This particular entry is one that I posted over at my creation blog over a month and a half ago. I had forgotten about it quite honestly and had meant to post it here, but had never gotten around to it. I would appreciate any advice about keeping chickens and will keep you posted as to when we get the birds, more than likely sometime in September.

May 23, 2009 

  My dreams of having chickens someday is becomming a reality!

But a coop is still the missing link in my dream. Tim and Samuel have been very busy these past few weeks at preparing a part of one of our barns to serve the purpose of housing my birds. 

   We needed a concrete floor for the coop so Tim got on the horn and ordered it up.

Okay, I'm just going to be real honest with you folks, I don't know the difference between concrete and cement. so I may be calling it both.  

   Joy of joys! There aren't many things that will make a five year old boy happier than seeing a cement mixing truck making it's way up the drive.

We watched the driver maneuver the truck back behind Barn #1. The chute that protrudes from the barrel of the mixer was then carefully positioned through the opening in the barn wall that Tim had cut out earlier.

Then the fun began.   Oh my, this stuff felt like slogging around in oatmeal. I must say that if you ever have the opportunity to do this, do it. Everytime I heard the engine rev up more concrete came pouring down the chute in large amounts that immediately swelled around our boots. For some odd reason I kept thinking about all those old mob movies where some guy would get dumped in a lake with concrete shoes. Sorry, just sharing.

No, I didn't put my handprints in it, I wished I had.

Hopefully there will be a future post about the actual chickens coming home to roost here at our little homestead.

Until later my cool and over-the-top blogging buddies, Julie

(Can you tell I'm in a really good mood...that's cuz I'm gettin chickens!)

  I must apologize as that last post was a bit weak. Although you guys came up with some new and amusing quotes and even made me think of some I had failed to list. Thanks for the input, you guys are the bestest. 

  Sorry. But, quite frankly I've been a bit uninspired regarding blog material.

  Please allow me to whine further as it is just so incredibly hot here too. Alright Sally my desert friend, please don't laugh, but I'm serious...it's been really hot here. Today was our fourth day in a row of 100+ temps.

  I made an effort this evening to get outside and get some pictures of what's blooming around the yard just so I could get a current post up.

  I had tried to get some pictures of our shade garden but I caught our torn up yard in the background. We've put in a geo-thermal heat pump and free lawn removal comes with the package.

  But I did get this photo of one of my transplanted Lilys.

Year before last I had planted them in my shade garden where they refused to bloom. So the kids and I moved them last fall. Looks like I made the right decision.

Here is Black-eyed-Susan that is growing out by the vegetable garden. 

I also had a friend following me closely as I was traipsing around the yard taking pictures.

This is Bandito one of the new kittens we had gotten because Annie the porch ornament quit her job. He's a bit obnoxious and enjoys harassing the dogs but he is catching rodents so he's a keeper.

  We also got another calf. He's a red Holstein. I named him Petey, short for Pistol Pete the mascot at the university where Tim teaches. So now that's five. I guess I shouldn't have said four was enough in an earlier post as I hadn't consulted Tim on the subject. So we have plenty of mouths to feed now. One horse, five bovines, two dogs, three cats, three kids, a husband and myself. Am I forgetting anyone...anyone...? I'm sure they'll show up for dinner whether I've remembered them or not. 

  Okay, I'm whining again...it's the heat I tell ya...it's vicious and brutal and sapping the life outa me!

  Oh Sally how do you do it?!

  I will return someday when temps are more humane and my brain is no longer fried.

Stay cool and know that I will look back on this someday and be totally humiliated and mortified concerning my behavior but for now, I don't care, I'm hot.

Your friend, Hotchamama 

  Sometimes while doing the routine things that I do, day in and day out, I tend to think of mindless blog drivel.

  Mindless blog drivel?

  You know the stuff that you think of while loading the clothes washer for the upteenth time that week, the stuff that surfaces while hangin your husband's pants on the clothesline, the really shallow stuff that makes you think "Hmmm" while sweeping around the dining room table. Please just keep it to yourself if this just doesn't apply as I really need to think that all is normal in my small world.

