Taking the hogs to market

There is a lot of preparation that goes into taking hogs to market, for one thing how to get them into the trailer without much fuss. For those of you that have been reading my blog for a while you may remember our adventure with this last year. This time we didn't just have one to get in but several. I was not up for that battle again, nor was dh. So this time we started working out the plan and discussing it at night before bed. For months we discussed the logistics of each idea, pigs aren't like cows and will not walk a given path without a fuss. In fact, the minute they discover that you're moving them in a certain direction they make it their business to go in the opposite one, they are smart little guys.

One night, during one of my pregnancy induced insomnia, it hit me; why not back the trailer up to the back doors and just let them walk in? It sounded so simple and logical, it was crazy enough that it might just work. Now the thing about planning is that sometimes you need to be at a site to make the plan and sometimes being there limits the possibilities that you can see. In this case it was a bit of both. In the past we had tried several different ideas to get the pigs loaded, they all failed, but we were trying to plan on site and couldn't see any other way. This time we weren't there and the possibilities seemed much better.

Like all good plans, things will need to be tweaked once you begin to implement it. So the plan was to get the trailer backed up to the doors, then distract them with food and open the trailer door inside the barn, to make for easy closing. We would lure them in with more food. Well we got out there and finally got the trailer backed up to the doors but there was no way to swing open the door inside the barn as planned. Thankfully, we took the time to walk through the plan on site rather than flying by the seat of our pants (see we're learning). Dh decided that the best coarse would be to get the center gate off and let them walk through it, not a bad idea except that get the gate on and off is difficult because it is rusted and a bit warped. It wasn't perfect but it would have to work because this was the best plan we had.

Dh pounded on the gate to get the rust loose and finally pried the gate off. We opted not to move the t-post in front of the barn door. He opened one of the barn doors and it was clear that the t-post needed to move so he pulled on it (bending the post, gosh is he strong) giving them a clear path into the trailer. I stood in the opposite space keeping them from straying and AR was at the front throwing in the day produce. As I said, it seemed so crazy it just might work, and it did. They munched happily while dh and I worked on getting the center gate back in place, it took a little effort but it went in. :) They pushed on the door for a bit and then went back to eating.

This morning the little darlings went to market and will be in their new freezer homes in 2 weeks. Now begins our search once more to find new piglets, we hope to eventually have 2 litters go to market each year but for now we keep growing and learning. The farm will be awfully quiet now that the pigs are gone.

In other news: JM is doing very well and has gotten each of his siblings wrapped around his tiny little fingers. AR is a teenager now and was blessed to have 2 celebrations for his big day. HG is counting down to her birthday this weekend, she is getting to be such a little lady. If you remember please keep my mom in your prayers as she goes in for surgery next week. She is so far away . . . it is hard not to worry. :( We hope to see her soon. Well, that's all for now, check back soon for changes and updates :)

*Photo credit: Thanks to Sugar mountain farm for a great comprehensive pork cut chart. :)

Sorry I've been so quiet

There is so much I'd like to say but can't . . . shouldn't. :( So much is going on and all I can do is ask for your continued prayers for our family.

Small farm update: Twitchy was hit by a car, Spunky was sold. The big pigs will be going to the butcher next weekend. Cows are on total lock down with hay and chickens are yet to be butchered. The trials of this summer have not been a result of the difficulties of farm life, more like the difficulties of small town living. I hope to look back on this summer (now moving merrily into Fall) and laugh but for now it seems unlikely (not impossible).

Baby update: JM is doing very well, he is much more awake and alert this week and has recovered very well from his bout of Jaundice. The local dr seems anti breastfeeding but we are taking it a day at a time. My little man nurses like a champ even though he is petite. He will go back next week for another weigh in.

Birthday season is upon us once again. AR is going to officially be a teenager next week and HG will be 7. We are all excited. We will do all that we can to make it special for them both. We are scheduled to see some friends next week so they are very excited about that too :)

GH is adjusting very nicely to JM, she loves to give him kisses and hugs. She is also acclimating to her new bed. Though she is not too thrilled about it yet.

Please keep my mom in your prayers also as she will be going in for surgery in the next two weeks. Thanks

Not much to say

Well with just a few weeks left there isn't much to say but oh boy is there lots to do. The pigs are behaving, finally. The cows are . . . trying to, lol. Side note: Things are still not final with the Notch situation, she ended up dying after 13 days in their care and they are trying to pay us as though she arrived that way. Please pray for the situation as I believe they do not have insurance or are not wanting to file another claim.

