Farm Living Is The Life For Me!

Spring has finally sprung here on the backwards Homestead! Goodness know we are SO ready to put all the winter garb away and have a little green instead of snowy white! Even the animals are Happy Happy Happy!

YIPEEE!

Sun!!

Miley says spring calls for belly rubs!

Brandy must be thinking about something serious!

Loving this warmer weather!

Kitty darts out the door every chance she gets to come out with me and lay in the grass, lol She absolutely loves the outdoors. I think I am the same way! Doing my inside chores is way more boring than being outside any day!  I mean, dishes....or go plant something?!?!  We all know what is going to win, right?

King Blu!

Blu thinks sun is just the bestest! This was before his spring trim, and he was looking pretty shaggy!

What is going ON over there!?

 Clara Belle is such a pretty girl! Her ears say something has her interest, and I bet she goes to check it out! I figure she is looking for Flossie! She has NOT been happy that her friend has been on maternity leave!

This water really hits the spot!

Baelfire is growing So much! Here he is taking his long peaceful drink after his breakfast. He REALLY savors his water, lol We are all making bets about the color that is hiding under all that baby fuzz! Any guesses?

Hey! Mom! Mom! What are you eating over there?

Here is ELMER! He is so cute! I love this picture, even if there is a poo pile in the back there, but you know, such is the farm life! This little guy, is a fireball! He is never still, and has an attitude way bigger than he needs! I mean, look! Can you see all that majesty and self confidence stuffed into one little calf body!

YUMMY!

Here chicky chicky! This is part of our clean up crew. They go behind all the messy eaters and cut down on the waste ratio, LOL!

Hey! Scoot OVER!!

Here is Charlotte and her latest crew! These guys are just adorable! They are also quite piggy! They are 8 weeks old and ready to be weaned and move on to a pig pen of their very own!
The trees and flowers are also blooming and it smells so nice! I LOVE the smell of an apple tree in full bloom! Amazing! Here is one of our trees that is loaded with blossoms. I sure how we do NOT have a late freeze! The last two years we have not had any apples as the blooms were killed by freezy weather!

Lets hope we have a great apple year!

Wisteria

My wisteria is starting to reach for the sky! These are one of my favorite flowers and I am hoping it will travel along this fence and cover it with beautiful cascades of flowers! This is the third year it has been here on the farm, so hopefully this will be a big growth year!

Yep! Spring is HERE!

Grape Hyacinths! They are the sure sign that spring has finally arrived! So pretty! And LOOK! The lilacs are blooming too! Oh me! I LOVE LOVE LOVE lilacs!

You see it? Up there, in the top of the bush! Blooms!

I swear I absolutely love my life here in the boonies. It is just the perfect place for me. I love the lifestyle, as frustrating as it can be to maintain. I cannot imagine my life being any different than what I have right now. We still have some hard decisions to make, and some serious changes will have to happen so we can return our farm to the contributing asset that it is meant to be! We have let things get away from us, and it is time to buckle down and make our original vision a reality! 

Sometimes life happens. Sometimes we have a moment where we lose sight of what is important. Emotionally things have been tough, and I have been tested. My faith, my strength and my courage have all taken a beating. Between the farm, the kids moving, and the decline of my Mom with Alzheimers, the year has been a rough one. But with all of that, I choose to try and look upward, and forward. Many many blessings have been given to me and my family as well! So many things that I look to God with sincere thanks!  I pray that I can look to the positive, and pull myself out of this funk! As they say, it is all in the perspective! 

With that said, I promise that big things are going to happen here on the Backwards Homestead! Just wait and see! 

Of course I will be putting it all on here so you guys can take the journey with us! So keep checking back, and leave a comment or two so I know you have stopped by!

Tuxedos,Strawberries, Window Boxes and A Dog With A Sense of Humor!

Things are pretty hectic here on the homestead. Out youngest will be getting married in July, and things are starting to get real. I have been in denial, since we just had the next to youngest get married last summer! These kids are trying their best to make Pud'nin and I old!
So, with that in mind, Pud'nin had to go get fitted for a tuxedo Yea, a tuxedo. For anyone who knows him, you know that he does NOT wear tuxedos! He rarely wears a shirt that is even in one piece. He is a jeans and sleeveless denim kinda guy. Just goes to show, this Dad will do anything for his kiddos. Even wear a monkey suit! But, I have to say, Pud'nin cleans up pretty good!

