Spring Time on Our Little Homestead

Wow! 3 posts in 2 days! I'm on a roll! Here are some pictures of the homestead. Everything is bloomed out and absolutely gorgeous! It's stormy here today but still a lovely day on the homestead. I know my garden is appreciating the rain ;-)

This is Luke. He is the only rooster we kept from the August batch. He is such a sweety! His favorite place to hang out is up front of the house. I thought he looked real fine in front of our azalea bush that bloomed this year. He's not at all hateful as the other roosters we have had. What a blessin'!

Hangin' out under the azalea bush.

With spring time comes the predators. This little varmint ate 2 of my hens in a single night. What a mess! So Noah set out the trap, for we knew he would be back for another meal the following evening.

He got his mouth hung up in the trap, hence the bloody mouth. Richard relocated him in the evening. 

Can't blame a critter for being hungry. That's the ONLY reason he wasn't shot on site!

Found this awesome old washstub at my favorite antique store. When an elderly lady saw me purchasing it, she set to reminiscing. 

She told me she remembered the days of washing bodies and clothes in those old tubs. She said she remembered the day that the electric washing machine was invented and what a blessin' it was to get it. I guess it just ought to make me appreciate the conveniences we have today even more!

Now its being used as a plant holder ;-)

Can't post a homestead picture without AnnaBelle. Here she is chillin' and makin' milk.

I've also been busy potting plants to go on my front porch. These purple wave petunias LOVE the heat as long as they stay watered. Now to keep the chickens away from them.

What's happening on your homestead?

Ain't GOD good?

Amanda <><

Song of Solomon 2:11-12

King James Version (KJV)

11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

A Stubborn & Determined Pig

We added another pig to our little homestead this spring. This will be the 4th pig we have raised for meat. We butchered the last one this past November and we now have a freezer full of southern style BBQ (YUMMY!!)

This new pig has WAY too much personality. She likes to run around and do *jumps* in the air with an occasional *bark* to boot. Yeah, pigs can make a sound that sounds between a bark and a grunt. Done fast, it sounds like a dog bark.

Anyway, this pig does not like to drink out of her water fountain. All the other pigs figured it out, this one prefers the traditional bowl. The problem is she is getting bigger and likes to *play* with it now. That means pulling it out of the holder and dumping it. ARRG!!!

Here's what she did today when Noah and I tried to get her to use the fountain after having dumped the water over again for the umpteenth time.

This is where the bowl should be.

Here's where she put it.

This is the fountain she should be using. Hubby said to put some peanut butter on it and she would lick it off and realize that the water was there.

Didn't work. She ended up eating it off the ground and then rubbed her body all over the fountain getting the peanut butter all over her. It sprayed some water but she never did get it into her mouth as was the plan.

\\

Here she is rubbing against the water fountain.

We knew we needed a way to keep her from dumping out the bowl, again. So Noah put 2 bricks inside the bowl. Here she is trying to figure out what new toy she has to play with.

She then commences to doing her best to get those bricks out of the water so she can dump the bowl out again.

She kept her head under that water a good time trying to get those bricks out. She would get them just so far and they would slip off her snout and back into the water. HA! We have you now pig!

After about 5 minutes or more of this she finally gives up.

VICTORY! Off she goes for a nap. It's been about 3 hours since this happened. I best go check the bowl again. She is one stubborn and determined pig! Isn't GOD's creation amazing?

Amanda

Matthew 6:33

Nothing Like a Country Boy!!! Where Has the Time Gone?

Ain't GOD good?

My youngest child turns 15 on Sunday. Where has the time gone? I so miss the little boy hugs and him climbing into my lap so I could read a book to him. He is growing into a fine young Christian man. He has a heart for GOD's creation and a bigger heart for his sisters.

I can't wait to see what THE LORD has in store for him.

Happy 15th birthday Noah!

Mama <><

Matthew 6:33

                         

                                                              

                   

Homeschooling On the Prairie?

Amanda

Matthew 6:33

Courting? Chaperones? This is just too funny!

