The Changing of the Guard! Literally!

Happy Fall Ya'll from HillCreek!
We welcomed fall up on the farm with open arms and excited hearts!
It was a quiet couple of weeks as we adjusted to farm life without our flock. Much quieter and a bit less work. It has allowed us to focus a bit more on the animals in the house which include the kittens, the dog and our one surviving chick the "Unsinkable Molly Brown!"

Molly is doing well and she is growing big! We keep talking bout how she is not satisfied being in her broody box anymore! She wants out and she wants freedom! We hope to give that to her in another week or so. 

But first we must Change the Guard, literally! We are going to welcome another new animal onto the farm! This animal has been purchased

for a very specific job and we have high hopes for her! Meet Sitka; Sitka is an almost 6 month old Anatolian Shepherd and she is a Livestock Guardian Dog( the dog behind her is the breeders Mastiff). Sitka was bred up in Washington and has been working with Horses, Cows and sheep alonside her parents and other working dogs already. We look forward to introducing her to a new flock and training her on guarding chickens. Livestock Guardian dogs are fascinating! If you do not know a lot about them, I encourage you to do some research. These breeds were created for very specific jobs and they are good at those jobs. You can read about them here; https://www.facebook.com/notes/livestock-guardian-dogs/list-of-lgd-breeds/802398923193882/, http://rareonthefarm.blogspot.com/2014/09/what-is-breed-and-why-does-it-matter-by.html, http://www.invasiveanimals.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Guardian-Dogs-web.pdf
There are many other places that you can find information about them. But those are few off hand! We hope that having Sitka and an electric fence will help to keep our flock from any current or future predator! I also look forward to all the things I will be learning alongside Sitka as we grow together in this farm business!

I have decided to start studying Ecclesiastes. This is a book in the Bible where the writer, most likely King Solomon, talks a lot about a time and a Season for everything. He talks about the work and toil of man, about the blessings and desires of God for us, His creation, and about our purpose. I spoke earlier about really getting a sense of the seasons up here on the farm and how they mean something much greater than they do in the city. I have always loved watching the seasons change and Fall is my favorite season. The pictures are just some of the many faces that Fall brings up here. In the city you are impacted by the seasons change, but not quite as much as you are impacted by them up here in the country. Jobs stop when the rain comes and things get too muddy to work with. Preparing animals and outbuildings for winter, so that they are safe, comfortable and can withstand the strain put on them. Thinking through what things need to get done before the winter comes, what kind of preparing we should do for power outages, ice, snow... How to keep animals water from freezing and chicken coops from getting too wet in the rain... gathering firewood and learning how to use a pellet stove. And then, there is also the quiet and slowing down that the changing of the season brings, because you are stuck working inside. So you pause and look at the beauty around you and the glory shining from every living thing. You appreciate the gift of creation and oh wow it is a splendor in all of it's beauty! I enjoyed all of this in the city, but it didn't impact me the way it does now and I look forward to diving into God's word and learning about the seasons in a new and fresh way as I learn what they mean for us here! I made a yummy fall treat this week. Granola with dried craisins and mangos!! You can check out the recipe I used here;https://www.cookingclassy.com/granola-without-oil/

 We finished up fall football last Sunday and the boys had a blast!! They played hard, learned, and had a lot of fun! I think they want to do it again next year! The cool thing about being in a small town is it is hard to find an excuse to not be a part of the goings on in town because you can't really hide from them! So for the first time we are really investing into the City, not just the people, we are a part of and trying to show up for the all the different community events. The kids had their school's jog-a-thon and each ran for an entire hour! It was a lot of fun and very sweaty! I ran with most of them and we had a good time! For any school these fundraisers are important, but I think, even more so for a small town where the demographics are not just on one side of the spectrum. After the jog-a-thon we watched the high school homecoming parade! We have also been to two HS football games and my husband is pretty happy about that! I also joined the PTA for the first time and that is new for me. But again I feel a pull to doing this as a way to be involved in the city and be a part of making a difference in our school and the lives of those we live among. It is all new and a little scary but I am excited to dive in and figure out what life looks like in Estacada! 

 I am not sure there is much more to update right now. So I will leave you with this; Our kids have been focusing on the character trait of Kindness in school this month. This is something that we talk a lot about in our family and my sister sent me this quote this morning. I love it! May we desire to be living expressions of Kindness in a world that right now values opinions over people, stances over serving, and speaking over listening! May we raise kids who long to give kindness no matter what they face and may we be people who give kindness from our very insides every day to anyone we come into contact with! I am praying for this in my own heart and life and I would love to join in prayer with all of you!

