Where did summer go? (Ephesians 3:20)

The Farmhouse 

 

Wow!! Summer was a blur.... it was here and then gone before I knew it. We have made a lot of progress and are actually living in the house!!!  We sold our house in Hartselle within a week of it being listed.  We closed June 3rd.  We lived upstairs in the farmhouse and slept on an air mattress for the first month of summer.  

We had tile work done the last 2 weeks of June and floors refinished the week after July 4th.  Paul has been working on trimming out the doors and windows.  After he trims, I caulk and paint.  

 Shiplap has been installed on the stairwell with vertical boards. I got the job of painting all of that. He hung the back door that I stained and varnished. It’s amazing to finally have a door knob on the back door!! Paul hung our hood vent, which was pretty funny to watch.  It did take all 3 of us to get it on the wall initially. We got our closet systems installed.  The master closet took a lot of planning.  The shelving I wanted was not really made for a closet shaped like ours, but with some thought, it turned out pretty good .  More light fixtures have been installed in the laundry room and over the kitchen island.  

We also hung the sliding doors to the office and our bathroom.  I painted the mantel and shiplap above the mantel. Paul started bricking the hearth.  He really wants to install a little wood burning stove in the fireplace.  We will see how that goes later on. The movers delivered our furniture on July 12.  Paul was out of town when they delivered, but my sweet parents came and helped me the following day.  It was so overwhelming and so many broke things😕, but it was awesome seeing all my stuff that had been stored for nearly 3 years,,  

We had to purchase a washer and dryer.  That was an ordeal!  We initially ordered it from Lowe’s... Lowe’s delivered several days early without notifying us and our laundry room floor was not ready.  We rescheduled.  They came out on the rescheduled day and passed our house twice, even stopped in front of it,  and then drove off, never to be seen again.  I called and canceled that order and then ordered from Home Depot.  They delivered, but their setup skills were lacking.  Paul had to stack the washer and dryer because apparently that was to unusual and complicated for Home Depot delivery men.  Actually, Paul, Brantlee and I had to stack them. 

We bought slipcover sofas from Story and Lee.  Everything went well with that deliver and so far we love the sofas.  They are so comfortable.

We finally have unlimited WiFi!!  Thanks to the help of a nice neighbor.  We had been using a Verizon hotspot. It worked ok, but was not unlimited and with a teenager it didn’t last long at all. We could make it till about the 3rd week and then we were out until it reset.  Aside from a busy summer, WiFi issues was also part of the delay in updating the blog.

The Farm

Summer was the beginning of Silo Springs chicken addition. We have not got off to a great start.  I bought  6 silkie chicks locally in April.  They were beautiful, but out of 6, 4 turned out to be roosters.  Then something killed my only 2 females😔.   We have been thinking about getting a blue heeler to run around the property to protect the chicks.  I sold 3 of the roosters and kept Mr. Grump.

Then my June 25 shipment of chicks came in from My Pet Chicken.  I was so excited to go pick them up and then discovered only 4 out of 15 survived shipping.  My Pet chicken said they would reship.  The only catch was that they had to ship 15 and so I had to buy 4 more.  I bought 4 buff silkies.  On July 27, I received my order.  Five had passed during shipping and 2 were very weak and eventually passed as well. 😞  So I’m done with ordering chicks through the mail!  I did find a person in Leipers that had silkies hatching soon.  I was able to buy 8 silkies on August 12.  They are all doing well and the chicks that survived shipping are all doing really well too!  I have 2 Polish hens, 4 Frizzle Easter Egger hens, 1 Frizzle Easter Egger rooster, 3 Speckled Sussex’s hens, 1 Easter Egger hen (not Frizzled), 1 Americana hen, 1 Wyandotte hen and 8 Silkie chicks (not sure what they are yet) and 1 Silkie rooster.

Paul has done more work on the big coop.  We have windows and the  exterior door up.  The door that enters the coop area was installed also.  I tried to put the screen up that separates the coop from the storage area.  It didn’t go well and lead into a full blown melt down.  Hardware cloth, unfortunately, is a necessary evil!!!

