Howdy, from Old McPatrick ... EIEIO! :0)

So ... like my dear, sweet, jam covered, dirt-plastered, hand-blistered, compost heap building, garden growing, fresh-bread baking, domestic goddess of a wife explained, I'm really NOT much of a handyman (or, at least, I really haven't been in the past.... I've been a firm believer in hiring professionals to do what professionals do; after all, time is money, right?). That being said, however, living on a farm brings out the best in folks, I guess, and I'm finding all kinds of interests (and talents) I never knew I had, or even knew that I wanted.

WHEW. That was a mouthful. I do have to admit, though, I'm actually really ENJOYING building stuff here on this farm we are so happy to call home. We built a fence around Em's garden (me and Christian, with a little forced help from my family while they were here for the Fourth). We built a kennel for Wilson (our dog, aka Aslan, the Lion) and his escape-artist side-kick, Roman the Lab. And NOW--the masterpiece, to date at least--our 5 x 6' chicken coop, for the other seven "memberini" of our family (that's 'little family members,' in Italiano, in case you're curious).

(The view from the back side)

I mean it, though: I'm finding a great deal of satisfaction in building things from scratch and making lots of sawdust and wood shavings fly. Yours truly ... who didn't put in his own yard in Utah, didn't finish his own basement (yea, right) in South Jordan as well, doesn't even change his own oil or fix broken sprinkler heads, etc...! Now I'm telling Em that, "as soon as we can afford it, I want to buy a whole wood shop full of equipment" so I can get serious and build her tables and chairs and things like that.

In reality, I think my favorite part is just working with our kids, talking, laughing and sharing stories, etc., while we measure, saw and hammer on stuff. Christian absolutely LOVES creating stuff, and I really enjoy seeing him so excited. Anderson, Brighty, Madeline ... even Evan: they all pitch in. They all enjoy helping, and it's really satisfying seeing them all so happy and so excited about where we are living and what we are building of our lives.

(The Big Siblings: our 4 largest)

Heck, we stood outside last night for almost an hour after the coop was done, just admiring it, joking about the chickens "enjoying their new 'mansion' versus the tiny condo they were in before" ... not wanting to say good night and go in; it really was a lot of fun. The kids are learning how to work harder. We are spending more time as a family. We're, little by little, creating more independence and greater self-sufficiency, which is our ultimate goal. It's wonderful. Like Em said, as we were building the fence early this month, "We're not building a fence, we're building a family." I echo her thought: "We're not growing crops or livestock, we are growing kids." So they have a few extra slivers, grass stains, mosquito bites and bee stings." They also find snakes and lizards and chase squirrels each day. They're eating fresh veggies, will soon have fresh eggs and we're looking at getting a dairy cow as soon as we can. Yummmm! I can't help but believe that it will all be worth it one day when they look back on these early years and--we hope--say they never would have wanted to grow up any other way.

(Daddy's little helpers...!)

So far they are THRILLED ... and we are too! Our own little brood--Maddy, aka Intellibella, Christian, aka The Big Brain, Brighten, aka Doctor "B" (our future veterinarian), Anderson, aka "Speedygonzawesome," and Evan, aka Budda--WE LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU...!!! And, Emmy, aka Wonder Woman ... you know how much I adore you, babe.

Thank you for sharing your lives with me. I love each of you with all my heart.

Daddy-Patrick

The Chicken Coop

The past 2 weeks at the Laing household have been fairly uneventful...not! During our ward campout, Evan decided to throw up. As we rushed home, he threw up 2 more times and then again later that afternoon. Consoling a baby that has a fever and cannot even keep Otter Pops down is tough. I am not going to include pictures...sorry! Thankfully the fever broke and his illness was gone by that night.

On Sunday, I became the Young Woman's Secretary in our Ward. We have 24 beehives! Patrick got called to teach the 8 year olds in Primary. Not sure what he thought really about receiving that call, but so far has done well and is needed for some unruly boys in the class.

My landlord invited me to her parents farm that boarders a part of our property. She explained that the 1 acre of Blueberries was bursting forth with fruit and it needed to be picked. Well I picked 20 lbs in 2 hours and didn't even get past the first row. She showed me around there 2 acre vegetable garden...hello? What do two people do with this food? Give it away to everybody and anybody! Nice! The elephant garlic and red potatoes made a nice addition to the foil packet dinners we had that night.



