Toading Time

There is NEVER a dull moment of the farm. The kids can often be found catching frogs, toads in this case, trapping crayfish, trying to save birds that the cats fatally wound and so on. If you have been reading about our madness for a while now you'll remember this post when Flower Girl attempted to save a chipmunk and there is also pictures of that GINORMOUS snapper the kids caught in the front yard. MM & I spotted that rascally snapper in one of the ponds a few days back. Guess it is a good thing we don't swim in them. Maybe he's the reason I've lost ducks in past years....or maybe it was just Mr. Fox.

Love this picture! This might be a fun one to enter in the fair this year. In September at our local fair we are planning to put together a farm display. Should be interesting. In past years we have entered vegetables and pictures. The deal is that you must submit 20 varieties of produce that you grow and it must be educational. I think it will be a good learning opportunity for the kids, a fun way to share what we do, and the kids might even be able to score a little coin. I have it all plotted out in my busy little brain.


The reason there were so many toads at the pond is because they were laying eggs. Apparently one of the girls couldn't hold on any longer.

P.S. That stuff stains!

Sunday Stills ~Yellow

It's that time of the week again. For anyone interested in joining along Ed's Sunday Still challenge please go over and visit. It has been a lot of fun !

Maine Man found the little bugger above in the middle of the road. It took residence in the barn for a few days in the kids catch & release tank, then into the back pond. In the 2 1/2 years that we have lived here I've only seen one turtle. It was a huge snapper by the duck pond and it was gone when I returned with my camera. I love having fresh cut flowers overflowing in canning jars and/or vases throughout the house. That is exactly what I did with those yellow blossoms. Today the kids and I went unintentional lawn saling. On the way to the grain store we came across some bargains. 10 glass vases for $1.00, a handful of spice jars for 10 cents. The kids bought a double seated wooden swing with intentions of hanging from a tree. I think it will serve us well by the pond. Today I constructed a trellis for our peas out of some netting I bought at a lawn sale last year for a quarter. MM said "what are you going to do with that?" Ha...it took me a year but I found a use. I will post a picture as soon as I take one. It took me nearly 3 hours to construct and a nearly severed thumb to complete but by geesh I did it! I am not handy by nature that's FOR sure, unlike Maine Man. There is not a thing that man can't fix or do. Joking about the severity of my finger, just a nasty cut from a hand saw. Probably a good thing I wasn't able to start the chainsaw.

I know they are not yellow but they just the cutest creatures! Their Momma had 12 kits. I was surprised because it was her first litter. 2 did not survive, we bottle fed them for a few days and kept them on a heating pad in the house. We did our best.

As with everyone this time of year life has been so busy. Days are not long enough to complete the chores at hand. Most days I am able to roll with it but some days I am simply overwhelmed. The kids annual birthday party is next Saturday and we will be having a pig roast for my brother's 40th at the end of next month. So if your wondering where I am I'm either in the garden or cleaning up my messy barn. :)

Getting Dirty & Loving it!

Despite the picture above things are starting to dry up around here. Yesterday I was able to walk our trail with the dogs to the back of our land without getting soaked. I still had to wear my hiking boots but not my knee highs. I did not come back clean by any means but that would be NO fun!

A couple days ago the ice went out in the ponds and the peepers started peeping. Such a wonderful thing! My boy was right out there knee deep for the first time this season.

The kids caught a few critters.

Tonight I was looking through my pictures of the pig processing and I was thinking about how to break it up into posts. Should I start from the beginning with a few pictures of Maine Man skinning it? (which is not the traditional way to deal with a pigs hide) Then have him explain his technique etc and go on from there? Or should I skip the gory details and just go to the the meat processing? What do you think?

Farm Adventures and Findings (Sunday-part 2)

Our first tomato! I saw it earlier in the day and forgot to take a picture. So I went out after dark and used night mode so that I could share my excitement, then...I washed it, sliced it, added a little s&p, and ate it all by my lonesome.

John and I were having a little Spring fever back in January so we planted 4 tomato plants. We transplanted them outside a couple weeks ago, at the time were about 3-4 ft high. Amazingly, they are all doing well and here's a picture to prove it. This is a first for us to have a ripe tomato so early in the growing season.

There is noting like eating something picked fresh from the garden, no comparison to the food we buy in supermarkets. I am hoping the same goes for the chickens because we have 24 that are going to be in the freezer in a few weeks.

I could not believe my eyes, Quail eggs. Ok, now I want to keep them! I had planned on selling the 3 remaining we had but now that they are producing they can stay. I think the plan is to put them under the Bantams to try and hatch them out.

