My darling ducks.

I had to post some pictures of my sweet boys, just because they are cute, and besides I don't think I have ever introduced you to my most recent two, properly.

This is Dicky, his full name is Mr. Dick, from Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield. He is the only remaining Duck of the three that I hatched out myself. He is quite a bit more friendly and personal than my other duck -

who I call Tommy, in full, Mr. Tommy Traddles also from David Copperfield. Tommy is much calmer than Dick but doesn't like to get as close to people.

Like most Ducks, they love playing in puddles, hunting for slugs, (their favorite food) and dabbling in anything that is wet.

The place you will find them most, is in our pond, happy as Kings, paddling around and drilling holes in the bank. It is so much fun to watch my ducks. I am very thankful that God created these funny waddling, quacking creatures.

~Chs

Friday Verse.

"Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with honor and majesty, who cover Yourself with light as with a garment , who stretch out the heavens like a curtain." "He appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knows its going down." ~Psalm 104: 1, 19

~Chs

A visit to Almar Orchard.

This Monday, we pulled on our muck boots jumped in the van and drove over to Almar Orchard, an organic apple orchard near us. After completing the important part of the trip (buying Apples, Cider, and doughnuts;) we made our way around the puddles and mud, to their petting farm out back. The first creature to greet us, was this extremely rotund, and rather vocal, pygmy goat, demanding attention. In body it rather resembled a pot bellied pig.

Sharing the pen with this extraordinary creature, was a larger more well proportioned goat, a doleful faced donkey, and this slightly shy benevolent looking sheep.

There were also cute jake turkeys running around, and Josiah tried to cajole them to let him pet them but they were to smart for him!


I think that Turkeys have a face only a mother could love. They are on the same level as Vultures and Guinea Fowl.


Ah, but if you are looking for beauty, gaze upon this gorgeous fowl. This peacock was just as friendly as the turkeys.

When we had exhausted the intricacies and beauty of the fowl, we turned to look at the reindeer which is the Orchards main attraction, besides apples that is.

The horses that we had petted and fed last year, were put out in a far pasture, so we could only gaze and sigh with longing.

Then there were these two sage Llamas, they looked like judges sitting under the trees and waiting upon the citizens to come and bring them their problems;)

One of the barns seemed quite empty, until we heard a soft grunting noise coming from the side stalls. PIGLETS!!!! They were beyond adorable, making all sorts of grunts and squeals as they ran around their large mother and played football with themselves. But as with all little things, they grow up. In this case to look like......

This. Enormous hog, number one, was out in the pasture with two friends rooting around, and making some not so soft and cute grunting noises. Josiah still wants to get pigs someday...........

~Chs

Memories of Autumn!

God has created immense beauty in the world, and the Fall is an incredible showcase of this fact.

A week ago or so, Grace and I went down to the little park with the covered bridge to take Fall pictures. The sunlight was gorgeous and dappled, and the leaves all crunchy!

Grace was absolutely gorgeous with pretty leaves as a background.


Then as I was taking pictures I heard this pitiful and adorable meow, and found this darling queen like cat.


Isn't she just a sweet Lady! Her eyes were stunning, and her one floppy ear gave her a cute rakish expression.

Then we found these awesome doors, such texture is to die for, or so I have been told.

Across the road from the covered bridge was this classic pretty portrait.

Then we went for a drive and found this delightful lake, which Dad had told us about. 'Tis only too bad the lake wasn't clear. It was a wonderful afternoon drinking in the feast for the eyes that God had provided!

~Chs

Travels and Adventures part 2

I apologize profusely for the length of time it has taken me to document our travels in the far away land of TN. Therefore without further ado I will present to you the second and final part of our trip. Do enjoy!


Twas Saturday morning and the last day of our stay down in Franklin, that found us headed to the Gentry Farm. Now if you happen not to know of Mr. Gentry and his story, I suggest you acquire his documentary (An American Adventure) or his book (An American life). I will not take the time to explain now:)


The farms biggest business is the growing and selling of pumpkins. They said that they only got half of their normal amount, but it sure looked like a lot to me still;)


There were pumpkins everywhere, on trucks, in fields, and stacked in piles.



