Cow Sitting and other farmish stuff.

Christmas is finally over at our house, so I guess it is time for a farming related update.

This is Buddy the Bully Calf, he lives around the corner and I have been looking after him while his ppl family went camping for a couple of days...It really was no trouble, just make him a bucket of milk twice a day...He thinks he is a big puppy and is very sweet...Very good practice for when we branch out in this direction of meat raising...I tried to get more photos to share but he would not take his head out of the milk bucket.

Sadly Sally Chicken whom we have been Doctorin' since the 5th of Dec took a turn for the worst on the 28th and yesterday morning I knew she was not going to make it when I took her cat carrier outside and opened the door and she just sat there and looked at me...By 10am she was gone...We gave it our best shot and how many Chickens get to sleep inside for the last 24days of their life.

Happy chicken news...all three of my remaining Easter Eggers are now laying...It really is nice to look out the window and see so many happy hens and Bravo roaming around scratching in the dirt all day.

Goats are looking super fat again...We have had a couple of cold nights so I gave them extra bedding which they promptly ate by the time the sun came up...Silly goats.

The fall garden is looking good, the broccoli had tiny heads starting on it...Hope it continues to do well...The various lettuce and cabbages are showing signs of growth, I need to go and spread around some more cow pooh I think.

Not really farm related but still outside, my sweet inlaws brought us a load of rocks for Christmas...Actually Flagstones to do the path in front of the house...I just know it is going to look gorgeous.

Blessings Kelsie

Sharing today for:

Farm Girl Friday @

http://www.deborahjeansdandelionhouse.blogspot.com/

Homestead Barn Hop @ http://www.theprairiehomestead.com

Lil Sara the Performer...

Lil Sara testing the set for yesterday afternoons Photoshoot...She is such a goofball.

"I am ready for my close-up now Ma" Says Sara

And of course her performance at Church on Sunday

Silent Night on the Bells

Singing Go Tell it on the Mountain

Blessings Kelsie

Crafting Time

Getting a few small craft projects taken care of this week.

 I made a few cute bookmarks to give for gifts this year...Sadly I ran out of velvet ribbon so need to get some more to fill my gift list.

Started shredding sheets to make a Rag Rug for Sara's bedroom floor...You can find the tutorial HERE.

Once Sara takes a nap I need to dig thru my fabrics and make her a hair bow to match her dress for tomorrows Bells' performance, and get the cam-cord formatted and ready to go.

Tonight we also have the local Christmas light parade ending with the Lighting of the Christmas tree...Excited!!! as this will be the first yr Sara is old enough to know what is going on and Daddy has the evening off.

Hope yall are having a wonderfully Blessed weekend

Kelsie

Christmas Mantel

Despite the fact we have not brought the boxes of decorations or tree down from the attic yet this year...

Or the fact we don't actually have a fireplace or mantel...

I have begun decorating the top of the book shelves as though it was a mantel.

I still need to de-clutter Lil Sara's portion of the shelves

I hope when the boxes do come down from the attic, I will find some more sparkle to add to the over all look.

Blessings Kelsie

Sharing for

Potpourri Friday @ http://twenty-eight-0-five.blogspot.com

Happy Thanksgiving ♥...Roasted Tom and Basil Recipe

Today I am Thankful:

God put me right where I am meant to be
and has blessed me abundantly.

For my sweet husband.

For my wonderful sweet girls,
and that Mic is home with us again and found a job.

For a roof over my head and food in my tummy.

For our families, Here and Away.

Good friends Old and New.

For all the little things that make me smile throughout each day.

Blessings Kelsie

Roast Tomato and Basil Soup

• 2 lg cans (28oz) peeled whole tomatoes, drained and seeded (reserve 3 cups of liquid)
• 2 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 ts ground allspice
• 3 Tbs tomato paste
• 8oz thickening cream
• 1/4 cup or about 10 lg leaves basil leaves

Preheat oven to 450F. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Arrange seeded tomatoes in a single layer and sprinkle with the onion and brown sugar.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until all liquid is evaporated and tomatoes begin to color.

Allow to cool slightly, then remove from cookie sheet and put into a blender...Add a dash of chicken broth to help liquefy roasted toms...I do this usually in 2 small batches.

Combine liquefied toms, tomato paste, remaining chicken broth, reserved tomato liquid and allspice to crockpot and allow to cook on low for 8hrs (high for 4hrs)

I add my basil into a "tea ball" and drop into crockpot during the last hr..with 30minutes.

to go, finally add cream and mix well.

