Class Dismissed!

Summertime is officially here, and I feel like my A.D.D. is kicking in BIG TIME!

Just like any busy mom, there are 40,000 things on "the List" that we would like to do or accomplish over the summer. And since I work for a school, the summer is my time off. I am so excited that I don't even know where to start on "the List"....so I just sit and read or play with our new puppy instead! 

This is the newest addition to Irishman Acres...meet KODA....and if you know us at all, this was the furthest from any creature we thought we would ever own! But just look at that face!! He was 3 months old when he came to love live with us, so almost potty trained....and we are completely smitten. He is a "designer breed" called a Teddy Bear. (A Shih tzu and Bishon Frise mix.) 

So for now, I have a list of things that need accomplished, and I thought it would be fun to write them out here and see if they will get done....and hopefully I can share them as I go! 

1. My niece is moving in with us at the end of the summer because she is going to a local college. I am over the moon excited about this, but have to get a room ready for her!! And the only room we have is currently being used as a craft/ decor storage room...actually just a messy catch-all, but storage room sounds better. So I have my work cut out for me....moving things around and getting REALLY creative with my storage! 

2. We purchased a really cool work bench at an auction last fall and have been wanting to bring that into our home somehow, I think I know where we are putting it, but have some re-arranging of things in the room where we are putting it and maybe some painting....CANNOT WAIT, but won't share any more info until I know for sure that it's a GO! :)

Working on my outdoor spaces: 

3. The chicken coup and enclosure has been on my radar of needing some TLC. I have started on some interesting things there and will share those soon. (and when I say "interesting", I mean it is interesting to me and maybe other onlookers, but I really think that the chickens could care less. But I think it should look pretty, and so it shall! :)

4. I have some additions to our back porch this year, and am almost done getting it camera ready....but it still needs some sewing projects completed, lucky me that my daughter took a textiles class this year and will be my little design intern! (hahaha, said in an evil cackle) 

5. There is a water feature that I have had on my honey-do list, well at least my honey-help-me-please list! Baileyhusband is extremely busy with work these days and I feel so guilty asking him of things, but hopefully sometime before our big 4th of July bash we can get this thing accomplished. 

6. We have added a strawberry patch and herb garden to our farm, and it is so cool! 

I posted it on our Instagram page, you can follow along HERE. So, we have quite a large amount of crops to tend to and will keep my boys and I busy this summer! 

And there are a slew of projects in my brain for our home, and our new-ish camper. We purchased a 1998 Dutchman RV the night before we went to the county fair last year, so we really only have used it that week. And now I am in the process of making it our own by getting rid of the 90's mauve look, and adding in our style. This is a fun project that I will be sharing. 

So I will say adios for now...I need to get my A.D.D in check and get something started (and finished) around here!! 

Making HAY

Yep, HE IS ALL MINE!

~Kim

P.S. There was alot of pictures taken of the actual haying process, but not by me. I will try to get some of those snapshots and share soon. But I HAD to show my hardworking, handsome Baileyhusband! :)

Being married to a DIRT DIGGER.....

Well, being married to a "dirt man" does have it's advantages when it comes to certain yard work....

 and crazy ideas that certain wives may have....

Like when it comes to the relocation of a chicken coup because it is blocking the view of our barn. 

Daddy brings in the BIG GUNS....and carefully lifts and carries it to it's new location.....

Now the chicken coup will have prime real estate next to our garden/ feed shed. 

And believe me, it's getting a cute little make-over with a rock path and possibly window boxes?!

But sometimes, being married to a dirt digger is a MESS....having access to such machines, can be dangerous on our yard! 

This time he used his mini-excavator. And to quote Baileyhusband, "It's like digging with a spoon". 

He is digging a water line to our cow pasture, so no more running a hose clear from our house over to the water trough.....really not fun to do in the dead of winter!! So even though my yard is quite a mess for the time being, eventually it will be worth it. 

But no more fun watching this:

I feel a little lazy just watching him do all the hard work, but since these pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago, I have done TONS of yard work and spring cleanup....and even got to mow this past weekend! YIPPEE! Yes, I LOVE MOWING! Especially since it is too cold for snakes still! :)

 

Loving spring around here, can't wait to get my inner gardener goddess out of hybernation, 

I've got my lists made for the nursery.....

~Kim

Daddy's Little Helper

While I was stuck inside...literally (see this post), the men in my life were outside working 

on our Fall 2012 To-Do List!

Nothing more precious to me than watching our baby be "Daddy's Little Helper".

Our barn is getting a concrete wash and dry bay. Will be so nice to have an area to tie the cows up (out of the mud). 

This is not the finished product....BaileyHusband will get it all pretty-fied....

....but I doubt these guys care...

One thing down...about 20 more to go on our To-Do list. Hope the weather holds out!

~Kim

Finding Home: Day 28 Weekends at HOME

Day 28

To me, there is NOTHING better than a weekend at my favorite place....HOME.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy watching my son play football, my daughter cheer at her college games, going on little field trips with my kids, taking them to 4H meetings, and visiting family.

