Exciting News!

Up here on the hill in the Maine woods, we take great pleasure in the simple things. As I had said in a previous post, Darlin' gave me a bird feeder for Christmas. I hadn't had any birds visit until this past Saturday. Here are some pictures of our first little visitor:

She is just about the cutest thing!

 We all enjoyed watching as she came and munched on seeds throughout the day.

 Just one thing; we don't know what kind of bird she is! If anyone knows, could you please comment and enlighten us?? I have ordered a bird book,but it isn't here yet.

I hope she will return and bring many of her friends with her!

Have a good day y'all and don't forget to enjoy the "little things" in this life.

Ladies Homestead Gatherings

Good morning all! My cousin and I are starting up a chapter of Ladies Homestead Gatherings! Here is the link to their website: http://www.ladieshomesteadgathering.org/
This is what my cousin posted on her blog:

I am very excited to announce my Cousin Dani and I will be starting A Ladies Homestead Gathering here in the state of Maine. This is part of a National nonproft organization in which each month we will learn a homestead tip and have support for one another and our homesteads.
This will be open to any lady who is interested in homesteading in an urban or rural setting. For any woman who is beginning to research homesteading.
Some of the topics anticipating to go over are bee keeping, raising beef critters, goats, chickens, cooking from scratch, candle making, soap making, etc.
Please let me know of your interest date so we can keep you informed of our first meeting date!!!

We have since chosen our first meeting date: March 25th, 2017 @ 2:00pm. The topic will be Garden planning. We are still in the planning stages, and learning details, but there is talk of including a "lending library" in which we will share our homesteading related books with each other. We will be meeting once a month. This is a good opportunity to get together with friends, meet new friends, and have a good time sharing the passion we have for all things homesteading. If you would like to learn more and this idea tickles your fancy, then feel free to contact me : danniosgood@gmail.com or my cousin Dee : wylddreamfarm@gmail.com. We hope to get together with friends, new and old and learn new things! Come join us for some fun!!

We Want Out!

These cuties couldn't wait to go outside!

After some fun in the snow, time for hot chocolate! 

 MMM! Chocolate smiles!

 The other night I peeked in on the boys before I went to bed. Little Boy's bed was empty. Look where I found him! It was really dark then,but the flash makes it look like mid day.

My package for my project should be here today, I'll keep you posted. If all goes well I may have it done on Saturday!

~Backlog~

Right around Christmas, Poopie brought this mink over to Darlin' when he went outside. This is the second one (that we know of) that she's caught. Good dog. She keeps our chickens safe. I still have the old bitties that free range. They stay huddled up in the barn with straw most of the time now (I don't blame them!). A couple years ago we lost one chicken to the coons. The dog comes in with us at night, so she couldn't protect them. I guess a real homestead dog would stay outdoors all night, but Poopie is more of a pet than a work dog. 

 Little Boy was trying to lug a chair down from the livingroom into the kitchen and I couldn't figure out why. I kept saying "No, you're going to fall." He was getting mad, and I couldn't fathom what the fascination was with the chair all of a sudden. Then I looked out in the kitchen and Big Boy had pulled a chair up to the stove. Now it all made sense. Poor Little Boy. He was just trying to copy his brother and I was telling him ''no''. Once we straightened that out, I carried the chair out for him and he was happy as a clam.

 Awwah.

 I had unknowingly dumped a bag of pellets into the stove that had some clumps in it and it was making the fire smolder. So I had to grab my wash tub and scoop them all out one "gallon" at a time 'till I found all the clumps. The boys could smell fun a mile away. They came out to the kitchen so quick, with trucks and scoops and their new excavator from Uncle Chance. I thought "why not?"

 I'm not sure why the sitting in tubs of small, dry objects is so irresistible.

 Eating popcorn and watching Veggietales on JellyTelly,courtesy of Gran-Gran.

The view the morning of this picture was breath taking! It was right after freezing rain followed by a dusting of snow. These pictures don't do it justice! The sunrise on the ice covered branches was GLORIOUS! I do not comprehend how people can see such beauty and say there is no God.

More pictures and posts to come! Have a great day everyone!

