It was a beautiful weekend here on the farm and everyone agreed as evidence by the following photos.
All the animals had the oppurtunity to get out of the barn on both days. The goats came out on leashes and they were groomed and hooves were trimmed.
The chickens free ranged. It will not be long before they are in their chicken tractors. When the gardens goes in there will be no more free ranging until fall. Otherwise they will DEVASTATE the gardens.
Only in Maine could you where the outfit above and below in the SAME day!
This is not a normal occurrence. At least when I am around. MM is a little more laid back. I have PTSD from working in the Emergency Room too many years. When I came home from running a quick errand this is what I found. I was ok with Luke driving.....
.....but when I saw Leah I was frightened. The kid has NO FEAR. She is a WILD child. Everyone has one, well she is mine! Yesterday we went to a sliding party at some friends just down the road. They have an AWESOME hill just outback of there house. I had barely said hello to my friend and there goes Leah flying down the VERY steep hill on a saucer hooting and hollering. People were looking around like, who's kid is that? She is SO me when I was 16 but she is ONLY 6! Yikes...I think we are going to be in for it!
Another thing about her is she will only learn when SHE is ready. Just today she learned to ride a 2 wheel bike by the assistance of her big brother and his buddy. They made treats for her and bribed her than they.....
Scored her abilities. Hey....What are you boys doing on my Momobile?
Later this afternoon. We tapped our 2 maple trees for a first time. Maine Man drilled the holes.
Luke hammered the spickets in.
And sap started running immediately. The kids were ecstatic!
Leah hung the jugs. We planned to hang buckets but I saw over at Sugar Creek that they used gallon jugs. I thought that was mighty clever so we borrowed their idea.Thanks SC!
Within minutes we had this.
We have 4 gallon jugs out.
Just before bed the kids conned me into going and checking how much we had one last time.
Then we finished the night making sugar cookies. They were they some yummy!
What a wonderful weekend. It sounds jam-packed. Your daughter sounds a lot like my 9 yr old son. No fear! He is always the one up a tree or climbing around in the barn, exploring. Oh, to be that age and have all that energy,
ReplyDeleteJudy
It's about time we get some nice weather up here! Sounds like you had a great one too and full of activities!
ReplyDeleteLeah is wild...I guess it's like mother like daughter. :)
Yep!You got your hands full with your Leah...MY Leah is the same way, turning 14 now! We've survived so far! LOL She doesnt have fear either, much like myself when i was her age! She is a perfectionist, therefor she too only does things in her own time, and only if she thinks she can perfect it! Luckily she has relaxed some. Sounds like a good weekend! Are you going to sell the maple?
ReplyDeleteWhat a WONDERFUL day!!! Thanks for sharing it with us. Oh, and btw...I know another state that begins with a M that can have these same kind of weather pics in 1 day! lol I also know of another 16 year old girl whom yours reminds me of...but at 6? Holy cow girl you've got some fun years ahead of you!! :)
ReplyDeleteJealous! I wish it would have been sunny like that here this weekend! We only got rain mixed with snow! I love weekends like that when you get to do so many things outside and around the house! I also am jealous you have sugar maple trees! Wow, you are going to have to show us how you make that into maple suryp! take care! janine
ReplyDeleteYou have a wonderful family, and you certainly know how to have a good time! :)
ReplyDeleteThat pig is smiling! All of your animals look wonderful. Your kids are so lucky to grow up with such a variety of animals to care for. Having animals while I was growing up was so good for me. I'm glad my son can have the same experience. I'm looking forward to seeing what your maple syrup looks like when you're done making it. I sure wish I had some sugar maples on our property. They hate our hard pan clay though, so it's very hard to get sugar maples to survive in our soil.
ReplyDeleteLove that hog photo, they were all good, but that one just fit the title so well, content to just soak up the sun.
ReplyDeleteMaybe your daughter will get it all out of her system before she hits the teen years.
The boys looked so typical, lounging on a nice warm car hood. One of my favorites as a lad too!
We used to hang enormous buckets on our trees to collect the sap. Now that my brother and I are gone and my dad is collecting it himself, he uses gallon milk jugs too. Funny how that works...
ReplyDeleteYou just accomplished more in one day that I do in the average month! Seriously!
ReplyDeleteYour animals are so cool - my kids have been begging for chickens ever since they went to Farm Camp last year.
FF, THANKS IT DOES SOUND JAM PACKED BUT IT DID NOT FEEL THAT WAY. YES, THEIR ENERGY IS ENDLESS!
ReplyDeleteYD, HERE, HERE!
KY, TOO FUNNY. SOMETHING WITH THE NAME PERHAPS ;)
NOT WE WILL BE LUCKY TO GET A QUART. IT TAKES 40 GALLONS OF SAP TO MAKE 1 GALLON OF SYRUP.
FM, I WAS THINKING OF YOU WHEN I WROTE THAT COMMENT ABOUT THE WEATHER. YOUR HOME STATE HAS LOTS OF SIMILARITIES WITH MAINE'S CRAZY WEATHER.
JANINE, WEREN'T YOU JUST HAVING SOME NICE WEATHER WHEN IT WAS SNOWING THIS WAY?
MARE, THANKS!!!
AMY, HAAA, YOUR RIGHT. PUMPKIN IS SMILING. I LIKE HER, SHE IS MY FAVORITE PIG SO FAR. IT WILL BE HARD WHEN THE DAY COMES. WE ARE HOPING TO BREED HER SO IT MAY BE A WHILE. YES, THE KIDS ARE LUCKY AND WE ARE TOO LUCKY TO HAVE HAD THIS OPPURTUNITY.
GW, YES WE CAN HOPE SHE OUTGROWS IT. ALTHOUGH SHE IS AN AWFUL LOT OF FUN TO HAVE AROUND.(MOST OF THE TIME)
WARREN, THAT IS FUNNY HOW THINGS CHANGE.
JENN, I KNOW WHERE YOU CAN GET YOUR KIDS SOME CHICKENS.
Loved the pictures- especially the pig- he looks like he's smiling!
ReplyDeleteThat is neat about the maple trees!
These family images and activities are precious, Kim! How wonderful for your family. Somewhere, back home, also have images of our kids helping tap maples and collect the sap. Your images bring back sweet memories for me... Thanks!
ReplyDeletePaula, thanks. I never noticed the smile unitl after you all pointed it out. Too Funny!
ReplyDeleteCR, thanks. You always have such sweet comments. Glad that this brings back old times. I recently had someone else say that.
I love the picture of the tree with two gallon jugs attached! I would LOVE to have Maple trees! Our chickens are at the end of their free-ranging days too. They have a house and a fenced in yard. We move the house periodically by sliding it on PVC pipes. A chicken tractor is so much more practical!
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