Heart Breaking Day on the Farm

Today we had a rough day on the farm. I can't say that any of my dreaming prepared me for these experiences. We have been had some troubles with a couple of neighbor dogs. They have found a taste for our chickens and previously killed 3 of our hens and today as we came home from our boys football game we found that they had gotten in and killed all of our hens and 11 of our chicks. HEARTBREAKING!!!
So many emotions running through all of us. We are sad, angry, frustrated, disheartened, but most of all we are just really bummed! '
Predators are part of the life up here. We plan for them, work to protect from them. But neighbor dogs did not enter our minds as the predators we would be fighting. In a lot of ways, had our whole flock been taken out by a pack of coyotes or a cougar I would feel more at peace with it all. It would still be hard and it would still be sad. But in some ways it would seem more just. The fact that they are being killed off just for play by a couple of dogs that are supposed to be pets is really hard. Not to mention that humans are involved.
We desire very strongly to be gospel minded in all that we do. How will we handle this in a way that honors the Lord and shows Jesus to everyone, including the owner of the dogs?
We have entered into a neighborhood with it's own set of history and each home is filled with it's own family with their own unique stories. We are just opening this chapter into the story of life on Fellows Road. How we handle all of this shows everyone around us who we are and what we bring to this neighborhood. We want to bring a sense of community and we want all of our neighbors to know that we love them, even the owner of these dogs, more than we love ourselves and with a sacrificial love. I just didn't know it was going to mean sacrificing my chickens...
Ben and I believe that we are missionaries right where we are at and that God places us into our own little mission field. How many times has a missionary given up their life so that someone might understand what it means that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. So whoever would believe in Him, they should not perish but have eternal life." Well in our situation we haven't been asked to give up our physical lives, but we are being asked to give up ourselves in order to love on these people around us! Super hard, but in the end totally worth it... I won't compare the loss of a physical life with the loss of my chickens. But the idea of giving up something that means a lot to me for the sake of the gospel is what I am after. Will I sacrifice so that Jesus is known? Will I give myself up?
For today I mourn the loss of our flock, of those helpless little chicks who had no chance. I acknowledge the frustration and anger that those dogs make me feel over a senseless massacre, and I hurt for the owner who is fighting their own battles!
We have police involved, I am praying for a resolution that doesn't involve us killing anything. I am praying that God is honored in the way we speak, act, and love those around us. I am praying for another opportunity when there are no more neighbor dogs, to have another flock on our property. I am praying for the brokeness that I am acutely aware of and that Jesus would be the restoration.
Would you join me in praying over this situation. Would you pray for me and for Ben? For Laura and for Ian? That our words and our actions would be a sweet smell to the Lord and to all that come into contact with us. Would you pray that the Lord would make Himself known through this all and that we would come out better for it? Would you pray for our one little chick who survived the traumatic event? We have named her, Unsinkable Molly Brown!! Pray that we would know how to care for her and that her wounds heal quickly and without issue.
We are excited to see how the Spirit unites us and uses us on Fellows Rd. We are excited to build relationships with our new community and to dig in, despite all of the hard that comes our way. We know that God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good! So we trust in that and we rest in that tonight!
How can we be praying for you?? Please share and I promise that I will be praying for you as I bring these petitions before the Lord.

Good Night from HillCreek Farms

This Week on HillCreek

Some of the girls in our flock! We have Wynona, Dorcas, Amelia, Charlie, and Bernadette.
RIP Bonnie, Mini Pearl, and Betty White

Good Morning from the farm!

This last couple of weeks have been full of LOTS of learning! We joke a lot about how we could be our own reality TV series up here. We have drama, intrigue, excitement, and romance!! There is action, emotion, and even some killing! I mean we could make it big in the world of Bravo or Lifetime!!

Every day I think brings a sort of new adventure of learning and experience!

It has been really neat to meet our neighbors who are so very helpful and kind. The people we have met definitely embody the characteristics of the down to earth, others serving, hardworking country that I was hoping for. I mean, not all of our neighbors are so wonderful and some of the drama that we have experienced has come from them. But overall we are surrounded by some kind and caring people and we are excited to continue to get to know them and glean from them all that we can!

I was going to introduce you to the Matriarch of our flock this week, Betty White. Unfortunately our flock was attacked for the second time by our neighbors two dogs and we lost her and another one of our chickens, Mini Pearl. It was a tough reality to get a text while at church from one of our kind and caring neighbors that our girls had been once again attacked and that we possibly had lost not just 2 but maybe 5 Hens. When we got home we found that one of the hens was hiding in the wood pile, fine but shaken. Another hen had run off and later came walking down the road. We got her back into the coop. Betty had been pretty roughly marred and we tried to care for her as best as we could until we had to make the final decision to put her down. You know in life you make the statement, "I could never do that!" Well there are things that I have said that about. But when it comes down to it and you know that the choice to do something verses not is the most humane, kind and caring thing to do, you will do it. You can do a lot of things when the will to see someone or something out of suffering is there. So, I learned how to put down a chicken, clean, quick, and hopefully the most pain free way that i could. It wasn't easy, I didn't enjoy it, but I did it and it was done.
Trying to decide what to do was emotionally and mentally draining. Lots of conversations, talking to the one vet that I could talk to who knows chickens, talking to dear friends who raise lots of chickens, talking among ourselves, and having lots of internal conversations! At the end it came down to the assessment of her injuries, the encouragement and support of my girls Estrella and Laura, and pulling on my big girl panties! I put on my boots and did what needed to be done. Laura and I were able to take of business while the kids were at school and them men at work. There was so much relief when it was over. I am thankful to know that she is not hurting or suffering anymore and that we can go back to focusing on the living animals that we have.