On the upside I have been able to level out the pregnancy weight gain for this last trimester to at or around zero, yay!! If you're now joining the party this may sound horrible but I am quite overweight and it is very important that I keep it to a minimum, so as long an this little guy is growing well we do not have to worry. :) While I still haven't found a good alternative to sugar or HFCS, I have discovered that I don't need to have nearly as much as I had been consuming but it take a concerted effort to try to limit it. It is also difficult to try to pack the fiber in as so many foods are processed, thankfully fruit is there to save the day :)

I am really enjoying my time at home, it is amazing how quickly the kids grow up right before your eyes, I'm glad I won't have to miss it. My IL has hit her girly phase thanks to big sis HG and GH is following right behind. The child (like her sister) attempts at least 3 wardrobe changes daily, lol. She is a great person to send shopping with dh as she is always thinking like a mama, she doesn't pick out 1 piece of fruit for herself but the entire bag for everyone, lol. HG has that problem with making oatmeal too, she is great at 8-10 servings but clueless about single servings, lol. Baby girl (GH) is learning lots of new words daily, she is also very interested in imaginative play.

With dh's change in schedule AR has taken up most of the animal chores, with his ADHD he really needs the change up in his day and just being a boy he needs his outside time, lol. I am trying to learn more about football (American), though I only just sorted out the 2 Oklahoma college teams. We watched "the blind side" the other night and dh tried his best to help me understand who goes on the field when. I'll let you know if I ever get it. SL is far more likely to benefit from this but AR and I will just have to learn together.

EE is making some progress at school, though she still has too much control of the day. She performs much better at home than at school, but I demand quality work every time, no exceptions. I am still looking for an activity for her, but I do not want her to be disruptive to the rest of the group so it is a bit of a challenge. She is not very athletic either, since she has 1 leg slightly shorter than the other so . . . suggestions welcome.

Well, I guess I had more to say than I thought, lol. I'll quit babbling now :) SO what have you been up to?

1 more thing

It always seems like there is always 1 more thing, ugh! The backup fridge has died, of course this would not be an issue except that the other fridge died in the spring and the back up took it's place. It's been years since we've moved so imagine our surprise to see the new rental vehicle rates. :( We found a (new to us) fridge at a used furniture store, a few towns over and were so thrilled at the price, it was about the same as a new larger dorm fridge except standard size. Well, know we couldn't afford to tack on another $100 to the price dh opted to take the dying truck to get it. Thankfully he made it there and back safe and sound. Pray that the fridge will hold out and doesn't die.

Since we haven't found a reliable form of transportation it looks like we will be going the home birth route. We are still working out the details. Our previous experience was very positive, so we are praying that all will go well and it will be uneventful. On the upside we will be closer to the ER than we were the last time, in case of a true emergency. We are still praying for a reliable vehicle that can fit all of us.

This week the children are learning lessons in having a grateful heart, I have taken all extras out this week, including computer time. There is lots of deep cleaning scheduled. I have found that children today are not very thankful for what they have and while we don't have a lot by any means, it is very important to be thankful for even the little we are blessed with. This lesson is difficult even for us as adults, so I welcome the chance to instill this lesson early.

Thoughts on homeschooling

I remember teaching my oldest his Alphabet, the sounds and how to write the letters. I remember thinking back then that the next step was impossible for me to do, I mean how do I teach him to read? That was 8 years ago and now I have my 2nd oldest daughter at home and last summer she expressed a desire to learn to read. She wasn't yet in Kindergarten but I figured that it was time since she was obviously ready. I looked around and that is when I found "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons". Now it sounds gimmicky but so many others I knew swore by it so I gave it a try. From my experience, the book works . . . very well.

As we went through the school year last year her reading seemed to take off at an incredible pace. It was as though this new found skill had an insatiable appetite and I sought desperately to keep pace. The library in town was our best friend but even they were no match as they couldn't keep up the pace of finding her reading level and books to suit. She was getting bored. Finally I decided last week to challenge her to read "The Little House in the Big woods". She hadn't had any chapter books at this point and she had been reading the "pick your own adventure" book that my oldest son had. It took about a week of on and off reading to get through the 13 chapters, but she really enjoyed it.

With her curiosity peaked she promptly began "Little house on the Prairie" book. It is practically 3 days later and she has read all 26 chapters and is desperately wanting more. This time she did little else but read, every spare moment she could be found with her head in that book. It was very interesting to watch as I was never a big reader and never understood how anyone becomes one. I cannot say I understand it much better but I guess it does help that my dh also loves to read, evidenced by the fact that he now belongs to 4 libraries and they are always looking for a book for him.

At this point I am going to need suggestions on where we go next, after all there are only so many books in this series . . . thought?

