Hey there,

Thought you would appreciate an update. Michael learned yesterday that the paperwork is now with the judge but she has not had time to sift through it all so it will be middle to end of next week before he gets arrested. Michael is being pretty realistic about the sentence/punishment he is going to receive so now we just have to wait & see.

I can’t begin to tell you what a blessing this week has been. Yes it’s been tough but just having these days to work things through has been what we needed. I can now talk about it with a clear head, not crying every 2 minutes. We have also learned alot from Michael.
Michael himself has learned this week how much his good reputation means to folks around here. Yes although he has done some major wrongs & will have to pay the consequences, people also know that that isn’t his normal behavior. One local business man has gone out of his way to give Michael a good character reference & Michael knows that he is truly blessed to have folks like this stand beside him.

Today, Michelle & I went to Great Falls to pick up her friend Ali who flew in from Maryland. Michelle & I hit one of the large Goodwill stores down there beforehand & got some great deals on clothes for Hannah. That girl is SO tough on her clothes - nothing can ever be passed on. Every pair of jeans she has has holes in  & her tops, well let’s just say she is the messiest kid we have ever had Anyway she is now set up with new jeans for the next few months. I also picked up 15 canning jars for only 29c each - what a deal! I am always having to buy new ones each caning season so that was a real blessing. Of course, the money we saved there we then spent eating Chinese & bringing it back for the guys!

Richard & Michael worked hard outside today fixing up stuff around the farm. Daniel was so funny this morning. Him & I had gone to Harlem yesterday to pick up four more lengths of wood to finish off the corral. The first thing he said to me this morning was, “Saturday ‘day?” When I told him “Yes” he then said, “Daddy help me do fencing?”

Hope you’re enjoying your weekend. We’re supposed to get more snow tomorrow! AAGH! At least we aren’t in Kansas where they got 24″ today. Yikes! What a nightmare. If any of you reading this are down there my heart goes out to you and also to those of you affected by the flooding in North Dakota. (You’re probably thinking, “Liz, is unusually well informed tonight.” Well Liz rarely listens to the news, or anything else for that matter, but of course was driving today with the radio on!)
Take care,

Liz

Despite the fact that we awoke to an inch of snow on the ground this morning, spring is on its way. The birds are all starting to lay. Fresh eggs - there is nothing better. Thought you might appreciate a pic of what I picked up today. Talk about a motley crew.

The two on either end are goose eggs. These things are pretty big. Then the speckled large egg on the left is from a turkey. We are getting some olive green ones but not sure which hens are laying these - they must be a cross between the green & brown eggs layers. Even the brown eggs are all different shades which I think is cool. Banties aren’t laying yet or if they are then they are hiding them well as I can’t find them.
As for what else is going on here, Michael is still here. No charges have been pressed yet. He took yesterday off to spend with his friend & then went back to work today.  I can’t imagine how he feels - this waiting game is pretty tough on us all.

Today has been a better day for me - not so many tears. These few days have helped us all to come to terms with what is happening. Does that mean we like it? NO! BUT life loves to throw these curves from time to time & just like on a roller coaster you have to go with the ride!

Have a great evening,

Liz

Hey folks!

Yesterday was a rough day. If I started thinking too hard I just started bawling. Couldn’t even go for a walk as the weather was miserable. Michael came home from the jail & went back to work after paying some of his bills. We tried to have a normal family night so did play some cards which was nice.

I did get out for a walk today with the little ones & of course the dogs. Forgot the camera though. The river is really high with all the snow melt. Some of it is still frozen but you can’t walk on it - very dangerous. The geese & ducks were enjoying it.
Michael’s best friend from North Dakota, who used to live here, came in today to spend a couple days. I know Michael really appreciates that. When Michael came in tonight he was pretty solemn - I think the awful reality of what he has done & the consequences are really sinking in. PLUS all the folks that know him are just chewing him out. Folks are just incredulous - nobody can believe what he has done. It is pretty obvious that Michael is no angel but this is the kid that was always willing to help anyone, some of the old people in town would call him to clear snow or help move stuff & he was always there. He would even go with one of them to eat lunch at the Senior Center. I know he would still do that in a heartbeat too.
These few days of him here are a blessing so we are very grateful.

