One week behind us...

Cailin and Belle eating at the manger I made this week.

         As of tomorrow we have had our two wonderful goats for a full week.  They might be the best goats ever.  Well we have nothing to compare them to but, the original owners felt the same way and they have had goats for many years.  They are very affectionate and playful.  Jamey has spent many hours hanging out with them this week.  They both seem to cry whenever we walk away.  They would love for you to come meet them soon!

        We are currently able to milk Cailin twice a day and we are getting about 4-4 1/2 cups of milk per day. That is fine for us because we are all still getting used to goat's milk.  It is much healthier than cow's milk and is the closet to human milk.  Four cups (2.5 lbs) is on the low end for goats but, this was her first pregnancy.  We are planning on breading her in December so we will have another kid in April.  Then it will be Bell's turn.   

Kent finishing up the double doors on the goat shed. 

The "goat pasture" in our side yard. 

             Special thanks to our parents who came through last week with a lot of needed help.  The goat shed is about 90% complete with only the goat access door, part of the fence and painting to go.  We will then work on getting an area set up for the rabbits in side for winter.

Another Show Under Her Belt

 This summer Emma was in a wonderful production of Titanic.  Since this year marked the 100th anniversary of the ships fatal voyage the production company went all out.  This was Emma's first full musical with a mainly adult cast.  She played several roles and had 4 costume changes (and we didn't even have to make them).  The cast and the music were amazing.  We were very proud of her.  She is already preparing for roles she hopes to get during next year's shows

1st Class Server (4th from right)

1st Class Passenger during the ball. 

3rd Class Passenger as the boat sinks.

Here come the goats...

This fall we have decided to add a pair of Nubian dairy goats to our small homestead.  One is already producing milk and the younger doe is ready to be bred this winter. We purchased them from a local retired couple who share the same passion for self sufficiency and small family farming.  We will be blessed with two does, Belle and her baby Cailin.  We look forward to bringing them home later this month.



Calilin (Belle's mom) (Born: March 2011)



Belle (Born: March 2012)



Goat Barn

Gravel for Pad

Pad completed (10/10)

End walls raised (10/12)



Back wall raised (10/12)



Sheeting completed (10/13)



Roof completed (10/18)



Last week we began to construct our new shed/barn to house the goats and the rabbits in the winter months.  We have gotten a lot accomplished in only a week.  We hope to have the bulk of the building completed this weekend and then we can start on the pens and the fenced in yard. 

Congratulations

Congrats to Hannah for being selected as the principle 2nd violin for the Toledo Youth Symphony Orchestra.  This is Hannah's second year with the TYSO and we can't wait to see them perform again.  We would encourage you to come out an see them play.  It is amazing to see how talented the High Schoolers are in the Toledo Area. 
Also congrats to Emma who was casted in 3B Productions, Titanic, this fall at the Maumee Indoor Theater.  They will be performing the first weekend in October.  Don't miss this amazing show with an incredible cast.

Once on this Island Jr.



This summer Emma was casted in another musical at the Toledo Rep.  She had a lot of fun playing Mama Euralie, one of the few lead roles.  The show includes elements of the Romeo and Juliet story; as well as the fairytale of "The Little Mermaid". The story concerns a peasant girl on a tropical island, who uses the power of love to bring together people of different social classes.  Emma played the lead character's adapted mother.  She was challenged both vocally and emotionally with the character.  She worked hard all summer and was so excited to spend time with her, "theater" friends. 



The cast of Once on This Island Jr. at the Toledo Rep (2012)





Emma and Jonathan take the stage.

Poor Honey Locust

Damage to the chicken coop

One of my favorite features of our property was the large honey locust tree in the center of the back yard.  This spring Jamey and an I enjoyed learning all about this species of tree.  There are so many uses for both the seeds, seed pods, etc...  From making coffee with the beans to the many medicinal uses of the pulp we were excited to harvest and experiment.  Even when deciding whether to get a pool or pond the largest factor was that we did not want to loose this tree. 

Landed just short of our pool.

Last week we had some strong straight line winds that may have put an end to all of that.  We came home to find roughly a 1/3 of the tree sprawled out across the yard.  The large section graised the chicken coop roof, sheared off the a door and smashed a portion of the chicken run.  Our new pool narrowly survived the wrath of its many branches.   There is a large crack in the remaining trunk.  We will hopefully get a hold of an arborist from the Maumee Forrest to come out and give us their advise about keeping the rest of the tree or cutting it down.  We spent the better part of the last 3 days cleaning up the mess.  Luckily honey locust is a very hard wood and we will be able to harvest it for firewood next year. 