Paul rescued me and saved the day.  We did purchase a smaller coop from tractor supply.  I was able to paint it and put it together....by myself. Paul just had to help me carry it up on the hill and he attached the coop and run together.  It’s been working well, but chicks are not going in the coop at night.  I have to catch them and put them in most nights.  Maybe they will get it figured out soon.  So now we have the main coop that will not house a rooster, but the majority of the hens.  “The Little Coop on the Hill” will house a frizzle rooster and 2-3 frizzle hens. “The Little House on the Hill” will house 2-3 silkie hens and 1 silkie rooster.

A funny story about my chicks.....my 1st 4 survivors were moved from the brooder to a wired dog kennel, so they could have a little more room and be in the grass.  I had to leave one afternoon, but Brantlee was staying at the house.  As I was on my way home I get a phone call from Brantlee. Her favorite opening line was said, “Mom, we have a situation!”  I said, “What’s going on?”  She proceeded to tell me she heard one of the chicks making a lot of noise and noticed it had got out of the cage.  She ran outside to get it and then told me she took it inside the house....because that was the safest place.🤔  My response was “What!?!?  Put it back in the cage!”  She couldn’t figure out how to get it in the cage and honestly, the way I set it up was a little weird.  I told her I was almost home and to hold the chick until I got there.  When I arrived home the chick was sitting on the benches in the laundry room, just staring at me, and Brantlee was no where!!

The cows have been hot this summer.  It was so dry during June and almost impossible to get hay in Maury county,  Thankfully, the Lord sent the rain in July.  All our fields have recovered and cows are getting plenty of grass.  Flies were horrible at the beginning of summer. I had purchased really good minerals with fly control and put up fly traps.  I thought I was doing so good with fly control. I now believe the drought had more to do with it.  Flies got so bad again after rain started in July.  I am spraying, probably more often than I should, but seems to be the only thing that helps right now.

PJ was weaned and Paul wants to sell him.  I’m struggling with that because he is so stinking cute and sweet, but we really don’t need another bull or steer.  Him and Heidi have become best buds.  PJ is 33.5” tall at almost 5 months.  Heidi is only 29” tall at 9 months.

Lita (our Jersey) looks like she might have a baby soon and possibly Izzy (our silver highland). I put Izzy in the maturity ward to watch her and she escaped.   She is the first to escape the maturity ward.  Most really like all the food and attention.  I tried all day to get PJ and Heidi to leave the maturity ward to rejoin the others and they just refused.

Paul’s dream finally came true.  He got a tractor and zero turn mower.  He finally got to bush hog our fields all on his own!! All the cows and bulls came over to check it out.  They seemed to approve. He says he is adding “Silo Springs Farm Care” to his plate, but I’m not so sure when he is going to have time to fit that in.  He has been pricing and studying how to install a black rail fence.  He got an auger implement and can now dig holes without breaking his wrist.

Dreams are a God-given idea, plan, agenda, or goal that leads to God-honoring results. Dreams are specific, not general. They're intimate images and ideas that can easily appear to others as extreme and illogical. Dreams are often accompanied by a strong desire to fulfill them. And they are always outside the realm of the expected. When God sparks a dream, we won’t be able to let it go—we will chase it until God’s purpose has been fulfilled. This kind of dreaming builds character, encourages us to pursue God’s Goodness and God’s leadership in our life.  Dream chasing is not easy and we have to trust God for it.  Trials will test our dream, but God supernaturally gifts us with what we will need. We may have no idea how we are to pursue the dream, but God will provide us with what we need and give us direction.  Doubt and frustration will cause us to forget why we are chasing this dream, but He will send people to encourage and affirm your dream. Mostly importantly God will follow through with your dream in His timing.  Those who choose to live by sight will always outnumber those who live by faith. So once you've decided to live differently, let God be your guide and hang tough—follow your dreams with determination.  Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”