Johnstons' Riverview Farm News!

And today at Johnston's Riverview Farm, it is cold. VERY cold!

 

 

I am here standing in the middle of the farm looking at the snow covered farm.

Everything around is cold! The horses muzzles are white, the Cows moo freeze in midair, the cats are in the heated porch stealing the dogs bed and the pigs huddle together under a pile of hay.

Ok ok, I might be stretching the truth just a little.  It close to being like that though!

(Walks to the pig pen.)
So what is new on the farm!? Well, we got a new pig! A month ago. Nice right? I'm always late, always!!



MEET BIG RED!!!

He sooooooooooo looks like a boy! He's replacing Doc. PorkChop unfortunately.
So, we won't be have cute, adorable, multicolor, piglets. They'll all be red.
Yipppy. (Very sarcastic yippy.)

(Turns away from the pigs and opens the barn door.)
"Maybe there's something new in here I can talk about."

"STOOOOOOPPPPPPP!!! DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR!!!"

"What seems to be the problem??"
(Shuts the door and turns to a girl running to the barn.)

"You'll let my bunnies loose! They live in the barn! You have to be careful when you go in.

"Wait your bunnies just hop around the barn without a care!?"

"Yes! You have to be careful when you open up doors! I don't want them to get out!"

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Yes, we do have Kaity's bunnies running around the dairy barn. They had a pen in the barn but they decided it was too small. The cats sleep with them! If you walk in the barn you'll see them hopping around or just staring at you like;
"How dare you come into my kingdom without knocking!"
I think Christopher isn't the king of the barn anymore.

(Imaging the voices to be from the medieval time.)
Christopher is a  giant tomcat and Mickey is a small, black dog.

Dun dun dun dun!
(Sound of a trumpet.)
"Welcoming Queen Bella and Princess Rosa!"
(Mickey wearing a  robe and has a trumpet.)

"Sir! I'm King Christopher! You can't make these two royalty! Why they aren't even cats!"
Christopher passes with a grouchy look on his face.

"I'm sorry sir but, the cows voted that the bunnies should be on the throne."
Mickey looks a little sad but regains his composer.

"Why in the world would they do that! We haven't done a thing to them! Why, we keep the milk maid and boy company!"
Christopher walks to the barn door that over-looks where the cows are.

Mickey fallows and reaches from under his fur to grab a paper.

"What's that? " Christopher questions.

"The list of things why the cows don't want you king."
Mickey clears his throat and Christopher waits impatiently.

Dear (soon not to be king.) Christopher,
This is nothing personal but we voted for the bunnies to rule the barn.
Why, you ask? Here's a list:

1. You crowd around our feet to drink the spilled milk.
2. You take all of the attention away from us when you sit on the milkers lap.
3.You are annoying
4. Your ALWAYS begging for milk.
5. When you get stepped on it's our faults even though we didn't see you there!!
6. Your family is waaaaayyyyy to big and you expect us to give you milk!
7. We don't like how bossy you are.
8. The bunnies are quiet , YOU ARE NOT!
9. bunnies are cuter!
10. We want a queen.

Nothing personal

Love,
The Cows

Christopher looks at Mickey.
"Nothing personal! Ha! Well then, what shall I do now?"

Mickey strokes his beard, "They are ruling over the barn but YOU still rule the farm!

Christopher looks up with delight.
"That's right! I'm still the king of this farm!"

And off they went happily living their lives.
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We moved our horse this winter so that they could have some shelter. Every pen so far has had a huge manure pile. Stardust is VERY happy.

I rode her once up one of these piles. It's fun but, not recommended!

 

A view from the dairy barn door. Excuse the cow backs.

 They where coming in to be milked. :)

 Hanging out with the calves!

 

I've never seen a horse climb things like my crazy one. Comment below if you have or know of a horse that does that!  :)

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading!!

God bless you!

 

Grace

 



Back to the Begining of December.

Hello everyone!!! Welcome to 2016!!!!!

 (I know I'm late.)

 

Ok, so I haven't posted anything in December because you know the holiday rush and busyness was on.


 So, I'm going to take you back to December 4 (I think.) Sometime in the beginning of December.   

(Sound affects of a time machine going backward.)

 

 Warning, some parts in this adventure is stretched, just a little.
 

It's dark out, snowing, and you hear a deep voice.

 

"We have arrived at Johnston's Riverview Farm, December 2015."

 

 

You turn towards the voice and see a happy family getting on a...... you look again in surprise. Yes you were right, they are getting in a plastic pickup box liner. The dogs jump in too.  You stand there watching.

 

The dad ties the "sled" and a flashlight to the back of a red tractor.

Everyone is happy, singing, and tying other sleds to the big "sled". You follow them on foot down the dirt road and into the field.

 

The kids are laughing and jumping in and out. You think it's so sweet watching a family get a Christmas tree. They stop by some woods, you hide behind a tree.  Staying as close as possible, you see them stop at a deer stand. The dad looks at the small, pitiful-looking handsaw and looks up at the tall spruce tree.

 

You shake your head in sadness because you over heard that that was the only tree in this part of the woods. You see them turning back, a few of the kids looked sad. A boy looked mad for he had to carry his dog.

 

They jumped back into the "sled" to try another patch of woods. Your watching the kids jump in and out then you saw it.
The second oldest was sitting too close to the edge and fell off, her leg wrapped up in the rope that was tied from the small sled to the big "sled". Standing there helpless, knowing you can't do anything. They yell to their dad to stop, the young girl was set free before he stopped. She was crying and holding her knee. You hope that she's ok.


(Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)
(Sounds of a time machine.)


You open your eyes in surprise. Your not outside anymore but in a doctors office. You look at the calendar next to the sink it was a few weeks after you saw the accident happen.  Looking around you take in your surroundings. Very confused that you would be in the hospital.

The door rattles and opens revealing a mom and a girl. It is the same girl who was hurt. You watched her hobble to the chair and looked at her knee. It was big really big. You sat there listening to the mother and daughter's conversation. You jump at a loud "POP" noise. Looking at the girls knee in horror, you realize that she had just put her knee back in place.  The doctor came in.

Everything was being fast forward until they got home. Siblings rushed outside to meet the girl when they drove up. You hear that the doctor said it was just pulled muscles and bad bruises. But, you know better.


"December 10, 2015."

Landing on a pile of snow, you look around. Your at the Johnston's farm. It's day time and it looks like that family is going to get the tree, take two!  They go down the dirt road , threw the woods, (Hitting a few trees.) and across the the field. 

They stop at a swamp and trudge threw. The second oldest following as far as she can on crutches. You hold your breath, hoping she won't fall. She does, but she just lays there and laughs. Your surprised at her good mood.
"We found the perfect tree mom!!" Yelled the middle child who was dragging the tree back to the tractor. It was a beauty!

Every thing was blurry and you shake your head to get rid of it. When you open your eyes you see them all decorating the tree. Your heart feels warm and loving towards this family. And you whisper "Merry Christmas" before you left.
========================================================================

Thank you for reading the Johnston's Christmas story!!
Here are some pictures and bloopers to go along with it!


Our beautiful Christmas tree!!

Thanks Becca for doing all the work!!! :)

 Ali and I sledding while the kids held onto our sled!

 Kaity walking in the swamp on crutches.

 Our LOVLEY deer! (Every year I decorate it!)

Luke decorating the tree.

 The tree.
 (It looked much better once we had all the lights and ornaments on it!)

 

 

 

Want to hear a true, funny story!!!???

 

The tree above died right before Christmas. I mean we had green carpet, on hardwood floor, of needles. We vacuumed, swept, and bagged up the stuff for days! I mean when you walked by it you could see needles fall off in clumps and if you where quiet you could hear them fall off! It was awful!

 

So, we were hoping it would last until Christmas, but nope, the day before Christmas Eve we woke up to a bare tree. Mom took off all of the ornaments, while dad , Becca, and Luke went to get another tree.

So, we went to get a tree 3 different times and got 2 trees in one Christmas! Crazy huh??




Well, I hope you enjoyed this different post! Have a wonderful 2016! And may God be with you threw it!!



Grace

The Van/Kill/No/Deer GREAT comeback!

Howdy! And I have a confession to say. :(            

 

In the last post Deer Season,Fall, and WINTER!?!?!   I forgot to say that my Uncle shot a NICE buck too. I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry!!!! Please forgive your favorite niece!        

 

So, This whole post is all My Uncle AND Aunt!

(And a few random pictures that were taken during deer season.)

 

My Uncle's buck.

 

 

Verns buck was a 8 pointer, and shot at my Grandpa's place!

Good job Vern!!!! :) Late congratulations!!!

 

My Aunt's buck.

This buck was a lot of trouble! My Aunt was hunting with Becca at my Grandpa's place. It was around 4-4:30 when I heard a shot. So, I texted Kayla and asked her if she got anything, She said yes. But, she didn't know if she missed or not.

 

 I walked with grandpa to go see. She got it all right! :) It was bleeding so, it was easy to tract. Though it probably would have died where it laid but we where chasing it because it was getting dark! Grandpa shot at it twice then DOWN! He goes!

 

Congratulations Kayla!!! (Late!)

 

 

On the way to see Grandpa's deer!

 

 

:) I love my siblings!

Before deer season.......

Shooting pigeons!!! It's sooooo much fun!!

 

For those of you who don't know what shooting clay pigeons is, its just shooting clay disks that are thrown up in the air.

 

It was my first time shooting a shot gun! It was so much fun!!! 

Me

My uncle

My dad

And my mom.

I know I had this picture on a few post ago, but it went to well with the shooting! :)
Target practicing at Gun Safety.

Becca (My sister is in the middle.)

 

Luke brought home...........

 

 A grouse!!! Good job Luke!!!! :)



I'm sorry for this "mostly pictures" post! I really wanted to tell about Vern and Kayla's deer. ;)

Thanks for reading and Happy LATE Thanksgiving!

Grace


P.S. You may all now sing Christmas songs! :)

 

 



Deer Season, Fall, and WINTER!?!?

Welcome to Grace's blog! Today we'll be looking at what's been happening with our deer season, my favorite fall things, and why we all love winter! I hope you enjoy this post!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ugh! That was awful! I felt like I was writing that in a Barbie voice!

Now go back and read that with the Barbie voice in your head! Trust me it isn't pleasant.

 

Why am I being so formal? I'm trying a new thing but so far, I'm even bored!

Enough of this dry, no fun, straight to the point post!

Welcoming Grace!!!!!!!!

 

(Applause ,applause, cheering, more applause and throwing roses, never mind, make that chocolate!)

 

Let's start this post all over! Gracie style!

 

 

 

Howdy, winter lovers and haters!

Nice of you to join me!!!

_________________________________________________________________________

 

Let jump right into the hunting news! Grab your blaze orange and camo!

It's a buck! No, it's a doe! It's a Buck, SHOOT!!!

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Today I'll be sharing about the buck that my grandpa shot out of MY stand! I told everyone that that stand was a good stand! And of course when my grandpa hunts in it, he get's a buck.

 

No hard feelings grandpa! I'll just get a bigger one then you!!!!  :)

 

Here's a picture of his nice buck! It's a 10 pointer!

Good job Grandpa!!!!!!

 

 

The title was a line from our little (Becca and I) hunting......I don't even know what to call it!

Chaos maybe? Yeah, that sounds good.

 

Anyways, we were hunting in my stand, the evening hunt to be precise. And it was just getting dark. I was facing the field and Becca was facing the woods. We heard this hopping noise and I turned and saw a deer literally bounce to the side of our stand.

 

Becca pulled up her gun and was about to shoot when I said, 

"I think that's a doe!"

"Grace! That's a buck!"

"No! It's a doe!"

I looked at the deer again and saw the antlers, it was just a spiker but, it was a buck. 

"It's a buck, shoot!"

"Grace, are you sure?"

"Shoot, shoot, shoot! It's a buck!!! SHOOT!"

 

I'm not even joking! This is how our whispered conversation went! Since it's bucks only I was a little worried that it was a doe but, it wasn't. Becca was whispering to me with her gun still on the retched little thing.

 

Once she heard me practically yell "Shoot!" She shot and missed.

The buck was standing funny and she couldn't see his shoulder.

 

So, that buck is still out there somewhere laughing at Becca.

 

 

Why would he laugh you say? Well, Becca already met this buck and wasn't able to shoot it then. It's a sad story.

 

Now wipe your tears and let's move on!

 

 

 

Tea, coffee and CAPPUCCINO!!!

=================================

When hunting season comes around, we normally buy all sort of wonderful, warm drinks to fill our cold, chilled bodies.



My mom, my sisters and I went shopping yesterday.

 

I know amazing! I hate shopping! But I was excited because I wanted to buy clothes pins, fabric bins, and mesh laundry bags. Yes, I get excited about that sort of thing! I'm very practical! Also, if you give me any type of organizer, I'll probably be your friend for life!

 

Anyways, we got the White Chocolate Peppermint Coffee and the Caramel Apple Tea! I must say they are so good!!!!!!!! If your not a coffee drinker get the tea or vice versa.

 

My dad got  a HUGE box of Sweet and Salty Caramel Cappuccino! I haven't had any because dad say's it's his and no one else's but, when he makes it, it smells AMAZING!!!

 

You can get the tea and coffee at Wal-Mart but the cappuccino I really don't know where he got it.

 

 

 

Winter, BURRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

**************************************

Winter... Isn't it lovely? Getting so cold that you can't feel your feet, or your clothes are so soaked threw from just walking in the snow, or snowmobiling and then running out of gas in the middle of the river a mile away from home.

 

Ok, ok! I'll say some nice things about winter one moment I have to think.......

 

We pause this thought for a commercial break!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(Read this with a booming deep guys voice in your head please!)

 

Do you ever come in the house just freezing cold that your skin is glowing red, white and blue????

Do you ever wonder if you will ever get warm?????

 

You can! You can get warm fast! It's scientifically proven that when you laugh you get warm!           (I think.)

So, the next time you come in from the cold, sit down at your computer and read Ask Grace's Blog!

Your skin won't be cold but warm to the touch just after reading one of her posts! Or if your computer is down, just walk to the mirror and laugh really hard because if you don't, some one will have the pleasure of doing it for you! And that's all for now!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Ok and we're back! I was trying to find something good about winter and here's a list.

 

1. Snowmobiling. (Always make sure you have enough gas!)

2. Ice skating. (Only if the skates aren't cold.)

3. Snow forts

4. Snow ball fights!

5. Sleigh rides! (Or around here a sleigh pulled behind a tractor!)

6. The smell of peppermint.

7. Hot chocolate!!!!!!!!!

9.The beauty of fresh snow.

and

10. The focus of Jesus's birth

 

 

 

And that's all for today! I hope you enjoyed this! Comment below to why or why not you like winter!

May God Bless you and hopefully you will be warm!

 

Until next time, This is Grace, signing off.

Riverview Farm News!

Howdy all!

 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Do you love apples? My sister does! I can take them or leave them.

Unless they are my grandpa's apples!

 

These are the best apples ever! They are really small but, REALLY good!

They are fun size! :)

 

Ok so, we go apple picking every year.  We make applesauce and pies. (If there's any apples left.)

Normally we bring our Wal-Mart bags, and drive the van under the tree and hit the branches with  the broom. (Five points if an apple hits the ground and 10 if it hits your siblings head!)

 

Well, this year the tree was loaded and the tree broke and fell a little. It was WAY easier to get apples!!!

When you see a loaded branch, what you do is,  grab the end of it shake it a little and send a sibling under it to retrieve the apples . Then you give the branch a big yank and BOOM apple bombs!!!

Yes, I know, it wasn't very nice. But, I was sure funny! :)

Look at all those apples! Yum!

It was a lot of fun this year! All of us went, even my dad!

Every one worked hard and did a good job!

 

Now for the farm pictures!!!!!!!!
 

Thank you daddy for taking them and coming up with some of the titles for them!!!

 

 We put the pigs out with the cows ,

 They seem to like each other.

 Coming up to the barn together,

And plus, piglet daycare!!! :)

 

The cows don't mind the pigs roaming the pasture.

They eat what the cows don't eat. The only down-fall is that they try to get into the milking barn, EVERY night! I WILL NOT milk a pig!

Becca wants to though. :) I wonder what pig milk tastes like? Yuck! Moving on...

 

 

 

Cow's V.S Piglets!!!

 

A friendly game of soccer.

 

Line up! Hey, where's the ball????

 

 

Come and get it!!!!

 

Move over chicken, it's our milk!!!!

 There's got to be some milk left!!!

 

 

There's a river of life flowing out of me!!

 

 So, if you walk along the ravine towards the road,

there's a waterfall that the culvert makes! It's so pretty! And the water

is so clear! It's a fun place to cool off on a warm day. :)

 

 

We got cotton tails from Cotton.

Meet the newest members of the family!!!!

 

Bella is 5 months old and is part meat and part something else.

 Rosie , Rosa, or Rose, take your pick, is 3 months old and is a dwarf bunny.

I think.

Our family has a bunny curse. Ok, it's not a curse, just an unlucky thing with rabbits.

We could never keep them in! They ALWAYS got out some how! Well, the first time the bunnies got out was because of me. I wanted to play with them. Hey! I was like 4 or 5 then! But, ever since then, we have had no luck with bunnies. So we'll see how long these ones last.  The good thing about these is that they are really friendly! So, they should be easy to catch. Should be.

 

Cows crossing.

We have been letting the cows go across the road to get to the field

on the other side of the river!  It works a ton better then making them swim across. ;) If they cross the river most of the time they won't cross unless a kid is in the water first. But, that's only if dad isn't there. They love dad. Where he calls they go.

Thanks to my dad for this funny picture!



Have a blessed day!!!

And keep trusting in God until the cows come home! Literally! :)

 

Grace

 

 

 

Johnston's Riverview Farm News!!!

Welcome to Johnston's Riverview News!

Where you get to read what's been happening!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ahhhhhhh! Such a lovely place to live.

 Farm life is for me! 

Beautiful isn't it?

Ok so, this week I'll be writing 3 weeks worth of posts.

I know ,I know. How did I let it happen? Well, it's called busyness and internet!

Fist of all, we were really busy, (like normal.) and you can't trust the internet connection!

It's so sad when you go to write on your blog and you can't because the internet is down, again!

Well, enough about me! Let turn to the news!!!

Tis the season to be canning, fa la la la la la la!!!

 Nice huh? We have a  lot of canned goods down in our basement! 

"Ain't they beautiful!" (In a hillybilly accent)

 So next week I'll post about canning.  :)
I'll be showing you how to can green beans, apples, and maybe wild plums.
Maybe.

Ready Aim Fire!!!!!!

Congratulations to Becca Johnston!!

 She passed her gun safety test!! Way to go!!

We all knew she could pass, I think. :)

No  really! Becca is the best shot of the family!
She said this when she came home from gun safety.
 

"I had so much fun! If I could, I would do it again!!"
 

Not only did she pass but she found some friends!

Down on the Farm!!

 The cat's favorite place! The milking barn!

Yum! Fresh milk!

Christopher (The father on the left.) Silver (Adopted, middle left.)

Mr.Fuzz(Kitten , middle left.) And Cheetah(Mother, left.)

I'm not even joking they act like a family!! When Mr.Fuzz was little, Christopher would babysit until Cheetah came back from hunting! And also they adopt any kitten!

The  new cat is named "High Ho Silver!" 

Or just "Silver" He's the  grey one.


 Pretty soon I'll be posting pictures of kittens! Cheetah is pregnant again. Yippy (Sarcastically)

Here's Christopher snuggling with Mr.Fuzz!!

 

 

 

Our pigs had piglets!! I love piglets! They are so cute!!

Three of our sows had piglets but, the one sow (Raisin.) was bottle fed when she was younger.

So, she didn't and wouldn't take care of them! Another pig farmer came to take all

eight piglets to bottle raise them. 

 

Moral of the story don't bottle raise piglets! They won't be very good mothers.

 

What happened to Raisin you ask? Well, she's still around............. in our freezer. :)

(It's farm life!)

 

 

Here's a cute story!

 My dad was getting cows for milking when he found this piglet! It was snuggled up to Rosebud  (my cow)!

 It was so cute!! Rosebud didn't seem to care at all! 

 

 

Ok this next picture is an interesting one. Do NOT tell my brother I posted this!

I had to!  It's so cute!

Yup, He's trying to build an outhouse! :) He's a pretty good builder but, yeah.

 He still needs to finish it! It's behind the guest house. I  love it when my brother 

uses his hands and builds stuff! But this,(Chuckle) this, was priceless! 

Good job Luke! Keep a going!

 

A fair is a veritable smorgabord orgasbord orgasbord.............................

(This song was off of Charlotte's Web)

 

The fair!! Every Farm, and countries kids favorite time of summer!

 Kaity,Luke, Becca, and Ali trying out the BIG swing.

 I love my brother he's so funny! Every year he rides the merry-go-round and rides the roster.

Why? So then as he's riding it he can chop it's head off! I don't know why he likes it so much! He goes around and around on the rooster, chopping it's head with his ax.(HAND.) 

(He does that job when we butcher chickens.)

Beep, beep! Move it lady! Get out of my way!

 Bumper Cars!! The kids favorite thing this year! They went on them like 5 times! 

It was fun watching them run into people!

Old McDonald had a farm...

Goofy kids! :) 

The fair was really fun this year! Every year the kids save up enough money to be able go.
 It's a fun to go there as a family! 

Well, that's all!

 

If you want to contact me, you can at, askgracej@gmail.com

I'd love your emails!

 

 

May God bless you!!!

Grace