So Much to Share!

Wowzers, we have been so busy here at the homestead!  We have been working non-stop, and thankfully, we have quite a bit to show for it.  This post will have lots of pictures so I will try to keep my words to minimum...if you know me well, you know that won't be easy ;)

Since we moved in, I have been wanting a bench to go down one side of my dining table.  I knew it would provide some extra seating, especially for young-'uns.  Fitting three full size chairs down the side of the table is difficult, but seating three people on a bench down the size is no problem.  I did some searching online and came up with a plan that didn't seem too difficult.  I made my list and took myself to the hardware store to get what I would need.  After some careful calculations, I figured out that I would only need to purchase THREE pieces of wood for the entire bench...winner!  I even took my measurements and had the nice people at the hardware store make a few of the cuts for me.  I brought home the pieces, and this last weekend Nathaniel and I set to work.  I felt so strong using those power tools...it was fun!  In less than 2 hours, we had the bench built and placed in the dining room...not bad, not bad.  I still need to paint it black, but here are some pictures.  It's a little rough because it was my first major build, but I know I will get better with practice.

 While we were outside, in the cold wind, we decided to tackle another building project I had on the list...a mantle.  Our new home on the farm does not have a fireplace, but I wanted a mantle in the master bedroom.  We put together this mantle using only wood from the woodpile, and it turned out even better than I could have imagined.  I pulled out the pieces, created the layout, and Nathaniel did the hammering to assemble to piece.  Isn't it gorgeous?!?  He was quite proud of it, too!

I plan to insert a piece of board painted black into the 'fire' spot, and draw a cute fire on it with chalk.  Chalk is so popular right now, especially since it is so versatile!  By making my fire out of chalk, I can easily change it up when I am tired of it!  

One day it was quite warm, so we decided that the stinky dogs were getting a bath.  Nathaniel and the kids tackled that one while I stood back and took pictures!  Ha!  The dogs were not happy with their baths, but boy did they smell better afterward!

As for the homestead kitchen, we are constantly on the lookout for healthy things to cook and eat!  Especially things that are low-to-no carb!  While we wait for the harvest from our first homestead garden, we make do with what we can find at the grocery store.  Last week we enjoyed several yummy meals...a big chicken salad, and burger patties (no bread of course!) with homemade sweet potato fries.  Deliciousness!

After researching, we have also been wanting to try our hands at making our own beef bone broth.  It has been shown to provide lots of health benefits, and we couldn't wait to give it a try!  We are blessed with an organic, grass-fed meat distributor in our town, so I headed there for the broth pack.  We tossed in the bones, as well as lots of seasonings, celery, carrots, onions, and garlic.  We let it simmer for about 35 hours, strained out all of the chunks, and have put the bone broth up for use in soups, stews, and other cooking adventures.  It will also be great should any of us get sick in the coming months.  Here is a picture of the bone broth simmering away :)

With February upon us, love is in the air.  We have a chalkboard in our homeschool 'classroom', and I decided a little chalk board subway art was in order.  It is nothing fancy, but this board reads something new each month.  In January it read "Let it Snow!".  Below is what it reads now.  Any suggestions on what it should say for March?

We also took some time this morning to put together some handmade valentines to send to those we love.  Boy what a mess, but such fun!

I have spent some time trying to organize our books.  I am so thankful and blessed that I have two children who love to read, but would you believe that this isn't even half of our stash??  We have many more books on three bookshelves in Levi's room.  Why yes, I do believe we might have more books than the local smalltown library!  Yikes!  Can you say addiction??

One day last week, Natalie had a moment of craziness and shattered a bottle of PINK nail polish on the tile in my living room.  I had to ask forgiveness for my reaction, it was a mother-of-the-year moment for sure :(  Thankfully, I was able to get it cleaned up, but it took an hour, down in the floor, and two rolls if paper towels, along with a bottle of polish remover.  Yikes!  It was crazy!

I'll leave you for now with these beautiful images we took of the sunset last night.  The first is a picture Natalie took...love it!