Limitations

Happy New Year everyone!
You're probably wondering where I have been and what is going on around here.
As I have mentioned before, Darlin's work schedule changed last September. Which increased my workload at home dramatically. It isn't the most ideal situation, yet we are very grateful that he has a job, as jobs around these parts aren't exactly plentiful. He used to be self employed as a logger, cutting wood on our property and other wood lots around. But with all the mills in Maine shutting down, the wood prices are through the floor because there is nowhere to take it. Hard times for woodsmen. He has been working construction for nearly a year and a half.
     Anyway. We sold the cows. All of them. We had 6. Two steers, two cows and their calves. I just couldn't do it anymore. I constantly felt like I was two steps from insanity. They just require so much care, but there is only one me, and the boys come first. It would be a different story if the boys were older,but at the ages of 1-1/2 and 3, I cannot leave them to take care of loose animals, and all the other fun stuff that comes with keeping livestock. Plus everything else that I have to do around here. I felt like I could not do anything well at all because I was spread so thin. You know? Too many plates to keep spinning. Therefore, we had to get rid of some plates. I really do enjoy cows. I miss them. But just like the Good Book says; "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" Ecclesiastes 3:1 And this just isn't the season for cows.
     That being said, Darlin' is going to expand the maple sap business side of things this Spring. He hopes to put in close to 350 more taps. That should finish up the front piece of maple trees. Then we have several more down back to tap. Hopefully someday when we get them all tapped we would be able to generate enough income to be more financially flexible, and maybe some day, "self sufficient".

Big Boy turned three on Dec. 9th. He is getting so big! He is right in love with Chuggington trains! Little Boy is walking everywhere and talking non stop! I have recently reorganized the toys, games and crafts. I hope to do a little video on that soon. Big Boy has been doing more preschool type stuff. He loves it! I hope to do a video/post on that soon too.
     I'm still working on that surprise I told you about... don't give up on me. Also, I've got a project up my sleeve that I think you will like as well. The essentials for that are on their way, I had to order them online. Cousin Dee, I think you will like both of them! You're an old soul like me!

All this to say that I am still alive. Things are starting to simmer down as I readjust to some changes made. Also, I got a bird feeder from Darlin for Christmas. I've had it up for almost 3 weeks now and no birds. :( That's a bummer. I think I will move it to a more prominent spot and then slowly inch it back to where I want it.
Take care and think SPRING!

I'm Losing It

It is only December. We just started getting snow. And I've already got cabin fever! That makes for a LONG Winter!

     In the early morning, sitting by the stove in my rocker, drinking coffee, I find my mind wandering to thoughts of Spring. I blame the seed catalogs!! LOL. I keep thinking about what new plants I want to try, things I want to do differently (like keep a garden journal, to start with!). And how good fresh turned sod smells. Then I think about peepers in the pond. I love peepers! And how nice it is to hang out laundry on the line, and how fresh it smells. And how awesome the song birds sound just before dawn! And watching the chickens scratching around in the dirt, looking for tasty treats. Oh, yes. I've got it BAD!
*Sigh*

How will I ever live through to Spring?! LOL.
     Have a good day y'all! God Bless!

A Secret...

Good morning everyone! I am excited to tell you I'm working on a little secret surprise to share with you! I can't spoil it though. I think many of you will like it, so stay tuned!

It is hard to believe that my youngest sister was wearing this snowsuit when Darlin' and I were dating! It fits Big Boy perfectly this year!

What a face! I guess he can't wait for the surprise either!

Let's see....what's been going on around here? Well, we got some hay on Saturday. Our Taurus is in the shop, again. We have decided that once the inspection runs out in April, we will retire the car. It's been a good little car. We've had it for over 3 years now. It's a 2003. We bought it from a private owner for $2,300 and it had 83,000 miles on it at the time. Up until recently, it has been very reliable. What I liked most about it is that we didn't have a car payment. I'm more of the "cash on the barrel" type, and I hate having loans. It still isn't a bad car, but the body is wearing out. That's the biggest pain about Maine Winters. I don't mind the snow nearly as bad as I mind the fact that we have to salt the roads. It is hard on vehicles. Car washes are a must! Even then, the salt eventually always wins in the end. We've never had a vehicle that the motor went before the body did. 

What else is going on...? Oh! We now have two calves. One heifer and one bull. If I could just remember to take the camera out to the barn with me I could share some pictures before they are all grown up! 

     I've done a little Christmas decorating. I still have some lights to put up. Big Boy is really excited for a Christmas tree! We will get one this weekend. He did some sliding with Daddy yesterday and loved every minute of it! 

     Little Boy is walking all over the place! And talking up a storm! Next Summer he will be tromping through the garden with me instead of watching from the stroller! 

