A Bountiful Harvest . . . Although I Didn't Grow It Myself

You can see how big these pumpkins are when a 3 and 5 year old are sitting on them.

Each year, our girls want to stop and buy pumpkins at Bates Nut Farm which is not far from our house, but during the month of October, the road going to and from Bates has an insane amount of traffic.  They have fields of very large pumpkins called "Big Macs" and several years ago, we bought one for $10 which was a steal considering the pumpkin was about 75 lbs.  Over the past few years, however, the price has gone up to $1.00 a pound.  My hubby, however, was biding his time and decided to stop by the day after Halloween to see if there was a deal on these monster pumpkins.  As it turns out, the Big Macs were free for the taking if you could manage to wrangle it into your vehicle (minus the wheelbarrows that are out during October).  I ended up being the happy recipient of three Big Mac pumpkins, which is a lot of free food. 

One of the 3 Big Macs my hubby brought home.

I have heard many people over the years say that you can't eat the big pumpkins, but I can tell you from experience that is definitely not true.  The Big Macs are not super sweet, but they are in the squash family and have a lovely taste once they are baked and pureed.  The meat from this pumpkin can be used in everything from pumpkin soup to pumpkin muffins and pie.  Yum!

Part of the pumpkin after cutting up and baking much of it.

The beautiful pumpkin puree.

More May Photo A Day Catch Up



5/18/13 - "Want"

I want to go back to Paris again . . . someday.

 

5/19/13 - "My Favorite View"



 

 5/20/13 - "Light"









 

5/21/13 - "I Care About This"

 

This is the World Vision initiative that our local San Diego Women of Vision chapter has been raising funds to support - helping bring positive change to women and girls in poverty.

 

 

5/22/13 - "Change"

 

 

 



Adorable Faces and Puppy Piles

Mama Lilah watching over her baby.

 

 

 

 

Playing with Pups

The girls have given the puppies temporary names while they are at our house because it is easier to call them by a name than say, "Let's pet the little one." or "How much does the blond one weigh today?".  The girls will be emotionally attached to the puppies, I am sure, and be sad when they leave, but it is all part of learning about life on the "farm" and living in the country. 

Dakota with Buddy.



Livia holding Prince Eric.

Arianna with Ellie, our big girl.

Selah, cuddling with Jake.

A New Year - 2013

I can't believe 2013 is already here and we are 6 days into it.  I had thought I would blog more over the kids' Christmas break, but then it is always busy around the house on a vacation, so alas my blogging went by the wayside.  Then, on Jan. 2, our dog Lilah, that we bred a couple of months ago with a Goldendoodle, went into labor 5 days early and we now have four, small little Goldendoodles at home.  Thank goodness, my hubby was still on his Christmas break for a few more days because the last few days have been a blur of delivering puppies, caring for our wonderful mama dog, making sure our little "preemies" are being looked after 24/7, and getting a lot less sleep than usual.  I have to say, after having had 5 newborns (but not at the same time, thankfully), that puppies are even more work in the first few days.  There are more than 1, even when they are sleeping I keep a close eye on them so that Lilah doesn't accidentally roll on them, and due to their size, they need a little extra help getting the hang of eating off of mama.  From all that I've read, the first week of a puppy's life is pretty critical and when it comes to animal care, I can be a bit obsessive, so between the house, kids, and puppies things are pretty busy around here.  So, 2013 in our household has come in with a whirlwind and I for one, am just hanging for the ride.  To all those I know and don't know out there, Happy New Year and may God bless you richly in this coming year!

Bye, Bye Chickies

I always have thought that if something happened to my hens, roosters, or chicks that it wouldn't feel like any big tragedy, but when this theory was tested, it seems I'm a bit more attached to my farm animals than I think.  Earlier this year, in last summer, I had a broody hen that sat a pile of eggs and from 7 eggs, 4 hatched.  One of the chicks dies right away because I didn't take it out of the coop soon enough, but 3 others survived and grew to be big, beautiful, juvenile chicks.  We had them in a small enclosure by our driveway, just outside our fenced yard and the top of the enclosure was covered with bird netting.  We realized that this was not very secure, but for all this time, no animals ever tried to breech it.  Even while we were gone for several days over Thanksgiving break, the chicks were fine.  And then, this morning when I went out to the van for something early in the morning, all that I found was a place where the bird netting had been torn away, piles of feathers, and paw prints in the dirt.  Upon closer inspection, I found more feathers and blood on our fence going to the neighbor's property.  This was enough to send me into tears over the little chicks I had raised from day one under a heat lamp in a box in the garage until they were 2 month old chicks that actually looked liked miniature hens.  I, of course, value human life above all, but I was surprised at how strongly I felt about the life being stolen from my little birds in such a sneaky and unexpected way.  Even the Bible says that God watches over the sparrows so if all of God's creatures are important to Him, then I shouldn't feel badly about my natural reaction to the giving and taking of life, even that of a little bird. 

