The Latest Additions

We have added a few new members to our crew. A sheep, a dairy goat, and one more chicken. We are still debating adding a new barn cat since our last one decided to find a new home after not being fed for a while. Hopefully we can find another one for free and before the cold weather sets in.

We just might get crazy and try breeding these guys.

Lions and Tigers and Bears

Ok, not really because we went to our local zoo so they don't really have so many animals.  Lion, yes. Tigers, no. And the bears were no where to be seen today.  But when Alan got to work yesterday he discovered that he actually had that day and the next day off. He just sort of forgot. So he stayed at work on Thursday and then took today off.  Alan had all sorts of plans for the day that mostly involved farm related work but I suggested that we take the kids to the zoo instead.  So we loaded them up, got most of the way there, and blew a tire.  On the van. After about an hour and having a child stand on the  tire iron to see if the bolts would loosen (nope, but Alan did get hit in the leg) and some help from a few local folks, we finally got the tire changed.  About 5 minutes after I'd called the roadside assistance folks to come do it.  Now if I'd been alone, that would have been the first call I made because even though I know how to change a tire and can do so, changing the tires on the van involve a bit more work than normal and that's kind of what we pay for the roadside assistance for in the first place. So now instead of just needing 2 new tires on the van, we likely will end up having to replace all 4 because, of course, it wasn't one of the older ones that got hit with a nail.

So we finally made it to the zoo and everyone had a great time. There are lots of baby animals who have just been born. Very cute little things.

This was our first zoo trip without a stroller. Very odd for me.  Ellie absolutely enjoyed herself and the older kids were wonderful with her. I think the only complaint the kids had was that I refused to buy food at the zoo. Because I'm just so mean.

  I love that our local zoo is small enough to get through in 2 hours and yet keeps growing enough to have new things to enjoy. Of course, I would be rather annoyed if we actually paid a daily admission rate when we wee visiting the area because it is rather small (comparing it the zoo in Tampa). But I guess the benefit of the membership is you can go for a few hours and then come back another day and not worry. And for a family of 11 the membership is cheaper than one days admission anyway.

The Weekend in Pictures

Building a new sheep pen.

Ellie wearing muck boots and carrying a golf club just totally sums up the way things work around here. Watching to make sure Liam does things properly.

This is just a pure Katie picture. 

The younger crews' version of being helpful.

Ellie

The sheep enjoying their new pen (now we hopefully won't find them in the cornfield across the street.)

Some of the chickens.

Guinness hanging out by the barn (or the Beer Dog as a friend has taken to calling him).

Last Night's Adventure

Because we just don't have enough going on in our life, we volunteered to provide a home for the sheep for our food co-op group. So we will be housing 6 sheep until it is time to slaughter them for food. Yes, some folks will find that sad but we must be realistic about where our food is coming from and if you want the better quality, better treated organic meat, you can either pay crazy grocery store prices, better farmer direct prices (like we do for our beef and pork), or you can raise it yourself.  This year we will tackle the sheep, then next year we will likely be able to handle meat birds.  (I'm honestly not quite ready to have two batches of chicks going at once. I'm rather afraid we would accidentally butcher our eggs layers instead.)

before adding the smelly animals

Last night Alan went to pick up the animals.  He was expecting young animals but we were not told that they had not been weaned yet and had not been outside yet.  This was just a small snag.  We had been planning on keeping the animals in an outside pen.  We did not have a pen ready for them for inside.  We also had been planning on them eating grass. We did not have the necessary food for them. We also did not have any nails left to build an inside pen.  And it was raining. And it was after 7:30 by the time the animals had been loaded into the van.  I was in charge of the Boy Scout run so I was wandering around Target waiting for the meeting to be over when Alan calls me to inform me of the latest snags.  So I wander the aisles in search of nails so that Alan can avoid taking a van loaded with sheep and children to the hardware store. Not really successful. So we decide that the animals can stay in the dog kennels overnight. Maybe.

after adding the poor smelly animals

I make a run to Home Depot with the 3 older boys after their meeting. Arrive home after 9:00 to discover that the other families have come over to help fix the situation since none of us were expecting animals quite this young.  So the pen is built. The sheep are happy.  Except the one who escaped. And ran all over creation. Almost up the neighbor's porch (the nice neighbor, thankfully, but then again our grumpy neighbor raised draft horses and chickens and assorted animals so he at least would understand).  The animal was enjoying it's freedom until it decided to cross the creek. In the deepest part (have I mentioned the rain).  Alan said the look on the animal's face was something along the lines of "Oh crud. What on earth have I done now." The poor animal has had a rough day.  And now does not know what to do. Alan jumps in the creek after it. Water up to his waist. Alan and the animal go under water and wrestle a bit. Animal is caught and brought out of the water and carried back across two yards and returned to the pen in the barn.  As if the rain were not enough, let's just say Alan is soaked and not happy.  But such is life.

The van now smells like a petting zoo. Not my favorite smell.  Hopefully we'll fix that situation soon.  Hopefully.  Because the air conditioning in the van is broken so heat plus smells are just not a good mix if you don't want folks getting sick. Which I don't.  So we now venture into this large animal thing.  And we just might have volunteered to provide a home for a friend's sheep dog because she is moving and can't take it with her. Fun times, I tell you.  Fun times.

Backyard Science

Have I ever mentioned the amount of wild life we can find without leaving our property?  Since moving here we have shared the property at various times with a lonely cat (previous owners abandoned the poor thing, I do not care for cats but that is just wrong), deer, fox, rabbits, various birds, a hedgehog looking thing (Alan's knows exactly what it is but I have no clue), a raccoon with a taste for chicken blood, our chickens, a skunk, snakes, mice, rats and toads. There are also of course lots of butterflies, bees, wasps and other assorted insects.

For the most part I enjoy being able to catch glimpses of these animals out the windows but lately the kids have been bringing the creatures even closer to me.  They are catching snakes and toads.  The last toad caught was left terrified after Kieran carried it and ran quickly all over the yard.  Poor thing was making the most pitiful noises before we insisted it was set free.

And the kids seem to be very talented at catching snakes.  Only garter snakes as they have been warned to stay the heck away from the others.  But they don't seem to understand why I am not as excited as they are over the snakes in the jar.  Guess I'm just not as much fun as I used to be.