Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Rainbow Bridge
"Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... "-Author Unknown. Credit to http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rainbowb.htm
This will come as a huge shock to some of you I realize. So I'm serious when I say brace yourself for some bad news. If you're ready, read on. If you're not ready, stop reading now and come back some other time.
Butters was stuck and killed by a car on Sunday.
Jeremiah and the kids were stacking wood in the garage and I didn't see the door left open. It was always a fear of mine he'd get out to the front and suffice to say, he did just that. For those that knew him, you knew know how he liked to run. We couldn't keep him from doing it, we've tried and tried...that was just Butters.
We raced him to the vet and he held on long enough for me to talk to him as he passed without pain. He made the decision easy for me as the only humane thing to do would have been to put him down, he was far too hurt for anyone to fix him but he never let on he was. I didn't want to make the decision for him and thankfully he made the decision on his own.
He had love surrounding him. I let him know it was okay to go. Jeremiah says he was holding on to hear the words from me as up until then I kept telling him to hang on which was more for the kids sake than my own. I was right there talking to him and holding him and petting him and loving on him.
We buried him in the yard in a lovely spot in a grove of trees and placed a headstone on his grave.We still have Rainy's ashes we've drug from El Paso to Ca. and back east again that we'll sprinkle in the same spot someday. I never in a million years though that 2 months into living here we'd already be starting the pet cemetery. How painful life can be sometimes.
For those of you who knew him who are inclined to call and talk about this specifically, I ask that you don't. The children are handling it much better than I had expected especially given the circumstances and the way Rachel is so sensitive. I, on the other hand, am crushed and heartbroken and cannot bring myself to talk about it much and trying to hide the pain as best as possible from the kids as it's just one more thing to miss and they don't need the extra tears from mama. I'd much prefer to call and tell you but if that were to happen you probably wouldn't find out about it until you came to visit and noticed he wasn't here. So, better this way than not at all I suppose.
What makes it worse is that his presence surrounds me specifically nearly every minute of the day in everything I do from cooking dinner (canine vacuum cleaner and mop) to washing clothes (dog hair on the fleece sweatshirts) and the halls are vacant of the click clack of his toe nails down the tiled hall floor. There's no longer anyone to greet me at the door or protect over us whilst laying comfortably on the couch, recliner or bed. I am sure most of you know exactly how we feel. I think Rachel said it best that we're thankful for the time we did have and he's in a much better place now and thanked him for all his years of loyal service. It's the truth, hard to accept as it is.
We've had our pity party complete with lots of sweet treats, lotsa tears and now it's time to get on with livin' because what else is there to do?
**An update as of Tuesday afternoon and I am better today. The Rainbow Bridge, whether it exists or not, always helps with grief from the loss of a beloved pet. Butters wouldn't want us to be sad. He's free of fences and limits and free of twitches from distemper long ago.
We couldn't keep you from running this time pal. You were doing what you loved.
You were a good dog and we all love you. You were our great protector in a little yellow package. You had a big bark and a big heart.You will be greatly missed.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... "-Author Unknown. Credit to http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rainbowb.htm
This will come as a huge shock to some of you I realize. So I'm serious when I say brace yourself for some bad news. If you're ready, read on. If you're not ready, stop reading now and come back some other time.
Butters was stuck and killed by a car on Sunday.
Jeremiah and the kids were stacking wood in the garage and I didn't see the door left open. It was always a fear of mine he'd get out to the front and suffice to say, he did just that. For those that knew him, you knew know how he liked to run. We couldn't keep him from doing it, we've tried and tried...that was just Butters.
We raced him to the vet and he held on long enough for me to talk to him as he passed without pain. He made the decision easy for me as the only humane thing to do would have been to put him down, he was far too hurt for anyone to fix him but he never let on he was. I didn't want to make the decision for him and thankfully he made the decision on his own.
