Spring has sprung!

Spring is finally here!! The trees and plants have been trying to bloom and come back to life, and a round of thunderstorms this week with a good soaking rain gave everything the extra boost to look especially green and bright! This is our second spring on the farm, and our first one where all of our animals are mature enough to reproduce. Love is in the air, and we have had several new additions in the last couple months! The first was our set of Rhode Island Red chicks. It was our first attempt at breeding with our chickens (we've had success with the ducks already) and we weren't really sure what to expect. We chose our favorite and most friendly hen, Miss Loretta, and paired her up with our rooster Big Red. He stood watch over her for the whole time she was brooding, and on March 15th eight chicks hatched out of her clutch of ten eggs, a great success in our book! Miss Loretta is an excellent mother, and the chicks are growing so fast. I'll be sure and give an update on them later.

Miss Loretta strutting her stuff :) She's been extra proud and protective since her chicks hatched.

 Being a chicken mommy sure is hard work! Eight tiny chicks is a lot to keep up with.

It amazes me how all eight of them fit themselves under her wings, four on each side. This little sweetie was peeking during nap time.


Those sweet chicks were just our first exciting birth of the season. Dustin's parents have two female Nigerian Dwarf goats that were bred by our Nubian bucks Ricky and Bobby. Crossing these breeds results in what I've always seen called a Mini Nubian. The mini's keep the adorable floppy ears of the Nubian, and the smaller stature of the Nigerian Dwarfs. The best of both the breeds. Unfortunately, one of the female goats, Dixie lost her kid at birth a few weeks ago. This setback made us even that more anxious as we awaited the birth of her sister Pixie's kids (I was positive she was having twins because of how HUGE she was!). On April 5th I got a call from Dustin's mom saying that the babies were here! I raced up to the barn and was greeted by two of the sweetest little babies I have ever seen! Twin boys! Both boys were out and being cleaned up by mom by the time I got to them.

Pixie and her kids! We had a scare at first with the little white one. He was a lot less eager to nurse than his brother who was born first, and he seemed much weaker and wobbly on his long and lanky Nubian legs.

We decided they could use some supplemental milk just to make sure they got off to a good start, so I rushed off to the feed store to buy some powdered milk with colostrum. Dustin's parents are feeding them here. I was mixing bottles and supervising. :) Pixie didn't mind that we were helping lighten her workload.

Then we had the hard task of deciding on names for these little guys. When I was home later, I thought back to their dad's names (Ricky & Bobby) that came from the movie Talladega Nights..and tried to think of other unique/funny names we could pick from the movie to keep that theme going. Then it hit me. Ricky Bobby's sons were named Walker and Texas Ranger!! (If he had wanted them to be sissies he'd have named them Dr. Quinn and Medicine Woman..lol) It was perfect! We decided Walker would be the little white one who was weak and had trouble walking, and Texas Ranger would be the strong guy with the white star (his ranger badge) on his head.

Texas Ranger aka "Tex"

This little guy is Walker. Walker makes me think that their dad is our white goat Bobby since he is basically a clone of him! He is solid white except for his moon spots just like Bobby had when he was little, and since that trait is inherited I'm betting he is their daddy :) 

Nursing from mom.

So far our spring is off to a great start here on the farm. It's a busy time with new babies, seeds to sew for the garden, and time to build more chicken coops since we are planning to expand our flock. 

What's cooking on the farm this Easter?

I love holidays. There's good food, spending time with family and loved ones, and most importantly there's usually a good reason behind them. On this Easter Sunday, I feel especially grateful for my savior! My spiritual place is being outside on the farm with these animals and the land. God is easy to find and be close to on the farm (especially around springtime). With each new life, sunrise/sunset, bloom on a flower-I feel his presence.

 I wanted to share the recipe for what I'm cooking up this Easter Sunday. It's my family dinner specialty- baked macaroni and cheese. Every person in my family has certain dishes that they just know they will be responsible when it comes to family dinners because they just make them so well. Mine is this mac&cheese. Macaroni is definitely a staple here in the south when it comes to family dinners, so being trusted with this dish is a pretty big honor! Before I took over this dish, it was my mom's. She did (and still does) make the best homemade mac&cheese I've ever put in my mouth! I had been making mac&cheese with my mom since I was old enough to hold a spoon..and now I've added a few things and made it my own, and was handed over this big cheesy responsibility! :) 

Southern Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

What you'll need:

1 (8 oz.) box of elbow macaroni

1 stick of butter (yeah..it's southern..use REAL butter for the best taste)

3 eggs (farm fresh are the best!)

3/4 can evaporated milk

2 c. milk

4 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese (2 cups will be the topping)

1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Parsley 

Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook and drain your macaroni noodles per package directions. 

2. Melt and add the stick of butter in with the still warm macaroni noodles. 

3. Add 2 cups of sharp cheddar and 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Stir. 

4. Mix in both milks and beaten eggs, and add in pepper to your taste (very important to put eggs with the cold milk because you don't want them to start cooking too early from the warm noodles)  

5. Once everything is well incorporated, pour into a 9x13in. casserole dish. 

6. Use the remaining 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar to cover the top of the macaroni mixture, and sprinkle the top with parsley. It should look like this before going into the oven:

7. Bake at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes (this will obviously vary on your oven). You want the top to be slightly browned, but still bubbly and wiggly in the middle. 

8. Enjoy a little bite of heaven! 

Final product:

Other things I'm cooking this Easter:

 Southern Pecan Praline Cake Click the link for the recipe. This was a Pinterest find..a hit the first time I made it, and now is back by popular demand! 

Pigs-in-a-blanket. One of my personal favorites..and the kids love them :) 

Cupcakes with Easter sprinkles!

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter! 

-Kayla

For two years now my new year's resolution has been to start a blog. Here it is almost the end of March on the second year and I'm just now getting around to figuring out how to go about starting one! To let you know how that resolution came to be I must first let you know that I am a blog junkie. There are several people I blog-stalk almost daily and could tell you their whole life story because I've read about, followed, and grown to love their families from afar (creepy I know). I love reading new posts and seeing what they're up to, as well as going back to the archives to see where they've come from. We only get to go through this little journey called life once-what better way to document it and all its ups and downs than through awesome photos and blog posts? (I guess I could scrapbook but as a wise lady once said "ain't nobody got time for that.") So...that's how the Jolly Farm Journal was born. I want to use this blog so that one day I can look back and reminisce about all the things that happened on the Farm. I'll be posting pictures and updates of all the animals that call the farm home and their shenanigans, probably some recipes and food since I love to cook, and anything else I feel is blog-worthy.