Dr.Dolittle

Well it's one adventure after another here at the "farm". While quietly folding laundry and minding my own business I noticed a white pigeon sitting in a very odd way out by our bird feeder and cracked corn.

We have pigeons in the barn but they're the regular ol' run o' the mill blue and gray versions. We do not have white ones, anywhere.

Also, the bird was sitting in an odd way. Appeared extremely worn out, sick or hurt - something. I thought I'd go out and investigate. I walked all the way up to the bird. Right next to the bird. All he did was pigeon walk away. Didn't fly. I managed to rustle him up enough to fly only as far as the garage roof eventually.

I felt better knowing he could fly and that his wing wasn't broken or anything of that nature. Still odd that he just moved out of my reach and not actually away. I thought he'd mosey along but an hour later I found him back in the same spot I saw him originally. I tapped the window and moved around but the pigeon was quite "content" to just stay put.

I did some investigating online and called a bird release company that is relatively near by. I was thinking that maybe this was a lost pigeon that somebody may be looking for. Maybe there was a fancy-schmancy wedding this weekend in which they released a lot of white pigeons and this guy is lost? Ya never know.

The kind man I spoke to said they stopped doing that a couple years ago. I asked him some questions anyhow and he said it was most likely a pigeon (I'd originally thought a dove due to it's color) because pigeons are much larger in size. We also will think, for now, that this is a racing pigeon that has gotten off course and is resting and regaining his bearings, or directions.

Basically, I'll keep my eyes on the guy for a couple days and then do some more calling around. He certainly stopped at the bird Hilton of bird feeders though. He maybe is a racing pigeon...frequent travelers always know where to spend the night. Matthew's got every kind of birdseed known to man, and bird, out there so the pigeon can rest and eat his fill of whatever he wants. I do NOT leave out chocolate mints on the pillow though so if he's expecting that he can just keep flapping.

God has not gifted me with the ability to actually speak to animals so I shall just keep guessing and making sure he's warm and full. Sure would be neat to ask him what he's up to...

Merry Christmas 2008...

...and Happy New Year! This was the scene out the front of the house this morning. What's not showing up is the blustery, snowy wind that is producing this landscape.

Wouldn't this be a beautiful picture on ...CHRISTMAS EVE!? Have I mentioned what the kiddos and I had planned for today? Today is summer sandal purchase day. Yep, we're going into the big city to pick out our summer footwear.

Earlier in the week I told the kids of my plans. In preparation for the momentous event Anna received some paint for her little piggy toes. We are all set.

I will be ready to go shortly, as soon as I unpack all of the winter gear I previously washed and packed away. My poor little Anna will be wearing snow boots over her fully-socked painted toes to bring her sandals home in a box.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night.

Crafty

When my grandma was up visiting during Easter she showed me again how to crochet. My mom had been trying to teach me for quite some time.

I understood how to chain and doing a single crochet stitch made sense to me, sort of. I could never check my work because my brain wasn't comprehending what the stitch looked like. I could never count my stitches. Basically, crocheting never clicked.

In my defense I will say I think it's because I am left-handed and I was learning to crochet right-handed. This wouldn't really make a big deal ordinarily since I do many things right-handed, as most lefties can attest. This is a right-handed world and I'd say most left-handed folks are rather ambidextrous. For some reason, however, my brain just couldn't figure it all out. I was frustrated because I could see it wasn't all that difficult yet I was unable to "get it".

As I said, I asked Grandma to show me yet again. I thought maybe with the background I had with my mom and having Grandma show me again between the two of them it may click. It did! It may have had something to do with doing just a single crochet stitch in the past. The item Grandma was making required a double-crochet stitch. I'm sure my advanced brain waves just needed something more complex to focus on....hahhahahahah. Yeah, right.

At any rate I wanted to keep up the long awaited skill I'd finally figured out and try a new project. The other item I had trouble with regarding crocheting is the patterns. Oh my, it's a completely different language. The abbreviations and parentheses are sort of overwhelming. I was determined to get the whole kit-and-caboodle so I found a really neat beginners book at Wal-mart. The photo above shows an older version of the same booklet I purchased. There are very easy to figure out diagrams and directions for different stitches. The booklet features 63 different patterns that when put together make a nice-sized afghan.

What's nice about the book is that it starts with the easier patterns and works you through, building on the past stitches. It's great for a beginner like myself. I have just about completed 7 blocks that I just store in a Ziploc baggie. Once I complete all 63 pattern blocks I'll be able to assemble the blanket and have a nice remembrance of the teachings of my mom and grandma.

