The loggers came today!!!!

Today was the day that the loggers came to take down the timber along our road and home site. It was very exciting and kind of nerve racking at the same time especially on the trees that were my choice fo cut. You know you cant put them back up once they are gone. It doesnt even look like the same place. Anyway, we have alot of work to do before we get the dozer man in here in a week or two. Hopefully, C can get pictures up in a few days. We will check in with you soon on the progress.


Big E

Here's a pic of the girls in their new digs, their cadillac coop.... they're getting so big! Even Tink, the runt is growing so much we can hardly tell which one she is now. And we still haven't figured out what Helga is!

The boys feeding the girls some clover flowers:

Rabbit and his very first tooth loss... he looks so cute (although it hasn't improved his lisp!):

BTW, it is sooo hot here! This heat wave stinks... the pond feels like pee, so it's hardly refreshing... here's praying the Lord graces us with rain, and a cool spell, soon... although He's so good to us all the time, I have no business complaining, you know?!

The loggers will be timbering our drive soon, and Eric and I have plotted out the footprint to clear the land... we'll keep you posted. My finger is pretty much finally healed and closed up, but it is so stiff I can't bend it, so I'll need to do a little self-induced physical therapy on it... but it looks good, considering it is on the bend of my finger. So Eric won't have to be doing projects solo much longer! Adios...

It was raining so hard yesterday, and it was actually a bit chilly with the wind...

So it was a great day for cooking and baking: I made 2 loaves of bread, a pot of veggie/beef stew and a chocolate chess pie. The boys played Legos and listened to an audio tape of Harry Potter. And big Eric found something to do in the shop. He has the chicken coop all finished and the chicks are in their new home. This weekend we will be putting up the chicken poultry fence so they can be pasture-raised. They are doing great and growing so big! I would include a photo or two, but I accidentally erased all my new photos from my Galaxy! I am sooo mad at myself! But next time, I'll be sure to add pics.

Rabbit lost his first tooth yesterday, so the Tooth Fairy came to ATG for the first time! He was so excited and looks so cute with a little soace in his bottom row... because he waited til almost 7 to lose his first, they'll probably all fall out now!

We all went blackberry-picking the other day and Tina, our neighbor from the farm below, gave us a bucket of raspberries as weel, so I will be canning jam for the raspberries and a blackberry cobbler... although it's unusually hot here (besides the rainy day). There's usually a delightful breeze you can count on up here and low humidity, but it's been pretty hot.
I thought I left all that heat behind in Richmond.... yuck!!!!

We've found a great little church here with the nicest folks. The boys start VBS this week, and then we will stick our little toes into the homeschool pool week after next! So please pray for patience and guidance...

I'll have to blog again soon with pics, but now I have to go visit Eric's grandma who had a spill recently and is not doing so well, so please keep her in your prayers, as you all are in ours!

The chicks are growing up...

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and heading outside while Eric is building them a coop... they are getting so big, and Tink (the only one of two, out of 26, we've named...don't worry!) is doing so great, though still small. It's a two person job now because every time I open their cage, tbey come flying out! They've scared us a couple of times when they are all laying down sleeping because they look all stretched out and dead! But then they all open their eyes and just look at me...

E's birthday was over the 4th so we had family up for the long weekend... there was lots of eating, swimming and a few bee stings (what's a farm weekend without a few stings?!) He had a great 9th birthday (so hard to believe he's 9!) He, his brother and daddy have kicked me out of the house this weekend for the annual father/son camp-out that Eric's brother plans... it's such a great thing, having all those dads and kids together up there just being dudes, with no moms around telling them to put on their sunscreen and stop hitting their brother! However, it did rain on them last night so I'm sure the moms will get some interesting stories today... As for me, I'm spending my time off the mountain visiting with my sil and spending lots of money (just kidding
Eric!) I've been exploring my surroundings...

We are not blogging nearly as much as we want because our connection is so bad... it's driving me crazy! But, if you do want to get a notice whenever I CAN blog, I THINK there's a link at thebottom of the page that allows you to sign up for the posts? Or maybe someone who's familiar with blogs can share wisdom on this!?

As for progress on ATG, we've been building the coop, and now we have a logging crew up there to timber and clear tbe site...I'll post pics soon. I have a feeling our beautiful, secluded spot will not be so beautiful and secluded when they're done!