  So at the risk of losing you as my friend dear reader here goes:

 Three Word Quotes Heard Commonly Around Our House

Make your bed

Brush your teeth

Wash your hands

Drink your milk

Clean that up

What about, Lillie

It's not fair

Not another word

Shut your mouth

Take that outside

He bit me

Say you're sorry

I forgive you

I love you

Go to sleep

  So glad I got that off my mind, now I can move on to other mindless blog drivel.

Your friend, Julie

  Yes, I need to get out more.

  The term "summer vacation" can be such a strange one to those that really don't take the summer off. In the past we've always tried to finish up school in the spring so that we would have the summer to take a break from school and get other projects done. That's changed. 

   We're continuing with school this summer except for a week long summer vacation at the beach next month. This will be our first year to try year-long school and to be quite honest I haven't even figured out exactly what our schedule will look. Our days get so hot mid-summer and schooling in the afternoons may work out just fine. The children would have mornings and evenings to play outdoors and swim. I didn't sign them up for any lessons this summer just so we would have more consistent days at home to focus on school.

          Eastern Tailed Blue butterflies on Yellow Sweet Clover 

          Pearl Crescent on Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan)

  I usually set goals for the children at the beginning of a new school year. Aubrey was to have all her multiplication tables (1-12) memorized by last December and she achieved that goal. I desired that Lillie would spend more time reading and Samuel beginning to read by the beginning of this summer, it's happened. We are still working on other goals such as memorization of states and capitols as well as scripture memorization. Personally those latter goals will be more obtainable for us if we continue to work on them throughout the summer instead of taking a two month long break. All that to say, I'm still trying to work out the logistics on how to set up realistic goals and objectives so that burn-out isn't on my horizon. Burn-out stinks.

  Our "summer school" experiment will be yet another attempt by this homeschooling mom to see what works best for us. It really is all about unique family dynamics and personal teaching styles I believe. I'm learning that truth more and more as our family travels this homeschool road. The bumps, curves, and potholes are inevitable I know, just too many factors involved. But I'll still seek the downhill straight aways and perfectly paved highways with the guidance and wisdom of our Lord.    

  So the term "summer vacation" may be yet another term that will "not apply" to our family. Oh well, I've found that for the most part we're those proverbial salmon swimming upstream. And in these days and times it's probably good to teach them that our lives are not dictated or even shaped by the norms of society, thank You, Lord. 

Blessings to you!

Your friend  the Salmon        

This is Otis. He's our newest addition to the bovine population here.

That's four head of cattle, enough for us.

Otis is a Brangus, Brahma mixed with Angus. Sorry, if that sounded sorta know-it-allish but some people really don't know. Anyway, he's a beef cow as opposed to the dairy cows we usually buy. Hopefully one of the girls will show him in future livestock shows.

He had a hard time at first adjusting without Momma. But, he's come around and he is a true bucket calf, no bottles for this guy.

I think he's adorable and I love his ears.

I hope all is wonderful with you and yours,

blessings, Julie

  With the unusually large amount of rain we received this spring, my garden plans have been put on hold time and time again. But last week the rains ceased and I put that baby in the ground in record time!

I can't look another seed in the face.

I have walked out there several times to just gaze on it and wonder when the fruits of my labor will begin to "sprout."

The peas, carrots, and onions were planted before the rains started.

I had to put up a small fence for my peas to climb on. This is my first year for peas and I'm hopeful we will get a bountiful harvest to give away. Give away? Yes, there are only two in the family that will eat them. But hey, I love giving produce away! 

Looky looky here! We have beans!

Beans are the encouragers of the vegetable garden.

They sprout first and are easy to grow.

Oh, remember that first famous garden...there was a snake there.

Here's one of ours. It's a Green Racer and unlike that other snake, this one is welcome as he's part of the pest control crew around these parts.

We also have wonderful wild veggies growing in the pasture.

This is wild onion. We harvested some of these last spring and ate them with chicken, it was divine.

Prairie Camas is also edible. The native American Indians harvested these in great numbers and ate the bulb of the plant raw and cooked. It's also known as Wild Hyacinth.

Looks as if we're going to be well stocked with vegetables for the summer. I'm just trying not to think about all that weeding in my future.