Which reminds me. I think when I find some time (somewhere, LOL) I will make my seed order out. I've already been getting seed catalogs in the mail. I want to set out a new garden plan though. I'm going to move some things around , which, you are supposed to rotate anyway. For example, for the last two years, I've plated Jack-Be-Littles in the raised beds on a trellis. Next year I will not plant anything on a vine in the raised beds. They somewhat take over, and make it hard to get to anything else without damaging the vines. Carrots, on the other hand, did extremely well in the raised beds. This was the first year that I've had good luck with carrots. Planting them straight in the ground doesn't turn out so well for me. Oh, it probably would, if I mixed sand in the soil like you're supposed to. 😉 And maybe I'll do just that next year. I did find out, however, that I need to plant MANY more carrots than I did this season. I thought I had A LOT. Then I washed, peeled and blanched them. I ended up with only 3-1/2 pints. Not nearly enough for us. That's just a snack! I also am going to order all heirloom seeds, because I want to start saving my own seeds. It saves money, and I think it would be neat to plant the following year seeds that I've saved myself. It's sustainable. 

Anyway, life is calling. I will come back to "see" you tomorrow! 

Mama's Little Helpers

Learning how to fold washcloths. Big Boy was so proud to be "helping" with the laundry. After we were done folding, I put all his socks in one of the little baskets and he carried it to his room and put his socks away. He was so cute!






I hope you have an awesome Friday! Don't forget to slow down enough to take joy in the little things!

Organizing Acronym K.I.S.S.:

K.I.S.S. If you've done any reading or watched YouTube videos on organizing, then you've probably heard of K.I.S.S. It stands for Keep It Super Simple.  If you come up with an organizing system in your home, and you have to do multiple steps to put away belongings, it will not work. I'm speaking from experience here. Sometimes you have to rethink and revamp your organizing systems to fit your or your family members' personalities. For example; if your daughter is more of a ''chucker" than a ''hanger-upper" when it comes to putting laundry away, consider getting a cube organizer with cubbies for socks, underwear, leggings, undershirts, and maybe even pants and t-shirts. Then they only have to hang up dresses and sweatshirts. Or, you could get drawer dividers for their dresser so at least their drawers don't become ''laundry soup'' and they can still find what they need. This will allow for some order to things, while at the same time letting them have some freedom in their own space. Plus, you won't have to fight city hall everyday about putting everything neatly in drawers. 😉 We should NEVER let stuff come between us and our relationships with our family members. Sometimes kids just need to do what we ask, but if we have the chance to compromise a little and both still get what we want, why not? In this example, the daughter can quickly put her clothes away without reorganizing and straightening her drawers every day, and mom can relax because the clean clothes aren't all over the room and the dress clothes aren't in a wrinkled ball in the bottom of the closet. Win-Win.

     Yesterday morning, I went upstairs to get the boys for breakfast. I took one look at their room and went right back down for a couple of trash bags. One for actual trash, and the other for toy overflow. I had had enough of picking up the same badillion toys every. single. day. twice. a. day. (morning and after nap time). The thing is, they had accumulated so much stuff in there, that they weren't even playing with it. They had over a dozen board books up there that Little Boy would just clear off the shelf every day. Then they would walk all over them as they bickered over other things. Some of the books were in pretty rough shape. The boys had ripped the pages out. I had been picking up those loose board pages for a couple of weeks thinking I would fix them some day. WHY?! I finally tossed them. I left 4 (FOUR) of their favorite books on the shelf and took the surplus out. I will now rotate books for upstairs, not just toys. Why it took so long to do that, I don't know. I also took out a bunch of toys. When they have too much, they don't play with them very long at all. They dump every single cubbie on the floor whether they play with them or not. When we had finished, three of the six cubbies were empty. And that's okay. It only takes a minute to restore order to their room now, and they are happily playing with what they have left, instead of walking all over the toys and books. Now they can start picking up the toys while I'm making my bed and they won't be overwhelmed. I have also taken the flat sheets off of their beds. They don't need them in the Winter. If it were in the middle of July and they were hot but still wanted to cover up, then a flat sheet would be in order. Just one less thing we have to handle in the morning. Now I know, this may sound a little over board. A sheet is not going to be the difference between organization and mess, but little things like this together make a difference. In fact, if the boys were not early risers, I would not keep toys in there at all. Bedrooms are for sleeping and dressing. Not for detonating a nuclear bomb. They have a chest of toys to play with in the livingroom, as well as things like paint, playdough and crafts to do at the table. When kids don't have so much stuff, they play longer and happily with what they do have. I've witnessed this first hand. So don't feel guilty for paring down the toys and such. You are doing you children a favor, and yourself as well. You are teaching them to be happy with what they have, and to take care of those belongings.

