Fall Happenings

The weather has been typically Fall-ish in every way. I just love the warm days and cool sweater evenings. We have seen two groups of geese fly over yesterday signaling that colder weather is just around the corner. Today we saw 3 different groups flying in their trademark V formations.

We are still not ready for a fall garden, but Lon did manage to plant 2 kinds of cabbage and some collards we think, as the tag on the tray of seedlings were mixed up. I guess we will have to wait till spring to plant a garden in earnest. The best we can do this winter is to improve the soil with some natural amendments found around the barnyard. Then dream over the seed catalogs during the cold days when you don't dare stick your nose outside for long.

Curiosity got the best of us recently and we sat down to figure up the due dates for the girls. Not really knowing when Anna was bred posed a problem with her projected dates, but we just figured it from the week prior to her arrival here. The previous owner had said she and the buck had been seen together, so it is a safe bet that she came to us already bred. All three of the does have gone past their repeated heat cycle dates, so we feel sure they are all pregnant with our future herd mates. It was surprising to see how the due dates fell ~

Anna - due Dec. 24 - Jan. 2nd. (Holiday babies?)

Sugar - due Feb. 5th -Feb. 9th (her birthday is Feb. 9th)
This is one of her baby pictures from back in March. She has grown into a beautiful doe. Guess I need to take some new photos of her, huh?

Amber - due Feb. 12th - Feb. 16th ( Valentine babies?)

This will be our first kidding and we are excited about having baby kids running around the place. But a little nervous about any possible delivery problems we may encounter. I've helped deliver human babies before, but I have a sneaky suspicion that this will be way different. Reading up on the details will be one thing I can do as I wait for my injury to heal.

We now have the wood needed to put the roof on the new goat shelter we are building for their new living quarters. Hopefully it won't take too long to complete and they will have a dry place to wait out the winter weather sure to come. Plans are to also partition off a place in our "barn in progress"for a kidding area and holding pen. A big need that will be used sooner than I think we will be ready for. Here's hoping for some dry weather and well bodies to get the work done.

Lon put up a deer stand near his food plot behind the house, in hopes of getting us some venison for our freezer. We have seen signs of their presence on the property. The grasses and peas are coming up good in it and someone has been sampling the corn we left out in the woods. It is a wait and see game, that is played out each year about this time.

With all the time I've had to sit gingerly around the house, I was able to finish the quilted pumpkin I had been working on. I have several other fall craft projects I would like to get completed too if I am able. Some are leftovers from previous years and would be nice to finally see them finished. One is a small quilt that I started last fall during hunting season, from fabric bought many years before that. I have a wooden pumpkin that needs to be painted and some fabric acorns that would look great in a bowl with pine cones and other natural items if I could get "around to it."

Then there is this poncho I started knitting for myself that has been set aside for more pressing things. I am never at a lost for some sort of hand work to pass the time with. That is if I can ever find the time to pass. In an effort to get a jump on some Christmas craft items, I started back hand stitching some quilted pieces suitable to be used as coasters or ornaments for our tree. I think they would also make cute hostess gifts if we should get invited to some one's home this year. They are a pick-me-up kind of craft, one that can be easily set back in the basket by my reading chair if the need arises

As you can tell from my notes I am still not sitting or moving well. Lon is of the opinion that my tailbone is not broken or I would be in more pain than I am. I on the other hand is not so sure! I have had broken bones in the past and know what one feels like. Resting as best I can has been the order for the day and will continue for several more. Sleeping is beyond a comfort level that I can find right now. Lying on my back is impossible and trying to sleep on my side causes pain also. I am unable to sleep on my tummy, due to a previous injury to my cervical spine as a teenager. So that only leaves sleeping standing up or on my head. Don't think I want to risk another injury with that one!

Looking for some sleep,

Deborah

7 hour Journey ~ South, then North Again

We left early this morning heading towards the hunting camp of many a good time. Since moving to the acerage that we now own. There is too much distance to make regular trips back to it. Plus we have hunting woods right out side the back door now. Having already seen several deer on the property on numerous occasions too. We had left our camper set up at the deer camp and was going back to clean out our personal things and get it ready to put up for sale. It was a hard decision to make, as we have had lots of memory trips in it over the years. We still love to camp and it is in good enough shape for a few more trips too. But the money it would produce from it's sale would go a long way towards meeting a few needs around here. It would be easier too to sell it to a hunter locally instead of hauling it all the way back here, just to sit in the yard.

Seeing it set up when we arrived almost changed my mind. So many fond memories of times spent there with family and friends. But we had little time to get the job done before turning around for another 3 1/2 hour drive back home. Milking had tobe done and feeding was needed before we could call it a day. We quickly packed up all of our things and posted a for sale sign on it before heading home. It is amazing how much you can put in such a small space. Lon's truck bed was loaded with items and boxes, besides all the breakables stowed behind the front seat. The big challenge to be conquered next was to decide where all of it was going to be stored, once home.

