Hello Autumn

Our summer was very rainy this year. And then autumn hit us up literally on the first day of autumn!  Usually summer lingers and lingers and lingers. bleh.

We got a couple of home grown pumpkins from our field.

Hubby bought me some from the store too.

The leaves haven't changed much yet, that's usually more in October. But the leaves are already falling and carpeting the ground. Every day I sweep the leaves off our deck. I actually enjoy that little chore. :)

Hubby and I went to the lake to walk around a little. The clouds are gorgeous in the sky today.

I haven't blogged in forever! We're officially empty nesters. Our kids turned 18 and 22 this year. They are both still on our property, but in their own cabins. We are also in a cabin, moved in a couple months ago. So that leaves us with 3 cabins that we are renting out as apartments still. Currently they are full, with one on eviction. But we already have new people lined up to move in, so I hope the new people will work out better. ;)

2018 Ornament Exchange

Thank you Amy, Danice, and Becky for the wonderful ornaments! I can't wait to put them on our Christmas tree!!

I forget to get a picture of the ornaments I sent. They were small handmade Santas I got on Etsy, and I included a Santa hang-tag as another ornament or package decoration.

Since Thanksgiving was "early" this year we have not yet gone to cut a tree. We will probably be going next week out to the tree farm, I can't wait!

Harvest Swap 2018

Every year Amy at Bumble Bee Lane hosts the Harvest Gatherings Swap on her blog.

She was my swap partner again this year.

She sent me some wonderful goodies!



My photos inside kept coming out too dark (I swear it never stops raining here!) So I took them outside so you can see them better. :)

A wooly owl make-do.


A pumpkin and candy corn candle.


A spices bag, sunflower, burlap covered mini pumpkins and pumpkin cupcake melts.


She also sent "yummy caramel tea", I've never tried this flavor before!

Thank you so much Amy for all of the sweet things you sent me!

Surprise Mail & New Mugs

My friend Janice at Prims by the Water surprised me with a package in the mail!

I love happy mail.

It's even more exciting when you aren't expecting it. :)



I'm totally a cat person, so I love them all, including the pumpkin. I love pumpkins too!

Thank you so much Janice, you are too kind and generous!

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I also want to share these two adorable mugs I found online at Pottery Barn. I asked hubby if I could get them, I was thrilled when he said yes. :) I've never bought anything there, online or off. But thankfully they arrived safe and not broken or chipped. Phew!



I can't wait to have some warm apple cider in them. Yum!

The black cat does have ears. They are a nice size, not too dinky or oversized.

You can find the mugs HERE. (not affiliate link)

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In other news, we got a few tomatoes and bell peppers from our garden!

I also gave some away because we had an abundance on the plants still, but then THREE of those nasty hornworm things found our plants. :(

They took bites out of the rest of the tomatoes but one, a small green one... I was so mad! They only got one bell pepper. I took all of the hornworms and fed them to the chickens. I guess that was my revenge. I keep checking every day for more.

All was not lost though. I did get to enjoy some of the tomatoes (they are a yellow variety). And Hubby even made me an omelette with our homegrown tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggs (I'm not an omelette maker).

It feels good to eat our own food!

Meet Ragna

Justin finally got a ferret last month. He loves it and so does his sister. ;)



His name is Ragna (Rog-na) and yes he smells. LOL. It's a fruity-musk smell, but the kids don't seem to mind it.

He met LadyMoon and she doesn't seem to mind him as long as he's not up in her face. (She's the one who hates *all* other cats and dogs.)



That's his cage on the left, it's big and has levels, but the poor critter can't climb up the ramps, he just slides! So we have to fix that somehow.

He met Zorg through the sliding door. Zorg doesn't mind much of anything, but he was a little curious.



This ferret is *very* spoiled. He's got all kinds of toys and beds. The kids handle him every day, he is so loved. And yes he gets baths as often as recommended, I insist! ;) His scent lingers on clothes pretty well if he's not had a bath in awhile.

Even though he has a strange odor, he's a pretty humorous critter! He's fun to watch, he is like the energizer bunny, but more active. Justin tells me stories and shows me pics almost daily of something funny the ferret did. The ferret is clumsy and goofy and the we all think he's a funny little creature. :)

Meet Cluck Norris

Peekaboo!

While cleaning out the other side of the the shed/coop, I caught this Henny Penny trying to lay her egg.
I don't think she was thrilled with the flash. lol.



We are expanding the coop now that we have 22 birds.
Our last batch of chicks integrated pretty easily into the flock. That was a surprise!
They are still small and not laying just yet.

It turns out that none of that batch of chicks were boys.
We had thought two could be, but hoped for one at least.
Well, they are all girls.

A farm we know put up a post about their Ayam Cemani roosters for sale, so we went out to visit and decided we wanted one!
We need a man around the coop to set these haughty ladies straight.



It took this guy a couple of days to not scream when he gets picked up. LOL
I really couldn't believe he was such a screamer! But Anabelle picks him up several times a day and now he's fine with it.

Cluck Norris (named after Chuck Norris) has already helped our flock by breaking up some fights.
Our girls have been a little too brutal to each other lately.



We hope someday one of our broody hens will hatch us some chicks now that we have this guy! Anabelle would love that experience!

Homestead Update 3

I'm not good at blog titles. lol.

With spring/summer here we've been very busy bees around here. We started tearing a wall out for our new living room and cleaning out the house.

Been throwing a lot of junk away from the last owners. Sadly they left us nothing worthwhile. Usable things get donated, but there isn't much of that.

We'll be bringing out our own things from out of state soon, hubby and son are flying out to take care of it all. It's been about 6 years since we've seen our belongings! This journey has been crazy.

Anyway, onto some photos I wanted to share...

Isn't this cute! A local woodworker made it and it's out for display near the road. Sure makes me nostalgic for The Flintstones! I used to love that show when I was a kid.



My sidekick found a morel mushroom! Our first and only morel so far since we moved here. Apparently they are a big deal here and in PA.
Hubby sauteed it in butter for dinner and it was delicious!



We don't have any prepared garden areas yet, so I'm growing in pots this summer. I got tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, and lots of herbs. I planted lettuce, chives, and other "small" plants in the pots for companion planting.



The rhododendrons are blooming again, sure do love the purple flowers!



Our baby hennies are doing great. One has feathered feet! Sidekick really wanted a feather foot chicken, this one is a Light Brahma I think. A couple of these were from straight runs, but Sidekick is starting to believe they are all pullets! We shall see. We do want a rooster, but if none are, there will be postings for roosters needing homes soon enough, so we'll just get someone else's unwanted Roo.



This henny is from our #2 batch of chickens. Every time Sidekick picks her up she poos. LOL. So she made this sign and sent it to me. Too funny!



Just finished this freebie from primitivebettys blog. Love it! But I made so many booboos. :-p



Working on a patriotic small from Lizzie*Kate now. Finished half of it last night! I love smalls. ;-)