Bird farm

After we finished picking peaches at the Entz orchard, Elaine took us to her neighbor's (about 3 miles from her place).  They have these cool birds -quail, pheasants and chucker, that they breed and sell.  Elaine knows I love birds and thought I would enjoy this place.  Elaine is like that - always so thoughtful of others!



When we arrived at the neighbor's place, the first thing we noticed was the beautiful hibiscus.  Wow!

We were shown the baby birds first.

 Aren't they so very small and cute??

This is the man who showed us around.  He is the hired man who comes twice a week to help out.  You could tell that he loved his job. 

When the babies are 3 weeks old, they are moved to another pen.  When we lifted the lid, they ran like crazy, back and forth.  You can just see how fast they were going by the blurry motion!

 As they age, they are moved to other pens.  We saw several variety of pheasants - red, silver and gold.

They have these clips around their beaks so they don't peck at each other.  They almost look like those plastic things that twist shut packages of bread!

 Before I saw them I heard them.  "Bob-white!"  "Bob-white!"  Did you know that bobwhites are quail?

 And here are the chuckers.  I had never heard of such a bird before.

One bird had escaped.  A net is used to capture them to return them to the pen.

I thought it was funny that they use the covering on these pens to keep them cool.  It is the same stuff the army uses. 

They keep around 6,000 birds on this place.  What started out as a hobby ended up to be this big operation!  They sell the birds to individuals, other breeders, hunters for dog training, and ranchers.  He says they always sell out - every year.  They are in the process of adding on.

 One little girl was getting pretty worn out.

 Our trunk was full of ripe peaches so we took a peach break before going back to Elaine's.

 YUM!!

We drove Elaine back home and she said "We just had some baby kitties.  Want to see them?"  Of course we would!!  We all love kittens!

 These kittens were shy and not tame yet.  They would scurry down a hole and scamper under the deck.

Elaine has some pretty birds too!

As we were getting ready to leave, the Voths from church arrived.  Tami and her kids were in the orchard picking peaches and invited them to come also.

 Sweet Jude who is in our nursery.  I get to see him every week!

The country roads were dry and dusty (we are in a drought spell here in Kansas!) and my car was very dirty. 

Luckily I have a couple of girls who love to help wash the car!  So that is what we did when we got back to town.

What a fun morning we had!  Looking forward to eating fresh peaches, peach pie, peach cobbler....

Peach pickin'

I took the girls out to the country today.

My friend Elaine has a peach orchard close to Whitewater and she invited us to come pick some peaches.

We first went to her garden.  It reminded me of "The Secret Garden".

She has a nashi tree!  (Asian pears)  They aren't quite ripe yet.  I grew up eating these all the time in Japan.
They taste like a cross between an apple and a pear.

Elaine showed the girls how to pick peaches.

There was another family there and their teen son picked up this cicada that had just come out of its outer skins or "exoskeleton".  After a little while, he took flight for the first time.  I love the sound of the cicada.  We have "semi", as we call them in Japan and every summer we would hear them.  There were so many and the sound was very loud at times.  The buzzing noise is so soothing to me and always brings back reminders of my childhood.

We picked close to 40 pounds of peaches!

What a fun time, but the morning was not over.  Elaine had another adventure for us.  Next post...

Lovin' on Claire!

We feel so blessed by this unexpected gift from the Lord!

Sweet Claire.

Everyone is loving on her!

 

 Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.  Prov. 17:6

The Weekend

We had a whirlwind of activities this weekend!  

On Friday, we helped Mindy move (forgot camera so no pictures).  Put together the furniture and hung pictures on the wall.  Some of my friends when they have moved wait 6 months before that is done, but Mindy and I are very much alike in this area.  We HAVE to get pictures on the wall the first day!

Saturday, we celebrated my Aunt Millie's 90th birthday at Kidron home where she and my parents live.

After church on Sunday, we had our Teacher's Appreciation Meal - Hog Wild!.  We love to thank the many teachers we have!!  They do a wonderful job with the children of our church!  Since I stepped down this past month from the Nursery Director position due to my health and family needs, I did not help with the plans this time.  It was the very first time that I went through line rather than help plan and serve up the meal.  It felt somewhat wrong not to do that.

Becca and her family are leaving as God has called them into a camp ministry.  I am so excited for them as this has been something they have looked forward to and prayed for ever so long.  And we are excited to see who God brings to take her place!  (little Avery was so cute wanting to join Becca on the platform!  Maybe she wants to be the next Children's Director!)
  

I can still recall the first Teacher Appreciation meal we planned many years ago. We had 2 tables and honored 10 teachers. We have come a long way!!



 What a privilege to teach children the Word of God!

"We will tell the next generation

             the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,

      His power,

                  and the wonders He has done."

                                      Psalm 78:4

Sunday evening is our traditional family time.  The kids come for supper and after that, we watch AFV together. 

We loved on Claire...

 ...and danced too.

On to the week now - cleaning house, taking Aunt Millie to the doctor, going to the peach orchard, etc.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Col. 3:17