With the river freezing over the question was raised as to whether to bring Heidi & Charlie up from the pasture or go down & break the ice everyday. Being a little on the busy side we decided to bring them up. Richard opened the gate & they came up on Tuesday night. I’m like, “I bet they start drinking off of Tulip again.” “No”, says Michelle, “they’re too old now.” Well guess what?! After I had milked Tulip yesterday morning she walked out the door & immediately all four calves got on! Poor cow! Here you can see Dolly (hidden), Charlie & Heidi:

Barbecue is on the other side & here is Daffodil looking on, thankfully!

Obviously we couldn’t leave things that way so yesterday afternoon we took/dragged Heidi & Charlie back down the field. I took the axe down to break the ice but due to the temps reaching 70 here on Tuesday the ice has melted - for now.

Yes it was a glorious day here on Tuesday - don’t get many of those in November. We had to go get some papers signed in town so decided to ride our bikes. Hah! It was SO windy - we really got our workout for the day.

Suffered from a severe case of lack of sleep yesterday. Michael came in for a few minutes on Tuesday evening. As he was playing with Daniel on the floor I noticed a tub of chewing tobacco in his pocket! When I challenged him he went red in the face & looked me straight in the eye & said, “It’s been there a while!” meaning that he wasn’t using it now. Yeah right! I could have shaken him SO hard. No offense to anyone reading this, but chewing tobacco is an AWFUL habit & extremely bad for you. The thing that really smacks here is not only the lying but the fact that Michael watched my Dad, his grandfather to whom he was extremely close to, die of mouth & jaw cancer 4 1/2 years ago. It was a hideous death - the disfigurement was hideous & my dad had never smoked or chewed tobacco in his life! (Doctors were mystified.) Michael seems to be doing everything he can to destroy his life or to try and prove himself invincible.

Well anyways Hannah got up in the night on Tuesday & when Hannah gets up she is not quiet - the adrenaline starts pumping & so my brain started working. Ever get that?! It is SO annoying. I was totally stressed. By the time she got up the second time I was really wound. THEN finally exhausted enough to sleep, Richard’s pager went off for the ambulance so he had to get up at 3:20 am & transport someone to the hospital! SO as you can imagine, yesterday was not the day for the kids to be naughty for either of us! LOL!

Richard & I are really struggling over Michael - you can cut the tension here with a knife when he is here. We are obviously very concerned for him but realize there is nothing more we can do. He is making his own decisions, sadly not very wise ones. Our main concern is protecting our little ones. Michelle is old enough & stable enough to not be affected by Michael’s actions - she just shakes her head like the rest of us BUT Daniel is of a very impressionable age and picks up on stuff very quickly & sometimes way too easily.
This is tough! Richard and I need a lot of grace & wisdom. Michael’s court dates are fixed now - Monday Nov 23rd is the one in Chinook and Thursday, Dec 10th is the one in Havre plus I think he still has one on the 3rd too.

Take care,

Liz

How many of you have already done your Christmas shopping? I know some of you will have it all wrapped up & finished. I think I am doing pretty good as I have spent all night shopping & although not finished am well on my way I made a promise to myself this year that I would only buy gifts made in the USA. I am a true believer in supporting the local economy but that does not always mean buying imports. I was in a local toy store the other day & was very disappointed to find very few things made in the USA (What I found I bought, if suitable) Now some of you are probably saying, there’s nothing left made in the USA! Wrong! Of course we here at Cornish Heritage Farms manufacture right here in Chinook, MT but there are many, many more. I came across this Blog the other day & what a wealth of information I found - http://americanmade1.blogspot.com/ Yes some things may be a little more expensive BUT we need to support the hard working folks in this country if we want this country to survive & thrive and let’s face it, all our kids & us have way more stuff than we need so maybe this Christmas buy a couple less and spend your money supporting USA manufacturers. (Of course if you are reading this & residing in another country then support the one you are living in.)

More stories to share but they’ll have to wait for another day as I need to go get some sleep. Hope your week is going well,

Liz

Hey folks!

How was your weekend? We headed out to friends on Friday night to celebrate their daughter’s 16th birthday & actually saw folks that we hadn’t seen in over 2 years! Isn’t that awful! It was a nice evening & the kids enjoyed playing with the other kids. Michael came just as we were leaving & the last words Daniel said to him were, “Don’t break the rules Michael!”

