Around the farm with some UPS and *DOWNS*

Feeding time with Wilbur and Wallie

Can be a challenge sometimes and can have me laughing so HARD !!!
If they get a chance to get their snouts in my Black Bucket I'm holding and believe me they WILL:)
They have gotten so so fast and strong .
Then thats when the laughter begins ,with me trying to get that Black bucket from them. Sometimes until they are ready for a water break I just have to hold on tight till they let it go ! I forsee me coming back to the house with a good dose of PIG MANURE on
My Bottom End !

I must be doing something right thou because they have fat little tummies. There was a week or 2 they just didnt seem to want to eat then I read an article about them being known as Eggsuckers so I started putting 2 eggs  in there feed a 2x day and boy did they start eating UP ! Now I just give 1 egg a feeding and split the eggshells from our breakfast with them and the chickens. They have really started Growing . I could stay down there with them all day just watching them.It's funny when the pigs here me talking in our back yard they start Squealing to tell me Come down here to Our Pen and stay with US:)
Ya know you can do alot of thinking down there with them!!
To me its just so Peaceful under the trees watching them.



Meet Double "D"
What a cute Buck Dusty brought me.
He came with an awesome homemade big pen.
Show pics soon.
I still have a long way to go on learning the in and outs of Raising Rabbits .
On the down side for the Farm our 5 little newborns didn't make it:(
I got 2 bred momas right now thou due around Sept.9th.
One bred by Double D and one bred by Thumper



The Chickens have Grown so much
its unreal to me how fast they have grown.
We move their Pen about every 4 days to have new Grass.
Having 2 tiny poodles of 13 years ,we can't let them roam around the farm.We have had one snapping at the pen for a week before I broke that behavior.

This is a Sunflower that come up from some Chickens left over lunch of Black Oil sunflower seeds.
I think it just looks so beautifully placed there:)
We don't have a rooster at this time, so we have
officialy bought our FIRST bag of Laying Mash.
I sooooo want a Rooster .

The work on the Man Barn Continues
My Cottage Barn will come someday lol
Course knowing me I will invade that Man Barn more than once ;)
One the left side of this barn the Chickens will have a new run and a great place to lay eggs.

I have been picking the Roses for more Rose Petal jelly
got a batch in the fridge soaking for 24hours as we speak
LOVE THIS JELLY

Beautiful Red Layers
I think the cold Coffee and Banana Peels have reallly been helping them grow better

Just so Delicate looking
I hope to add some new color roses soon

Our GrandDaughters first day of Preschool

Last Wednesday I joined my Daddy on my very First Cow Sale!
Now that I am staying at home watching over the Farm fulltime the Pecan season has become my income.
This year our trees are in their off season but I am so hoping i can bring in enough to purchase my first cow.

I so Enjoyed the Auction
But let me just tell ya
COWS ARE EXTREMELY HIGH RIGHT NOW !!!!!
Even calfs are going for $500.00+
I will do extremely good if I manage one at that price with our expected low yeild of pecans this year.

These 2 beauties were born last weekend
beautiful in color and we were thrilled but
there were some problems and they didn't make it :(
Farm life can be hard!

Our nanny left them
and we didn't catch the birth in time
hubby worked with her ,she had a blocked tit
and the babies by the time we found them were too weak:(
I have alot of reading to do on goats and being better prepared next time. We thought about selling her but have decided we would breed her one more time .
Guess if my pecan season yields too low on income I can pick up a few new nannies ,I truly love the LaMancha Breed they are just so sweet natured and suppose to be great milkers .Hoping my son will get working on that milk stand soon or I'm just going to have to pick me up my own Pink Hammer from Town !!:)

Hope you Enjoyed the Around the Farm Ups and Downs
May you have a Wonderful Hump Day
Love from My Gang to Yours

The Campers are now Seniors!!



Seniors 2013
The campers have returned this year and they are excited
they are SENIORS. 
This group of campers have been getting together since 9th grade . They meet monthly on each others farm and campout.ya never know whos coming till they get there and sometimes we add a new one or two for the nite. last year it seemed we saw this group on our farm several times.
So to kick off their SENIOR CAMPOUTS we were asked to be this years first host!
I love it !the planning, cooking and seeing the kids from year to year to see how they have grown and changed. This year all the chatter was about their futures and what colleges they want to attend.They are all so nice to be around. 8 more showed up after supper,the sweet ladies that join us from time to time leave around 10:45 camp rules:)




This year we have a new cook around!
Dusty came over and brought his homemade Grill.
he grilled the campers smoked chicken,sausage and jalapeno dogs!
I cooked up fried okra and green beans and served SWEET TEA.



