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Showing posts from May, 2014

The goat returns!

In an amazing turn of events on the RVstead, {whispering} the elusive goat returned today! The neighbors spotted her and let us know she was near an abandoned shack down the road. It was raining, so Allen and the boys were hoping she was inside, and she was!  They (stealthily with hand signals - it had to be fun too!) surrounded the shack and blocked both entrances.  They got her cornered and roped her!  She fought, but they got her and held on tight all the way home and into the (of course very reinforced) pen (which is also now surrounded by a good fence!). So now, after 12 days alone in the wild, meet the very tough, independent, pretty, and finally no longer lost, Annie!  She's an 8-week-old Oberhosli.   She is *very* scared and wary of all of us, but took to the other goats just fine.  We've taken turns sitting in the pen hoping to get her used to people, but it'll take some time.  She's eating well and appears very healthy, which is very impressive for a then-

Branson Landing Fountain Show

Did you know Branson MO had a fountain show similar to the Bellagio in Vegas? We didn't!  But Lizzy and I took a girls' road trip for a day at the mall (and seeing as how there are no malls even remotely close, that guarantees a road trip!) and we enjoyed the light/water/fire/music show at Branson Landing. We took the kids to the Bellagio back in 2010 and I've been there for approximately a gazillion conventions and they never get old.  Hopefully we can take the boys back to this one soon!  Video from 5/28 (because homeschoolers go to the mall anywhere on random weekdays, because they can!) :)

Beard flip :)

We went to the lake today and can't be normal and boring... a little laugh for you...

Tortillas and horror music

It may sound like a strange combination, but our new tortilla maker makes lovely tortillas and also great sound effects for a horror movie.  All the kids noticed that right away, scary music!  Quite weird (the kids and the music), but we sure love our always round homemade tortillas for lunch with our way too easy homemade refried beans !

A fawn

While mowing today, Josh saw a little fawn in the tall grass beside him. He quickly shut off the mower just to be safe and, like a good son, came in to get my camera.  He got a few (great!) pics and then it started following him like a puppy! After the baby goats, we can't handle much more adorableness around here! We watched Josh trying to get away from it and it was so cute!  It finally did lie down, completely flat. No wonder you rarely spot them!   No, we didn't keep it.  The mama wasn't far and collected the fawn pretty quickly.  Springtime sure is fun up here on Lundy Mountain!

Meet Lily

Since it's the end of kidding season, we didn't think we'd be able to get another young goat (as the older goat didn't work out so well ), but really wanted another female for milk.  So when our friend called and had a newborn, we were excited!  (The windows are covered and the yard fenced in, so we were ready.)  Of course she is so little and adorable!  Meet Lily, born just a few hours ago.  She's part Alpine, part LaMancha (so tiny little ear nubs). :) She fell asleep in Matt's arms.  Soooo adorable.  The chickens were curious, and hungry.  The three got along just fine.  We also let the rabbits out and poor Jack was a tortured soul.  He stalked them from outside the fence, then jumped into the coop trying to get in.   The barnyard is getting a bit full for a family with no animals !  As we were walking around the back yard, she just fell asleep. Must be bedtime!  And she slept in the living room so we could feed her every few h

[whisper] The elusive goat

There have been many sightings of "the elusive Lundy goat" whispered about on the mountain. We have awesome neighbors, many of whom have spotted her and called us or attempted to catch her.  Others have been on the lookout and praying for her.  We love our little mountain community!  Allen and the boys have gone on goat hunts and we've used Deuce to try to call her in close to where she was last spotted, but no luck so far.  Amazingly, she's somehow lasted a week without being coyote bait!  We're still hoping she'll hear our or the neighbors' goats and eventually come in closer to eat.  Although the catching part would still be tricky.  For now she's an interesting topic of conversation.  In the future, she may become a legend and only a few of us know the origin... 

