Kitchen Projects

We all had fun in the kitchen while Melissa was here too. One day we made up a batch of raspberry jam and canned it. Another day we made some mozzerella cheese. I have a few more pictures to put on of the jam making but forgot to take any of making cheese.

Trip to the River

One especially hot afternoon we took Melissa down to the river. We all got in and cooled off for awhile.
We also had fun being silly and scrubbing our feet with sand.

Garden Beauty

Red Rasspberry
Purple bean blossom
Pumpkin blossom

Our New Puppy

We have also added a sweet collie puppy to our farm recently. She is so cute. When we first brought her home she was quite timid, but she has been adjusting. The poor cat is very jealous and not at all nice to her, so she avoids him if possible. She is also not too sure about the goat yet. The chickens were scary at first but now they are alot of fun to watch. We are having a hard time thinking of a good name for her. Any suggestions?

Hannah

We bought a milking doe last week. She is a Nubian/Alpine cross giving about half a gallon a day. She came with the name Hannah, I'm not sure if I will leave it or think of something new. She is very friendly and easy to milk. She only has one flaw. She has been very difficult to keep locked in. She escapes very well and runs right over to the window to look in.


Building a haybale barn for her.

Hannah

A jar of fresh milk.

Huckleberries

Melissa and I had the chance to go pick huckleberries with Jennifer Watkins, her sister and a friend. It was fun to explore until we found the best patches. We picked until we got driven off the mountain by a thunder storm. Afterwards we went down to the river and had lunch. I didn't swim,(the water was cold and it was still cloudy though the storm had passed) but some people did.

When we got home I washed the berries and froze them. We also ate some of them on ice cream. One of these days I will have to make a huckleberrry pie.

Melissa Visits

Over the last week and a half we have enjoyed a visit from my sister Melissa, from California. She came up with Andrew's family from a family camp in Oregon, stayed with us for awhile, and yesterday we took her to the airport and she flew back to Oregon where my dad, who was up there for a music camp, picked her up.

We had such a fun time and kept pretty busy while she was here. Since Andrew has been doing so much better since just before she arrived we were able to go out to a few places. We even got a puppy and a milk goat while she was here!

She was also a big help around our place, milking the goat, gardening, doing dishes and much more.

Chickens

We raised 20 meat birds this year. Three of them died so we ended up with 17. Andrew has been quite sick ever since just after the wedding and I was having a hard time keeping up with everything. He is getting alot better now, it is such a relief. The chickens were all ready to butcher right during the worst of it but I had never done it before and couldn't do it by myself. So Andrews family came over and we got them all done. It was such a big help and it is nice to have them all in the freezer now.

The Setup

Who's Next?

Plucking

Gutting

Cows

We have three cows over here on our pasture now. Two of them are Andrew's brother Caleb's. and one is half ours and half his families. It will be nice to have the beef later this year.

The Garden Grows

The garden is growing well now. These are pictures taken over the last few weeks. We are also just starting to get ripe rasperries. Yum!


Fresh peas

Colorful carrots...

and radishes

Green tomatoes

Bush beans

Tomato blossom

Pumpkin

The corn patch

Potato blossoms

Lettuce

Annie Laurie Keulen

Andrew's sister, Aimee, had a little girl on Friday, June 26.
She is so adorable.

The Best Man

Last Saturday Andrew was the best man in his friend Matthew's wedding. Matt was also in our wedding last September. Andrew was so handsome in his tuxedo and did a great job during the reception keeping thing flowing well. The wedding was lovely and we had an enjoyable day. It is always exciting seeing another couple making a marraige commitment. We wish Matt and Layne a wonderful marriage and God's blessings.

The handsome best man.

Best man and the groom.

All the guys.

Andrew and I

Flower girl and ringbearer.

It was so cute when the flower girl decided she needed to pick up the petals on her way down the aisle :)

Here comes the bride. Layne with her father.

The ceremony.

Matthew and Layne saying their vows.

The groomsmen watching.

Special music.

The lovely cake.

Cutting the cake.

Andrew giving a toast.

More toasts.

Off they go!