Serve with crusty bread and enjoy.

Sharing for:

Show and Tell Friday @ http://romantichome.blogspot.com

Lunch at Treasure Cove in Fowler's Bluff FL

Even though Thursday was a chilly windy day, Hubby, Big Daughter and I headed out to Fowler's Bluff to discover Treasure Cove for ourselves...

Many pirate legends tell tales of buried treasure hidden in Fowler's Bluff, just 30miles up the Suwannee River from the Gulf of Mexico...

Well since we did not take a shovel and a map, we went in search of the other hidden gem...In the back of a quaint little general store called "Treasure Cove" is a restaurant of the same name..

As you can see they boast a goodly size dinning area...

Hubby and Big Daughter happily (because I said so) posed for a photo...The views from the dinning area are just amazing, though a little chilly since it is only screened in.

After lunch we wandered down to the dock area...This is the view looking down the Suwannee River towards the Gulf of Mexico.

And looking up river...

It is such a charming little spot to visit and we plan to go back again, of course without Lil Sara as she is not the most co-operative child anywhere near water...But since it is an easy 20 or 30 minute drive from Chiefland it is very do-able...Though next time I would like to leave earlier so we can explore the area on foot a little more.

I would like to add that all these images where taken with my cell phone because of the death of my small pink travel camera....There was a couple of other things I would have loved to share but the images just did not turn out well...Maybe next visit I can take a real camera and try again.

Blessings Kelsie

Shopping Spree...

I know I have been rather neglectful of Blogland this past week (Posting, Visiting and Replying to comments)...The only excuse I have is "busy" and exhausted...This entire last week has felt like everything from the the past month has caught up with me...

The surgery and recovery period, preparing for hubby to go out of state, followed by hubby going...adjusting to Sara's new daycare routine...and of course the return home of my beautiful daughter Michaela...Trying to get the fall garden prepped and the fencing and shelter for the goats...

My house is a mess, the gardens are neglected and we are no-where near where I hoped we would be on the goat stuff by now...If we are lucky some of the corn seedlings will survive the cats sleeping in the seedling trays by the time we get around to planting them into the garden...Our fall garden might just turn into a winter garden at this rate....Good think I have all those windows to use for cold frames if need be this year.

So despite all this, today I threw up my arms and said, who cares if the dishes are done...I need a little girlie bonding time with my "big girl" while the lil girl and/or life is not interrupting us...and Mic was in desperate need of some job interview clothes, since she lost her jeans and other various pieces to a "bathroom flooded and were unable to wash the wet laundry until it was beyond saving" accident. ...As young ppl living away from home for the first time are apt to have....

Mic in her new job hunting attire..

Soooooooooo today we headed into Cato Fashions and picked her out a cute, cute dress and these great jeans and shirt...Shoes and necklace were shopped for in mummy's closet and on sale for the price of a hug :)

We had a quiet lunch at Taco Bell and then walked around Walmart killing time until it was time to pick up Sara from Daycare....

It was a fun and easy day, but now I really need to get some cleaning done so I can cook dinner tonight

Blessings Kelsie

Playing Dress-ups

Had a little fun playing dress-up with lil Sara today...I think I had more fun than she did...Especially editing these fun photos..

Blessings Kelsie

Sharing for
PINK SATURDAY
with Beverly @ http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com
and
Mosaic Monday @ http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com

Changing Seasons.

There is change in the air at Our Country Home...The evenings are getting a little cooler and the tad shorter...The mornings have a crispness to them that requires wearing a jacket on the way to drop Lil Sara off to Head Start....The pears are turning a more pronounced shade of yellow and if only I could reach them I could be busy canning...

Or maybe I should be busy weeding the garden by the looks of the shagginess around the suitcase...Look how much the rose has grown since late spring...big difference between this photo and that in the header I think.

I am excited that the rescued pink cone flower is blooming...I thought I might have to wait for next year to see it's beauty...After all it was just a mess of almost complete browned leaves and spent flowers when I grabbed it for 50cents from the clearance rack at Walmart.

But there are other changes on the way besides those in the garden...My eldest daughter will be moving home next weekend...Can I contain my excitement? NO!!!...I have missed her so much and though I know her return might only be for a little while, does not stop me from being UBER UBER excited about it.

