Who knows about woodstove chimneys?  We need one.

Prayers Needed

The next few weeks are going to be really hard for us.  Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.  Will not be posting for a bit in order to focus on the most important things. 

        I was cold when I woke up this morning, so I bought some Mums.  Fall is officially here.

Fall is in the Air ...Kinda.

                   

     The last three nights here have been deliciously cool and breezy.  Just cool enough where you need a jacket to go outside and sitting inside with the windows open, a fleece blanket wrapped around your shoulders, someone to snuggle with on the couch (human, canine, or feline) is just about right.  It makes me want to make campfires again and roast smores.

The garden is still in full production, but you can feel it slowing down.  Fungus got the cucumbers, but not before we harvested enough to make a half dozen quart jars of pickles.  We have enough time (i think) before the first frost (october 10th or so) to plant a new succession, so I just put in some baby seedlings again.  We may get lucky and get another batch of cukes before winter.  We'll see. 
Tomatoes are in their full glory, but were planted late, so are still green.
Garlic has been in for a while and our shed is taking on a garlicy aroma as it cures in there.
Peppers are in full swing as are pole beans (that's green beans to you grocery store produce shoppers).
Zucchini's done.  Mostly because I have given up the fight against the squash bugs.  They can have em.
Salad greens have been done for a while because they prefer cool weather. But I am about to plant another round for the fall.
Very exciting.  This is fall planting season.  It's like a fresh start.

The animals are all loving the weather too.  The ducks are a nuisance (dont raise ducks).  That's another story.  We currently have 6 or so chickens laying daily, with 3 more any day now.  And the babies are growing like weeds.  I am excited (despite my hatred of ducks) to try some baking with our duck eggs that we are getting daily now as well.

Matt has just started his new job so we are getting used to his new schedule. I am still with my job, and my typical schedule which I love for the amount of free time it offers me.  We are looking forward to many new and unfinished projects this fall like installing a chimney for our new/old woodstove, and filling the new woodshed Matt built from bamboo that grows on our property.  I am going to try my hand at learning to knit socks this fall and attempting to make home-made beer.   Lots to look forward to!  Spring is still my favorite season for all it's newness, and excitement, but if I had to choose, Fall is definitely second best in my book.  Can't wait for warm bonfires, cold home-brews, cozy knit socks, and lots of baking!

Bella and Bacon's Baby Piglets!

Here is Bella with the two female babies.
The one that looks like her, we just call "Baby Bella"

By popular demand, here are some pictures of the piglets (actually called pups).  They are about 4 days old in these pictures.  Right now they are almost a month old and are ready for new homes!  (anyone interested, please come visit them, you will be hooked :-)

Group shot!  In this one, the girls are on the left and the little boy is on the right.
He is fluffy like his dad, Bacon, while the girls are smooth-coated like mom.
We call the little boy, Willy, even though "we aren't naming them" because we aren't keeping them.

Baby Bella!  She has a funny little cowlick
on the top of her head, that makes her look like she has eyebrows!
Soo cute!

The Girls

Hey There Stranger!

Wow it's been a while, I know.  It's super duper hard to upkeep a blog when you dont' actually have internet at your house.  But I'll get by.  Here is the long-story-short of where we stand at the lil' homestead presently...

INVENTORY:

Adult Laying Hens- 3

Teenager Laying Hens (pullets)- 6

Baby Laying chicks (1 wk old)- 5

Baby Meat chicks (dark cornish)- 4

Adult Guinea Pigs (and proud parents!)- 2

Baby adorable, oh-so-cuddly, guinea pigs- 3

Ducks- 4

Bunny- 1

Dog- 1

Cat- 1

Fish- 9 at last count

Raised Beds in Veggies- 6

Fruit Trees and Bushes- approx. 10

Happy Homesteaders- 2

Part-time, mini, Happy Homesteaders- 2

TOTAL:  One busy household....but fun!!

Our Newest Addition!

     With the loss of his brother, our little pig Bacon was all out of sorts.  He was squealing and crying all the live-long-day, as he desperately ran around and around his condo, up and down the ramp to the loft, looking for his long lost buddy Munch.  This was just not fair to poor old Bacon... guinea pigs are social creatures and do not like being alone.  As Bacon has always preferred the company of another pig, to that of the human variety, we decided it was high time to find him a companion.  We new that this would be another male (no babies for us please!) and would be a newborn piglet, so "we can raise him up right", as Matt says.  Yesturday I finally drove the 15 minutes into town to scope out the pet stores (we have 2).  At the first store they had many teeny-tinies, but alas, they were all girls.  This would not do.  So off to the second store where, they too, had new arrivals.  And what more?  A mixed batch!  Myself and the kind store employees set about picking up the piglets and inspecting them down-under for some sort of a hint as to their gender.  Now baby piglets are not that easy to sex, so we had to do a lot of comparing and contrasting.  Eventually after looking at enough hinnies, we were fairly certain we had picked out the boys.  I picked one that had a frizzy coat, to add variety to our "herd".  He is very small and very young, we think about 1 month (which is the earliest they can be weaned from their mama).  He is yet unnamed (Hawken will facilitate that task next weekend) but is already settling in nicely.  He follows Bacon all around the cage, hops INTO the feed trough to eat, and has already learned to climb the ramp to the loft.  He's gonna be a good one!  That's for certain!

Little dude is a 'Teddy' Guinea Pig.
This means his hair is all kinky, even his whiskers.
In this picture, you can see how fuzzy he is!

Bacon and the little man meet for the first time.
Bacon is more interested in eating his lettuce.
Little dude doesn't know quite what to think.

Soon the little guy is following Bacon around.
Bacon takes him on a tour of the condo, just like a good big brother! 

After Bacon lets the baby know who gets to eat first,
they quickly become good buddies and enjoy snuggling.

Bacon just loves his new little friend.
Whenever I take the little guy out for some bonding time,
Bacon runs all around looking and calling for his new brother.