Queen Mine Tour

First stop on this year's wild west vacation with Pa and Gram was the Queen Mine Tour in Bisbee. Apparently, there is a neat museum in town, but we missed it. We walked around the little visitor center for a bit instead.

There were some old mining carts to look at and sit on outside too.

This is the entrance to the mine. When you go on the tour you straddle those yellow seats. The mine was first claimed in 1877. It closed in 1975 and shortly after that they opened it up for tours. All the tour guides are retired miners.

Before you go in for the tour you are outfitted with hard hats, a jacket, and a light. The mine is a cool 47º year round. (We should all have underground houses here!) The mine goes straight into the mountain, you don't go up or down on the tour at all.

The boys, Jerry, Pa, and I went on the tour. Gram and Annabeth shopped in the gift shop while we were gone.

Our tour guide was pretty funny. If I have one complaint about the tour, it's that it was very hard to hear what the guide was saying. We stopped several times and got off the little trolley, but even then it was hard to hear.

Did you know miners actually appreciate cockroaches in their work area? I guess they can feel the vibrations of rock about to fall long before humans can. So when the miners saw the cockroaches running, they ran too!

While inside we got to see some of the tools they use to break into the rock. This mine, like most around here, produce copper.

Below are some (fake) fuses to dynamite sticks. They would put about 24 sticks in and then connect the fuses before lighting them. Our guide joked that they left the un-expoded sticks for the next shift to deal with.

I'm not really afraid of confined spaces, but I'm not sure I could ever work as a miner! It was dangerous work!

There's No Comparison

I've needed a little reminder about this in the past few days and want to remind you… don't compare your life to others! Just don't do it. Celebrities, bloggers, Facebook friends, people you know in real life… no one! You really don't know their whole story and one little detail can make all the difference.

That mom who feeds her kids all organic, non-GMO, gluten-free foods has a rotten marriage.

The family that took an awesome trip to Disneyland doesn't have a penny in savings.

The guy that paid off his mortgage and has a ton of money in savings hasn't talked to his mom in six years.

That neighbor whose house is always cleaner than yours has Molly Maids clean every Wednesday.

That homeschool mom who does all kinds of neat projects with her kids hasn't cooked a decent meal for her family in a week.

I made all those examples up, but I'm sure every single person you know who "has it all together" has a problem of some kind you don't know about. How do I know?

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. - John 16:33

Unless you live with someone, and sometimes not even then, do you know the whole story. People tend to share what they want you to know. I do it. You do it. We all do it. Even people who say they are being completely honest and transparent do it. People may not be lying, but they also may not be sharing the whole truth either.

So, before you wonder why your family can't take that trip to Disneyland or why your house isn't as clean as your neighbors, remember you don't know the whole story, so there really is no comparison.

Week in Review 2/16 - 2/22

2/16/15 - President's Day. We didn't plan to take off school, but the kids weren't feeling well. Then goats escaping, and related fence repair, kept us busy all morning. An appliance repair guy here to fix the fridge kept me busy most of the afternoon. We hoped the fence guy would be by to give us a quote on the fence repair but he never made it.

2/17/15 - Fence guy finally came by and gave us a quote. Jerry gave him the okay to start the work this Friday.

2/18/15 - Gave everyone hair cuts - all five boys plus Jerry. Savings = $100 (at least)

2/20/15 - Annabeth had a rough night. Woke up around 3am crying. Ended up bringing her to bed with us, but even that didn't really comfort her. During breakfast she finally said something that made sense… "my ear hurts." I called the pediatrician and got her in. Sure enough, she has her first ear infection. Poor sweetie. Started her on a round of amoxicillin so hopefully she'll be feeling better soon.

Fence guy was here most of the day pulling the new no-climb fence. The poor chickens had to be locked in the coop all day. The goats got to roam free. We set up some temporary fence after he left and are really looking forward to having it done.

Appliance repair guy was back for a few minutes to install the new ice maker. Yay!

We were going to have a bonfire with church friends, but canceled because Annabeth and Hayden still have coughs. Hope to re-schedule it sometime soon.