This is the photo Nathaniel took, overlooking our pond.  Isn't it gorgeous?  God blessed us so much with this beautiful artwork last night.  He continues to bless us beyond our wildest dreams, here at Hen Hollow Homestead.  It is all for His glory!

Everything and Nothing

We have certainly been busy here at the homestead, but when I went looking through the pictures on my phone, it seems there aren't many photos to show for it.  We will go with the excuse that we have been too busy to take pictures! ;)

We have done some more work in the garden, preparing the sandy soil for planting.  This spring-like weather has me itching to get out there and get some seeds in the ground, but sure as I do, I know it will freeze and I will have to start all over again.  I am trying to be patient...spring come quickly!

Nathaniel and I took a super quick trip to our old house (which is STILL for sale!) to deal with a few things...batteries in the smoke detector, leaves in the yard, etc.  We were literally in town about an hour, and then hopped back in the car to drive back to the homestead.  All told it was 6 1/2 hours of driving for one hour of work, but now it is done.  We need that house to sell, and quickly.  Your prayers for that are appreciated!

The farmhouse bedroom closets did not have doors on them, so we've been staring at our clothes and shoes while we devised a plan.  Closet doors are EXPENSIVE, and we needed three sets!  OUCH!  Enter the internet, where I found a picture of the perfect doors.  I emailed the photo to Nathaniel, and in just a few hours of work, using wood we already had on hand,  he had them built and ready to hang!  He is amazing and talented, and I am so thankful he goes along with my crazy visions.  I LOVE the new doors.  So far, we only have them in our bedroom, but soon, when he has another day off of work, he will build out the doors for the kids' closets.  I cannot wait!

Aren't they lovely??  And perfect for my farmhouse/homestead decor.  Just ignore the pile of shoes on the right of the doors...I am clearing out and cleaning up, and finding homes for things.

We put the chicks out to pasture yesterday.  They had been hanging out in their chicken tractor in our backyard, but I was tired of stepping in chicken poo every time I made a trip to and from my new clothesline, so they had to go.  They are loving the grass that is coming in in the pasture, and are enjoying the bugs and worms they scratch up, too!  I am loving having my backyard back.

We have a group of ducks that have made their home in our tank/pond.  It is fun to watch them, and also to hear them quacking away down there.  We have been putting out some scratch feed for them, and apparently they are enjoying it, because they have decided to call the farm 'home'.  I wonder if we will end up with duck babies?

In other news, I did take the kids to the children's museum at Baylor.  They loved it!  We didn't even see half of it, there is so much, but we do plan to go back soon :)

Well, I guess as far as newsworthy happenings here, that about covers it.  I will try to do better about taking pictures this week, so check back soon for more homestead happenings!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

The weather this last week has been beautiful!  It has been rather springy here, which is great for getting me in the mood to work some more on the garden.

This last week, I spent some more time organizing my seeds, and deciding which ones needed to be started inside.  After making my list, and purchasing a few supplies like decomposing pots and organic soil, I went to work starting some seeds!

So far I have started two different tomato varieties, as well as some onions, some bell pepper plants, some jalapeno plants, and some romaine lettuce.  I also have three beautiful blackberry plants that will go out as soon as we have the last frost.  I would love to put them out now to get some extra grow time, but I fear they would shrivel and die if it gets cold again.  Oh, well.  Sigh.

Here are some photos of my seed starts...excuse the poor quality photographs.  I tried two different days to get some pictures, but unfortunately the sun wasn't out and it made for bad pictures.

I cannot wait to see these little seeds begin to grow, and then to transplant them into our large outside garden.  We are hoping and praying for a bountiful harvest this year!

I have also planted some Romaine lettuce out in the garden, and much to my surprise it is already sprouting!  It is going to be wonderful to enjoy a yummy salad, full of fresh veggies I have grown myself!

You have to look closely, but the tiny green sprouts are there!!

