Hey, I have a blog??

Hey, I have a blog??


No, I am not going to try and feign forgetfulness for my lack of presence here. In addition to the fact that it's such a lousy excuse, my younger siblings would never allow me to forget for long!

So, never mind the excuses. You didn't come by to read those anyway. ;-) On to the interestings and the updates!  
 Theresa. Ah, yes, Theresa... As Andrew teased you with, we did have a hospital experience involving Theresa recently...  Long story short, she had her appendix out over Easter.




   Short story long; she was feeling a belly ache for a few days before the pain finally localized into the lower right side on Thursday. So, we quickly brought her in. They did a CT scan and the radiologist couldn't confirm an appendicitis. It was Theresa's first time inside a hospital... ever. She was even born at home and has never needed to go in. Considering that, she was tough, stubborn and brave as she calmly told the nurses that her pain level was very high. They mustn't have believed her though, because, as the Doc said vaguely, "You would know by now if it was ruptured." Well, we brought her home and the next morning the day shift radiologist looked at it and was able to quickly confirm a ruptured appendix. We rushed her back and she got her appendix out on Good Friday, early afternoon. They think it ruptured at the same time as the pain localized into the lower right the previous day, so it was ruptured for a guesstimate of 24 hours. The surgery was successful without any complications and she was very healthy in all other ways, so everybody is confident in a full recovery. It just takes time. She was in the hospital for a few days (Annie stayed with her) and they charmed the nurses with their singing and high spirits, despite the circumstances. We were able to visit every day for a few hours; the eleven of us crammed into her small room partying it up. :)

Her recovery has been quick, albeit not enough for her liking. Through all this, we had some new horses delivered and she wanted to be out getting to know them. No, it's not enough to be able to go out and pet them, she wants to be riding! She actually did get to take her first short ride on a quiet little horse the other day. Overall, she is a fairly crabby patient, but just because her patience is running out and she wants to be working on the spring chores with us and joining in the evening volleyball games. Overseer, boss, referee and cheerleader roles just aren't satisfying her!


 All rosy and recovered looking. We're so grateful!

 Spring is here, no denying...

 Sunday afternoons spent sunbathing on the porch, walking the creek beds with the puppy and youngest kids, horseback riding and working in the gardens are just a few of the constant reminders...

Blossoms on our peach tree!! Exciting!

With so much to do, the days are filled with planning, designing and designating. The boys are given the grunt labor jobs of hauling, shoveling, chopping... whatever needs the muscle work!
 A little much needed landscaping happened suddenly this spring. You never know what the kids are going wake up one morning and suddenly and ambitiously decide to do!

Moved our 10 cords of firewood, hauled in rock from the pasture for a retaining wall and burmed up the earth on the side of the house.

Cleaned up the back yard and built some rock stairs leading up to the back door.

When one tires of hauling sod and rock, we've also been working an old hide in preparation for a hopeful tanning. Another butchering coming up soon will be yielding yet another hide and Andrew and I are determined to figure out how to turn these big skins into a usable material!

 Some random pictures to share now... A pooch in a pasture. She is actually sitting out there because I was working a few yards behind her. She's always close at hand wherever you go, anywhere! She's so sweet. :)

 One of our new horses is a beautiful silver buckskin curly mare.
 Another 'new' horse is actually an old one returned! This is Brimi (you may remember him from this amazing video). He's back for some rehab after some stressful experiences. Theresa's hoping to quickly bring him back around again to that amazing relationship they had in that video.

 Old pasture mates saying hello. "Hey Brimi, remember us??"

 Brimi showing how gorgeous he can be, running around checking out his old pasture once again.

 Stephen has started riding Perla. Some of you long time readers may remember that she was born on our farm , so it's really cool when they are raised so naturally and closely to the humans that eventually start riding them. It's such a quiet and natural experience. No 'breaking' on either part. ;)

 She's gotten so pretty, with her long mane.

 And, as always, she's super friendly.

 Not that our other home born and raised babies aren't... sorry to offend, Frysta! ;)
  This little mug shot features the feisty little creature I've been riding since Theresa (feisty little creature's owner) can't for awhile.

 Her son, Tryggur, (also born on our farm) is the most docile stallion ... ever? 

 And no, Johnny didn't kill him with that toy hammer of his. ;)

And of course, we couldn't wrap up talking about our horsies without adding a pic of our sweet little Miss Kynna :). (Kynna (kee-nah) is icelandic for 'present'.. we thought it was fitting, being that she was such an unexpected surprise!) Steve took Missy out on a ride in the back pasture today with little Kynna following alongside, and all three had a great time.. especially Kynna, always up for exploring new territory. So cute!! :)

 Donna is quite the little farm gal this spring... she pulls on her boots and goes out to check for eggs all through the day!

 Another thing she loves to do is collect 'salads' of grass and make lunch for everybody. Last spring I made a post about our Donna, and I look back with surprise at how much she's grown!

 Oh, and volleyball. Yes, anyone who has hung out with us quickly learns how much we love volleyball.

 It's the leisurely closing to any good days' work.

 Thanks for dropping by!

Babies and babies! And pinball!

Wow, what a boring, overdue blog... hmmm.. Mary's been kinda lax around these parts. Guess all of that Etsy shop work is burning her out on computer stuff and she'd rather be out in the gardens enjoying our unseasonably warm sunshine. Can't really blame her..

However, we've got these cute baby animal pictures piling up and somebody simply must post them. Let's see if a guy can come up with captions for these critters that are as cute as Mary's normally are...
First off, our new English Shepherd (who is named Cady, at least for today..) has settled into a productive, daily routine around the farm. It starts bright and early in the morning--she finds her big bone out in the yard and makes a specific number of runs around the house, sometimes 3 or four, sometimes a couple dozen (I think it has something to do with the lunar cycle).. Then she takes up her post, protecting the garden from any squawking intruders.   *chewing sounds*

"Hey look.. A chicken in the garden..."  
"hmmm.. I'll let Johnny get it."   And now--about those new baby animals! (It's that time of year!)
Hey, this goat wasn't here yesterday!
 "I'm, uh, new..."  A total of four new goats! The moms look a little exasperated, as does our fencing..
 Let's not miss our new little bull cow... Yes, we were hoping for a heifer, but he's cute anyway..

 "Did you, um, bwing me any miwk? ..no?"

"OHHH---YOU'RE GONNA PAY!!" And to top it off, we even got a frisky new foal! Of course she was born on the coldest night we've had in a month.. Are we grateful for our little cordwood barn! 
 "Woah mommy--we're staying inside! It's COLD out here!!"

 "Hmm... It never works like the pictures show.."

 "Silly horse, I'll show ya' how to do it! Wait--is this my mom?"

 I can't think of any captions that would make these pics any cuter than they already are...


Oh, and we can't really make a blog post without including a shameless plug for one of our handmade goods... :) We recently started producing this two-player pinball game that you guys might remember from last year's homemade Christmas gifts! It is such a hit with everyone that plays it and has withstood the test of time, so we decided it was time to go commercial.. ;) It really is a toy that we're proud of, and we even made a little youtube demo for it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjO4THX6vP4 

Click here to see the listing! http://www.etsy.com/listing/98065085/two-player-pinball-game-handmade-wooden    Oh, and this is part of another story altogether... All is well, but someone else will have to fill ya' in on the details.. :-)
 Thanks for visiting!  -Andrew