I know the pictures aren't in order but this is not easy.  The family and I on our way to pick blackberries.  Boy did we find the motherload.  Kenny knew right where they were from when he picked berries as a child. 

Rachael and I got up early the next day and made jelly.  Blackberry, grape, and coffee.  Yes that's right coffee jelly.  It is good!

We are still waiting for some rain.  It is so dry here!  I'm suprised the berries are as big as they are. 

Yesterday was family day, we spent the day fixing the fence around the chicken shed so the ducks could come out during the day without Tanner trying to "play" with them.  Afterward we went swimming.  I think I fell asleep laying on my stomach on the raft, maybe 15 minutes and I got burnt.  I just can't take the heat like I used to.  I burn easy, I get sick if I'm out too long. 

Today the family went shopping.  Kenny wanted to buy me some new clothes.  I ended up with a couple of cute sundresses, a couple of tank tops, and a couple pair of shorts.  He loves to get me nice things that make me look younger.  He thinks I dress like an old woman.  Of course we had to go swimming again.  But not until I took my nap.  I have to take one every day it seems.  I felt bad yesterday.  Dr. wants me to have blood tests done to see why I'm so tired all the time.  If they come back ok then he wants to test me for sleep apnea. 

It's almost 1:00 in the morning and I can't sleep and I am babysitting tomorrow.  I've been trying to find some kind of schedule to get them on so I won't have to argue with them about going swimming all the time. 



Kisnerville finally saw some rain today!!!  Not enough but at least the dirt has settled a little.  I went to my mom's Saturday with Rachael and Jake and took a trip into Rural King.  I love that store!!!   They had all their plants on sale so I picked up some herbs, mint, and Coneflower.  I once had an herb garden but I let it go for a few years.  It still has Chives in it and my asparagus but now I want to get it built back up.

The reason I went to my mom's, other than to check on her, is we had some items left over from an estate sale that my mom and I conducted last fall and I wanted to get them out of my shed.  Every year we, the Blackman Family, have a couple of Rummage Sales to make money for our Family Reunion.  We try to get everyone to donate items to put in the rummage because what doesn't sale we donate to the mission.    I always enjoy going down to help with the rummage because I get to visit with my Uncle Doug and Cousin Missy, and sometimes others.  My mother was a Blackman and they have had reunions for over 30 years.  It's sad to see everyone getting older and missing the ones that pass away between reunions.  But it is nice to see the ones that have moved away over the years come back for the weekend.

Sunday evening some of our friends came by for a game of Pinochle.  We haven't played that game in probably 20 years.  I forgot how to play.  It was nice just taking time to visit and have a relaxing time with friends we've had forever.  Seems like we just don't take the time to be with our friends like we used to.  Maybe it's because all of our friends have adult kids some with grand kids and  we have young ones.  I guess we have been guilty of trying to do things our kids would like to do and we neglected our friends.  Not to mention everyone's jobs.   

On a sad note, while we were playing Pinochle our friend got a call from his niece about a big wreck not too far from us.  She wanted to know if he had any details since he was on the volunteer fire department for the next town over.  As always I turned to Facebook for details.  When someone said that is was a family with four kids my mind automatically went to Marla and her family.  Her son went to a very small school with my nephew and were best friends.  My fears were confirmed when I seen a post on my nephews page from another one of his friends.  The father died an hour after the wreck, Marla and the children were life flighted to St. Louis.  Marla and three of the kids are going to make it but the 10 year old, Pierce, is in critical condition. 

Now that I'm not working and staying home with the kids I have picked up a babysitting job for one of our friends grand kids.  They are such good kids and it's funny to see how they act like their mom did when she was young.  Kenny has also decided that since I'm not working I have time to do his mowing jobs for him.  He bought lift assists for his trailer tailgate so I could load and unload the mower by myself (bless his heart).
I think I did pretty good considering I have never drove a truck with a trailer on it or been out mowing by myself.  Kinda nice to be able to do things on my own. 

I have joined the Farmgirl's  Sisterhood last week and have been having such a good time learning tips on everything.  I got a recipe for a natural underarm deodorant that I want to try.  I posted the link below.  There is so much chemical in everything we use now it's hard to get away from it.  It's very scary...  I have also started working on making my own compost now that we have chickens it should be good compost as long as the night visitors stay out of it.  Our garden is looking pretty good considering it's been so dry here and we put it out a little late.  I hope we get enough beans and tomatoes to can. 

We just started a dehydrator full of deer jerky this evening.  The kids eat it like candy.  We haven't made any in quite some time so they are drooling over it.  I don't know what has gotten into the kids tonight, maybe they are bored from no school, they are pretending to be a waiter and waiter bring Kenny and I snacks and drinks and cleaning.  It's quite nice.

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/02/homemade-all-natural-deodorant.html

Well, it's Friday night here in Kisnerville and all is well.  We have penned up the animals for the night and settling in.  We let our ducks out in the yard for the fist time today and they loved it!  Kenny and I sat out there with them at first to make sure Pixie and Tanner didn't bother them.  The ducks didn't wonder off to far, they just sat in the grass and ate what they could find.  Tanner did grab one of the ducks new tail feathers but after a scolding from Kenny he let it go and didn't bother them again, even when they tried to check him for bugs....   

We got our Muscovy ducks from Kenny's cousin who has quite a few new babies.  These were hatched May 5.  They have grown so fast!
We also got some Wyandot chickens last month.  I can't wait to eat some real eggs! They are starting to get their feathers and look a little awkward right now but they are going to be beautiful when they get all their feathers.

I told Kenny now that we have chickens and ducks and a garden we need a good outside dog to protect them.  Of course he was reluctant at first but he finally gave in.  Rachael and I checked on Craigslist, went to the pound but we couldn't find a dog that we wanted.  I mentioned to Kenny that we needed to get a cattle/herding dog that would protect our flock.  As luck would have it one of Kenny's friends posted on Facebook that he had some Blue Heeler puppies for sell.  We took the kids out to pick out a puppy from the litter and we came home with Tanner.  We fell in love with his "coon eyes"!  We were afraid of how Pixie would react to her new friend but she took up with him immediately.  They play and wrestle all the time. 
We fixed a place in the chicken house for Tanner's house so he could get used to the ducks and chickens.  Although Pixie is an inside dog she has been keeping Tanner company at night.