humbled...

I am so humbled by my children. They are amazing and I just can't tell you how much I love them and how much they mean to me, without them I am nothing because I have nothing.

Our garden area was a disaster - for several reason, more on that in another post and it is because of who Faith and Andrew are that we have a garden this year, why it's doing so well and why I am so humbled tonight. As their mom I get to witness them shine and I often have my heart pop with pride because of the thoughtfulness, kindheartedness or caring things they do often for other people. But is was one of those shining moments that connected itself  to tonight in the garden that I'll not forget. Complete selflessness is what I witnessed tonight and and I had no right to ask for their help and they both willingly gave up a perfect summer evening to spend it in the garden helping me weed and tend the plants. Not a complaint was uttered, not a sigh nothing but complete willingness to work.

There are few things in life better than a perfect summer evening where the air is cool and dry with a gentle summer breeze, bare knees buried in the warm earth, the birds singing in the treetops, the vocalizations of a mother goat to her baby, the clucking of chickens, dirt under your fingernails, affectionate conversation between my children and I united, solid, steady and strong.

So many people travel the world looking for the peace they might just be able to find in their own backyard.

finally and thankfully!

 Our first load of hay is in, finally! thankfully! As is usually the case my nephew was on hand to help out and this time so was my sister!! We figured out why families used to be so large, because it took that many people to get all the work done for survival! Here are a few pic from the day!

Yea! it's here! Who's going to make it to the top first?!

Dang! that's a lot of hay!

At first the work seems daunting! It's a labor of love and certainly like money on the bank!

No idea what he said, but he must have thought it funny, look at that sheepish grin!

Two hard working country girls! I love this picture!

Tossing in another bale! Photo credit: Jen L.

Two of the hardest working kids I know!

Working hard!

Bucking hay!

Bridger thought he'd be a big helper so he jumped up onto the wagon, turns out eh, not so much! My sister however was a big help! Thank you Jen!

YEA! We did it! We got it all in!!

Am I a big helper now Mom?

Cap'n Eli's ice cold root beer (which F.Y.I. is made in Maine and just so happens to be the worlds best root beer!) for a hard job done well!

I have a picture of the three of them in the hay loft from every year we've done this. I cannot believe how big they are getting!

alpaca cool down

Faith was outside washing a water bucket this afternoon and these three boys came running up to her for their hose down! Nope, no spoiled animals here! ;-)

Big Kick-Off Weekend!

That's a lot of soap, and for a reason! The kids and I will be vending at the Fiber Frolic for the first year this weekend and then my Mom and Faith will be holding down the fort or actually booth at a brand new farmers market that I'll regularly be at all summer. Very excited to see how things go! Unfortunately it's supposed to rain all weekend, I know we'll be under cover, outside in barns and Mom will have a large tent canopy for Sunday but if y'all wouldn't mind saying a prayer for us and for nice weather that would be much appreciated. I was steadily prepping things for this weekend and sent to kids to get the mail and lo and behold there was another invitation to vend at a local event in August! Goodness we are blessed! Details coming soon!

featuring our rockettes... or maybe the rockgoats...

All three mommas.... 

I have to say I think this is a pretty cool shot. I was just hanging out in the pasture with them the other day and they came over to visit and Galloway came over for a nap. Spice never strayed too far from him, but did take the opportunity to catch up on some grazing since both her babies were together and in one place. Yes, when ever I am in the pasture, yard, vehicle, woods or walk away out of her sight in the barn after milking I am scolded because I too am her baby I'm guessing because I take her milk. Silly goat! In fact Bridger was out there with us and I had him come over and lay down near us and Spice was NOT happy about that, she snorted and stomped her feet then head butted him in the shoulder. She was on duty and was not going to let her babies be gobbled up by a big black goat and human eating ginormous monster! Poor Bridger, he jumped about a foot into the air and wondered what the heck had just happened then looked at me like" Mom! I didn't do anything, I was just laying here taking it in and wham!" I felt bad. Spice hasn't cared for him since arriving and the thing about it is he has never showed any aggression towards any of them. That being said the other goats have gotten used to him and I'm sure she will too.

