberry patch, a fence to work on for the herb garden and more things to plant today. Hope your day is busy and blessed!

And The Winners Are

Amelia and Debbi! I ask William to draw the names and you two ladies are the lucky winners. I have Debbi's mailing addy but Amelia I need yours please. Hope you like the book as much as I did. I will be giving more books away so stayed tuned.

Crackers had baby ducklings!! This is the duck that was hatched and raised by a chicken. Who ended up hatching and raising a chicken herself because her duck eggs didn't hatch the first year. I never thought she would ever have a baby duck to raise but at the moment she has 2. Tessa, the turkey is still being mom to 2 baby chicks. Hopefully she will hatch baby turkeys one day. Bonnie and Clyde (the geese) didn't hatch eggs this year. The rain flooded out her nest so the eggs went bad. She is very very jealous of Crackers and went so far as to fight Crackers and tear up her nest. We gave her a few of the duck eggs to hatch but she destroyed them. She keeps trying to get at Crackers and her ducklings but we have them where she can't. Bonnie is usually a happy, sweet goose so maybe she will lay more eggs this year to hatch. The baby starling Isabella is growing and eating ALL the time. I feed her and try to get things done and she starts screaming at me to feed her again. I took her outside today and let her sit on a small tree branch next to me while I worked. She was so cute. She kept looking all around her and watching my every move. Then she got hungry again and the whole neighborhood could hear her screaming. She is flying a tiny bit but not much yet. I let her stay free in the house and on the screened in porch but she mostly sits watching the world go by or sleeping for a few minutes and eating the rest of the time. I will take a picture tomorrow to show how much she has grown. Rusty loves her until she starts screaming for food. Then he barks at her till he sees that won't work and goes to hide under the sofa. He loves to watch me feed her. He and Troubles the cat just sit and watch. When Isabella flew to the floor Rusty stood over her and barked till I came to pick her up. Troubles doesn't even think of her as food. He sleeps by her when she is sitting on my lap but I am still keeping my eye on him around Isabella. He likes his food delivered to him on a plate instead of having to catch it himself I think. He goes with me to feed the chickens morning and evening and has never tried to chase or catch a baby chick or bunny. He just walks with me and Rusty as I feed. I think because I raised him like a puppy he thinks he is like Rusty. I am a bad influence on animals as they always do things different than whats expected of them.
Gardens are doing wonderful after the rain except for the worms that ate the leaves on my broccoli and brussel sprouts. I mixed up some dawn dish soap and a little salt in water to spray on them and think they will be okay now. I have tiny squash and tomatoes so it won't be long. The radishes are about all gone but still have plenty of lettuce and spinach. Will pick the last of the peas tomorrow. Have picked 2 bowls of strawberries the past couple of days. They are just now ripening good. Working hard on my herb garden. I have a picture in my head how I want it to look I just need figure out how to get it to actually look that way. Precious is getting use to being here at the homestead but still a little shy. Hopefully the animal crackers will bring her around. Wizard the turkey along with the hens and ducks are loving it here. Wizard comes up to me every feeding time for bread. I put the feed in the feeders and then crumble up bread for the chickens, ducks and geese. Wizard loves the bread and stands there waiting for me to crumble up some for him. He even stands and lets me pet and talk to him while he eats it. The rooster that we thought had a hurt foot before we brought him home has a sore where his leg meets his body. I found it the other day so have been cleaning it each day with peroxide and then putting neosporin on it. He isn't limping now but am still not happy with the way its healing. Hopefully it will mend soon. I am always told I need help with feeding and caring for the animals but I love doing it and when I am feeding and watering them I am watching and checking to make sure they are okay, eating, drinking, pooping, etc and not injured or sick. By being right there with them I can catch or prevent things early on. Besides, there would be no fun animal stories to tell if I wasn't around them all the time! LOL Rusty is letting me know its time for his potty break before bed so have a wonderful night and don't forget to count those blessings.... no matter how small.

Book Review and Give Away

I have just finished a really awesome book! I was surprised I enjoyed it so much as I am not usually a WWII reader but this one has everything to keep you turning those pages. It starts out with the author Andy Andrews finding some items buried in his yard and goes back and forth from the war period to now. There is mystery and love in the story that grabs you from the first page.A story about second chances. I found myself shocked about some of the things that happened in WWII right next to our own shorelines. There is a lesson on anger and forgiveness each of us can learn from reading this book. Once you read this book I don't think you will ever forget it, I know I won't.

This book was given to me by Book Sneeze to review. They also gave me a extra book to give away but since I have finished my copy I will be giving away 2 books to 2 lucky people. All you need to do if you want a chance to win is leave a comment. I will draw the lucky winners on Thursday, May 20th. You will be very happy with this book if you are the winners!