In other news, the kids and I have been collecting pine cones from beneath the pine tree in the corner of the garden.  Last week when it was sunny outside, we grabbed up the pine cones, some peanut butter, and some birdseed, and we went to work!  We made quite a few birdfeeders to hang around the property...it was so much fun, but boy did we make a mess!

This last week also found me making the garden markers to put in the garden.  I dug through the pile of old wood next to our workshop and was able to find just what I needed.  I made a list of the signs I wanted, and set to work painting.  I think they turned out perfect...rustic, cute, useful, and FREE!

Nathaniel has put them all on stakes and we will use them to mark all of our plants in the garden!  Awesome!

Last but not least, this weekend found us with reason to celebrate.  January is a big month at our house because it holds  two special anniversaries.  January 23rd is my Cancer-Free anniversary.  This year was my 11th Cancer-Free Anniversary!!  Praise the Lord!  January 27th is also our wedding anniversary, and this year we celebrated 12 years of wedded bliss...well, mostly bliss ;)  With two big days, and two big reasons to celebrate, we decided to have a dinner date.  It was nice to get away without the kids for a few hours, and spend some time talking and laughing together.  While we won't say that our marriage has been 100% easy, I think we both agree it is wonderful, and WORTH the work!  I love my farmer more today than I did the day we said our vows...and I still mean every word of those vows, as I know he does too!

Here we are all dressed up for our night out...which included dinner, a trip to my favorite thrift store, and the my weekly grocery trip.  Boy, are we fun or what!?  Ha!

We are staying busy here on the farm, and are still loving our new adventure!  Check back soon for more tales from Hen Hollow Homestead!


Blessings!

Tackling the List

If you know me in real life, you know that I love a good list, and I love it even more when I am able to mark completed tasks off of the list :)  We have had productive days here at the homestead, and have been able to mark some things from the to-do list.  Hooray!

Nathaniel has finished up the new home for the pups.  Patti and GiddyUp are not sure about this new house because it is outside.  They much prefer to stay inside the house...spoiled pups already!

Nathaniel had a special little helper for the doghouse project.  Isn't Levi adorable in his protective eye gear?

Here is a new picture of the puppies...they are growing like weeds and eating so much!  They are fun...most of the time ;)

 GiddyUp

CowPatti

This last weekend we also tackled setting the poles for my new clothesline.  It was one of the things I have had at the top of the list, so I am thrilled we are making progress.  There is something wonderful about clothes dried outside on the line, especially in the country spring air.  It certainly helps lower electric costs when I don't have to run the clothes dryer for hours every day.  I cannot wait to get the clothesline finished, but until then, I am so thankful for the progress we have made.  It should only be a few more days before we are able to finish, and I will be putting them to good use.

My dad, being the super talented guy that he is, made my clothesline poles.  We had to start by digging holes between 2 1/2 and 3 feet deep.  That doesn't sound like much, but man o man, my arms are sore!  We used the manual post-hole digger, which made things lots easier, but it was still hard work!

Here is a picture of the hole with the pole propped up inside.

Here is the pole on the North end of the yard.

And the one on the South end.

Once the concrete is cured, we will be able to attach the clothesline, and start nature-drying the laundry!  Woohoo!


It is also that time of year.  What time?  Well garden planning time.  It is time to start prepping the garden beds, gathering seeds, starting plants indoors, and even doing some early planting.  I am so excited about our garden this year.  We are planting it in the same spot my grandparents used for years and years and years, and also where my sister had her garden when she lived here.  It is the perfect spot, with lots of rich and fertile sandy soil, excellent for growing veggies to eat.

I have been prepping my seeds, making files and lists and spreadsheets so I will know what plants make good companions, and which ones do not.  This will help me as I put together a 'floorplan' for the garden, and decide what I want to plant where.

Here is a picture of the beginning of my seed files.  Each type of seed has a pocket folder, and I store all of them together for easy access.

We have spent some long days outdoors prepping our garden beds as well.  Here is a picture of my dad tilling it for us.  He is a lifesaver with that tractor, and all of the many attachments he has for it.  I'm so glad I didn't have to hand till our HUGE garden spot!