But, as rare as they are, having a weekend completely at home is by far....the best!

And although this may not be a fun time to most people....this is what I am so happy about:

15 loads of laundry....sorted, washed, dried, folded, and put away!

Didn't think anyone would be interested in pics of that! :)

2 little boys' bedrooms (including closets!) cleaned, organized!

I will post pics on another post someday....still not completely happy with the arrangement of their rooms.

Living room re-arranged (again!)...now, I am happy with it! (I think?)

Front room, which is our music room/ library/ home office....cleaned!

Which is no small feat....I had huge stacks of paperwork/ mail/ catalogs/ school papers that had accumulated over the past several months that needed purged.  

This room has a floor now!! YEAH!

Coffee room, all cleaned, re-arranged...and cozy-fied....ready for these cold days that are ahead...and it makes you now want to go snuggle by the fireplace.

Rented 4 movies...and have managed to watch 2 of them so far!

Tried to mow our lawn for the last time this season....but just as I started a few paths....the mower acted like it was going to blow up.....turns out the belt blew...now we have a large lawn ornament until we have time to fix it! (Hopefully this week, so I can finish OPERATION YARD CLEAN-UP)

like my shadow? 

Helped BaileyHusband work with our calves, except I forgot that I was wearing my nearly new hot pink tennis shoes....oops! They have been initiated by the cows :( I so need a good pair of work boots.

I want work boots like Baileyhusband! 

Swept turkey poop off of my front porch....and off my back deck...those darn animals.....

Now I think that I am going to go watch the other 2 movies we rented and VEG out on the sofa for the rest of this lovely weekend!! *so tired*!

~Kim

If you want to see all my other posts from this 31 Days Challenge..click here.

Linking to: The Nester's 31 Days Challenge

Living the DREAM

When it comes to home ownership- there is ALWAYS some project that needs done, updated, weeded, planted, fixed, renovated, etc. But PRIDE in ownership and the love of our home and our land is our biggest motivator.

I keep a quote that I saw in a magazine that sums up how I feel:

"I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him"

                                              ~Abraham Lincoln

So, with that said......on to the NEXT project!

BaileyHusband has "voiced" that he is DONE WITH PROJECTS for about another 4 yrs....but on that same day, he decided to tear out some landscaping bushes that were becoming an eyesore. So that leaves this BaileyWife with yet another area to plan, shop for, and ultimately design...OUR BACK PATIO. 

Building our home and then our farm...one animal and one building at a time) takes time, money, energy, creativity, and passion.

For BaileyHusband and myself, there is no other way we like to spend a weekend- either working on our vegetable garden, yard work, or just working with our animals. When our children join in and see something positive in what they are doing- that is just the icing on the cake!

 I know when raising children, we only have the for a short while- spending time together are my favorite types of days. 

 Everyone that knows me, knows my phrase "I like all my chicks under my wings". But as one of my chicks is getting ready to flee the nest- I hope and pray that we've instilled a great sense of home and family that she will take with her in her heart and someday build a home and family that she too will be proud of....

Feeling REALLY sappy,

~Kim

Catch and Release

Since we had celebrated Easter earlier in the season with my extended family, we spent the actual holiday doing much needed farm chores (go figure)! After doing a clean-up of cow-lots, we decided that we need to get REAL about training our 4H calves. We purchased Crimson and Clover this past fall and I have been so impressed with my daughter, Sierra on her interest and attention she has given these very wild creatures!! When we brought them home to Irishman Acres, they had never been touched by humans. We are proud to say that you can now pet them....now time to "train them for bath-time".

BaileyHusband walking Crimson

Sierra walking Clover

Being that they had never had a bath or even been properly walked...it was amazing how the process of watering them down (with cold hose water) and soaping them up actually was....but this was the calm BEFORE the storm.....

After they were properly washed...my dear BaileyHusband advised Sierra to untie Clover and take her to another tree to dry. With no gloves on and a very wet rope, poor Sierra held on to that wild monkey for as long as she could...and sadly I have no pictures of all the fun that followed...I had to discard of my camera to help chase down the heifer and then later the same thing happened with Crimson, yep, we didn't learn the first time and had a re-enactment with the second one!
Mistake #1:  Taking them out of their pen
Mistake #2: NOT wearing gloves
Mistake #3: Ever trusting a cow

It did take a little cooling off of BaileyHusband, but now we are laughing about it and how naive and dumb these wanna-be farmers can be!! :) We have so much to learn!

While I did have my camera out, I took some pics of my grandmother's lilacs that (after 13 yrs on this farm) are finally blooming that they should!

I can just smell them looking at these pics...I love this scent!! Nothing compares to the REAL scent of lilac, candles and sprays that try to replicate this are too perfume-y. I just wish they would bloom all summer long!

Hope everyone else had as much fun on Easter as we did!
Love- Kim