Life is busy down on the homestead...

       Summer is moving right along and life has been busy on the homestead.  Our weather has been hot with not much rain and the grass is so dry it crackles when you walk on it.  Doesn't look like it will be a good year for crops if rain doesn't come soon.

       The baby chicks I started the Spring out with are looking almost full grown.  I have 10 of them and 3 layers I originally bought so in a few months I should be getting lots of eggs.  Nothing tastes better than eggs from free range chickens.

    I picked up a wildlife feeder so I can feed the turkeys and deer here on the homestead.  I don't see many turkeys anymore and I miss that.  Now rabbits on the other hand are everywhere.  And I still have lots of squirrels.  One got caught hanging upside down in my bird feeder a week or so ago and had to tear the feeder apart to get it out.  His tail looks quite a bit different now also.  Don't think that squirrel will be trying to rob the bird feeders anytime soon.

     Making time for family and friends this summer also.  Two of my grandson's have been enjoying the homestead and spending time visiting their Nana now that school is out.   We put up some old fashioned tire swings and they are learning to fish by themselves.  Makes me a bit nervous to see them take off to go to the pond by themselves but their momma says they are big enough so I'll just keep peeking around the corner to make sure they are safe.  Speaking of the pond, I have been doing some brush cleaning around it and hopefully by next year I'll have done everything I want to do around it.  Water level is also getting very low due to the drought.

     The Bed and Breakfast has been staying busy and I'm enjoying meeting new friends.  It's a little bit off the beaten path but no one has complained of having to drive down a dirt road to get here yet.  I enjoy watching my guests sit on a stump and stare off into the pond while they wait on a good old-fashioned country breakfast to be served.  Country air is just plain good for whatever ails you.  That's my thinking anyways!

     Hope you too are enjoying this time of year.   Take some time out of your busy lives to slow down and enjoy your families,  spend time with some friends,  make some new friends and enjoy the Season we are in.  Kids will be heading back off to school soon so do something special with them.  Make everyday a special day!

4th Of July BBQ time!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Never one to waste a good time for family to get together and since the 4th Of July was in the middle of the week this year my sisters and I decided to call the family together for a celebration the Saturday after the holiday. 

And since it has been 100 degrees all week we figured the best way to keep from heating up the house would be to cook outside.  So we took the turkey and put it in the big roaster pan, seasoned it with everything we could throw in there and took it outside and sat it on the patio table.  Every little bit I would stick my nose out the door and take a whiff of that wonderful aroma.  Bet it drove the local wildlife crazy!

 One of my sisters donated Pork Steak to the occasion and we thought that sounded like just the thing to put on the grill.

 Not only are we sisters but we are all good cooks...

 And a storm came in and although we got a nice breeze out of it with no rain, it did cool the temp down to where it made sitting on the patio bearable.

  Family get- togethers are a great time to catch up on everyones h 5e22 appenings and see new babies and let the little ones play with the old Tonka trucks in the sandy dirt.

 My nephew was given an apron and helped man the grill.  All we had to do was keep him in Coke's..

 The food was great,  talk was cheap and fun was had by all.

 Oh yeah,  the new tire swings were a great hit also!  Made for a real old-fashioned 4th of July party!  Love getting together with my family!  Hope you did too....

It's all about swinging...

It's all about swinging

I recently realized that for some strange reason I have never been on a tire swing.  And tire swings are a tradition as old as man I am sure.  Since I had a couple old tires lying around I figured the homestead needed an addition.

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First a suitable tree had to be found. 

 Then the perfect tire was picked out...

 Notice my grandson is wondering how this is gonna work...

And of course the "bigger kid" has to make sure it swings properly. 

Then it was Mark's turn to climb on and make sure it was just right. 

So I thought since swing #1 worked so well that we needed another one up by the kids play gym.  So I pulled the truck up next to the tree and with much caution and prayers going up to the Father above, I climbed on top of the truck to put the rope around the tree.   I will have to admit that it later had to be taken down and the tractor brought around and a chain put from tree to tree much higher up before it was completed.  Whatever...

Grandson Mark thought this swing worked great also.  And it will be the perfect height for little brother Kaden to climb up on also.

 Now everyone is happy.  One smaller tire swing and one bar swing.    Now to cut off the excess rope.   We can officially say we have a good old fashioned country tire swing on the homestead.  In duplicate.  Bring on the good times!

An afternoon down at the creek....

