Two is crazy

Look at the fun things you can do with this paper tube that was hidden inside of these meaningless napkins, mom!










Why did you put all of that boring office stuff into my hiding cabinet? It goes much better on the floor...
Bet you can't find me HERE!






Cousins and the trouble they cause during the last ten minutes of dinner, when parents are busy chatting away..







A tiny chip forest created on a piece of white bread. Beautiful AND yummy.

As the petting zoo grows...

Millie (thanks, girls, for the name) is doing really well. We are starting to wean her off of the bottle, but still probably have a week or two of feedings to go. She seems to eat less milk now that we let her graze during the daytime.

We found her a friend about a week and a half ago - Molly - who is about 20 pounds of lamb, already weaned. She was skittish for the first few days, and still doesn't like a lot of people contact, but she is getting better. Since Molly has come along, Millie still enjoys being around people, but it isn't a necessity as it was before. I enjoy this much more- I really hated having her out there so lonely.

Phil is still working on their fence for their pasture, and until then they are being let out daily to wander and eat grass as they please - yep, without fences! Molly chases chickens sometimes, and Millie can be seen prancing sideways with excitement whenever people come out to play. Such a little zoo our house is becoming.

The water is still working well, with one little hiccup that had to be fixed Sunday (the pipe coming into the house had blown apart, effectively emptying the contents of the well into the basement, filling the septic tank.) Thank goodness for Phil and his newly found plumbing skills that put us back "on line" later that afternoon (especially since we had his sister, brother in law, and two nephews staying with us!)

Just some disjointed updates for a cloudy day.

Update on the water

• Electricity bill per month because pump has been running all the time: $163
• Digging a hole to get to the broken pipe: $75
• New fitting for broken pipe: $77
• New well pump and labor for installing it: $1430
• New water filter to replace the one filled with rust and sediment from well work: $43
• Being able to simultaneously wash a load of laundry and brush your teeth without using toilet water*: Priceless.

After all of that work on the well, things really hadn't improved very much. Last night the water was still dribbling from the shower and FORGET trying to run two of anything at the same time. I considered contracting with the hill of ants outside because they could have carried water to fill our washing machine in weensie buckets strapped to their backs faster than our pipes were. When I opened the mail this morning and found the bill for all of that well work, I was quite discouraged, especially since it didn't seem to fix the problem.

Last night we went into "town" and decided to get a replacement water filter. We reasoned that all of the rust breaking loose could have clogged the filter, taking longer for water to pass through. Phil installed it this morning, but I have been avoiding things like laundry because it takes all of the water in the house for a couple hours with each load.

This afternoon, I decided I had better get down and start one, or it wasn't going to happen today. But when I turned on the washing machine, something miraculous happened. The water flowed in freely! I thought "ooo...that filter must have been part of the problem!" And I sat there watching it, mesmerized, wondering when it would run out. BUT IT DIDN"T! So I tried something crazy. I went to the kitchen and turned on the sink - IT WORKED- well! I left the sink running at half-blast and went downstairs to peek in the laundry room. The washing machine was still filling. Wow. This has not happened since...oh...I can't remember when.

Now, to tell you the truth, I still don't really trust it. Only time will tell if the water issue is really fixed or if God just decided to salve the wound from the well bill this morning. Whatever the case, this makes me happy.

*We don't really do this, I promise. Even when we don't have water.

Chorin'

Ryan takes his lamb feeding very seriously. He always carries the bottle all the way to the machine shed, and holds it for her while she drinks. It's definitely the highlight of his morning.

My morning entourage - before everyone has been fed. From then on there are more exciting things to follow.

For Mom's Day a Lamb adopted me

So far, the animals coming into our home have been named for the type of animal they are. Chickens are just called chickens. Our cat was just Cat. Though it seems odd to me when I think of it now, it started mostly because we were trying to teach Ryan to talk, and what the animals were. (He calls all dogs Eddie because we know Eddie the dog the best). But I think a lamb needs a name other than lambey or sheepie. Any ideas?

We brought her home Saturday after a brief lesson on formula mixing and bottle feeding. Seeing it done once by the Shepherd who gave her to us seemed adequate- put milk here, she drinks it, you're good to go! But when we tried it, it was another story. We have had our share of run-ins with not understanding animals (mad cows...chicken dragging) and were afraid this was just another symptom of our lack of knowledge. We re-made the formula five times that day, tried different ways of holding her, left her alone, spent time with her. Nothing seemed to work. She is not much more than skin and bones still- even though she is two weeks old. Skipping a few meals makes a difference at this age!

We put her in the machine shed on a bed of hay with plenty of room to walk around behind her little fence. She figured how to get out of it once, and we ended up blocking both exits and doing a slide-tackle to keep her from hi-tailing it to "Anywhere but Here".

The next day at church we talked to Jerry- her breeder - and asked him what we were doing wrong. He pursed his lips a bit, and explained that because she was already two weeks old, she must have bonded with the other lambs and sheep, and being taken from that environment to one completely new to her was pretty scary and must have shaken her quite a bit. If she would have been a day or two old, it might have been different, because she would have bonded with us instead of her furry friends.

At least we weren't crazy. And, there was a good reason for her being so strange and not eating. So, when we got home, we were both eager to try and feed her again. I won, because it was Mother's day. I went in to her pen, sat down with her, and talked a bit. I pet her head and discussed how good this milk probably was, and that she must be pretty hungry. Within five minutes she was eating, and downed nearly the whole bottle! I haven't been so excited in quite awhile- it meant she would live rather than starve to death.

We turned to leave and as we were walking out, she was yelling at us to come back and spend time with her...or let her out...but from Saturday's slide tackling, we weren't about to let that happen! Outside the machine shed, the cries seemed oddly loud, and we turned to notice a little white puffball coming toward us.

I quickly headed to the big doors to play defense while Phil took the main door. But instead of running from us, she ran straight into his arms, calming down immediately as he picked her up. You could almost hear her saying "Please, don't leave me mister...it's awfully lonely in here."

After a minute or two of relief, we decided to see if she would run if we put her down (brave, aren't we?) Tentatively Phil set her down. She looked up at him, and stood still. Slowly, he took a few steps forward. She, too, took a few steps forward. Then we proceeded to walk together outside, around the machine shed, and over to the house, all with her closely in tow. If we ran, she would run. If we stopped, so would she. Like an obedient, quiet puppy.

It was a nice day, so Phil spent time working on the fence for her permanent home outside while she sat near him. When Ryan woke up and came outside, she ran up to greet him. It was like having two kids "Where's Ryan?" "Over by the wagon" "Where's lamb?" "Right behind the tree." Neither would stray too far, but constantly my mama mind was darting from one to the other.


The chickens have grown quite a bit, but they are still quite tame, although certainly not as social as lamb. We leave the door to their pen open so they can wander around and eat grass and bugs outside during the day. It was quite a sight Sunday as we were moving wood- lamb, chickens, Ryan, all running around together. It's becoming a regular petting zoo around here!