Been busy in my absense!

Yesterday was Patricks' birthday!  He wasn't feeling too well, so I'll get his cake made when he's ready for it.  He found a photo of himself from about 8 years ago, he looks the same.  No wrinkles, no grey hair.....ugh.  Maybe I just have enough of each for the both of us!  ;)

We managed to get to North Carolina for a fast trip to spend a few days with Jared, Chandra and Tracy.  Was nice to get away, but we could of stayed longer! ;)

We had a good time, and finally got to meet Louis; the "Mr." of the family we stayed with the last couple of times, as he was deployed every time we went!  Poor guy probably thought we were peddling religious tracts or selling magazines until we told him who we were.  HA

Tracy is a good baby and growing sooo fast.  Was told the little man wiggled out of his swing the other day, so looks like he gets to wear his 'seatbelt' now!  Hard to believe he's a month old already....

Kyle stopped by on Saturday for awhile.  I swear he is getting taller!

The ecoli issue was resolved, making life easier for everyone.  But it put up front and center the lack of backup supplies for water here.  A scary thought, as critters drink lots of water, and we use plenty ourselves here at the house, even on "rations".

The turkeys are processed and in the freezer, thanks to some great folks who don't mind helping out when the need arises.  Even pesky rooster is non-existent here now, too.  (woo hoo!)

We've had a cool-down, and some needed rain, with (hopefully) more on the way in the next day.  Have gotten some more canning done, with more to do.  Things are winding down in the garden, so there IS a light at the end of the tunnel!  ;)

Got my first pullet egg today, the first batch I got were 16 weeks last Friday.  So soon I shall be getting plenty of eggs!  (The neighbors will be happy.)  :)

Welcome to my new Grandson! :)

A week and a day ago my precious grandson TJ was born.  Isn't he a sweetheart?  :)

Things since then have been kind of crazy around here!  I didn't get blood drawn for preggo tests on the cows, I was extra tired from working and getting "labor updates".  Oh well, it'll get done sooner or later!

To complicate things, we have Ecoli in all our water.  It makes a chore time, a REAL chore time.  I was given an OK by a vet to not have to treat the cows' water (I did at first) but have been boiling water and filtering it for the other animals.  The dogs, turkeys and chickens drink the most.  I refuse to buy bottled water for them, when I already have a water source that just needs "doctored".
I'm nixing the super-filtering, as it just takes the calcium (lime) settlings out of the water.  (They'll be fine! ha) So now I'm using a hankie that is much, much faster.

I haven't been milking because it takes CLEAN water for an udder/teat wash, water for cleaning all my equipment, and it's ALOT more work to make sure no Ecoli water has gotten accidentally splashed on anything, or just out of habit rinsed off in the sink.  Sigh.  Fillet the foster calf will be fat and sassy by getting all the milk all the time!

We were going to butcher turkeys this weekend, but again, I'd have to bring in all "good" water--and tons of ice.  It makes a simple thing 100 times harder, and boiling/cooling enough water AND keeping it all "clean" would be tough.  Oh, we could do it, but....thankfully some friends of mine will take them and do the deed for us at their farm.  The longer we wait, the bigger they get!

I did some canning earlier in the week, and followed normal protocol, so I do feel confident that they are safe to eat.  But I won't let those jars out of the house until we eat some.  I did run out of canning jars.....it's amazing how much gets canned and how fast one goes through jars in the height of 'canning season'.  I will have to suck it up and buy more, because we have plenty more to can in due time.

Izzy the puppy is growing by leaps and bounds....I think every day she is bigger (just like the turkeys!) 
Kyle and his GF are ready for school, and Kyle has been working quite a bit while he's on Honor Guard duty.

Jared has paternity leave for now (which is awesome!) and is enjoying time being at home with Chandra and TJ.  I'm sure he's Mr. Go-fer for his wifey right now!  :)