We're just shy of two months away from Venus kidding (it's twins!) and while she was eating her grain last night Faith and I were watching her belly and could see the babies moving and kicking like crazy, watching her face light up in delight and discovery was worth everything  I do to make this place run.

Since Venus is having twins (and already starting to waddle like a penguin) and Spice already has two babies to take care for, I wonder what she's going to do when there are two more babies within her radar. hmm, should prove to be an interesting summer!

quite an eye

I love this shot that Faith took, quite an eye, quite an eye...

music to my ears!

Maple syrup season starts today!

 Bridger took on the role of supervisor this year...

...he was about as much help as any supervisor ever is...

now that's COLD!!!

Right now it's cold here, I don't know exactly how cold but cold enough that when I went out to do the barn chores tonight the snot in my nose froze. Needless to say that I was not excited to be out there much longer than necessary but I do need to feed and care for my animals so I bundle up and go out and try to ignore the cold. Dakota, our llama has an abscessed tooth which I am in the process of treating. Not to worry, he's responding well to treatment and from what I understand this is quite common for both llamas and alpacas, considering this is our first one here I think I'm doing alright. Other than being over the moon disgusting treatment isn't that bad, a course of antibiotic and flushing the draining pocket of puss until it heals. By pocket of puss I mean the first time I drained it there was well over a tablespoon of thick, white, slightly chunky puss that came out of the hole in his face! Gross is not the word for it! In some cases I understand the tooth can be removed but the risk is a broken jaw neither of which sounds good to me.

Dakota is learning that when I come into the stall without food I'm coming after him for treatment, he has been taking off to the far end of his pen requiring me to follow, now he's realized that treatment isn't going to kill him and he feels better and is followed by grain - which he loves! Now he steps away just a few steps as if it's an attempt to remain defiant in front of his herd but secretly just giving to the temptation of grain...

Tonight after most of the chores were done I popped back into the house to draw up the syringe of antibiotic and the flush and went back to the barn to treat Dakota. When I got to the barn I placed the syringes on the mini shelf of the stall, went to fetch Dakota and tie him up because he does not enjoy the dose of antibiotic and by doing this it's less space for him to move and dance around in which allows me to use both hands. Got him tied and grabbed the syringes. Feeling around under a ton of thick warm fiber for a place to pinch up a bunch of skin is not exactly an easy task, after this was accomplished I pushed the needle into his skin. I was not able to press the plunger down, I was sure I was in, but the plunger would not move, so I switched out the needles and tried again. The liquid in the needles was frozen! OMW!!! The flush was warm too! I couldn't believe it! I warmed them up so they would thaw and be given but I could not believe in the three minutes they were on the shelf they'd gotten cold enough for the liquid in the needle; which was covered, to freeze. Yup! That's COLD! After the antibiotic was given and the abscess was flushed (and bonus tonight I didn't get any of the puss or flush splashed back onto my face tonight! woohoo) Faith led Dakota over to his bowl of grain which he devoured almost as fast as Andrew eats pesto!

25 - insurance

So I'm making my list of things I'm thankful for, and for today it's certain;y insurance. Ron, as you know, had had surgery recently and ended back up in surgery yesterday because he had sprung a leak from the incision and and we could not get it to stop, after a trip to the ER, three trips to the doc's office and waking up in a pool of blood they decided to go in and see what was going on. UGH! Anyway, I went to pick him up today from the hospital, got home and having been gone for two days made Bridger need a bit of exercise so the kids took him out to run and less than half an hour later Andrew came in and took out a paper towel for Faith whom had just cut her knuckle wide open which required three stitches.  Got home from that and took - I'm kidding. I have to laugh else I'd go insane! So one of the gifts I'm thankful for today certainly is insurance.

fourth time!