He had love surrounding him. I let him know it was okay to go. Jeremiah says he was holding on to hear the words from me as up until then I kept telling him to hang on which was more for the kids sake than my own. I was right there talking to him and holding him and petting him and loving on him.
We buried him in the yard in a lovely spot in a grove of trees and placed a headstone on his grave.We still have Rainy's ashes we've drug from El Paso to Ca. and back east again that we'll sprinkle in the same spot someday. I never in a million years though that 2 months into living here we'd already be starting the pet cemetery. How painful life can be sometimes.
For those of you who knew him who are inclined to call and talk about this specifically, I ask that you don't. The children are handling it much better than I had expected especially given the circumstances and the way Rachel is so sensitive. I, on the other hand, am crushed and heartbroken and cannot bring myself to talk about it much and trying to hide the pain as best as possible from the kids as it's just one more thing to miss and they don't need the extra tears from mama. I'd much prefer to call and tell you but if that were to happen you probably wouldn't find out about it until you came to visit and noticed he wasn't here. So, better this way than not at all I suppose.
What makes it worse is that his presence surrounds me specifically nearly every minute of the day in everything I do from cooking dinner (canine vacuum cleaner and mop) to washing clothes (dog hair on the fleece sweatshirts) and the halls are vacant of the click clack of his toe nails down the tiled hall floor. There's no longer anyone to greet me at the door or protect over us whilst laying comfortably on the couch, recliner or bed. I am sure most of you know exactly how we feel. I think Rachel said it best that we're thankful for the time we did have and he's in a much better place now and thanked him for all his years of loyal service. It's the truth, hard to accept as it is.
We've had our pity party complete with lots of sweet treats, lotsa tears and now it's time to get on with livin' because what else is there to do?
**An update as of Tuesday afternoon and I am better today. The Rainbow Bridge, whether it exists or not, always helps with grief from the loss of a beloved pet. Butters wouldn't want us to be sad. He's free of fences and limits and free of twitches from distemper long ago.
 |
| Above and below: The day we brought him home. Already making himself at home on the couch. |
We couldn't keep you from running this time pal. You were doing what you loved.
You were a good dog and we all love you. You were our great protector in a little yellow package. You had a big bark and a big heart.You will be greatly missed.
 |
| The "I did something naughty" look |
 |
| Protector |
 |
| So interested in the new baby Andrew the day we brought him home. |
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| Great Friend |
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| Binky protector |
 |
| Giggle motivator |
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| Pal |
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Ax Man
Alternately titled: Rome wasn't built in a day.
We spent yesterday cutting down and chopping up trees. Winter's coming. I don't know when it'll be here, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop but so far we've had some really lovely fall weather. Maybe this is normal, obviously we've not been here long enough to know but from what I understand the warmish temps we've been having is a bit unusual. I'll take what we can get!
This property has been slightly neglected for a really long time when it come to trees and brush. I'd like to go out on a limb and say the majority of it's been very neglected but it's understandable...there's a lot here!
There is years and years and years worth of wood to be burned just laying around. We cut and stacked about a cord yesterday (Saturday) and today we're cutting down bush trees. The goat girls are gorging themselves!
It will take years and years to get all the underbrush cleaned up...that and many weekends with a chipper shredder. Rome wasn't built in a day!
We spent yesterday cutting down and chopping up trees. Winter's coming. I don't know when it'll be here, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop but so far we've had some really lovely fall weather. Maybe this is normal, obviously we've not been here long enough to know but from what I understand the warmish temps we've been having is a bit unusual. I'll take what we can get!
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There is years and years and years worth of wood to be burned just laying around. We cut and stacked about a cord yesterday (Saturday) and today we're cutting down bush trees. The goat girls are gorging themselves!
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Saturday, October 16, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Spring 2011 Pasture Plans
Spring plans for more pasture. My apologies if it's a bit confusing. It's a lot easier to understand if you've seen the current set up.