From left to right, Buster, Roco, and Tiger Lily

This week we added 12 new Chickens, 11 hens and 1 rooster. The kids are super excited about them and I am hoping to get them big enough, strong enough and ready to get out and into the coop. I am also praying that the dog problem slows down and we can keep these Chickens alive! We are learning how to care for the littlest of Chicks, but thankfully we don't have to keep them under a heat lamp, just inside at night to keep them warm and growing! We also added 3, l2 week old kittens to our family! There are 2 girls and 1 boy. We will keep them inside until after they are spayed and neutered and then we will send them outside to Mouse around!!

There are lots of goings on here including the continuing conversion of the Garage to Cottage! We also had quite the experience of learning about life on a well. The previous owners taught us how to change the filter on the well system, before we moved in and told us that since we had more people in the home we would probably have to change it more than they did, which was about once a month or less. We ended up having to change the filter every week and we would end up losing water, literally having no water coming from a faucet the further away we got from the day we changed the filter. We couldn't do laundry and try to wash our hands up stairs, or have someone in the shower and try to brush your teeth. Many times I was right in the middle of shaving my arm pits when... NO WATER, someone flushed the toilet!! It was both funny and sobering. A first world problem, giving me a glimpse into the lives of those who are not as privileged as I. I am grateful that Brian, our well guy, had a very quick and productive solution for us and that we had the money to afford the change. Now we have beautiful, YUMMY, and fully running water in all faucets! We can run both the washer and the shower at the same time. We can do the dishes and flush a toilet and not lose water. I have a new kind of appreciation for our water and Brian was another kind, hardworking man who offered to teach Ben how to add spigots to our well pump in the lower field so we can have water in the lower pasture. He talked about the kind of livestock we could have on our property and where we could ride horses! He said Ben was capable of learning how to do some of the well work, and told him he would teach him so he could know. What a gift to find people willing to share their knowledge and wisdom!              

It's a new adventure every day and we are loving it! The kids are settling into school and 3 out of 6 are playing flag football. The air is changing from summer to fall and the foliage is too. I am enjoying the chores that I have both outside and in. I look forward to having a little more function in the house and as my mom always says "Everything has a place and is in it's place." sounds really good to me right now. But there is only so much sun left and we have to take advantage of the sunny dry days to get the outside things accomplished. So I keep thinking, those other tasks will happen, just wait for a rainy day!! :) The Lord is giving me new insight into what the Seasons really mean for life and living. I have a feeling that I will have an incredible appreciation for our seasons and a new depth of wisdom for what they bring. I also see the Lord refining my selfish heart in having to give up more of myself, and my desires here. But that is good and I am grateful for it! We are a bit out of our comfort zone in a lot of ways, yet I find it very comforting to be here!

You could be joining us in prayer as we have been approached with an opportunity to have a couple of horses on the property! This is both terrifying and exciting. If you know me, you know that there is nothing that would make me more giddy, than to have a couple of horses here at our place. But there are a lot of details ahead that we are praying through and about. The family that is looking to re-home these horses have had them for many years. They are a Mare and a Gelding, 22 and 18. Both have experience around kids and enjoy being around them as well as people in general. They are easy keepers according to their owners and have been kept in a pasture for the last few years. The family has moved into town and now has now way to keep them and is ready to get out of the horse keeping business. They are wanting them to go to a good home above all and would be willing to work with us to help the process go as best as possible and as smoothly as possible. We have a very close friend Ali, who is my Horse genius! She is the reason that these horses are even a possibility and she knows my experience and knowledge level as well as my kids. So if she thinks this is possible than I believe it is worth taking before the Lord. Join me will you? In asking if the Lord desires these horses to join our farm and really make us a farm or if we are to wait. Also, if you would love to be a part of the lives of these horse, let me know. There is always room on the farm and at the table, we would love to have you visit, help and in general pray for us as we embark on this dream of ours! A dream the Lord has gifted us with and we hope to honor Him and be faithful to!

Happy Friday from HillCreek Farm and we hope you stay tuned in for next weeks episode!!

The First Sunset at HillCreek Farms

Hi! My name is Lacey and I am one of the ladies up here at HillCreek farms. My husband Ben and I have dreamed for the majority of our marriage about owning land and living the farm life! This summer we were able to recognize that dream and we couldn't be more excited! We share our property with our dear friends Ian and Laura and all of our kids and for now our chickens. I am a girl who loves to create. I love to learn new things, work hard, make my own laundry detergent, salve, shaving cream, food preserves, sew, paint, build, and much, much more. A few different ladies in my life have told me that I should blog about what I love and so I have decided to blog about our adventures up here! Some of my posts will be informational, some will be from the point of view of our chickens, hopefully very funny, some will be mom or wife related and some will just be a chance to archive memories from our farm!! I hope you will enjoy this blog and that we will grow, learn, and laugh a lot together! Oh and last but certainly not least, I love Jesus with a passion! So it's safe to say there might be some posts involving the gospel! 
I am praying that this might be a source of encouragement and fun for any of you who read! Thanks for stopping by and please come again!
Have a Sunny Side Up day!