A Hunter's Hideout

Mom and I had a crazy idea.... There is a real shortage of lodging in Geraldine.  The closest motel is 26 miles away in Fort Benton.  The owner of Rusty's Bar has opened a cute little B&B next to the bar, but it's only got three rooms.  Every fall this town fills with hunters.  Rightfully so, since we have an abundance of amazing wildlife in this area.  But there is like, no where for them to stay....

 

So ta-da!! Here's the project!

 

 

This old grainery building was built in October of 1962.  The date is written into the concrete floor. I love that they did that! We think it will make the most awesome bunkhouse/ hunter's cabin!

 

 

It's built from stacked 2x4 lumber.  The stacked boards offered enough strength to hold the tremendous weight of bushels and bushels of wheat.  The boards are still in beautiful condition....

 

 

The bunkhouse will have two bedroom areas and a common area with some comfy furniture and a mini fridge, etc.  However for now it is a "dry cabin".  Yup, no plumbing.... so Prairie Granny and friend Jim had another little, necessary project....

 

We didn't really make Jim dig this hole by hand.  We used a little trencher.

 

 

 

If there is such a thing as a cute outhouse, I'd say this one is cute!

 

 

We hope to have this completed by the start of hunting season.  Wish us luck!  I think it will be a very fun thing to have visitors and I hope it's good for the community as well.  If the hunters stay here in town, they'll buy gas here, eat here and frequent the little grocery store.  Let me know what you think!

 

Bye for now,

B

The Three Little Pigs

Today was the hottest day we've had so far this summer.  I would just like to say how grateful I am for air conditioning.  It wasn't even that hot compared to what folks in other parts of the country experienced today, but still hot enough for me!  It's rare for us to have the kind of humidity that causes things to fog up, but this evening there is a whole lot of moisture in the air.  It made for a pretty picture of my little town.

This morning I loaded up the kids and headed over to my old stomping grounds to pick up some piglets.  We took a quick tour of Cascade to show my kids where I grew up and then stopped in Ulm for the pigs.  Originally we had planned to get six weaned piglets from the little gal that raises them for her 4-H project.  But the day I had planned to pick them up, I ended up in the hospital instead.   By the time I got the all clear from the doctors, she only had three left.  So here are our three little pigs....

They are a Red Wattle cross.  Red Wattles are a critically endangered, heritage breed and I am all over that.  I also love their little wattles!  So dang cute!  Now I am off to study up on how to raise pork in the healthiest, most natural way possible.... Wish me luck!

Bye for now,
B

Pistol Packin' Momma

*Disclaimer: If you are anti-gun, you may not want to read this post.  But it's ok, I'll still love ya....*

Tonight I got to sneak out and ride my Fancy mare.  She's enjoying becoming a horse again after a year of pretty intense training.  She isn't used to being ridden out in the world right now.  The safe confines of the arena are what she has gotten used to.  So out across the pasture we go.  Looking at every little thing, spooking at the dogs when they pop up out of the grass.  Not so fun for me, but necessary....

After our ride....

After she had settled a bit and we were slowly walking up to the barn gate we heard a slight buzzzzzz.... Oiy! Snake!  Fancy jumped backwards and shied away.  I hung on while hoping I wouldn't get dumped on top of a rattle snake!  I hollered across the field to Prairie Granny, who was out in the yard with the rugrats.  "There's a snake!"  Then, "Get my gun!"  I led Fancy to the house, calling the dogs along so they wouldn't get snake bit.  Unsaddled, turned Fancy loose and grabbed my gun.

At first I couldn't find him when I went back.  Of course.  But just as I was hopping back on the four-wheeler, there he was climbing up the big manure pile next to the corrals.  I quickly aimed at his beady little head and fired.  Missed!  That was actually the very first time I shot my gun.  It's a .41 caliber, single action revolver. I have sot some .45's so I figured it would kick a bit.  But it wasn't too bad.  Mostly it was just really loud!  Shoulda wore ear plugs, but I didn't....  I couldn't hear a thing for a few minutes after the shooting.  So when I'm a really deaf old lady, we'll know why!  I promise I'll have ear protection next time!

Anyway, I shot that dirty bugger three more times.  There is no better target practice than a rattlesnake on a manure pile!

See how well they hide?  It's easy to step right on them!
 

Prairie Granny dragged him out so I could take a better photo.

