Paradise in Disguise Hobby Farm Blog

This week I’ve been packing and trying to get caught up on various projects in preparation for next week. My Valentine’s Day gift was Mom & our friend Nancy cleaned and organized my house while I went to Oneonta to get feed for the yaks at Mandy’s Farm and some groceries for Joel & I. It was a tremendous help, as with everything else I’ve been doing, I got behind on housework and would prefer coming back to a clean house. But that’s not the point of this post.    Tuesday 2/19 , after farm chores at Paradise in Disguise and Mandy’s Farm, I’ll be going with my parents to Albany for an early celebration of my Dad’s birthday and meeting up with my Aunt and Uncle.  Tuesday night  I’ll spend the night with them and wake up very early  Wednesday morning . Why?  Because I’m flying to Oklahoma!  I’ll be there 7 days, flying back on the 28th! I’m really excited about this trip, as I know it’ll be an adventure as well as an opportunity to grow in relation...

Season of Challenges & Changes: Whether you are farming, raising a family or really, any human being on planet earth experiences challenges. I have had various challenges throughout my relatively short life thus far. Major changes have not been easy for me, especially when pertaining to our family. I remember the first time we had to move as a little girl, I cried and was heart-broken, not wanting to move from the only home I'd ever known. But, I adjusted and learned to enjoy each house we lived in, no matter for how long knowing that it was our family that made it a home. It was never easy to move, and that has happened 6 times, our longest time in one place being 11 years at the "log home". But this is a mere handful of times compared to my Mom who has moved 38 times in her life.     One constant remained no matter we lived, we were a family of four - my mom, dad & older brother. While there's been many times in recent years our parents went on vacation...

I can't believe we're already half-way through March! Since my last blog post, two more sets of chicks have hatched, and the original January group is doing so well. I haven't had the time recently to write anything in detail, so mostly just posted quick updates on Facebook.    Since the "Creator of All" has taken over management of the hobby farm, I've noticed things are going smoother in many areas. But, there was still places that I hadn't totally surrendered to His will. Finally, I had enough courage to ask, "What's wrong? What's going on? Why am I not totally at peace?" Deep inside, I heard the response, "It's time to simplify and the first thing to go is the Bielefelders." This was totally opposite of what I'd been thinking. I was looking into buying new breeder stock (lots of $$), but when God said this, I realized I wouldn't have enough space to properly set up breeding groups. At first, I was sad, becau...

As I first sat down here to write a blog post, I found myself not knowing what to write or where to begin. Perhaps it was because there's so much "uncertain" at this moment. I know what I was originally hoping to do this year - as one week ago I shared "my ideas" with the family. Then, another opportunity came up, but at this point we're not sure if it's going to work out or not. If it does, all those original "ideas" and "plans" will be changed, but hopefully for the better. I'm not going to say what that is, until I know if it's moving forward or not, which we won't know any more until next Friday.    Through it all, the Lord is teaching me some absolutely incredible life lessons. While I'm certainly not "there yet", I'm beginning to see more clearly that "God's Got This", and I can be perfectly at peace in not knowing what's around the next bend in the road. Why should I not be? He k...

     Wow! Did the Lord ever bless today, for there was much accomplished! I really am enjoying this "new boss", because He's far smarter and knows way more about what needs to be done and how to do it. For so many years when I set about doing a project, such as building a coop or such, I'd often spend at least half of the time trying to find the right "recycled" piece of wood that would work, even when the lumber pile was organized. "Recycling" or "up-cycling" or whatever you want to call it - but when you take less than perfect wood in all different shapes and sizes and try to build with it - can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. Yes, you're saving money by not having to buy the lumber, but there can be aggravation when you try 5 different pieces of wood & they're all too short, or need to be cut. But, the past few times I've embarked on another "building project", it's been different & so much...