Father’s Day…

For the last couple of years while we have been trying to conceive mother’s and father’s days are a bitter sweet thing. We enjoy spending time with our parents, but also have a secret part of our heart that wants this day for us. Not for cards, or gifts, or selfish reasons…. but to know we have been blessed by God with a child. A precious child to raise and love. Now I guess that could be selfish, but I am hoping it is just a desire to be able to be a good parent. So today like the last two years our pups give “daddy” a card, I make hubby breakfast, let him choose what to do (when he is not working or gets off), and we end the day with a dinner of his choice. Tonight it was steak, potatoes, and broccoli… with strawberry cobbler for dessert Cobbler is one of hubby’s favorites and since I had strawberries in the fridge, it worked out well. I didn’t have to go to the store for anything as I had everything he wanted already in the freezer, fridge, or cupboard. It was easy prep and the meal hubby said was great   After dinner we watched the move “Courageous” on TV. Since it is father’s day, it  is important to recognize, as the movie “Courageous” says, that good God based father’s are essential in a family structure. Without them so many kids go astray and are not disciplined or lead to be good people, good leaders, and good citizens. I see this every day in the work I do. There are also father’s out there that are doing a great job leading their families (and mother’s too) where the spouse has died, is ill, etc. So I applaud those fathers today and wish you a special blessing for all your hard work and dedication to the Lord. I only hope when hubby and I are blessed with our own child we can join those of you who put the Lord first in your families and lead by a Godly example. I wish you all (my Dad too) a very Happy Father’s Day!

A little work never hurt…

What a weekend… the only time I got to sit still was when I was driving to and from my little brother’s graduation party yesterday and when I was asleep. The party was a success and I am so proud of him. Other then that I have been on the go… celebrating, yard work, gardening, calking the front porch, laundry, mowing, cleaning the chicken coop, and I can’t even remember all the rest…At the end of the day I was rewarded, after some rain, with a beautiful sunset. I am looking forward to a good nights sleep. Over all it was a good weekend and all the hard work was well worth it, when all is said and done. Someone once said, a little (or lot) of hard work never hurt anyone . I hope you had a blessed weekend and got everything done you wanted to

Roses and Rain

We had a few nice days in a row here, now there is rain predicted for the next three. I am not too excited about that, but it will do the garden good. The rain last week helped my flowers and vegetables to grow as you can see from this rose-bush…Now I have a few more things to put in the garden if the rain would stop long enough and I can keep some energy after work. Maybe Sunday? We shall see. I have a day trip planed to see my church brother graduate from high school. I call him my church brother as when I was in college a family at the church I attended “adopted” me into their family.  I spent more time with them those 4 years  of college then with my own family. The kids grew up calling me “sis” and I have loved having siblings as I grew up as an only child. I will try to post on this event once I return. They are having a nice part for him Saturday and I am looking forward to seeing the family In case this is my last post for the week… have a blessed and happy weekend

Dog and Chicken Musings

Welcome to the start of another week. Do you know the best part of a new week? For me it is a fresh start… last weeks mess ups are behind me and I get to decide what I am going to do for this week to make it better if I can. It is a great day to take a look at things and decide what to do moving forward. Even when God has us in a time of waiting, there are always things we can still do to improve for the next venture God has for us. Chase wanted me to post another shot from his photo shoot the other day (sorry no photos of Baxter he was having a bad hair day so he wouldn’t pose )The chicks learned a new hiding spot to take treats they get a hold of from the big red ladies. It is funny to watch them check out where the big reds are going to eat. Then they scamper in, grab a treat, then run to their spot. They then carefully eat their treat while helping each other guard their treat from the big red ladies. It is a funny new thing that didn’t happen when we only had our reds. The buffs are almost half the size of the red now. No longer babies… but I still holler at them at feed and snack time… ♪”here babies…”♪  then to get the reds to come too ♪”here ladies…”♪ and to get both the reds and buffs  ♪”here girls…”♪  And they come running. Such fun Happy a happy and blessed week ♪ ♫ ♪

Chickens and Watermelon

Since it has been so hot out off and on for the past week we have been enjoying the first watermelons of the season. Once the rinds are mostly clean the chickens get to peck them clean. This I found out is a favorite summer treat for the chickens (yes I know it is still spring).So when I threw out some rinds the other day it was the baby buff’s fist experience with watermelon. At first as with any new treat we have given them they watch the big girls for a few seconds, then the ‘brave two’ as we call them, dive right in and follow the lady red’s.So with any new treat we have to make sure we spread out the treats so the baby’s have a chance to get some. This time the baby buff’s had gotten some of the rind eaten as a big lady red walked by…Then attempted to steal the rind a couple of baby buffs were working on. The ‘brave two’ watched…Before getting back in on the action. It is great to watch the new buff’s figure out how to be chickens and enjoy treats as the older lady reds do If you have never tried this with your chickens, give it a try… I know it will give you some entertainment

