4 weeks already and a couple projects

The baby chicks are 4 weeks old already. It is really flying by and they are growing like crazy as I am sure you can see.



We are filling their feeder, which is actually an old hog feeder but works PERFECT for this, with a 40 lb bag of feed every day. Much less waste with this feeder than before which is great. And we are filling the 7 gallon waterer twice a day and they will empty it. It is really amazing how much they eat and drink.
And I have been working on some sewing and knitting as well.
I made a couple skirts that I didn't get pics of, but they are adorable little a line skirts that will be perfect for church.
Then I had this organic cotton fleece that I dyed up for myself about a year and a half ago and was for a pair of capri length sweats for me. Well I finally got them cut out and sewn up and boy do I love them!

And I decided I needed a wrap or shawl for wearing to church when I choose to wear a tank top so I went on the search for the perfect pattern. This one is awesome, knitting up fast but it is not as wide as I had hoped for. So it may end up being my scarf for winter as its is awesome yarn and very pretty.
Finished pics and more info when I am all done

Busy as usual

Things seem to always be busy on the farm, but that is how I like it.
The baby chicks are now 3 weeks old and they eat like crazy. They are going through nearly 50 lbs of feed every day. It really is amazing to me how much they eat and drink.



Bessie our milk cow is giving us 4+ gallons of milk a day and we have been using and sharing as much as possible. The ice cream is absolutely wonderful and we are making and eating til our hearts are content.



The ducks love being out in the pasture with cows following them around.


Our beef cows will go to market in October and they look great as well. I love to watch how they grow and change.



We have lots of baby kittys right now as well. The kids dearly adore them and we try to play with them daily. We do have some that are still wild but one litter is very friendly.






Last night we had some stormy weather go through. This last one was absolutely wonderful to watch. It was sunny over most of our house and then this huge cloud was over part of it. My cousin lives 7 miles from us and they got a ton of rain out of it. We didn't get more than a few drops. Then after it was mostly past the clouds were almost daunting to look at from behind.





Then just a pretty picture of the sage that is growing in the flower bed. The kids love these flowers the best of all the flowers we have blooming right now!

Preschool Graduation, baby chicks and strawberries

Another busy title today!
On Tuesday my oldest graduated from Preschool. What an accomplishment and how quickly she has grown, it seems like just yesterday I was trying and hoping so much for a baby of our own. And now that baby is getting ready to start Kindergarten.



Isn't she adorable!

All the graduates!


And here she is with her bff

And on other farm news!
The new baby chicks are a week old. They have grown a TON, about double the size they were and they are starting to get real feathers.


And our strawberries are coming on great. The patch we are picking from is our June Berries, we have another patch started that is the everberry type. These we are enjoying fresh and I also made some up for ice cream topping but that is another post.

Busy Days

Well we have been busy here on the farm the last few days. We had to finish making preparations for the 100 meat chickens that arrived this am. Man are they ever cute.
We got a ring and a cover to put the lights in set up and put in ground up corn stalks for bedding. The corn stalks are working great, nice for the bottom but also no so small they get it stuck all over them!

Then we put in 4 waters for them, they are quart size jars and this is what we have found works best when they are so small.
They had a longer trip than was planned, the USPS dropped them off at the wrong post office this am and they had to go back and get them to bring to our post office. Poor little things had a busy second day of life I'd say.
When we got them here we took them out one at a time, showing the kids the babies and then dipped their beaks in the water so that they knew it was there. They were all drinking like crazy after their long ride. In all they drank nearly a gallon of water today and ate almost 1/2 a gallon of feed. I can only imagine what they will eat before its all said and done!

The hatchery puts in a few extra to make sure that there is the right number when they arrive as there are times that a couple don't make it on their trip, however they all made it on the voyage and we are now the proud owners of 103 baby chicks. And in 7 weeks they will go to the locker and we will have ours and many others dinners for the year!

Besides that I have been busy sewing up a dress for the oldest Preschool Graduation next week. I can not believe my baby girl will be starting school this fall. More to come later on that, she was so grubby from playing in the water, sand, dirt and of course mud that I was not about to try to get some cute pictures in it.
We also were able to finally get the flowers in the ground we bought a week ago and the flower bed is coming along nicely. I will post some pictures of that soon.
As a parting note I could not resist this beautiful sunset we had a couple of days ago and thought I would share. It is always so relaxing to watch the sun set on a beautiful day.