Rachael Eliker's Blog, page 26

Loch Ness

In early March, when the ice finally thawed, we kept noticing a rather large fish flapping its pectoral fin above the water. For hours on end, the enormous fish would swim back and forth on its side, waving its fin above the water. Though we'd go outside to see it, it was always really difficult to get a picture of because of the reflection of the water. As best as we could guess, it was several feet long, and we nicknamed it Loch Ness because it was so mysterious. We knew the pond was stocke...

EIGHT!

Our beautiful, happy, smiley, intelligent, clever, friendly, etc, etc Claire is now EIGHT! I have no idea where the time has gone or how she's gotten so big so fast. One day, she's a chubby, blue-eyed baby with the softest, fuzziest blond hair I've ever seen, the next, she's a gorgeous, blue-eyed, blond-haired girl with a six pack of abs she's acquired from daily laughing, and who surprises us every day with her wit, and who is a friend to everyone she meets. No more sitting in the shopping ca...

Dirt Under My Nails

This year's garden actually began way back during Thanksgiving 2017. We'd recently moved into our new home and hadn't had time before the end of the growing season to put in a garden, so in anticipation of raising our own fresh fruits and vegetables, we got to work in the fall. First, we wisely planted an orchard so the trees could establish themselves and get to producing fruit as soon as possible. Next, we got to plotting our garden. As anyone who's ever moved knows, along with moving...

The Way Thirty-Five Goes

We about caught fire from my cake!This year's birthday snuck up in the middle of the week, and like a lot of birthdays nowadays, was filled with the normal, everyday routines before we got to the party.
Pip showing off again.After getting the fire started and making lunches, I hurried to drop the girls off at school. Henry and Zoey helped me check on the animals, feed, and water them, and make sure they were all as happy as possible in the cold weather.
When we went in, more snow started fallin...

Always Watching

Always watching.While out taking care of the animals the other day, I noticed Woody, just calmly observing me. While I moved Dolly and Parton to greener pastures, he just stood, staring and waiting to see what I was up to. Sometimes, I really wish I knew what was going on through the animals' heads because Woody isn't the only one I catch watching me.
The turkeys have gotten more comfortable with their new home and sometimes, come all the way up to the kitchen back door to take a peek inside.
S...

The Turkeys

He knows he's so handsome.This Thanksgiving was full of surprises--three to be exact. Jack brought home three beautiful bourbon red heritage turkeys to add to out homestead. Lucky them, their heads weren't on the chopping block and instead, they get a nice cozy nesting box and free roam of the yard, now that they're settled.
It's always so fun having new animals on the farm. I've never owned turkeys before, though I've been around them before. After a few days of observing them, I've come to t...

In Abundance

The Twin Cousins visited!For the past several years, we've been fortunate to have one side of the family or the other grace us with their presence over Thanksgiving. It certainly makes the holiday more lively and easier on me (cooking is split in half--hooray!) and most of all, I love watching my kids play with their cousins.
Most of the kids are old enough to remember who their cousins are and run happily to greet them when they arrive, immediately falling back into their happy relationships...

Breaking with Tradition

I love those first baby photos!I think we all knew it was coming...we're expecting baby number six! We are thrilled to have another (and probably the last--as Jack will point out, I'm a geriatric mother after all this time) baby coming to our home, due at the end of April. Because, you know, we aren't already busy enough with Jack, Zoey, and Stoney's birthdays.
The big question has been, boy or girl?
Honest to goodness, we'd be happy with either. I love having girls (despite what people sa...

Prepared as Possible

This is the only kind of horseback riding we're going to get to do for a while.Though I grew up as a city girl, I've had enough autumns on the farm to know that if you aren't ready for winter, you're going to be sorry when the freezing weather, snow, ice, and lack of green grass rolls around. Knowing that our weather was going to take a dip in temperatures, we spent the last warm-ish week making sure we were as prepared as possible.
Though the work isn't always the most entertaining and often...

Easy Fruit Danish

 On the weekends, we like to spend a little more time on breakfast. This week, we made some easy fruit danishes using homemade biscuits, fruit pie filling, cream cheese, and almond-flavored glaze. They didn't take terribly long to make, they can be customized any way you like!

Ingredients:
Biscuits
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons cold butter, cubed
3/4 cup milk

Sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter unti...