Blessed Time

Wow was it another beautiful morning and evening. It got a little hot and humid in the middle of the day, but you couldn’t beat the beautiful sunset and warm evening. I got to spend this morning at home again… wow can I get any luckier My client canceled on me and I didn’t have another until after 1 so I got to spend the morning working around the house and even going to the grocery store to pick up a couple things we really needed. The dogs were just loving the warm sun and being outside for the majority of another morning.)I didn’t take this photo of Chase today (he posed for me a couple days ago), but it does show what this day was like. I was happy to be at work in the heat of the day and even more happy to be home in the morning and late evening when it was just beautiful I have felt so blessed the last couple of days to be able to have this time at home to take care of things.. it made me feel more human and more like I actually have a life Sometimes work just takes up so much of my time that I forget that my family (pets included) and my home are my joy. It is nice to have time to clean and organize and not have to do it after work when I am tired or on the weekends. I so enjoy the little animal care I get to do with the chickens and dogs. It was nice to be able to go above and beyond in their care the last couple of days to make things even nicer for them then we already try to do. Hopefully someday animal care will be my full time job

Happy Surprise

This morning was a happy surprise. I was supposed to attend a training for work all morning. I found out last night I could try to attend online though one of those meeting sites our company had set up so those who couldn’t make it could still attend and listen on their computers. So I got to be home all morning listening to the training while doing a lot I wanted to… cleaning the house, washing eggs, letting the dogs in and out, playing with the dogs, organizing, washing dishes… and the list goes on. When I passed by the big window that looks out towards the back of the property I saw this….A male cardinal sitting on the fence watching the chickens, then watching other things in the back field. It was a nice warm morning so I had the back screen door open to let in some air. In the middle of a busy week it was nice to be able to relax, even while ‘technically’ doing my job It was also nice to be home at the time of day I have energy to do things I have been putting off, as time and energy have been little.  It started my day off well and made me very happy to spend extra time with my pups in the middle of the week Hope you are having a happy and blessed Wednesday

Appreciation in Moments of Time…

I was talking with a friend today at lunch and we got on the subject of appreciation and time. We were discussing how hard it is to find time to do things, yet when it comes  to people and our animals one rule stands true…. 

You will never regret a moment spent with someone you love. but will regret any moment you chose not to because you are in a rush, have a perceived more pressing need, are in a bad mood. etc.

Looking back I have never regretted a time when I stopped to give the dogs an extra pat or love, hubby a kiss, or answer a phone call from a friend. No matter how busy I get if I remember that my job will be there for me to do 5 minutes from now, or that pot on the stove will do just fine on low heat… I will have my priorities straight and appreciate the love that is right in front of me. I challenge you this week to stop and take those extra moments to love the people and your pets that are right there waiting and appreciating every extra moment you give them. Let me know how it goes for you

AND… Happy Memorial Day! In memory and thankfulness to all of those fallen soldiers and their families for their sacrifice. Please pray for those who are currently serving for safety for them and their families as well as for the veterans and future service members… without these willing service members who knows where we would be

Turkey Talk

We had a visitor the other day that drove the dogs nuts…. A turkey was running down our back road and dodging in and out of our yard and the woods across the road. The dogs were barking and we couldn’t see why until the turkey darted out from behind a tree . He/she proceeded to then cross the road as I came out with camera in hand… (I promise I was quiet )He/or she made it to the other side right as our neighbor came down the road…The dogs were not satisfied until the turkey was well into the woods and out of site. They then settled back down to continue the nap the turkey had interrupted

Buffs Month 2 1/2

The baby buff’s are quite a bunch. They oriented to the outside quickly and after a couple of weeks are now trying to get in with the big ladies our Rhode Islands. They are so cute running across the yard after the big girls their bottoms just a moving…They are getting bigger this past couple of week as it seems between 2 months and 2 months 2 weeks they stalled out in the growth department for a bit. Now they are starting to look like a chicken and loosing those baby features….As the Rhode Islands did too…The baby buff’s are also more brave taking over some of the big girls space like laying on their ramp from their laying house…Dusting in the coop run…And they are trying to at times get in on the snacking action when treats are thrown out…They are such soft girls I just love how soft their feathers are. They are a little more skittish as we didn’t handle the as much as we should have early on, but they are getting used to us picking them up and holding them. They also now don’t run when we come into the coop they see the big ladies surrounding us and they come right along. They have learned to love scratch and the occasional food treats we throw to them. Some are braver than other’s, but isn’t that how it is with anything