Hopefully it will live

Gardening




Tomatoes



This year we had high expectations for a grand garden.  We spent a long time trying to decide the best place where to plant but, with all our other plans up in the air we could not settle on the perfect area.  Despite our indecision, we did manage to get several varieties of seeds in the ground.  The warm weather in the spring gave us a great start but, a HOT dry summer has challenged even a veteran farmer.  All this being said, we have been harvesting quite a bit over the last several weeks. 

Corn

Summer Squash

We planted several varieties of squash, tomatoes and peppers.  We are also growing corn (far less than desired), carrots, collard greens, onions, potatoes, cucumbers, garlic, and broccoli.  We have had zero luck with our lettus, peas and beans.  I guess the soil is too sandy or too hot.  I am thinking about starting a planting journal so we can be better prepared for next year.  We also want to work on green  house or something similar to start our garden early next spring. 



Broccoli

Hanna Open 2012

2012 Leader Board

 The last weekend in June the Hanna family came together for our annual Hanna Open Golf outing and Family Reunion.  As usual we had family travel from all over the country to partake in the festivities.  This year was special because Nancy and the boys made their first trip in 8 years.  Emma and Hannah joined them for a fun day at Cedar Point.  We also made the rounds to several of the families homes during the event filled week.  The highlight is always the Golf outing and the swim party at Mark and Terri's house in Maumee.  This year was special since I was on the winning team (Tim, Brad, Teri and myself).  It also seemed like this year's volleyball was much more intense than in the past.  Either Nancy required us all to step up our games or we are all just getting older.  Regardless, I felt it for many days after the event. 

Packed pool at Mark and Terri's house

The kids and Uncle Ron enjoyed the fireworks at Belmont.

June 2012

June continued to be a busy month.  The kids all finished up school and looked forward to the break.   Unfortunately for Hannah, school continued all summer.  She was trying to free up her schedule at TSA next year so she could take more electives by signing up for 3 summer classes.  Emma was excited to be casted in one of a few lead roles in the Toledo Young Reps production of,  "Once on this Island."  You can see the show August 16th-19th at the Rep's 10th Street Theatre. 

June 23rd: Mak (4), Grace(5) and Caleb(11)

We celebrated several birthdays in June.  We had hosted Josie's 1st birthday at our house and Mak, Grace and Caleb's birthdays at Mary and Brian's house. 

Last month we also had our new pool installed.  The kids have logged several hours already.  With the HOT weather we have had it was much appreciated.  Especially since we do not have central air in our new home.   It was also just in time for our visitor's coming in town for the Hanna Open this year.  Since then we have removed our fence and are trying to agree on a design for the surrounding deck.

Summer Is Here

We have had a week or so of moderate weather but, this weekend it is back into the 90s.  The kids have wrapped up the school year this week and are ready to relax.  Well to me they have been relaxing all year but, what do I know.  Hannah on the other hand started summer school to complete a few classes so she can take what she wants to at Toledo School for the Arts next fall.  She is taking Health, Business and PE on the Internet.  I am still trying to figure out how you can get a PE credit on line but, the state recognizes it.  She was accepted into the Music and visual arts programs.  Last week Emma auditioned for another musical for the Toledo Rep.  She felt she had a good audition is waiting to hear back from the director. 

We have a lot of projects planned for the summer:  New roof, pool, deck, stable for goats to name a few.  I can't wait for fall! Ha Ha...

Rabbit Hutch Update

Completed Hutch with happy rabbits

The Rabbit Hutch is finally completed.  Well, at least for summer.  It took several trips to the hardware store to complete the watering system but, it was well worth it.   I have the learned that the more you can do to "automate" or minimize activities required to care for plants/animals the easier raising them becomes in the long run.  It is basically like the photo of one that I found on the Internet but, I added a thermometer and a solar powered motion detected spot light.  Since a constant temperature of 50 degree is required for breeding New Zealand rabbits, it is good to know the temperature.  The light helps me when checking on the rabbits at night.  Plus is may be a deterrent for curious critters.  The next step is to finish naming the rest of them. 

Drinking Doe

Auto Watering System

First Trip to the Dentist

Today was Grace's first "real" trip to the dentist.  She was such a trooper and never worried a bit.  Dr. Dove was really impressed with her.

Grace getting her final exam.

Say, "Cheese!"

