The 2024 Faut Gazette

The Simple Year: Mrs. Faut 

 At the beginning of 2024, James said “This year is the year of KISS for our family.” We are going to keep things “Simple”. I laughed, the kids laughed and then I think God laughed too. We started 2024 with a clean slate out here with one house cat, Paddie; one dog Diesel; and two “outside” kittens, Wallace and Davis. As I write this I can confirm that things have escalated!  

This year started fairly calm with a few new things sprinkled in.  The girls participated in choir and drama again. Mary had a very fun role as the Hag in Snow White. They participated in Teen Pact, which was a pretty cool experience for each of them as they learned about parliamentary procedure and government. Mary went to her first prom and we attended some really neat swing dances. 

Anna is now looking into a future career in farrier work. She has had more horse lessons at the ranch this spring.  We are so grateful for these opportunities.  God keeps opening doors for both girls and it is so fun to watch as they build experiences and skills.

Part of moving out of town was to expand our responsibilities, providing a more hands-on life for the girls. However, compared to what James planned and the timeline I prepared, the process took on a life of its own.

Because we are an all-in-or-nothing family we decided (I decided), that this year I am doing a garden on a bigger scale. Why not? We finally have the space! I also have a lot of windows, so I wanted to do my own plant starts.  The living room quickly turned into a greenhouse. 

Mary has been interested in birds for a long time and raptor birds are her favorite. We were just researching falconry and speaking to a friend when he suggested the Zoo Crew at Dakota Zoo and then proposed working with their Raptor Rehabilitation program.  She barely had a week to think about it and then God intervened. After a spring windy rain storm, Mary grew very concerned for the baby owls she had been keeping an eye on in our tree row.

She and Anna went out to find three baby great-horned owls had fallen from the nest!  Thankfully we were able to bring the owls to the zoo and they kept them until they could be re-released. Prayers were answered as we were able to see firsthand the Raptor Program in effect.  The girls then signed up to participate in the Zoo Crew program.  This resulted in me tagging along as one of the plant ladies at the zoo, now indefinitely (which is pretty much the neatest gig ever!)

After the owl adventure, James finally got his turtles.  He missed having a turtle and when we moved we had to rehome our Shelly. So now we added Pebbles and BamBam, along with our sucker fish the placos, which we just call the squiggles.  At this point why not add some house birds to the mix?  So we added the Parakeets, Bishop Thomas, and Sir Henry (who may be a Henrietta).

With the end of May approaching I plotted an 80 x 60 spot in the yard and we tilled up all but two grass paths of it. It comes to about 4,400 sq ft of paradise! Plus we did a potato garden of about 30 x 40.  The girls and I were determined to fill it and we did. There was an abundance of produce coming from the garden this year, however it was a different gardening year. New plot, new soil to figure out, and an odd spring, plus we made mistakes.  Which makes it always a learning experience.  I think of gardening as an ever-changing science experiment.  Thankfully we all like experiments.

With June we decided why not add some rabbits, Anna was set on getting bunnies! We chose Flemish Giants, Expresso, and Strawberry. Then, we took on a couple of New Holland mixes, Cookie and Bernie.

We were in a small land war for the greater part of the summer.  We added a fence for deer, then shortly after we needed a fence for rabbits, then it was the hunt for moles and gophers… everything wanted our garden! I think we won the war but the battles were brutal until harvest. 

One of the unique things Anna was able to do this summer was work with the new baby donkey at the zoo! She was able to work with him so he is calm and willing to cooperate. She did a great job.

Alongside the garden and growing zoo we added a lot of bonfires, some camping, and plenty of sky gazing.  Just admiring what the good LORD has made!

One thing led to another and before you know it it was August and we now were able to release the flightworthy Great Horned Owls back on our property.  A small issue is that now the Hawks were back and we were about to be gifted babychicks!  Nothing prepares for chickens like releasing great horned owls.  

Harvest took endurance and we did not have enough systems in place to take care of things like I was hoping.  I ended up freezing more than I would have liked in hopes of getting to it later this winter.  It was pretty amazing how much we were able to grow even with the war of critters. The Lord provides!

By September it felt like we already had a full year, but things took a turn for serious when my dear grandmother Marcella started to decline in health. She turned 89 this summer and she could not believe she was so old. She was having quite a bit of memory issues and had been moved to a care facility in Beulah. Now she was showing signs of a stroke and had a little heart attack.  We were able to visit and be with her during her last days. 

I am so grateful for all the love we felt from our friends and family during this very hard time.  She was one of the most important people in my life and was a tremendous influence on my faith.  She is now with her LORD and reunited with Grandpa Alvin dancing Polkas in heaven no doubt!   

 Shortly after the chickens joined the collection we had to start plans for a real coop. Because why would you build a coop first?  This building project has been quite an ordeal!  Praise the Lord for a long Autumn and the help of friends. Honestly, it is the project that never ends. It is a 10 x 20 little barn.  Once done it will house both the rabbits and the chickens.  I just keep focused on how wonderful it will be when it is done and the chores can be done inside!!

With 25 or so extra living things hanging around here to be fed, I don’t think that is considered keeping things simple.  Please note for any of you thinking you would like to look to us for inspiration about the "Simple Life" ...adding animals (or a small zoo) is not the way to do it. But, it has been quite fun!!

I am not sure where October or November went, however the girls say it was pleasant.  December both the girls became CPR Certified and we prepared for Christmas.

We continue to work at increasing our education, volunteer when we can, fix what we are able to, feed who the Lord brings, and pray always for our loved ones, the lost ones, and our country.  May your time be spent increasing your Joy, Love, & Peace... and may the Lord forever keep you in His grip!