     I've got my eye on this cabinet here . I have been looking online for cabinets that lock. Ones with locks already in them are quite expensive. I figure I can put a $3 lock on this myself, and it is 1/4 the price of other ones I've looked at. It has good reviews. What would I do with it? You may ask. I'm going to put toys with lots of pieces (box of blocks, puzzles, leggos, etc.) and craft supplies in it and lock it. Yes, I sound like an ogre. But, being aware of what is out and when will drastically cut down on mess. Plus, it gives me the chance to teach them to pick up what they are done with before getting out something new to play with. And the house doesn't get covered in paint and glue in the meantime! Not all of the toys will be locked up at once, of course. Just some of them and especially the biggest mess culprits. K.I.S.S. That is what it is all about. If it's not hard to clean up, it is more likely to get cleaned up and put away. This also goes with the sheer amount of things you have. The less you have, the easier and faster clean up is. And this doesn't just apply to kids. As mothers, we need to look in the mirror and ask if we need that much stuff. Are we asking our children to do something that we ourselves are not willing to do? I know I need to go through all my craft and scrapbooking stuff. I do not need all of it. How about the clothes? Kitchen gadgets? Personal care items? Makeup? I think you catch my drift. We all need to clear out some stuff and simplify things. Then,we need to have a place to keep what is left. Start in one area of your home. Maybe something small. A shelf, a closet. And work your way around until you've been through everything. Depending on the size of your house, and the amount of stuff you have, this could take a long time. Try not to get discouraged. You will have to go back to areas you've already been through and tidy them up, but it won't be as bad as it was before. So get started and good luck! I'm right there with you! 

Thanksgiving Tips; What I've Learned

Thanksgiving was fun! We all survived! LOL. It was great to have the family together, even though we missed KK, Jay, Keenan, my brother and his wife and daughters. I didn't get ANY pictures (sorry). We were right in the thick of it and I just plain forgot! So, here are some things that I learned from hosting my first Thanksgiving. Maybe I can save others from making the same mistakes and/or give you a couple ideas for your next holiday meal. Here we go:

1. Cook a little less food. I went over board (as always) and cooked way too much food! I seriously have enough cranberry sauce leftover that I could can and serve it for the next 5 Thanksgivings! At least no one could say they left hungry!

     2. Dishes. If I don't buy more plates between now and next year, I just may go with sturdy paper ones. I didn't have enough plates for everyone (which I knew ahead of time) so my mother brought some of hers over. I like the idea of using ''real'' plates, but I don't detest the idea of paper ones either. I think the main thing is that we are all together to share a meal and remember that we all have so much to be thankful for. I definitely need to get more serving dishes though! I didn't have enough serving dishes so we ended up putting food in large mixing bowls instead. Which did the job, but they took up way too much room on the table! I could really use a couple more serving utensils too. (In case you haven't noticed a trend, I really could use some kitchen equipment! We have what we need to get by on a day to day basis, but for special occasions or just a large group for that matter, we are lacking in the quantity area, lol) Also, if I had more small serving dishes, I would be able to set both tables with all the foods at the same time. We needed two tables for everyone, so we had to run food from one table to the other in order for everyone to get some of everything.

     3. Take home trays. Next year I will get some disposable take home trays so guests who would like to can take some goodies home with them. Plus, you don't have to worry about getting dishes back, or burden anyone with having to wash and return them.

     4. More prep work. I did make some things ahead, but there was lots of room for improvement in that area. If I had been more intentional at being organized, I could have done more ahead of time. I wish I had made the pies earlier and froze them. And I could have made the cranberry sauce earlier too. More cleaning in the days before wouldn't have hurt anything either. I used to get mad at myself because I would get stressed out over things not being done, and stay up way too late to get more accomplished. Now I'm mad at myself because I've gotten quite a bit better at letting things go, LOL. Somewhere in the middle would be nice ;-)

Well that is what I can think of that pops into my head at the moment for things that I could do differently. Does anyone else have some tips they would like to share? I'd love to hear them! I hope you all have a wonderful day! We have a heavy frost this morning. It is beautiful in the sunrise! 

