Homesteading, homeschooling, animal loving, adoption loving, country living family
On our way home from the art show we stopped at mom and dad’s to wish dad a happy birthday. We just hung out outside and watched all their animals.
This is Fuzzy…a little pet bottle lamb all grown up with twins.
Fuzzy is needing some attention.
Baby Sidney wandering away from mama.
And Sidney getting reeled back in beside mama, Dolly.
It was just a nice evening watching all the animals and catching up with mom and dad.
It wouldn’t be harvest if this ol’ girl didn’t break down at least once.
We told the elevator guy, who happens to be our cousin, we were going to put a sign up to hold our parking place at the elevator entrance.
Randy did all the little tests to determine what he already knew. It was a fuel pump (always is).
I took some photos and read a couple articles in Mary Jane’s Farm magazine and before too long he had her running again. Mom was there with a grain truck borrowed from another cousin. The three of us got the borrowed truck returned, the red truck back to the field, and headed home to finish up our chores.
Did I mention before all of this we had worked all day, commuted, Randy worked a little overtime, mom came down that evening and helped me work the remainder of our lambs that needed worked before we all headed to the elevator and/or the wheat field. Somedays I wonder how we keep going. It is by God’s grace we have the energy to do all that needs to be done and fall into bed truly tired and deserving of sleep.
He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy…
Titus 3:5
This beauty was buried in a tree row with a tree growing up in the middle of it.
My husband had his heart set on it the moment he saw it.
Dad said it had sat in that tree row for about fifty years and tried to convince Randy it would be froze up and nothing would turn after that man years.
One evening while Randy had his Dad’s help they drug it out of the tree row and to everyone’s surprise everything broke free and turned on the ol’ girl.
They used reclaimed wood that was thrown away from a fence that had blown down at Grandma’s last spring.
The guys worked and worked to get all the boards replaced.
Randy’s Dad oiled the wood.
And within a couple of days it was all but ready to sling manure in our pasture. All Randy has into it is $8 for a couple of springs. It needs new/used tires, but for now they hold air until it is time to use it.
When Randy’s Dad was here, the two of them and my Dad worked (literally) sun up to sun down on a deck off the back of our house.
A week or so after the deck was done Randy and I sealed it.
We still need steps on it, but hopefully those will get done soon.
Harvest came earlier than usual this year, so we had to sneak this project in right before harvest or not until fall.
The guys did such a great job. It will be so nice to relax out back in the shade with the dogs.
We came home from a graduation party this evening and as we were getting out of the car noticed this to the south of our house.
I watched it for quite awhie until I could see for sure which direction it was moving.
There really cool to see from afar.
You can see another one to the left trying to get going.
The first one is fizzling out while the second one is gaining momentum. Did you know they can start from the ground up? Yeah, me neither.
We rushed to get chores done while all around us these little water spouts kept popping up.
Kind of a scary night.
I have lived in Kansas all my life and this is the first time I have ever seen a tornado in real life.
We hope everyone was in a safe place when these storms rolled through.
We have been battling the need for a new well for a couple of years now. We had it airlifted two years ago which bought us some time, but in the end we knew we were going to have to bite the bullet and put in an all new well.
Randy hand dug a good portion of the trenches to locate electrical, water, and sewer lines.
For a week solid he spent his evenings digging.
And digging.
Of course while he was digging I was doing our chores and cooking dinner. Didn’t want you all to think I was parked inside catching up on Dancing with the Stars or something.
Then it was time to pull out the big guns, and we rented a trencher.
Then came guidance, eh hem.
This is what our yard looked like after the trencher had done its thing. Sort of reminds you of Money Pit, huh?
**And honestly one month later our yard still looks a lot like this…I digress.
This little run in the bottom left corner is where we pulled up the landscape timbers that were lining our driveway. They had seen better days and had to go.
We did have a chicken and Ruby fall into the trenches.
Once all the lines were laid, Dad came in with the tractor to cover the majority of the trenches.
There were still some areas he couldn’t get to which we had to fill in by hand, but the tractor helped tremendously.
Now we have high pressure water and two new hydrants in addition to the two we already had. It is so nice to water from a hydrant or a hose and not have to carry 5-gallon buckets here, there, and everywhere.
It does make me think about how readily we can have access to water where so many around the world have none and have to walk mile and miles to access only what they can carry back with them. Even with the ease in which we can access water, we still try to be cautious of its use and not take advantage of it. We also pray for those who struggle everyday to find good, clean water for themselves and their families. Without clean water life cannot carry on so we must take care of this resource we are so blessed to have at our fingertips.
Early spring storm…
As is the norm, this storm scooted around south of us. We need the rain so bad. Maybe next time.
This little guy thinks he is big stuff curling his lips at the girls.
He didn’t have a single taker though.
Polar bear, they don’t all have names….I promise.
See the lamb eating hay off Hank. He is absolutely the best guard llama. He is so gentle with the little ones.
Celia being sheared.
The girls were really well behaved this year.
Does it get any cuter than this? She loves her pig.
I apparently got a little too close to pig. She snatched pig up and bolted.
Hope spring is treating everyone well.
The chickens have started laying well again giving us anywhere from a 12-16 eggs a day.
We picked up this fun little egg basket at TSC and really love using it to collect eggs.
Everyone’s favorite place to be when the weather is nice.
Notice the upside down rocking chairs…gotta love that prairie wind that sends everything that isn’t earth anchored down soaring.
Buddies
This is 1112…one of eleven bottle lambs we got from Dad last year. Since this picture she has given birth to two little ram lambs who are just as cute as their mama. She is so sweet and loves attention and hugs. Not your typical Romanov is you are familiar with the Romanov breed.
Enjoy your day!
Our 2012 lambing season isn’t quite over, but we have put a big dent in it and have been so very please with the results. I will let the pictures and a short description do the rest.
Texel Romanov Ram Lamb
Romanov Texel Ewe Lamb
Texel Twins
Texel Ewe with Romanov Texel Lamb
Texel Romanov Ewe Lamb
Romanov Dorper Lamb
Randy and Big Texel Ram Lamb
And there you have a big chunk of our lambing season in pictures. We loved crossing the Romanov Rams with our Texel and Dorper ewes and our Texel Rams with our Romanov ews. We will have Texel Romanov crosses for sale the first part of July if anyone is interested in ewe lambs or a ram lamb. We will also have older recorded Texel ewes for sale.
Hope everyone is enjoying an early spring!
Gotcha!! It isn’t us this time, but it does run in my family’s blood. My brother just rescued a full blooded Dachshund, Brody, to add to his collection bringing his dog total to three.
This little guy was taken from his home when his owners decide they wanted to harm him and didn’t want to feed him or care for him properly anymore.
Can you imagine?
The little guy now has a safe place to lay his head, adequate food, buddies (2 Bassets), and people around him to give him the attention and love he deserves. He has already had him neutered and vaccinated. He was emaciated when he got him, but is starting to fill out from a good feeding schedule.
He is so sweet and always wants to be where you are…he follows you faithfully. If you are bound and determined to get a full blooded breed look for a recue site for that specific breed. Everytime you buy a dog from a breeder or a pet store…it is one less shelter dog who finds a home. These dogs (or cats) deserve a safe home and someone to love them!
Have a great day!
A Simple Prairie Life 