But as you can see, pumpkins were by no means the only attraction on the farm. There was a matching place for all the adorable tipsy signs on the pole. I believe we visited them all too!


First coming into sight on the left, was the tobacco barn. No longer holding tobacco, but instead a whole maze of fun child size games and so much to do and see. I deeply regretted having such a tall heritage, and being 18 instead of 8;)


Then of course there was the animals, which we all flocked to. There were two pygmy goats as well as sage looking sandy, a big female Nubian with a beard.



But the highlight of our visit to the farm, one that was not listed on the signs, was getting to meet Mr. Jimmy Gentry in person. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that the time we spent talking to Mr. Gentry was the best part of our trip. Mr. Gentry is not only a very kind and pleasant gentleman, but he also has countless stories hidden up his sleeve.


He was kind enough to tell us some, and we stood entranced as he poured forth the tales of his ancestors living on the farm, of the Indians that lived in the area, and of all the artifacts he had found as a child and even now. It was so interesting that I had the audacity to video tape some of his stories and wish my computer wasn't so slow, so I could share them with you.


Mr. Gentry's talents are not confined only to story telling. He is also a great artist, as showcased on the cute Gourds that were for sale on a table near by, and in his ice house which is a story of its own.


Mr. Reiche had been down to the Gentry farm a few times before, and had told the Gentry's all about us and the expected sojourn. So the Gentry's were all kindness and generosity, to the point that we actually got VIP treatment when we went on the hay ride. Mr. Gentry told us to tell the driver, to drop us off in front of the Gentry house, and we could look around all we wanted, in the ice house, at the horses, and sit on the swing. Ahh Blissful hours those.


This is where you would have found us for the next 45 minutes or so. It was quite a hot day, but underneath the shade of the enormous maple tree, and rocking in one of the nicest placed swings, with the view of the entire farm stretched before us, it was quite comfortable.


The architecture of the different buildings was amazing, and if I had time I would describe them all to you, but I don't, so you will have to be content with pictures.


The next stop was Mr. Gentry's Ice house, where he does all his paintings, and also where his sweet darling Golden retriever Belle was closed up because the dear thing is just a bit too friendly with everyone! So we consoled her a best as we could as she wiggled and wagged her way around the room, hardly stopping for a picture.


Though Belle was definitely the darlingest thing in the room, there were many interesting sights to hold your attention, including all these artifacts found around the farm and all of Mr. Gentry's paintings.


After visiting the sweet horses behind the house, we made our way back to the main part of the farm.


We did take another hay ride so we could see the sweet cows again. Number 10 was the sweetest thing, very curious and incredibly cute.


We spent a bit more time with Mr. Gentry before heading back to our hotel, having our last lunch on the Franklin square, and having a wonderful time of games in our rooms, before hitting our beds (literally;) to prepare in slumber for the next days journey.

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So the road stretched before us and passed slowly by, as mile by mile, hours by hour we made our way homeward.




As on our way down, we stopped in Kentucky for lunch, the beautiful trees greeted us and made a canopy over us!





We raced a train across the Ohio river on our way to Michigan.


And then the happy sight, Michigan here we come!
It was a glorious "memory for a life time" trip! We are very thankful to Mr. Reiche for thinking of, and sponsoring the trip, and to God for keeping us safe and having the weather be so beautiful!!!

~Chs

Travels and Adventures.