Saturday we had friends down to lunch. Want to know what I cooked? Well I’m going to tell you anyway! LOL! I made two beef pies (scrumptious), roast potatoes, carrots & cauliflower. For dessert I made 2 strawberry crumbles & a gallon of custard! Michelle helped with all the preparation so that was great. After lunch we had two games of Dutch Blitz going on one table so that was fun. I was the champion

Sunday we did very little. I got my head into a puzzle book & stretched those little gray cells. We did watch some Poirot last night - y’know the Belgian detective.

Today has been the usual busy Monday. The weather over the weekend was pretty cool but today we got to 59! The little ones were delighted & spent most of the day outside. This afternoon we took a walk to the river & I was very surprised to see it frozen over. It is not safe for us to walk on yet but the dogs ran across to the other side - all accept Roxy (St. Bernard) who I think realized she was a little too big to risk it! Tonight we took the blankets out onto the trampoline & lay watching the stars. I know, crazy but it is so rare to be this warm at this time of year & of course we can’t do it in the summer due to the “lovely” mosquitoes! Due to there not being much light pollution here, not to mention very little clouds, we do have an incredible view of God’s night creation - the stars are so clear & bright.

Penny has decided that she needs to live up here in the big barn so we have given her her way. We think she will farrow mid December or at least we are hoping so as we put her & Roscoe together for several days before he left for his new home in Oregon. Here’s a pic of her with the three piglets that we kept from the last litter. They are gradually getting friendlier & will let us rub their backs each morning.

Hope you all enjoy your week.

Liz

Just popping into say that there were no court appearance today. The lawyer’s office are all down with the Swine Flu. I do not have the new dates yet so will let you know when I find out. Did talk with Michael earlier & he is looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow. He’s trying to figure out what career he can now do with felonies on his record. Richard is going to call the National Registry tomorrow for the ambulance to see if they would still accept Michael if he passes his exams. Like Michael says by the time this mess is all cleared up he will be at least 25, depending on the sentencing passed out & needs to have a career. He can’t just drift. At least he is thinking

Hope your week is going well,

Liz

So much for a night off last night BUT I guess it was worth it LOL! We got a one minute call from Michael at 7:15pm to say that the district court had released him BUT he was still being held on bond by the city court for when he got caught 6 weeks ago & that court date wasn’t until Dec 3rd so could we come sort it out? We got cut off & so called the jail back to find out all the details & what we had to do.

Richard was on call so couldn’t go which meant Michelle needed to stay here also in case he called out so off I went. Stopped at the grocery store first as I figured Michael would probably want some “real” food to eat. Aren’t I thoughtful Headed up to the Police Department to pay his bond (Michael paid us back later) & then took the receipt up to the jail so that they would release him.

We thought he had called from the jail office but no. Apparently what had happened was his lawyer had called earlier, after we had talked to her, to say that he was all set to go, papers had been signed but obviously didn’t know about the other bond so she went home & then Michael discovered the problem. Thankfully an inmate had a minute left on his phone card & so gave it to Michael. Otherwise he would have been stuck in there until Monday. He served one day short of 6 weeks.
When we got to his apartment he told me he had no keys to get in! Didn’t have them on him when he was arrested & Shane is away hunting this weekend. Oh no! No worries says Michael, I’ll just break in the kitchen window! Thankfully as he went around the back he discovered that Shane’s mum was there so she let us in. (Shane’s family use the apartment when in Havre as a place to study, hang out etc) Michael was glad to be home & within 10 minutes there were 6 girls there! Had to smile. No he didn’t invite them, they had been there, gone ice skating & come back to watch a movie. Like he said, it made a change from being around just guys for the last few weeks.

Richard & Michael are headed to the lawyers on Monday as this whole thing is still a mess & has to be played right to work right. Still not sure if there will be any sentencing on Tuesday so Michael is starting back at work on Wednesday. He came to lunch today - Daniel was very excited to see him. We played a game of Spades & the girls won! Good job he wasn’t gambling for his dinner today!

Enjoy your Sunday,

Liz

Amazingly there was NO wind last night so at the last minute Richard went & got a Burns permit & him and the little ones built a bonfire. Once Michelle was home we all went out & stood beside the bonfire whilst Richard lit off some fireworks. The temps were in the 40’s - really incredible for this time of year & so it was a nice break.

Daniel loved the fireworks & sparklers:

Hannah wasn’t too impressed with the fireworks but did enjoy the sparklers:

I am trying to get all my work done so I can take tonight off - exhausted. The time change has really screwed up the little ones time clocks this year so they are getting up extra early, been working on art deadlines & of course trying to sort all this stuff with Michael out is very emotionally draining.  I had hoped to give you some good news today about his sentencing but don’t really have it. I did go see Michael on Tuesday. Got there at 2:30 thinking that I would be early enough to be in the first group but alas no. Didn’t get in to see him until 4:45! They were really slow on Tuesday - Michael said it’s because there’s been a lot of drug activity. Michael is doing OK - said he was in another fight - some guys come up behind him & thumped him in the face. Of course the hardest part to the visits is saying “Goodbye.”