I am also excited to see my lovely in-laws this week as they will be arriving from out of state on Wed and spending the night with us, my only wish is that they could stay longer and would not be taking my hubby with them when they leave again Thursday...He will be making a journey to North Carolina to gather more car stuff (because apparently you can never have enough)..He will return Sunday with a U-haul and as much of the "stuff" as he can fit in it...I am not so secretly wishing for some old window frames to make their way here also *wink*

Lil Sara is doing great since her surgery, she is sleeping better and quieter...have not heard her snore like an old man (or at all) since the surgery...Her tantrums are most definitely milder than they were...I guess that is a sign she is not overtired all the time now...Now the fun part of training her with a proper bedtime routine begins.

The other exciting news is we have gather enough funds to purchase the materials required to build a secure predator proof goat pen with shelter for at night as well as fencing for their grazing pasture...So just as soon as hubby gets back from NC we can work on getting our goats home at last.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend too.
Blessings Kelsie

Sharing for PINK SATURDAY
with Beverly @ http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com

Pre-op photo Daddy and Sara

Is this not the cutest photo ever of a girl and her Daddy??...
Please excuse the blur it was taken with my not very smart phone.
She was fine with the hat but refused to change out of her lifeguard shirt...Can you see the glazed eyes??...they had already give her some thing to knock her out and it was starting to kick in.

Recovery is going good though I am told the worst is yet to come.. Day 5 to 7 when the scabs come off and it gets more painful...I am kept busy trying to push that 32oz of fluid and keeping her entertained in a way that will not put her at risk of bashing herself/face on anything...That alone is a full time job...She is eating pretty good, mainly pancakes and bread...and LOTS of Popsicles.

I am exhausted and would love a good old fashion Nana nap...I am such a bad mummy and wish her pain meds would make her sleepy, instead they seem to give her energy.

Please keep us in your prayers.
Blessings Kelsie

Sara is home and recovering

Just wanted to let yall know that Lil Sara is out of hospital and we are working on her recovery...She is currently sitting on the couch eating mini pancakes and drinking Gatorade...(what else would she be drinking? Her surgery was done at Shands at UF, home of the Gators lol)

The discharge papers say she must drink a minimum of 32oz of fluid a day if she is refusing food...that seems to be A LOT of fluid for such a small person.

I did take a super cute post surgery pic of Sara and Daddy with her in her totally cute surgical hat but alas it is on my phone and I have as yet to work out how I am going to get it off of it.

Some of the sweet ladies from church have already been by to drop off meal for us and had some others from our church family surprise us to sit with us and pray with us in the surgery waiting room on Thursday...Feeling truly blessed as the hand of God has guided us through as a family.

Thank each and everyone of you that sent words of support and prayers this week.
Love and Blessings Kelsie

Otter Springs

Thursday the forecast was for HOT...wow there is a surprise...Hot weather in FL in the summer...but even for us it was going to be H-O-T...The heat index was expected to reach 110 by midday...

So for this reason we packed up the car early and got to Otter Springs by 9.30am...

Be sure and click on images to enlarge

Otter Springs, is a second magnitude natural spring with an average temperature of 73 degrees...This is a photo of the "boil" (where the water comes out of the ground)

Another view of the boil...As you can see the with the lack of rain both here and GA the water table is really low...I think this is why the "boil" is not creating much movement at the water surface.

The low water table however did not slow lil Sara down...she was delighted to be at "the beach"..

Because we were so early we got to enjoy the springs to ourselves for the first hour or so...Later others began to arrive and Sara quickly made friends and borrowed a bucket and spade to make mud castles with. (Note to mummy - Pack bucket and spade next trip)

Sara and Daddy playing in the water...Daddy showed off skipping stones...A skill he kept hidden from me for over 11yrs...I was much impressed...

With Sara and Daddy occupied skipping stones, I decided to take my camera on a little nature walk...Can you see the crane? and there are turtles sunning themselves among the tree roots on the left below the 2 large trees...

Around the corner the stream from the boil leads into the branch that after about a mile joins the Suwannee River...The Rope indicates to boaters they are not allowed any closer to the Spring and swimming areas.

A large crane feather on the waters edge...

Tree roots sticking out of the water along the banks of the branch...

Tree and roots across the water from me...Now if I could just work out how to get a decent close up from here of the turtle sunning himself next to that ugly black log...

THAT AIN'T NO LOG!!!!

I was so busy looking at the turtle and trying to work out how to get a good zoom shot, I did not see the gator until it moved, at which point I freaked out and ran back to the springs to tell David....This is the best and ONLY photo I got because it is actually edited out of the previous photo and was taken BEFORE I realized the 2.5ft Gator was there...

SO my advice when swimming at any of our local Springs is...Stay in the "swimming areas"...Keep other ppl between your family and the darker river water...and keep your eyes open...