After we disposed of Mr. Snake, we did our evening chores to the chorus of a pack of coyotes somewhere nearby.  Ugh.  But it's ok, Momma's gotta gun....


Bye for now,
B

Haircuts!

Tuesday was the biggest day of the year for the alpacas.  They all got their haircuts!  Once a year they get a buzz cut that lets them be cool enough for the hot summer days.  They are originally  from the very high altitude of the Andes Mountains  and without the buzz cut, they have problems dealing with the heat. Lucky me! 

This is the shearer, Marty.

That also means we get to harvest that wonderful fleece!  Softer than cashmere and just as beautiful.  It's made into all kinds of wearable products.  Warmer than wool, moisture wicking and uber soft.  I am excited to get it milled into yarn very soon.

How do you find out who your true friends are?  They show up to help you shear your alpacas!  Prairie Momma Trish and her daughter Elaina came to watch and of course jumped in to help me!  Trish gave all the shots and Elaina helped label the bags of fleece so I don't get them mixed up.
Our crew also consisted of lovely, neighbor girl Shyanne, my oldest son and my mom snapping the photos.

The shearers were amazing. Ever year in May they come up from Guthrie, Oklahoma to shear the alpacas in Montana.  Marty learned from his father how to shear and Eric is learning from Marty.  It takes them eight minutes to perfectly shear an alpaca!  They lay them down and put ankle straps on them to hold them still.  Then zip, zip, zip and they're done!

I was running around like a mad woman!  Trying to gather the fleece, bag it and trim the nails of each alpaca.  Might as well get 'em while they're down!

 

When they're done they look like this!

This is Genesis after her very first haircut!



The rugrats got to hang out and play while the rest of us were working.  They always find interesting things in the barn yard!




 

After two hours we had all thirteen alpacas ready for summer and they got to go out on the pasture and get the heck away from us!  Then I took the shearers to dinner and picked their brains about the best ways to market fleece and such.  I learned a lot in that short time!  Now I just need to learn how to knit!


 

 

Until next time,
B



The Rest of the Story....

Today the wind is howling, as it is known to do out here on the prairie.  We are kind of blessed in Geraldine.  The wind doesn't blow here as much as it does just over the mountains in Great Falls. It blows quite a bit more in the spring and I like to think it's trying to blow in some better weather.

Last Saturday I planned to take my big boy on a trip to go pick up five more alpacas.  Then I got the weather report on Friday morning and it said some big ol' wind was headed our way by 6:00 am Saturday.  Not wanting to be caught pulling a good sized horse trailer in a wind storm, I decided to head out on Friday afternoon.  We beat the wind and drove as far as Sheridan, Wyoming before finding a hotel.  With a pool....had to have a pool for the rugrat.  It's probably the only reason he agreed to go along with his momma on a crazy, long trip to get alpacas.  We were up early and talked the hotel clerk into letting my boy swim a whole 3 hours before the pool was supposed to open.  After swimming we scarfed a continental breakfast and hit the road. 

The alpacas we were after had been on Craigslist for an unbelievably low price.  The gal said she had to sell them because they were moving and couldn't take them with them.  She had four girls and one boy.  Two of the girls are expecting with and early June due date.  I saw pictures and they all looked pretty good.

Well, the pictures must've been taken a while ago.  When we got there we found some very skinny alpacas.  The gal also had a bunch of very skinny horses.  Youngsters with every rib showing.  Grrrrr!!  A couple of the alpacas look "ok" but even with all their fuzz you can tell they need to gain.  One of them in particular looks awfully skinny and sad.  You can see her poor little spine and hip bones.  You aren't supposed to see those on an alpaca!!!  I looked around and didn't see any hay or feed in sight.  Just a big ol' patch of dirt.  I'm thinking that poor gal must've ran out of money to feed her critters.  But when that happens it's our responsibility to find new homes for the critters before anybody goes hungry! Ok I'll get off my soap box now....

This skinny girl is named Kate.

As soon as we got the poor things loaded, we hustled back up to Casper.  I know where the feed store is there and we HAD to get them some grub! I was worried about them making the long trip without any feed.  We found some awesome Timothy hay and put the whole bale in the trailer with them.  They dove in and started eating frantically, before I could even cut the strings.

