Harvesting the Carrots

The weather has been getting steadily colder (barring the quick warm up this weekend)  and last week we decided it was time to harvest our carrot crop before the ground freezes.

We had planted four different types of carrots, and Mom, Faith, Josiah and I each picked a kind and started pulling.

My particular variety were very very large in circumference.

This carrot decided to be the odd one out.  It's not easy being yellow ;)

Josiah had a unique carrot as well.

Once we finished pulling our kind, we snapped off their greens and took them inside to be weighed. 

Josiah was one of the last ones to bring in his carrots because he spent so much time arranging them!

The official amount was 47 pounds!  We were very grateful for how well our carrot crop did this year, especially considering our practically zero amount of potatoes, but that is another story.

~Chs

Frost and Fall/Winter Birds

November has arrived, and along with it, the icy fingers of frost, and flocks of birds both bright and drab, as they mob our bird feeder for sustenance. 

Here are some pictures of the changing seasons, and of the cheery winged creatures that become more visible during this time.

{back before we cleaned out the garden, the little bunches of marigolds resembled snow covered mountains}

One of the last of the dandelions.

Mr. Elvis Presley (as we fondly call the White Breasted Nuthatch, for his slicked back jet-black hair) is a rather frequent visitor to the feeder.

As well as his cousin, the fierce and adorable Red Breasted Nuthatch.

There are three or four of these vocal little rascals. They are brave in a show-offy sort of way, and down right cute, with their peachy orange vest, sporty gray overcoat, and topping it all off, a little black cap with the un-resistible eye stripe.

Farther away on the family tree, but still with some resemblance the Downy Woodpecker clings to the tree with her unique toes while pecking at her favorite snack, suet.

Mrs. Red bellied Woodpecker, one of the larger birds which grace our humble feeder with their presence, is all elegance, despite her somewhat flattish dimension.

Her black and white cape is particularly stunning against her creamy gray dress, and perched on the back of her head in the epitome of fashion is a little red cap.

Up above in the tree limbs, perches the Peter bird. This little fellow is perfectly inconspicuous with his predominately gray apparel, and his call is amongst the easiest to imitate causing much amusement when the little Tit-mouse comes flying to see who else is singing!

Suddenly the serentity of the birdfeeder is disturbed by the harsh sound of a mock hawk call.  Down drops a flash of blue, and the dashing all important Blue Jay scoops up some lunch.

So much so, that pretty soon his crop bulged out at a ridiculous angle and it became increasingly difficult to add more seeds to his collection.

One of the many fascinating parts of God's amazing creation, His winged creatures give plenty of entertainment and education if only you take the time to watch.

~Chs

Meditations

"Most gracious LORD, I magnify You for all Your faithfulness to me... I deplore that I have at anytime forgotten You and been prideful  - since I have owed everything to Your gentleness and love."  ~C.H. Spurgeon

Our Amazing Chicken

Here at the farm we are constantly watching and being amazed at the God given talent in His animals.  For instance, the laying of an egg.

Our new pullets that we raised from chicks this spring have recently begun to lay eggs.  One in particular has absolutely astounded us in the egg laying area.

Her name is Phoenix. She was an extra chick sent to us by the company, therefore her exact breed is unknown but we assume she is some sort of red-star/isa-red.

Here Phoenix is pictured with her first Dozen eggs.  Laid in 12 days!  As of today she has laid 45 eggs.  That's right, 45 days of straight laying.  Without a single break.

I think we have ourselves a keeper! :)  Now if she can just teach our other young chickens how she does it we will be overflowing in eggs!

~Chs

Sunday Afternoon

A glimpse of last Sunday.

One of the pleasures of summer is being able to have a full vase of flowers on the piano for church every Sunday.  The last of fall flowers, these chrysanthemums, are a wonderful bright way to finish off the season.

Little fingers found the piano after potluck, and many interesting tunes serenaded the air. 

 The Sweater Club.  We were very much amused to find that every single man in the church were dressed in some sort of sweater or sweater vest! :)  So we had to take a manly picture. Dashing!

~Chs

Bits and Pieces from October

 So, I realize it has been rather quiet on the home front here.  Life has not been boring at Lily Spring Gardens and Farm, and right now we are going through some pretty major changes, which I will try to inform you all of sometime soon. 

 In the meantime I thought I would endeavor to update and amuse you by sharing the often left out miscellaneous photos from the unimportant bits and pieces of our life that happened in the already vanished month known as October.

A couple of dead trees in our glade were begging to be taken down, and since mother deemed them too tall for the boy and his ax, Mr. Reiche kindly offered to take down the offending tree with his chain saw.

"Timber!!"  and down came the tree.

 Not only did Mr. Reiche fell the tree, he also sawed into manageable pieces and stacked them to perfection.
{the above collage was taken by the photographic genius known as Josiah Sauve}

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One time in October when Josh was up north at drill, Theresa came over to spend some of the weekend with us.

We made soap, and desserts, worked in the garden, and watched Miss Potter.  A very successful weekend if you ask me:)

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No this is not a picture of a burglar, nor is the subject a hillbilly nurse.

Rather this is the only photo I managed to take during the fall emptying, sweeping, cleaning, and painting of our chicken coops.  Memories:)

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And last but not least, one of the breathtaking sunsets which were signature of the latter part of the month.

"The glory of God is all around you.   Look and see!!!"

~Chs

Charity's Birthday: A few days late

(This post was supposed to have appeared a couple weeks ago, but somehow got overlooked.  Enjoy)
Due to Tim and Grace's reception, and some other business, we were forced to move Charity's birthday celebrations a few days past the actual date.  But, I did manage to have a photo shoot with her on her actual Birthday.

Charity is a truly beautiful lady, gentle, thoughtful, and as firstborns apt to be, very very smart ;)

Over the past year Charity has taken over feeding and taking care of the chickens.  As with everything she was extremely thorough in her study of it all, and the chickens have flourished with her care.

She is also an avid book reader.  Very avid book reader. Charity started reading at an extremely young age, and hasn't stopped since.

Charity inherited Dad's beautiful hazel eyes and dark hair.

A woman of many interests Charity has been fascinated from childhood with bugs.  Bugs of all variety but butterflies in particular.  Every year she raises some sort of Caterpillar, from wiggly little green worm, to full blown gorgeous winged creature.

We finally got around to having our party and celebrated with Charity's requested brownie cheesecake swirl cake.

We are all very thankful for our oldest sister/daughter Charity Joy Sauve, and are extremely grateful for the good health God has given her recently!

~Chs