Spring in December?

Today seemed so much like a spring day....I know it isn't true, but I can dream!  It was 70 degrees, can you  imagine at the end of December in Kansas!!  Bad news....it is changing....overnight, at least that is what the weather people tell us.  I knew it couldn't last, but sure did enjoy today. It was very windy, but I am not even complaining about that.

Yesterday a lady came and  bought 15 pullets, today a man got 3, Saturday I have worked out a trade of some chickens for a turkey and also trading some ducks.  Before Christmas nobody seemed to be interested in anything we had advertised, but all of a sudden now people are getting back into everyday needs.  Sure did notice a difference when I gathered eggs today though, about 1/2 as many, I hope I didn't sell all of my good layers!  We have 2 pups for sale yet, and have had several inquires on those too.  So glad to have a few less hungry critters around to feed over the winter!  Now having said that....I just got a message from a friend who has a friend looking for a home for 2 llamas, and of course I said we would take them....well at least llamas don't eat much!

Took some pictures of the pups today to send to an interested party.  This one turned out cute of the spotted pup with his dad, Rowdy.



Country Blessings......

What a Week....

This last week of 2010 has been eventful. 

Monday-- blog friends from Minnesota came for a visit.  What a fun afternoon we had!  They had been to Arkansas with family over Christmas.  They stopped here on their way home, had lunch and a nice visit.  Carol and I had become friends on Homestead blogger a few years ago.  Last Thanksgiving they stopped by on their way home from Arkansas, we met in person for the first time and had such a great time, we were all looking forward to another chance to chat.  We have lots in common, so talk is easy! Thanks guys for making a stop on your long drive home!

Our friends, Carol, Madison and Rich ready to hit the road again

Then....Monday evening we awaited the news of the birth of our 5th Great Grand baby!!  A C-section had to be performed and complications developed for mother....but God is Good....and finally the report that baby and mama were well came!  Beautiful little Addison is here and she seems to be getting spoiled already! Congrats to Ben and Whitney.  Hope to meet the little lady soon.

A very proud new Grandma.....

Country Blessings......

Living Nativity

Christmas 2010 is now history......
After church we went to the local Wally World and got a few 1/2 price Christmas decorations, 1/2 price is always good! 

 A week ago this evening we hosted our Living Nativity.  This is something we have done for our community for the past 8 years.  There have been a couple of years it has been cancelled because of bad weather.  This year we were blessed with beautiful weather.  We have a perfect set up and lots of animals so it all works out well.  We have a shed that is open to the south that serves as the stable.  The barn feed room is nearby with electricity for a PA system and the music headquarters. A fire ring in between to serve as a warm up spot, and the garage is used to serve hot chocolate and cookies!  We accept donations for Heifer International, which is a great organization!
It takes lots of people to help in many ways to make this happen, and our community is always willing to help out.   It is also a lot of work for us to get ready....but a good way to get the garage cleaned once a year, and the barnyard spiffed up a bit!!  We feel blessed to be able to share our farm in this special way.

Country Blessings......

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas....this has been a very relaxing day for us.  We had our celebration with kids and grandkids on Thursday evening, so Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have been very low key.  My Mom came out today and ate dinner with us, a simple but nice meal.  We will have one more little celebration next weekend to look forward to.
I received some homestead type gifts....a cast iron skillet, and some nice chore gloves! Some not so homestead type...tickets to a K-State ball game, and a gift card to our favorite eating place! 
Today has seemed more like a Sunday that we didn't go to church than Christmas.... Tomorrow will be Sunday again....in a couple of weeks I suppose the days will fall back into place.

We got a new guinea from free cycle this week.  He was living with chickens at his previous home.  Brought him home and put him in a vacant chicken house, the next day he was gone....I went to the hen house to feed and there he was happily mingling with the hens. I guess that is where he would like to live instead of with the other 2 guineas we have.

So glad we have had good weather for folks traveling!  We didn't have far to go, but some family did. 
Really looking forward to a visit from a blog friend and her family on Monday!!!  We got to meet them last year and they are planning to stop by on their way home from a visit with their family again!

I hope you and your family have enjoyed a Blessed Christmas Day and above all else have Remembered that Jesus is the only Reason for the Season!

Country Blessings....

Cooold.....and Windy....

Well....the weather people were right.....the cold front arrived this morning!  And boy is winter here....a few snow flakes this afternoon, but mainly a cold, harsh, bitter, strong, mean, did I mention cold, wind!

In spite of that I had a great day.  Our little town had their Christmas events today.  This morning at our church there was a Christmas store for the children.  Local people donated a tremendous amount of nice items, the kids brought their shopping lists and volunteers helped them pick out gifts for their family members. Other volunteers wrapped gifts for them.  I helped serve coffee, hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls to the parents as they waited in a side room while their kids shopped.  All this for a donation to go to kids in our community that have needs this Christmas season, and a portion of it goes to our food pantry.  It was a huge success.

Then this afternoon my cousin and I enjoyed the local home tours.  It is a tradition for us to go together each year. I always look forward to this little day out.  Inbetween events I rushed home and did chores before it got any colder!

Hubby went to the winter farmers market and did pretty well there, he said it was a good thing I didn't go this month as it was freezing in the building today.  I am so cold all the time it would have been miserable to stand there in one spot for 3 hours!

I am worn out and have a busy day tomorrow...meeting early at church, program during service time, family dinner, then caroling party in the evening back at church....so I am heading to bed.

Country Blessings....

One more nice day....

This time of year I always wonder if this was the last nice one??  I will certainly hope not...as I have a "few" more things I would like to do outdoors, but winter is close and I know that.   I took advantage of the weather and did some more getting the critters ready for winter.  Didn't accomplish anything really big, but was busy all day and am tired tonight.   We did get some done on the shed cleaning project...not completely, but we have to move a fence before it can be used as a shelter anyway, and I doubt that will happen before Christmas.

Looking forward to tomorrow as the local Christmas home tour will feature my cousin's home, among others that will be fun to visit.

Winter Farmers Market is held monthly and tomorrow will be the second one.  Hubby is getting ready to set up there, but thankfully it doesn't start until 10 not bright and early like the summer market!

Country Blessings.... 

Starting a new blog

Hello Blogger....I had a blog over at Homestead Blogger for a long time, loved it there because most everyone was a homesteader or wished to be one, lots of great information came from there!  Things changed and I didn't keep up with the changes, I got involved with Facebook, and while I enjoy keeping up with old and new friends there....I missed blogging!  So here I am starting a new blog here, hope you will enjoy keeping up with our goings on here on our homestead!

We had a beautiful day here, another one coming tomorrow we are told....then the cold front hits over the weekend.  Not looking forward to that.   I spent some time getting another heated water tub set up this afternoon. Trying to make things as simple as possible this winter.  All the chickens are housed together now, only 2 pens of goats, and the other 4 legged critters are going to live together over the winter....I hope anyway!  Haven't moved the llamas in with the pony and calves yet, will do that tomorrow, it should work out fine.   Only big problem is that the ducks and geese make mud soup out of the water tubs so fast, very frustrating!

Lots to do tomorrow, we are cleaning out a shed to make one section of it available for the above mentioned 4 legged group.  Have done tons of cleaning and burning and hauling off this fall.  There is always more to do, but things are looking amazingly better!  Very thankful for that.  I hope we will have a few decent days over the winter that we can continue these projects before spring busy days hit.