October 2017

Looking back on October.

Winters aren't very long or very cold in South Georgia, but it was predicted that this year would be unusually cold and wet. Irma left plenty of fallen trees and my dad graciously allowed us and the big kids to use his tractor to cut up plenty of firewood that would keep us warm this winter.

How many 13 year old girls do you know that know how to operate a tractor?

Some things never change.  I have 2 sweet little boys who are 7 years a part and they love their thumb and their blue blankie. Here is a side by side comparison picture of my 4 year old son Jojo and of Maddox when he was the same age.

More times than I care to admit the kids find away to sneak in one of the outside animals. Its not unusual for me to yell out at the kids, "get that pig out of the house!" This time Maddox managed to catch one of our male silver apple yard ducks. I must confess that he is a beautiful drake, and it was nice to get in a few snuggles before he joined the rest of his flock back in the pond.

Towards the end of the summer, our family was interviewed by a local magazine at the farmer's market. When the magazine was published we were all surprised to discover that Skylar and I had made the cover! Even our animals were pictured on the pages inside. We took the opportunity in our interview to talk about our local farmer's market and its importance to our community. We were so honored that we and our little farm were featured in My Georgia Hometown magazine. 

(*Side note* Skylar and I were both embarrassed that we were not camera ready lol. Our entire family had been up since 5 am that morning trying to load our animals up onto a trailer for a petting zoo event at the market that day lol. Camera ready or not, we were both still tickled to be in a magazine.) 

For our church's annual Fall Festival I decided to surprise Mitch by dressing up as him! He would meet us there from work and he had no idea! lol

Who wore it best? I think I pulled it off quite nicely and everyone had a good laugh, including Mitch.

The turkeys are growing up, fattening up, and are surprisingly docile and friendly. They even come to me when I call. As you can imagine, one of the hardest parts about farming with animals is getting to know your food. Its a double edge sword really, we like knowing where our food comes from, what the animal consumes, knowing that they were treated well, and that the animal had a good life. Raising our own meat gives us that peace of mind, but at the same time, we have to butcher these animals that we have gotten to know, and that's tough. However, on butcher day my husband has a saying, "they only have one bad day," and I like to think that's true, and that we have a better appreciation for our food and the sacrifice that was made.

The turkeys helping themselves to my herb garden

A couple we know through church offered 4 of their goats to us. I love goats and I figured we couldn't pass up this opportunity to take in 4 free goats! A decision I would later regret lol. These goats were escape artist and trouble makers. I'll write more about them in my November post.

For Halloween we joined my sister and her kids at our mom's house for some trick or treating. This was Skylar's first year where she decided to opt out and stay behind to pass out candy. So sad. Maddox dressed up as a shadow man and was a good sport walking slowly with us and the littles down one street before heading back to Gigi's to check out their loot. Maddox was then rewarded with a second trip around to trick or treat with more freedom and at his own pace, while Mitch and I tagged along behind. I think everyone had a good night!

Ashlynne, Josiah, Mason, and Gage