We drove like crazy so we could get them home as quickly as possible.  The original plan was to overnight again in Sheridan.  But instead we pushed through.  We rolled in at 3:30 am on Sunday.  You should have see the joy in those little alpacas when we unloaded them into a nice, green paddock with all the hay they could eat!  They jumped out of the trailer and immediately rolled in the grass and took nice long drinks.  It was as if they were saying, "We don't know where in the heck we are, but man this is nice!"

From the left we have Zoe, Topper, Kate, Sadie and Lina. 

 

One of the best parts of this little alpaca adventure is how much my boy likes them.  I also love that my little rugrats can be out there in the pens with me and I don't have to worry.  They really are very gentle creatures and that is so nice!  I love my horses, but my little ones can't just hang out in the corrals while I'm feeding my horses. Alpacas and kids go together!

Bye for now,
B

Weekend Insanity

Last Friday was the craziest day that I can remember having!  Prairie Momma Trish was branding that morning and invited me to come along to "help" and take pictures.  I did find myself being useful a few times, but spent most of my time behind the lens. I was taking in all the beauty that one only sees at a branding.  The weather was perfect, clear, deep blue skies, light breeze, warm but not too warm.  What I enjoyed the most was the camaraderie of life long friends and family all working together to make a tough, necessary job as enjoyable as possible.  It's always the very highest of  honors to be invited to help at a branding.  It means you've proved you're worth your salt and won't be a cog in the wheel.

A collection of friends, neighbors and family.

I was most in awe of  "Aunt Jo".  A woman of this prairie who has probably spent the equivalent of my lifetime on the back of a horse.  Weathered by many Montana years but still an formidable presence in the sorting pen....

Her horse is the result of breeding her own mounts for seven generations. "A little Appaloosey, a bit of Morgan, Thoroughbred and some Quarter Horse that goes back to Poco Bueno."

Unfortunately, I had to miss the branding dinner.  There is always a feast after branding is done.  I'm sure I don't even wanna know how yummy it was.  But I had to go meet up with a nice fella who was leasing a piece of oil field equipment from us.  I got things all squared away and sent him on his way back to North Dakota.

When my big boy came home from school we jumped in the truck and headed out of town on a rescue mission!  All the way to Cheyenne, Wyoming! Then we had to drive all the way home! I can't wait to tell you about it!  Tomorrow.... It's been a long weekend....

But just for kicks, here are some more images from Friday morning....

The Paint in this shot is actually my new little mare, named Dice.  Thanks to Miss Sherry for trusting me to give her a new home.

This is the gear on one of the horses that was used to gather the cows that morning.

Bye for now,
B

Adventures in Animal Husbandry

Last Saturday was a bugger of a day.  It was supposed to be a great day!  We were finally moving out to the farmhouse.  We still have the house in town that is going to be re purposed into a (hopefully) profitable endeavour.  (More on that later.)  So we didn't have all that much to move when it came down to it.  Bedrooms, kitchen stuff and of course the dining table that my step-mom's father made back in 1975. It was handed down to me about 13 years ago and it is one of my only earthly possessions that I am way to attached to. 

And then it rained.... and snowed a bit.... and threw in some sleet.  Just for fun.  Why does it always rain when you try to move?  But we ducked rain drops and got most things moved without getting them wet.  I'm thankful for the lovely friends and neighbors that took the time to help!



Banner the miracle alpaca.

And then we had a sick alpaca.  A very sick alpaca.  I noticed on Friday evening that he wasn't acting right at all.  He kept going to the poo pile and straining but nothing would happen.  Not a good sign!  He also didn't want to eat anything.  A really bad sign for an alpaca!  They love food as much as I do!  As soon as I got the little guy caught and checked his vitals I knew he was in real trouble.  He was dehydrated for sure.  Capillary refill was slow.  All he would do was strain to poo and then go lay down. 

So I had the neighbor girl come over and she held him still while I tortured the poor beast.  First by squirting syringes of warm water and olive oil down his throat.  I didn't have any mineral oil and figured some kind of oil had to help! He was too sick to fight much and took the liquid pretty well.  We got about 10 ounces down him.  After turning him loose and encouraging him to walk around for a bit, we caught him up and the torture got worse.  I can now say I have given an alpaca and enema.  Several of them actually!  The enemas did seem to help things move along somewhat.  So after an hour or so of torture, we turned him loose to live or die.  I had a feeling he had sand colic and I wasn't feeling very optimistic.  Actually I was down right sad.  I thought I was going to lose my first alpaca.