Amanda

Matthew 6:33

Busy Little Bees!

Honey bees! Gotta LOVE them. Such efficient little creatures. They all work together for a common goal and each one knows its place in the scheme of life. Not to mention these little beauties make liquid gold!

The last few days have been absolutely gorgeous around here. Temps. in the upper 60's with a lot of golden sunshine. With the warmer weather I started noticing a bee or two at my back door. (I haven't seen honey bees around here in over 2 years!) So seeing these little beauties this morning all over my hummingbird feeder was such a blessing!

Not sure if these are wild bees from the woods or belong to someone's hive. Either way, seeing these beautiful creatures just reminds me that spring is around the corner and everything that is brown and ugly will soon be teaming with new growth and life.

Spring time, bring it on!

Proverbs 24:13-14

King James Version (KJV)

13 My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:
14 So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.

Amanda

Matthew 6:33

Counting Your Blessings/Defeating Satan's Lies

Count Your Blessings
Author Unknown

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.

Faith

Hebrews 11:6

King James Version (KJV)

6 But without faith it is impossible to please HIM: for he that cometh to GOD must believe that HE is, and that HE is a rewarder of them that diligently seek HIM.

SO blessed this evening! HE is ALWAYS on time!

Amanda

Matthew 6:33

Winter on the Homestead

Welcome to the winter wonderland  on the Piney Woods Homestead. (Boy, is it ever COLD outside!)  To think that I had my windows open on Monday and clothes hangin' on the line to dry. That's what ya get in southeastern NC. Warm one day and freezin' the next.

It sure is beautiful outside. I LOVE snow! Although this particular winter storm bought on a whole different meaning to working on the homestead. Hubby has been gone all week at school. That left me with taking care of the animals in this frigid weather. There is something to be said about milking a cow 2 times a day in temps. of 20*. It did keep my hands warm though ;-)

The biggest issue I had was getting water to the animals when the pipes froze up and freeze up they did! We prepared well enough in advance though by placing extra water barrels in AnnaBelle's pen. All I had to do was keep the ice broken up. I used a hammer, when in all honesty a *sledge* hammer would have worked much better. (Got to remember that for the next winter storm we may get.)

We have also spent the week nursing a wounded chicken. On Monday, a hawk got to one of our new chickens and took one of her eyes out. Noah was able to scare the hawk off before he got the chickens head tore off though. Not sure she is going to make it though. Only time can tell with that kind of injury.

We had to separate her from the flock because if you place a wounded chicken in with the healthy ones, they will peck her to death. Mean little buggers those chickens can be.

I pray your all stayin' warm where you are!

Angel gave me this mailbox cover for Christmas. It fits perfect with the winter weather.

Noah's snowman. About 3 ft. tall and on the back of the pickup truck.

Old faithful with a snowman along for the ride ;-)

The chickens would NOT come out of their coop. Who can blame them? It's nice and cozy in the coop.

I tried baiting the chickens to come out. This is about as far as they came. Believe it or not, that light you see in the picture keeps it pretty warm in the coop. They know what a good thing is when they have it.

carlos got jealous of me taking pictures of the chickens and jumped on top of the coop. He knew that would mean his picture would get taken. ;-)

AnnaBelle and snow do not mix well together. She didn't want to come out either unless I was going to feed her. 

Keeping these water barrels broken up of ice was the most time consuming chore I had to deal with. I now know why people who live in the northern climates have heaters to keep the water from freezing.

AnnaBelle out a little more. She was just being nosey ;-)

At least the cold weather has not hindered the egg layin'. What is it with chickens and having to lay in the same box? The one sitting was actually *hissing* at me. She thought I was going to take her egg.

Noah and Grace. Noah was smart using that mask to keep his face warm.

Justin and Angel. What can I say? The two look like they are wrapped in one large camo blanket. They came over yesterday and there was a HUGE snowball fight. I stayed warm inside ;-)

I pray you all have a blessed week in THE LORD. Hey, we suppose to be back in the 60's by the weekend! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Psalm 51:7

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Amanda

Matthew 6:33