Back to blogging after a 2 year break....

Been a long time since I have done any blogging on this blog!
So here is a mini update on what has been going on in our lives.
We moved back to our Louisburg Missouri farm in June of 2010.

The people who owned the place in our absence had done some
updating on the house, but it had that generic feel to me,
and my husband and sons helped me to get it back to feeling homey
on the inside, and now the house has my personality once again.
There is still quite a lot of work to do on the inside,
but much more needing done outside!   
Terry retired in June of 2011. He of course went right back to
work in a welding shop.

We have some pretty long range plans for our little Hobby Farm,
and have started to see some of our plans fall into place.
Our Little flock of sheep has grown to 8 ewes and 1 ram.
We now have 3 Australian Shepherds on the farm, and
2 Holstein calves and 1 Welsh Mountain Pony.

Last year we had a not so productive garden, we hope to do some
raised bed gardens this year, I want to make myself put more effort
into working the garden this year.

We are getting some lumber this week to build our chicken coop and yard.
We have ordered barred rock hens and some Guinea hens for this spring.
We are thinking about getting a couple peafowl too.

I have been looking into getting another pony that is already broke,
and also thinking about purchasing a couple little mini studs this spring.
Might even get a mini donkey.
Check out some pictures of our farm on our website. For some reason the slide show takes a minute to load.
LTLivestock.com
Have a great day and check out my other blogs: Marylou'sPlace and Home on The Farm
Spend some time with Jesus today! You will be glad you did!

God is working, and I am waiting on Him!

I have been totally silent for some time on here, but just wanted to share that some things are in the works for the Andersons, and God is working, and I am waiting on Him! I will update this on Friday of this week! God is SO GOOD!!!

Choose your favorite name for our new Blue Merle Australian Shepherd puppy.

Choose your favorite name for our new Blue Merle Australian Shepherd puppy.

1. Darach: means Oak the clan symbol for Anderson
2. McGregor: means shepherd
3. Grizel: means grey haired (he is a blue merle)
4. Lyall: means loyal (he is an aussie...need I say more?)
5. Broden: after the castle Brodie in Scotland....
6. Fyffe: derived from a land area in Scotland (and his farm mate's name is Duncan as in Duncan and Phyfe Furniture)

RAM

This is the ram lamb offered for sale.

We spent the weekend with Micha and Nicole antd their kids, but my camera switches off every time I plog it into the computer. WHen I find someone who can figure out what my problem is, I will load the pictures and let you see my son doing my dream job....

Dancing With God

Dancing With God
Author Unknown


When I meditated on the word Guidance,
I kept seeing 'dance' at the end of the word.
I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing Lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.
When I saw 'G': I thought of God, followed by 'u' and 'i'.
'God, 'u' and 'i' dance.'
God, you, and I dance.

As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God's blessings and mercies are upon you on this day and everyday.
May you abide in God, as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.
I Hope You Dance !

Thank you Aunt Polly for sending this in the email!

The standard for the Olde English "Babydoll" Southdown Sheep

We have ordered our first babydoll Southdown sheep, one ram and two ewe lambs. The ram lamb is Isaac's,(shown in this picture) and the ewes are mine. He will however show all three next year in 4-H. We got our lambs from Kristin Snodgrass, of My Little Sheep, from here in Missouri. It is really hard to determine quality on newborn lambs, and so we are hoping and praying the lambs we chose turn out great. If not, we will just have to breed quality into our flock as time goes by. The standard for the Olde English "Babydoll" Southdown Sheep was taken directly from the Southdown Sheep Society in England. It is the standard for the original sheep changed only to allow for colors. Only white or mouse colored sheep were allowed under the original standard. The breed description is as follows:
Head: Wide and level between the ears with no sign of slug or dark poll in the whites.
Face: Full, not too long from eyes to nose and of one even color. Eyes: Large, bright, and prominent.
Ears: Medium size and covered with short wool.
Neck: Wide at the base and well set to the shoulder.
Carriage: Corky legs, short, straight, set on the outside of the body.
Shoulders: Well set, at top level with the back.
Chest: Wide and deep.
Back: Level, with a wide, flat loin.
Ribs: Well-spring and well-ribbed up. Thick through the heart with fore and hind flanks fully developed.
Rump: Wide and long.
Tail: Large and set almost level with chin.
Legs: Full, well let down, with a deep wide twist (including thighs).
Wool: Of fine texture, great density, and of sufficient length of staple covering the whole of the body down to the hocks and knees and right up to the cheeks, with a foretop, but not around the eyes or across the bridge of the nose.
Size: Must be 24" or under shorn, measured straight up the front leg to the top of the shoulder.
Lambing without difficulty is one of the qualities of the "Babydolls;" therefore, ewes under 18" are discouraged.
Colors: All colors acceptable, black, dilutes, and spotted. Below are the pictures we got of the lambs: