tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66174104800669150712011-10-11T20:34:45.452-04:00Follow the adventures of Ket, a city girl who is slowly turning into a homesteader. Along for the ride is loving hubby Ben, tantruming toddler Morrigan, and baby Tamsyn. Oh, yeah, and 50 chickens, one dog, and seven goats!Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.comBlogger491100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-40756602266588058112011-02-23T10:59:00.000-05:002011-02-23T10:59:51.060-05:00

Whew! Do you know that Wii Sports boxing can burn about 100 calories per 15 minutes? I kid you not. The last few nights Ben and I have been looking for something other than movies to do after the kids go to bed. We figured out that our Wii can be used for more than just netflix. ;) We loaded up Sports and actually had quite a good time, bowling and boxing. And it's burning pretty good calories.

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-85061438319795484812011-02-14T14:22:00.001-05:002011-02-14T14:22:38.222-05:00

I love winter. Really, I love winter. But you know what? Enough's enough. I would go into all the reasons why I'm sick of it, but, well, I'm sure you know. Yesterday was a balmy, sunny 45 degrees. The farm jumped into action. I swear, it was like a switch had turned on. The bees came back to life (we were pretty sure they were dead) and were buzzing frantically around, cleaning out their house

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-41703731482215319112011-02-14T13:18:00.001-05:002011-02-14T13:18:58.768-05:00

We got our income taxes back and it was sizeable amount, so Saturday I went grocery shopping... and spent $400. Wow. It took  me hours to put away the food, I swear. So needless to say, we have ingredients for probably every single meal you can think of. The problem is, of course, putting them all together! Monday - Beef stew with bread and salad. I am debating on this version, which is a "

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-11361901835910934762011-01-25T12:13:00.001-05:002011-01-25T12:13:33.640-05:00

Oiy. Alright, so. Rule 1: Drinking while on meds = craptastic day the next day. Rule 2: Having a usual med schedule of 9pm, and then taking them at 3am for two days = total screw-up of stability. I'm teetering on the edge of stable and messed up. The last two days have been a glimpse back into months ago and suddenly I am completely 100% committed to my meds schedule. Go me. That being said,

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-60989349852437025022011-01-22T17:19:00.000-05:002011-01-22T17:19:39.981-05:00

I hesitated writing this back when I tried bone-in chicken breasts because I figured ONE experience wasn't enough to make a judgment on. And does "judgment" look weird to you? Because my spell check SWEARS it isn't "judgement" but I swear it's "judgement" and not "judgment" cause, well, it looks weird. Anyway. Pork chops. I bought pork chops today for dinner. I decided to get the "assorted" pack

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-14758402638880723752011-01-19T14:53:00.002-05:002011-01-19T14:53:00.912-05:00

What is this? THIS is the most awesome lunch. Ever. I basically threw a bunch of stuff from the fridge onto a tortilla and grilled it, then folded it omlette-style. This one is spinach, shredded cheddar, pepperoni, and a dab of spaghetti sauce. And holy moly is it good. Just wanted to share. Off to make another one. Mmmmmmmmgood.

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-50883442177209156112011-01-18T09:52:00.001-05:002011-01-18T09:52:21.950-05:00

 Ah, Tuesday, how I missed you. Alright, so, first on the agenda. Are cake pops becoming the new cupcake? Because that would suck. Although the fight to see who would win would be awesome. I mean, the cupcake could be a sumo wrestler type fighter, and the cake pop could be like the kid from The Karate Kid, the tall stupid one who knocks people out with a well aimed one-legged kick? Or even

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-71631399289449956502011-01-17T12:02:00.000-05:002011-01-17T12:02:50.101-05:00

Mmm, beef. That's this week's "featured ingredient" because I'm not grocery shopping this week, and we bought a large portion of a cow a few weeks ago, so we have a LOT of beef! Last week I made crock pot cubed steaks, and MAN, were they good. I skipped the gravy and just cooked them in beef broth, since Tams can't have gravy, and then Ben and I smothered OURS in gravy after they were done. But

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-28824698440313793062011-01-16T10:38:00.000-05:002011-01-16T10:38:00.592-05:00

So yesterday I was ranting about money and started into bipolar and it went on and on and on so I decided to make it a different post. So, here's the background: We're talking about money, accumulation of debt, and spending. Read on. When you're on a high, you either don't consider the implications of spending money (not being able to pay a bill later) or you rationalize it (oh, i'll 'pay it

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-34222152565469229212011-01-15T16:41:00.000-05:002011-01-15T16:41:47.982-05:00

