Farm Girls

The farm has been hopping this year with a new calf, many new lambs, a brother married, a nephew and sweet sister-in-law gained, garden planted, alfalfa fields planted, hay fields cut and baled and watered to get ready to cut and bale again.
But the farm is not all that has kept us busy for Daddy and his best friend Mr. Max began to dream of gold mining in Nome, Alaska. Last fall they laid the groundwork with a quick trip to Nome, many phone calls and lots of plans for a total makeover of the biggest gold dredge either family has ever owned. Daddy and Mr. Max and our families have been gold dredging together since I was a little girl. Every summer for fourteen years our families would meet in Happy Camp, California and gold dredge. This Alaska summer adventure is an extended, ginormous version of those happy childhood summers. The dredge has been modified, enlarged, customized, turned into a boat, checked, rechecked, packed and loaded into a shipping container and sent to Nome. Mother Dearest, Daddy, Mr. Max, Paul (Mr. Max's son) and David (one of my brothers) followed it to Alaska.
My other brothers (the remaining three) have been working in Hawaii, building on a naval base since January. They are still there.

And this brings me around to the point of this post...the farm is under the care and charge of two farm girls. My dear sister and I have been granted the unique opportunity to work the farm. Because of the Lord's great mercy and grace, we have not had to struggle on our own. My sweetheart and his wonderful brothers have been working almost daily, cleaning the yards, trimming sheep hooves, gardening, trimming trees, feeding the animals and eating the meals that we have made. The boys are very appreciative eaters, and that makes it a pleasure to cook for them.

The blog posts from the summer of 2013 will have many references to the farm, for that is what my life consists of at this point. I am exceedingly thankful for Bountiful Oaks, for all of the blessings that I receive on and through it. I am thankful also for the way that the Lord is using this time to mold me and make me into the person He desires me to be. I pray that I will continually see His hand in all that happens, and that I will consistently delight in the many examples of His grace that surround me.
The picture below is an example of one such blessing, a reminder of His care for me, a smile inducer, and a spark of joy.

Garden...Spring 2012

Our garden was doubled with the installation of the new garden fence. 

We now have a baby fig orchard, a huge new potato plot in addition to the ground used for last years garden!

Daddy has been working all winter adding manure, 

working the ground, prepping for our biggest garden ever!

baby fig tree

baby figs!!

Pea Blossoms

Peas!!!!

onions

spinach

tomatoes tucked into their houses
(Houses made from roof shingles, used to protect baby plants from wind, sun and frost.)

Spring Lambs and silly Sheep

We have three new lambs!

MaryLou
(Daughter of Virginia)

MaryLou was our first lamb of the season, 

and her birth was the first clue that her mother was pregnant. 

She was knobby-kneed and a little pathetic...but has filled out very well.

Ruthie...the next Mama to give birth

Ruthie and her baby...

Obed...the Son of Boaz and Ruth!

Eli- son of Dolly (about a month old)
He is solid white, our lamb without blemish.

One of my favorite things about having sheep is the multitudes of opportunities to watch them be silly...

Eli-caught eating their jungle gym
(a stack of three hay bales  used by the sheep for climbing and  snacking!)

Dolly says..."I'm soooo itchy"

 The thick, woollier hair (grown for warmth in the winter) is shed, or rubbed off in the spring.

"Yes, that's the spot!"

Sheep Spa
Mama Sheep let out to graze...soaking up the sun!

Pictures from Bountiful Oaks

One of my dear brothers is a talented photographer. 

It is his lovely camera, with its telephoto lens, 

that I have borrowed to take pictures of our lovely farm. 

He too has been taking pictures of Bountiful Oaks Farm.

 Here are some of my favorites...

Milk Cows

Our farm has grown...

here are our new additions...

Mary Rose
(Daddy calls her Big Bossy)

Violet
(Mary Rose's calf)
giving kisses to mama

Violet
(whom the boys refer to as Violent...
and sometimes Dangerous-
for she is still a bit wild)

Buttercup
(also know as Jersey Girl)

Buttercup was our first milk cow. 

She is an eighteen month old Jersey...we love her beautiful coloring.

Mother Dearest plans to breed her this summer so that her calf will be born in the spring of 2013.

Mary Rose and Violet are Holsteins. Violet was one month old when they came to our farm on March 6. Mary Rose has been milked twice a day since her first night here. 

Mother Dearest and Elyse hand milked until our new milking machine arrived.
The cows and the fresh milk are a wonderful addition to our farm!

Textures of the Barn

Wondering about the farm with a camera gave me a new view of what was previously

 only a dusty dirty barn...

I really like all of the different textures, the mixes of wood and metal, 

and especially the white "old barn wood" still in place from when our barn was used as a milking barn.

Fence Building

March 3, 2012.

Daddy and Mother Dearest decided that we needed milk cows...yay! 

But first we needed a fence in which to keep the cows and a place for milking

...so...

we had a cow-fence workday. 

Friends came from far and wide to enclose the garden to keep the cows out 

(simultaneously doubling the size of the garden), 

setting up a hot-wire fence to keep the cows in, 

and concreting under the overhang at the back of the barn for milking. 

Here was our day...

 Lunch for the hungry men!!

With apple pie for dessert...

 Massive show of teamwork as the last panels are put into place. 

(The front and back sides of the garden fence are set into concrete steadied pipes to allow for tractor access into the garden.)

The fence and concrete pad are beautiful...thank you to all who came and helped!!!

A Walk Around the Farm

One morning I gathered my dear brother's camera (with its telephoto lens),  the tips I learned in a 20 minute photo tutoring session, and I took a walk around the farm. 

This is what I saw: