Indications of Fall

Each day lately that I walk outside to do the feeding, I feel the chilly breeze blow on my face. It tells me that is winter is on its way. I walk down the driveway to feed the cats and dogs and I notice the red, orange, and the yellow leaves that have fallen. I stop to admire them and then I go about my way.

When we take a drive to town, I spot that the farmers’ corn and beans are being harvested before the plants die. I enjoy watching them combine it down. It is very dusty work. Our corn here at Providence Prairie was harvested about two weeks ago. I got to ride in the combine when they were harvesting it.

As we drive along, I see pumpkins, gourds, and mums are being put out for decoration. We have gourds and corn in front of our house. It is fun to decorate for fall. It is exciting to know that fall is here because it is such a pretty time of year.

~Isaac

A Celery Encounter

One time while Mom was cutting up celery, she cut off the bottom of the vegetable and asked me if I wanted it to plant it. I said yes and got to work transplanting it in the playground by the spit rail fence. I put a container around it so the chickens could not get it. Then soon it began to grow. Little by little it got bigger.

The ancient Greeks valued celery highly and awarded it as a prize to winners in many of their sport contests. The vegetable was grown in France in 1623, and in 1776 celery seed was sold in England for the growing of plants to be used in flavoring soups and stews.

I kept checking my plant every day. Finally, it was ready to harvest. It was not a big celery.  It was quite small, but we put it in the fridge anyway. I had fun with the experience of growing my own celery to eat.

Celery has been grown commercially in the United States since about 1880. California and Florida are the two-leading celery-producing states, but it is also grown in many other states in the eastern and western United States.

The leaves of celery are rich in potassium, sodium, and sulfur. They have a bunch of Vitamin A and C which is very good for your body. I like to eat celery in soups. I like it with peanut butter and raisins. It is delicious!

~Unique

Travertine Creek

“Everyone put on their swimsuits and shoes that can get wet!” This statement caused a murmur of excitement to run through all eleven children spread throughout Ryan and Amanda’s Oklahoman home. Where could we be going?  The suspense made everyone lose no time in getting ready, and when finally, everyone and everything we needed was packed into the fifteen-passenger van, we headed off on our venture. Our destination we learned, as we pulled into a parking space, was Little Niagara, the head of our trek down Travertine Creek, in Sulphur, Oklahoma. 

It was beautiful. The cold water, which came from an unseen spring further up, dashed over rocks creating a sloping waterfall. Quickly we unloaded and headed down the path to the creek. A sort of rock stairway led into the deep clear pool, and most of us hastened down to feel the water. Brrrr! Being spring fed, the water stayed a constant sixty-five-degree temperature and being only a fairly warm day, it was freezing! Samuel took the first full plunge, and then one by one everyone else followed. We played at Little Niagara, clambering over the rocks and attempting to slip down the fall like a slide.

After getting thoroughly wet there, we moved further down the creek, heading toward Lost Cave Falls. On the way, we discovered an amazing waterfall slide that many of us went on several times.  We also passed a bridge and a little island in the middle of the stream before we arrived at the waterfalls. Here, bamboo grew thickly and the water laying in still, murky pools, gave an eerie feel to the place. The cave or caves, for there were two, lay higher up on the opposite bank from us, and with the frequency of rattlesnakes in the area, no one wanted to cross the cloudy mysterious water, so we did not travel up to them. 

Going on, we came upon another fall. Quickly flowing water, made it impossible to see very far in the cave nestled beneath it. Jayla rested over the small dip in which the water flowed, successfully cutting off the water supply to that spot! Using a flashlight, we saw that the sides of the cave were perfectly square. Looking then on the other side of the falls, we discovered a huge stone block with a large metal handle, placed to seal that side’s opening. Perhaps it was once an underflow so that the falls could be crossed from above? Once we learned the safeness of it, Samuel crawled into the cave. It was not a very big one, long, but very short so that there was only enough room for one person at a time. When he had safely emerged, several others wanted a turn in the cave. 

Traveling down the creek was very challenging in some places. Rocks hidden in the watery depths made slipping and falling much more frequent, adding to the fun and excitement! Everyone had a blast and so many great memories were made! Our final destination was reached for the day, as it was getting late.  We headed toward the van and on the road home. Before the day was finished however, we stopped at Brahms’ and had supper topped off with their delicious ice cream. What a wonderfully fun-filled day.

(Photo Credit Ryan and Amanda Cox)

~ Halayah

Gone Milking

It is early in the morning as I step outside, milk pail in hand, and breathe in the fresh country air of a brand new day.  I walk down toward the barnyard admiring the morning glory covered arbor in full bloom, and I hear the roosters crow to tell the whole farm that morning has arrived.  More often than not, by the time I reach the stanchion, the cow, Wilma, is standing there ready to be milked.

We raise Dexters, which are a smaller breed and a great dual-purpose cow.  The cow we are currently milking has been the sole milk supply for our family for the last several months, now.  There are times when the milk gets a little ahead of us and that is when you may find yogurt, butter, cottage cheese, or ice-cream in our refrigerator or freezer.  Farm fresh milk.  Mmm!

When family is visiting, there are quite often some young nieces and nephews who love to accompany me on my morning chore.  “Aunt Jayla, please can you wake me up early in the morning so I can help you milk?”  That is often a question asked before bed.  It is such a sweet thing to watch as a young one tries their hand at milking a cow.  It does not come easy to bring the milk out in the first place, but then making it into the pail as well.  It takes practice.  A lot of the time at first, the warm stream of milk lands on me rather than in the pail.  That brings on the laughter, then I take over when their hands get tired.

Milking is my favorite chore on the farm.  There is something so peaceful about sitting on that old bucket, resting my head on the cow, and softly singing to the rhythm of the milk landing in the pail.

You want to know the best way to start the new day?  Here is how I do it.  Wake up at six o’clock in the morning, read the Bible, then off to the barnyard milk pail in hand.

~Jayla McDaniel   

Cardinal Crash

A couple of years ago, I was walking around minding my own business, when I heard something wham against the window.  Distracted by the sound, I looked out the window and there was a Cardinal bird.  That is the Illinois state bird!  I wanted to get it before the cats did, so I ran out and picked it up.  I found out that it was a male. 

The male cardinal bird is completely red except the black around their short, cone shaped beak and near their eyes. They get their red color from the food that they eat. They mate for life, so I wondered where his mate was hiding.

A full-size cardinal bird can grow up to seven and a half to nine inches long.  The one that I found was about seven inches long.  His eyes were closed, and I wasn’t sure if he was alive or not.  I brought the cardinal bird inside and showed him to Mom. She said that he was knocked out when he flew into the window.  He thought that the window was not there because it reflected the sky.  She said that we could put him in a cage until he was awake and ready to fly away. 

About thirty minutes later he was ready to fly, so we let him go. I gently took him out of the cage, and we went outside on the porch.  He wanted to fly away, and we let him take off.  I was hoping that he wouldn’t hit the window again.  It was exciting to see him take flight!

“Then God said, …… let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” Genesis1:20 

~Isaac

Big Foot 5

Two weeks ago, all of us kids got to go back with Ryan and Amanda and spend ten days at their house in Oklahoma! On the way down to Oklahoma, we stopped in a smaller town to look at Bigfoot 5! The enormous vehicle is the biggest monster truck in the world, built by Bob Chandler, the founding father of monster trucks! Its ten-foot-tall tires are so big that 7 people can fit in the wheel hub standing up! Bigfoot 5 is a blue Ford truck, with black tires, white wheel hubs, and weighs 28,000 pounds! 

While Bigfoot 5 was in the Missouri town called Pacific, it actually is based out of St. Louis.  When the huge truck is not in his parking lot, he’s probably out at some car show or demo derby. Bigfoot 5 likes to go to car shows and demo derbies, but he never races or wrecks. The enormous vehicle is four-wheel drive, and both front and back wheels can turn, allowing it to drive sideways! There are at least 16 Bigfoot monster trucks in the world, but Bigfoot 5 is the biggest of them all. 

Right across the road from Bigfoot 5, is Bigfoot 1! Bigfoot 1 is a good deal smaller than Bigfoot 5 but is bigger than most big trucks. Bigfoot 1 has tall black wheels and has a blue body like Bigfoot 5.

I am so happy that we stopped to see Bigfoot 5. It was amazing to stand up under a truck and still have enough room to move. It is the biggest monster truck I’ve ever seen! We had lots of fun looking at Bigfoot 5, the tallest, widest, heaviest monster truck that ever was.   

 ~Samuel

(Photo Credit- Amanda Cox)

Autumn Acorns Again!

It is autumn! I like it when it is autumn. 

The oak trees are starting to drop their acorns.  They are the seed of the tree.  Oak trees start making acorns when they are twenty years old.  They are amazing because they can produce lots of acorns.  One tree can make up to 90,000 acorns a year!  Pigs, donkeys, horses, mice, deer, and squirrels eat the acorns.

My favorite thing to do when we have lots of acorns is to paint faces on them. That is very fun to do. I go outside and find them laying on the ground.  I pick them up and take them inside. Then I draw faces on them. I sometimes like to keep the cap on their heads and draw hair.

With leaves from oak trees, I made a tree on a piece of paper. It took glue, sticks, leaves, and a marker. It was amazing. I first glued the leaves to a piece of paper.  I used the marker to draw the trunk.  Then I glued sticks on the trunk. Did you know that oak trees can live up to a thousand years old? Now you know!

I like autumn because there are a lot of things to do with acorns and leaves and sticks. The oak is incredible! 

~Unique