Around The Homestead

If you read back in my archives you will see the story of Mandy the dwarf goat my daughter Maggie gave us. We found a new home for her last year with a young couple that had purchased one of DiDi's and Brown Robin's bucklings Pickles. Well, Mandy and Pickles had twin mini Nubians! The little doeling has found a home here at Hidden Haven. Because Nitro and Diva are the great grandparents of this cute little kid I had to name her Precious Memories and call her Precious. She has a lot to live up to if she wants to fill their hooves! Mandy and Precious twin brother are here at the homestead for a few days to help her get settled in. Mandy seemed to remember the place and knew right where to go when she got here and even remembers feeding times and calls out to let me know. I am looking forward to having a mini Nubian. She's not Diva but she has some of her in her and hopefully will be a wonderful milker.

We finally got rain! Though it brought a small tornado with it about 5 miles from the homestead along with hail, winds, and down trees the rain was a welcome sight. Its still raining and the gardens are growing right in front on my eyes. I just love nice warm rain.

Otis, the possum along with his brothers and sisters that were later found by the same couple finally got big enough to be released. We think the mom must have gotten killed and the babies trying to fend for themselves went into the couples chick pen to eat their food. Each morning they found another one. The last one was the runt and boy was he feisty! We took them to a nice woods with a pond for releasing. Most of them went running off into the woods but a couple climbed a tree and the runt wanted to stand there, hiss and fight with us. Hopefully they will do fine in their new area and stay away from farms and chicken pens.

Look Who Moved To Hidden Haven

A very sweet and kind lady let us bring her farm animal family to Hidden Haven. Wizard, the big, HEAVY turkey along with a big beautiful rooster and his 3 hens now have the job of being house parents to the teen chicks. At least for now. After they have adjusted to their new home we will let them retire from their house parent job, roam around and enjoy the homestead. They seem to like their new home and came right up for breakfast and Wizard even allowed me to pet him. We also brought Daniel and Ms. Oreo Duck to Hidden Haven. They are enjoying their pool and sharing a pen with our white rocks for now. They too will be free to roam and enjoy the homestead with the other ducks once they have gotten use to living here. Fred doesn't quite know what to do with Tessa making goo goo eyes at Wizard. Wizard is 3 pens down but Tessa stands at the fence looking at him and drooling. I think Fred is jealous but shouldn't worry as we are in the process of finding a wife for Wizard. So say hi to our new homestead family members. You will be seeing lots of stories and photos as they settle in and enjoy their new home. What a wonderful blessing to be able to have these beautiful animals to share the homestead. You never know who you will see next around here!

Around The Homestead

Isabella the baby wild bird is doing wonderfully. She has a temper though and if you don't feed her as soon as she chirps the first time you are in for a earful! She screams very loudly without stopping until she gets that first mouthful of food. Isabella eats baby food rice cereal and beef mixed together and fed from a dropper. She even lets me wash her face after she eats. She can get messy when she is really hungry. Feeding her every two hours is sometimes a pain but at bedtime I put a washcloth over her to feel like her mommy is sitting over her and she sleeps all night. First thing in the morning when she hears me get up she starts chirping then screaming for her breakfast. Several times during the day I let her sit on my shoulder while I do chores outside. She loves it and I enjoy it until she starts chirping in my ear when she talks to other birds.
Things have been very busy around the homestead. No rain means watering the gardens. Trying to get more items together for another yard sale. Cleaning up around the homestead is never ending. Men tend to think having tools all over the property, in the house and on the porch is fine. Even parts, wood, projects are left everywhere. I am slowly getting everything in its rightful place and get my yard and home back to what it was. I haven't blogged everyday but I have read your posts and love keeping up with all that's going on with you. Have a great day and don't forget to count those blessings!

Meet Mr. Stanford. He is our new Angora buck and such a gentle sweet cutie pie. Thank you Christina and Jim for letting us bring Mr. Stanford home for Bashful and Happy.

This is Happy. She is waiting for her haircut. She also had a visit from Mr. Stanford the past couple of nights so is a tired but content bunny.

This is Bashful. She had her hair appointment with my clippers and scissors two days ago. She has small babies at the moment so will not be meeting Mr. Stanford personally for a while.
This is Otis. He is still too small to release but it won't be long. He is eating good and we no longer have to stimulate him to poo or pee. Yes, you have to do that to baby possums.... yuck!

Here are two of the baby birds from Momma Chickadee. There was another off to the other side I didn't get in the photo. I didn't realize it until I came inside and didn't want to disturb them again.

Hidden Haven Animal Rescue?

