Weekend and no sugar update

Every other weekend our oldest grandson comes and stays with us. This little boy definitely has us wrapped around his finger. I thought by the time I hit my 40s I would have experienced all of the different kinds of love that God has blessed us with but I was wrong. The kind of love that a grandparent has for a grandchild, the baby of your baby, is a very special kind of love. It always amazes me all of the gifts that God has to offer us and the pure love that I see in my grandson's eyes when he is telling me I am his best friend is a gift that I cherish.

He is so much fun. We always go down to my mom and grandma's house while he is visiting so he can get some time with them. He loves riding his jeep down. Above is a picture of where he parks it. He can be so silly.

He also likes to help around the farm. This weekend we cured my meat smoker. He thought it was so cool building a fire inside of it. He is very good about listening to us while working and stayed away after it got hot.

Here is a picture of "his ducks" after he filled their pool for them. They love clean water. They are enjoying the little bit of time they have left before it gets too cold and their water freezes for the winter.

And his absolute favorite thing to do while he is here is to drive the tractor with grandad!



Update on no sugar experiment: After going without any sugar for a week I decided that I was better off with limiting sugar. I eat very little processed sugar now but I do not stress myself out trying not to eat any. Sugar is added to so many things now that I would not have expected that I decided the best way for me was to limit my sugar.

Have a blessed day!!

~April

Our amazing summer in pictures

 We had a great summer! It was very full of activities and fun, I hope to have an even better summer next year.

                                We of course had to feed the chickens.

                                                   Play with snakes.

 Was so excited for apple season. Got my apple butter and apple chips done.

 Learned how to make sauerkraut. It is so easy and tastes soooo good. I will                                             never go back to store bought again.

                       I am still in the process of getting this deer hide tanned.

                                                Expanded the orchard.

                           Got early Christmas present from our daughter.

                                               Went to a tractor show.

                 Received beautiful surprises. These were from my daughter.

                             Bought a couple heritage bronze turkeys.

                                                          Relaxed.

                                                     Fun at the fair.

                                            Learned some of our history.

                                        Went to the renaissance festival.

                                               Learned about the past.

                                                       Rode a camel.

                                                        Fed giraffes.

                                                    Bought a tractor.

                                                    Planted flowers.

                              Made some improvements around the farm.

                              Got beautiful delicious honey from the bees.

                                                 Kept the dogs clean.

                                    Walked the cow. Doesn't everyone?

                                              Bought 2 calves to raise.

                                                         Baby goats!!

                                                   Science center.

I hope you enjoyed seeing about our summer. Have a blessed day!!

~April

Where Hope Prevails

 

This time I got to review a book by my favorite author Janette Oke! I was so excited to be given the opportunity to read and review a book written by her and her daughter, Laurel Oke Logan. I once again was not disappointed! "Where Hope Prevails" is a companion story to the television series "When Calls The Heart. Since I also watch that series I was doubly excited to read this book. "Where Hope Prevails" continues the love story between school teacher, Elizabeth Thatcher and her Mountie, Jarrick (Jack) Thornton and the lives of their friends from Coal Valley. There are a few differences between the book and the television series but there are enough similairties that I could picture the faces of the actors while reading the book. Even if you have never watched the "When Calls The Heart" series I believe you will still enjoy "Where Hope Prevails".

Have a blessed day!

~April

What?! No sugar?!

Last night I was watching a show called "Sugarfree Farm". It was about 6 people who stayed at an organic farm for 2 weeks and cut sugar completely out of their diet for the first week including fruit and then the second week they cut all sugar out of their diets but were now allowed to have fruit. The show got me to thinking about how much sugar I consume and how much I am addicted to it. So, I decided to go on my own adventure with it. I have decided that for 6 days each week for at least 2 weeks I will cut out all processed sugar but I will still use small amounts of natural sugars like honey and I will be eating fruit. On the 7th day that week I will allow myself a small amount of sugar. Hoping that by the end of the 2 weeks I will not want the small treat. I am also hoping that after 2 weeks I will continue on this journey forever. I will not be using white flour during this time either because your body processes that into sugar. I will be coming here every day or two to update you on how I am feeling. I will share the highs and the lows. I would love to have others join me on this adventure. If you would like to join me then please let me know in the comments section and also share how you are feeling during the 2 weeks. I also would love for others to share their sugar free recipes. The only rules I have are that it cannot have processed sugar in it or artificial sweeteners. Have a blessed day!

~April

No Way Up (book review)

The first thing I want to say about this book is that I enjoyed it so much and was so caught up in it that I read the whole thing in 2 days. If I wasn't such a responsible adult and made sure I took care of the things that needed done on the farm then I could have had it read in 1 but I forced myself away to do things like feed the animals and the humans.

     Chance Boden, the owner of Cimmaron Ranch is in what first appears to be an accident involving an avalanche. Thankfully he is saved by the quick actions of ranch hand, Heath Kincaid. While Chance is away recovering in the hospital he insists that his 3 grown children, Justin, Sadie and Cole carry out the terms of his will. They are all 3 to live and work on the family ranch for a year. If they do not then the ranch will go to a relative they all despise. After Heath learns that the avalanche was not an accident he works with the siblings to get to the bottom of who is behind the attack. Heath and the family get closer especially him and Sadie. The interaction between siblings and the protectiveness of the brothers really made this story touching to me along with the suspense and I would read it again. I hope you will read this book and let me know in the comments what you thought of it.

April

Wanna read a good book?

