Decorating graves...

The 9 year old took some time this week to decorate the grave of her dear bunny that died this past summer. This is a part of welcoming so many pets into our lives, it can be so painful to loose them, but was such a blessing to share a time together. Rest in peace, little Stormy.

Everything but the kitchen sink...

My parents live at my granny & grandpa's old homestead. They've built a new home there and they use granny's old house as storage. Years ago, after my grandparents had both passed on, vandals broke into their home and stole many things, even the wood stove. We were so sad to loose all those family heirlooms, but I was thrilled when I discovered that granny's enameled cast iron kitchen sink was still in the house!

My dad & hubby got the sink out so that I could build a garden sink & resurrect granny's beloved farm sink. Have you seen any amazing garden sinks? Outdoor kitchen sinks? I'd love to see some links!

The best wheat pasture in town...

I do believe that I accidentally discovered a great way to cultivate a wheat pasture! My girls had a little sunflower house in this spot so I scattered some wheat hay for them to make it more cozy. As temperatures cooled, beautiful dark green wheat began growing.

The hens just love this little patch of green and nibbling in it keeps their yolks dark orange and tasty (unlike those sad pale store eggs). Maybe we need to plan an accidental wheat pasture every year!

Hens...

We bought these two ladies full grown and laying...don't think I'll ever try chicks again! It was so nice to bring them home and have two gorgeous eggs the very next day! I'm not sure of the breeds, but I'd love to hear your input about that. The black one has a beautiful green shimmer to her feathers so the 9 year old named her "Beetle". The white one was named "Feathered Friend" by the 7 year old. They have been champion layers all winter, unlike winters past when we've gone to the nesting box each day to find it empty. They are also very quiet, no loud announcements of new eggs or anything, just those sweet soft clucks of happy hens.

Fresh ground cornmeal...

Having a flour mill offers lots of opportunities outside of just grinding wheat flour. Tonight I'm grinding corn and wheat to make Avocado Pound Cake! If you haven't discovered this recipe, you MUsT try it! Dee-lish! Just go to Joy the Baker's blog & give it a try...you won't be dissapointed!

Our Wee Horse

While we were back home for Thanksgiving, we got to see the wee horse. She is pregnant & due in April! Brownie had to be moved to a family pasture because of the severe drought here & a lack of good grass for our special lil mama. Hoping she can return to Willow Run before the birth.

Carrots in a Bottle

A few day ago I posted about our experiment with planting carrots in empty pop bottles. The theory is that you will be able to watch some of them grow. Here's what our little carrots look like today! We are up to 3 bottles and I plan to add more as we get empties.