This should allow us to get 4 nice pastures in and move the bucks into a larger space than they have now. We're hoping to significantly cut down on feed costs with spring and summer grazing.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
My Easy Chili
I made a pretty easy chili last night and I wanted to share the recipe. I didn't get a photo. I meant to, really but...um, we kinda ate it all before I could. Maybe next time.
P.S. It's not the same without the toppings!
This will make 2 good child size servings and 4 adult servings (or seconds for the adults in a family of 4 with two small children)
Ingredients:
1/2- 1 lb. groundCookie beef (for anyone who doesn't know who or what Cookie is/was, Cookie was the neighbors angus cow in Ca. that was put into the freezer. She was the best Cookie I ever ate. If you've never had home grown beef, there is no substitute!)
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1/2 of large can of water (use tomato can)
1 cup of chicken stock (optional. I had stock left over from the other night so I threw it in. Would be good with beef broth too, and if you have neither of those, more water will work too.)
1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves garlic
3 tsp. ground cumin (or to taste)
A few good pinches of salt (more or less to taste)
1 can of kidney beans (the whole can juice and all)
A few dashes of Worcestershire
2 tbs. chili powder (more or less to taste)
bag of Frito's corn chips
green onions
sour cream
shredded cheese
jalapenos (optional)
In a cast iron dutch oven (or large pot) brown beef, add diced onion and garlic. There was not much grease from my beef but if there is, drain it off. Once the beef is browned, add tomatoes, water, kidney beans, spices, Worcestershire and chicken stock.
Let simmer for about an hour, stir occasionally and tasting. If you need more spice(s), add and let simmer some more. I put a lid on mine for about 40 min. and let it simmer without the lid for the additional 20. It really thickened up after that, but that's optional too. Depends on how thick you like your chili.
Top with shredded cheese, then Fritos, then sour cream and then green onions (and picked jalapenos if you wish). YUMMMMM, great on a cold day!
P.S. It's not the same without the toppings!
This will make 2 good child size servings and 4 adult servings (or seconds for the adults in a family of 4 with two small children)
Ingredients:
1/2- 1 lb. ground
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1/2 of large can of water (use tomato can)
1 cup of chicken stock (optional. I had stock left over from the other night so I threw it in. Would be good with beef broth too, and if you have neither of those, more water will work too.)
1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves garlic
3 tsp. ground cumin (or to taste)
A few good pinches of salt (more or less to taste)
1 can of kidney beans (the whole can juice and all)
A few dashes of Worcestershire
2 tbs. chili powder (more or less to taste)
bag of Frito's corn chips
green onions
sour cream
shredded cheese
jalapenos (optional)
In a cast iron dutch oven (or large pot) brown beef, add diced onion and garlic. There was not much grease from my beef but if there is, drain it off. Once the beef is browned, add tomatoes, water, kidney beans, spices, Worcestershire and chicken stock.
Let simmer for about an hour, stir occasionally and tasting. If you need more spice(s), add and let simmer some more. I put a lid on mine for about 40 min. and let it simmer without the lid for the additional 20. It really thickened up after that, but that's optional too. Depends on how thick you like your chili.
Top with shredded cheese, then Fritos, then sour cream and then green onions (and picked jalapenos if you wish). YUMMMMM, great on a cold day!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch
Tad, Drew, Rachel and Nathalie
I don't know why my kids looked so stinkin' mad.
corn maze walkin'
A good time was had by all at the corn maze and pumpkin patch in Buhler on Saturday afternoon after the failed foiled turkey hunting attempt on Saturday morning.
Rachel and Nathalie
And then the battery in my camera ran out.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Be Vewy Vewy Quiet, I'm hunting Wabbits Turkeys
Don't worry, the turkeys won this weekend.
Final score:
Frank and Tad- goose egg
Turkeys- won (pun intended)
Final score:
Frank and Tad- goose egg
Turkeys- won (pun intended)
Jo, Frank and the kids came up for a weekend of hunting before Frank deploys again. Saturday morning they were out early only to miss. I mean...not miss...I mean, decided to let the turkeys live because, according to them, they wouldn't have had time to clean the bird and go to Lowes for building materials and do all the stuff we wanted to get done. Yeah, that's it.
