Our life- 2012

Just before 2012 began we started a new chapter in our lives- We welcomed Fern, a Jersey Heifer into our lives.

It was an extra warm, low moisture winter. This was the temp in the middle of MARCH! We have 45 fruit trees so temps like these were very unwelcomed yet we enjoyed them in other ways. We took frequent trips to the State Park for hiking and rollerblading.

The blossoms arrived way too early... but they were sure beautiful....

By May we had 3 bovine.... The black/white one was a Steer though we later sold him due to the drought. It did not take long for hay to be harder to purchase. The Black one was our Bull who bred Fern. He was later traded which will be mentioned later.

This year was a bittersweet year for the Memorial Day parade. Gramps was still there in Uniform but he was no longer the "Sargent for the Day" I had tears in my eyes as I heard another mans voice call the troops to attention. I had taken for granted all of the years Gramps health was better but this year he had to ride the wagon with the rest of the older soldiers. It was great though that he was still able to be there and I love our yearly photo.

Our Strawberries grew wonderfully but we lost ALL of our fruit on the trees. 45 fruit trees and not a single piece of fruit. A last minute frost killed everything. It was bad. We spent hours spraying our trees in the morning but then a really big freeze came and killed the fruits which at that point there was nothing I could do short of burning hay under them but it was just too late.

We participated in the local Homeschool groups Track N Field day. All of my children did very well. Mikayla took 1st place in nearly everything for girls in her age group.

Sadly, This year marked the year both of my remaining Grandparents as the year they both were admitted into a local nursing home. My Grandma was diagnosed with a degenerative spinal nerve disease that will eventually leave her crippled. My Grandpa, who has dementia, diabetes etc not to mention severe loneliness soon followed and so far seems to be enjoying his time at the nursing home. Afterall, lots of new people to talk to and lots of good looking nurses to flirt with.

On this same day I ran my second 5K. I didnt train and I didn't even pay to run.. I was slower but it was still fun. I hope to do it again next year. It was a last minute decision to run.

The Garden season was.... at best.... Okay. For the work and effort the return was minimal. However, if we hadn't put as much as we did into it then we might not have gotten anything. Some nights I watered for hours. We had A LOT of garden space. We suffered immense relentless heat without moisture coming from the sky. Add into the mix our very sandy soil that is relatively devoid of nutrients. I.e. the moisture disappeared as quickly as it could and the plants spent most of the summer highly stressed. However we still managed to have a harvest but just not enough to sell any or give away.

2012 was the year James learned to love cats. These two were his BFFs most of the year.

We participated in the local county fair again. We did very very well. Many blue ribbons. Pictured here is an Ancestry entry that took home Best of Show. I have spent MANY hours digging up information on ancestors and compiling them into our family tree. It has been an amazing experience. I think everyone should keep their family history close to their hearts

Noah and I found a wild swarm of honey bees to which we jumped at the opportunity to attempt to raise honeybees. We bought some used hives and got to work. Sadly, we did not capture the queen so when the worker bees lived out their life they were gone. But we enjoyed it immensely and come next year we will purchase bees and try again. We would love to "grow" our own raw honey.

This year we put up over 800 quarts of food! majority was raised here at home or purchased at a local farmers market. Sadly, no tree fruit at all! A lot of green beans and tomato products though :)

LIke I mentioned earlier, we ended up trading our Bull for pigs. More specifically- A 750 lb Boar and two 500 lb sows. Within a few weeks they were all gone. They were irritating and damaging. I sold the two sows and made more money on them then I could have made if I had taken the bull to the sales barn (hard to sell hay consuming animals this year) Plus we were able to put the whole boar in our own freezer. We sent him off to Sanders and he came back to us in nice sectioned vacuum packed bags. Including 79 lbs of BACON!

I really left A LOT of stuff out this year. I already feel I swamped ya'll with photos and stories. To keep more up to date with us other than our yearly letter don't forget to follow us at http://lifeofadiymom.blogspot.com/ The year isn't quite over yet but it appears I made it through 2012 without any vehicular accidents. James maintained the same job ALL year and even received a raise or two or something. He very much enjoys being so appreciated at his place of employment. It has been a good year for our family. We enjoyed good health, good friends and making good memories. I welcome 2013 with open arms and hope it will be a better year in many ways. So good bye 2012... thank you all to those who were a part of our 2012 :)