I'm sick of being cold. (Disclaimer: I'm on the low end of a bipolar cycle, and also haven't eaten all day = in a crappy, i-hate-life mood) I am cold every day. Not just put-on-some-slippers cold. But five layer tank top - shirt - long sleeved shirt - sweatshirt - hoodie - COLD. We wood-heat only. AND, thanks to a wonderful, lovely, screw-you cold snap in late Nov, we used a LOT of wood. Too

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-60367868943703827262011-01-14T12:39:00.002-05:002011-01-14T12:42:07.690-05:00

Check out The Frugal Girl for not only more food waste fridays, but also some awesome advice and really interesting reads. After skipping last week and posting an emo New Years post, I was a little afraid of my fridge. I shouldn't have been! We had a bag of deli ham that we didn't trust and gave to the dog yesterday. Other than that? A jar of bean soup, jars of beef broth (that probably could

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-36919503622429297872011-01-13T11:53:00.000-05:002011-01-13T11:53:04.821-05:00

Except today. My children (child?) drew on my less-than-a-year-old-expensive-tile-laminate-kitchen floor. I'm assuming it was yesterday. It is crayon. Can't be pencil, NOOOO, that's too easy to get off. Has to be crayon. Dark blue crayon. Crayon? Does not come off that floor. The last time they drew on it, it took two hours for me to hand-scrub with baking soda a one foot by one foot section. I

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-2399108709483176522011-01-12T17:57:00.000-05:002011-01-12T17:57:02.961-05:00

Whew. I spent 90% of my day on the couch, drifting from awake to asleep. I don't know if it is because I've been staying up late the last few nights, or maybe because of drinking night before last, or just a mood swing, but my motivation was 0. Around 3pm, I 'woke' up fairly coherently and realized I had wasted an entire day doing absolutely nothing. Totally disgusted with myself, I decided to

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-10044340666956635272011-01-11T11:50:00.001-05:002011-01-11T11:50:39.314-05:00

For once, random thoughts aren't coming! Or, well, now they are. I'm learning Russian. Why? I dunno. It's just always been something I've wanted to learn. One of my "life goals" is to be tri-lingual (or more) before I die. Fluently. And then Spanish. I'm not sure if I include spanish in my 'tri' or not. So, maybe quad-lingual? Anyway. Russian is awesome. The Cyrillic alphabet? Awesome.

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-38244542394083245452011-01-10T12:34:00.001-05:002011-01-10T12:36:56.927-05:00

 Head over to Organizing Junkie for more meal plans! This week's meal plan is fairly easy to do, since I will be working straight from our stockpile. We have $30 for groceries this pay period, so I will keep that in reserve for next week, so that we could get some fresh fruit and veggies. Mon - Ham and bean soup, using broth from last night's potroast and ham saved from christmas. Home made '

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-16529510906738138792011-01-07T21:29:00.000-05:002011-01-07T21:29:59.648-05:00

I went manic tonight. Or at least, hypomanic - not a full blown mania, but the racing thoughts, twitchy nerves. Imagine having 6 cups of coffee, right after each other, within an hour. That's hypomanic. Or at least, part of it. That's the best description I have. It was like a light switch. I checked my mood journal. I have alarms set on my phone for 10am, 4pm, and 9pm to mood track. My 4pm is

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-62773608835072136832011-01-07T14:51:00.002-05:002011-01-07T14:51:00.354-05:00

Okay, so I'm 6 days late in posting a "new years" post. So sue me. This year has been... a roller coaster ride. That about sums it up. Ups, downs, mood shifts, medication shifts, LOTS of medical bills, debt. Me: insane, sane, insane again, insane X 2 in April, sane, insane X2 AGAIN in December. This year, I said hello, and goodbye, to two angel babies. This year, Tamsyn turned 1, started

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-42089899896529535382011-01-06T13:48:00.009-05:002011-01-06T14:10:58.166-05:00

Today, Tamsyn is officially 2 years old. Holy crap, where did time go? I don't particularly have any words to say. So here's some pictures. Day of Birth 17 days later. Her skin was already starting to break out. "Baby acne" A Month Later April, 2009. Her skin was so bad, and her scratching so bad, that we had to put socks on her hands to keep her from clawing herself bloody.