Each block is 7"x7" so there is enough time to really get a good handle on the new stitch, or pattern. If I'm not completely done-in with crocheting by the time I've finished I could make little pillows or even cute handbags using my favorite patterns from the book and assembling said item in it's required form.

I will show a photo when I get the afghan all finished. Don't hold your breath. This may take awhile. If I had the time I could certainly whip out at least a block a day. I don't have that kind of time to just sit and crochet, however. sigh.... Even at that rate the afghan would take a good couple of months. I'm hoping to have all the blocks done and assembled into a blanket by the winter. I'm hoping. In the meantime, I'll just putz around on the thing and feel relief that I could figure how to crochet.

Don't' even get me started on knitting. I asked my mom to show me how to do that once and I think all I did was sit there with my mouth hanging open saying, "Huh?". I'll stick to crocheting and tackle the whole knitting thing some other day.

Genetics

It's sort of a family joke at my parent's house that when Mom plans supper and the main dish is to be grilled, it's generally raining outside. This happens before my mom has any idea of the impending rain. She doesn't send Dad out in the rain on purpose, it just works out that way.

Today in my neck-o-the-woods it's raining. It's a really nice spring rain. No severe weather or strong winds just a gentle sprinkle. It's been going on all day long now since around 7:30am. It's now nearly 2:30pm and it's still sprinkling outside.

Did I mention what I had planned for supper? Grilled Italian chicken breasts. Yup. They've been marinating in the fridge since last night. Before the rain began. I have two options I can stand in the rain and flip the chicken or I can just bake them in the oven. I haven't decided yet. In true Kaiser family fashion I may just have to brave the sprinkle and turn on the grill. sigh...

Bath Time Fun

Three things Anna said last night during her bath and while getting dressed. It may be more funny for me because I saw her expressions and heard her voice say what she said but, thought I'd get the statements down on "paper" just 'cause. Blogger happened to be down last night when I went to immediately post what she said so I'm hoping I remember what she all said as I get going here...


1. I often tell the kids they are my favorite "Isaiah" and "Anna" in the WHOLE world. Well guess what? Anna told me I was the best mama in the whole town. She said this with much enthusiasm so I shall take this as a compliment.

2. Her tummy growled while we were getting her jammies on and she said, "What my tummy sayin'?" I told her her tummy was telling her it was full from supper and nice and warm from her bath. She then decided that because she needed an interpreter that her tummy must speak a different language. After I watched her wheels a turnin' she said, "Mama, my tummy speaks Spanish just like Dora." I told her I thought that was neat.

3. I had to encourage Anna to get out of the tub and get dressed so I told her we should hurry and try to beat Isaiah, who was taking a shower downstairs. She obliged and when we were all done she ran out of her room yelling, "I beat Eee-ah!" Then she turned around and said Isaiah could win too. I told her I thought that was nice and that maybe she could be the first girl to finish and Isaiah could be the first boy to finish. Anna looked at me and very seriously told me, "Mama, that is a very good idea. Good thinkin', Mama."

Seedling Progress

As promised I have posted the progress of our seedlings. Can you stand it? I know, huh? We've been pretty fortunate with nice daytime temperatures so I am able to put the cart of seedling flats on the deck for natural light. This makes the seedlings a bit stronger than if they're left indoors the whole time. In the evening I bring them all back indoors.

This photo shows our radishes, acorn squash and two different types of tomatoes. All the flats are doing quite well. A few things haven't popped up but if memory serves correct the seeds were very tiny and with the help of the shorter members of this household the seeds may have been planted too deep. We'll see. We can always plant more once the ground is warm enough.

We held off waiting one week longer to plant the beans this year and I've realized it was still one week too soon. The bean plants need the garden to be ready. This will not happen until next week the earliest, however. Matthew is traveling this weekend to bring home all of the tractor implements he purchased for a great bargain down near his folks' place. He'll bring the rototiller implement back on Sunday. If he's excited enough I may be able to beg a tilled garden by Tuesday morning so Anna and I can get those beans in the ground. Then I'll pray for no more frost. Or I'll be out there covering up the plants with an old sheet or towel. It'll be a little early to put things in the ground but apparently we are very good bean growers.

Wishful Thinking

Monday morning was beautiful. Isaiah's been itching to sit outside on the deck and eat breakfast. I told him that'll probably be a daily occurrence once summer arrives...if it ever arrives.