Fox in the Hen House

Saturday morning, while feeding the chickens, I notice we were missing two of our favorite birds.  Puzzled, I searched inside and out and could only find sporadic black and white feathers scattered about.  I ended up  following a trail of them into the woods.  Later I inspected the chicken run again an found a small hole in the fence.  After talking to neighbors we realized it must have been a fox.  That evening, Hannah looked out and saw the fox scurrying into the woods.  This time we let the chickens in at dusk so they were safe in the coop.  Last night, Jamey and Hannah were determined to get the fox.  They selected their stations and perimeters and waited and waited until it was too dark out.  I guess we are not the hunters we need to be yet.  This morning I noticed the log placed in front of the run was moved so I know it returned again for the 3rd night in a row.  We will see who wins this battle...     

New Zealand Rabbits are Here!



Rabbits at 9 weeks.



Jersey- our "broken" buck



This week we picked up our New Zealand rabbits.  We had met with a breeder several weeks ago but, the clutch was too little to sex the bucks and does.  Our goal was to pick up a good buck and three does.  New Zealand rabbits are breed to produce meat. The breed is typically all white, albinos.  This is preferred so that stray hairs on meat are not as noticeable.  The Brokens were not recognized as part of the breed until last year.  When we arrived, Jamey fell in love with our young buck's brother, a "broken" (mixed black and white).  So now we have 5.    The average female can produce up to 200 lbs. of rabbit meat per year.  Isn't that crazy! Our rabbits were born in March and already weight 6 lbs.  We will be waiting until the end of summer to breed our first pair.

Laying out the cages to get the spacing correct. 

Now we are getting somewhere. 



This week I started working on an out door hutch. I hope to keep them out of the garage most of the year but, we will see how they do in the heat this summer. I found a photo of a design I liked. When finished there will be an automatic watering system and all the rabbit manure will fall to the ground into a compost pile for easy clean up. Rabbit manure is one of the best natural fertilizers you can get. 

Happy 16th!

This week our little Hannah turned 16 years old.  Can you believe it?  She was thankful that her Nana took her and a friend to Cedar Point on her special day.  Grace was also luck to tag along. 

Happy Birthday Little Girly!

Another Hard Working Weekend

This weekend we took advantage of the weather and worked in our garden some more.  Jamey read an article about using old gutters to start lettus for your garden.  Once they come up you simply trench the area intend to use and slide the soil and baby lettus into the desired area.  This is an easy, less invasive way to transplant.  Grace and I work on planting several varieties of lettus and spinnage. We can't wait to taste them all. 

Here a photo of our chickens free ranging in the yard.  Sadly we lost one of the white hens after this photo.  That was the 3rd one that wondered into the fenced in yard with the dogs.

Puppies No More

Ellie (11 mos.)

It did not take long for our puppies to grow up.  Well, at least in size.  They have definitely enjoyed the new house.  They have a lot more room and Hannah loves to take them on adventures into the woods.  They have become very fond of the creek near our property.  It is rare that they return home dry any more. 

Oliver (11 mos.)

It's not all work!

Last weekend we stopped and enjoyed a nice dinner over our new and improved fire pit.  Jamey set it up 3 weeks ago and we have already christened it in style.  We had a whole meal prepared over the open fire.  Steaks, sweet potatoes and cherry cobbler.  The steaks were perfect but, everything else has room to approve upon.  Especially the dutch oven cooking.  I think that will take time to master. 

April 2012

We started the month in Pawley's Island, SC on spring break.  This was our 3rd trip there in 6 years.  It is starting to become an enjoyable Spring tradition for our family.  This year was much needed since the kids and Jamey spent most of the winter cooped up at home.

Emma's very pink room

After our vacation we returned home had started on the long list of spring projects around the house and yard.  The rooms in the garage are coming around.  Emma's is 95% completed, just waiting for a few last furnishings and decorations.  Hannah is a few weeks behind her.  She finally picked out her paint and began painting this past week. 



Caleb heads out to collect some firewood.



We also had to buy another garden tractor.  The kids, especially the non-drivers, are really getting a kick out of it.  It has taken a lot to let them know it is not a toy.   We will see how long the excitement lasts once cutting the grass becomes a chore for them. 

Grace watches as mom rakes the soil.



This past weekend we tilled two small gardens.  Jamey started some seedlings a few weeks ago and we can't wait to get them in the ground.  Caleb and I also worked on the base for our new water collection system.  We will be feeding a 275 Gallon tote from the one side of our garage.  The goal is to collect enough rain water for the garden and perhaps some of the animals. 



Setting the frame for our water collection system.


UPDATE 5/7/12

We finished hooking up the rain water collection tote this week.  Today had our first good rain of the year(0.64") and we collected about 230 gallons.  Not bad for one day.  We just need to finish getting the seeds in the ground to take advantage of it.