The next morning before we got busy moving things I rushed over to doctor the poor guy.   When my big boy and I got to the barn, I warned him to brace himself for the worst.  We walked into the corral to find Banner laying flat, not moving, teeth showing, eyes still and open.  Looking pretty darn dead.  I crept over to find he was still breathing.  I nudged him and he got to his feet but he looked bad.  We and repeated the water and oil down the throat procedure and got him to take about 16 ounces.  His breath was horrible!  With his breath smelling like necrotic tissue I just knew he had ruptured an intestine.  I just knew I was going to have to shoot Banner.  But instead I doctored and prayed and prayed some more.  If he got to looking like he was in constant pain I was going to put him down. 

We left and went to haul our things to the farm.  A couple of hours later I checked on Banner and saw a very slight improvement.  He was standing up more.  A few hours after that I saw a miracle!  He was out in the pasture with his buddies and actually nibbled on some grass!  I couldn't believe it. By the end of the day I thought the bugger might actually live!

Banner and his buddy Huck.

The next morning we wasted no time getting out to do chores.  There was Banner alive and well and he was HUNGRY!! He acted like his only care in the world was food!  He happily dove into his alpaca chow and never looked back!  He is now my miracle alpaca. 

All is well that ends well.

Bye for now,
B

Of All Crazy Things

So of all crazy things, we're buying a ranch, or is it a farm?  I think maybe a farm. I'll let you know how it works out.  The thing is, I need a way to have a vocation that is just mine.  The oil field is really not for everybody, including me.  I also need to be able to stay home with the rugrats.  I have always said, "I didn't have kids just to pay someone else to raise them".  Just a personal mantra of mine.  So that doesn't leave a whole lot of options here in Geraldine.  But one of the things I can do, and do pretty well, is grow things.  Critters, gardens and such. 

After doing TONS of research on what is marketable and profitable in farming, I now have quite the business plan!  More details later....  But one of the things that called to me was.... (drum roll....)

ALPACAS!

This is my new buddy Huck.  I just love this guy!

I bought eight alpacas yesterday.  It's a bit like owning a herd of fuzzy deer.  They are shy, quiet, persnickety little creatures.  But I LOVE that my kids are totally safe around them.  They just shy away slowly if my rugrats get too close.  So far every body has good manners.  The only exception was Mudflap, the herd sire.  He was resistant to the idea of leaving his lovely home yesterday and was kicking in protest.  But he seems to like his new digs and is calming down.

Huck, Mudflap, Chip and Banner

The girls are pretty lovely.  Mallory is the "mom" of the group and is a bit cranky.  But she's just trying to watch out for everyone.  Particularly her baby, that I have renamed Genesis.  She came with the name Chaos, but I'm afraid of the negative vibes.  So Genesis it is.

Cricket, Genesis and Ginger with Mallory hiding in the back.

The profit on these guys comes from selling the fleece that is shorn once a year and selling the babies.  The going rate for fleece is about $2.00 per ounce of raw fiber.  More for young fiber or light colored fiber.  Threw that info out just for ya'll that are thinking I have completely lost my marbles!
And hey!  They give me another fun thing to write about!

Let me know what you think! If nothing else, I hope you had a good chuckle.

Bye for now,
B

Sometimes You Get a Red Calf

I was out at Prairie Momma Trish's today.  I always come back with good things to write about.  At least I think I do....

Sometimes life doesn't go at all the way we plan!  Lately my life has been just like that.  While I would much rather it was not as upside down as it is, I realize that blessings almost always come out of tough experiences.  Some things that come to us as a struggle can actually be blessing in disguise.

 One of Trish's lovely black heifers was bred to a very nice, registered, black Angus bull.  Trish's black cows always have black calves. That's what they're supposed to do.  Yesterday, Trish got a surprise! Meet "Latte"....

He is a beautiful little bull calf, perfect in every way.  But he's red.  The one and only red calf on the place.  With his breeding he was practically guaranteed to be black.  But he's red as red, with a little pink nose.  But Trish is happy.  He's a healthy calf and pretty as can be.  He's just not what was expected.

With life throwing curve balls at me right and left, I decided to pretty much chill out today.  But the boys got restless and I needed to change my chill out plan.  So we went to Trish's and had way more fun than we have any where else.

 

The chutes became a jungle gym....

 

 

The pea grinder became a sensory play station....

 

 

And the old tractor was the most fun ever!