2/21/15 - Went on a farm tour with our church group then went out for lunch. Had a bonfire with Gram, Pa, and the neighbor kids. The kids played a few of their "night games", even Jerry joined in. It ended up being a fun evening!

Super Farm Tour

Here are a few photos from our tour of Superstition Farm this weekend. It was supposed to be a group tour with our Keeper's Club at church, but for various reasons most of the other families couldn't make it. It was just us and one other family; we still had a great time.

Even though we have our own goats now, it was still fun to feed them at the farm. I amazed at how low their fence is (and how many goats they keep in such a small area).

This sweet donkey was rescued from an abusive situation. He loved every piece of carrot we gave him.

The hayride was fun, but made several of us itchy.

Superstition Farm is a real working dairy. I think it's pretty neat they started tours and markets on the side. If you haven't been there, they have tours every Saturday.

You Have Goat to be Kidding

My grandma asked to see a photo of the goats. So I sent a photo of the goats via text to my aunt so she could show my grandma. I accidentally sent a text to the wrong number. The person on the other end had a GREAT sense of humor!

Week in Review 2/9 - 2/15

2/9/15 - Pa surprised the boys with a new basketball hoop! Jerry spent most of the evening putting it together.

2/10/15 - JD wasn't feeling well in the morning, but was feeling better by the afternoon. I went to an Educator Resource Fair put on by the town of Queen Creek. I got some information and handouts plus a few freebies.

2/11/15 - Keepers meeting about farm animals.

2/12/15 - Saw a post on a "farm and garden" Facebook group about two wether goats that needed a home and messaged about them.

2/13/15 - Did some yard work (cut down the poisonous oleander bushes) in the back to prepare for goats.

2/14/15 - Jerry went to a work day at church. I stayed home with the kids since most of them seem to have a cold. After lunch we used some large pallets and plywood from Jerry's work to make little goat shelter. Late afternoon the goats arrived!

2/15/15 - Stayed home from church because of the kids' colds. I can't remember the last time we all missed church. We all agree we don't like missing a Sunday. At least we had the goats to entertain us!

Goats!!

I have wanted goats for a long time. I'm not sure when, or even why, this idea started. I just have always thought they are such cute animals. From the day we bought this house we have called the back part of the lot the "goat area", never the "animal area" or "chicken area" even though it was their home first!

Thursday evening I was on Facebook and saw a post on a farm and garden group about some goats needing a new home. I have seen goats on there before, but for some reason these just seemed like they would be a good fit. I sent the woman a message asking about them. We chatted back and forth and discovered that we actually knew her father-in-law! Jerry worked with him at TRW in the 90's. We had even spent time with her son when he was probably the twins age (and Roz was 5 or 6).  It seemed to be providence.

We made arrangements for them to bring the goats out to us (since we don't have a truck) on Saturday afternoon. We all - me, the kids, and even Pa - anxiously awaited their arrival. They finally got here right before dinner time. We had a nice chat with their owners when they got here.

The goats ran around a bit and almost immediately figured out how to get in the little door of the chicken coop. (We fixed that Sunday morning by adding a bar across the door. The chickens can get under it, but the goats can't.) In addition to the goats, they brought their waterer and feeder, a bag of goat treat, and a bale of alfalfa. Jerry ended up giving them a little extra money because he thought they went above and beyond. Even so, I think it was still a good deal.

They are pygmy mix wethers (which means neutered males for those of you who don't know). We didn't want to deal with babies or milking so we thought that would be a good place to start. These guys were hand-fed bottle babies born last April so they love people. They are also used to kids which was a big plus for us. They came with the names Elf and Squirt.

Elf is part lamancha goat and has little tiny ears. He is super sweet and friendly, as well as the leader of the two. Squirt looks more like a regular pygmy goat and has horns (his disbudding/dehorning didn't work). He is a bit more shy and follows Elf's lead.