Other than my gator sighting, it was a fun family outing, we were home by lunch time for hotdogs before the heat was unbearable too.

I am looking forward to returning to Otter Springs on Tuesday with some friends for a Play-date...

Blessings Kelsie

PS: Don't forget to check-out and enter my Give-away...

Yall give me so much, I wanted to return the love.

The Suwannee River

With it being so hot here at the moment, it is only natural I would be thinking about the Old Suwannee River...and just maybe sometime soon we might go enjoy one of the many springs for a refreshing dip...

In the meantime here are some photos I took back in the spring at the Fort Fanning Park in Fanning Springs Florida...How blessed are we to live less than 10 miles from this park.

The day we were visiting the tide was super low, allowing us to walk down the old stone stairs onto the beach below the park look-out.

This "beach" during high tide can be more than 6 or 8 ft under water...

You can see the high tide mark on the bridge if you look carefully...

This is the last bridge to span the Suwannee River before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico about 30 miles down river.

Looking up river you can see how magnificent it is even at low tide...

I hope looking at all this lovely water helped to cool you down some...

Blessings Kelsie

Before the heat set in....

Yesterday the goal was to get the sweet potato slips in the ground before it got too hot to work in the yard...

We donned our work attire...

Yes, I also have matching pink Croc's and gardening gloves..Except hers are "John Deer" gloves and cost twice as much as mine because gardening gloves for 3yr olds are hard to find.

While I pulled a mountain of weeds, Sara harvested the red Onions...
and nagged me non-stop "I wanna play in poop...I wanna play in poop"

Translation: We need to empty the compost bins into the garden before we plant the slips..

The onions are a little on the small side but I needed to keep nagging McPita child busy and we need the garden space for the sweet potatoes, so up they came.

Though we did get the weeding, harvesting and one compost bin emptied, we still have one more bin to go, THEN I can finally plant the slips...Maybe today before it gets too hot??

Off the subject of gardening...I am still working HARD on my serving heart...Part of which is forcing myself to have more patience to serve Sara by training her...Following thru with punishments and enforcing the family code of conduct....Please continue to pray for me it is going to be a long day.

Blessings Kelsie

Sharing today for:
Tuesday Garden Party @ http://www.anoregoncottage.com/
Outdoor Wednesday @ http://www.asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

Out my backdoor...

I would like to start today by thanking all the lovely ladies that left me wonderful words of encouragement, advice and wisdom...It always helps to know we are not in it alone...From the bottom of my heart
THANK YOU...

Now on a lighter note, last night I looked out my back door to see this...

It made me laugh so hard...Do you see it?

Lil Sara's dolly Alex is waving to me from the window on the slide...I actually did a double take trying to work out where the extra child came from lol.

My GARDENING goals for today:
Prepare raised garden bed to plant the sweet potato slips.
This will involve pulling many weeds, emptying both compost bins and bringing in more dirt....all after I harvest the remaining onions that I know are growing among the weeds somewhere.

If I have time there is a little bit of fussing and mussing I need to do in the flower beds...Couple of plants that could do with being moved etc...we will see how much we can get done before the heat gets unbearable.

Blessings Kelsie

My Serving Heart

Today we had a special 140th year homecoming service at Pine Grove Baptist Church...Had the delightful pleasure of hearing/seeing The Pickerings perform live...A wonderfully talented family group of Gospel singers that is now in it's 3rd Generation having being started in 1944 by Grandpa and Grandma Pickering.

We also had a guest speaker Rev Rick Lawrence...His message was wonderful and left me convicted and inspired to face this week (and life) in a new way.

It followed closely behind me reading the blog entry "what-you-are-really-telling-your-kids" this morning, convicting me of my attitude...

My BAD attitude about doing things for my family...Feeling annoyed and put out at having to take care of them...even though this is my job...I have been getting resentful about doing it and therefore doing it poorly and grumbling rather loudly about having to do it at all.

AND THEN today I got a big slap in the face from this quote...

“Children learn early in the life that life is either a gift to be enjoyed or a burden to bear.”
~Dr. John Bowlby

Followed by a church service with a message tailored for me on how to work on fixing how I tackle the burden I bear and turn it into a joyful gift.

Worship - Walk - Witness

If I do these 3 things right, then the rest will fall into place and I can start by having a serving heart towards my family and to work at being a better Daughter of God, Wife of David and Mother of 2....Which is of course much easier typed than done...Pray for me.

Blessings Kelsie