There is still much to be done
mostly everything needs to be done on the inside of this old house.
Despite the lack of fresh paint, new floors and general decorating,
things are starting to feel like home. 

There aren’t any kids around.
A couple teenager across the road for my older girls, if they so choose, but little kids…
zip, zilch and nada.

And my children are dieing!

So we decided that we would have to make fun and friends happen.  This May was our first attempt, and I think it went really well.

Everything ready on the back porch for roasting hot dog and marshmallows
(notice the color of the sky….)

Each girl got to invite a handful of friends from school and church .

We played a few games while the girls ate and looked around the farm.
(see those low clouds…..) 

And we were getting ready for a rousing game of steal the flag, when the heavens opened, and it became an inside party. 

We played some fun indoor games
and ate homemade ice cream 

(Notice Monkey playing the games like the big girls) 

I felt like the party was a success!
We are looking forward to hosting more and I am looking for some fun party food, games and themes.

I’d love some ideas!

I thought I would share some pictures of our little flock
they are getting big 

Living in the coop 

Scratching around the chicken yard 

Dodging the cat 

Teasing the dog 

Running for cover when birds fly over
(caution is good, we have hawks out here) 

Chasing lizards 

Squeezing through the fence Eating the kitchen scraps 

This guy above is a rooster,
and my favorite.
I want to get some hens of his variety next year, I love the coloring.

Taking dust baths 

Practicing flight

running from the kids, especially Monkey, who loves to chase them 

Growing big and strong, turning into egg laying machines!

(I had to post the below picture again of my little chicken whisperer, I love this picture!)

Our land will always be a bit on the wild side
and I don’t mind one bit

However,
being who I am, I have to do a little something here and there.  We have a U shaped drive way, leaving a U shaped patch of land in the front of the house.  It is a great spot for a little wild landscaping.  I am a little enamored with some of the nature pastures and meadows around and my plan is to mimic that.

The bare, U shaped area in front of the house.  The only landscaping that has ever been done, as far as we can tell, was a load of driveway gravel dumped and spread about.
(blek) 

We got the kids to work, raking out old tumble weeds and other garbage and setting out some drought tolerant plants I purchased. 

The key, for landscaping a natural looking meadow, it to not do too much.  We added a couple grasses, yarrow and a bush or two.
The biggest thing in achieving our meadow look was to add water.

Liquid gold.

After about three weeks, this is what our little meadow looks like:

It is lush and green, mostly natural grasses that just needed a little coaxing. 

I never knew there were so many different grasses, and so many colors of green. 

Pretty wild flowers. 

All in all, I am pretty satisfied how it has turned it.
It is wild
and natural
green and pretty.

I plan on adding other meadow/pasture areas as things on the farm progress.
The next spot will be the orchard.

The view of the garden area, it is a 100×70 foot plot.
I thought it would be enough
we will be adding more next year
(shhh, don’t tell Dadzoo, he doesn’t know yet) 

Another view of the garden.
Under the little hoop house are onions, they have been in there since the first of April and are thriving. 

Little Man “owns” the pumpkins this year, and he got to help me plant them.
He is going to make a great little farmer and a wonderful pumpkin grower.
(we are planning on having a lot, and hopefully will be able to sell some for his piggy bank) 

The pumpkin patch with little paper hats to keep the critters (quail especially) from eating the seeds before they sprout. 
Sassy “owns” the cucumbers, and here is her “pickle patch”.
We planted two hills of eating cucumbers, and the rest are for pickling.
Sassy and I are going to make lots and lots of pickles this fall, it will be a first time for us both and we’re excited for the challenge. And one corner of the garden has three goose-berry bushes.
Someday I am going to make goose-berry pie,
doesn’t that sound all old-timey and romantic. 

 I tend to be a bit of a romantic
in case you haden’t noticed!

Piles and piles everywhere
mostly construction debre

A lot of unusable wood and ruined plywood, 2×4′s and posts, brick, vinyl, beer bottles, milk crates, misc metal parts, rock, and garbage.

And it is all over, covering much of the property. 

As part of the cleanup effort we have been spending our evenings gathering up wood pieces and stacking them.