I thought it would be fun to surprise the kids with breakfast on the deck Monday morning. It was nice enough to attempt. They both still needed sweatshirts and blankets but it was a pretty sunrise and we enjoyed the time together before Isaiah had to shuffle down the road to the bus.

We had to stay warm by eating oatmeal for breakfast. Other than the slightly chilly breeze I think we enjoyed ourselves.

After we finished breakfast Anna had had enough and went inside to warm up. Isaiah and I sat outside and chit-chatted. He asked me what I did for fun on summer mornings when I was little. I thought that was pretty cute of him to wonder. Made it even more difficult to send him off to school. We counted how many weeks left until summer break. Six more weeks. I think we can do it?

A Safe Show-n-Tell

I read the newsletter for the upcoming week Isaiah's teacher sent home. She sends one home every Friday outlining the next week's activities and any news worthy tidbits. On the schedule for this week's sharing topic; bring your favorite book.

YES!

That is super easy and I can't wait. As long as the sharing topic doesn't involve a living, breathing mammal it's all good. Easy-peasy.

Lamby Goes to School

As an update to the Woolite washing fiasco of 2008 I shall inform you all on how that went. I actually got brave enough to start the process before Isaiah returned home from school. I thought since Lamby feels as though he may not actually be a lamb and may be more closely related to a person. (He's the only sheep we have for another couple weeks) I figured the temperament of the guy may allow me to attempt the shampooing process. I thought about how to go about this by myself through all of Anna's nap and felt confident I could do this.

At 3pm Anna and I went outside to start the process. I first cleaned out the stall inside so he'd stay all fresh and clean at night. I then filled up a little bucket of water and put a small amount of Woolite in the bucket. The water was a tad cold but the air temperature was relatively warm so I thought if I proceeded slowly all would be well. I didn't want to shock the poor guy.

I heard a story once how a farm wife wanted to give relief to some pigs on a very hot day and poured some cold water on the pigs and she shocked them to death. I thought that would not be a good scened for Isaiah to come home to.

I crawled in the outdoor pen with Lamby and brought Anna in with me. Washing a sheep usually involves a nice stand with a halter that goes around the back of the sheep's head behind their ears. This holds them in place so that you have two hands free. If we had this piece of equipment I could wash a ton of sheep all day long. We don't. I was watching a 2 1/2 year old girl, holding a very large 10 week old sheep with one hand and pretending to wash the sheep with my other hand. Sheep don't just stand still unless you're holding a bottle for them to drink. It was a struggle.

This could turn into a long story so I'll sum it up and let you imagine how this circus looked and suffice to say Lamby had THE cleanest shoulder area any lamb could ever have. That's about all I could do without the stand. I tried. I didn't get anyone or anything killed. We'll just call that good 'nuff and take the lamb to school as is.

This whole fiasco took two whole hours. I never did put fresh bedding in the stall for him. Left that for Matthew. I figured that's the least I could do, after all I wanted him to feel a part of the whole experience.

Anyhow, we took Lamby to school yesterday and Isaiah was thoroughly excited to have such a show and tell experience. How'd we get Lamby to school? Ha! That was easy... I had Matthew figure all that out. Anna and I went in the car since we had to go in the opposite direction afterwards to head up to my Bible study group. Matthew took Lamby in Matilda's dog kennel that was shoved in the front seat of his old '66 GMC. What a hoot to keep looking in my rear view mirror and watching him hang on to the kennel with Lamby a bleatin' away.

When we got to school Matthew held the lamb and Isaiah stood next to him while Isaiah's class stood in a circle around the lamb and asked Isaiah questions. It was fun. Anna even stood next to the boys to get in on the school action.

It was fun. We all made it.

'Preciate It

Birdie over at the Crooked Maple has bestowed upon myself, and others, a cool little award. Apparently washing Lamby in Woolite has earned me a Nice Matters Award. It feels sort of like Mother's Day. Thanks Birdie!

In true award fashion I am to pass the love. I now get to choose seven fellow bloggers that have earned the Nice Matters Award in my opinion. This is the only hard part.... I think you're all nice. I wouldn't read your thoughts on life if you weren't nice. I think many of the folks that I'll choose will be too nice to post the Nice Matters Award on their blog. I understand, really. But I'm a stickler for rules so I'll follow them and let the receivers decide what to do with the award. Post if you'd like and spread the love or just know your regarded as "nice". Thanks again, Birdie.

