It's been forever! But I thought I'd post some new pics, in case anyone's interested.  Since no one seems to make it up here to visit, I'll show you the latest on the farm....

It's that time of year again!

The boys (15 and 13) are growing so big and sweet (for the most part!) They've both outgrown their dad's shoe size, and little E is almost as tall as his dad- he's 5'11".  Rabbit's getting there at 5'8" School is going well... E is in 9th and Rabbit's in 8th, both still involved with Classical Conversations. Actually, Rabbit took a year off to try a different curriculum at home this year, which means I didn't teach this year either, but we are both going back next fall.

E is SUPPOSED to be studying his DMV material, but hasn't. He has no real interest in getting on the real roads, but Jack, of course, is chomping at the bit! Although both have been driving all vehicles up here at the farm

for years, and Rabbit's better at backing a 20' trailer than I am!

LuLu (aka Lucy) is still doing great.  She scared us once when she disappeared for a week- highly unlike her.  But just when we'd given up all hope, she reappeared- a little thinner, but fine. Apparently she was spooked by a bear we had up here, hunkered down till the bear smell was gone...and then came on home!





On to the farm animals....

 

We still have some of our original ladies- the Buff Orpingtons. They're 7 years old now. We also have 2 Rhode Island Reds (originally had 6 and these were Rabbit's- but a hawk or something got the other 4 right off the bat). The 3 Black Australorps were originally part of a group of 20 other Australorps, but we lost the others due to a weasel while we were gone on vacation a few years ago! SO these are the lone survivors of that group. And then we have Roady (aka Road Runner, cuz she's unbelievably fast), the little black and white. She's so funny... she's a bit of a runt, and gets picked on and chased off by the bigger girls, but she definitely holds her own- she's been "holding" for about 4 years now! So we have a total of about 12 girls now.

Our outside looks bit dumpy right now...STILL no siding on a 4 year addition! And we have trees that need to be planted, farm equipment, chickens, and misc. furniture in our yard because projects never seem to get finished, and there are always MORE projects waiting! It's a bit overwhelming, and I am trying to cope with all the chaos- but I have my days (serenity now, serenity now...) Any one who tells you that moving to the country is the simple life is either delusional, or lying! We've never worked harder (mostly Big Eric). I , too, was delusional- I read far too many Amish fiction novels before we moved. But we still love most of it- it's hard, frustrating and stressful at times (we have the rockiest, most un-fertile piece of uneven land in WV, I think! And with no water- we have to haul it in), but are constantly reminded of how good we have it- it's very quiet and peaceful, and a great place to raise the boys!

Eric's "swales" he has dug into the pasture for planting

trees for an orchard- it also makes "lanes" for the cows for rotational grazing.

Eric cuts trees and pulls logs out of our woods to cut up for firewood to sell, or for our own stash.  He loves cutting and splitting wood- he built his own splitter. Men and their wood-splitting/chopping!





The 4 of us just finished building a pole barn for 5 of our 8 cows/steers for the winter. The 3 cows are all due to calve around February, so we needed shelter for the calves. Little E's 2 steers are in with them as well.  The other 3 bigger steers (Lola's 1, and the twins from our late milking cow, Molly) are in the garden close by for the winter:

 

Eric found old bathtubs to repurpose for water troughs- catching rain from the roof.

And these are little E's steers that he bought himself and is raising. They are doing great!  Brownie and Blondie... Blondie's a jersey, Brownie's an angus.  They were born at the end of April.

And lastly, the 3 steers- Lola's calf and Molly's twins in the garden area for the winter:

 

The twins used to be light brown, but they've turned so dark, like their black angus cousin.

I don't have recent pics of the 3 cows- Lola, Ginger (Lola's calf), and Lindsay (Molly's calf). They are currently in a large pasture and will be moved in with E's little steers in about a week. So all the cows will pretty much be back together for the winter.

I don't have a recent pic of the 3 Big Black hogs either- but they are HUGE.  They go to be slaughtered in January. Yay, pork! (and bacon and pork loin and ham roast and....)

Well, that about sums it all up. we're doing great. Trying to get ready for the holidays, and winter weather. Charlie and Jill sold the farm (we are very sad), so we will be getting a new neighbor. Wonderful lady named Kate, who owns a huge ranch in Texas, and has horses. So she will be bringing her horses up here to add to the menagerie of animals on the hill!

We miss you all...please come visit us sometime, and send us pics of your family- we would LOVE to see and hear all about the kids and you!

We love you all, and Merry Christmas- God is SO good!

We miss you, Molly!

 Well, it's a sad time up here on the farm.  A couple of days ago, we lost our sweet-natured dairy cow, our Jersey, Molly.  We don't know what happened except that she was dead when we came out one morning.  The only thing we can figure is that it must have been too much for her to be nursing 2 calves. She was not meant to have twins, apparently, and I guess it's a fluke that she did.  But she is such a great mom, that she gave everything she had.  The boys are doing fine, but the cows were a little freaked out for a couple days... after all, 4 of the 6 cows up here are hers.

We will miss her and her sweet, gentle little spirit... we are not planning on getting another dairy cow at this point, but maybe down the road.  Bye, sweet girl. You were a great family cow.

Besides that, we've been fine up here on the "hill."  The chickens are starting to lay again, and everywhere this time- behind the hay ring, on Eric's tool chest in the wood shed, on the floor of the other shed. It's an adventure searching for them and figuring out if they're still any good!  We are down to 17 chickens now.  Poor Rabbit lost all of his chicks he bought last spring- mostly predators.  And the Buff's we have left are still from the 1st batch we got 6 years ago!

The boys and I came to a big decision in that we are not going to do Classical Conversations next fall for our homeschooling.  We are going to try My Father's World, and work on it together- all 3 of us, which will be great.  They're excited to try something new, although I wouldn't be surprised if E wants to go back to CC either for the spring semester, or the following fall.  He really likes it- the curriculum and seeing his friends on Fridays.  But they will still see friends lots- whether at church, field trips or get-togethers.

Eric's contractor business is really keeping him hopping, thank the good Lord.  We've been very blessed with business!

That's all for now- love to you all, and hopefully we'll see you soon! Blessings!