Nice!

Shiny shoes!

We also walked around the Mall checking out dresses, went to Hobby Lobby and ate dinner with Mom, Katrina and Joy. THEN, we came home just in time to watch Kaeli play basketball in her Intramural games. She did AWESOME!! My phone was dead, so I didn't get any pictures. If I get a few I will post them so you can see her cuteness. She really was a force to be reckoned with on the court.
It was quite a busy day! Fun in so many ways, but still, by last night I was more than ready to go to bed, lol
Today, was a new day. It was sunny and the temperatures were perfect. Of course the normal chores were still there! Flossie has been losing quite a bit of weight and we were thinking it was Ellie being such a piggy. But we noticed today that her hay roll was packed so hard that she could not tear any off and eat it during the day! I am heartbroken! Of course she still gets a lot of stuff to eat other than that roll of hay, but still, I feel like a bad cow mom! Tomorrow we will take that roll out, and replace it with one that is not hard as a rock! I also have to go get feed tomorrow so I will get her some Alfalfa cubes to help her with her nutrition. Even though she still gets 3 huge coffee cans of 16% feed twice a day, plus about 4 to 5 flakes of Bermuda hay at night, she needs hay during the day!

That is the offending hay roll in the background!

After my morning animal chores, I weeded the strawberry bed. I am a bit sad that it is not spreading like I had hoped. Still a good stand of plants and I cannot wait until the berries are ripe and ready! Freezer Jam here I come!

Oooooh Berries!

The window box that Pud'nin made me for the barn is now up and bloomy! He did such a good job, and it was such a sweet surprise. I love flowers and maybe with it being up in the air little Miss Jayne will not dig all the flowers out, lol That doggy is the flowerocolypse! Here is the flower box in all its cuteness.

Pretty!

We also checked the eggs in the incubator and out of 9 dozen eggs we only had about 6 that were not viable. Woot! So in about 2 weeks we are going to have little fluffballs popping out everywhere. I can't wait. Baby chickens are just too darn cute. We are really hoping that we will be able to turn this into a money making project. Wouldn't that be awesome!?
The seeds I planted are sprouting and looking all healthy and green. I cannot wait until it is time to get the garden ready and start planting. I absolutely love summer and all the fresh fruits and veggies. We are out of several yummies and I need to restock the pantry!

Squash

Peeking out of the dirt!

Now, about that dog with a sense of humor. Let me tell you, just because you feed a dog every day, let them in and deal with their terrible gas, do not think they will cut you any slack at all..they will not. I was sitting out in the yard, enjoying the sunshine under the peach trees. Then, without any warning at all, It happens!! Trina yells for me to LOOK OUT! I turn around, and THIS is what I see!!

WHAAAAT!!

That is exactly what it looks like! Ace, was PEEING in the tree I was sitting by! Of all the nerve! Only I, have a dog, that will literally pee right on me! Luckily Trina yelled, and I was able to jump out of the way of the waterworks. Of course, I did whip around and take this quick picture, because after all. without pictures it didn't happen!
That about sums it up here on the Backwards Homestead. I am so blessed to be able to live out here in the country, surrounded by nature. This life can be hard, and the hours are long, but I cannot imagine living anywhere else.

The Return of Ace

After walking a billion miles, driving just as many, we have found Ace. He had followed some people walking and just stayed. Why they didn't call, or bring him back to his home, we may never know. He had tags, with his name and number, and they knew where he called home. We had actually driven by him yesterday, and even pulled into the driveway of the house where he was found. Melissa happened to see him outside, and drove up and brought him home. He is skinny, and tired, but so, so happy to be home.

Even Pooter the cat was happy to see him home! Now he has had a bath, good food, plenty of water, and has been smothered in hugs and kisses! As I type this post, he is sleeping peacefully in his bed, dreaming out things that only a dog can understand. Every now and again his paws will twitch, and a quiet "burf" slips out between his flappy lips. Peace has been restored here at the homestead.
I do want to take a minute to thank all the people who shared, posted, prayed, and kept an eye out for our big baby. I am always amazed at the true goodness that is in the human heart. So many times we get hung up on the negative attitudes and  hateful actions in the world. But again, like when we lost Blu, friends, some who I have never even met in "real life", had our back. You are ALL the best!