I am thankful I have a daughter who LOVES donating her beautiful hair to "lots of love" (as she called it when she was 5 years old). This is her 4th time donating about a foot of hair. The last time she donated was June 15th, 2010. Way to go Faith! Keep going!

for a strong bond

I know after I'm gone that they'll have each others backs.

spontaneous day trips

I woke up to a back rub and a question, "Do you have any plans today?" Then a "Let's go to Portland Head Light and take some pictures! C'mon, lets go!" How could I refuse?! So off we went!

We had a really good time too!

for goat school

What a blessing it was to have the opportunity to go to a mini version of goat school with the Spauldings of Stony Knolls Farm. What a wealth of knowledge and all around great people!

And what nice words were spoken abut our very own Katie and Buckley!

another round of giving thanks - for an entire month!

Oops, I forgot to post yesterday despite the fact that I knew this was coming up - chalk it up to an overly stressed brain fart. But anyway, I participated in this last year and had such a wonderful time thinking about all the blessings of my life that I'm thankful for so I'm participating again this year. It's a daily challenge to focus ourselves on the things that we are thankful for, I encourage you to do the same.




To start off with, I'm going to post two things I'm thankful for today because I didn't do it yesterday. So for today I'm thankful for 1. photography and 2. beautiful things to photograph.

 I am thankful for photography because my memory cannot hold all of the things in it that I want to remember; and there are lots, but when I look at a picture I can remember that moment, that feeling or place. Photography is very emotional and powerful for me much like scents. My babies are growing up so quickly and there will come a day when they are grown and gone and I'll have memories and pictures and hopefully will be able to look through them and smile as the tears run down my face looking back at a life well lived and loved.

I'm thankful for beautiful things to photograph because without them life would not be worth living.

Our yearly hike

I've mentioned here before that we take a yearly hike to the top of this hill to get some pictures of the foliage and of course my beautiful children, this year despite all it's obstacles was not exception. The bonus was that Ron felt well enough to come along too! First up was Andrew, looking back at the other photos on here makes me want to cry, he's growing up so quickly but he's turning into a fine young man.

Next up was Faith, no longer a child, a  beautiful young lady on the inside and out. She's come a long way from an itty bitty preemie... Poor girl, 4th bout of poison ivy this year!

 Then came Ron's turn. I'm so thankful to have this picture of him
                                                    

 I wanted a couple shots of each of us with the kids and love how these came out.

But this is my favorite shot!

 Well, this might be a second favorite, if I'm being honest.


We all had a nice time and enjoyed the view of Mt. Washington, the delightful fall foliage and the time spent together in the company of loved ones. I have no idea why God has chosen to bless me with such a wonderful family, but I am eternally thankful.

a great day!

My peaceful happy family

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

a homemade photo shoot

TWe were supposed to have our family portraits/photo shoot taken last month with a fabulous up and coming photographer, but due to Ron's recent hospitalization we needed to cancel the shoot. I was bummed but hopefully we can get in next time she visits Maine, I'm telling you this girl is amazing and we were lucky to get a sitting. Then today as "luck" would have it, (I do not believe in luck, but don't have another word for it that fits right now.) I was taking our trash to the transfer station today and drove past this field full of sunflowers in full bloom. On the way back I decided I was going to go home grab some clothes, the kids and my camera and make our own photo shoot. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful location and to have it so close by is a blessing as well. The sun was at a great angle and a nice gentle breeze kept things cool. We all took turns photographing each other and enjoying the shoot. And just as "luck" would have it we were done and leaving a full 5 minutes before the sign on the gate said they close this road... We got to the sign and the gate was already closed! What?! Fortunately we were in the car and managed to drive under the gate and go home. Why would the sign on the gate say they close at one time and already be closed before that time?! UGH! Anyway here are some of the 150+ pictures we took this afternoon. What do you think!?

The one at the top is one of my all time favorites! I cherish this time because I know that it won't be too long before he won't think holding Mommy's hand or picking her flowers is cool! So I soak it up now.