My boy is amazing

As I previously mentioned the cows escaped and were no where to be found. Dh got a jump start for the truck and went to work. AR went outside to see if they'd come home and spotted the runaways 2 pastures over the highway. He called Dh at work and was pumped to go get them home. I was concerned. For one thing I didn't realise how far away they were until I decided that this was not a job for him to do alone so I went to help. It took him a while to get to them and as he walked further and further out I wished that he had a horse or something. I also was a bit disturbed because it looked like far more than the number of cows we lost. He remained calm and walked back and forth. They apparently were checking his endurance because they really took him on quite the walk. They started to circle around him and from where I was standing I was scared for him. There was a whole lot of them and just him. They were kicking up a lot of dust and it got harder to see him, my heart was racing and I was screaming for him to just come home, but he was too far to hear me. He slowly brought them closer and closer to the road and finally he got 4 across while I stopped traffic and he ran them into the corrals. We hadn't really thought through the next steps, we got more across the road but were only able to get one more in as the others were still loose by the barn. Not quite sure what to do next, it felt like a stroke of divine intervention when they all walked into the second corral and we were able to lock them down and leave the main gate open once more. At this point the cows had begun to run back to the middle of the pasture across the road. I was not pleased, but AR was such a trooper he just went back out and worked them back in, while I directed traffic as needed. There were 6 Hereford heifers running with our cows, he managed to get our group free of them and every cow (except Chip) was accounted for. For some reason the Herefords lingered on the side of the highway for sometime after, we were worried that they would try to cross as they had seen ours do and then cause an accident. We called the sheriff as they were rather afraid of us and we didn't want to spook them. They eventually did cross the highway and ran up past our property, hopefully they are headed home. Tonight I am so proud of my boy, I didn't realise he learned so much and he could handle the cows so well. It was amazing to watch and see how much he has grown.

What a day!

Well I didn't feel well this morning, the day grew progressively worse as it went on, including a delightful visit from the 2 Sheriffs who came to check out a call they received. I thought maybe I had an animal out or something of this nature, but it was much worse, someone apparently felt my children lack proper supervision and (the funny part of the allegation) I don't mow my lawn. Ok, I am guilty of at least that, I like to think of it as native . . . at least that's how I resolved it in my head when we couldn't find a riding mower that could handle the job and couldn't afford a commercial one. Now as for the proper supervision part, the officers were not too sure what more someone was expecting considering that most days a week the kids are home with both parents, there aren't a whole lot of kids these day that have the luxury of that. Since we don't own a tv it means we are "forced" to interact with them as there isn't something for them to really be glued to for long. Maybe the problem is that we spend too much time with them . . . that must be it. The silver lining of the day came a little later when we were able to sell the last of AR's piglets. He has made back more than he invested and is thrilled. Hopefully mama will be bred back soon and he will be on to his next litter. :) We may have a buyer for Eva, so we'll see how that pans out. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Summer Birthdays are over :)

Yesterday we celebrated our final summer birthday :) Baby girl (GH) celebrated her 1st birthday in May, along with DH who is getting old, lol. My youth was celebrated next, followed by SL, our now big 5yr old, he is becoming quite the little helper :) And finally, last but not least, IL celebrated her 3rd birthday in style, as we had my mom, sister and brother in law in town, a rare treat :) Pics to be uploaded soon.

My mom, sis and brother in law have blessed us with a living room remodel, it is going very well, it is amazing how quickly a room can be transformed. The experience is very humbling and I wish there were more that I could help with, as it is DH is giving up a lot of sleep to try to help and thankfully AR is able to assist. The kids are eager to get to see it, but have tried to stay nicely in the dining room. It is sometimes overwhelming for them and they come sneak little peaks but that's to be expected. :) No, I absolutely did not take before pics, but I do have the before pics from when we bought the house. :) I'll upload them as soon as we get done.

NB: Sunday is the final day (until midnight) to enter the Cast Iron Skillet giveaway :)

Other updates

Baby girl has begun standing and working without holding. I think she is on a race to get it down before her birthday. lol Dh is so excited for their joint birthday this year, the first of many :)



I got tired of fighting with my cheap sewing machines, I spoke with a friend who knows a thing or two and sent her a few links of what was available in my area (at a reasonable price). The machine above won hands down came with it's own sewing table and was under $50. The 2nd runner up was a completely refurbished 1960's portable singer straight stitch machine, that was under $40 and will be great to start teaching HG the basics on. She is so thrilled!

A few more pics

Spot (the surprise)


Shadow (the pretty pony we met picking up the ladies)


The girls enjoying an ice cream, it was such a nice day yesterday.


From L-R: Dolly, Notch and Pickle


From L-R: Dolly, Notch and Pickle

TONS OF PICS ALERT :)

Be forewarned, these pics are in no particular order though they are all fairly recent. Yes the weather is really weird (warm on day, freezing the next). The truck in the pics was a wonderful surprise blessing, Ill post about that another day. Enjoy :)