I would like to pass the niceness to Amanda @ I Am Mommy, Cara @ Baby on Board-ggren, Sheri @ Coffeetime, Char @ Come Again, Jen @ one life...One God, Kara Jo @ P is not for perfect and Erin @ the thing is... ! That's all folks. Thank you for playing, if you choose.

Guidance?

Tomorrow is Isaiah's sharing day at school. This week's theme? Bring your favorite animal.... ah man. I read that and thought neither choice is going to be good.

He's going to initially choose Matilda, the dog. Matilda happens to be the sweetest dog I know. She's kind, patient, gentle, craves attention and loves to get hugs. She also happens to be quite protective of her pack, meaning her family, us to be exact. She's usually just fine as long as the new people or animals don't impede her turf while the kids or I are present. She just gets protective. I'm quite certain she would enjoy all the little first graders in Isaiah's class but I do not feel I should take the chance in trusting an animal while other parent's children are involved. We've only had Matilda since December, she's approximately 7 and we have no idea what her past entails. I just don't feel "Sharing Day" is a good enough reason to experiment with Matilda's threshold for 23 first-graders.

Isaiah did in fact bring up his sharing day options on Monday night after a fellow classmate brought in their family dog. I took a deep breath and anticipated the next question. Yep, sure enough Isaiah wanted to bring Matilda to school on Thursday. I explained our thoughts on the safety of all involved. He understood and took the news like a real champ. Did you expect anything less? He does, after all, have a back-up plan..... THE LAMB!

Matthew happened to be home during this conversation and knew exactly the next direction the conversation was going. After some minor cajoling on Isaiah's part it was agreed that Lamby could go to school. We got the excursion approved by all the school officials that need to approve of such ventures. Lamby is going to school.

Anna has been singing "Mary had a little lamb...." all week. She replaces the Mary and sings Isaiah.

Well, since Lamby has a busy day on Thursday he's required to have a bath. This is not anything unusual per se. Sheep shown at fairs, as well as other livestock, get scrubbed before their events. I have never done anything like this, however. I've watched it being done when Matthew and I would observe and root on his younger brother and sister while they were still showing at their local fair. I can wash our dog in the tub but as I stated before she's the mellowest thing I've ever given a bath to, including my own two children. I have a feeling Lamby is not going to cooperate with a scrub in the tub, just guessing.

I did pick up a bottle of Woolite at the store yesterday. No joke. Sheep are washed with Woolite. Seriously, makes sense doesn't it? I'm considering surprising Matthew with a squeaky clean sheep compliments solely of yours truly. I looked on the back of the Woolite bottle and the only thing it said was 2 Caps for a medium load and 3/4 Cap for hand washing. I'm assuming I'll be washing Lamby by hand so I'll use the 3/4 Cap and see what happens. I'm going to wait until Isaiah gets home. I don't know if I can get the job done while Anna's napping so I'll just be patient until the reinforcements arrive.

I've made supper so all I will have to do after Lamby's bath is warm it up. I'm not going to tell Lamby what's on the menu. We're having ground lamb meatballs with a mushroom gravy. I think he'll cooperate better if he doesn't know.

I'd take pictures of the event but somehow feel it's not going to be possible. Just so nobody gets their hopes up. I'll let you know how it goes, if I make it.

Proof of Planting

So I thought I'd show some proof of our planting labors from this past weekend. Here we have Papa and Isaiah preparing to plant some zucchini seeds. Note the careful hand-off of the seeds below.

Seed planting requires much concentration and thought.

Anna is receiving expert advice from her big brother while Papa offers her some more vegetable seeds. No creativity allowed Tootsie-doodle you have to plant in the designated areas. After receiving her pointers Anna also focused on her duty at hand. Make no mistakes this is serious business.

We had a great time and the weather was perfect for spending the afternoon outside. We even have some cucumbers emerging from their seeds. Too cool. The beans will be next to notice. I'll get some photos of the emerging "crops" soon. Again, stay tuned...

Garden Ready

Sometime in early April we do the annual Rolli Family seed starting activity. The past owners of this home left a sizeable garden plot that Matthew will till up and ready for the May 15 planting. We needed to start our first crop of vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers to get a jumpstart on the growing season.

We even planted some annual flowers to get those going as well. Usually I spend the moo-la on the flats of annuals. This year we'll see how the flowers do when started from seeds.