If you want to read a good book and I do not know why anyone would not want to read a good book then "A Haven on Orchard Lane" written by Lawana Blackwell is just the book you are looking for.

     "A Haven on Orchard Lane" is about a neglected wife/actress named Charlotte who is trying to get her career started again only to suffer an embarrassing setback that could ruin her career. She finds help from someone who she least expects to help her. Her estranged daughter Rosalind. Together they travel to a quiet coastal village where they find privacy, new relationships, good friends and a chance to work on their mother/daughter relationship.
     "A Haven on Orchard Lane" is a delightful book to read. It has a very interesting storyline. The author was able to make me feel a part of the characters lives. If you are looking for a good book that has some humor, suspense and romance and does not have unnecessary foul language or inappropriate scenes then I strongly recommend "A Haven on Orchard Lane".

Have a blessed weekend!

~April

Rabbits

This is my Angora rabbit Trixie. For years I have wanted to raise angora rabbits and learn how to spin their fiber. I finally had the opportunity through a friend to purchase a couple and I jumped right on that opportunity. This is a picture of me and the doe, I do not have any pictures of the buck I have but his name is Duke. Duke and Trixie had their first playdate not to long after they arrived on our farm but sadly Trixie did not get pregnant. But happily after the second playdate she became a Momma! I was alot more excited then she was but at least one of us was.

On the 28th day after she was bred I put hay in her cage so she could build a nest for her expectant litter. Rabbits build nests for their babies out of hay/straw and fur that they pull from themselves when they are close to having their kits. Kit is the term for a baby rabbit.

Trixie did a great job building her nest. You cannot even see that there are 7 tiny little rabbits in there.

Here are the babies at about a week old. They will be opening their eyes at 10 days old. Notice that the babies are not fluffy yet. Don't worry it won't take them long.

Starting to get fluffy.

A picture of my beautiful daughter holding one. They got held alot and they are very friendly and easy to handle. They will be good for kids to be around.

They are now 8 weeks old and ready to be sold to their new owners. In this picture my niece is showing how friendly they are. Every time she is here she runs out to the rabbit pens and gets one of "her" bunnies.

I hope you enjoyed meeting our rabbits. I cannot wait until I am sharing a post about the first time I spun their fiber.

Have a blessed day!!

~April

Spring has sprung

Spring seems to finally be here. Even the weather seems to be agreeing. Along with spring comes alot of hard work and fun. One of my favorite parts of spring is all of the baby animals that join our farm. The goat's have all had their babies and we have 2 new calves. I have decided to try bottle feeding all of the goat's this year. It is alot of work but I think weaning time will be so much easier.

The first 2 to be born were Legs (white) and Lily (black). My daughter named him Legs because he could not stand for the first 24 hours. He is doing wonderfully now and will be fully weaned in about a week.

Mel (black) and Molly (brown were next to be born). Their mother is one of the first goat's I owned and she always does and excellent job and has beautiful babies.

Last to be born are my first purebred nubians born on the farm. The spotted one's name is Rez because she was born on Resurrection Sunday and the little brown buckling was named King by my niece. Also pictured here is my grandson holding Rez because I think little kids holding little goats is so adorable.

We also have 2 calves that we are growing to butcher when they are alot bigger and alot less cute. We take excellent care of our animals and give them lots of love even when they are going to be used to feed our family.

And last but not least we have 2 Angora rabbits that I am hoping to learn to spin the fiber from. I do not have any pictures of them to share right now but they are doing excellent. I have found out what happens when you let a 4 year old girl name your rabbits. I had given the doe the name Trixie and the buck the name Duke, think of John Wayne when you hear Duke. My niece decided that their names were just not going to work so she asked if she could rename them. Of course I said she could. Well, she renamed Trixie to Ginger after her dog she had at home and she decided that instead of the manly man name of Duke for the buck we were going to call him Fuzzy Bunny!! Well, we had been having trouble getting "Duke" to perform and give me more bunnies but this last time when I put him into the does pen he did his job and I am thinking that he must have decided he needed to prove he was still a male even with the name Fuzzy Bunny! I would give you an update on the chickens but so far all they are doing is walking around pecking at the ground. Have a blessed day everyone.

~April

Good start to the weekend!

Good morning or afternoon depending on when you are reading this. I want to start off by wishing everyone a very happy Saturday! I have been waking up the last couple mornings with a sinus headache so I have been drinking my peppermint tea with honey to relieve it. I try to stay away from synthetic medicines as much as possible. One of the perks of what they now call alternative medicine is that it tastes better especially if you can put honey in it. I can never understand why the herbal remedies are called alternative medicine. Before there was synthetic medicines people used herbs to help them so since the herbs were first I think the synthetic ones should be called the alternative ones.

 Yesterday Doug and I did alot of running around. The only part of the day that I did not enjoy was in the morning when I had an eye doctor appointment. I do not especially enjoy people bothering my eyes. And I consider them to be bothering my eyes. We did some normal things like going to dreaded Wal Mart to get a couple things that we cannot get through our CSA or from Amazon's Prime Pantry. I am not much of a shopper. I would rather have what I want delivered to me instead of having to walk around the store looking for what I want. We went to the feed store to get feed for the animals, went to Ohio to get some buckets but they did not have them for us and the highlight of our day was when we went to pick up our new to us tiller! Above is a picture of my husband Doug, he just had to start tilling the garden a little bit right away even though it was only 27 degrees outside. He is a crazy man.

Have a blessed day and enjoy the weekend!!

~April