With new life is also constant threat of death on farms. Here is a beautiful owl who feasted upon 22 of my brothers baby chicks when he found a small enough space to squeeze through.My brother & his wife have a beautiful farm in Virginia that dates back before the Civil War. Paulie the Mercifal allowed this handsome owl to squeeze out the same way he squoze in.Everything's gotta eat. We understand these thungs.

A fun summer !

Line up of Benton Rodeo gals ~

A new cowboy hat !

Gambling with your life that there will NOT be a power failure ......

when the BIG DROP OCCURS !! 

Knoebels is a great amusement park for families & especially a kid's piggy bank~ where there are really nice souvenirs on THEIR budget that THEY can afford ! 

Even a dragon coffee mug.

Always new life on a farm. Exciting and fun.

What a good Mama Snickers has turned out to be. They must drain the heck outta her!

A lovely bouquet of baby kitties ! 

BABY PIDGEONS !!!

How often have you seen a baby pigeon ??? I will bet NEVER!!!    My grandson, Brandon, caught this pic when he opened the trap door to feed the horses hay. The pigeons made a nest on the beams above the horse stalls. Here are a few baby pigeons stil with baby down feathers.  (: >

If you have a farm you must think every move you make over 3 times. You may end up with a cervical spine fracture SIMPLY because you opened the trap door to feed the horses below their hay.

Every animal has it out for you.On a daily basis, my cat Rosebud,greets me in the upstairs barn and purrs and rubs herself against me as I toss hay to the horses below.Many times she came upon me unawares ....from behind. Who???? ~~ In the E.R. would have believed me if I said "My cat pushed me down the trap door" ....????Of course, husband treachery would have been the prime suspect.My cats are probably the only animals that have not YET caused  problematic injury to me.The others HAVE.~~~~ Sheep. Goats. Border Collies. Horses.

You who buy fresh eggs from me~~  you have no idea what I go through to fetch this free range egg.

I may have to climb and tread a beam to find the nest in the hole of the of the haystack .

I am so dedicated to this work (: <

What is prettier in your kitchen than red bell peppers chopped up into freezer packages?? I got a half bushel for $7.00 this year. That's all I need and no weeding when i buy it from the local farmer.

We had a spiral ham last week. Don't be a dummy and waste that bone! Toss it in a pot of hot water with onions and celery and red peppers and can'er up. Six qts of ham soup broth. Just add navy beans. ( I canned up 2 bags of navy beans last yearwhen I was bored in the winter.)

I have a lovely crop of broccoli growing this year. Thank you LORD ! In the spring I bought 3 flats of what I thought were broccoli, brussel sprouts and cabbage. I recognize no cabbage. I should be over run with brussel sprouts. That's OK because I raise this stuff for my farm animals.But some for me.

The broccoli is the most beautiful crop I've ever had. I have used NO chemicals , no insecticides, just chickens and turkeys to pluck away the buggies from the soil and leaves.YES, they will peck at the fruits and veggies but the soldiers have to be fed."Muzzle not the oxen as they tread out the grain", the Bible instructs us.

This row of yellow wax beans just keeps on producing. I got this little cart to sit upon as I pick and weed.The seat opens up into a hatch to store things you need:~ gardening tools, cheese & crackers, a cap gun to scare away unwanted chicken help,a can of soda or mace .

I love the pretty purple flower buds of yellow waxed bean plants.

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.