We all chose our favorite types of vegetables to eat and yesterday after church we planted their seeds. The kids really enjoy planting and getting the flats prepared for the seeds. It's fun to see their excitement. They each develop their own "style" of planting. Anna sort of flicks the seeds off of our hands and into the designated section. She was so impressed with her new technique and requested that everyone watch how she was doing the task. Isaiah feigned interest and then was a bit more careful than his sister when it was his turn.

Once we plant the seedlings in the ground (around May 15 - after all danger of frost) we plan on starting a second round of veggies from seeds planted directly in the garden at that time. We've never had the space to do this type of gardening so I'm excited to see how it progresses. The lettuce varieties we planted have a 45 day time span until harvest. We are hoping to get at least three crops of lettuces. We also have three different types of tomatoes that'll be ready for picking at different times so yet another experiment will be done with the 'maters.

If we're successful enough with our plan I'll keep you all posted. I know you are all on the edge of your seats waiting to see how the garden turns out. If the garden survives the rabbits, deer and children "weeding" we may have a cuke, tomato and squash or two that'll make it...

(to be continued...)

Carduelis Tristis

At our old home we had a wonderful bird sanctuary set up. It was a family pastime to sit in the living room window and identify the different types of birds that visited our yard.

Some of our favorites included a Baltimore Oriole and his family that visited us for two summers, the Bluebird families that came every year. The Red-Winged Blackbirds, Hummingbirds, Chickadees, House Finches, Goldfinches and last (as well as least) the Grackles that made their homes in the dying tree in the front yard. It was so much fun to sit and watch. They all stopped by the feeder at their appointed times. I'm not sure who organized the slots each group received but I tend to think it was the male Red-Winged Blackbirds. No offense, they just seemed a bit bossy.

While I was pregnant with Anna in the summer of 2005 I would get acquainted with the Hummingbirds that came to the window feeder. They actually dive-bombed each other if they lingered too long. I was close to them I could even tell the difference between the three that repeatedly came to sip the food. I appropriately named them Goose, Ice Man and Maverick. Clever, hunh?

My point being we really enjoyed getting to know the birds at our feeder. When we moved to our new home we were so very excited to "meet" the new birds. Well, we waited...and waited...and waited. Nothing. We occasionally saw some beautiful Cardinals, Blue Jays, Pileated Woodpeckers, Chickadees and even a rooster Pheasant a couple times. I was still lonely for our old friends.

Today I saw what I'd been waiting for (besides the Bluebirds I'm really excited to see return in a couple weeks) our first Goldfinch. I know these guys stick around all winter but we hadn't seen any. This led me to believe we wouldn't have any in our new setting. Today I was proved wrong. The Goldfinch was eating off a bell-shaped feeder of thistle seeds, their favorite. I was so excited and I think they just needed to be "shown" where the feeder happens to be. For the last few weeks we have been bombarded with Dark-eyed Juncos. They are everywhere! It's a bit creepy actually and I try not to think of Mr. Hitchcock's Birds while I see the 30+ birds feeding under the feeders in the woods. I'm thinking the mass activity had lured the Goldfinches in. Yeah!

Note: For all you FCCers know that my husband calls the Dark-eyed Junco's ... "Bill". Get it? I laugh every time. I wonder if they've heard that joke before?

Coincidence? I Think Not...

This morning Matthew made a pot of coffee. Approximately half-way through the brewing process I hear a shout, "Katie, there's something wrong with the coffee pot." I chose to ignore this statement as I was not prepared to acknowledge such a travesty.

After I summoned the courage to enter the kitchen - hours later. I saw the carafe sitting in the sink and bravely examined the damage. The bottom of the glass carafe was, dare I say it, broken. Gasp, nooooooooo!

Over the past decade or so we have shared our kitchen counter with numerous coffee pots. Some lasting years, like the one that just died this morning, and some lasting weeks. I am serious. We had one that lasted for only a few weeks.

Now normally when I receive junk mail I toss immediately. For some reason when Matthew brought in the mail yesterday I left the junk mail on the counter. Weird? Perhaps no. You see one of the junk fliers was for a Gevalia coffee pot/Coffee of the Month type of deal. I was shocked!

How did they know?

Amazing.

At this point I'm leaving the information in it's envelope. Tomorrow, however, when I am in desperate need of coffee I plan on not only reading about the extremely wonderful offer Gevalia is choosing to share with me, but also force my dear husband to understand how wonderful the deal actually is. Can you imagine how satisfying it will be to know we can spend a mere $210 on a pot of freshly brewed coffee? I know the idea will sound much better at 4:45 in the morning. I just know it.