The day was Thursday, October Seventh, Two-Thousand-Ten, the time 6:50 AM. The occasion was an Educational Adventure/Field Trip on Steroids, planned and sponsored by our friend Mr. Reiche. The destination was Franklin Tennessee. The other actors in this drama ;) were as follows: Mr. Bryson, Neighbor and seasoned driver, as well as bearing the dubious title, adult; his son, also neighbor and Josiah's fellow enthusiast of all things pertaining to farms; his daughter, neighbor as afore mentioned, dear friend of your beloved authoress, and fellow accomplice in food preparations with said authoress; and his other Daughter, (neighbor;) little friend of all the rest of the group, lover of Mountains (through which we traveled) and the youngest member of the party. The rest of the group was made up of the uninteresting people, known to you as Faith, Josiah, and Christianna. The following dialogue and pictures will highlight our travel to Franklin, as well as the first day of our stop there.

After traveling what seemed like forever in our "dear"home state of Michigan, we finally saw this sign, which kindly welcomed us into the flat State of Ohio.


Despite the many hours spent simply sitting, we all managed to retain our smiles (most of the time) as we listened to music, sang, drew and played games.


The huge Ohio river flashed into view that morning, beautifully blue in the sunshine. As soon as we crossed it, we found ourselves in...


Kentucky!!!! Kentucky is absolutely gorgeous, and because of their lack of rain the trees were just as colorful as ours!


We stopped at the beautiful Kentucky welcome center for a refreshing lunch and break before resignedly piling back into our van, Ginger, to continue our journey.


As we drove still deeper southwards, the mountains rose up to greet us on all side, their austere rocky faces looming around us, and filling us with majestic wonder.


A couple hours after crossing into the central time zone, we entered the state of our destination, Tennessee.


The skyline of Nashville rose through the settling dusk, as we meandered our way around it and soon were met with the undesirable sight of the brake lights of the vehicles in front of us.


After what seemed like hours of slow go and breaking we caught sight of the sign we had all been waiting for, "Franklin, Exit Only."

We arrived in Franklin just as the sun was setting and enjoyed a leisurely lunch on the lawn of the town square.

We then headed back to our hotel, for a goods night sleep in anticipation of the morrow.

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The next day found us up bright and early as we headed out to the historical sight of Winstead Hill.

This was the sight of the Confederate army campsite at the battle of Franklin. It was quite a somber thought as we scrambled over the hill, and read the numerous plaques that had been set up.


It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, but a bit bright when you are squinting into the sun, trying to smile for the camera;).


This is the panoramic view from the hill. The summit of the hill was actually a good climb higher, but the growth of trees and shrubs made seeing the country side impossible.


The next historical location that we visited, was the Carter house. One of the hot places during the fighting.


Nothing showed this better than the back of houses on the property. They were pock marked with bullet holes.


The cemetery at Carnton plantation, was the next place we visited, and we were awed and slightly depressed by the rows and rows of gravestone. Quite a few of them had the inscription, Unknown.


The hundreds of gravestones reminded us of the brevity of life, and of the Sovereignty of our majestic God.


The cemetery marked nearly the last historic site to be visited that day. So we made our way to the park for a calm picnic lunch. But while we were sitting there relaxing, the sound of a train smote our ears, and suddenly almost all of us found ourselves sprinting across the bridge towards town.


We made it just in time to see the noisy monster hurl its way past us and around the bend.


The thrilling encounter over, we ate our lunch, then made our way towards the river on our way to Fort Granger. But we were met by this daunting sign;)


Despite the warning, a few of us braved the unsupervised water, and found it quite calm and overwhelmingly cold and refreshing. Some of us would have like to stay there forever but we pulled ourselves away and began the walk to Fort Granger, and eventually into town.


Our hopeful destination for the afternoon was the many antique shops, as well as the older and historical buildings around Franklin. Feeling like veritable hobos, we made our way across the river on a train bridge, to reach town.


There was so many neat and interesting things in the antiques shops, on of which was this quaint Rooster Couch. (no we didn't bring it home:)


We visited the wall in front of the Presbyterian church, known as the waiting wall, where during WW2 the men and boys waited to be taken off.


The rest of the day was spent walking town looking at all the beautiful architecture, houses and interesting signs.


Including this sign;)
It was a very enjoyable day, but we were all happy to get back to our motel, and flop down to sleep. The next day: Visiting the Gentry Farm.

~Chs