Show and Tell

 

Remember when you were in elementary school and the teacher gave the class time to show and tell?  Today is my show and tell day with all of you.  As busy as life has been over the past few weeks, I have still tried to photograph all the wonderful things going on around us up here in the Alleghenies.  I actually had some time to load and edit photographs this morning, so I'm sharing with you weeks of images from life on and around our preppy mountain farm.  A few of our tulips are still blooming, but for the most part, they are finished.  Lilacs, lily of the valley, and bleeding hearts are taking their place.

 

 

Our crabapple trees are now finished flowering too, but they were spectacular for a few days last month.  And they were buzzing with bumblebees and honey bees.  Our poor beagle was afraid to come out of her dog igloo.

 

 

We had gorgeous weather in late-April, and I went for so many hikes all over the mountain.  This is the property of one of our Amish families as I descended the mountain lane right before dusk.

 

 

The pond below us has come alive with turtles, frogs, salamanders and just recently, the sound of spring peepers every night.

 

 

While walking the trails through the woods, I've come across lots of fiddleheads.

 

 

And as I mentioned in my last post, we've had the best spring ever for finding Morels in the forest.

 

 

My husband and boys have been out searching almost daily, and they continue to come home with bags of them.  We've been frying, baking, freezing, and drying Morel mushrooms for the past couple of weeks.

 

 

Our sunny, summer-like weather in late April did not last.  Ever since we entered May, this is what nearly every day looks like, and we're lucky if the temps get out of the fifties.

 

 

While it was still warm, our fantastic sheep shearer came out and sheared our tiny flock of sheep.  They didn't recognize each other for a few hours and had to re-establish their "pecking order."  They are now living harmoniously once again.

 

 

The wool fleeces from these past several years are piling up in the garage---partly because my husband doesn't like to get rid of anything, but mostly because we both really want to learn to card and spin wool.  Maybe there will be time in another ten years or so???

 

 

Lots of cold-crop vegetables are growing bigger in our one garden, and we have a couple of cats who are always watching out for vermin.

 

 

While growing up, cats were always my favorite pet to have, but they have now been surpassed by baby goats.

 

 

I think it's easy to see why.  Just look at these little ones.  I just want to snuggle with them all day.

 

 

We had one goat kid born this past Saturday evening, two more born the next evening on Mother's Day, and this little guy was born yesterday afternoon while we were all out for the day.  So we have 4 new goat babies: Asiago, American, Cooper, and Gorgonzola.  I've got to get out to the barn today and get some better pictures.

 

 

Best of all, we have all come out of our winter hibernation and are spending our afternoons and evenings outside.  Along with fishing, hiking, Morel hunting, and playing with goat kids, our children are also having friendly games of wiffleball in the yard when it's not too wet and soggy.  The hardest part is coming in at night and staying on a school day schedule when all we really want to do is stay outside until it's too dark to see, sleep in the next morning for a bit, and then return outside for the day. 

 

I don't know about the rest of you, but we are counting down the days to summer break.  Only 19 more days of school to go!

What Mother's Day is Like on a Mountain Farm

 

Before my husband took the kiddos to see the new Captain America movie, they asked me what I wanted to do on Mother's Day.  I told them I want to sit in my comfy chair, watch old episodes of Fixer Upper, and have the laptop to myself so I can blog.  Technology has not been cooperating with me, however.  The camera's battery was dead, so I had to charge it before I could load pictures.  Google Chrome is not working under my user account on the laptop, so I'm having to settle for Internet Explorer, which has none of my settings saved.  And Chromecast isn't working from my devices, so I'm watching Fixer Upper on my 7" tablet instead of the wide screen TV while I blog.  In addition to that, the laptop's battery is dying, and the charging cord (or whatever it's called) only works if the laptop is sitting on a flat surface and the cord is arranged just a certain way.  It doesn't work from atop my lap in my comfy chair.  So...I'll have to make this snappy.

 

 

This Mother's Day, I've received the kinds of gifts that only God can give, and I can't imagine having them anywhere but here on our preppy mountain farm.  Last night one of our mama goats had a single baby boy.  We named him Asiago, and he seems to be doing quite well in the barn up close to his mother.  He's the first kid in two years born on our farm, so I've been taking lots of photos.  All of our children went out to greet him first thing this morning---some of them were still in their pajamas.

 

 

He looked a little cold when I went out to see him even though it's about 65 degrees.  I think he'll be fine as long as he stays near his mother and burrows down in the hay.  We'll keep our fingers crossed.  The first few days after birth, I'm always nervous for mother and baby.

