Hello from HillCreek Farms! It's been a long time since I have spent time on here updating you all on the things going on with the farm. Well there are a few reasons for that. One is that our internet was literally AWFUL! I mean, do you guys remember how slow and unreliable dial-up was? Well take 21st century expectations, remember dial-up and make it about 5 times more slow and unreliable, frustrating, and well just plain old unproductive! We don't have many options out here for internet providers, because ya know, we live in the boon docks! But thankfully the one option we do have is a local company with great people working for them and so far it is DRAMATICALLY better than what we had! For this reason, I am back writing the blog and hopefully bringing you updates and lots of laughter!
Another reason that I haven't been on here writing is because we are so consumed with life up here. We are working endlessly on the cottage remodel, I will write a separate post on that so you can get all the details in one sitting!
The final reason would be when I find myself in a quiet moment to sit down and write there is usally a child that needs something, an animal that needs tending, a husband that needs help, or another project to work on or finish. Let's just say I need to do a better job scheduling in blog time!
The last time I was with you I shared about how our sweet Molly was doing and that we were gettting a new animal on the property to help keep our other animals living. We brought 20 chickens onto the farm in October and including Molly Brown that makes 20 hens and 1 rooster. These Chickens are ignorantly blissful of all that came before them! When we first brought them home, Molly had been holed up in the coop unsure what to do with herself. We put all the new chicks into the run and we had to get into the coop to catch Molly and set her into the run with the other chickens. It was like she didn't know how to be a chicken until she finally had friends to teach her! The first few nights we had to gather all of the chicks from a giant pile in the corner of the run and put them into the coop. Now they put themselves to bed at night just after the sun goes down. They have grown tons and the rooster just started crowing. But the funny thing is that the one I thought was the rooster is not the one crowing! HA!! So now I am unsure if I have 2 roosters or if the one I thought was a rooster is actually a hen. We have been calling our rooster Sir Reginald, or Regi for short. And there has always been a "hen" that hangs pretty close to Regi and has the same coloring as "him". This "hen", we called Reba. Well lately Reba has been looking a bit suspect and the other morning I actually saw and heard Reba crow! Well, that confirms it, Reba is a Robert?? But is Reginald still a Regi or a Regina? Stay tuned to figure that one out!
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| "Reba" is the one in the center with the large red comb. |
We have some fun up here with the animals and their different personalities and roles. The chickens are pretty quirky girls and we are still learning each one of their personalities. We have named a few of them, the ones that are easiest to identify. Our two Buff Orpingtons, they are light yellow/brown, are called Henrietta and Rosalita. Our two black Austrolorps are Maivis and Maude. We have a very curious and funny Sexlink who has a little black feather in her tail and we have named her Imogene. The others will have names as we learn about them and find their distinctive characteristics.
Sitka( Our Livestock Guardian Dog) has been such an amazing addition to our farm. She is the only reason that our chickens are thriving and able to do so well. Obviously we put a lot of hard work into them, but without our girl Sitka, they wouldn't have a chance. This picture on the right is right after we found a chicken that had gotten out of the run at some point and we didn't know it and ended up spending the night in Sitka's run. We found the chicken just pecking around the run and Sitka waiting for us to come in and put her back where she belonged. Since that experience we have found a few more escapees and Sitka has started to catch them and put them inside of her dog house. They are completely unharmed and Sitka just sits out by the gate waiting for us to come in and put them into their proper place. It's like she knows that they don't belong in her run and since she can't get them back into theirs, the best place for her to put them is into her dog house where she can keep them safe. The first time we found one in her house, the chicken was facing the corner totally frozen. It was like she was in time out! When I picked her up I noticed that her back and neck were wet, but she was unscathed. That is what lead me to believe that Sitka put her in there, plus a couple of the kids saw a chicken in Sitka's mouth. I took the stunned chicken and set her back into the run, she stood there still and then slowly moved one leg, then another and totally had a watery poop! She then started to run around, like "I'm alive, I'm alive!" I think that maybe she had thought she had died and gone to chicken purgatory in the doghouse!!! The next time we found a chicken in the doghouse was bright and early in the morning when I went up to feed Sitka her breakfast and let the chickens out of the coop. I heard some noises coming from the dog house and there was the Chicken just hanging in the house, telling a me a story. I grabbed her and stuck her back in the run and Sitka had her breakfast. It is amazing the instincts that this lady has. She is a gentle giant who could snap a chicken in half, but knows her job is to protect them and therefore she keeps them safe until her people can come and put them in their rightful place! We have so enjoyed watching her grow in her maturity and stature! She is beautiful and fierce. We look forward to adding fencing to our property and bringing another LGD out to be her teammate! And hopefully we will add some more farming animals to their jobs!
Up here we have some beautiful sights, beautiful days, lots of fun memories and a lot of hard work! One of Ben and my biggest desires in moving our family onto property was having the opportunity to teach them the value of hard work and work ethic! We have so enjoyed seeing how each of our kids and their unique personalities has melded into that particular task. Malakai has always loved "WORK". He thrives on having a job and working hard at it. In the picture above all I had to do was ask if he wanted to help me clean the coop and he was on it. He raked and scooped the whole inside and didn't stop until that job was done. I LOVED every minute of sharing that job with him and seeing him pour himself out for that job, the chickens and me. Jaidyn, she is quick to feed our sweet and rambunctious kittens! We have to keep her bedroom door closed at night because if they eat all the food in their bowl, they will go into her room and lick, bite, or crawl all over her until she wakes up and gets them food. She is so compassionate and loving when it comes to animals and being the only girl, she works hard to keep up with all the crazy boys!! Titus has just recently been given the privilege and responsibility of his first "Job" on the property. He would like to earn money to buy a Collie dog. We told him as soon as he earns the full amount of money and shows he is responsible that we will allow him to purchase one. Ben has given him the job of scooping Sitka's run every week for $4/week. We don't give our kids allowance, we have lot of feelings on that matter. But this is a job that everyone hates doing and it is a job that we would all like to be paid for. It is also a job that will show what the responsibility of owning a pet is like. So we felt is was a good first job for T to have. It's been hard, but we know that he will enjoy the reward and learn. Titus is so good with Sitka, and has such a sweet heart towards her. He is the only one of the kids who isn't soo intimidated by her size. Connor has started to get more comfortable with Sitka and was even hanging in her run the other day reading books to her! All of the kids love the chickens and the cats and are looking forward to planting our garden in the spring! Evan I think is most looking forward to that!
A good friend of my sister Kristy gave us her Green house and we are soo excited! Titus has always wanted to grow lemon and lime trees, so we will finally be able to try our hands at them. We will also learn to "start" plants in the green house and be ready for transplanting in the spring. Laura and I are excited to plan out our garden and gather all of our supplies!
For Christmas Grammie Jeanne (Our Kids great Grandma) gave them this fun swing and everyone is LOVING it!! On the dry days they are spending hours out there pushing each other and swing in the trees. It is a beautiful thing to watch them enjoying the fun of our property and seeing it become our own. They have moments like every kid does, but they are learning with every step to be more gracious, patient, and kind to the people around them and that is a wonderful lesson that they will take with them forever! 
The BEAUTY that surrounds us is constant! It is not only in visual aspects but in life lessons as well. I am daily thankful for all that we have and how God is continuing to show Himself to us every day! There are many things ahead of us, some known and some unknown. But we step out our door and we take a deep breath and we trust because we see the evidence of provision all around us!Until next time!! May you be blessed and know that we are praying for you all!
