Friday, April 24, 2009

Circle G Farms

Welcome to Circle G Farms! For those of you who have not been out to experience our little place, here is a little history and some pictures.  When we bought the place it had the house, the garage/shop, and the deck around the tree.  In the last two years we have fenced and crossed fenced the property, added a barn, put in a garden - which James has started with vermicompost (simply put - worms), and now have 2 dogs, 2 horses, 3 goats (with babies on the way!), 6 laying hens, and 5 pigs.  In the future our plans include a goat pen, goat-proofing the west pasture, adding a more permanent pig barn, a straw-bale chicken coop with a large free-range yard, a riding arena, clearing the trees in the back to make more pasture area, a new pump house, a wind mill for aerating the pond so we can stock it with fish, etc.  Our "to-do" list never gets shorter even when we accomplish a project because we just keep adding to it!

Here is our humble abode

Our veggie garden last year.... we have now tripled the size and are planting a lot more variety this spring
Misty looking out the dutch doors of the barn we put had built in November of '07
View of my barn from the house.  The garage/shop in on the left.
My pride and joy.... Mystery Rose... lovingly called Misty.  This was in Texas at a show doing Cross Country - and we had a clear round!  We had a great dressage test and a clear stadium round - winning first place in my division!  I hope to start showing again (some day!).
CC - Hannah and Gabriel's pony
Circle G's alarm system and mole catchers: Reba and Xander

Reisling - our resident scrub and weed eater
Porsha and Zeva:  soon-to-be moms and hopeful milkers
Our farm fresh egg layers: Buffy, Dawn, Anya, Faith, Willow, and Cordelia 
Our Pigs: (from front to back) Belly Grub, Pork Chop, Ham, Bacon, and Chitlin
And that my friends concludes your tour of our farm.  We love having visitors and you are welcome any time (but we might put you to work!)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Meeting more of the family

Here is Gabriel meeting James' side of the family

 Nonna - A huge thank you going out to her for her time spent with us this week!!  We are really grateful for all the work you did here and the company.  The dinners were so yummy and the house is spotless, and I know Hannah loved the time you spent with her.  So many sweet memories.  Thank you again from us all!!
 Poppy
 Grandpa Jim
Grandma Jean
Aunt Eileen
Uncle Scott
Four Generations

Monday, April 13, 2009

Happy 3rd Birthday Hannah!


I can't believe my little girl is already 3!
We decided to do an Easter egg hunt during her party while both sets of grandparents were present plus her greatparents, and Aunt!  
She had a great time looking for the eggs and would have looked for 3 hours if we'd let her :-)
She asked for a "puppy dog cake" - so here is my homemade design
Posing with the presents

Friday, April 10, 2009

Easter Nests


Growing up, I used to make these nests with my Mom for Easter.  We would take an egg and wrap raisin bread dough around it to look like a nest - and bake it for Easter morning breakfast.  Hannah had such a good time baking with Grandma.



Our first eggs!




On Sunday Hannah found our first egg from our chickens!  Now each day she asks to go to the barn and look for eggs.  So far we have found 3 eggs.  We are going to get Hannah a basket just for her to gather the eggs in!  It's so special to see a simple thing bring her such joy.





Here are some more pictures of Gabriel and the family..... we haven't ventured out much except for the front yard during the warm days.  Each day has been flying by and I don't always know what day it is :-) but we are just enjoying our time with Gabriel and watching Hannah become more comfortable with him.  The last couple nights have been much better since Gabriel has only been awake to eat and then goes right back to sleep.  Naps for me are still coveted and of course Hannah our star sleeper has been taking almost 3 hour naps each day! She has always slept well and our hope is that Gabriel takes after her in that sense.
First family of four picture!
Enjoying a warm and sunny day on the porch with Gabriel
Grandma, Gabriel, and Hannah
Grandpa and Gabriel

Grandma and Gabriel