We didn't really have much time to get to know them on Saturday. It was dark pretty much as soon as we got them. My dad checked on them several times Saturday night. We think they were nervous about being some place new and didn't sleep very much. Sunday they seemed tired and didn't really do too much. They were especially wary of Libby, even through the fence. But Libby's calm demeanor had them okay with her by the end of the day.

Annabeth took advantage of their laying by the fence and sat in the dirt to pet them.

Their previous owners said they were good buddies and they really are! They are pretty much inseparable. It was hard to get photos of one without the other in it.

Monday morning they seemed more comfortable and rested. To prove it they were also more mischievous. Elf got out into the main yard several times through a weak spot in the fence. Dad and I fixed it as best we could with some zip ties and chicken wire, but Jerry also called a fence repair guy. Getting the fence fixed had been on our list of things to do soon anyway. Gram and Pa took turns on goat watch and, thankfully, we didn't have any more escapes. We're really hoping the chicken wire holds until the fence guy can get here.

Jerry doesn't like to admit it, but I think he likes them. The rest of us aren't afraid to admit we love them already! We think they will be a great addition to our little "farm".

Week in Review 2/2 - 2/8

2/4/15 - The boys and I went on a field trip to the AZ State Capital.

2/5/15 - We ran to the library to drop off some books. A few of the kids ran ahead to start looking for new books while Hayden, Wesley, Annabeth, and I stayed back to put our 50 books into the return slot. When we finished a woman asked if she could take our photo by a new water conservation awareness display. We said sure and found ourselves on the town's Facebook page the next day!

2/5/15 (continued) We are helping out with the animals of some neighbors while they are out of town. Got a call a few of the chickens were loose. Eli, Justus, and I got over and were able to rescue one from the neighbor dog but, unfortunately, one was lost to their own dog.

After dinner we went to a board meeting at church. Jerry is on the board, the kids and I go along just for fun.

2/6/15 - Went to Grandpa and GGS's for a dog playdate. The dogs got along better than I expected and the rest of us had a great time visiting, at the park, and having lunch.

2/7/15 - Did some coop repair and updates. Enjoyed a hot air balloon going right over the house!

Balloon!

It isn't unusual to see hot air balloons floating off in the distance, but lately we've seen some really close. This afternoon the kids and my parents started hollering and I looked out to see one so close we could see the people and they could clearly hear us hollering hello!

We thought they would land in the field across from us, but then ended up putting down a little bit further east on the other side of the main road.

I was on the phone with Roz when I took these photos. It so happens she went to a hot air balloon festival just this morning but it was too windy for them to launch. We enjoyed watching our hot air balloon fly over while wearing shorts in 80º sunshine, Roz was a little more bundled up in Minnesota! (I stole this pic from Facebook, thanks Roz!)

Flock (and Coop) Update

The new chicks are getting big. So big that it was time to move them out of their rubbermaid tub and into the mini-coop. But before we could do that we had to fix the mini-coop's broken door. It fell apart last year right as last year's chicks graduated.

We were able to fix the door with a few adjustments to the current hardware and a board we had in the garage. We didn't spend anything to fix it except time. Actually, we build this whole mini-coop for free last year with wood from pallets and scraps from the big coop. It's not perfect, but it's great to have.

We also made a few modifications to the big coop. We moved the old roost out and added two new 2x4 roosts that run the whole length of the back wall. We also added a poop board underneath to catch night time dropping and keep the nesting boxes covered. It was a pretty inexpensive change $6 for three 2x4s and a box of screws. Whether not it works out as well as I hope remains to be seen.

Loosey and the old gang seemed to figure out where to sleep without too much trouble. I felt a bit bad changing their "furniture" but I think this will work out better for when the new batch joins them.

Speaking of Loosey and the gang, they are doing very well. Loosey is back to her usual self. Her limp is gone. Everyone else is healthy too. Four of them, if not all five, are laying so we aren't totally egg-less. The girls are happy to have my dad here because he tosses them scratch several times a day.

The old girls checked out the new ones when we put them in the little coop, but they didn't get aggressive or cause any issues. By the time the new ones are ready to come out of the mini-coop the old gals will be used to them and all should be fine.