Around Here

When you inspect your plants and animals every day, sometimes it's hard to see any changes. But when I stop and think of what things looked like when we first saw the house. Or even when we moved in less than three months ago, I am amazed anew at everything I see.

So many apples in our trees. I don't know what I'm going to do with all of them. I'm picturing applesauce, apple pie fillings, dried apples, fresh apples to eat. And although they'll likely be smaller than commecially grown apples, the vast abundance of them will proably be overwhelming.


The chickens are doing really well, so far, in their little gypsy wagon hen house. Though I have to admit that I fear for them a little after what we saw this evening. Kent and I were in the garden, just getting ready to head back to the house. It was about 8:30 and still light out when a large black bear came out of the growth on the side of our field and made it's way up the edge and across the front, looking as if were heading to our house! Yikes. My heart was racing. Not long ago someone had said that there was supposedly a "300 pound" bear over near Val's neighborhood. I laughed and said that people likely over-estimate it. Well, friends, this bear we saw, which didn't seem particularly disturbed at seeing us, was very large. 200 pounds easy and maybe closer to 300. It looked very healthy. I hope that it is content with whatever it has been eating and leaves our livestock and garden well enough alone. We've got a hot wire run around the part of the pasture where the chicken coop is and tomorrow we're going to add a strand around the garden perimeter. No use taking chances.


The peaches are still very promising. Sometimes when I'm out in the garden on a hot day I imagine what it will be like when I can pick one off the tree and sample it.


We've propped the tree up to help support the growing weight.


The calves are growing. I noticed tonight when Grady walked up to me that he's grown significantly in the last few weeks. They are grazing these days, having been weaned, and get just a little sweet feed in the morning as a supplement for their growing bodies. Next year we hope to expand our growing space to include fodder beets and other ground vegetables for animal feed so that we can move away from purchased feed.

Joyce

Grady

I am so grateful to God for blessing us with all this abundance. We have a such a sense of His provision and our dependence on Him in the midst of all this.