Dusty teaching Chase all the Smoking tips for a great grill.they used pecan twigs to smoke the meat with
Lordy was it all so good. 

 The next morning the surving campers come back up to the house ready for Breakfast.This Campout I made

Homemade Pancakes and Sryup.

Recipe :

2 cups Self Rising Flour

2 Eggs

2 tablespoons Sugar

add water to mix

I like to add buttermilk to my recipe

this is easy to double or triple or more!

                                                        


This time over 40 pancakes hit the pans:)




Of course lots of

Morning talk of who stayed up all nite,who fell alseep first,oops and this time breakfast talk was about whos vehicles got stuck and I mean bottom out stuck lol.

Several dads had to come out and pull them out ,I'm sure Monday at school that was all the chatter and bragging on who made it.

David ,one of the guys that didn't get to come due to work ,came by after all the talk at school  Monday ,in his 4-wheel drive truck  just to see if his truck would make it thru where all the guys got stuck lol !!

Boys will be Boys !




after everyone left Sunday Sophia came home and was getting her clothes changed after church and was set up on the table and what did she do ?!!



Grabbed that last Pancake ,TOO CUTE !!

                                                  
                                     Blessings from Our Gang to yours ,
                                                   THE SMITHS

Family Vacation Fishing

Vacation Fishing
Doesn't get any better than this!
My Smitty had a few days of last week and we choose to stay home and fish my daddys catfish pond, with soo many animals to feed we needed to stay close by this vacation . Our first time ever having to stay home from a big vacation beach trip or something of the such but we enjoyed being home . Hubby being a truckdriver didn't mind at all not getting in the truck to go on another trip and me with the back problems was glad also.

We do cheat alittle bit fishing we throw a couple hands of dogfood out to feed the catfish and they come a running lol, NAH ..swimming!

Every once in awhile a cow comes too
see the cow birds

They filled these trees UP !

So me and my Girl Power Pink Fishing Rod
caught several of these nice size catfish
Course I gotta sport my Georgia Boots:)

 YOU Catchum' you clean um'

I don't mind cleaning just don't like taking them off my pole catfish will fin ya if not careful



See Smitty is so sweet to take them off for ME !
This trip took us fishing to the WEE HOURS of the Morning

Now this was a SUPRISE CATCH of the Night

Dusty caught a huge turtle
hubby had got him on the line twice but the turtle bit the hook off and he lost him but Dusty hooked him and shot him.
It was exciting I have never had so much excitement, I have never seen a turtle shooting and CLEANING!

Dusty showing him off
More on this Young Man to come,hint hint !!

Chase was thrilled to hold the turtle ,um
me being mom was not so sure on that

Dusty gave us a lesson on how to clean it and while he was cleaning he was telling me how to cook it !

OKAY ,I must admit the feet were really cool looking
the web foot was just like a ducks

Smitty washed it and battered it ,then I fried it up.
He and the boys ate it ,I did give a small taste and I usually do eat all kinds of game but turtle will not be on my menu sorry Gang !

Poppop gave Sophia a ride while we did take one afternoon and work on a small garden patch for fall

We dug up the old sunflower roots and re-rooted the tomato plants ,poor things had got lost in all the weeds in this patch.
Now hoping they take. and planted 3 rows of potatoes.
Yup and thats why I didn't get to join them on tonights fishing trip I can barely walk but I insisted on crawling and doing the planting of the potatoes while hubby dug the rows.

A True Mr. Potatoe Head (lol)
Can't ya just see those 2 beady tiny eyes behind that
big ole NOSE !!

May You and your family have a wonderful weekend,
hugs from the SmithGang

We are Celebrating !

We are Celebrating ,our family has our 2nd Senior !!
Our Timothy Chad Golden Smith
has made it to his Senior Year ,Class of 2013 :)
Time seems to have flown by for sure.
My Golden child is such a huge blessing to me
he is truly my backbone.

Such a serious Lad
Many wishes to a Wonderful Year Son ENJOY !

we are also celebrating the birth of
 these 5 beautiful Rabbits
they are just so tiny
this is Our first rabbit breeding Blessing on Our farm
my Florida White Rabbit was bred with Our California Buck THUMPER. 
He has proven himself to be a Daddy Buck.yay!
we bought our new florida moma while she was expecting once on the farm she had 5 but only one lived so we knew she could be a moma but our buck we purchased last March when he was just 4 months old so we have been waiting for him to mature and see if he could prove himself as a Buck and he has ! we are all excited. So now it is up to the Farm to learn to help care for the new babies as we progress in rabbit meat raising.

                       May You have a Blessed Rest of the Week from
                                        Our SmithGang