Loggers are done and ground is being prepared for the foundation

The loggers finished up at the farm last week, and then we had a guy come in and do some mulching to take care of some of the stumps near where the house is going to be.  I also picked up a couple of new goats last Tuesday from a retired couple in Alabama.  They had many goats, a couple of horses, a lot of chickens, and a couple of turkeys.  They are going to slaughter some meat chickens next month, and I asked them to let me know when they do so I can go back and learn how to do it.  We'll see if they remember to call me or not.  The 2 goats are named Ruby and Opal - one is a year old and one is 3 months old.  They are super awesome!  Here's some pics from recent farm happenings.

Stevie B and Lacey Lou enjoyed climbing on the bulldozer

Ezra helps feed the goats

Norman moved out to the farm for the summer and we put him in a tub to soak

More logs 

Ezra enjoyed the big machines

He didn't enjoy getting that close to the bulldozer...

Big logs, little boy

Cruising in the gator

Jason dug a hole for Norman to be able to retreat to.  He still enjoys his house more though.

Our very first original chicken hatched from our own eggs

Ezra liked petting it

They kept hatching out for over a week.  We ended up with a total of 11 chicks.  Here's the first three.

This boy loves the dirt

Ruby and Opal getting adjusted to life on our farm

Ruby is the one in front - still a baby - born 2/18/2015.

Stevie B and Lacey Lou aren't so sure about them

I took them on a walk around the perimeter to get some fresh foliage.  The guy that mulched cleared a nice path for us.

The llamas were jealous

Chowing down

Pretty Opal - born 2/3/2014.

She's vocal!

Still chowing down outside the fence

Mama hen and the 3 bitties she ended up keeping.  We took the other 11 to the house and raised them in a brooder on our garage.

Very protective of the bitties

Ruby and Opal standing beside my fine rooster that Jason gave me for my birthday.

They took a walk to the front of the property.

I got Ruby and Opal collars

Mama hen and her bitties pecking around with the other chickens

Pretty Dolly Llama

Skid steer clearing the site for our house.

The goats had to check out the house site too

Jason and Ezra checking out the Bobcat, along with the goats of course

The boy and his dirt again

Another view of the home site.

Ezra chasing Ruby

Now that boy needs a bath!!

35 acre addition!

Last Friday, we bought the 35 acres adjacent to our 15 acres and got a construction loan to finally put a house on the farm!  It's a really exciting time!  50 acres total - never in a million years dreamed we could pull that off, but we sure enough did :)

The same day, we signed a contract with a lumber company to harvest the timber on the new plot since it was completely wooded and we needed a place for the house, some pasture, and some $.  They came in on Tuesday and begin their work.

Here's the link to our house plans: New house!!

And here's some pics of the lumber clearing:

Our red building on the right, in front is the newly-acquired 35 acres to the north.  It was completely wooded when we bought it a week ago.

Lumber truck pulling away down our driveway

They left a few trees

Big ole John Deere

Ezra was most interested in the dirt

We got him to stand by the huge machinery with a little coaxing

The llamas and goats went exploring and quickly went too far

Stevie B was the first to get reeled back in, Lacey Lou followed him

Then got some more food and reeled the llamas back in

Here they come!

And here are some general farm pics since we haven't posted any in a while:

Back inside the fence, Ezra helps feed Dolly Llama

And the chickens

Our newest addition, Lacey Lou - she is a full nubian.  We got her a month or 2 ago, and we just love her!

Lacey Lou is a bit of a mess :)

We let the animals come to the front of the property to graze on the luscious grass there.

We had a Nigerian dwarf (I think that's what he is) visiting for a few days - we named him Ray Ray.  But he eventually went back to his rightful owners.

Ezra the chicken whisperer!