weekend snapshots.....

rainbows, a visit from Cloudi (and Eddie LOVES Cloudi!!), horsey beauty parlor fun, Reece walks, and more fun with the goats in their new expansive grazing field......

my weekend kicked off with one crazy windy storm and another double rainbow..... 

we had a lot of limbs come down, but other than that, our little farm managed to weather the storm and enjoy the aftermath. 

The goats have been enjoying their newly expanded field.....

Reece doesn't mind the storms and just prefers to cuddle in bed like me during them :)

Saturday morning I visited with the shelter pups....this one caught my eye, but isn't available for interaction for another week...

...then came home to a very affectionate Bonnie. She has really transformed in the last few weeks. Her tail is always up now, and she comes to me wherever I am in the field and asks for pets.

Saturday on one of our walks, we encountered a friendly and beneficial blacksnake. Reece still doesn't quite know what to think of these things, but I am trying to teach him about all the wildlife out here. 

.....practicing relaxing while watching the horses and cows....

...yeah, I don't really give a rats a$$ about how I look on the weekends when on the farm. The animals sure don't mind. You may ask "but why the wool socks when it is 90 degrees outside?" Well, because believe it or not, when wearing muckboots or my durangos, these socks are so cushion-y and they allow my feet to stay dry. I quickly just kick off my boots and slip on sneakers when it is time to jog around the farm with Reece, or get the goats riled up with a game of chase. It is not fun running in boots...

Eddie started his new regimen of Apoquel and he is doing amazing on it. He has so much more energy - most likely because he isn't expending it scratching 24/7. Just look at that face. So ready to get out and greet each morning.

Then Sunday afternoon, Cloudi came by with his foster mom! Eddie absolutely adores Cloudi ....

After trotting around the farm with Eddie, Cloudi rested for a minute on the front lawn....

The weekend stayed overcast and cool for the most part, which seemed like a PERFECT time to start working on Hazel's mane....

ta-dahhhhhh!

.....after that, I started hoeing up the fall garden bed... It is almost time to get those seeds in the ground and I am really lookging forward to fresh spinach, lettuce, and greens again!

It was a really great weekend, and very therapeutic. I cannot even begin to explain what I get out of sitting in the field with the goats, or spending two hours working through a tangled horse mane so that I can make some pretty unicorn braids and make an old Hazel-girl feel special.... Of course Rose got her mane braided also - she was the first pic in the post! 

I leave you with this perfect little picture of Bonnie delicately cleaning some of the overgrowth from around the workshop... 

Happy Monday, y'all!

xoxo

-s

midweek mixtape: purple rainbow

...

weekend snapshots

...Friday after work, the car is parked and rarely leaves all weekend. This is how we kick off the weekend. In the hammock, watching the birds, squirrels, and chickens......

 I whipped up a tutu Friday evening for a former shelter pup that was to strut her stuff in a halftime fashion show at the roller derby.....

 ...and Reece happily modeled it for me - ha!

 ...this face. Eddie. My best boy in the world. We are always thinking he is on his last leg, and he just keeps on finding that puppy-like energy and keeps on going. Oh, my heart.....

Rue. She is a little pocket pittie that I also work with on weekends....

...ahhhhh, the smell of freshly cut grass in the morning....

Eli & Ellie enjoying the newly expanded goat paddock.....

...a view from the back side of the property on one of the morning walks with the dogs...

 ...this is what my chew crew helps with.... last week this was nothing but thick brush. Now I can see through it!!!!!

Diamond Jim and Chloe - two of my project pups at the shelter.

 Reece after an exhausting day of being a good boy....

 the magical huge oak tree on the property.... my favorite tree out here.....

 Christian and I also went to my mom's for BBQ with my brother, sister in law, and step-sister.... So good, and so much fun conversation. Family gatherings are the best. They are few and far between, but when they happen they are always on point!

As much as I am not ready for Monday, it is here, and I have dogs to walk, goats, horses, and chickens to feed, and then off to get ready for the office job.... 

xo

-s

friday/ weekly roundup

I have had a pretty damn good birthday week. My pre-birthday was Sunday - I hung out with my mom and stepdad, made a peanut butter pre-birthday cake (hahahahah! YES!!), and was mentally relaxed and at ease knowing that I had the next two days off..... Monday was a vacation day because I wanted to watch the new Dumbo, eat cake, and have farm fun on my birthday, and Tuesday was oddly my yearly physical/ checkup appointment. Turns out my lack of energy (and loss of hair) is not just a "getting older"/ sub-conscience urge to be lazy and chill out, but my anemia has crept back up on me and was in full force (boo), and my doc was impressed and weirded out that I had not allowed myself to slow down (keep in mind, I really thought I was just falling into lazy mode, and was fighting it).... So, I am back on iron (among a few other tweaks to my daily routine), and am really looking forward to feeling better and having more energy as we head into my most favorite time of year: autumn!!!!!

The one thing about our farm that most people don't really understand (until they come out for a visit), is that this place is our retreat. I live for the weekends now. I have absolutely no desire to go on vacation anymore. I am happiest snoozing in my hammock with Reece, taking s-l-o-w walks around the property with Eddie, eating home-cooked meals that Christian makes (I do the baking for the most part, and leave dinner to him), working in my shop, watching movies and catching up on television in the evenings with Christian, and sitting in the field watching the horses and goats being carefree with a backdrop of beauty that I dreamed of for years before I even knew this place existed..... 

I am also happy to be doing this little "100 Happy Days" project again. Whether you believe in this stuff or not, I am a firm believer that what you put out into the universe, you get back. Celebrating one good moment each day and focusing on my gratitude for it, is in a sense praying for good things - same as if you tend to worry a lot. If you find you are worrying about things, you are praying for those things simply by focusing on them... I'd much rather celebrate the good moments from each day, regardless of how sappy some of you might think it is. It works for me, and it paved the way for me to stumble across this farm just over 5 years ago.....

This is the weekly roundup of my project!

 day 14

day 15

day 16

day 17

day 18

day 19

day 20

day 21

day 22

midweek mixtape

43. birthday snapshots.

Yesterday was my birthday and I took a vacation day, and I made a Sunday Sweet Stuff on Sunday, so I had cake for breakfast, then set out to play on the farm. I set up the portable fencing on the backside of the workshop where there is this weird levee mound that is totally inaccessible with a mower or tractor, and honestly I don't really do much to keep up the property at the workshop because it is just too hard until I can do a major overhaul on landscaping (which I plan to do when everything goes dormant this year). 

Annnnyway, I ate cake, watched the new Dumbo with Christian, walked and played with Eddie, snuggled with Reece, hung out and watched the goats enjoying their new area, much like kids on Christmas morning, and then wound down the evening with grilled goodies for dinner, and a red velvet sprinkle birthday cake for dessert that Christian made! 

All in all, I only left the house briefly for a run to Tractor Supply for some wire cutters and zip ties  (both essentials around here that I am constantly misplacing), and I got in over 6 miles in steps! 

Today I had my annual checkup, which let me know that I am STILL anemic (arrrrrrgh!) and my doc said she has no idea how I am functioning at the rate I am with such low hemoglobin....I had taken the day off again, so here's to one last day off that included cake for breakfast, farm fun, and a visit with one of my shelter project pups! 

ehhhh, not ready to get back to the work week tomorrow. boo.
Midweek mixtape will be up at noon tomorrow!
xoxo

-s