We've been really busy the last week or so getting this next auction ready. Dad, Seth and I are doing the picturing right now. It's been crazy trying to get it done in a short amount of time. The auction will start Sat. We'll have a few days off then we'll spend Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Satureday of next week at the hall for preview and pickup.
It snowed pretty hard last night. Then it rained all day. So alot of the snow is already melting. Makes for sloppy roads.
We'll find out Tuesday if Belle and the babies turned postive or stayed negative. I'm not real hopeful they'll be negative. There's just too many things against them.
I started another quilt. This one will be a diamond pattern. I'll have to get some pictures of the other ones soon.
I made a new website for the horse training I'm Hoping :) to do some day!
http://bardoublediamond.weebly.com/
There's some good pictures of me and Bannie, Dan and Rosie on the Photo Gallery.
Well, that's all that's been going on lately. Maybe something exciting will happen soon!
Lauren

We lost Chance this morning. Yesterday we got him up and into the barn and checked on him throughout the day. He kept getting himself down and we had to get him up again. This morning he started out okay but quickly lost strength and couldn't support his weight. We had found out last winter that he had a heart murmer. Mom listened to his heart today and found that he had blown a valve and was leaking blood. He got so weak he couldn't hold his head up. So Dad put him down. While he was laying in the barnyard, Bannie came and told him good bye. So now we just have the three horses. Good Bye Ole' Chance.
Lauren

This morning I went out to do chores and found Chance, our 22 year old thoroughbred qrth cross lying down by the feeder, stuck. He'd been there for awhile. I could see where he'd been thrashing around. We tried to get him up  for 2 hours but he was weak and cold and couldn't support himself enough to get his legs under him. Dad had already left for the auction hall and since this is our advertised take in day he can't leave to come help. We can't use the hip lifter like we use to do on cows 'cause the hip isn't shaped the same and it won't work. We tried the belly band but with just me, mom and Seth, we can't get it. So we called my uncle, Greg, and he's on his way. Hopefully we'll be able to get it then. Mom and Seth are sitting out there with him while I warm up for a few minutes. Poor Chance is so tired he's falling asleep sitting up. We've been taking turns holding his head so he can rest but stay sitting up so he can breath easier. So right now we're just waiting. I'll update the post later after we get him up.
Lauren

Today we had to put two of our goats down. Nutmeg, our nubian, and mom's favorite, Holly. They had the same diease that Hattie and Lavey had. We just found out on Tuesday. We know that both of our bucks are positive and possibly our other nubian doe, Belle and....both of the new babies, Hadiyyah and Minnah. If they do get it, we're probably just going to take the summer off from goats. Losing all these has been really hard. They were part of the family to us. 
On a more cheerful note, I had Levi out riding Smoke today. He's getting better at handling her but there's is still alot he needs to learn. Teaching is not my thing! I know what I do, how I do it, and why but I have a hard time putting it into words and getting him to understand. I was so cold by the time he finished I didn't ride Bannie. We'll be at the auction hall all week so he'll get to be lazy!
Yesterday afternoon Dad took us sledding in the fields. We tied four sleds together and then tied them to the tractor hitch. It's lots of fun! Sometimes we go without him and then the boys and I take turns driving the gator. The boys can never get me off my sled...so Dad tried to get me off. We were done sledding and heading up to the house when Seth reached behind him and pulled the strings that attached my sled to his. I had let go of my handles because we were riding nice and easy up to the house.....when he pulled, I slid of the back of the sled and got dragged between the sled behind me, that Levi was on, and my sled until I could roll over the string! Needless to say, Dad was the victor!
While we were still back in the field, Lydia's hands had gotton cold so she climbed on the tractor with dad. Next thing we know, the back end of the tractor was in the air, Dad was flung into the steering wheel, Lydia went flying off the side of the tractor and we were headed for the back blade. The three of us rolled off the sleds and I went to help Lydia up. Something, I'm not sure what, hit her in the stomach, but after a few minutes she seemed okay. I turned around to look at the tractor...the forks were stabbed completely into the ground! Apparently, as she was standing beside Dad, she bumped the lever and sent the forks down! Thankfully no one was hurt. She and Dad were a little sore that night! 
Well, that's what's been going on here....just the usual unusual happenings on the farm!!
Lauren 

Well...I don't think our ancestors would have called it a blizzard, but that's what it felt like!
It had been snowing on and off, but there wasn't alot of wind so I decided to go riding. Take a look at the pictures at the bottom of the post. Don't you feel for poor Bannie? He got a nice warm blanket afterwards!
We rode for at least an hour. He was starting to get frustrated 'cause the wind was gettin' in his face and he didn't like that. I watched a video on Stacy Westfall's bridless riding...that's my new goal...to ride bridless. Bannie knows leg cues, so we started doing the 4 leaf clover pattern today. He did very well for the first time and by the time we finished, he was starting to figure out the pattern. Mom came out to take the pictures so I did a few rollbacks for that. We were both caked with snow! Oh the joys of riding!
We've been at the auction hall several days this week. We stayed home today to get some things done here. Dad and Seth will be getting back tonight from a mens conference. It started yesterday and they stayed the night.
Now I've got to head out to chores. Brr!
Lauren