The slaves  kids bring the boards and misc pieces to Dadzoo, who cuts them into 16 inch lengths and then they are stacked, or if they are smaller than 16 inches, they go into a scrap bin.

Stacked just so, they will be used in the wood stove this winter, and the smaller pieces in the fire-pit outside.
(this is just the very start, we have a lot more where this all came from)

While it is frustrating to see such a beautiful place be mistreated and used as a garbage dump, we can help but see the blessing in free firewood. 

(Lou found this stick while picking up boards and played Gandalf the whole evening, jumping in front of her, very annoyed, sisters saying “You shall not pass!”) 

These are pictures of parts of the unspoiled pasture, I never knew there were so many different grasses here in the high desert, or so many shades of green.

So lovely. 

Anyway, as a child of a cat hater, I learned to hate too.  I never wanted a cat, I didn’t like them around, they annoyed and irritated me, digging up my garden and flowers.

Then we moved, to the country, and we have mice, lots and lots of mice.
Everywhere.

And, after much thought, and a post from a friend on facebook looking for a new home for her cat, a mouser, who was neutered and had all his shots, I gave in.

The cat hater got a cat.

And is slowly starting to like/love this cat. 

Our cat is named Stitch, he is an adult cat, that honestly has the soul of a dog.
Not knowing much about cats, only the bad stuff, I figured he would be aloof and onery, eating my chickens and using the garden for a potty. 

Was I wrong.
He is friendly, pleasant, good natured, doesn’t potty in the garden, comes when I call him, teases the dog, watches the chickens, and goes on walks with us.
(funny, huh, when I walk in the mornings he follows the whole way, I’ll walk a couple miles with this funny guy trailing me) 

Most of all, and what finally won me over.
He loves the kids. 

And is so patient with Monkey and all her tail grabbing and ear pulling. 

I have yet to sit with the cat in my lap or even pick it up…. my past prejudices are still strong, but I do give him a bowl of cream on occation. And Monkey adores Stitch. 

Two weeks after we got our hive Dadzoo and his apprentice Boo opened ‘er up to see how things were going.
It looked good, really good.
So good they had to add another box, and we are now cautiously optimistic about our future honey production.

This is my favorite picture. It shows new eggs, newly hatched larva, older larva, capped cells, adult bees, the whole life cycle in one photograph.

Little Man and Monkey building a “Dirt Factory”

For many years Dadzoo and I dreamed and dreamed about moving somewhere that was off the beaten path.  We wanted a place where we could put down deep roots and raise our family.  We wanted land, to grow our own food, to live seasonally by the sweat of our brow.  We wanted a place where our children would be free to spread their wings, to learn to work hard, to discover themselves and what they are capable of.

I am finding that my children are amazing.  They work so hard.  They see our vision and have made it their own.

I love to watch my children play here.  There are so many different things for their imaginations.  Not only do they have the advantage of lots of space, there is a lot of junk (another post) lying around and we don’t have a manicured yard.  There is a lot of freedom.

I like that, freedom, to learn and explore and discover.

Next school year we are going start homeschooling.  The plan is to homeschool the elementary kids, and one they hit middle school years we will make decisions based on the child.  I am so excited to be homeschooling again, and nervous, but mostly excited as we start this journey together here on the farm.

We have a lot of little lizards scuttling around this here place of ours.  I guess, considering it is the desert, and there is a fair amount of rocks and sand it would be a given that there would be lizards.

Sassy holding a newly caught lizard

I just didn’t think of it before.

Monkey holding the lizard with help from Boo

She liked it just fine, until the lizard started to climb up her arm, she didn’t like that one bit.

Anytime it is sunny outside and we walk about the property we find lizards.  Which means there are snakes too, and the rattling kind, but I try not to think to hard on that and think only of the lizards, since they are kind of cute and don’t bite or inject poison into peoples bodies.

Lizard hanging out with Little Man

Our little Sassy has become quite the lizard wrangler, she had found a method that works almost all the time and had caught quite a few of the little critters.  We keep the small reptiles around for a little while, but let them go after a while, lizards are good to have around, they eat bugs, and bugs eat my garden, therefore, lizards are our friends here on Quail Run Farm.