 

 

 

 

 

And just for fun, here's an update on Charlie.  He's doing fantastic and now gets to go out in the field!

 

 

 

Bye for now,

B

The Cheeky Dog

 

This morning I took the puppies for a nice long walk around town.  It was quite cold and the snow was lightly falling but these pups are tough! They were enjoying our walk so much and I was too.  They now have the leash business figured out so it's very enjoyable for me as well.  I always walk Judge on the left and Jury on my right.  She's a bit more active/naughty and so by default she gets my stronger right arm to contend with.  She's also more alert than Judge.  He is happy to trudge along at my heels and doesn't question me.  Jury is sometimes sure I am leading her to danger.  Buses and cars are monsters, even if parked.  Fire hydrants are puppy eating demons!  But she is calming down and is beginning to trust me more.

Jury and her wooden snake.  She's practicing up for the real thing!

 

When we were nearly home we ran across a very cheeky Border Collie.  He was delighted to see someone else out so early and began running laps around us. Judge didn't like it at all but was dutifully following me even though he was worried.  Jury was flat out ticked off.  She was trying to behave but did not like that ornery dog!  When he made the mistake of dashing in towards us Jury spun and lunged at him and gave him her most ferocious, "I'm gonna tear you up!" barks.  She was so serious and scary that the Border Collie ran away! She was not gonna have anyone even think about invading our space.  As soon as he ran back into his yard, she calmed down and went along nicely. 

 

I was so surprised and I dare say, impressed by her behavior.  A little, not quite 10 week old pup and she was laying down the law with that naughty dog.  I can only imagine what is to come with her.  Which is the reason we are doing daily obedience lessons!  They are both so terribly smart that we know they will be very loyal guards.  But it is so very apparent that now is the time to install the "abort mission" command.  

"You talkin' to me?"

 

 

Each day with them has been quite interesting.  I hope you enjoyed our update.

 

'Til next time,

B 

 

 

 



Around Montana

Yesterday I drove 3 hours south to a tiny town called Wilsall, Montana.  I have a horse named Fancy that is getting fancier by the day thanks to my horse trainer there.  It's a bit of a drive to go see her, but a beautiful one. Then I get to ride and learn a lot!  It's so worth the trip!

I took a little time during my drive to stop and shoot a few photos.  Just whenever something caught my eye.  So here is a little tour around Montana....



Near Monarch, Montana

The whole drive down to Wilsall I think I saw no more than ten other vehicles on the road.  It is one of the most amazing, unspoiled drives in the state. 

But I did see cows.... lots and lots of cows. :)

 

The Crazy Mountains near Wilsall.

The Crazy mountains used to be called The Crazy Woman mountains when I was a kid. Legend has it that they were named after a white woman whose family was massacred by Indians and went mad.  She refused to leave their graves. The mountain man Liver Eating Johnson found her nearly starved.   He then looked after her, bringing her food whenever he passed through.  Robert Redford made a movie called "Jeremiah Johnson" that was loosely based on this legend.

On the way home I was witness to one of the most remarkable sunsets I have ever seen.  I pulled off the highway to capture it.  Believe it or not, I didn't have to tweak the exposure or color at all.  Here it is in it's glory.....

I hope you enjoyed the tour....


'Til Next Time,
B

The Whole Galaxy

Some of you know this.... I used to live in Seattle.  And Houston.  And the Dallas- Fort Worth area.  And some other pretty dang big towns.  I can say with first hand knowledge how beautiful city lights can be.  The lights of Seattle reflecting on the water of Puget Sound are a favorite memory of mine. But the one thing that used to bother the begeezers out of me is that you could barely see the stars in those places of my past.  Seattle not only has the light pollution but almost constant cloud cover.  It was very sad to know the stars were there an not be able to see them.  Like ever....

These last few nights I have now had a reason to be out traipsing around my yard after dark.  The Judge and Jury need to have one last pee-pee before bedtime!  I'm thankful the weather has been unusually cooperative for such things.  I have actually really been enjoying our little night patrols.  My big boy has been joining me.  He's been in his jammies and slips on my giant thermal Muck boots and coat and we go.... 

Each time I'm outside after dark in Geraldine my eyes are always cast upward.  I probably look like such a goon, staring up all the time.  But the stars are so bright it feels like you could reach up and grab one!  All the little teeny ones are there!  The Milky Way is there! Orion and the Dippers and lots of other constellations that I have no clue the names of, are there!  It actually does make a person feel closer to God to all his wonder like that.

