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Two weeks ago, right around dinner time I got a call (actually it was a message on FB) we have been waiting for since we heard that a friends cat was to have kittens.  The kids, Poppa and I  have missed having a cat around and so we were all ready to have a mischievous but hopefully sweet and cuddly little kitten in our home again.  My dear friend Allison had sent me a picture of three sweet little faces and as soon as I saw her cute little grey face I hoped we could pick her.  The kids were all in agreement and this ensued the search for a name.  Suggestions were given by all of my children.   Some funny, some completely off the wall and some really worth thinking about.   What’s in a name right?  Oh dear but my family loves coming up with the perfect name and we will likely be saying her name quite a bit and so after much negotiation and trying out a name by trying it out many many times, we settled on Magnolia.

The name covered many of our suggestions.  Maggie for the actress who plays the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey,  Magnolia for being one of my favorite flowers and it was somewhat close to Magneto which the boys were pulling for.

We have all been getting our kitty kisses and hugs and definitely trying to keep her out of trouble.  In such a big house its a feat to know where she is and what she might be getting into.  An aluminum ball seems to be her favorite thing right now and pouncing on anything she feels bigger than.

Our dog Stu had only to sniff her once to accept her into the family however, Sol the black lab is not so sure she shouldn’t be a good replacement for a squirrel and I am keeping an eye on the looks he gives her.  We keep him held if he is inside and he is spending a lot of time outside where he loves to be near the chickens or in the breezeway until he learns how to behave around Miss Magnolia.

She of course sees no danger around and watching her scamper and bounce around is so much fun.  It feels as though she was always meant to be ours and she is probably going to be a very spoiled cat.  I especially enjoy when she is tired and just happy to sit and cuddle with me.

And back to the subject of fall, since it seems to be the biggest thing on my mind, I brought out my bread recipe again.  Not our usual wheat loaf you can see here but the kind I make for soup and stews and all the wonderful things that I will be cooking as soon as it is cooler.  It made for a warm kitchen but the oohs and aahs from the kids were confirmation that it was time to start making our soup bread again.  Crusty on the outside and warm and fluffy on the inside.   A big pat of butter and we are all happy as can be.  Its always the simple things that make us happy.

And for now our job as kitty parents is just to enjoy her little kitten face before she grows into a real cat as Mateo says and all the adventures and funny things she will get into before then.

Bullet Journal

I just got home from spending most of July at the Florida house welcoming our newest grandson into our family (in the exact same spot that Mateo was born) more on that tomorrow.

It’s been a while since I have done a farm update.  We have added 2 members of the human kind to our farm family (more on that later also 🙂  and life is good.  Busy and different but good.

This summer we added a big new field of row crops and I feel like converting everything to long rows now.  They are so pleasing to walk through and easy to maintain.  We have easily 3 dozen different veggies growing in the garden and 3 huge beds of potatoes.  An official herb garden instead of having my herbs scattered around our homestead and I painted a barn quilt to go on the side of the henhouse.  We have once again added more rabbits, a breeding pair of meat rabbits and are planning pigs and bees in the spring.

The Tolouse goslings almost have their honk.  I am expecting it any day and they seem to have taken on the role of duck security guards.  They puff up their little chests and create a circle around the ducks which is so funny.  The ducklings are feathering out and spending most of their time in their little kiddie pool.   The new chicks have learned their place in the pecking order and stay clear of the older hens.  If the older hens are inside the henhouse, they are out in the yard.  Everyone seems to be settling in perfectly fine save for a hen that gets a little annoyed once in a while with all the new additions to her henhouse.  We added portable and very lightweight electric fencing which everyone has learned to use and avoid including Mateo.  I find my kids sitting nearby watching to see if any of the new chicks run into the fence which is actually a pretty funny sight to see.   It is so good to know that predators cannot get to our animals anymore.  Good for this mamas mind.

We will be starting some fall seedlings sometime in the next few days and so continues the cycle.  It’s so good to not need to buy all of these things at a store and so good for farm kids to keep busy with.  They love it.

Christopher received a recurve bow for his birthday with a homemade wooden target.  I plan on making him a leather quiver for Christmas and I love to see these boys out in the woods practicing.

The weather is getting so nice and cool in the morning and evenings here and its a nice reminder that we are almost out of the heat of summer which is not my favorite.  Soon enough fall will be here and we will get to spend more time in the woods which right now are a crazy jungle of trees, vines, brambles and weeds.  Soon, very soon.

For now, I will enjoy morning breakfasts of eggs and greens (though they got a little bug eaten but still yummy) and tea on the rocking chair on the shady porch but I know that pumpkins and squash are coming and perhaps hot chocolate sometimes instead of tea.

How is life in your neck of the woods?