I meant to post about this the yesterday, but I never got around to it, since we went to town (Tractor Supply) yesterday.. The other day, Levi and I went on a long, long, bike ride. It was a nice day, beautiful outside, so we thought we'd take a bike ride. We really didn't know where we were heading (hehe), and didn't really intend to go far, so we didn't even take any water bottles with us (big mistake!).

We ended up riding to a place called Woodson's Mill, and it took us an hour (on bike) to get there. It's probably a really good thing that I wasn't wore out by the time we got there, because it took us another whole hour to get back (if not a bit more, because we were going slower on the way back)! Which wouldn't have been so bad, if the roads weren't hilly, and if we would've had some water. We'd never went that far before, nor have we been there on bike before, so it was definitely an interesting trip! I enjoyed it, but I probably won't be doing it again.

Here's what it looked like, the mill, that is.

Like I mentioned above, we went to Tractor Supply yesterday, and got some fencing so we can fence in the front yard for Gracie, and I was able to get a pair of shoes (I absolutely dislike shoe-shopping, but I made myself because the soles on my other pair are falling apart ). It was so nice outside yesterday — up in the 70's, I think! Dad got the garden rotivated with the tractor after milking, and I was out looking for something to take a picture of (there isn't much yet — I'm waiting for everything to green up again!). With it being so warm out, who would want to stay inside? Not me!

We've been trying to get some of the leaves in the field and barnyard raked up so the grass will grow. By this time last year, we already had all the leaves up! But with all the snow we had this year, we weren't able to do that. The barnyard is soo wet and muddy under all the leaves — you rake the leaves back and you have puddles lying everywhere! The middle part of the field is mostly raked up, and we managed to get the heavy, wet leaves taken away with the new cart Mom and Dad bought (I'll have to get a picture of it). That works so much better than using a tarp — especially when the leaves are so heavy that we can't even hardly lift the tarp!

This is how Hannah naps.. Isn't she funny? Samuel (my guinea there on the right), was in a fight the other day with Jesse (another guinea male) and obviously he lost the fight. Jesse was picking on him terribly, so I had to separate him and put him in the hen pen for a while, till everything calmed down a bit. Though Jesse is still chasing him around, he's not pecking him as bad. Now everyone's (especially Big Guin [the old male guinea]) is chasing Blackfeet! LOL!

It was really nice and warm outside today! I didn't even need a jacket! (Well, after I got sufficiently warmed up!) Dad and Levi worked on the raised bed this morning, adding a metal bar to the center of it to hold it together better in the middle [the pressure of all the dirt inside was pushing the boards out], while Mom and I worked on working up the dirt in the other raised bed and getting all the weeds out, so Mom will be able to start her seeds whenever she's ready!

I think just about everybody was enjoying the warmth and sunshine today! As you can see from the picture below, the goats were just laying on the other side of the fence taking a sun bath, and watching us work! At one point, Shadow was laying completely over on his side, and he looked so funny! I went to get a picture of him doing it, and Hannah saw me and got up, which in turn made Shadow jump up, so I didn't get a picture of it this time. I'm pretty sure he'll be doing it again though!

Here's me — driving the tractor! This is probably only the 2nd (or possibly 3rd) time I've ever driven it. Dad asked me if I wanted to when we went to put the tractor away, so I did. I was kinda nervous at first, but it really wasn't that hard, and it was kind of fun! Dad hopped up on the back and was helping me figure out how to drive it. Things like when to take my foot off the clutch, and the brake, and how to change gears, etc.

I raked up some of the leaves in the barnyard today, and it sure was laying wet underneath all those leaves, so hopefully the ground will dry up a bit better now, and more green grass will grow! The goats were happy that I'd raked them a few leaf piles to lay in.. LOL! The chickens, well, they just decided the leaves shouldn't be in piles and should be scattered back all over the ground again! At least it gave them something to do!

I decided to be nice today and let the hens out early, and in turn they only gave me 2 eggs. Tsk, tsk, bad chickens! Hopefully they'll pick up production again soon! I remember when we were getting 13 and 14 a day! And, with Gabriel on patrol in the barnyard, I'm hoping the rooster fights won't be as bad this year, though I'm sure I'm going to have to separate Danny and Jacob if they start fighting that bad again. I don't look forward to all the separating animals again… lol, maybe I should just let them all fight it out!

Gracie is doing great, and still giving us about 2 gallons of milk per day! We use a lot of it just by drinking it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Mom has been letting the goats in with her sometimes in the mornings, and so far everything has been going well. Shadow and Hannah headbutt her, but she doesn't pay much attention to them. (Good cow!)

I suppose I should stop rambling now. Oh, and thank you everyone for the happy birthday's.

Is it possible? Am I really turning seventeen today? That seems like such a big number! Just last year I turned sixteen. Now another year has passed already… wow!