Being Thankful

As Christians, we have a lot to be thankful for each and every day of the year. Right now I'm enjoying a quiet morning blogging and drinking my favorite hot beverage (coffee!!) after spending some time with our Lord. I am very thankful that the boys are still asleep after quite a stretch of being awake at 4:00 A.M.!! Although, I did have to put Little Boy back to bed at 12:30 this morning. It seems Big Boy thought it was time to get up, and had turned the bedroom light on before climbing back into his bed. I could hear Little Boy talking up a storm and when I opened my eyes I saw that they had their light on. Thinking I had over slept, I looked at the clock. "Oh no you don't." I said out loud to myself. When I got to their room, Big Boy was back in his bed, almost asleep. Little Boy, on the other hand, was sitting in the midst of a massive pile of books on the floor, "reading" to himself! I tucked him back in and turned off the light. A few minutes after I went back to bed I could hear the sound of board books being piled up. Back to the boys room. Little Boy was back out of bed, frantically throwing all the books he could find into his bed. In the dark. I couldn't help but laugh! "No, no, Liam. It's night, night time." I tucked him in again and that was the last I've heard so far...

So, on with being thankful. This is the first year of having Thanksgiving at our house. I just haven't been able to ''pull out all the stops" as far as decor goes. And at this point, Christmas is around the corner so not much sense in going all out this late in the game. This makes two years since I've deliberately taken the time to formally decorate for Fall. I had planned to the week after Labor Day but those weeks were crazy go-go! Of course the last time I decorated for Fall, I had less people making messes to clean up after, less laundry to do, less food to cook and so on. But, I wouldn't change things now for the world.💙 I am glad to have the dirty laundry, mess and dishes that I do, because it means I have little people and a husband to love.
     Anyway, here is some of what I did:

My brother gave me a beautiful pumpkin. I painted it white and wrote "We are thankful for:" on it. The idea is to have everyone take a Sharpie on Thanksgiving and write something that they are thankful for on the pumpkin. I think I saw this idea on Pinterest.

 This is on our front door. I made a few more in the house.One above the range in the shape of a plug/cord that says "Thank you for electricity" and one like a big drop of water by the sink "Thank you for fresh, clean water." and so on. This idea came from my Aunt Jane.

 This is our centerpiece. Our Thanksgiving bouquet. No joke. I'd heard a story on Christian radio last Fall about people buying rose stems without the roses for Thanksgiving. They would label each of the thorny stems with a hard experience in life which they thank God for. It is a visual reminder to be thankful not just for the roses, but also the thorns. God uses hard circumstances in our lives to sanctify us, grow our faith and to draw us closer to Him. "The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts." Proverbs 17:3  These aren't rose stems, they are blackberry canes. But, I think the same idea applies. Being thankful for the thorns, not just the berries, LOL. Darlin' and I started this new tradition last year, and it is one we want to continue through the years. We take turns labeling each cane, until they each have an experience labeled on them. We've written things like health issues, job loss, financial difficulty, miscarriage, things of that nature.  We haven't labeled this one yet but we will tonight.

Those are just some ideas of what we are doing here at Felicity Farm. I would love to hear your ideas and traditions. Leave me a comment about them if you have the time. I hope to ''see'' you soon. I'm not sure what the next few days are going to hold, but I'm sure they will be busy, busy. I hope to get back to blogging soon though.😊 Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Don't forget to be thankful every day!

Little Big Boy

Little Boy got a new bed! Thank you to Aunt "Lise" and Uncle Pat-Pat!


Putting it together in the middle of our "weekend after math" kitchen!

 The boys just couldn't wait to grab some screwdrivers and "help" Daddy!

 Little Boy, building his own bed!

 All finished! Complete with Cars bedding from Nana.

 Big Brother had to climb up and check it out!

 Settling into his new bed, ready for a story!

 Awwah. Two toddlers, in big boy beds. What am I going to do now that my babies are growing up!? I didn't even cry. Much.

 "Mamma, if you would get that camera out of my face, I could go to sleep now!" LOL. 4:30 that morning I heard him fall out of bed, and went to tuck him back in. Other than that he has been doing great! He is so happy to be able to get out of bed in the morning and play with toys with "Bubba" now. He used to cry when he got up, until I would go in and get him out of the crib so he could play. They both have been sleeping in 'till 6/6:30 lately. Total awesomeness!

Hope you have a good day. And to those who got snow like us, I hope you enjoy it! (Come on, it's been a mild Autumn, don't complain!)