Sunday morning bright dark and cold and early Frank and Tad were back out there freezing waiting in a grove of trees for the turkeys to wander by. I guess one did, but it lived to be a turkey another day.
It appears we don't eat this week. So much for the Tactical Turkey Shooter Shotgun!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Check, check and check!
Made breakfast, check. Made lunches, check. Fed and milked goats, check. Washed and hung laundry, check. Did dishes, check. Ate lunch, check. Made a mess of the stove when the milk boiled over, check. Made delicious goat's milk cheese, check! Devoured it all... Begrudgingly and longingly looking at it but enforcing self control to leave it for my darling husband, check.
I don't know how much this is here, a few ounces I suspect, but it's the result of half a gallon of milk. If I had half a mind (and was selfish enough like last week) I'd eat it all myself. But because I'm generous and kind to my husband (ahem), I'll save it for him today!
Long weekend: Parent-Teacher Conferences, Family, and Sewing
Where to start...Thursday the kids were off school. I had a nice visit with each of their teachers. Andrew is doing well in Preschool. I had commented to Jeremiah a week prior about how much he's come out of his shell the past few weeks with going to school and all.
He still clams up, especially about doing certain things independently. Being in his big sister's shadow, and to him apparently she's just about perfect, he out right refuses to do some tasks that are asked of him like writing his name or drawing a self portrait. Miss K. isn't asking for Salvador Dali or Georgia O'Keefe, she's just asking for his rendition. But, after watching Rachel draw so many "good" things in his eyes, and being somewhat of a perfectionist himself, I guess he feels that if it's not going to be perfect, he may as well not try. We'll work on that.
Rachel is in an AR (Accelerated Reading) class and is reading quite well for her age. She loves to read and we encourage that. Of course there are no bad behaviors to report for either of the children and Miss K. even commented that she can always count on Drew to be sitting correctly and quietly and she uses him as an example for the other children that everyone should follow Drew's lead. That may just win him the brown nose award for the year and cause some fights in the hallways. Course, I had to ask how on earth she gets him to do that because he's not, um, exactly, the best behaved child at home. He likes to test his limits, which of course we do our best to correct his behavior, but it's probably because he's still not 100% comfortable at school. He loves it but entrusting yourself to your preschool teacher after just a few weeks isn't something he's going to give up easily. But nonetheless, he's a model student, they both are and are doing quite well.
_______________________________________________
Had a lovely visit with family from out of town. Jeremiah's Mom, sister, brother-in-law, their two kids and his niece (who's a few months younger than Drew) came from WV. We had a real lovely time.
Jeremiah was off Friday (as were the kids) because of parent-teacher conferences late into Thursday evening so we had a nice long weekend to spend.
Friday we spent kinda hanging out. Friday evening we drove down to Yoder to meet up with Jeremiah's cousin Kim, her husband an their two kids for pie at the Carriage Crossing. And delicious pie it was!
Saturday we drove back down to Yoder for breakfast and shopping. There are a few real nice shops including a quilt shop, a hardware store (and they do still sell nails by the pound but it wasn't nearly as exciting as people make it out to be), and a few other little home decor stores, etc. Jeremiah took us by the shop for the "grand tour". I've been so it wasn't that exciting but I think the others thought it was neat.
The gals and I left sent the kids home with Jeremiah and Gary and we went on to Hobby Lobby. Believe it or not, it was my first time in there and we've been here for weeks. I know right? A store that sells fabric that I haven't yet to visit? I wasn't real impressed with it either. My fabric options are kinda limited in this town. Oh well.
Saturday afternoon we wandered the property while dinner cooked, took some photos for them to take back and kinda just hung around again. It feels like they were here longer than they actually were as we seemed to pack a lot of things in. I do hope we get more visitors who come our way!