So, in this most recent episode of Woman vs. Nature, nature has definitely won.  I have to admit that it is a little discouraging battling the wildlife in each and every little endeavor on our property, but I'm thankful that I don't live in a time or place where my actual life depends on it. 

Grape Stompin' Fun

Arianna, stomping grapes.

This past Saturday, we were invited to a neighbor's house for their own grape festival.  These neighbors are in their 70's and have been holding this event for 30-some years, starting with an interest in wine-making, then growing their own grapes, to having a sizable home vineyard with excellent wine-making results.  My hubby was put to work providing manpower to haul grapes just cut off the vines up to the yard to be processed, and he and the girls got the chance to stomp grapes and crank the grape press.  This along with an outdoor potluck and water play for the little ones made for a wonderfully adventurous Saturday filled with fun and enjoyment.

Isabella, cranking the grape press.

The hubby.

Augustus, getting into the action.

Ready to be bottled from last year's winemaking.

Dakota and Livia, staying cool.

Selah, taking a break in the hammock.

Chicken Adventures Abound

Above is our Rhode Island Red rooster.  He began cock-a-doodle-dooing last week.

The chicken adventures in our house continue.  The chicks are now 11 weeks old.  Some weeks ago, it became apparent that we had a rooster on our hands.  We watched his crown and waddle grow at a much speedier rate than the rest of the other chicks and we started to suspect that the blue paint spot on his head at purchase may have been there for a reason.  Livia had unwittingly picked out a rooster that was actually requested by another customer.  His name originally was Mama Odie, so he is now officially Papa Odie.  As it turns out, though, the man who wanted the rooster never came back for him and we didn't want to relinquish him at this point.  I had been thinking about breeding some of the hens eventually anyway, so now I get my chance.  I will keep him in a separate area from the hens until such time as I want to have fertilized eggs and then will let him join the hens temporarily. 

Next, we realized that although we had been told we had Black Australorp chicks, we it seems that we actually have 2 Barred Rock chicks.  One of these black and white chicks, Belle, is quite a bit larger than the other one, Dixie Chick.  You can see Belle below.  We've been wondering for at least a month whether or not she is a rooster, as well, and thought that if she was, her name would change to Gaston.  After watching her carefully, though, I think we just have a large hen on our hands which I would much prefer over having 2 roosters. 

Belle, our bigger Barred Rock hen.

Lastly, I was having a dreadful problem with my other hens, my five Columbian Wyandottes.  For some reason or another, several of them had started to eat their own eggs.  This is pretty disastrous considering I mainly have hens for their egg production.  I, of course, immediately Google the problem and read about several possible ways to avert complete disaster.  One was to put golf balls in their laying area and they would supposedly grow tired of pecking really hard "eggs" that hurt their beaks and be dissuaded from pecking their eggs open.  I drove to the local golf course with the girls, begged about 15 bad golf balls off of them, and promptly tried this trick out.  It seemed to be working a bit, but of course I was also checking the coop every couple of hours for eggs to try and get them first.  Then, I found out they were eating eggs still, so I had to isolate a few on a rotating basis in a large box in the garage and watch them carefully to get their eggs before they ate them.  I finally have all 5 back together and for the last couple of days, I have been getting all of the eggs from the hens.  Now, I'm hoping that they'll forget how good their eggs taste and just leave them for me.  

At least I can trust that the hens and chicks will keep things exciting around here, along with 5 girls, a dog, new fruit trees and grape vines to care for, and all the other little daily items that pop up on a regular basis. 

Chicks Progress

It is hard to believe how fast chicks can grow.  We got them when they were 2 days old and now they are 2 1/2 weeks old.  Besides being loads of fun, we hope they all turn out to be hens (rather than roosters) so that we'll have a bunch of good egg layers in another 16 weeks.  Check out their growth in the pics below.  :-)

2 days old

1 week old.  We have 2 Black Australorps and 3 Rhode Island Reds.

1 week old - This one's name is Belle and she is our biggest chick right now.

2 1/2 weeks old and curious about the camera in their faces.

The Rhode Island Red in this picture has the biggest crown so far and the blue paint from her shipping crate as a chick (we think)  is finally wearing off. 

2 1/2 weeks old.  Learning to roost.  

 The girls have all named their own chicks, except for Dakota, our youngest (who I helped with naming her hen and her chick).  By my daughters birth order, here are the names of their chicks:  #1 - Chicky "Chiquita Banana", #2 - Rosie, #3 - Belle, #4 -  Mama Odie, #5 - Dixie Chick. 

#MarchPhotoADay - 10 : Loud

These 3 definitely qualify as some of the loudest ones in my household at present.