Have a wonderfully blessed weekend, Julie 

News Flash!!! Just an hour after posting this entry I was going outside to shut the water off  on the side of the house but couldn't see the hydrant because it was dark. I thought, "Oh Julie don't be a weenie," and nearly just walked in the dark up to the hydrant but thought better of it and went inside for a flashlight. When I came back out with the flashlight and shined it on the hydrant I noticed a copperhead snake coiled by the wall under the hydrant! I quickly went back in the house, told Tim it was there and he went to the garden for the hoes. He came back and we made mince meat out of the buggar.

 I'm still shaking and praising God! 

  Yesterday, the girls and I were able to participate in a style show at the Drummond Home, a three-story Victorian style home that is located in a town close to where we live.  

  The Drummond Home was built in 1905 by Fred Drummond, a successful cattle rancher. His story is incredibly interesting and I could have wandered around in this house all day just soaking in the history of this family!  Ree Drummond at The Pioneer Woman is married to one of Fred's great great grandsons. If your interested you can read more about their family here. There is even a cool picture in this post that shows Miss Addie standing on the porch where we stood!

  Here is Miss Addie's sleeping porch. This was added later as Miss Addie (Fred's wife) desired a cooler place for visitors and family to sleep in the hot summer nights.

  This is the nursery and it is located on the third floor. I must say Miss Addie must have had some serious calves after walking up two flights of stairs everytime a child yelled, "Mommy!"

  Out of all the gorgeously decorated rooms the nursery was my favorite. I wanted to duck under the barrier and play with the paperdolls on the floor.

  If you would like to see more pictures of the house you can go here. Ree's pictures are much better than mine!

  The style show was a vintage style show. We were modeling clothes replicated from the Victorian era. A friend of ours at church works for the Oklahoma Historical Society and she puts these style shows on throughout our part of the state to raise money for different projects that pertain to Oklahoma history like the Drummond Home.

  The girls are wearing everyday girls attire here while I am wearing a ball gown. My short stature just doesn't do this beautiful dress justice.

There were also little girl party dresses for my two to wear. These would have been worn to a formal party or ball by a girl of young age. But only for appearance, the children were allowed to make their presence known then they must be off to bed.

  The outfit that I am wearing here is a walking outfit. It would have been worn by a Victorian lady to walk casually at the park or around an estate with visitors. She probably would have had her hair up in a Gibson girl type style.

  We had so much fun and there were many other outfits that we got to model along with the ten other models. I even got to wear a tiara with a huge frou frou red ball gown. Let me just say that your whole attitude changes when wearing a tiara. I may have to get one just to wear aound the house every once in a while.

  The guys went to an auction where they got to see cows, farm machinery, cows, and more farm machinery.

  When we got home they had been home for awhile and I noticed that my five-year-old was filthy!

"What happened to you?!?!"

"You're a mess!" 

Yes, I know ... I've been playing ... will you take my picture?

Yep.

Can I make funny faces?

Go right ahead.

Is that the best you can do... surely, you've got something better than that.

Oh I do, I was saving it for last!

  We're still trying to get the garden planted. As of today, we have onions, carrots, peas, beans, new potatoes, tomatoes, and crook-necked summer squash planted.

  The chicken coop is coming along quickly. We had a cement truck out here two days ago and we got the floor in. It won't be long until my chicken dream becomes a reality!

I hope your Memorial Day weekend is a safe and blessed one!

Julie

It's been a long day here on our forty acres. We try to make the most of the daylight so supper is late, usually after nine and kids don't get to bed before ten.

I'm dog tired, whatever that means. The garden is prime to be worked so that's where I spent the majority of my day. Hoeing is hard on the back and shoulders but seeds need to get in the ground now. By the way, if you have never thinned out carrots...let me just say that's tedious work!

Alright, I've whined now on to some fun stuff! Melissa at In the Sparrow's Nest has got an awesome contest going on that you don't want to miss!

She and her friend Cindy have written some great science units. Currently, we are going through one of them called Everchanging Erosion.

With all the rain we've received these past few weeks there were many examples of erosion that the kids and I were able to check out.

This was really interesting and such a fantasic visual for the kids of how erosion carries soil away.

The next couple of photos have nothing to do with erosion, just some cool bugs.

Here is a dragonfly molting.

I love this picture. I think because my little inexspensive camera really came shining through here. Someday I hope to have a camera with all the whistles and bells. But quite honestly I'm just not ready to fork over that kind of money when I can occasionally get a photo like this.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget that cool contest over at Melissa's.

