The Second Day of Harvest

Often, the true test is found not in the first day of work, but in the second day of work, when the exertion of the previous day nags at your muscles and you might be feeling a little more tired than normal because your night was filled with dreams of being chased by giant apples...

So today we tested gravity. 

These rollers were recently greased!

Defying Gravity:

Mortal fear of Gravity:

Gravity is much more fun with two:

We did manage to get some work done!

Honest!

We also gave the dog an apple...

First Day of Harvest!

Simply put, it was a beautiful day!

The weather was sunny and cool!  Such a relief from what we've been suffering through!

And the family was very anxious to be a part of every last little detail!

I heard things like, "Mom!  This is so fun!"  and "Mom!  I love this job!"  When we needed something done, one of the boys would jump right up to volunteer and tape up boxes or cover a table that unexpectedly filled up.

Even our little friend, Sam, needed to be apart of the day's operation!

Now, I don't expect the perfection of the day to last much longer than... today. 

I am so thankful for what today was.  It was a taste of heaven! 

And since we don't have heaven on earth, I fully expect that next week my children will not be singing the, "I Love Working in an Apple Orchard Song," well, that is unless they happen to be driving a piece of farm equipment.

Super Randy

Tonight we enjoyed the Branch Potluck!  As usual, lots of good food and always great company!  And tonight's company included an unexpected visit from Randy, AKA Super Randy.

In case you were wondering, he's the superhero in the middle of the growing crowd of youngsters.

At the beginning of summer, Super Randy returned from his two year mission in Australia.  He was greatly missed!  His homecoming was very exciting!  And so this visit tonight will be remembered for a long time, since he leaves for college next week!

Super Randy is what he is -- Super!  He plays cool songs on the piano and inspires young boys like mine to want to learn to play better!  He is an incredible artist and at my house, my budding artists are inspired to draw more. 

Super Randy brings candy to church for all of the kids, he can do flips, back handsprings, and run up the sides of walls.

Super Randy isn't a superhero only to children, he also happens to be my super hero!  My boys want to grow up to be just like him.  What more could a Momma want when she has three young sons who aspire to be super like Randy!!  Thank you Super Randy!!

Behind Bars...

Here we are again at 'banatsticks'.  I can't really even express what a blessing this is for her Royalness to be able to attend a class like this.  Life must be difficult for a child who has an innate desire to climb and jump off of things.  A child like this is often found sitting up on the roof of the house, sitting on top of the cab of the truck, swing from the roof of the golf cart, and the list goes on.  Being that these are very dangerous places to be playing on, a child of this nature is often hearing "No! (insert frantic mother screech here)."  I'm not saying that "No!" is a bad thing to say to your child because life is full of "Nos!"  Banatsticks has become the "right" place for my wild child to do what she loves most - climbing, jumping, swinging - in the safety of cushy mats, coaches and spotters, etc!

Voracious Appetites

Before...  Can you find three goats in the photograph?

After three days...  You won't find three goat in this photograph because they are on the backside of the dairy barn working their magic!

The action up close!

And just a little bit closer...

Not only are they great eaters, but they are very sweet!  Juliet is getting spoiled!

And Uncle Doug is enjoying the companionship of Her Royal Highness.

Weed Eaters

Our 'weed eaters' have arrived!  Meet Drover.  He's a 2 year old Pygmy and he wasted no time finding some brambles to munch on in what has now been claimed as the goat yard.

This is Uncle Doug.  Affectionately named after THE Uncle Doug!  Isn't he just the cutest?  He is a Boer, which is a breed typically grown for meat.  He had a procedure last week which turned him into a whether.  The ride home was a little stressful for him.  He wouldn't stand up to get out of the back of the truck so I ended up picking up Uncle Doug and carrying him over to the goat yard.

This is Juliet.  She is a 5 month old Pygmy and she is a doll!

She didn't ride in the back with the boys.  She rode in the front with the air conditioner.

And then she was carried to the goat yard as well!  Spoiled already!!

Before we loaded everyone up and headed home, I got a lesson in hoof trimming.  It was interesting.  I got to try my new skills out on Drover.  He was a big baby and I was really slow at it and my back was trying to cramp up on me, so Brent finished up the other two hooves.

And I had a visitor show up on my shoulder.  A gigantic Praying Mantis!  So big that you can't even see his head in the photograph....

We made it home all safe and sound.  Everyone seems to be adjusting well, including Taffy...

This is a picture of Taffy,

 just before she got a good head butt, compliments of Drover, and

just after I told her Royal Highness to get off of the top of the truck .  

I think Taffy knows where not to be nosing around now  and I'm

sure its not the last time I'll be telling her Royal Highness to get off of the top of the truck!

Missing Bridget and Benny

Our two very loved ducks went missing last Friday.  We hung on to a little bit of hope that maybe they found one of the many ponds on the property and that they'd be home soon. 

The reality of it is that there are too many predators when it comes to domestic birds and I think that Bridget and Benny made a fox a really good dinner.

I wouldn't be suprised if it was the same fox that was found dead on the highway not too far from our chicken house.....

We've got some of Bridget's duck eggs in 'Matilda' a home made incubater.  The Attorney has been turning the eggs three times a day for 22 days. Monday we stop turning the eggs so the little ones inside the eggs can get oriented and then hatch on day 28 or somewhere there abouts.  It appears that a few of the eggs may not have been fertile, but there are two that may have a good chance.  Time will tell.

In the meantime, we sure miss our ducks.  They were so sweet!  They were great fun to watch while they waddled around the yard eating bugs and weeds while Bridget "Quacked" and Benny "Chirped."

Cape Girardeau, MO

Last week we got to ride along with the Apple Farmer on one of his trips south.  It was great fun to see some new scenery!!

It was fun to see the architecture!

We wore ourselves out!

We tried frozen custard for the first time... Yummmy!

Pizza Pizza!

And watched TV...

And ate more good food...

And window shopped...

And played with itty bitty calculators at the office store!