Ferry boat ride

We had the chance to go to work with dad today. Our day started by driving out to Port Orchard to see my friend Jan, who Kevin had recently done some work for. Kevin wanted to do some touch-up and I was happy to go along and chat a bit with Jan.

As it turned out, we were able to catch a ferry from Port Orchard to Seattle, were Kevin's next stop for business was.

I don't think any of our kids have been on a ferry and they all thought it was pretty neat

a little chilly, but still very, very COOL! I don't know why I did't take more pictures of our day, but after I dropped Kevin off at Husky Stadium (where he was checking on doing a concession stand fundraiser for our school), I drove the kids through the UW campus. The little ones had fallen asleep, so we didn't get out. Besides, it's $15 to park on campus! I showed Raymond the dorm I lived in and some of the buildings that I had classes in. I was amazed at how much had changed in the few years it's been since I was up there. Several new buildings. From UW, we stopped and visited with Freeman and Elizabeth (again no pics!). They are interested in having Kevin build a new deck for them. The kids had a great time playing downstairs in the "play room" with aunt Elizabeth while Kevin and Freeman talked decking material. Would it really be possible to use some of this cable my dad stashed here years ago? Probably not, but it was fun talking about it!

Canning nectarines

I was out and about yesterday and decided to stop by a fruit stand to see what they had. Among many delicious choices, they had 25 pound boxes of nectarines for just $8.00. What a deal, right? But honestly, what are you going to do with that many nectarines that are already ripe? I decided to try canning them. I've canned peaches before, how much different can nectarines be? Answer: VERY. First and most troublesome, the fruit does not come away from the pit nice and neat like peaches. In fact, I ended up making quite a mess of the first batch and then finally resorted to cutting parts off and throwing the pit away with all remaining fruit still in tact. Secondly, everything I read said not to peel the nectarines like you do peaches. Not sure yet how this will affect the final product, but it isn't "pretty" like I was hoping it would be... guess I'll wait a few days and actually sample some of the fruits of my labor (it was truly an all day endeavor). After several pints and many, many nectarines still looming, I decided to try and make some preserves. These are currently "plumping"... (don't ask!) so a task not yet complete. I think I have exhausted my homeyness for one day!

Farming 101

I've been trying to read everything I can about goats and chickens... it seems there are opinions on everything related to the two. Who knew? This may prove to be more difficult than it seems. The first order of business is to get the chickens to lay eggs. At least one has laid several for us, but not in the designated "nest" we've provided. I read in one of the books that hens need "optimal" conditions to lay. Unfortunately, that was not further defined. I decided that maybe cleaner would be more optimal... can I say that?! ANYWAY, we ventured down to the hen house this morning and tried to do some cleaning. Slow work with 1.5 arms and a little girl who's somewhat sceptical of our neighbor's horse, who is also living here. We introduced him to the goats yesterday and that is a whole other story! Anyway, got the nesting area cleaned out and restocked with fresh hay (think I'm gonna campaign for straw...) and finally cleaned and hung the hanging poultry feeder. The chickens were VERY excited to have so much food available. I better get back to reading and see if they can be over fed!

Addison's 2nd birthday

Addison turned two and didn't know what to make of the candles...

Once the cake was cut, she dug right in! And when the fork didn't move fast enough, she resorted to eating directly off of her plate!

Happy birthday pretty girl!

At Spanaway Lake with Grannie

We've been spending a lot of time on our boat this summer!

We invited Grannie to come down and enjoy the day with us. The boys both wanted to ride on the tube with her.

Zachary has become what my dad would call a "water buffalo". He LOVES the water and will jump right in, so daddy has to always be ready!

Addison would prefer to stay dry and on the boat, but she loves to watch the action.

Grannie and Raymond on the tube...

Our herd

Goats are great! We've only had them a day and we are already attached!

The neatest (and cutest) part is that they want to follow you (especially the kids) ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE!

These are Saanen dairy goats and will grow to about 150 pounds!

This is the littlest of our herd. Raymond named him Domino

We bought different colored collars so we could easily identify them.
Orange = 'Tico' (named by Zachary and I'm told a Dora character?!)
Red = The one I named 'Clyde' - he'll eat ANYTHING!
Blue with stripe = 'Maze'
Blue = 'Blue' - Kevin named these two after his beloved Michigan Wolverines!
and Black = Raymond's goat 'Domino'

And then some goats...

We've been looking for goats that didn't cost a fortune. It's amazing what people are asking for registered goats - any goats for that matter! We finally found several Saanen wethers (neutered males) that were all from the same herd, about 5 months old. We went out to look at them and

Addison fell in love at first sight.

I think we ALL did! We decided to take 5 home with us.

Addison was SO excited to finally get them home.

We have a lot to learn about goats, but I'm sure it'll be fun!