Our front garden bed.

It is time to begin planting some too!  We have put in one row of onions, and will probably add another long row of onions as well.  Here are the onion starters I bought and put out.

 

Natalie was super helpful in getting the onions in the ground.

I also plan to start some of my own onions from seed, and we will add those in soon as well.


Next to our garden is a large evergreen tree...a pine tree.  I knew it would make a great place for a small seating area, so today, while Nathaniel was at work, I decided to tackle it myself!  And tackle it I did :)

Here is a picture of the before...mainly weeds and pine-cones that have fallen from the tree.

First I used a rake to remove all of the loose debris.  What a pain!  Then I decided to utilize all of the moving boxes we had left over from our move, so I cut those apart and spread them around in the shape I wanted.

Once the boxes were in place, I had the kids help me bring over all of the large sandstone rcks we had, and we lined them up making a perimeter for our garden seating area.

With the rock border in place, we filled the inside with mulch...back-breaking work!

And here it is, all set up with an old spool table, a rocking chair, and a cutesy tray and teapot with flowers.  Whats a seating area if I cannot make it cutesy! :)

I know that we will be able to spend many hours here this summer, enjoying the sunrises/sunsets and watching the fruits of our labor grow in the garden.  All I will need is a Caffeine Free Diet Coke, and I will be a super happy girl out there!

In other news, we completed the chicken tractor, and have moved it to the backyard for a trial run with the baby chicks...well, they aren't really babies anymore!  They have probably tripled in size already, and from what we know of the breed, they are going to be HUGE, as in 12 pound birds!  Yikes!

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls out on the 'pasture', or in this case right now, the yard.  We will give them a few more days in the yard, and then they are getting the boot!  They will go out in the real pasture to range around, scratch and peck, and enjoy life in the farm!  These girls have lived the good life so far, so they had better be preparing to provide some fantastic eggs for us in the spring!

Oh, the joys of farm living!  It truly is a blessing to be out here, living our dreams, creating a sustainable life for ourselves.  While the work is plentiful, God is blessing us beyond our wildest imagination, and we are so thankful!

 

Lots of Progress

As I type this morning, the weather is dark and gray and gloomy, and it is freezing outside!  Brrr!  Thankfully, this last weekend the weather was beautiful, and we were able to get lots accomplished here at the farm.

CowPatti (we call her Patti for short) and GiddyUp spent lots of time outside enjoying the warm sunshine we had on Friday.  It seriously felt like spring, and we all enjoyed the break from howling winds and chilly temperatures.  Since they are still just little puppies (in age, not size!), they are teething on everything they can get their teeth into, as well as running and playing and wrestling, trying to distinguish which one is the boss.  They love to play with toys, which is great as long as they are approved for chewing...we keep having to remind them that tug of war with Levi's pajama pants is not allowed!  Natalie and Levi played some soccer with the girls, and they loved it.  It was so funny to watch them chase the balls, grab them in their mouths, and race back to the kids, almost like fetch.  The balls are almost bigger than their legs are long, so they hold their heads as high as possible and take off!  After a week of sickness and antibiotics, it was good to see them feeling so well, and playing outside with the kids.

Patti and GiddyUp chasing the soccer ball

Patti playing soccer

GiddyUp playing soccer

I have talked about Nathaniel's chicken tractor project here, but wanted to give a little more insight as to why it is called that, and what it's function is.  On a farm, a tractor is used to tend to the land.  A chicken tractor is the shelter used to house the chickens while they actually do the work of tending the land for us.  They live in and around the shelter scratching and pecking the ground (like tilling/plowing), eating bugs, grass and weeds (like mowing/bug treating), and pooping (fertilizing!).  In turn, they will provide us with free-range, farm fresh eggs, and eventually we will also use some of them as meat birds (and that isn't something we can do with a tractor!).  The birds will be released to roam and forage during the day, but we will use the chicken tractor as a shelter and protection from predators at night.  It is also equipped with a nesting box so the hens can lay their eggs.  The other perk of the chicken tractor is that it is easily moved from one place to another when we pop on the wheels.  Every couple of days, we will move the tractor to a new location so that all of the land is being tended by the chickens, and not just one spot!  Brilliant use of farm animals, I think!

