Dear Hans

A life that deserves to be remembered. He was a delightful Belgian with an easy going disposition. 5 kids could straddle his back without crowding. I changed the light bulbs in the barn by climbing on his back.I wonder how many fields he plowed ,harrowed and spread manure upon...........I bought this sweet fellow from a rescue , not too far from "Bubba's Bar and Grill" outside of Shamokin several years ago. He was bony in the hips and you could count every rib. He was actually 10 years older than the sellers claimed that he was. My first red flag should have been,"Then WHY did the Amish sell him????    I figured I could fatten him up on all the hay he desired and beet pulp, but NOPE, he remained the same skinny boy until winter came. On a particularly nasty cold sleet and rainy January day, he gave out,despite a quilted horse coat.(: >I  do miss that fellow .

Wylie turkeys~~~~

I spent a lot....A LOT of money on these turkeys.Meat turkeys and Heritage turkeys, which cost close to $10.00 a piece for day old peeps.. I must be NUTS !!   I raise the meat turkeys for meat...a no brainer. They are not so expensive. But the heritage turks are a wallet killer in themselves.Day old peeps arrive and 2 turkey peeps crush them underfoot.Another succumbs to the crush of huddling in a corner with the rest of the crowd.  Once they are feathered out I try to turn them out in the general barnyard of poultry people. But of course they want to travel the neighborhood and see the sights.My neighbor's flower garden. The corn field.We snatched them up at night by their ankles, turning them upside down to quiet them. They were placed upon roosts with the other poultry people in the BIG COOP !    They wer gone the next day.

The swamp is so much nicer. I found them listing upon dead falls , lolling about as if upon hammocks in the shade. 

Another day missing at length. WHERE can they ne NOW ??We went to feed the horses their hay...OF COARSE  !! Where else would they be??   We have tried to confine them but they fly over the fences.Will this be the first Thanksgiving  without a turkey?? Will we have to have pancakes instead?? It's killing me...I have NO CONTROL !!

Garden vs Weeds

Early mornings and evenings are the best times to toss the weeds to the curb, but by August I am overwhelmed with trying to keep up with garden maintenance. 

Proverbs 31: has verses that speak of a virtuous woman whose worth is above rubies. That is also true of  grandsons who help their old goat grandparents keep up with the weeds and horse manure and chicken houses and lawn mowing and haying the horses and sheep,etc,etc. I love them dearly.

A roto-tiller wipes out weeds in between rows  and re-creates beauty where 1 hour before I thought that all was lost (:

After 8 years of horse manure and green manure (all that grows green) in the red clay old horse pasture, our soil is looking like potting soil !!  I haven't seen a single bug ( outside of spiders) in the garden. The turkeys and chickens scratch and comb through every nook and cranny. YESSSS!! I do lose a few tomatoes.They beak the heck out of them . In the spring they dust bathed on a daily basis and ate every bug they could find. Once green growth started, they lost interest in going there and took off to other places on the farm.I had to replant corn thrice and green beans twice.

Yesterday my greenhouse was delivered. That will be interesting !!

I love the beginning of summer. Every weekend some town up here has a carnival or some kind of 'To-do'.Millville is a small Pa. town that has a yearly carnival 4th of July week, preceded by a parade , fireworks and a week long carnival. 1950's-60's rock-n-roll music is the background music and is accompanied by live bands for entertainment.

 Kids can have a great time here at a fractional cost compared to the big time amusement parks.

 These kids are smilin'  !!   They won !!

 now WHERE in the WORLD can you win THIS for a quarter ???

Ring toss for soda bottles

 These rides have been here for a lon LONG time. The same grandparents that bring their grandchildren here this year to have fun, rode on these same same rides in cloth diapers and rubber pants. (: >

Such a great place for families and people who love.

Scenes from July

We are very blessed to have Lake Jean, a part of Rickett's Glen State Park nearby.On the hottest, most sweltering days, Lake Jean will cool and refresh you, and give you rest. It's located atop a mountain and the woods border the beach and shade your picnic tables.

Our newest little guy , Sean, learns to play in the sand and puddles.He can crawl to his hearts desire and get all the exercise he wants. 

 At the end of the day, everyone is tired and washed out. Sean's diaper is full of lake water and sand. He gets one last stab at his cousin Brandon, buried in the sand.

Yummy Challah Bread

I have added a new tradition for family get togethers ~ on Christmas and Easter I make a huge loaf of Challah bread .It's a 6 braided recipe that you can find on the internet or just ask me and I will share the recipe with you.The next morning, slice the bread and make french toast or egg-in-a-hole.It's the best !

and SO much more to do!!

This past year's wood is dwindling down.We've been gathering and stacking next year's wood pile that we buy from our neighbor's farm.We also have gotten Bee-yoo-tee-ful hay from her .

And then.... the NEVER ENDING loads of manure to be shoveled and spread.We need a front end loader instead of a shovel.Maybe someday.(:>