Take care,

Liz

Michael was released this morning on the Criminal Trespassing BUT this is just temporary. The chances are, he will be arrested again by the end of the week & charged with additional crimes & put back in jail to await trial. I cannot tell you those details now for obvious reasons but he will need a good lawyer to plead his case.
Richard & I are speechless.

Liz

Oh my….

Last night the friend that Michael got in trouble with the first time was supposed to be coming over here - the first time since the incident. That was fine with us as we would be here & figured we could play some spoons etc. A while later Michael comes up the stairs saying that this friend’s brother was back in town & so was going to take them to Havre. Knowing this friend’s brother, we just looked at Michael & said, “More fool you!” Both of us advised him not to go but as Richard said, “It’s your life & you have to make the decision.” He said that the brother was just going to drop them off & pick them up later. (Michael turned 19 this week so should be learning how to make the right decisions in life.)

As he left last night he told us both, “I’ll be OK.”

When I went to bed I just “knew” he was in trouble.

This morning Richard took the call. He is back in jail, this time for Criminal Trespass! Apparently as they were walking around, they came to an old abandoned building. The door was open & in Michael’s words to me “It looked cool” so they went inside. Needless to say they got caught & rightly so.
We have called the DT center & told them to tell Michael to get a court appointed lawyer. This is VERY serious as Michael has the 6mth suspended jail sentence hanging over his head. He will go before the judge on Monday.
Both Richard & I are shaking our heads in wonderment - can’t believe Michael was SO stupid.

On a good note, as I went outside this morning I noticed the first blades of grass shooting up! Yee Haa!

Take care & I hope your weekend doesn’t have news like ours.

Liz

…. or do we have mud! Oh my, oh my! BUT, y’know what? You won’t hear any complaints from me as mud means a thaw! YEE HAA! I have to say it is pretty disgusting out there though & I am not sure if mud is the right term to use, maybe “mudure” would be more appropriate. (A mix of mud & manure.)

Here are some pics I took on Saturday. As you can see the poor chickens in the bottom coop have a moat. When I went to feed them they were like, “Do we want to cross the water or do we just stay here?” Here are two hens peeking out:

Here’s a pic of the new Old English Game Rooster from last year. He was our FREE chick when we ordered the bantams, most of which did not make it through the winter. Oh well, this guy is very handsome so hopefully we’ll get some nice chick crosses this year.

Master Duke, along with the other dogs, thinks that the mud is quite fun. Duke gets absolutely filthy as he is still short so his belly gets plastered in mud. Here he is after a nice roll in hay & manure

This morning in Daniel’s lessons we made an ABC book & the ‘K’ showed a picture of a kite so we then had to go outside & fly the kite. It is very windy here today so the kite went up really high. After a while a change current must have caught because it started to swoop & managed to get caught on the big barn roof! Had to break the string to get it down.

Hope you’re enjoying your day.

Liz

Hi there!

Apologies for being kinda quiet recently - not too much going on around here apart from normal life. It’s been another very cold week. We hit a low of minus 22 on Wednesday so that was pretty miserable, in fact I didn’t milk Tulip for 2 days as I really didn’t want to freeze my fingers off! Thankfully the winds blew in this morning & so we got to 50 today - Yee Haa!

Still waiting for Lilly to have her calf - her rendezvous with Cinco was obviously a lot later than we thought. The chickens are starting to lay a few eggs but with these cold temps they are normally frozen & cracked by the time we get to them. The turkeys are HILARIOUS to watch. The males are all strutting around & then they all gobble together - what a great sound. Haven’t seen any turkey eggs yet though. Richard did find a goose egg last week but none since then. We are hoping that the geese & turkeys will set & raise their own families. They should as they are heritage breeds.

