Today is just one gloomy day here in Oliver Springs TN.  It has rained so much that I can hardly see straight.  The workers were only able to get the footers poured for our barn yesterday and with all this rain I am sure that they have not been to work today.  I am not complaining aas though it may seem, it is just so dang cold and wet.  I would much rather it be cold and snowing instead.  The Lord does know is best for us all and even though I think that a nice warm breeze and 85 degrees would be nice, he has chosen this.  I did fid anew blog to read today and as soon as I figure out how tolist it as one that I follow I will do so.  For now I will provide the link: http://georgiafarmwoman.blogspot.com/.  They are giving away a nesting box this week and I can not wait to see who is going to win.  I just got 25 baby chicks and in just a matter of months I am going to need one.  Anyway, check out her blog it is very interesting and I really enjoy reading about whats going on in her little neck of the woods.  I have included a picture of the view from my back door, the one out of the back of my classroom.  Yeah, it may not seem like much to you, but, I enjoy looking out of it as the seasons pass.  It is my escape when life with monkeys, the children, get's so much!  Lol!!!  Life really is good when I think about it!  I have so many friends who love to share their time with me, I teach children - how much more rewarding can you get?!  I have a wonderful church and church family and a great personal family! 

I have been working on this baby blanket for my cousin's baby.  He and his wife are missionaries to South Africa.  My prayer is to finish it  by Christmas and mail it tothem.  I only hope that customs doesn't take it.  They are so far away from home and without any family to celebrate the birth of their first child.  I hope that this makes it!  So, for those of you who pray, Pray hard for this to make it.

Psalm 5:3 (King James Version) My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

The Lord has been so good to my family this year and I just want to take the time to thank him for his generosity.  I have food on my table, a wonderful husband, clothes on my families back, and time to tend to the little piece of ground God gave me.  Last week brought a blessing to our barn yard.  I came home from work to find the prettiest little spotted lamb you have ever seen.  He and his momma are doing just fine and he is as pretty as a picture. Cute, Cute, Cute! Need I say more? He shall remain nameless until next wednesday when he will be named.  This is the practice I have used since I started raising sheep.  If they can make it until they are two weeks old then they earn a name.  Usually by then we are out of the woods when it comes to freaky things.  This year all blackface sheep will get a name that starts with the letter "N".  I started this the first year we had lambs and now we are on the letter n, thus providing some very interesting names I am sure.  The construction on the barn began today.  I will post pictures this afternoon once I get home from work.  We have also been blessed with a new stray, yes, Emily finally got a lap dog.  He is a Chihuahua who has won her heart, which let me say doesn't take much, but he has such a nice personality and he sleeps with her every night.  So far, so good.  We also have 25 buff orpington chicks which arrived friday and this will allow us to have all the fresh eggs we will need plus extra to sell when spring gets here.  I am hoping that my father-in-law will build me a nice little chicken house for these girls in the very near future. 

Work on earth is never done....

Work around the farm never seems to cease, for those of us that farm this is an understatement, for those that don't we do it because we love it! Saturday was a day to rejoice and get much needed chores done outside.  I was blessed with good weather and plenty of sunshine.  Something not seen these days in East Tennessee.  I cleaned the summer junk out of the barn, unloaded feed and placed it in barrells, shoveled stalls and moved sheep, trimmed hooves and wormed everything on the hill.  I have started an organic worming process and I will update you on how that goes as we progress toward the next few weeks and I can tell if it has taken care of the parisite program.  Wade also worked hard trimming trees, mowing the grass and weedeating, digging the watering hole out for the cows and the mule and donkeys, and numerous other odd jobs that need done.  We are all geared up for Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for.  Our family, friends, our health, good church, the blessings the good Lord bestows upon us each and everyday. 

The Lord reveals himself in the most simple ways....

This morning I was sitting my truck waiting for the window to defrost and I noticed how beautiful the world is around me. How often do we find something negative to say or comment on “how cold it is”, have I too have been guilty of this very thing? As the ice melted and the sun shone through the window of my old 98 pickup I say the earth warming, the sun shining and a glorious day unfolding! What a amazing way to send me off to work! To the naked eye you may not see the beauty in my little piece of the world; but I remember the not too distant past when we didn't have a fence there and the hard work my husband and father-in-law put in to get this fence up so that our cows and donkeys would have a place to graze. Oh, how blessed I am to serve a master whose hand created 1867 Old Harriman Hwy. and gave it to me!

As the day progressed and I made my way through the day with 120 something high school kids and then rushed home to feed the critters, the check engine light came on in my truck.  This was not the worst of the events that would lead me to the end of my day.  Emily, came in and was a very helpful 15 years old, by cooking dinner for the family while I did the outside chores,this way we could sit down as a family and have supper together. This was a good thing. Because, while I was in the barn,Sorting through the sheep, deciding which ones were going to market, which ones were to be sold as breed stock, and who was close to having lambs, Wade called and said that he was running late due to the fact he had a flat tire.  He had been unable to take the flat tire off due to the fact his lug wrench did not fit.  Luckily, his friend, Stewart Hicks, was on his way home from work and stopped to help him.  So, no mowing the lawn tonight before it gets dark! As I waited for him to come home, and after doing the chores, I sat down and watched the mules eat their hay, listened to the the peaceful sound of the sheep enjoying dinner, and looking at the sun setting, I thanked the good Lord for his many blessings: a loving husband, a respectful daughter, provisions for the winter for my animals, and a moment to enjoy the peace at the end of the day right here in my own back yard.... So, the end of a long day brings a new set of tires, dinner for the animals, and dinner with my family. What more could I have asked for?  Oh, yeah tomorrow we will have to figure out the check engine light! 

Breaking Ground....

As we begin to break ground on our new hay barn I decided to break ground on a blog. This blog will hold information about my life. The day in day out life of and average school teacher, her family, the farm, and many other events that we call life.