I did have a really good talk with his lawyer’s office before I went to see Michael & they were hopeful that things were going to work out but today we have just learned that none of that is going to work. We have NO idea if there will be court next week - won’t know until Monday. BUT the one bit of really good news is that Michael should get out next week Both prosecutors agree that he has spent the time they wanted - 6 weeks so he can now get out. We are just waiting for the judge to sign the release papers. At least he will be able to get back to work & some kind of normal living.

No plans for the weekend. The wind is blowing SO hard here today again that when we came back from lunch I couldn’t even get the truck door to open properly. Looking forward to some R&R.

Have a great weekend,

Liz

I have to share this funny story with you. Tonight Richard was on the floor playing with the two little ones. Don’t remember what he said but Daniel runs off to his bedroom for a ticket (extra labels left over from a job we were doing today) & comes back, slaps it on Richard’s hand, charges him with asking a stupid question & gives him a felony! We just roared with laughter.

Hope you all had a good Monday. The Azure order came in today. It took me 1 1/2 hours to put everything away! Over the last couple months we have been building up our nut & herb selection so that all has to go in jars & be labeled. I now think we have every kind of nut you could want bar peanuts. Nuts are extremely healthy for you - raw and organic is best. As for herbs & spices we have never had such a selection so the food should now get even tastier in this house Sadly we are now having to buy eggs in Razz is being very naughty & killing the chickens. He goes for several days being a good boy then he gets the “bug” again. What a pain! He leaps every fence so fences don’t work. We’ll have to figure something new out for next year - too late in the year now. At least he leaves the turkeys alone. Well he does chase them but of course they just fly away out of his reach.
OH & yes I decided that I was going to dehydrate some chili peppers so ordered 10lbs! That is quite a LOT of peppers! LOL! So I guess I’m going to have some fun. Going up to see Michael tomorrow again so they’ll have to wait until Wednesday.

Liz

Earlier this week Tricia had just left for the day when I began to hear the turkeys making this hideous noise. I ignored it for a few minutes but then began to worry that something was bothering them. Right! I head out to find Tricia stood on the path “talking” to several of the males who were around her. It was hilarious. She can make the same chirping/whistling noise as they do & so she would “talk” & they would reply. THEN along comes Daniel telling us there were turkeys on the roof & sure enough there they were along with a rooster. Now chickens are not known for their flying abilities but I guess this one is better than most.

Richard went to see Michael on Thursday. Michael is counting the days! It was 29 then, 31 today. Poor kid was worried that he was going to lose his apartment as the next rent is due but we have stepped in & helped him out. Now you’re probably asking why? Because a) we do feel for him even though he has been more than a little irresponsible & b) we do NOT want him moving back in with us. SO now you’re probably thinking we’re being mean. NOPE! When Michael comes out of jail, his life will not be his own for at least the next two years. The police & probation officers will have the right to check his home unannounced any time of day or night. If he was to move back here that would mean that Richard & I would lose all our rights - no guns, couldn’t even have the brandy that we use to make vanilla essence in the house not to mention the fact that we could be searched at any time. We don’t have anything to hide but I do not want that threat hanging over our heads. We lived with that the first time that Michael got into trouble & they released him saying he would be arrested again later that week. That was AWFUL! Every time the doorbell rang we thought, “This is it!” Richard & I even had dreams of the house being raided. SO it is much better for Michael to be on his own & learning to live by the rules set out for him.

OH & yes jail is not only boring it is also teaching him to gamble! Because they have nothing to do they play alot of Spades. Michael may be a little less smart about some things but he has always been good at Spades so when Richard saw him on Thursday he had won 2 lunches that day. Yes they gamble their food! He did also say that his stomach had really shrunk so he wouldn’t be eating as much when he got out.

The phone cards are so expensive that he has decided not to use those anymore so now we are writing & he is passing any important info via his lawyer - he gets free calls to them. Daniel had sent him some drawings last week & was so excited to get some drawings back from Michael yesterday Michael had drawn him a plane, a digger & the Titanic. Daniel knows more than most adults about the Titanic.

