Catching up

Lots of changes round these parts. Eva has been moved to the small barn and is in training. She has been haltered and is learning our touch and voice. She is not terribly excited about this, especially since Treva is only allowed to visit twice a day for morning and night feedings. Treva was initially quite upset about this arrangement however, she seems to be enjoying her new found freedom. The other cows were given an opportunity to move freely however Lot and Quinn decided to take a stroll and they were sent to the arena. Judd was given a reprieve, until he decided to "steal" my milk, lol. He really missed his mama and will have a chance to get to know Eva a bit better when winter comes, they will be penned together. Buttercup seems to have gotten past her mustang phase and has settled down rather nicely. Dh left the cows in the garden and when he went to round them up (they left said garden area as I told him they would and were on my front lawn), she went very easily back into the arena.

Lot will be off to the freezer next week, a little sooner than expected but we are hoping to at least sell half, we'll see. Looks like the pigs will be going to the freezer in mid-November as we need to lighten out load during winter while we try to get things going. The chickens have been cut off of their feed ration and are now 100% free range as we no longer have our Wichita sales to justify the feed expense. It has been quite an adjustment for them. Right now we are trying to ride out their severely low production due to this diet change.

We no longer make deliveries to Wichita as the transmission on our expedition is going out and we don't have $2500 to get it done. We will try to get the Focus out of the mud next week, we were able to contact the farmer and he said that he will help us while harvesting the milo. This is a big blessing as it will allow us to resume business and except for the expense of getting a new battery it will allow us to sell eggs and the white stuff (lol) again. So much is going on, keep us in your prayers, we are still out of propane and the cold weather has begun. We are paying bills as we can but . . . things could be a lot worse. We are thankful for all of God's blessings during this time and always. Thanks for checking in with us, I'll try to be more regular.

Oh, homeschooling is going well, the kids are really enjoying it. It is amazing how many resources there are available for those on a super tight budget. I highly recommend the core knowledge series, Iknowthat.com, brainpop.com, hoodamath.com as places to start. There is a ton of others. The local library is not really practical for public school kids but works out to be awesome for homeschoolers who are available during their limited opening hours. :)