Is it turkey season?

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 6:26 ESV

In my front "yard" or field if you will. Absolutely magnificent! Beautiful birds!

The chickens were keeping an eye on what was happening on the other side of their fence. That tall one is King Edmund, our rooster, named after Edmund of Narnia.

Wanderings

Some random pictures of my wanderings..

I go to Weaver's Country Market at least once a week. It is owned and run by a Mennonite family, and all of their goods are natural and yummy! I get eggs, butter, cheese, bread, and whatever goodies we want for the week.

You can tell a Mennonite home around here, because
they all have scripture placed at their mailbox.

This is the tombstone for King Neptune, the mascot pig for the navy in the 40s. I kid you not- he has his own turnout on the highway and everything!
Google him if you want the story!

Midnight marauders enjoying the dog food on the back porch!

The last of the season's color!

This was the scene a few miles up the road- how cute is this? I wonder what the story is and who got engaged! I have been tempted to stop in and ask!!

Summers End

Treasures...

So, the people that we bought the farm from (when I say that, I always think I should reassure you that we are alive and kicking and that we didn't really "buy the farm" :)
Anywho- they left a bunch of stuff. I mean a bunch. It's like they took what they needed and walked out. I am reminded a little of Connemara, Carl Sandburg's home, that's a museum now. When Mrs. Sandburg left, she only took what she needed (she even left her purse on the chair) and it is all still in place! We are daily finding new treasures. Here's a few:

• a piano!!!!! I mean a beautiful Kawai piano. Nicer than any we have every had.
• a truck!! I kid you not! They did not want to move the truck. We did pay them $500 but a quick search of Kelley Blue Book shows that it's worth $3100!!!! YeeHaw!!
• a container of handmade quilts and quilt tops! (pictures to come)
• oodles of tools
• tables and chairs
• beach chairs
• some kind of grinder thing- hopefully for grain?
• books and more books
• pots and pans
• canning jars
• rugs
• a fooseball table
• hangers in every closet
• fencing
• 3 desks
• 2 desk chairs
• art work
• 2 refrigerators
• a HUGE wardrobe (perfect for pretending Narnia! minus the furs of course!)
• shelving
• a chipper
• a tiller
• loads of batteries
• a pantry full of organic groceries
• a fridge full of organic groceries (almond breeze "milk" anyone?)
• plants
• mirrors
• lamps
  
• LOTS of birdseed
• all kinds of other seed
  
• and Much more!

We are discovering new wonders every day. I will post pictures soon and keep you up to date on anything new we find!

It's a BIG week...

This past week, I turned 40, Roger and I had our 19th wedding anniversary AND we closed on the farm of our dreams! BIG doin's!!

First, I thought I would be old when I turned 40, but 40 feels great! I am really looking forward to this decade. I have 4 great kids and a wonderful Godly husband! Life is good and I praise God for his blessings in my life.

Second, 19 years! YeeHaw! Now that's something to celebrate! I am still as much in love with him today as on our wedding day, AND I know that I love him more. Time has given us a deep and abiding understanding of each other and who God made us to be. I am so thankful that we get to be that with each other! Praise Him again!

Lastly- we finally closed on our farm!! YAY! We are so excited about moving in next week. (The folks that we bought it from needed a couple of weeks to go to Virginia to buy another house, so we are in SC spending the week with Roger's folks)

Here are some pictures of the property:



I have my chicken order in the queue at Murray McMurray hatchery ( I think 25 will do)! Can't wait to host small group bible studies, church planting team meetings, families that don't know Jesus for dinner, friends that do for fellowship and worship. If you are in our neck of the woods, please plan on stopping by. We would love to see you!!

Out and about...

The Road Home...

This is the road that our home is on. So beautiful!

Strawberries!!!

We went strawberry picking with some friends today. It was a lot of fun! It was great to take Isaiah for the first time- we have been picking strawberries every year since Bennett was 1 ! Making jam tomorrow!

Fisher girly girl....

Today's View and the Snake Road

View from our back porch

This morning's view from our back window (all before we left for church):

• 10 deer grazing
• 50 cows roaming
• 1 fox trotting
• 10 hawks swirling
• 5 geese swimming
• 2 ducks gliding
• 5 cats meowing
• 1 dog barking

And on the kitchen counter:

• 2 butterflies breaking out of their chrysalis

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with some ladies at the Wednesday night dinner at church. The topic started out with the need for Earthquake Insurance (which apparently we need in So. Ill.- New Madrid fault!) and went to the "Snake Road". What, might you ask, is a "snake road". Apparently there is a road near here that the park rangers close for two months in the fall and two months in the spring for the SNAKES to cross to their habitats! SNAKES! NO KIDDING! WHO KNEW?! You can read about it here! My only question to them was, "Is there anything else that I need to know about this place!?!?!?" Welcome to the Wild Kingdom! (and that's just outside the house- just imagine if we threw what the kids are doing in!)


Front view of our house:

Are You Kidding Me?

Another rat snake in the barn!! UGH! This one wasn't as big. Roger is changing his name to "Snake Slayer"!!!

Country Living Update

Living in the country is an adventure!! Yesterday, on my "way to town", I passed a blue jay, a cardinal, a turtle, two cats playing, umpteen horses, cows, and of course my goat neighbors! That's right- loving the drive! However, we are just learning how to cope with predators out here! Not the scary alien kind from the movies, but the creepy crawly kind like foxes, racoons, and SNAKES!!!!! UGH!! Just to set the story- I am nature woman! I love all things nature. We keep an aquarium in our school room just in case we find something interesting that we want to "observe". We were thrilled to come out this morning to "Lance", our new turtle friend in our garden. BUT, all that said, I ABHOR SNAKES!!!!!!! During chore time this afternoon, I sent Bennett out to gather the eggs. He went into the chicken house looked all around for eggs, and found a few WITH A SNAKE COILED UP ON TOP OF THEM!!!!! I am so glad he didn't reach down for them without looking more closely. Turns out it was just a black Rat snake (4 ft long!!)- a good snake to have unless it is EATING your chicken eggs!!! So, goodbye snake! I think I will start notching the hoe for every snake that Roger has to kill- a trophy of sorts!!! Oh yeah, and did I mention that we have lost 10 chickens to a fox! Oh, the joy of country living!!! BEWARE- THERE IS A PICTURE BELOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!