Our Fireman

Jonathan loves everything about firemen and firetrucks. He has mastered the fine art of becoming a fire siren in a split second...often at less than desirable times!

Our friends the Wyckoffs learned of his fascination. Today, John gave our Jon a treasured gift...his old firecoat and helmet.

Jonathan is going around the house with his coat and helmet on saying "I'm fireman Jonathan. Don't play with fire!" He eagerly shows off his new wardrobe to everyone and explains that "Mr. John gave me my fire coat!" Ian was happy to take up Jonathan's "toy" helmet so now we have two firemen in the house...hopefully, we'll only have the one "siren"!

Apple Picking

On Wednesday we (Marc, Rachael, Katelyn, and I) went apple picking in Leonardsville. The day was beautiful...perfect for picking apples.

Katelyn didn't enjoy the lon-n-ng ride. When we got there she asked us if her face was as green as she felt. Once we got out of the car and into the orchard she felt a bit better.

Last May/June we had hail storms. Unfortunately the orchards were heavily damaged. The apples were left with deep scars. The orchard reduced it's prices drastically to try to salvage the remaining crop. We came home with a trunk full of delicious apples.

The scenery was an added treat.

Boys and the Goats

A favorite activity these days is to go hang out with the goats. Marc is so proud of his new farm stock.

Jonathan and Ian think it's great fun to play on the logs with Little Creek. He jumps and skips around with them making them laugh so hard. It's such a blessing seeing our little boys enjoy life on the farm.

Wonders of Nature

Wayne found a caterpillar and Jonathan was fascinated with it. They looked it up in our caterpillar field guide and found the moth that it would become. Jonathan loves watching butterflies and moths. He was so happy to get up close with the caterpillar for a bit and then let it go to become a moth.

Captain gets a haircut

Today I tried my hand at

dog grooming...Captain was my first 'victim'. He did a great job and was very patient with me. At least now we can see his beautiful eyes. Katelyn told me that I cut his 'eyebrows' too short, but other than that I did 'okay'. Matthew tells me that it's true that sometimes dogs and their owners look alike...Katelyn usually has long bangs and her hair hangs down by her face--just like Captain. If that's true, maybe it's time to trim Kate's bangs again.

Tarp Crop

The tarps had to come out of storage this evening to cover over the veggies in the garden due to a frost warning. The tomatoes, broccoli, green peppers and 2nd planting of lettuce are under this cover. More tomatoes are covered on the other end of the garden. Pumpkins were harvested today. There are LOTS of gourds hidden throughout the garden. We're going to have lots of fun discovering the unusual shapes and sizes once we can see under all those vines. I'll be sure to add some pictures when those are harvested.

The wood that Wayne's dad cut up for us while visiting in August has made its way into the new woodshed. There's still some to be stacked, but the kids have worked hard to get this much split and stacked this afternoon.

The past couple of weeks have been filled with salsa making and canning, dehydrating tomatoes and summer squash, harvesting/blanching/freezing carrots, and digging potatoes. So far we've harvested a couple bushel potatoes. We still have to harvest our experimental potato tire garden. In the spring we read that you can stack old tires as the potatoes grow and keep covering them over with soil/compost. At the end of the season you're supposed to harvest more than you get with the traditional method. We'll let you know the results when we dismantle the tire towers.

The goats are doing well. Little Creek was 'disbudded' last week and is busy rubbing his head on anything that'll hold still. His dying little horns must itch like crazy. He looked pretty strange where the vet shaved his head before using the disbudding tool. We all enjoy watching the little guy's antics on the logs in the pen. Jonathan loves to go into the pen and play with him. At least we know where Jonathan is when he's in the goat pen!

Kids on the Farm

There's a lot of entertainment on the farm these days with the newest kid on the farm...

The Goats Have Arrived!

Bright and early this a.m. Marc loaded up the chickens to go to the Hennessey's. He had been raising 12 chickens for them because they do not have much success with chicks. In exchange for raising the chickens to full size, the Henesseys deducted from Marc's goat bill balance.

Last Tuesday 'Twilight' gave birth to 'Little Creek' (a buck). Today was the big day...Marc finally got to bring his goats home! We went to visit the Henessey's farm last fall and discussed the "Nigerian Dwarf" breed and what Marc would need to do to prepare for goat farming. After a great deal of thought and prayer Marc decided that he wanted to invest in a Nigerian Dwarf goat. Since they are 'herd' animals we needed at least 2 goats. Sharon Henessey said that she would sell Marc Twilight and her kid when she delivered. It's been a long wait for Twilight to deliver, but by the look on Marc's face today, the wait was certainly worth it!

The Goats Have

Paris Fashion...NOT!

This morning it was a bit chilly and foggy. Katelyn decided that she needed a few layers to be warm while doing her chores and having her 'swing time'.

A few minutes later I looked out to see Matt doing some of his chores decked out in some of the apparel from his movie making wardrobe.

A busy week...

It's been a busy few weeks and we've been trying to get a bunch of loose ends tied up before September hit and the school routine sets in.

We went to PA to a family reunion and I got to meet some of Wayne's family that I hadn't met before...as one of his uncles said, "It's taken 23 years and 7 kids but I finally get to meet Linda!" We had a great time.

Nathanial got to come back for church Sunday. It helps to have his pastor also be the head of the Ministerial Studies program at the college...he gets a ride up whenever he wants for church. We had a church picnic afterward which was fun. Matt took his brother back to college later on Sunday evening.

Wayne's Mom, Dad, and Aunt Millie came out to spend a few days on Tuesday. Mom's friends from Massachusetts drove out and got to visit with us Tuesday evening/Wedn. a.m. Our former neighbor Gary stopped in also. When he found out that Aunt Millie would like a ride on his Harley, he was only too willing to oblige! Mom J, Aunt Millie and I then went down to see Nathanial at college. I had some papers to deliver and it gave him a chance to visit with Gramma and Aunt Millie. Dad J. worked on cutting up some of the trees we had taken down in the spring.

After our visit, it was time to buckle down and get things ready for the goats' arrival on Monday.

Ian and Captain decided that with all the activity, it's nice just to take a rest every once in awhile.