Working Together.

New Whitaker Farms Sign.

      In the past month or so, so much has been happening at our farm.  We have been doing so much living that there has been little time to journal about it.  :) Which is a wonderful problem to have, but at the same time it's good to take a minute and record some history, and keep in contact with friends!
      We acquired a new sign this year.  The old one had done it's job faithfully, but the wind and rain had done it's job over the years and it was looking pretty sad.  So we replaced it.  We have found  since having one all these years it keeps the semis and trucks from pulling in the front drive where the kids are.  :)

Sam running the little back hoe.

      Next we planted a bunch of large trees.  After digging nearly 2 hours the first day for the first tree, we decided a small back hoe would make a not very productive job into one that was alot more fun! 

We still had a fair amount of shovel work to do.

The chicken hotel.  :)

    Then came a new chicken house.  With a new set of chickens coming they needed a place to stay for the winter.  Doug and the kids found this design and soon put it together.

There is nothing more fun than the day baby chicks arrive!

Sarah was in charge of showing the little kids how to water the chicks when they came out of the box. 

Rain. :)

     A very exciting thing for us this year is a new irrigation on our farm.  The old one was 38 years old, and had worked well for many years, but it was time to give it a rest.  The irrigation crew cam in and put ours together in about 2 days.  They were from Wisconsin and they were fast.  Doug cant wait to go out and try it.  After such a dry year last year he spent alot of time on repairs both here and at other farms.  So having a new one to start the 2013 season with will be a blessing.

A span ready to be put together.

Caleb with a large turnip out of the field. :)

   As an early Christmas present we brought home a Mule with two benches!  The kids are so happy about this.  The bigger kids say they dont know how they accomplished any kind of farm work before it came!  It has a snow plow and a winch. They have pulled all kinds of things all over the farm by hooking the winch to it. :)   Taking out the garbage to the road has taken on a whole new meaning! :)

Almost everyone has learned to drive it, including me!!

 We had a really nice weekend. Saturday and Sunday we made an overnight trip to Indiana and did some hiking.  The weather was beautiful and we all had a great time together.  These are pictures on the way home.   Funny, on the day we left they were all excited, talkative, and energetic......but on the way home is a totally different story!  It was so peaceful and quiet.  The only thing left to do was keep the driver awake! :)

     And that's about it.  We all look forward to this time of year.  Doug isn't so busy.  Farming, (at least outside farming) is finished for another year.  Office farming continues, and getting ready for next year begins.  But, family time kicks into gear.  Chores around the house get done, outings together take place, we visit with friends, Thanksgiving, Christmas....warm houses, candles, warm soups, reading, and singing at night.  Going to bed early.  Rest.  Wonderful Rest. 
                                                             Thanks for visiting! :)