Over the weekend we rented a sod cutter. We are preparing an area for our pool. Let's just say John is not very impressed with this project and the work of maneuvering the rolls of sod is literally back breaking. We did utilize the sod filling in some low spots of the land. The rolls were so heavy that as we were rolling one piece off the trailer the back end of the 4 wheeler came up off the ground and stayed there. Yikes...we NEED a tractor desperately but, oh yeah John is still shopping for one. We had an above ground pool at our old house for 7 years. It was great and the kids loved it. I had a pool growing up and I always said I'd have one for my children. When we moved here I made it very clear that I'd be getting another. Last year I settled for the blow-up deal but this year I saved some coin and bought it. I shopped around locally and on-line for a month or so and bought the best package I found. John was a bit tweaked as there are a million other things around here we could have used the money on. For those of you that know us know that we are COMPLETE opposites! He is methodical, logical, frugal and I am a bit Willy Nilly fly by the seat of my pants, sometimes irrational (only sometimes), and I can be very impulsive. I am frugal about many things but I am no where's near his level of frugality. Regardless we balance out quite nicely. We do freak each other out on occasions but that keeps life interesting!

Just getting started

Are we almost done yet?

A view through the eyes of a 6 year old.

Leah is quite sneaky. I've learned to scan through my photos on my camera before downloading because she likes to randomly take pictures. I chuckle when I look through them because she takes pictures of things you or I would never even think to.
My handy man hard at work. Can you tell by the look on his face that was not excited?

A bit more ground work and leveling and then we can lay the sand down. My uncle brought us over 7 yards today. A HUGE Thanks to him!

Leah took this picture too. The kids are always catching critters around here. We have two catch and release tanks in the barn, one is for frogs and the other for snakes. Last picture is of a Newt also found in the back pond.

Rainy Day

This morning, in the pouring rain we went out to this event meeting Regina & family from Sea2Shore blog once again. Due to the weather we only stayed a couple hours. There were a few speakers I would have liked to stay and heard but we were literally soaked from head to toe despite our rain gear. However, we had the opportunity to listen to a couple who raised Alpine goats. I enjoyed their talk and learned some good stuff about goat rearing, shelter, feeding, and maintenance.
One interesting fact that I learned, goat meat is the most consumed meat in the world.
Did you know that? I went to the farmer's market last week in hopes to buy some but the goat lady did not have any left. I hear it tastes like deer and cow. John would like to raise Boer goats. I can eat my own turkeys, and chickens, and maybe if we get some meat bunnies but I'm not sure if I could eat my goats? I cannot even imagine munching Annabelle and Oreo. It is a fine line and you have to make that decision before you bring the animal onto your farm, pet or supper?

Cray fish the kids caught in their bait trap. They are going fishing in the morning and I'm sure they'll catch a big one using these!

Trying to stay dry! This storage bin is now our goaties outside shelter. I wanted to get the goats a large dog igloo to put in their pen but instead John flipped this bin over onto a piece of plywood, cut out a door, and there we have it. A free & recycled goat house...savings of $125!

Pretty flowers I cut off a tree out front. Of course I do not know what they are, imagine that! Thanks to all of your flower identification knowledge so far I know we have Magnolias, Quaker Ladies, and Columbines here on the farm. What might this be?

My boy picked me some wild Irises, how sweet!

I've yet to plant the sweet potatoes, maybe tomorrow. Anyone ever grow them before? I've read they grow as a vine.

We ended the night with an old movie, Richer or Poorer.

A Salute to World Georaphy

This week we had the opportunity to go to a play at Luke's school. The kids each represented an an area of the world including continents, oceans, rivers, deserts, and mountains. Luke spoke of the dessert his line was "I'm from Australia sometimes I'm called the Outback the second largest in the world, that's me." They also sang a few songs. I caught one on tape below, if you have a chance please listen to what these kids had to say. I was very touched by the message they sent to us parents.




Some of the words in the song if you were not able to make it all out.

Still people go on closing their eyes.
Everything we do today will change our tomorrow and maybe when kids lead the way the whole world will follow. One by one, by one, by one.
We can change the earth together.
One by one, by one, by one.
We can keep her safe forever.
One by one, by one, by one.
The children everywhere.
One by one, by one, by one.
Now is the time to show the world we care.

People say we are only children.
People say why should we try.
Don't you see we are the future, why now we are depending on you.
Everything we do today can change our tomorrow and maybe when kids lead the way the whole world will follow and one by one, by one, by one we can change the earth together.

Very impressive tune and play!

Earlier that day John & I went on Leah's field trip at L.C Bates pond and museum. This is always a popular destination for kids and adults alike. Some of the kids caught a horned pout (cat fish) in the pond which was a rare find I think.

Simple Living

I can honestly say that these are some of the best times of our lives! When people ask how things are going, how are the kids I have nothing but good to say. I sometimes worry that life is too good and fear that something will happen and taint this awesome life we've been living. Even before we bought this place I didn't have many complaints about our daily lives but here on the farm it just seems so much better, our lives are so fulfilled. The connection with mother nature is on such a larger scale in so many ways.
In my twenties and my earlier days there was so much I took for granted, so much I thought I knew but really hadn't a clue. I am glad that I have finally come to realize what is important in life...the simple things. "It is the things in life that are free that matter most", John always use to say to me. For so long I was striving to make more money and have more material possessions until some time of soul searching passed and I had that ... uh huh moment. Looking back I realized John had been telling me these things all along but I just wasn't listening close enough. I had my own agenda, striving for big things and he was along for the ride although he thought some of my aspirations were a bit on the wild side. My friend Mary spoke once of John and referred to him as "an old soul". To this day I have always thought that statement was right on. Since we were young John has always known what kind of life he wanted to live, simple. He never cared what others thought, he lead his own path in life. He is an amazing hubby and daddy, we are fortunate to have him in our lives!