Hopefully it will sell this season and we can mark it off our list of things to do. Money in hand, we could see another pasture fenced in before the new year. And possibly a storage building for all the boxes we hauled home.

Waiting for a phone call,

Deborah

Deer Camp and Wonders

Lon and I took a short trip down to his deer camp in south-east Georgia for a few days at the beginning of the month, where we have our camper set up for a getaway "B&B". We always enjoy our time there in the woods, with the quietness and God's creation all around us. Time in the past has been spent on relaxing, reading, crafting, scouting for deer activity, hunting, visiting with other camp members, backwoods 4-wheeling, sleeping and just being plain"sorry" as Lon calls it, over the years. This trip was no different, as our intent was to get out of our usual routines for a quick low-cost vacation. It has been a busier month so far than I had realized. First we enjoyed a day trip to Lumpkin, Ga. on the 30th of October(previous post), then a trip to Hiawassee for a birthday surprise, Nov. 4th (look below for post)with this trip to the woods landing on Nov. 5th, rounding out our travels thus far. We have one trip planned this month and that should be all for awhile.

I love going to stay in the camper in such peaceful surroundings. Even though the preparations and journey will cause me to not come at times. Being away from home can be both exciting and tiring, as more is required of my energy and time. To do not only the everyday routine activities, but also those things necessary for travel. I wondered while there with so much to do back home, should I have been away from it. Remembering that my home tasks will always be there whether at home or away, left me with an important realization. So the best thing I could do was simply set the thoughts aside and take full advantage of my reprieve from them. The opportunity to spend time with family and Lon may not always be available, so I need to seize the days at hand. Time is an item always in demand, something we seek for more of, the very thing that we are guilty at times of wasting. But know one thing it will pass by as surely as the ticking of a loud clock on the wall. A sound that could be easily ignored with practice, but will serve as a noisy reminder if we let it ~ to seize each moment of time we have to live.

Another way for me to look at trips away is, I personally gain a fresh perspective on my life and a renewed commitment towards my purpose or calling on my life, when I am away from it's daily demands and influence. An added bonus for me also is the amount of free time I acquire for personal pursuits like reading, crafting and journal writing. Sleeping out in the fresh unpolluted air of rural America is not without merit either.

We recently purchased our own 4-wheeler for ease of hunting for Lon and "play therapy" for me, after years of enjoying Daddy's. Which led to sore bones on day 2 of our backwoods adventure. But my, o, my it was fun riding trails through the woods, feeling the air in my face and the Fall sunshine on my head. It was just the two of us, Lon and I enjoying the quiet stillness of the woods when we stopped for a rest near his deer stand. Not a sound could be heard, not even the rustling and chattering of squirrels that frequently visit him when he is trying to hunt. By the way how do you like my ansemble for the trip? Now when I tell you that I go hunting with my sweetie, there will be no more doubt for you scoffers of the past.




Surrounded by the hush of the deep woods around us, it's beauty untouched my human hands, crafted instead by heavenly ones was beyond words. You just have to experience it to truely understand it's drawing of your soul to it. There were some other hands or should I say feet busy also nearby his deer stand. They had been very busy as you can see by the size of their construction.




The leaves were just beginning to change into their warm hues of Fall. It seemed unusual that in the course of 2 days that week, I witnessed 3 phases of colors. At deer camp it looked like the beginning of changes, back home we left the woods around Heartland Farm a jump ahead, about midway in their march towards spectacular color. Then at Mom's the day before the North Georgia Mountains looked to be at full peak. All due to the temperature and geographical differences in each area.

While there I was able to check off a few more Fall Favorites off my list, hiking in the woods, camping, and deer hunting. The last night we were there Lon shot a doe, which will give us meat for our freezer stash to eat this winter. It reminded me of the people who lived in this area before us in history. They were very much dependant on what food sources they could find to feed their families. If you were not a good hunter or woodsman your family could and often did go hungry. Back then there wasn't much trading available and no supermarket to stock your cupboards with , like we have to shop in now. I believe society as it is today would not survive, for most lack the skills to feed themselves. Growing, foraging and hunting are lost skills that were once past down from father to son.

The interest in simple living is bringing back the teachings of many skills and ways of doing things that were taught to Lon and I. Library books are helping to further our learning as is meeting new people who are willing to share what they are already doing, that which we hope to do in the future. I am so glad I grew up in the era when it was still a lifestyle for my parents and grandparents, being able to learn first hand from family is a great gift that I treasure. Thanks Moma and Daddy. You can't stop being a student I believe and I am still learning with each new interest we embrace for Heartland Farm.

To me the equation for living is easy:

Simplified living = simple pleasures =
abundant life = fulfilled purpose.

You just can't beat that!

Deborah