It's that time of year...

Our baby piggies!

Our newest, Aaron

Ok, I know I say it every year, but I really am going to work on getting better on writing here...  This last year has been a whirlwind, as many are with kids.

We had a baby.  Oh not just any baby a baby born 5 weeks early who needed to stay 4 weeks in the hospital.  Oh and 3 of those weeks needed to be about an hour and half away from the house.  Did I mention that he was born the first day of school and oh yeah, that's harvest season.  This was a huge growing time for me, but more on that in a later post.


Pumpkin and Jacob
At the youth fair

Back to the farm...  We had baby pigs!  I feel like having babies (other than chickens, although that is a big deal) kind of makes you a real farmer!  We did it!  Ok, so we weren't pregnant and didn't labor, but we were there for every step!  Petunia, the sow, did great!  10 healthy babies, all survived!  So she is going to be bred again.
Our farm is constantly changing.  We got goats, sold goats.  Downsized on the chickens big time.  And also on the ducks.  But gained a great pair of geese and 5 turkeys!  Lost a bunny, some cows and gained a milk cow. 



New geese, Ricky and Lucy
going for a car ride after they
went for a hike down the road

God has blessed us so much.  Our farm is amazing and we love teaching our kids the responsibility of having animals, where our food comes from, how to treat the animals God created, oh and how do deal with conflict!

A neighbor recently posted that this time of season it is like the earth is throwing food at us!  It is berry season here in WA.  We might have missed the strawberries, but raspberries are starting now, cherries are plump and juicy, blueberries are bluing, blackberries have already flowered and are forming...  And well my kitchen is a mess, the jars are in the cellar, the canner is covered in dust and I am not ready for this season! 


Sharing the love of bees with his class.

One would think that I am .  For the first time in a long time I am not pregnant!!!  But the garden still isn't completely planted the pigs still don't have a fence to let themselves out, the turkey's pen isn't complete, the barn is a mess and so much more. 

But we are taking this summer and making time to just have fun.  WITHOUT GUILT!  To spend an evening talking with fellow farmers, when we really should get home and build something.  To go to birthday parties, have a pj day with the kids and play video games, and check off every item on our summer fun list! 

Taking an afternoon for some fishing

It's about balance... Something that Greg and I both don't understand.  We both tend to go at something full throttle.  Which is great, but not when you have multiple things that can take a lot of time.  His is wrestling and bees...  he loves those bees.  And they take time and are stressful.  Recently we caught a swarm, removed a hive and just re-homed Jacob's hive that just swarmed yesterday.  Mine is PTO, wrestling board, and animals! 

Jacob's hive that just swarmed Sunday

Our schedule this week is crazy...  there is turkey house, garden, fence, pig pens (the boar will be here soon!), trips to get bee equipment, laundry, dishes, floors, barns, and more.  But I have to carve time out to get nails done with a girlfriend, have a crafty afternoon with another and take the kids to a beach or outdoor movie and stop at the library. 

The Garden that is halfway planted and needs major weeding.

Carving time out for the relationships is our goal this summer.  Carving out time without feeling guilty.  Enjoying the kids at this stage.  Enjoying the people God has brought into our lives. 

Working Wednesday...

I have been up to my ears in canning supplies this last couple weeks. 

We got some free transparent apples for apple butter and sauce, some free miniature plums for spicy plum sauce, plum jelly, and whole plums; the green beans are growing like crazy and we have already put back 20 quarts of them in 2 pickings; cucumbers are being turned into sweet/ sweet and spicy relish as well as pickles; squash is getting chopped and shredded and frozen; jams are being made... and we are no where near close to finishing! 

I read a blog yesterday, Northwest Edible Life, where she does most of her canning in a weekend.  Oh what a wonderful weekend that would be.  As my husband called last night on his way home, he asked what I was doing... and for the first time in 2 weeks I WAS NOT CANNING!!!  Not that I shouldn't be, but I just needed a break!  So I hit it again this morning.  More free plums, some hamburger pickles and get ready for more applesauce and plums and of course all the stuff from the garden that will be collected tonight.

Don't get me wrong.  I love to can! I love seeing the shelves fill up with food that we have grown, food that will fill our family's tummies this winter, food that I know where it came from.  But being about 8 months pregnant (or so... still in ? about the due date) it is hard work!  This big belly is getting in the way with everything! 

Our house has taken a huge hit.  Probably the biggest ever!  There is laundry in baskets needing to be put away, laundry needing to be done... floors needing to be swept and please if you do come over, don't look a the kitchen, especially the stove!  But through it all, every once in a while we get to do some deep cleaning/preparation for the baby.  2 out of the numerous windows in the house have been taken apart and completely cleaned!  Only to have the babies touch them this morning and get handprints on them again.  But hey they are so much cleaner! 

So today... we get back to the grind of canning, and cleaning.