Goats and pigs!

On Saturday we added 5 more creatures to our property, 3 goats and 2 pigs. Ben and Leonard built a shed for them to get out of the rain under. They are penned up in it now for a few days so they can get used to us. The goats are boer goats-meat goats. They are cute with their floppy ears thus the names Flopsy, Mopsy, and Peter-two girls and one boy.They are about 4 months old. The pigs are named Babe and Ham Bone. They are both brothers and are about 12 weeks old.
Midnight loves the goats. When she first saw them she wasn't too sure about them. We staked the goats in the yard at first untill we could get the pen ready. Next thing Midnight was laying in the grass with them. It was so cute. Everytime she comes to see the goats with me, the goats run up to meet her and follow her around as she circles the pen. It is funny.
Flopsy on the left and Peter on the right were trying to figure out what a camera was! No it is not something to eat!

(drum roll) Pictures of our place and chickens too

Due to the high demand I am releasing the much sought after photos of our place, before and after. Click on the slide show at the top of the page to view the pictures as well as read all the captions. I hope you enjoy Uncle Jim and Aunt Phyllis.....and many others!!! LOL

Battle of Chickamauga

Ben and Leonard cleaning guns after the first battle.

We have been busy since I last blogged, but not without fun. A week and a half ago, Thursday we headed for Chickamauga GA for the 145th anniversary reenactment of the battle of Chickamauga. We stayed Thursday till Saturday evening. My sister and brother-in-law came along, Krista and Leonard with their two boys, as well as my in-laws. Also some friends of ours came, so we had our own little camp right there. LOL It was the biggest one that I have been to. Over 4,000 reenactors were there. On Friday we slept in a little, ate breakfast,and did a little shopping at the sutlers. Around noon Dick Cheney spoke. His Great-Grandfather fought in the battle of Chickamauga. It was pretty neat.
Friday they had one battle and three on Saturday, the third one being a night one. That was neat but where we were we couldn't see much but a little fire now and then but the guys loved it. They said they had the most fun on that one.

My mother-in-law bought herself a dress. She looked great in it. We are fixing it a little. I bought myself a camp dress as well.

My cute nephews

Battle of Tunnel Hill

I am kinda back tracking but hadn't had time to put pics on yet but wanted you to see some great shots from the battle of Tunnel Hill, GA that we went to. Ben was first Sargent. My Nephew Patrick was so adorable and dirty!! LOL he kept finding walnuts and would chew on them!! He was more interested in them then the battle. Jerrel also had fun playing with his new friend

Quilt

Last Thursday I finished my first quilt block. I was so excited. Yesterday I worked on it again with my quilt teacher, Sam, and we made a lot of headway. She invited me to come over to her house so she could help me some more. We had a great time. It is so exciting to see it starting to take shape and feel accomplished after just cutting and pinning and ironing. I like it, especially if you work on it together with someone.This is the two different blocks I am making. They will be just like that on the quilt, alternating. It is going to be so pretty!

Parent's move

Last week I helped my parents move in. It was nice to see them again and especially being that close. It was tiring mainly for them. They were in a moving daze most of the time! :)

This is a picture of the house they are staying in right now. Eventually they will get their own place.


Truck is finally empty!!!! Go Matt!!!


My brothers and I having a little fun with the web cam on my laptop. Then enters Pop.....who is trying to figure out what is going on!!! LOL


My mom said this week that they are settling in much more and house is looking much better.

Three Eyelids??

Did you know that a dog has 3 eyelids? Well I didn't but I found that out when Midnight's third eyelid became infected. Poor thing, it looked awful. It is the eyelid that just goes around the eye but when it becomes infected it pushes over the eye some and it is like sandpaper on it. Well good thing I took her in because if you leave it too long it can actually make that eye blind. It looks alot better but still red. I have to put medicine in it 3 times a day. By the way the first eyelid, I believe, is clear over the eye and the 2nd is the one that blinks. Learn something new every day.