Kelsy's wedding

Our beautiful friend Kelsy got married!  I can't even believe she's old enough, but she graduated from college and then got married a week later.  *sigh*  We still remember watching Kelsy and her sister Mekenna running around being adorable toddlers back in Ohio!  Her husband Jonathan (who will always be Fabio to us), is an amazing young man also and we're so happy for these two! Kelsy's whole wedding was gorgeous, though my pictures are not. Being the non-packers that we are (when you tow your entire home, you forget how to pack for short trips!), I forgot my camera!  Ugh, I just had my dumbphone. (But for amazing pictures, check out their photographer's page !)  Anthony Chapel in Garvan Woodland Gardens is amazing!  All glass and surrounded by beauty. We're sitting inside, although it looks like outside. :) Lizzy's curly do.   The kids had SO much fun dancing at the reception too.  And of course it's always so much fun to see this fam

The lost goat, and a second

Since Lucy needs a playmate, we brought home Annie.  (Annie, because it's our 17th anniversary today!)  Allen and the boys brought her home in a dog crate. This one is a few week old pretty Oberhasli (tan with a black stripe) who's been with her mama and isn't tame.  Since she's a little bigger, we thought we should cover the windows in the pen, but thought we had a little time. Nope.  Allen opened the crate and out came a scared but adorable little goat.  As he started to cover the window, Annie crashed right through it!  She ran straight through the deer fence into the garden, and back out (note to self: deer fence ineffective?), then off into the woods with Jack at her heels.  It happened so fast that we were all in shock!  We chased her through the woods, but how do you catch a wild goat?  I didn't even get a picture and Lizzy was inside, so she didn't even see Annie.  There are coyotes, mountain lions, and bears on the mountain, so we don't know how lo

Meet Lucy

Meet yet another addition to the RVstead, Lucy, a three-day-old Alpine goat.We'll be bottle feeding her for a few weeks and she already looooves Matt! Matt was hanging out with her and they fell asleep together.  So sweet! But then we realized he really did need to sleep outside with her that night to keep her warm. It didn't go that well, but she slept great.  Matt and Lizzy, not so much.   She's lucky she's so cute!  Video of Lucy: Lucy showing off in her new pen. She jumps sideways out of the frame!

That Fred, more chickens, goat pen

So Fred was adjusting well, but one night we couldn't find him.  We figured he was coyote bait or maybe found his way back home.  But the next morning, Allen found him perched in a little hole in the top of the log cabin that we didn't think he'd fit in.  So Fred was back! Or at least still here.  That day we moved the chickens into their new mostly finished coop.  That evening, Fred escaped and left!  We can't believe he didn't like his new home.  He turned back up at the neighbors the next day.  That's a long walk for a human, and through a coyote filled valley!  He's a lucky rooster.  He was probably just missing having lady friends.  So we brought him back and finished up the top of the coop to keep him in.  The chicks were happy to have him to cuddle up with at night.  Check out Jiffy Puff, the white one in the middle. That's Matt's strange chicken, always making faces!  After a few days of getting the chickens used to their new home, we l

Fulltime families on the news!

Want to know what being a fulltime RVing family is really like? Check out this report from NBC6's Keith Jones! The Travaglinos are nomadic friends we've met in too many states to count and it's so fun to see them represent our traveling community on TV. The Travaglinos are very helpful to future and current traveling families and I've mentioned them often.  Check out FulltimeFamilies.com .

Working on the coop

More work on the chicken coop.  This will be a nice upgrade from their little log cabin soon! Beautiful old windows gifted from a neighbor.  *sigh*   Fred, always supervising.  And a quick little side trip to pick up something fun! We'll be needing this soon...  Allen was showing Lizzy how to clean the windows, with Jack supervising.  I wanted a picture to prove Lizzy did actual work. Matt wanted the perfect photo bomb. Win!  It's coming right along!  Matt's sporting his pencil just like Dad's.   They checked out their new digs.  The mafia birds. It's so weird! These three are totally bullies and they checked out the top roost first, I guess to send a message.   Lizzy made everyone cupcakes after a hard day of building.