If you remember, this is what the chicken tractor looked like the last time I shared pictures.

After this weekend, when Nathaniel and my dad spent several hours working on it, it is now almost complete.  Here are some pictures of the work this weekend.

Nathaniel and Dad attaching the metal on the first side of the chicken tractor.

My Dad working...his knowledge and help is invaluable!  We couldn't be on this journey without him!

Adding the ridge row...the strip of tin that goes across the top, keeping the water out of the seam.

Attaching the other side of the ridge row.

I teased my mom that I was going to post this picture because Nathaniel and Dad were working, and in the background she is using the reflection in the window of my van to floof her hair...hilarious!  Love ya, Mom!

 

The only thing left is for Nathaniel to attach the rods that will be used as axles for the wheels (which are only on the tractor when it is being moved), and a little more chicken wire across the back side under the nesting box.  Once those things are complete, we will put the tractor out to pasture, and our first batch of chickens should be fully feathered and ready for the pasture in one or two more weeks.  We are making sure to give them a little extra time inside the brooder box since it is so very cold outside.  We are still at 100% survival from our first shipment, and would like to keep it that way as long as possible! :)


Nathaniel also spent some time building a new brooder box.  The breed of chickens that we purchased are going to be HUGE!  Typically, chickens weigh 6-8 pounds each, but the particular breed we got is probably going to reach 12 pounds each!!  Unbelievable!  That means that they are already looking gigantic, and were quickly outgrowing the first brooder box.  In order to keep them warm, happy, clean, and healthy, we have made a bigger brooder using only what we had on hand...that made it free!

The chicks moved from this efficiency apartment... (yes, the kids were hiding in there!)

...into this spacious condo!!  Ha!

What are those white slats, you ask?  Well, as we try to employ a 'use what you have' mentality, Nathaniel was able to use extra slats from the blinds in the house.  Each window had several inches worth of extra slats just resting in the windowsill because the blinds were for long windows and ours are short.  Nathaniel had recently spent a couple of hours going window to window, removing the extra slats.  That left us with at least 100 window blind slats, which we put in the workshop 'in case' we needed them for anything.  Little did we know they would come in so handy already!  Next time you work on a project, try using only what you have around you.  With a little imagination, you'll be surprised with what you come up with.  It saves money, and keeps things out of the trash!


As if all of that wasn't enough, Nathaniel has also started building a dog house for the girls.  They are growing like weeds, and will soon be getting the boot from their full-time, in-the-house, pampered lifestyle.  They are going to be farm dogs, and they need to start living that way.  Oh, we aren't going to be mean to them, but they are going to be spending more and more time outside, getting used to life in the yard instead of life in the living room.  They will be okay, they are farm dogs!

Jones Academy is back in session and we are falling back into our routines after the holidays of laziness and leisure.The kids are doing well, though I'll admit, they are more reluctant that I would like when it comes to schoolwork.  I'm trying to have grace and patience, but some days (actually many days) that is hard.  Quit complaining and fussing and just do the work already!!  Sigh*

January is shaping up to be a fun month around here!  We hope things in your neck of the woods are going well also. 

And if you read here, don't forget to leave us a comment!  We love comments :)  Besides, it helps us better know what to share here if we know who is reading...is anyone out there?

Speak up!

Just a note to say we LOVE receiving comments here on the 'ol blog!  Speak up!  If you read something funny, let us know you laughed.  If you learn something new here, tell us.  Advice to give?  By all means, give it (just give it nicely!).  If you adore our family (and who wouldn't, ha!), share the love by leaving us a comment.  As long as you have something nice, thoughtful, encouraging, or funny to say, we would love to hear from you!!

Blessings! :)

Sisters!