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-17174423251129068112011-01-04T10:58:00.000-05:002011-01-04T10:58:09.392-05:00

Ah, Tuesday, how I love you. Tuesday is a relaxing day for me. The hustle and bustle and "catch-up" of Monday is over. The girls are back into their routine. And, of course, Random Tuesday. Visit the Un Mom for more people's random thoughts. It's 2011. Kabloowie, there went my brain. This year, Tams will turn 2, Morrigan will turn 4 (4??? SERIOUSLY?), Ben and I will have our 4th wedding

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-38533762199997834682011-01-03T16:00:00.002-05:002011-01-03T16:07:43.110-05:00

(Check out Organizing Junkie for more menu plans! Welcome to my first post of 2011! One thing I have been terribly lax at is menu planning. For our family, when it works, it WORKS. When I don't make one, well, we go through the rush-whats-for-dinner daily. So here we are again. A new year. Hopefully a new start. Mon - Sweet & Sour Beef Stew over rice, homemade french bread Tues - Bourbon

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-22143414552528697392010-12-31T12:21:00.000-05:002010-12-31T12:21:48.151-05:00

... but I feel like I have to, now that the task is done. Today I cleaned out our fridge. Shudder. I think the last time it was cleaned out was when we bought it. And then, it was just washed down, not cleaned-of-rotten-food. I did it as part of The Frugal Girl's Food Waste Fridays. I figured, heck, we need to do this - maybe it will help us keep waste down. Little did I know how MUCH waste

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-57934998417868711052010-12-30T14:30:00.000-05:002010-12-30T14:30:11.800-05:00

This has probably been my most stable day in months. This morning I woke up, a little drowsy from the serequel, but in a good mood. I set out a fruit plate and some dry cereal for the girls, then stretched out in front of the fireplace and dozed until about 9:30. It is amazing how they well they are when I'm napping. I think my being so sick for 8 weeks helped them realize they could play without

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-84925975039008338892010-12-22T14:29:00.004-05:002010-12-23T07:21:15.190-05:00

When T was 'diagnosed' with allergies, I remember a few things went through my head. With wheat, it was "What about sandwiches?!?!?" With dairy, it was "What about cheese!?!?!" And, for some reason, with eggs, it was "WHAT ABOUT COOKIES!?" It has continued to be "what about cookies?" for a year or so now. And with Christmas, things like sugar cookies, gingerbread... you name it, it's there. And

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-3651047169341766942010-12-21T10:51:00.002-05:002010-12-21T11:14:52.109-05:00

I find it extremely amusing that something like being "allowed" to post random thoughts has me blog writing again. Heck, maybe I should just start posting my random crap every day instead of trying to make concise posts. Hm, something to think about. Saw a new psych yesterday, since my old one dropped my insurance. New doc seems pretty neat. He, of course, figured out I'm batcrap insane fairly

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-17860433409877244642010-11-09T10:14:00.000-05:002010-11-09T10:14:12.567-05:00

Yesterday I was crunching some numbers to see what we could cut in order to pay down our debt. The trick is, the house doesn't get added on to until all the debt is paid off. And I have this obsession with sun rooms. And guess what? We have plenty of space on the front of the house to add a sun room! Problem is we can't until all the debt is paid off. So, after crunching numbers, I realized a

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-33904479751354428692010-08-19T09:16:00.001-04:002010-08-19T09:18:02.454-04:00

Day 1: 15 Things About Me So, it's day one of the blog challenge! Here we go! 1. I hate people using "chat-speak", using run on sentences, using no punctuation. Grammar mistakes don't bother me all that much. Typing in all lowercase doesn't bother me. But cut out the 'u', 'r', and 'c'... really, is it THAT hard to write you, are, and see? (PS 'thx' doesn't bother me... I use it all the time.

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-40851393113691961702010-06-27T10:04:00.000-04:002010-06-27T10:04:58.043-04:00

Spring and summer is the time of babies. Apparently, for us, it's also the time to buy 30 more adults. But the babies are the best part. Months ago I ordered some Blue Laced Red Wyandottes - a rare, and beautiful, breed of chickens that took my breath away the first time I saw them. June 1st I received 14 of these chickies. Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures of them when they

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-9879413926685169092010-06-09T13:10:00.000-04:002010-06-09T13:10:12.545-04:00

Living out in the middle of nowhere has some amazing benefits. We have land, animals, a safe, crime-free environment for the kids. We have a house that was practically given to us - true, it needs repairs, but what house doesn't? We have a wonderful school, a quiet atmosphere, and the chance to see the stars in all their glory without any lights. I do believe that sometimes the cons outweigh the

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-68404464980424634322010-06-08T11:17:00.001-04:002010-06-08T11:23:01.776-04:00

This looked like a ton of fun. Credit goes to "The Un Mom". The idea is you take one post where you just blurt out random thoughts that are going through your head. Sounds kinda like therapy to me, but hey, it works. I hate how our phone works. Not the phone itself, but the service. Our area code is 740. I should be able to call all of 740 without dialing 1, right? At least in my mind. But

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-23608217431271473162010-06-06T14:45:00.000-04:002010-06-06T14:45:00.874-04:00

Tamsyn is a mover. She loves dancing. We can put on some music and she'll sway and wiggle and turn in circles. Her cutest move is when she starts marching and bouncing. Sometimes daddy gets involved, and they have a ton of fun together. And then, sometimes, she just has to jig on her own.