The car that doesn't like me

I'm driving through Atlanta. Good I thought I am missing the traffic, I'm through the city now. Then creep, creep, creep, some broken down vehicles. We are moving not to fast but not to slow. Phone rings, it's mom, can't ignore that one. So now I am driving and talking, which I normally am pretty good at.
(Oh did mention my car is a stick! Oh and did I mention my air conditioner has a problem with its condenser, it doesn't drain out after you have run it a while: well it does but not outside. So I have a pan on the passenger floor to catch it. )
Back to story, Car in front suddenly stops because of car in front of him and so on. I brake quite hard and stop just in time and watch car behind me almost hit me. Thank God it was open in lane next to him, he swerved off. Mom asks you ok, Yeah, was almost rear-ended but its alright, its moving again. All the sudden I look on the floor, oh purse fell off the seat but missed the water filled pan. It fell on the damp floor where water splashed out. Picked it up, still talking, or listening. Then I see wallet floating in water. Oh man! Lean over and scoop up. I tell my Mom what had happened. Talk ensues of letting me go. Then I see my camera also in the water! Oh NO I say, Again lean over, still driving, with phone and stick shift, scoop it up and start banging water out of it! Oh i better let you go says mom, I agree and we say good bye. I take apart banging and blowing. Anyways, It did finally turn on but now it won't turn off at all. I have to pop the batteries out. So then the lense remains out and open. Oh well.
PS Santa I hope you read this! LOL

I am famous

Our reenactment on Saturday went great. It was a little hot when the sun was out so we kept praying for the clouds. We met some really neat people who were one of the sutlers. They sold meals and boy was supper good, especially later when she gave us some home-made cinnamon rolls, smack your mama good, as my sister law said! They were people who are like Ben and I, nice and unique. We both like to garden, have animals, try to live off the land, love kids etc. They are going to be at the next reenactment we go to as well so we are both looking forward to it.
After the battle a reporter from the Chattanooga Times Free Press interviewed Ben and I. She quoted us in her article which I thought was pretty cool. You can read it at http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/sep/07/georgia-blue-gray-battle-again/ or go to the home page and find it from there.
The best part for me is always the evening, the ball, chatting with friends, having fun. The drive home late at night can be boring and tiring or if you are riding with Leonard and Andy it can be very entertaining. To keep the driver awake they pretended to be radio hosts, discussing everything from the Bible to politics to how their show has touched people . I haven't laughed that hard in a while.
I am in NC now helping my parents unpack, borrowing some neighbors internet. :) ha ha. So Ben is by himself for a couple days. He was sick yesterday and left work early, but was feeling better late last night. Love you!
Well I better get to helping my mom unpack her kitchen.

defending my territory!

I hear my dogs barking middle of the day! Hmm. They bark but not usually in the day. I sit a second then decide to look outside. Out the back door I see a German Shepherd wandering around our back yard...Not even giving it a second thought or a what if he is a mean dog, just thinking my chickens are back there, I go flying out the door yelling and hollering "GET OUT OF HERE...GO GO GO! As I run onto the back porch, Blackie, our chicken who refuses to be penned, runs out from under the porch just a squaking and hollering. Midnight comes running after the dog and the dog meanders off, Midnight following it till it leaves, me all the while yelling at it and chasing it off. Then I think, what if he was not a nice dog, but then again if you saw what he saw you'd probably leave too, mean or not.

babbling

I am glad to be sitting at home, finally after running almost all week, and working some 10 hour days.
New news! (or old news that is new to you)
My chicks have hatched! 29 out of 35 hatched. They are almost a week old now. All of them are black with some white except 3 are yellow. I hatched them from our own eggs we get from our chickens. It is so fun to have a part in seeing new life, even just chicks. I hope to keep a few and sell the rest. (anyone want to buy some chicken?)
Drago, our newest puppy is doing pretty good. He had to have surgry on his hip after getting hit by a car. He really wants to play now that he is feeling better but we have to keep him a little longer for it to heal.
My family is moving!!! Their truck is half packed and they'll be leaving tomorrow to head part of the way down to SC. It is happy and sad for them and for me too. I'm glad they are going to be closer but sad because it is not the same. I lived at that place since i was 7. Also there is not a big reason to go back up there now so I won't see it for a long time. I guess I'm too sentimental sometimes. I do worry how much longer my grandparents will be around. Hopefully I'll get to see them again.
I hope to go help my parents move in next week. Probably going to go down monday and come back wednesday or thursday. Pray for my family and my brothers and sisters.
I put up a birdfeeder last week and the next day birds were coming to it. I love watching them!
We are going to our first reenactment of the fall this Saturday. I am excited. We are going to Tunnel Hill GA. The first one we went to was here and it is one of my favorite. I hope it is not too hot! UGGG.