Supposed to be working outside today but it was SO windy here we gave that idea up. When I say windy I mean ‘hard to stand up in’ wind. It was really strong. We did get the top barn cleaned out this morning but that was it. Spent all day working on my computer which turned out to be a blessing as I got a lot accomplished.

Enjoy your Sunday,

Liz

Happy Tuesday to you! When we took a walk the other day Daniel, being the lovely child that he is, picked up a cow pie & threw it in the river. OK so it was a dried up one but still…. Razz looked at it for a few seconds & then decided it was too much of a temptation as it continued to float so he went in after it.

A little cooler here today, 40 with a stiff breeze so when we took our walk this afternoon not even the dogs went swimming. They put their feet in & paddled but that was it. As we came up over the bank the kids noticed the pile of bones for the first time. A cow had died earlier in the year (not one of ours but one that spends the summer here or would have done!) & of course by now all that is left is a small amount of hide & some bones. The coyotes & foxes etc have eaten it clean. Daniel & Hannah were very excited to find the skull & bottom jaw! I know - gross but that’s kids. Daniel instructed Hannah to carry the two jaw pieces & he carried the skull proudly up the field. You should have heard Hannah scream when Razz stole one of her jaw pieces. We were up by the hay bales so Razz went in through the gate. Hannah climbed in after him just screaming at him. He gave it  back. Of course they had to show Richard the moment they walked in & unbeknown to me he was on the phone to one of our artists! What a distraction! D&H wanted to bring the bones in the house but I put my foot down there so I think they are in the garage. Daniel has wobbly teeth right now so when he realized the cow’s teeth were wobbly he said, “Ready to come out!” LOL!
We hadn’t heard from Michael since Friday & still haven’t BUT Richard did get hold of the lawyer’s assistant today so she caught us up on the latest. Apparently Michael was in court here in Chinook on Monday & nobody knew! The lawyer had a meeting with the judge & prosecutor and was very surprised to see Michael when he walked in. Richard & I are a little annoyed we missed it as we would have liked to have been there to support Michael but nothing we can do. This whole mess is still not sorted out even though the lawyer was hopeful it would be. Right now Michael’s sentencing date is Nov 10th for both crimes - one in the morning & one in the afternoon and unless they can agree on combining the cases between now & then he will get lumped with a permanent felony If the judge here will agree to joining the two cases Michael will get all deferred felonies meaning that if he behaves himself for the next 2-4 years the felonies will get wiped off his record. Of course if he doesn’t then they won’t but we all believe he needs one more chance so please pray that this will be the case. Michael, of course, has done himself no favors by breaking his pre-sentencing. His pod at the jail is in lockdown again, hence no calls. It also means he doesn’t even get to read the newspaper. Richard is going to see him tomorrow so then we should know some more.

Take care,

Liz

If you have never visited one of your kids in jail please do not feel like you have missed out in life! I can assure you, you haven’t! LOL! Michelle, Daniel & I went to visit Michael this afternoon. He had asked us to bring him a Suduko book as this jail has nothing to do at all. Richard & I are seeing that they bore the inmates in the hope that they never want to go back in. I hope it works for Michael! We also needed to get some info to pay his bills for him.

We got there at 3pm so as to not have to wait too long. Sign up is at 3:30pm. We got into see Michael at 5:10pm. He’s doing OK. They had just come out of a lockdown for 48 hours as some of the inmates were causing trouble.  Michael said that one of the guys stole his phone card & used it. The phonecards are really expensive so Michael was not happy & made the guy give him his lunch & dinner! He would have had his breakfast too but was transferred this morning before breakfast was served! Y’know we can laugh/smile at this but to face the reality that our son is actually in this situation is heartbreaking. He is NO wimp so just praying he doesn’t do anything stupid to get his stay extended. He wouldn’t think twice of protecting himself & all that entailed if he needed too!

As we came out I handed the books to the gal behind the screen & asked if she could give them to Michael. She said “No!” I was totally gobsmacked & taken aback so asked why? Her blunt answer was, “Because it’s jail!” I nearly lost it but thankfully didn’t. (In my mind that’s like telling a child, “Because I said so!” - so irksome) These poor folks have to deal with jerks day in & day out so I know their patience must be worn thin. Michael was still in the room so I was able to mouth to him that he couldn’t have them. He asked the guard & she explained to him why - of course we couldn’t hear that so now we have two more puzzle books home here to do.

His sentencing date of Nov 2nd has been postponed but they are hoping for the 6th but we will not find out until the end of next week. Not holding my breath.
That was my day - have to admit I’ve had better but it’s good to be home & things could be a whole lot worse so will continue to count my blessings.

Take care,

Liz