I'm Imagining What 80 Degrees Feels Like...

I have a roast in the crock pot right now cooking low and slow. I plan on shredding it when it's nice and tender and adding BBQ sauce for sandwiches to feed the troops at supper time. The roast is cooking in beer and onions, among other various herbs and spices.

Can I just say I LOVE the smell of beer and onions cooking together. I completely forgot.... Bring on summertime. I'm going to pretend that instead of a plain ol' beef roast in the crock pot that my husband is par-boiling brats for the grill.

Is it Bedtime Yet?

4:02am- wake up to sound of coughing dog, fear she may throw up so Jump out of bed run to patio door and let dog outside.
4:02 1/2am- lay back down in nice snuggly bed only to realize 2 year old girly is now awake....
4:10am- realize that once this child is up.....she's up....no use pretending everyone will go back to sleep
4:11am- encourage my Anna to take a potty break, remove diaper and choose her big girl undies for the day
4:16am- get out promised watercolor paints for Anna to keep her quiet and busy while rest of house is happily asleep
4:18am- remember the dog is still outside....oops....let her back in
4:19am- feed dog
4:21am- make much needed pot of coffee
4:30am- read Bible and drink coffee all while asking Anna, every 2 minutes, if she has to go potty
4:45am- put supper in crock pot
5:00am- forget to remind Anna to take a potty break and clean up after my forgetfulness and Anna's bathroom break taken in dining room
5:02am- change Anna into second outfit of the day (did you notice the time? We're on the 2nd outfit already)
5:15am- change dirty paint water from Anna's painting dish
5:30am- find some sort of children's show for Anna as I'm still not really functioning in the mom department as of yet
6:00am- wake husband to do chores....I just can't do it today (sorry Matthew)
6:01am- make lamb's bottle for Matthew to take out to barn
6:10am- make breakfast for children
6:20am- get out painting supplies for Anna, yet again
6:30am- change sheets on the beds
6:50am- have Isaiah get his school stuff together
7:10am- have Isaiah get dressed for the bus
7:15am- send Isaiah off to the bus with lots of hugs and kisses
7:20am- write blog
7:24am- get out paint supplies for yet another round of painting


I can only imagine what the rest of the day shall hold. I would have to say it's going to be a pretty exciting one. Just look at all we've accomplished since 4 o'clock this morning.

Yes!

This introvert has done yet another amazingly extroverted action. I joined a women's Bible study group at our new church. The hellos and goodbyes at church will not make one a friend. You have to just get in there. I took a deep breath and called the church office to find out the necessary information. I spoke to someone I didn't know....really.

I went happily today and met some really neat people. I'm excited to get to know them even better over the next few weeks.

I'm also excited to do this study on Beth Moore's book. I called the group a Bible study as that's what they usually study. This time around they happen to be looking at this particular book. Should prove interesting and I hope to learn some tools along the way. The key chapter this book is focusing on is Psalm 40. How neat that God would take the time to offer the "ladder" needed to get out of the miry clay.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I apologize for the lack of blogging. Haven't really felt up to it as of late. I'm not sure if my family is dealing with allergies or a late winter bug...not sure. Besides our nasal issues we've been out and about and busy with life.

Last weekend we went down to Matthew's parent's house. It was sheep shearing weekend. Have you heard of the threshing crew extravaganza that happened in the 19th and 20th centuries? Well, this is the modern day version. My Father-in-law hires a professional sheep shearer to come to the farm once a year. My husband, his brother and their buddies all meet up at the farm and help to get the sheep sheared. It's fun to watch and lots of laughs are had by all. My Mother-in-law makes really yummy food to feed everyone and we just have fun.

There also happened to be a new batch of Beagle pups, just 4 weeks old that the kiddos loved to snuggle. We have a Matilda and will NOT be adding to the dog population at this house. Hard to say as Beagle puppies, in my opinion, are THE cutest in the whole kingdom of dogs

Isaiah was able to get some hugs from the donkey, Eeyore. Eeyore is used to sort of guard and warn the sheep from marauding coyotes. He's a shaggy little guy who is pretty nice, for a donkey. (Eeyore does not get shorn - just in case you were wondering)

The big bag Isaiah's stomping in is a wool bag. It's about an 8 foot tall bag that the fleeces go into after they're off the sheep. One has to stomp it down in order to get in more wool. This is similar to the action husbands do in an attempt to get more trash into the kitchen garbage so it does not need to be taken out as often. I'm just saying.