Two of my grand kids were down for the weekend so we decided it would be a good day to go visit my dad and check out the creek I waded in when I was little.  It was hot outside and you could drive right down to the creek and wade right in.  My dad has a cabin built on the other side of the creek where he can go watch the deer and other wildlife and I thought the boys might enjoy seeing all the cool things my dad has in it.

  They especially were in awe of the stuffed bobcat.  And yes,  we are hearing more and more reports of the "big cat" in our area.  Mark calls them "big cats."  My dad says this one came from here so Mark was immediately on the alert looking for tracks.

Brothers.   Doesn't get any better than family does it?

 Mark and Koda are checking out the tadpoles and little fish going across the concrete crossing my dad built.  This little creek has quite a bit of water in it for as dry as it is in our area.  And there are parts of it that are deeper than I remember as a kid too..

 We decided to check out this path to see where it goes.  My dad had taken his tractor and brush hog and mowed a path for the deer.  It was cool in the woods and we all needed the exercise.  I wish I had a path like this at the Bed and Breakfast for a nature trail.

 Grandson Koda decided barefoot is the best when cool water is involved.  Remember being a kid and walking barefoot in the water?  Hope you had a creek to play in as a kid.  That's the kind of experience that stays with you always.  Bet these boys will remember Nana taking them to the creek on a hot summer afternoon to look for frogs and crawdads.

Mark was trying to convince me this was a "big cat" paw print.  He grabbed my camera to take a picture to take back and show his Poppy.  I didn't care what it was from as long as it didn't show up on our nature hike anywhere...

By the way, at the top of the mowed path we followed was this neat sign.  I need one of those too.  I have all kinds of neat ideas of things I want to do now.  Can't wait to get back home and get started.

The boys liked these blow up turkeys and wanted their picture taken with them.  Maybe that is what I need to entice the turkeys to come down to my pond.  Hmmm....

Hope you enjoyed spending the afternoon down at the creek with us.  We had a good time and we'll be back another day!

It's the Bees!

Our neighbor brothers stopped by the house and told us there was a swarm of bees by their house so the grandkid's Poppy and a little more cautious photographer headed that direction to check it out. Not sure if this is stupidity or bravery but Poppy climbed up on a ladder to take a close up picture. He could even touch them and they didn't notice. So he decided the was going to try to put them in a box.

This is what a swarm of bees look like. One large mass of bees. He did shake the bees off into a box but alas they escaped. But not before one of them stung him. Well, that was an experience I'm not sure I want to photograph again.

New chicks on the homestead...

Grandson Mark brought a couple baby chicks home from his school and Kaden finds them fascinating. So back out comes the heat light and the little box. One of the little chicks sounds just like a song bird and just sings and sings...

Kaden thinks they are wonderful..

you can touch them very gently...

Not sure if we will keep these two even though I do have a couple hens wanting to set on some eggs. I was hoping to get some guinea eggs for them though. Don't you just love being able to live in the country so the little ones can watch the baby animals and chicks?

Celebrating Easter Down on the Homestead...

Family and friends from the Hicks side gathered once again down on the homestead to celebrate Easter. Food was wonderful, laughter was abundant and good times rolled. There is nothing better than knowing you are part of a group of people who truly care about one another. We laugh together and we cry together. Today we celebrated being a family together. Kids and adults both enjoyed getting outside for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. We missed those that couldn't be with us this year including our mom who was probably smiling at us from heaven. Hope you too spent this day with your family and friends. I am so thankful that today is the day we celebrate the resurrection! God is good to us! Hope you enjoy our family pictures!
Angie made these adorable cupcakes...

Rachel made a bunny cake...

Brenda also made a bunny cake. The kids loved them!

Chocolate covered strawberries! Adding a little class to our menu!

We played games and listened to John play the guitar while we waited for everyone to arrive.

I knew this little table would come in handy.

This was little Maddy's first Easter and she loved all the attention.

Aunt Jennifer and cousin Katrina with Maddy who everyone thinks looks like her Uncle Kevin

Gracie stopped for a moment to show off her pretty dress.

Everyone enjoyed coloring the Easter eggs.

Charity helping the little ones....

Charity helping Noah ....

Ty giving Trooper a bird's eye view of the playing field.....

Someone got kinda creative when they were hiding the eggs didn't they?

Some of us watched the activities from the porch.

The adults hid the eggs for the little ones.

Gracie took a break from hunting for eggs to check out the big trucks...

Nothing is sweeter than seeing the smiles on our kids faces...

Wasn't that fun? We'll get together again soon. Don't take your families for granted. Spend as much time with them as you can. Support them, encourage them and love them!