When I was mowing I came across this by the duck pond. One lonely wild asparagus spear.
I had heard of wild asparagus but never seen it until yesterday. My neighbor gave us some fresh asparagus last week and when I came home from work one night John said, "Kim, I have a confession to make." I could not even imagine what he was going to say and he says, "I ate all the asparagus Gary & Dawn gave us." I was quite entertained by his "confession". That's ok John cause Gary snuck me some the other day and it was really tasty. In 3 years we'll be picking our own, I cannot wait!

I had thought I had scared him off from going knee deep in the pond. Last week I thought he had swimmer's itch. Turns out I was wrong because the next morning he was fine, I think it was the cleaning soap John used before he took a bath..oops, misdiagnosed by mother....no worse then the time I accidentally cut both sides of the stitch that was in his upper lip leaving it there permanently...good nurse...at least it was my own kid.

Check out the size of him (or her?)

Anyone know what this flower may be?

Last note, me and some friends have started a group blog titled Fit4Life with a focus of exercise & healthy eating. Anyone interested in being a participant let me know and send me your e-mail address and I will give you more detail.


Check us out: http://fit4life08.blogspot.com/

My baby's 6!

It is hard to believe my little muffin is 6 today. She started her day at the crack of dawn opening up a present from her brother. From there she went off on the school bus with all along singing "are you one, are you two, are you three....." Then she arrived at school greeted by her classmates. A few hours later Momma made a surprise visit with some cupcakes. I picked her up this afternoon also delivering a jar full of pollywog's for the class. (I will return return them to the pond in a couple days) They are learning about them now. I know it looks like a lot of presents but mostly I buy practical needed items for the kids birthdays...ok the moon sand isn't a need to have but John picked that up and you have to have some fun stuff. She received lots of summer clothes and shoes, decorations for her room, earrings, and some crafty stuff. Then we stuffed ourselves with cake. That was kinda silly calorie wise because John and I had just came back from a 3-4 mile trek out back while the kids were in school. The kids & I then went and visited the neighbors because they called with some computer issues and that is always easier help in person. They have 2 little ones 4 & 9, so the kids all have a blast together! We are very fortunate to have them as neighbors. There is one lot between us which is about 100 acres and they own around 50 and somehow our land does abuts which gives us about 150 acres between our two families. They have a dog kennel so I had the chance to go down and walk a few of their dogs which was fun. I am not really dominate when it comes to animal so I had to have Dawn come and rescue me because one dog did not want to return to her kennel and I couldn't force her in. Their kids came over for a bit and played and had dinner. It is great to have neighbors you can trust so close because we get to do the kid swap on a weekly basis and we all benefit from that.
Lastly, farm agenda...we are getting rid of the quail...the meat birds are getting gianormous, I weaned the goats from the bottle today, and John ordered 60 turkeys...yikes and Luke caught a big frog and Leah had a moment and released it. There was a few tears shed on Luke's part, Leah said "you have to leave it in it's natural habitat."

What a Life

It reached a high of 73 degrees at our house today. Here in Maine it went from winter to summer in a two week stretch. No joke, a week ago I had my winter coat on and today I had a tank & shorts on.
John & I went for quite a walk today out back, we were out there for well over an hour. I am trying to understand the boundaries of our property, you see we don't have a clean cut square piece of property and I am geographically challenged.


This is a picture of one of our 3 cats, Annie. She is the Queen Mouser! She was at the pond and after I took the picture I noticed the reflection, isn't that cool.









The kids started school vacation today, YEAH for me and them, I am tired of running and will be happy to have them home. After school we went and picked up a kitty, they named her Smoky.



























The kids played out at the pond until dusk, I had to call them in finally. Leah found the first frogs of the season by the pond under a rock. Luke identified them in his book as a Western Chorus Frog although I am not sure that we have them in Maine and we are not West but the description and look seemed to match? It said that they are the first frogs to call in the Spring, even before Spring peepers. Males call for approximately one week before the females come. During "amplexus" (when the male frog grasps a female with his front legs while she lays her eggs. At the same time, he fertilizes them with the fluid containing sperm) the female lays 500 - 1500 eggs.
Interesting facts...sorry about the under line, technical difficulties and it's too late to mess with! I cut & pasted a definition and that messed it up, that'll teach me!
Like Leah's get up, miss match pj 's and lady bug boots on the wrong feet :) that's my girl!






















Ducks having been staying in the pond finally after a few chasings from John. I did not mind them coming back to the barn but apparently he did.