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-45979945187743753722010-06-05T09:04:00.033-04:002010-06-05T09:04:00.876-04:00

One of the perks of living out here in the boonies is our visitors. So far we've had a snake and a hawk. Now we've had two visitors in one day! Our first was a bumpy little toad. Ben almost stepped on him. We seem to find a lot of our visitors that way! The girls were fascinated. Ben gave it to Morrigan to hold, and she did, with no hesitation! Then she decided, on her own, to let it go. I

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-61800862594948485332010-06-03T10:03:00.000-04:002010-06-03T10:03:42.322-04:00

Morrigan has adopted one of our adolescent chickens as her own. Luckily the chicken in question is extremely tame, one of our hand-raised ones. But she carts it around all day. It's sooo cute. We were a little worried about her hurting him. He seemed a little lethargic, but once she put him down he bounced around fine. She named her "Gray". Then Morri got creative. She decided to find Gray a

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-78422733736217048132010-06-02T14:16:00.000-04:002010-06-02T14:16:40.782-04:00

Memorial Day weekend, after a relaxing day with Ben's parents and family (Happy 59th birthday, Rusty!) we were gardening our butts off! All together we put 80 plants in the ground. 36 tomato plants, organized and caged; 36 peppers, including a few different hot and spicy varieties. Our asparagus is exploding in wonderful stalks. The house bed has been tilled, hoed and weeded. You can see

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-76177210631979984602010-05-21T15:30:00.001-04:002010-06-02T14:19:46.258-04:00

So, Ben's grandmother, bless her, was an avid flower lover. She brought in the flowers, artfully aranged, to her church every week. They ALL were from her garden. There are rows, ROWS of these flowers. Our yard is a fantastic, colorful picture during spring. The problem? I absolutely hate them. They are invading our gardening space. They are invading the weed patch (aka front garden to-be). So

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-81557133669858024292010-05-18T11:58:00.001-04:002010-06-02T14:20:15.551-04:00

Whew, we have busy busy weeks ahead of us! This weekend is, thankfully, free. Next weekend we have a birthday party. The weekend after that we have a baby shower! The weekend after that I go to the dentist. The weekend after that the girls go to a new pedi! Whew! Luckily the weeks seem pretty empty. June 29th summer quarter at school starts. I have three at-home classes. It will feel good to

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-47716357983186461932010-05-16T21:14:00.001-04:002010-06-02T14:20:49.299-04:00

We checked on the bees a few nights ago. They were buzzing in and out of the hive with no problem! Little efficient workers. Female, of course. Then we checked the top to see if we could see anything. They were building! You can see the bright white of the new comb on a few of the bars here. And a close up: Then we lifted up the top box to see how far down the new comb went: Then we had

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-50937070123481124572010-05-15T11:40:00.005-04:002010-06-02T14:21:36.410-04:00

I'm going to make this a cut post, because some people are terrified of snakes. This post contains snake pictures! Enter at your own risk! Ben called me outside to check out our visitor. We've seen these type of snakes before (Google says it's just a plain ole garden snake) but never this big! Morri was actually really curious, and didn't seem scared at all. We convinced her that daddy

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-28667604111572738992010-05-14T13:10:00.007-04:002010-06-02T14:22:27.080-04:00

I remember making the egg carton caterpillars when I was a kid, so I figured the girls would like it too! We started by donning our now-dry painted aprons. Then we got out the paint, pipe cleaners, beads, googly eyes, and egg carton. The girls had a ton of fun painting. Then I put Tamsyn down for a nap. This was a bit too hard for her. She painted but had no interest in the rest of it.

