Homes for Everyone

We are getting a new calf to raise for beef, but it needs a home too!  Greg made up the frame at his house and then we came over to help put the plywood on it.

Jean is raising the calfs on goats milk right now so we need to build the pen and get it over to her farm.

We have had some beautiful fall weather so that was really nice for our little project.

Almost done.

Unfortunately, the calf pen ended up being a little too big to fit in Greg's trailer so we need to get a flat bed to get it over to Jean's house!

A Door for the Girls

 We are trying to get some goats over, especially Joel's little goat Surrey, but we need a "Pop" door for our chickens (not sure why it's called that). This way we can make sure the goats don't get in the chicken feed.

 Joel watching from a safe distance.

 Here the girls are trying the whole out.  They seem to get the idea!

 Robbie has taken over my tools, but I don't mind.  Apparently he can be quite handy when he wants to be!

We made the door mostly from an old barn door that didn't seem to go anywhere anymore.  The hinges where a little big, but we had them already so we made due.  Robbie would like to put it on a motor with a timer to open and lower it, but that will probably be a job for next spring.  Right now we just needed something that would function.

By the way, we still haven't had any eggs yet but while we were working Robbie kept telling them he was going to have chicken eggs or chicken legs! They should be getting close though.  Paul keeps us informed everyday if there are eggs or not.  He is the one who usually takes care of the chickens.  He has taken quite a liking to them.

Creepy Crawly Things

I am not very fond of bugs, especially spiders, but I have to admit that the spider I saw this morning when I took Enna to the bus was pretty cool. I think this would have to be the biggest web I have ever seen.  It was at least four feet off the ground and two feet wide.  Whenever I see spider's web out here on the farm I immediately think of Charlotte's Web.  I really wouldn't be too surprised to find some words in a web one day!

The web was suspended from one of our maple trees.

And yes, it really is as big as it looks here!

Bambie

 There is a baby deer that likes to hang out in our front pasture.  We have affectionately named it Bambie.  The kids love to watch for him to come near the house because it usually hangs out at the back near the grove of trees.

 Enna always tries to sneak up so she can "pet him." They kids are trying to make friends with him.  Paul even told me he tried to share his hamburger with Bambie.

Unfortunately though he always seems to run away!

An Old House for a New Home

Our new house is an old Virginia Farmhouse. It was first built in 1790 as a log cabin. There were additions made in 1830 and then again in 1865. In the 1980's a main level master bedroom was added and it was renovated and made into a bed and breakfast. The neighbor told us that originally the king of England granted 1000 acres each to a man named John Slusser and his brother. We have 4.6 acres left of that original 1000 acres and the old farmhouse.