The dogs decided to run away last week. Roman showed up in the morning. We spent the better part of the next day looking for Wilson. It afforded us an opportunity to meet some of our neighbors. Finally the next morning, we resorted to signs. As soon as the first one was hung, someone from Animal Control called and said they were picking up a golden and it might be ours. Sure enough, it was. They had chased a bobcat or deer up the road and into someones property that has dogs. Of course, they didn't want to leave and the owners decided to kennel them for the night. Well resourceful Roman dug his way out and Wilson, being the hulk of a dog that he is, could not get through. You should have seen him shaking in the back of the Animal control truck. I don't think he'll ever wander off again.



My husband is not a handy man....but he has singlehandedly designed and built a chicken coop and run for our brood of seven hens. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, I'll give you that, but he did it all by himself and it only cost us $12 for hinges and hook and eye fasteners. Everything else was scrap wood from around the farm. We even found two rolls of chicken wire. Christian helped extensively, as well as the other kids. Patrick actually enjoyed building this! I think I am winning him over with my environmental, self sustaining, hippy ways!

Domestic Goddess

Today I was in rare form. We, meaning me, have been sick all week. There is nothing worse than being sick in the summer. But as the sun and my son woke me from a long slumber, I realized I felt pretty ok. Now there is nothing like a full day in bed to completely disrupt your plans so I had loads to get done today:
1. Launder 7 loads, some with yucky stuff in them
2. Pick up raspberries, buy various canning items, make raspberry jam for the first time ever!
3. Make Lunch and Dinner incorporating leftovers for frugality and creativity
4. Get kids to eat said items and not even know
5. Find more hidden fruit trees on property...another apple, cherry, 2 apricot, 2 peach...sweet!
7. Make yummy monster cookies...
8. Balance checkbook
9. Fold laundry while watching Kitchen Nightmare on FOX.com
10. Take pictures, download them, write post
All this accomplished while loving husband is working late and kids are all at home driving mommy crazy. Don't you love summer?

Family Reunion on Long Beach Washington

A fun time was had by all this last week at Long Beach Washington.
All of Patrick's family was in attendance.
They all made a grueling 14 hour drive to Oregon (some with babies!) to have a wonderful time on our farm. Patrick put them to work building a fence around our garden. The guys had a great time together getting something accomplished on the "farm".
During our week long get together, we ate like kings,


the kids played,

and the parents relaxed.

It was great. During our stay on the beach the llamas escaped yet again to our neighbors down the road. This time our landlord came and got them and put them in her parents pasture. No more llamas...Yeah!!! Now I have to figure out what to put in our pasture. I really want a cow!

Old MCLaing had a farm...E I E I O!!!!

....with a peep peep here and a bark bark there and a spit spit there and a Moooommmy Mooommmy there....what exactly does eieio mean? Now our little family lives in a 3 bedroom farmhouse with a huge barn and 30 acres to explore. The dogs are loving it and we have had no issues with keeping them on our land. They actually serve a useful purpose now. No Coyote or deer will wander onto our yard in the near future. Our laundry room sink has served as a bath for our youngest three children. Mud and dirt are constant companions of my sweet children. The second bath on the main has been housing our chickens...7 of them. We have had 2 fatalities and two elaborate funerals in the past two weeks. How do I break it to them that the bbq chicken we eat once was a baby chick too...ahh the circle of life. Well they are now in a lovely makeshift coop in the tool shed with a heat lamp for the next few weeks, then in the next few months, we will have all the omelets we want. I have performed more sliver removal surgeries this month than in all my motherhood years combined. I have conquered the fear of bugs. I have come to believe that weeds and thorns are really meant to torment man. I know why farmers get up at 5:00 in the morning. I am filthy by noon and....I LOVE EVERY STINKING MINUTE OF IT!!! My garden is in...at least all that could be planted this late in the season. Patrick dug post holes for a deer fence...23 to be exact. The blueberry irrigation is messed up so I have been trying to salvage 25 bushes . I think they will whether the storm but not produce a crop this year. That is all ok because we will have blackberries coming out our ears. With 3 apple trees heavy with fruit, 4 cherry trees and a Bartlett pear, I think we are set for fruit. Llamas....I have already chased them into the pasture from a escape attempt that resulted in meeting many of my nice neighbors. They tolerate me and spit at Patrick. I have yet to find a use for them and would still prefer a milking cow and some nice beef cattle. As you can see, I am busy. So busy and sweaty and sore that I don't have time to write or do much of anything else.
But as you can see I am surrounded by beautiful things. And God said, "It is good." And this summer will be a great one. Hope this all finds you happy and healthy and enjoying this wonderful summer.