It seems like, the older you get, the faster time flies. It's March already!! But, it was just January 1st, 2010! I don't ever remember the year going by that quickly when I was 12 & 14! Here below is a conglomeration of pictures I collected of myself since I was a baby – up till now (the last picture at the bottom was taken last month, I believe). I figured ya'll might be interested in seeing what I looked like when I was younger/smaller. lol…

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. The LORD is King for ever and ever:
(Psalms 8:1, 9:1, & 10:16a)

Thou art my God, and I will praise thee; thou art my God, I will exalt thee. Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes. Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it. O GOD, thou art my God; early will I seek thee:
(Psalms 118:28, 119:66, 119:133, 119:135 119:140, 63:1)

Whew! After not going sled riding for a LONG time, I finally got to do so again this evening! The sleds that Pap got us a long time ago are mainly for sledding on ice (at least, they generally don't work very well on snow… metal runners, you tend to sink (in the snow) with them ), and since we normally don't get a lot of ice, we've never had a chance to use them yet.

So, Levi got our sleds out of the Rabbit Building this evening and we proceeded to get a running start and sled down the slick, icy driveway! Boy oh boy was that fun! I apologize for the lack of pictures of the event, but I don't particularly  think it would be wise to try to take pictures and steer the sled at the same time. I'd probably end up in the snow bank, LOL!

Gracie started running around in her pen when we started sledding… I guess she wanted to get out and run, and because she couldn't, just decided to run circles in her pen! She'd watch us sled down the driveway, and then run around her pen, and come back and watch us some more.. silly cow!

And, since I can't resist posting and not adding any pictures for ya'll, here are two pretty recent ones;

Sunny sittin' in the bird feeder, just hoping a bird will happen to fly in!

A woodpecker Gabriel and I scared up, and he paused just long enough for me to snap his picture!

Oh my, yesterday was a busy (and tiring!) day for us. It's a good thing the snow was light, and not heavy, because of all the shoveling and clearing we had to do! Shoveling out the paths (again), shoveling off the porches and decks, shoveling paths to the vehicles and clearing them off, shoveling a path down the front yard over headed towards Gracie's pen for the water hose, and Levi also pushed snow out of the driveway with the tractor! I'm sure glad we didn't lose our electricity or anything like that!

So, here's some of the promised photos that I took today, between shovels. I had to shovel a while so that I could get my fingers nice and toasty warm (instead of being white, numb, and frozen!) so I could snap some photos, seeing as I have a real hard time doing it with my big, bulky gloves on.

I stayed on the paths most of the time while taking photos, because I didn't want to risk getting snow and ice down my boots! Brrr! And in some of the spots where the snow had blown more than 13 inches, it was well over the top of my boots! The first photo up on the left was taken from my bedroom window yesterday morning. After I saw how the light was "hitting" (can't think of a better expression!) the trees, I just couldn't resist snapping a shot of it!

Then a picture of snow on the tree limbs…icicles hanging off the barn roof, a closer shot of them, and Hannah with the guineas!

There's Hannah and Shadow on the path to the turkey building. They're usually behind me, instead of in front of me (especially if I have the scratch bucket!), but this time they decided to take the lead. I love this next picture of Shadow… his tongue is out! haha!

The last photo is my favorite, I think. With the snow, icicles hanging on the barn, and the wood smoke coming out the chiminy, just gives it that nice "look", if you know what I mean!

Yep, sure enough, we got snow again. Dad figures there's about 12-14 inches out there right now. It's pretty much stopped snowing now, but it was really coming down thick earlier!

Most of the day was spent shoveling / sweeping snow paths to the animal pens and barns… then coming out later to find they were completely filled back in with snow (didn't even look like paths had been cleared to the animal pens), so we had to re-shovel them a lot!

All these pictures were taken while it was still snowing (I wrapped my camera up in a handkerchief to get it down to the barn, so it wouldn't get snowed on ), so hopefully tomorrow if it's not snowing I'll be able to get some better ones!

Seeing all of this snow reminds me of Psalm 51:7: "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." and of course that reminds me of the hymn that goes with that verse (Whiter than Snow)……..

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole; I want Thee forever to live in my soul; Break down every idol, cast out every foe!

Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow; Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow!

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After supper, we all went outside to check on Gracie and the goats, and the wood-stove in the barn (and for me to collect the eggs, which I had forgotten earlier), I went around to the rooster (guinea) pen to check on the guineas, since it was supposed to be pretty cold tonight.. Well, about 5 of them were in the guinea box (and a few sitting outside of the box), and 6 of them were outside on the roost.

So, the ones that were sitting outside the guinea box, I picked up and moved to the inside, then walked down to get the 6 off the roost and put them in as well. One of the girls, Sydney, wasn't even on the roost. She was sitting on the ground, in the snow, sleeping! Considering that the big light was on, I didn't think I was going to be able to catch them and move them to the guinea box, but my little pearls are generally pretty easy going, the only ones I had to worry about catching were the two older guineas. I managed to catch the pearls, one by one, then moved on to catching the older ones.

Big Guin (the old male guinea) didn't give me any trouble. I slowly walked up and grabbed him real fast, so he wouldn't have a chance to fly. Well, once I did that, Miss Guin (the old female) was on the alert, and she wasn't about to let me catch her easy. Going back for her, when I tried to grab her she flew, so I had to herd her back to the roost and make her fly up again, and actually caught her that time. But when I did, the way she was screaming you'd of thought I was killing her! Even the cow came out of her stall to see what was going on.. LOL!

I was getting "camera happy" . The doll is an Indian doll that Gran got me for my birthday years ago.