Here are some photos of the fun week we've had with Jordan and Nolan. They arrived ready to work, and were a bit disappointed (at first) that the big hay wagons wouldn't be coming this week. But there was plenty to do, and there WAS hay to be moved. One bale at a time, from the first floor up to the hay mow. By way of a hook and pully system. It was 130+ bales, and a hot week. Good thing there was a new pool to jump in to cool off!
Also, picking blackberries that grow wild. Disappointing, because we missed the big harvest and got just a few berries. By next year, the cows and goats will probably have eaten the vines down to nothing.
Hmmm....kittens were a big favorite.
Jeremy's pup Taffy was fun to be with. All 3 dogs thought that sleeping on the living room floor with the boys was the greatest thing ever. (All the blankets and pillows are undoubtedly going back to Michigan with husky hair coating them.) :(
Nolan was the Piglet Whisperer, and had the last 2 piglets eating grapes out of his hands in less than an hour. These piglets are going to Wisconsin to a woman who is very excited that they are tame and friendly.
Jordan was the awesome fire-builder for our last dinner together of roasted hot dogs and s'mores.
We saw two different kinds of frogs, and discovered that the white moths on the paperbark birch were gypsy moths, and needed to be killed. Even for me, animal lover that I am....knowing how much deforestation and damage these caterpillars and moths have done on a national level, it wasn't too hard killing them....
Nolan helped to wrestle the big black babydoll ram to the ground so that we could give the ram a much needed hoof trim (his overgrown hooves looked like turned-up elf shoes) and a CDT shot that he should have had in the spring... There was one occasion when Nolan moved faster than I'd seen him before, and leaped the fence as the ram struggled free. :)
We watched the big boar take a mud bath in the make-shift wallow by the cow's water trough.
Working on the fence was put off for a day because the weeds had gotten so bad since spring. But we got the welded wire in place on the inside of the 3-board fence by the road. Soon the dogs will have space to run without the danger of having them dash into 55 mph traffic.
In this day and age, video games were essential to a fun week, along with late-night movie-watching. "Back to the Future" and "Star Wars" were favorites.
The big day of fun was Wednesday, when Chris, Carrie, and Jake went to Six Flags Great America with the 3 cousins. I got so much done here, but the boys had a great time of roller-coasters and rides (and lines).
Such a fun week. Next week, we won't know quite what to do without them! :)
Laura