The piglets are now roaming further afield & go down to the cow barn where there is plenty of left over hay etc for them to eat.

The kids & I took a walk this afternoon. It was REALLY windy. I thought that when we got down into the river that we would be sheltered. WRONG! But nobody minded. Dogs were glad to get out too. Here are the kids by a tree on the river. The edges are just starting to melt so they enjoyed the puddles.

We got them sunglasses this week which they think are the coolest things. The sun here is SO bright - you have to wear some kind of protection & Hannah would not keep a hat on.

The river now has this crack running all the way through it. SO cool. Don’t panic - it is not dangerous. This pic is not the clearest but you can see down a least a foot - solid ice & it is even deeper than that. If these warm temps keep up it won’t be long before it melts & the winter fun will be over.

Daniel & I decided we wanted to walk up through the slough today but it was further down than I realized. The snow was deep & we ended up by the bulrushes. The dogs were hilarious. One of them must have scared another & so then they all thought there was something in there. They were barking & leaping through & running round & round but of course found nothing but each other

Painting the hallway tomorrow. We have a huge entrance way that goes up & down with a very high ceiling. I’m not quite sure how we are going to accomplish it but we will. It will look so much better once done. The challenge after wards will be to keep it clean. It tends to be the “drop it” spot! Not to mention the fact that Michael has just walked in & let a VERY muddy Maddie walk right through! AAGH!
Someone we know in town had a baby today - 25 weeks - 1lb 3ozs - little girl. I don’t know any more details but please pray for her. She will have a battle to fight being so small but she can make it. Daniel was born at 28 weeks weighing 1lb 14ozs & we remember how small he was. Richard’s wedding ring could fit right up his arm!

Hope you all have a great weekend

Liz

I know, you folks are probably fed up with me talking about the weather but I’m beginning to think that sometime, when we were not looking, Chinook (& the rest of north eastern Montana) was transported to a higher latitude up by the Arctic! Our high today is supposed to be -3! Please note the word “high!” Yes a whopping minus 3 degrees!

Several of the ranchers around here have moved their calving to March so as to avoid the cold temps. I REALLY feel for them. It’s bad enough having to get up several times a night to check on their cows but doing it in this weather is no joke at all. As for the poor calves, what a shock to come from a nice warm mama out into frigid temperatures & be expected to get up, walk & feed in a few minutes.

Enjoy your day.

Liz

I am sat at my desk paying penance for playing hooky the last two afternoons! LOL! Tuesday & Wednesday we had the most glorious weather - we hit 50! It was BEAUTIFUL. SO both afternoons we took a long walk. Yesterday afternoon as Daniel & I were sat on a log on the river waiting for Hannah who is sometimes too independent for her own good, we heard the geese. There was the first sign of spring - a flock of geese were flying overhead & then….. the bald eagle came in right over us & landed on a tree in the neighbors field. What a beautiful sight.

So that means I didn’t get all my work done. No worries though as today another cold front blew in so didn’t want to go outside anyway so I’m here catching up on emails etc.

The piglets are quite mischievous. Up until last week they were content to stay in the barn & around the duck pen but no longer. They have now discovered the wide open world. Richard couldn’t find them the other day & they were sunbathing on the side of the house! Most times though when we go out & call them they come running, squeaking & grunting. It must look really funny with us carrying a bucket of feed & 5 piglets following. Talk about the Pied Piper.

I got a new toy this week:

I have been wanting a dehydrator for quite some time. Way back we had a small one that was not very efficient & when it broke we never replaced it. We have a glut of apples at the moment so now with a much bigger “machine” I can get the apples dried. This is a 9 tray Excalibur with thermostat & timer. LOVE IT! We bought a blemished model direct frrom the manufacturer so got a great deal. I can’t see anything wrong with it. And the best part is that it is made in the USA.

Hope your week is going well,

Liz