Tonight there is actually a slight cloud cover.  Kinda uncommon out here, but sure enough there's clouds.  A few of the big, bright stars are shining through but that's all we could see.  Payson looked up and said, " Mom, where are all the stars? "  I explained the clouds covering them and that they will be back.  "Ok", he said. " 'Cuz last night we could see the whole galaxy."  Yup.... we sure could.

It's pretty hard to get a decent photo of stars.   At least hard for me.  So here's one of the sunset out west of town.

'Til next time,
B

Fourteen Kids and a Pot of Rainbow Stew

Well, actually it was chicken fettuccine alfredo.... I'll explain.

The other day I wrote about getting my new puppies from Amy, who I've known since childhood.
Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, here's the rest of the story. 

Amy is Tasha's little sister.  Tasha and I were practically inseparable after school and on weekends in the dirty, little ranch town of Cascade, Montana. Our parents all worked really hard and we were all pretty dang good kids.  We had a lot of time on our own.  Tasha said my house was always more fun to play at, but her house was the one with all the great snacks!  We spent the dog days of summer running back and forth and having sleepovers.  Her parents took us night fishing on the Missouri River.  It's almost seems like a magical childhood as I look back.  It's ironic that dogs brought us back together because we each had a dog back then that we adored and they went everywhere we went. Good old Blondie, Pepper and Spike....

Fast forward about 20 years, give or take....



Prairie Momma Amy

Now we've all got long stories leading up to our current lives.  There are now husbands and kids.  Lots and lots of kids!  Tasha has been blessed with four boys and one princess.  Amy has five boys and one princess.  I have three boys.  Add 'em up!  When we got together the other day we had fourteen kids between us! All but two were rowdy boys! They oldest child in our group is eleven, the youngest is six months.  Tasha's house is a nice, spacious farm house but we sure filled it to the brim!  Tasha's boy Wesley was having a birthday so it made for one heckuva party!  There was a level of chaos I am in no way accustomed to.  Toy guns, swords, trucks, legos and a pretend restaurant all going on.  The big boys went hunting and sledding in the yard for most of the afternoon, but the little ones were right there underfoot.  Ya'll shoulda seen it!

But there was some pretty amazing things going on if you looked through the chaos.  With help from my mom, who was there to help referee, I saw that we have fourteen very happy children.  You would have thought there would be fussing, whining, bickering and the like between all those kids.  But amazingly there wasn't!  Other than an occasional "accident" or boo-boo nobody really complained.  Even Amy's infant barely cried.  That is either some kind of miracle or maybe there is something else at work.

Our kids are all being raised on pretty dang old fashioned values like faith, family and working together.  Amy and Tasha are both brave enough to home school their broods.  (I'm not tough enough I'm afraid.)  Our lives all involve teaching our kids to love the Lord and the bigger meaning of life.  We are all three, Prairie Momma's.

Prairie Momma Tasha

Confession:  When it's comes to being a "Prairie Momma", I feel those girls have got me beat.  I know I live way out here, an hour from the big town.  We don't have a stop light or a car wash or Wal-Mart.  There are six kids in my 1st Graders class.  Things are simple here, for sure.  But this "ain't nothin' ". 

Tasha has to drive 40 miles to a grocery store. Any kind of grocery store. After you turn off the main highway you don't see a thing but an occasional farmstead. Miles upon miles of wide open expanse. Her farm is a prairie classic. Wonderful, mature windbreaks define the yard. Perfect antique red barns and buildings sit below the house. An old farmhouse with tricky wiring. Really tricky wiring. But tons of charm and warmth.  They've got horses, dogs and goldfish for now, but give her time.  I think she's planning her garden for next spring....

Tasha's yard

Amy has it even better! She gets to drive and hour and a half to the grocery store. Her closest neighbors are about a mile away. She has a wonderful little farm with a menagerie of animals. Goats, horses, cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, donkeys, dogs and probably more. She's raising what her family eats and drinks and even makes goat milk soap. (Amy, if you are reading this, you are my hero.) 

Amy's Farm

Amy's princess. Could not resist stealing this pic!

So now you see.... I'm a Prairie Momma, no doubt. But these girls have got me beat! I aspire to learn from them as good friends do....


'Til, Next Time,
B