I'm up late tonight as I finish cleaning up my mess from getting some honey from our hives. I'm so tired but feeling relieved that this year is actually a year where we get to harvest something. Three years ago I had these dreams of living off of the land a bit more, living more "simply" (at least, I thought it was a more simple life...I had a lot to learn), and making rather than buying what we needed. There were ups and downs, many of them, in the last 3 years, but I am so pleased to say that this year, I can actually tell that I've learned something, that we have learned something. After many garden fails, we have a flourishing garden this year. It's doing so well, that I need to expand it. Here's one of our beautiful sunflowers. Can't wait to taste some of those seeds! |
We made our own pickles this summer from the abundance of cucumbers in the garden. The kids are pictured here, enjoying home made pickles. My favorite comment: "Mom, YOUR pickles are actually good!" and "Mom, I can't believe you made cucumbers taste like pickles!" I keep thinking that we are living the simple life, but it isn't simple at all. There is a lot to know and do. I've learned about chickens, guineas, ducks, goats, beekeeping, all sorts of fruits and veggies, guardian dogs, and more. At first, I never thought I'd get the hang of this, but here we are. I actually "kind of" know what I'm doing at this point. What a relief! And, my family is learning too! |
It's not all work here at Lusher Acres, though. Here's a picture of us on a hike. And, to the right, you can see our baby boy turned 2 this summer. He is certainly a multi-faceted child. He's so full of personality, and never ceases to make us all laugh or say "Aww!" J on the left found a lizard to feed. Please excuse the dirty nails. As a mom of many, I often get asked if I am unaware that my kids have two different socks on or have their shoes on the wrong feet because people assume I am not aware due to the fact that I have so many children. I do know. The reason he has such dirty nails is because he was digging around in the dirt looking for lizards. Well, he got one! And it even let him feed it. Oh, and to clarify - sometimes my kids just like two different pairs of socks. They're kids, so I just let them be kids. One day, they won't be able to mix their socks around like that because it's not really "appropriate" for adults. So, I like to let them express themselves with crazy socks or hair. I have a girl who can really do some crazy hair! It takes all I've got to smile and let her walk out the door like that. HA! |
We got goats this year. We have 6, 5 nannies and 1 buckling. This girl on the right is Phoebe. She's a sweetie! We bottle fed her since she was a couple days old. She just loves us, and we love her. We have Phoebe, which is a Saanan. We have 2 Nigerian Dwarfs nannies, 1 buckling Nigerian Dwarf, and 2 Myotonic goats, which are also known as fainting goats. They've gotten used to us, though, and don't faint so much. These are our girls on the left. We have 5 chickens who are currently laying, and have 13 other hens who should start laying very soon. We will be getting all kinds of eggs from blue to green, deep brown, to white. I'm excited, as the 13 girls will start laying this month or next. We have raised them from chicks, so they are tame and will eat out of our hands. |
Well, I'd better get to bed. I'm going to need to get up early if I'm going to make some homemade biscuits to go with this delicious honey! On second thought, Nah - I think I'll sleep in and just give 'em cereal. Decisions, decisions! Good night, y'all!