This weekend was a busy one at the homestead!  Despite the cool temperatures, the sun was finally shining so we tried to get some things accomplished.  The list of things to do seems like it is always growing.  As we mark things off of the top of the list, even more tasks are added at the bottom!

Saturday morning Natalie got her first real lesson to what farm life can be like...the lesson on animal loss.  I noticed that Scar, one of our roosters, was not in the barnyard or the backyard, his two favorite early morning places.  Nathaniel looked and didn't see him either, so we assumed he had flown the fence and was exploring out back...not completely uncommon.  Natalie went searching, and returned out of breath and terrified for what she 'thought' she found.  Nathaniel went with her, and sure enough, she had found Scar's body.  Sadly, he had been attacked and killed by a wild predator.  Needless to say, Natalie was devastated.  She had become fast friends with the roosters, and now, so quickly, one of her dear pets was gone.  She helped Nathaniel take care of Scar's body, quietly sobbing yet trying to hold it together the entire time.  She was grief-stricken, and was afraid that Ruffy, the remaining rooster, would fall into a depression without his lifelong friend. A valid concern, and a rough start to the weekend. 

With the reality of predators hitting home, Nathaniel and I decided we would take the plunge and get a dog.  A good guard dog for the homestead, and more specifically the chickens, has always been in the plan, but we hadn't made any moves on it yet.  With an animal gone, we knew we needed to look at getting a dog sooner rather than later...especially since we wanted a puppy so we could train it with the chicks. 

We spent a little time searching online, and discovered an animal shelter that had the breed we were hoping for.  They had puppies that were a mix of Australian Cattle Dogs (Blue Heeler) and Black Labrador Retriever.  Perfect!  Off we went to check it out, and it was love at first sight.  The puppies were precious, and so we came home with TWO!  Yes, sisters.  Yikes!  Did we bite off more than we could chew?  Maybe.  Are we enjoying this crazy ride?  Mostly! :)

Let me introduce to you the newest additions to Hen Hollow Homestead. 

Giddy-Up with Natalie and Levi

 Cow 'Patti' with Natalie

 

My dad with both of the girls

 

Needless to say, the puppies have been welcomed with open arms.  They are still working through the transition to new food and new surroundings, but seem to LOVE it here.  The hard work of housetraining them has begun, and boy is it NOT fun!  Eventually these sweeties will be outside dogs, but now, while they are so young, we must keep them inside most of the time.  That means I am potty-training TWO toddlers at once.  We've gone through what seems like gallons of cleaner (though not really) and millions of paper towels, as we clean up after them.  The first day was a nightmare because they were nervous and making messes every five minutes.  Now that we have them on a schedule and are kennel training them, they are doing great!  Only one accident yesterday, and so far today, no accidents!  Hooray for little successes!

Once we got the puppies home Saturday afternoon, we weren't able to accomplish much else, but Sunday was a different story.  With the warm sunshine, the girls were loving being out in the yard, so we let them play while we worked.  I cleaned, laundered, meal planned and stopped by the local dairy for farm eggs (not for long though, we should have our own in the spring!).  Nathaniel worked some more on his chicken tractor, adding the door on the front and the door to the nesting box, as well as weather treating the wood.  All that is left is for him to add the tin and chicken wire to the frame, pop the wheels on it, and it will be ready for the chicks!

Speaking of chicks, our 15 are all still alive and well.  They are eating like pigs and growing like weeds.  They are almost fully feathered now, so it won't be long until we put them out to pasture in their newly built chicken tractor!  I will take pictures of that for sure.

I guess that just about covers the big events of the weekend.  If you add in the mundane, everyday chores like feeding and watering the animals, cooking, dishes, and laundry, we are certainly keeping busy around the homestead.  But really, I wouldn't have it any other way.  We are loving almost every minute of this farm life, and cannot wait to continue adding animals to our crew, and also start living off of the land.  Ahhh, living simply (I didn't say easy, and there is a difference) and sustainably!  Yes, please!

Blessings to you all!