Fall Photos

Hi friends,

I hope you're having a lovely autumn. We have been our usual busy selves around here.

Here's what's been happening in our neck of the woods...

Last month, on October 3rd, my parents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, only the celebrating had to be postponed. Because unfortunately, on October 1st, my dad had a heart condition that required him to be airlifted to a hospital north of us for pacemaker implant surgery on the morning of October 2nd.

While in the hospital, he very seriously told the nurses, doctors, etc. that they could do the surgery, but they had better release him on the 3rd because he wanted to be home on their anniversary. The family was wondering, "Come home the day after pacemaker surgery???"

Guess what?

He was released on the 3rd!!
Oh, we of little faith!

God is good, isn't He?!

Here's a pic of my parents at their belated anniversary dinner on October 12th:

They are such a wonderful example to family and friends of honoring their marriage covenant.  :)

Meet Raj, the Toggenberg buck...

Our breeder, Mary, brought  him to our property on October 19th. He is one massive goat and is here til he breeds with our does, which hopefully isn't too much longer because he's an eating machine! 

Mary described him as a "gentle giant", and he is...until one of the does goes into heat. Then he morphs into a bull-like, pawing-at-the-ground, head-throwing, furry maniac! That's when we leave the 2 "love birds" alone and let nature take its course.  ;)

As you can see, compared to Helena, he is one big boy!

He has a very interesting curly horn, with a second horn growing up through the middle..

And his beard reminds us of a mane..

We are hoping and praying for baby goats in the spring!  :)

We're still getting plenty of milk from our goats; enough to make raw yogurt..

and ricotta cheese, too. (Sorry! I didn't take a pic of that!)


Our Rouen ducks are getting fattened up for winter. Not that we want to butcher them, because that isn't the plan;  but we are eager to have some duck eggs for baking. And ducklings in the spring would be wonderful, too. They love grazing in the yard and always roost at night close to the goats. They must be thinking that Raj will protect them from predators.  ;)  Here they are foraging near the barnyard as usual, with Helena lounging in the background.

 School days are rolling right along. We have just finished our first term. The children are loving the AO curriculum even more this year than last.
We are enjoying  nature sketching in the beautiful fall colors.
Aaron is sketching under one of our Scarlet oak trees..

Natty is sketching on the rope swing platform.

After sketching, Mimi found some catnip leaves for Kim.

And there is always time for a break from lessons for a basketball game, right?  :)
(Notice Aaron's red boots. He always grabs the shoes/boots closest to the door, no matter who they belong to, since "I don't have time to find my own!"  He's wearing Natty's boots in this photo- lol)

Lately, there has been little time in my life for sewing and crafting. But I was able to squeeze in a few minutes this week to make Natty this skirt from a jumper I got at a thrift store.

But the girls and I have a big sewing project planned for this winter:
making curtains out of this beautiful material that my oldest daughter, Nicole, got for me.
(She lives really close to a Joann's Fabric store and I am soooo jealous! haha!)

I can hardly wait to get started. Come on, winter!  :)

Until next time, my friends.

"To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven."
Ecclesiastes 3:1