#MarchPhotoADay - 2 : Fruit

 Fruit . . . Potential

2 pear trees, 3 nectarine trees, 2 asian pear trees, 

and 1 anna apple tree

Our Newest Additions

30 day photo challenge: day 11 - something fun

 Something fun for the girls is when the hens don't lay their eggs in the "correct spots" (either the laying box or the coop) and instead deposit an egg downstairs on the ground under the coop.  Then, someone "has to" go into the hen yard and retrieve the egg for Mommy; now that's something my girls call fun!

#3 proudly displaying the retrieved egg.

 Something not so fun last night and this morning: 2 more girls have succumbed to the flu - 1 mildly, and 1 more violently - but thankfully both are already on the mend.  Oh the adventures of a bigger family and the mysterious ways in which viruses move. 

Highlights of Our Past Week . . . The Good, The Bad, and The Hilarious

- Last Monday, after planning for quite some time, we finally bought four hens for our newly built chicken tractor (a movable coop and chicken yard).  The next day, my hubby went back and got one more hen- four just seemed incomplete, considering we have five daughters.  The girls have all named their hens, except for the baby:  #1's hen - Clucky, #2's hen - Sharky, #3's hen - Chicken Little, #4's hen - Kit, and suggested for #5's hen (by #2) - Coco (I like it, maybe it can be short for Coco Chanel as a sort joke since hens are so opposite of all things high fashion).  They have laid 24 eggs so far, not counting the ones I will find when I go out and get the eggs this morning.  We are endlessly fascinated with these creaturs who have a brain the size of a pea, and yet are so fun to watch at their daily habits.  The eggs actually do taste better than the ones bought in a store, and as #1 pointed out, it is nice to go and get eggs that are fresh and haven't been sitting in a carton in a store for who-knows-how-long.

 

 

- This past week, we dog sat my parents 11-year-old standard poodle with the hope that possibly he would mate with our female standard poodle who just happened to be in heat at the same time, thereby making it relatively easy to have our first litter of puppies.  Apparently, this was not to be.  Peluche, my parents' dog, is first of all old, which is not in his favor for fathering puppies, and secondly, is completely inexperienced in this area of realm.  Needless to say, despite the many valiant attempts on Peluche's part,  it would seem that Delilah is not pregnant (unless of course something happened without our knowledge).  The more hilarious side note to all of this and getting the hens during the same week is that our children are now being exposed to farm life (on a small scale) and observing first hand elements of the "facts of life".  I  had already been receiving many questions in regards to the dogs' behavior, so, amid much laughter and mortification on my part, I gave a brief, yet adequate explanation of the "birds and the bees" to my oldest 3 children (ages 8, 6, & 5).  

-Watching #5, who recently turned 16 months, finally take off and begin to walk (she is very proud of this new accomplishment) has been a joy for the whole family.  All the sisters are thrilled with her and keep exclaiming at "how cute" she is.  Of course, we are all completely biased and she is the baby of the family, so this is just the way it is and we love it. 

 

- Listening to #4's speech improve (just turned 3) and hearing her truly expressing herself through sentences and words is so much fun!  She says sweet things to me like, "You the best Mom ever"; and, also makes observations on things I don't even think she'll notice (for example, my hubby was painting the back of the house and #4 comes around the corner and says, "That looks better!"). Even the extremely dramatic is funny such as when she doesn't get her way and exclaims, "Mommy/Papi you broke my heart!".  

- Being a parent is challenging and rewarding.  Thankfully, there were some very rewarding moments this week.  My hubby has been going back to work for the last few days in preparation for the start of another year of teaching (1st day is today for his school).  On the first day that he was gone, I came into my livingroom mid-morning to find that my daughters were folding 2 large baskets of laundry for me without being asked.  Even the 3-year-old was pitching in!  When I exclaimed at how wonderful it was, they just said, "We knew it would make you happy if we helped with the laundry, so that is why we did it".  The next morning, I woke up, realized my hubby was already out the door and gone to work, and then heard mysterious sounds coming from downstairs.  About a minute later, the girls appeared with a bowl of oatmeal, toast with peanut butter, and cherries for me so that I could have breakfast in bed.  Then, my oldest who is 8 and has just learned to make espresso, made espresso for me and fixed it up with sugar cubes and half n'half just the way I like it.  Then, we all proceeded to the bathroom, "The Salon", and I was given a pedicure and manicure, as well.  Wow, talk about a great start to the morning!

- And lastly, going out to the garden yesterday and coming in with a bag full of yellow crookneck squash, tomatoes, a beet, and an abundance of Swiss Chard made me really happy.  We have battled the squirrels, gophers, and rabbits for our produce and lost many a battle, but despite that we are still left with enough to enjoy (not an over-abundance like I had anticipated, but definitely enough to supplement our grocery store purchases).  And, a huge side benefit from this is that the girls are much more interested in eating and trying new veggies when they help with the gardening and are able to go out and pick them fresh.  #5's favorite veggie at present is sauteed Swiss chard.