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-60327737421100387842010-05-13T08:40:00.002-04:002010-06-02T14:23:01.779-04:00

I realized today that I had never posted pictures of the goat kids! How forgetful of me! Nessa and Nicky were born April 16th. Lonnie and Luna followed on the 18th. I wasn't there for Nessa and Nicky's birth, but I showed up about half an hour after they were born. They had a rough start, especially Nicky, because Connie is a first time mom and didn't know what to do with them. We stuffed them

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-79855942040781739762010-05-11T15:58:00.001-04:002010-05-11T16:01:03.851-04:00

More and more lately I've been looking into kids crafts, especially creative or logical thinking ones. I decided yesterday that the first step in this direction was getting the girls aprons! At first I wanted to sew them myself, but upon seeing the price of canvas (8.99/yard, seriously?), I decided to go with the cheapie premade ones ($4.50 for 2). Then we picked out some fabric paint! What a

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-23193197830003905172010-05-10T09:12:00.005-04:002010-05-10T09:12:00.174-04:00

I decided, this year, in honor of my baby turning 3, I was going to sew her a birthday dress. I am a amateur at sewing. I've done a few simple things a long time ago, like a pillow in high school, a few attempts at cloth diapers, and an apron that is, still, unfinished in my sewing box (but I have the pattern back from my friend so now I can finish it!). So for me, this was a big undertaking.

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-1462142076311842442010-05-07T09:08:00.001-04:002010-05-15T11:45:41.893-04:00

Before I go into bees, I have to start with an introduction by my beloved, favorite comic of all time, Eddie Izzard. If you don't know who Eddie is, first off, shame on you. Second off, watch this: Now, hopefully you've had a laugh. We got our bees yesterday. Ben brought them home from work. That is, approximately, 10,000 bees. I kid you not. There is a queen stuffed in there, in the

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-43253764726238573462010-05-06T10:44:00.000-04:002010-05-06T10:44:40.792-04:00

Whew. The morning started with whiney, fussy babies. Both of them. Morri had a meltdown immediately because I told her we had no pears. Tamsyn couldn't get her breakfast fast enough and screamed the entire time I was making her oatmeal. Neither of them calmed down until I turned on Charlotte's Web (our new library movie) and stuck their butts in front of it with their breakfast. After gulping

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-50783161730141699402010-03-23T14:23:00.000-04:002010-03-23T14:23:00.528-04:00

When we first moved to the "country", Ben wanted a garden. I said no way. The thought of getting my hands dirty was a foreign concept, and I wanted nothing to do with it.Two years later, here we are. Last year we did a bunch of tomatoes and peppers, a few watermelons, and a few cantaloupes. This year we're hoping to vary things a little more.This is what we have to work with:There is 8 boxes

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-10281519649926367452010-03-22T12:18:00.006-04:002010-03-22T12:47:54.523-04:00

I love my girls. And I don't mean the goats (although I love them too). These girls: These beautiful, wonderful, amazing miracles. These dirty-faced, muddy-kneed, hay-filled hair, grass-stained hands girls. Morrigan will be 3 this year, in July. I'm amazed. Where did my little snookums go?? And now look at her! I refuse to believe that picture A turned into picture B. I think that baby

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-81795929330382356742010-03-21T08:00:00.005-04:002010-05-15T11:46:06.150-04:00

After a nice errand-and-lunch trip, we were extremely surprised to come home to a very unexpected visitor. Warning: The next few images, hidden behind the cut, may be graphic. Not like blood-and-guts graphic but perhaps slightly disturbing. This, my friends, is the hawk that has been plaguing our chicks for over a year. Apparently he was making a meal out of one of our chickens.   Last

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-77330583428210342242010-03-20T13:00:00.000-04:002010-03-20T13:52:59.147-04:00

Our chickens have to be the most amusing part of the homestead. If I happen to be in a bad mood, watching them always cheers me up. Especially during breakfast, because they're extremely violent (to each other) when it comes to food... and watching a bunch of chickens pecking each other and running each other around the pen is just... hilarious. Maybe I'll post a video of it.So anyway, here is

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-7083204430117968442010-03-19T14:53:00.000-04:002010-05-15T11:47:18.099-04:00

Meet Connie: Connie is a 3/4 Nubian, 1/4 Alpine dairy goat. She's about a year old, and she was born right here at the Doran homestead. This was Connie a year ago. Heart melting yet? Mine is. When Connie was born, I wasn't here, and her mom didn't take care of her properly. We lost her sister, Smudge, but after a lot of care and a few days inside, Connie pulled through. Meet Connie's mom,

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6617410480066915071.post-91958231996526430352010-03-18T10:12:00.000-04:002010-03-18T10:12:12.774-04:00

I have decided it is time to dust off this blog, give it a facelift, link it to twitter, and try again. The rest of my life has evened out, thanks to a diagnosis of bipolar and subsequent medicine stabilizers and some intensive therapy. I am now consistant in everything from chores to taking care of the animals. It's a very freeing thought to know that all along I wasn't just a spoiled, selfish,

Kethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02305834453377145848noreply@blogger.com0