Here is one of the pieces I bought from Ruth O’Hara. Unfortunately I didn’t get pictures of the others before I gave them as a house warming gift.

I have come to realize how important it is to surround ourselves with beautiful things whenever possible. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with this bowl or where I was going to put it, but the children decided they wanted it in the standard rotation.
 

There was of course music. My favorite was “Brat Patrol” and there 80s retro music. So much fun.

For the kids there was free face painting and

a free bouncy house.

I loved the pottery demonstration by Ruth O’Hara. She learned her trade well from Robert Briscoe and had some beautiful pieces. More on this for Friday.

Today there was some free time. Normally I join them but it is a bit chilly in the mornings now. Here Two is shooting so fast down the slide all I got was his foot.

Avril is a bit more dainty while Two cheers her on.

It has been quite the year for us including some huge huge life changes. As we enter the fall it is very satisfying to look back over the year and respect the learning curve. My it has been a diificult one. So much is new–life in rural America, raising animals including hooved animals, managing a much larger farm then we have ever had to deal with, homeschooling and the impending pregnancy of our 5th child to name just a few. While alot of things haven’t gone as we hoped this year, the time of slowing down and rhythm is upon us and it is so comforting after a hectic spring and summer.

As my pregnancy progresses I am able to do less hard labor so I am working more on beautifying our home and making it our own–something we never did before. Before we felt very transient. Even though we lived in the same home for 8 years it didn’t feel like our permanent place and as it filled with children we knew it we were out growing it fast. But now we are hopefully in our permanent home and let me tell you roots feel good. Here is a picture of our bedroom. I made the curtains with an assortment of fabrics. The pictures are some cheap document frames I got and filled with artwork from the children. They were so excited to see their artwork on display in such a permanent way. I think it really dresses up the place. And while the room isn’t complete it is getting to be a place I love to go and just relax.

Baby fever is hitting me. I think it is probably the fact that we are settling down and that this will be our 2nd boy. After 3 girls everyone is excited for the change. Feeling more settled allows me to knit and create for this baby. I have added knitting to my evening relaxation. Here is a little buddy I made the one from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders. I am also working on a sleep sack for the baby and planning Christmas presents for all my wee babes. So much fun.  

For those of you unfamiliar with county fairs, they are the prelude to the state fair. Ours is a free admission fair and you can buy a parking pass for $5 that gets you in all 4 days. 4 H (the youth organization) is still really big here and all the animals and projects displayed are the product of the hard work of one of these hard working young people. Two and Avril are “cloverbuds” for ages 5-8. Two brought a drawing of some young plantain leaves that he had drawn for one of his nature study projects and Avril brought “survival cookies,” a family favorite made from whole peanuts, honey, flour, vanilla and salt. On Sunday Two brought Jack to the pet show.

All the young people also have put in a 2 hour shift at one of the club’s food booths. Proeun took them since he has experience in restaurant work. When I went to get a picture of them at their first “job” I saw the kids sitting and visiting while parents worked in the kitchen. I’m glad he took them.
 

Children pointing out their projects.

Cow barn was a favorite.

Love this little calf! Sorry for the quality of the pictures. The children were very excited and didn’t want to be still a moment.

The incredibly wet weather turns out is not only hard on the plants but the animals. And I am now gathering information that this has been a hard year with parasites requiring extra vigilance and expertise in dealing with the almost constant problems facing our animals.

So when he started getting a bulging tummy I called an expert friend of mine. I had just de-wormed him and his coat seemed in good condition (a shaggy coat being a sign of worms) she said maybe tape worm and to do it again, only and intensive 3 day de-worming. But I was having difficulty managing the other animals, weeds, county fair prep and pregnancy issues, so I delayed. Then I noticed him loosing weight and began giving him molasses and the intensive treatment. It didn’t help, he became weaker and weaker and then the diarherra began. I moved him closer to me. I started giving him medicine for the new parasite I now suspected and electrolytes. But it was too late. After several days he passed away peacefully in his sleep.

This is different for me then the death of Tiger in that while Tiger’s death was an accident this death resulted from my inexperience and unfortunately business. Yes I was too busy to research and treat promptly and now he is dead. It’s a hard pill to swallow.

Our friend Connie at Our Little Acres told me, “I know, the learning curve sucks! and unfortunately if you keep livestock this won’t be your last. You can’t beat yourself up about it.”

That is easier said then done. Since his death my days had been filled with cleaning, disinfecting, treating the other goats and making plans for a healthier environment for them–and attempts to move on. It gets a little easier every day and at least now I can write about it.

Here is the wash area/cooler/packing shed that Proeun designed. While the plan was to have all our building projects finished in May we are a bit behind. Still I told Proeun it is a really well designed building and I love it. Can’t wait till it’s done. I am glad we were able to save some of the gardens.

The bee balm plant we saved from the cooler area is now flowering and waiting to go into my herb garden–once I figure out where I am going to put it.
 

Jimmy and Blackie are growing nicely. At the end of the month they will join the boys in their separate housing and in September we will begin breeding. I have 5 female goats and that hopefully means 10 babies next year. Still deciding if we will sell or keep most of them.
 

Summer Squash finally! I hardly canned or froze anything last year because I knew we would be moving. It seems like ages since I have had good homegrown food. I can’t wait.

Other news around the farm is the chickens are laying!!! Yes, we are enjoying farm fresh eggs again and I am looking for new and interesting ways to cook eggs. There is really nothing like a good egg.

We are also learning about hay. We have a 2 acre hay field and have asked a neighbor to help us manage and bail it so that we can produce some of our own hay for the goats.

We also are putting in more pasture and once we can afford fencing will have alot of space for the animals to roam.

In the midst of all the business and fun of farm life we are finding out how important it is for us to take breaks for fun. Of course for the children nothing could be more fun then baby animals. Luckily there are alot in the country.
 

We ordered from Freedom Rangers. It’s amazing to me how chicks can travel through the mail. This is our 2nd time ordering chicks this year.
 

As usual it is really hard for the children to wait to get their hands on those chicks. Despite them waking me incredibly early they were a big help when it came to getting the chicks used to their new home. Every single one of those chicks have to have their beaks dipped in water so that they will get a taste for it right away.

Then it was off to explore their new home. They seems quite strong already, hopefully we will have more success with this chick starting.

These chicks are bred to free range and live in the open air but still provide a good source of meat. I wasn’t sure how the children would handle knowing that these chicks were purchased specifically for our table (and our customers). But it didn’t seem to phase them. While I have many vegetarian leanings myself I feel that it is important for any meat my family consumes to be the highest quality which means in part raised the most humane way possible.

While showing my uncle Russel around today I took a few pictures of the highlights to share with you so you wouldn’t feel too left out. And seriously if you are ever around Rush City, MN drop us a line.
 

Cherries just starting to form on our new cherry tree. We have yet to figure out deer fencing so they are still waiting for their permanent place.
 

The last of our really big projects for this year–the packing shed. Here is phase one.

Our free ranging chickens are really getting bold. While I love seeing them roam around the property figuring out the best way to protect them has been a bit of an issue but they seem very happy with their freedom.