Yes! There was a weasel in the coup! Yesterday morning I was doing chores before we left for church and I heard a commotion in the chicken coup. What did I find.....a mink(a member of the weasel family) was killing the chickens! He had already killed two, Mom's prize chickens, and was working on a third. His head was under the chicken so he didn't see me coming. After about 15 min. I finally managed to kill him. The third chicken is injured, but still alive. Wow! That'll wake you up in a hurry!
It stared raining yesterday, turning all the roads into ice slicks. Our road  was one solid sheet of ice. There was an accident about 2 miles from us. The car went into a deep ditch that was filled with water. No one was seriously injured thankfully.
Today the temp. is finally up to around 40. Yea! I'm sure it won't last long though. The snow and ice are melting. There's some pretty strong winds blowing right now. I was thinking about going for a ride since it's warm....but now I don't think I will. Wind tends to get the horses riled up and I don't need to get dumped! After I did barn chores, I took a walk in the woods to Storyland Creek. I hadn't been down there in months and it was interesting to see all the animal tracks. As I was walking along, I heard a lot of branches rattling. At first I thought it was deer, then just the wind. Then I realized it was wild turkeys! They were roosting for the night and about ten hens were flying up about 30 feet into the treetops. I stood right under them for a long time. It was interesting to see them so close up.
I finished the star quilt this morning. It turned out really nice. I'm thinking of doing a bigger one in the same style. I'll have to get some pictures to post soon.
I just got over a major writers block. I'm working on the second book in The Christian Cowgirl Adventure Series right now. It's been at a standstill for awhile.
Maybe now I'll be able to get something done.
Alright, I'd better get to work on it!
Lauren

I woke up to a white world this morning! We got about 8-10 inches during the night. All the animals are snug in their barns. I did put blankets on Bannie and Sunny and double blanketed Chance and Smoke. They are just in a run in barn and the wind still blows through it. They seemed warm and happy though.
I took Levi riding on Smoke yesterday. I rode her first, then lunged Bannie while he rode her in the little pen. I've been doing the GaWaNi Pony Boy native american roundpenning with him and now I've worked up to being able to free lunge him without a halter or rope on him in any size enclosure. Yesterday I took him into our large sheep run and did it. He had plenty of room to run away but he didn't. I had expected him to give me trouble but he was as good as gold.
Hattie's buckling, Rodeo, should be leaving today. Maybe the girls will settle down once he leaves.....maybe. I think Hadiyyah will take up where he left off. She has already figured out a hundred and one ways to get out of any pen! The other day I was kneeling on the ground and all three babies were jumping on my back, eating my hair and standing on my head! You can never fix fence in peace with babies around!
I finished quilting the star quilt today. Now I've just got to finished the edging. I'll get pictures posted of them soon.
Now I think I'm going to get a cup of tea and work on finishing that quilt!
Lauren

It's still really cold here in Michigan. It doesn't seem to be affecting any of the animals though. Our adult nubian goat, Nutmeg, managed to squeeze herself into the babies dog cage last night to get under the heat lamp! That was a funny sight this morning! Jack Frost visited during night. All the horses had frost on their noses this morning. I got some good pictures of the trees, barbed wire, fence posts and icicles this morning. They were quite a sight with the sun shining.  
Since it's been so cold I've been spending most of my time in the house quilting. I finished my first quilt today. It's a baby quilt made with brown calico and blue jean squares. I've got a white and blue star baby quilt, 9 block and full size country quilt started. That keeps me busy, though my fingers are sore from all the stitching.
We closed out an auction on Thursday. Now we have to try to get another one ready by the end of the month. It'll be a busy couple weeks for sure.
Hattie's buckling, Wiggles or Rodeo, is sold. He'll be leaving either Thursday or Friday this week. Those babies have been eating alot of milk. The buck has the biggest appetite so it'll help to get him gone. Hadiyyah is turning out to be a trouble maker....just like her mother! She has figured out a dozed different ways to get out of her pen and brother and sister follow! She is so energetic! Minnah is pretty quiet. She is content to mind her own business and do a few little jumps on the boxes we have set up for them.  
Hopefully it warms up soon. Grandpa has all kinds of little lambs running around out in the open. They don't seem affected by the cold.
So stay warm and curl up with a good book and a homemade quilt!
Lauren