Blessings, Julie

Here comes the sun (doot in doo doo)
Here comes the sun
And I say
It's alright

Little darling
It's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling
It feels like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun
And I say
It's alright
(Written & performed by George Harrison)

   Oh the blessed sun is once again shining, thank you, Lord,  and there isn't even a hint of rain in the forecast for the next five days. The ground will dry out and I can get in the garden to finish planting the majority of the garden.

   This morning we had a visitor slam against our back door.

   We didn't know if he was going to make it at first. Some of the birds don't. Pretty soon the whole family was on the back porch taking pictures and trying to identify our little visitor. Tim even took a great deal of interest in it's well-being and agreed with Aubrey that he thought it might be a baby Meadowlark. I didn't think so as the bird was just too small for a Meadowlark and more distinctly marked than any baby bird I had ever seen.

   The bird quickly became more alert and his condition improved. He flew to the porch railing where Tim got the last picture of our little visitor before he took off for the top of one of our Post Oaks. 

  Once inside, the children and I immediately set about identifying the bird. After looking closely at a couple of our bird ID books, we all agreed that our visitor was a Dickcissel. The description under the Dickcissel in one of our books said the bird looks a lot like a small meadowlark, good job Aubrey and Tim.

  Dickcissels are mentioned in the book, "Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Laura called them "dickie birds" because of the bird's call. 

  Hopefully we are on the downhill ride of the cold bug. A couple of us still have a nasty cough but I think we're near bidding it a good riddance. I hope all is well where you are and this Sabbath is both restful and blessed in your household.

~Julie~

  The girls and I have been a bit puny with colds. So after getting some school done this morning, I thought it might be nice to get out in the warm sunshine and explore a bit.

  Some of my favorite memories as a child were exploring the vacant lots around our house with my brother and sister. I hope someday that my kids will reminisce fondly about our explorations but even more than that I hope that an appreciation for what God has created for us is being instilled in their hearts.  

  While some may not agree with the importance of teaching children about nature, I feel I am compelled to. Sounds odd I know, but we don't watch a lot of videos or TV . I would rather they get excited about seeing a small turtle coming up for air in the spring behind our house as Samuel did this morning.

Beauty is so evident all around us in our Lord's creation and I personally believe that our need for pure and natural beauty is innate, He gave it to us. We see breathtaking photos of the Grand Canyon or violent ocean waves hitting large boulders and we're awed. Or even gorgeous sunsets, sunrises, and peaceful scenes of a lake with a foggy mist hanging over it elicits a sense of serenity.   

 I'm going out on a limb now but I think that God enjoys our enjoying His creation. That's not too out there is it? I mean He made it for us to live in and He enjoyed making it, so I don't think it's much of a stretch to say or believe that He put the desire in our hearts to be outside enjoying His artistry and creation from a very early age.

From the time that they could crawl every one of my children yearned and struggled to get outside. As toddlers they would cry at the patio door to be let out in the backyard.

I hate to say this, but it seems our society has conditioned our kids as well as adults for the most part to find entertainment by sitting and watching. I just don't think that that is what God intended for us.

I guarantee that getting out with your children and exploring what is flying, crawling, and growing around them will enlarge their world as well as yours.

We have been doing family devotions with a book called "Heaven for Kids" by Randy Alcorn and I have been so pleased with how we are able to pull our nature walks into the discussions while doing these devotions. Heaven has become so much more real to them as well as God's personal love for each of them.

Now I'm aware that I'm preaching to the choir so forgive the know-it-all tone. 

  I also wanted to add that teaching my children to identify insects, birds, plants, and other has sharpened their skills of observation and increased critical and logical thinking. I'm sure many of you would tell me the same thing. 

  If you have the time please share with me what nature study in your home looks like or a recent nature find that has excited your kiddos.

  Once again we're expecting violent storms tonite and more rain. We have had so much more than our normal amount of rain this spring and the garden is saturated. There are peas, carrots, and onions that are struggling along out there but I'll have to wait till it dries out before I can get anything else planted.

   I was able to get some clothes hung out this morning and with the Oklahoma winds rushing down the plains they were dry in no time. It's just one more way to save money around here.

Blessings and I hope all is well in your world, Julie