I think the homestead has turned into a rescue shelter. A older couple found a baby oppossum in their garden a few days ago. They left it alone for a day and night to see if the mother would find it. When it was still there the second day they put it in a cage and sent it here. I called my daughter Maggie who does wild animal rescue and release who gave me a number to call on what to do. The little fellow is almost big enough to be released but will be cared for until then. Will take him to some woods not far from here and release him. The same couple found a baby bird on the ground and searched everywhere for the nest. William helped them search and they even left the baby on the ground for a couple of hours. When they came back it was still there and very weak. Of course the bird is here now. It is so ugly its cute but boy does it have a loud mouth when its hungry. Maggie gave me all the information I needed to care for it and its doing great. I got smart and cover it in its nest with a washcloth at night so it thinks its mom is sitting on it and it goes to sleep. I can't talk or get near the cage when I walk into the room or it starts chirping very loudly. Thinks I'm momma. Hope to release it here when its old enough. It has feathers but its wings are so much bigger than its body it can't fly yet. It just falls to the ground when trying. Its a black bird with a little white on its wings. I am assuming its a black bird. Anyone know for sure? Of course I have to leave you with a picture of Momma Chickadee and babies.

Back Porch

Welcome to my back porch. Come on in and sit a spell. I finally finished the porch (at least for now) in what I wanted to be more prim but turned out more country farmhouse. That's okay though cause I love it and look forward to lots of early morning and late evenings sitting, drinking tea, and watching the birds. The best part is I didn't spend a penny!

When you walk into the screened porch you will find plenty of places to sit and relax. The fruit and veggies sitting around are from my friends produce stand.

My daughter Melody gave me this birdhouse chair a few years ago. I just love it!

This rocker belonged to Ms. Fran's momma. I keep it by the woodstove in the winter but come warm weather its on the back porch.

These signs and wreaths are hanging beside the back door above the bench. I have a old nail keg there to hold umbrella's, etc.

I love this stove! I got it off Craigs list last year. A man took it out of a camper and put it on a grill stand with wheels. Its perfect for canning during the summer since being on the back porch it won't heat up the kitchen.

The back door into the diningroom. Hope you have enjoyed visiting with me and come back anytime. We will sit, watch the birds, and chat a spell.

Around The Homestead

Hey, Remember me? I really meant to post yesterday but time as usual got away from me. I did pop on from time to time to catch up on your blogs and all the wonderful things you have been up to. The yardsale was a success. The only negative thing was the heat. All week it had been in the 80's with a nice breeze. Come Friday the temps went up to the mid 90's with no breeze and very humid. Gerda and I made use of the comfortable swing and chairs under her patio umbrella. We got rid of a lot of items but when it came time to pack things up I couldn't tell I sold a thing! William and Gerda's grandson Taylor found time to have a little fun with Gerda's old hairpiece.
Gerda's daughter Gloria and her teenagers cooked and sold hotdogs and hamburgers to our shoppers. Construction workers down the street came for lunch and ended up buying some items while browsing. Though the heat wiped me out all in all it was a good yardsale. Gerda and I planning another one in a few weeks after we recoup and gather more items.

I had let things go around here getting ready for and having the yardsale so the past few days have been playing catch up. The laundry is caught up along with the livingroom and kitchen being cleaned. Today I am working on the dining and bath rooms. Tomorrow I am cleaning and rearranging the bedrooms. While at the yardsale my mind was working on other projects I could do around the homestead. I pictured in my mind what I wanted to do with the screened in backporch. I wanted it to look primitive yet warm and inviting. I finished it this morning except for one last thing I need to hang. Its more country farmhouse look than primitive but I love it and will show pictures after I get that one last thing done. Granny J over at Granny's Place has got me hooked on a blog called Confessions of a Curbshopaholic. Click on the name and you will be hooked too! She makes the most wonderful, beautiful, amazing things with things she picks up from the curb where people have set out for the trashman. You should scroll through all her posts to see all the things she has made from trash. She even brought home a boxspring and used the batting in a project and a spring in another one. It sure has got my mind running in things I can do around here. Granny J also has me rethinking pallets and things that can be made with them. So Granny its all your fault I don't have time to blog! LOL
The animals weren't too happy with us going out to feed at 4:30AM with flashlights on yardsale days. They sure were happy to have things back to their regular schedule.
Crackers hopefully will hatch her eggs in a few days. The piglets are growing like weeds and eating everything in sight.
Tessa is being a good mom to her two baby chicks. She doesn't seem to mind that they will grow up to be chickens. She just wanted to raise babies. Fred is one proud poppa. He hasn't stopped strutting since the baby chicks started running around the pen. Momma Bird hatched 3 babies. They are so tiny but boy do they open their mouths wide and cheep when you open the lid to have a peek. Momma was on the nest when I went to take a picture yesterday. Think she was waiting for the rain to stop before going out to get food for the babies.
Gardens have taken off and growing good. They need attention and hopefully I can give it to them later today. Still have more projects in mind for outside when I can get to them. So much that needs doing, so much I want to do. I just need more time. You don't happen to have any extra laying around do you?