 

 

Speaking of the weather, we had 9 straight days of rain here.  Yesterday was the first day in a week and a half that the sun came out for awhile.  Last night it rained yet again.  But this was our view from the highway on our way home from Mass this morning.  Yet another wonderful Mother's Day gift that only the Divine could give.

 

 

Our chicks are now 3 1/2 weeks old and aren't so little, cute, or fuzzy anymore.  They were trying to fly out of the trough in our house, and we had to cover it with a screen.  They also eat way more now and make way more messes.  Which means they stink.  Yesterday they entered our chick relocation program and got a much bigger home in our garage where I don't have to be disgusted by the odor or the tremendous amount of dust they create by digging in their wood shavings.

 

 

When I went out to check on them, they were huddled under the heat lamp.  But as soon as they saw me, they went scurrying to the far corner away from me.  All 15 are doing great, but one looks a lot like a turkey.  Surely the hatchery wouldn't make a mistake?!

 

 

Lilacs are my absolute favorite flowering bush, and ours began blooming this weekend.  How awesome of a gift is that?  I'll have vases of them all over my house.  When I was a girl, I used to sit under a huge one while I read books in the summer.

 

 

Finally, we've been finding---and eating---lots and lots of Morel mushrooms.  We've been back up here in the Northeast for 10 years now, and this is by far the absolute best Morel season ever.  Dipped in egg and bread crumbs, then fried up with a little bit of garlic, Morels are the delicacy of the foraging world.  At least around here, they are.

 

My battery icon at the bottom of my laptop is looking very low, so I'd better close for now.  We've got another goat in a kidding stall in the barn looking like she might soon give birth, so I think I might take a peek.  Typically, I stay away until after she's finished because its' so hard to watch them be in discomfort during labor.  I used to play goat midwife and help pull babies out if the mother seemed to be in too much distress.  But now I just stay clear and let her do her thing.  I think it makes them more nervous to have us standing around while they're trying to focus on the task at hand, and their bawling makes me nervous too.

 

Wishing all of you readers who are mothers or mothers-to-be a very Happy Mother's Day.  I hope your day is filled with as many natural gifts of life as mine has been.

 

New Life All Over the Mountain

With summer-like temperatures, this spring weekend brought an abundance of new life everywhere we looked, beginning with the arrival of new chicks on Friday.  It still amazes me that day-old chicks can be shipped in a little box and travel via the US Postal Service and arrive alive at our farm two days later.  

All but one got here safe and sound Friday afternoon, and they have taken up residence in our dining---I mean, multi-purpose room for the time being.  Hearing them peep all day long just breathes spring into our farmhouse.  They need to stay warm under the heat lamp for quite awhile, which is why the color looks so strange in the above photo.  It won't be long until they outgrow their current plastic bin, and we'll probably move them into a trough in the garage in a few weeks.

We tried to take a few of them outside for a photo shoot yesterday afternoon, but they were not happy out in a wide open space, and they kept turning their backs to me.  No scratching up bugs for them yet except for the occasional ladybug that lands in their bin.  When that happens, they all dive for it and chase after the lucky chick who runs with it in its beak.

This warm weather has been calling us outside daily, and we've been hiking all over the mountain and down to the pond.

Our teen son swears there are fish in the pond, but all I saw was one lone wild goose and lots of these salamanders.

Our red haired son loves, loves, loves salamanders and has kept a few as pets.  He even wrote a story about the one he named Emmit, who lived with us for a few days until he met an unfortunate end.  Emmit has become a legend in our family, and no other salamander can ever replace him.

In our swimming pool cover, hundreds of tadpoles have hatched out of their green jelly-like eggs and are keeping the cats entertained daily.  They won't complete their metamorphosis into toads by the time we open up our pool, though.  They'll end up as fertilizer for our gardens instead.

And speaking of the gardens, new carrots and spinach have sprung up from seeds planted last fall.  Hubby also planted some green onions a few weeks ago, and they have poked their way through the soil and mulch too.  I can't wait for fresh produce from our farm.

Dandelions have sprung up everywhere as well.  I really don't mind them in the yard; they're better than the thistles that try to inhabit every bit of bare space.  We've even used the dandelion leaves in salads from time to time, plus the goats and sheep absolutely love them.

Our goats are loving this warm weather and come up to me for a good neck scratching when they see me trying to take pictures.  This is our buck Jarlsburg heading towards me.  If you've ever been around a billy goat, you know scratching their heads requires a good pair of gloves.  Otherwise, you smell like them for the rest of the day.