(Rachel and Sarah)
(Thomas and Andrew)
(Nellie-William Isaac's little girl)
He still clams up, especially about doing certain things independently. Being in his big sister's shadow, and to him apparently she's just about perfect, he out right refuses to do some tasks that are asked of him like writing his name or drawing a self portrait. Miss K. isn't asking for Salvador Dali or Georgia O'Keefe, she's just asking for his rendition. But, after watching Rachel draw so many "good" things in his eyes, and being somewhat of a perfectionist himself, I guess he feels that if it's not going to be perfect, he may as well not try. We'll work on that.
Rachel is in an AR (Accelerated Reading) class and is reading quite well for her age. She loves to read and we encourage that. Of course there are no bad behaviors to report for either of the children and Miss K. even commented that she can always count on Drew to be sitting correctly and quietly and she uses him as an example for the other children that everyone should follow Drew's lead. That may just win him the brown nose award for the year and cause some fights in the hallways. Course, I had to ask how on earth she gets him to do that because he's not, um, exactly, the best behaved child at home. He likes to test his limits, which of course we do our best to correct his behavior, but it's probably because he's still not 100% comfortable at school. He loves it but entrusting yourself to your preschool teacher after just a few weeks isn't something he's going to give up easily. But nonetheless, he's a model student, they both are and are doing quite well.
_______________________________________________
Had a lovely visit with family from out of town. Jeremiah's Mom, sister, brother-in-law, their two kids and his niece (who's a few months younger than Drew) came from WV. We had a real lovely time.
Jeremiah was off Friday (as were the kids) because of parent-teacher conferences late into Thursday evening so we had a nice long weekend to spend.
Friday we spent kinda hanging out. Friday evening we drove down to Yoder to meet up with Jeremiah's cousin Kim, her husband an their two kids for pie at the Carriage Crossing. And delicious pie it was!
Saturday we drove back down to Yoder for breakfast and shopping. There are a few real nice shops including a quilt shop, a hardware store (and they do still sell nails by the pound but it wasn't nearly as exciting as people make it out to be), and a few other little home decor stores, etc. Jeremiah took us by the shop for the "grand tour". I've been so it wasn't that exciting but I think the others thought it was neat.
The gals and I left sent the kids home with Jeremiah and Gary and we went on to Hobby Lobby. Believe it or not, it was my first time in there and we've been here for weeks. I know right? A store that sells fabric that I haven't yet to visit? I wasn't real impressed with it either. My fabric options are kinda limited in this town. Oh well.
Saturday afternoon we wandered the property while dinner cooked, took some photos for them to take back and kinda just hung around again. It feels like they were here longer than they actually were as we seemed to pack a lot of things in. I do hope we get more visitors who come our way!
(Rachel and Sarah)
(Thomas and Andrew)
(Nellie-William Isaac's little girl)
___________________________________________________________
Finally sewed the first stitches yesterday in the new (temporary) sewing area in the basement. The back room has yet to be finished but we'll be working on walling off the area with all the mechanical stuff (furnace, water heater, sump pump, etc.) this weekend and drywalling it (and putting in a door of course to access it of course). When that's complete, I can paint it just like I did the front room and move everything back there for good.
Still missing baseboards and casing around the doors but with family coming, we needed to move stuff down there and quite honestly, I am a bit sick of painting.
What do you think of the floor?
Finally sewed the first stitches yesterday in the new (temporary) sewing area in the basement. The back room has yet to be finished but we'll be working on walling off the area with all the mechanical stuff (furnace, water heater, sump pump, etc.) this weekend and drywalling it (and putting in a door of course to access it of course). When that's complete, I can paint it just like I did the front room and move everything back there for good.
Still missing baseboards and casing around the doors but with family coming, we needed to move stuff down there and quite honestly, I am a bit sick of painting.
What do you think of the floor?
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