Our does love to sunbathe, especially Palila, our oldest goat in the herd.  Lying under the blooming Bradford Pear tree each afternoon is her routine.  Three of our girls are looking very pregnant, but they still have at least a couple more weeks to go.

Squirrels' nests are everywhere in the woods and clearly visible right now while the trees are just budding.  We haven't come upon any baby squirrels or birds fallen out of their nests this spring yet.  I have done my share of trying to feed abandoned baby squirrels with a medicine dropper, and the experience has never ended on a positive note.

The local creek was stocked with trout a few weeks ago, and this weekend marked the official beginning of trout season here.  Our orange haired son was the only one interested in fishing the creek, but the trout weren't interested in anything hanging from the end of his line.

All of the children seem to have spring fever.  I noticed when substituting this week that everyone was more energetic, chatty, and excitable than usual.  Even our teenagers are goofy and wound up which is better than the surly, sedentary, sleepy beings that they often are during the winter.  Except at 10:00 at night when I just really want all of them to be sound asleep in their beds, not wanting to jump around and talk to me about the latest cool thing they saw on Pinterest.

Our youngest requested a picnic this weekend, so along with hiking, fishing, and playing on the playground Sunday afternoon, I also packed us a lunch in our picnic basket.  Nothing fancy this time: PB & J, apples, and pretzel sticks because Mom needs to go to the grocery store yet again.  That is becoming my second home.

The warm weather, new life, and longer hours of daylight keeps us outside much of the day until I look at the clock and realize we need to get younger ones ready for bed since tomorrow is another school day.  I don't know about you all, but we are counting down the days now until the last day of school.  It just can't come soon enough.

Glimpses of Early Spring at Our Mountain Farm

It's a busy week here, and my days are filled with substitute teaching, taking children to appointments and activities, running to the grocery store, and tackling the endless loads of laundry.  I'm pretty sure none of you want to see or hear about all of that.  So I decided to post some pictures taken over the past few days of sights on and around our farmhouse.  Even though it was 22 degrees here this morning, everywhere you look, the beginning of spring is evident.

We drove past an Amish farm the other evening and witnessed this newborn foal getting up and walking on its wobbly legs for the first time.  It felt like we were witnessing a miracle.

I only wish I could have gotten closer.  These were taken from our vehicle with my phone.

No leaves on our birch tree yet, but its light colored bark really stood out against the blue sky and kelly green grass.  The kids managed to nail in some platforms on some of the tree limbs.  Our youngest son can climb to nearly the top, which is about even with the attic floor of our farmhouse.  He's bound and determined to turn my hair gray!

The sky on Saturday looked like a painting.  Unfortunately, this turned into wet, windy, cold weather the next day.  We had wind gusts up to 70 mph that night and part of Sunday.  Nothing was damaged here, thank goodness.

Little grape hyacinths have popped up near the creek.  We're hoping that Morel mushrooms will be following close behind.  The woods are full of them up here in May, if you know where to look.  They sell for an astronomical price on the Internet and at our local Wegman's.

The grass and mosses are really turning bright green everywhere, including this brook that flows down the mountain on the other side of our lane.

OK, so these may have nothing to do with Mother Nature and spring, but I found these paisley sneakers at Target this weekend, and I couldn't resist sharing.  I just want to wear them with everything.  If I could find them in a pair of ballet flats, I don't think I'd wear anything else for the next two months.

The children were outside most of the day Saturday.  My husband has our younger boys all pumped up about rocket mass heaters.  They now want to build these miniature versions out of bricks all over our back yard.  Our fire-loving son spent hours tending to his until it got hot enough to boil water.  Not sure why that was the goal, since the water didn't get used for anything.

Our sheep and goats are so happy to be out on green pasture again.  They're still eating hay too, so they are getting quite round.  It's almost time for sheep shearing and kidding.  We expect baby goats by next month at this time.  Can't wait!

I'm going to admit that these little mounds puzzled me when the younger children and I were at the park last week.  They looked like small ant hills, but there were small yellow/black bees or hornets hovering over them.  We get plenty of yellow jackets here, but I'd never seen them with nests in the ground before.  These flying insects weren't aggressive, and they would sometimes dip down into the hole and fly back up again.  I did some googling, and I can't determine if they are a type of yellow jacket or a ground bee or something else I'm not even aware of.  If any of you knowledgeable readers out there can enlighten me, I would really appreciate it.

I hope your first week of April is warmer than ours.  I am grateful, though, that we didn't get any of the forecasted snow here.