Hearth & Homestead

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Louisville, IL
Hearth & Homestead

We raise & sell wonderful Golden Retrievers and are building our homestead and family

02/02/2025

Wonderful morning today 🥰
We filled the bird feeders and exchanged the single thistle sock for the double. I know some people feel feeders cause birds to rely too much on humans, but with all the farm fields and mowed yards, a majority of their food source is missing too. We also grow and encourage native plants to allow birds to find and forage their own food when the feeders are low.
Aurora had a blast following Odin and Avalon around the yard and playing with sticks like any does 💜 She even brushed out Avalon, like the sweetie she is.
Aurora took her snow toboggan and pretended to nap. Diamond and Avalon checked on her to make sure she was good until she “woke up” 😂
Whitney picked up some green onions at the store that she wanted to try to regrow to freeze dry some green onion like we freeze dried the chives last summer. So it felt good to work with some plants again 😍

01/22/2025

Serving Odin some icecream from the shop! 💜🍦

01/20/2025

Officially got December done, which means the 2024 blanket is done!! And started granny squares for 2025 😊 I did highs for ‘24 and am doing lows for ‘25 and I’m interested to see the color scheme 😊 When I get a chance to photograph the entire 2024 blanket (it’s HUGE) I’ll share a photo!

01/07/2025

The doggos are loving playing in the snow during potty times. These temperatures mean they can’t run for hours like they like to in their yard, but they’ve been enjoying the couch potato benefits too 😂
I’ve not taken many photos of the farm animals lately because wifey has been doing a lot of the farm chores for me. I managed to get out (and not slip on the ice!) to check on everyone. So here’s some buns and our breeder quail 💜
Found a cat print in the snow and followed it to the dog yard 😂
Have some nuthatches and a chickadee searching the recently emptied feeders in the front yard and so I refilled the wild seed one. Looks like they came up on the porch to check for more yummies too 😂

01/06/2025

November 2024 done for the temperature blanket! 💪🏻 one month left and I’m all done 🧶

01/05/2025

Snowy days start off slow with coffee and doggo cuddles. Then we head out to play (and check on all the animals!). Kiddo had a blast playing with her new sled and Mom did all the heavy lifting! 💪🏻😍

12/28/2024

Have you noticed how quiet we’ve been? There’s been a reason! We have a little on the way!!
I’ve had to deal with some extreme pregnancy exhaustion and a sub chorionic hematoma that landed me with weight restriction.
My amazing wife has been the cornerstone of getting this far in one piece 🥰
This next year we’ll be taking the farm slow and focusing on our growing family, but we’ll still keep you all in the loop! 💜

12/27/2024

Happy holidays from our family to yours! We’ve been quiet lately, but I think we’re going to be able to start getting back into the groove! It’s going to be a slow year for us, but we are looking forward to it!

12/07/2024

Putting in some extra heat for our flock and Aurora was so excited to see the moon out in the daytime 🥰

12/01/2024

Yay! I’m *only* one month behind on the temperature blanket! 💪🏻🧶
We have the first snowfall of the year ❄️ HUGE shout out to the awesome wifey for getting the straw laid down and making sure all the hatches were battened down in the animal enclosures 💜
Aurora was helping Whitney stir her coffee when we went to breakfast this morning 🥰 always melts my heart 🥰
I know I’ve been hit and Miss for a bit now and there will be more on that in a few weeks 🤞🏻 but know that we’re doing ok and still moving forward, if much more slowly 😂

11/27/2024

We got a timed feeder for our grow outs because we went out of town for a few days and they blow through their food so quickly. It has been working beautifully and I love it 🥰 Aurora was helping me in the barn and I heard her by the water whispering “sweet pets” and trying to pet the grow outs. This kid is really the sweetest y’all 💜 and I got a kick out of her on her “pedals”….because what farm girl doesn’t need a dog brush and hammer in their bike basket? 😂

11/24/2024

While we enjoyed visiting family to celebrate Little Bit turning 3 (already?!🤯), it’s always nice to come home and have the doggos and kitties tell us they missed us 🥰

11/19/2024

Triton had his annual check up (all good and healthy!) and Aurora was such a big help 🥰 She’s so great with the dogs and they with her! Triton was a super good boy too 💜

11/10/2024

For Halloween we got to visit the Grands and Aunt Catie 💜 We dressed up (Aurora: Skeleton, Momma: Viking, Gpa: Star Trek) and had a blast visiting Aunt Catie’s neighborhood. And Aurora did so great around our old horse Colby 🥰
Since we’ve been home, we’ve been taking full advantage of these cold and/or rainy days for the full gamut of toddler, doggo, and kitty cuddles 💜

10/14/2024

You can tell winter is coming. Only one egg from the ladies today!
We still have hold outs from the escape in the back and front yards. It’s kinda cute seeing them around but goodness do the set the dogs to barking 😂🫠
This is the last lady who hasn’t been cooped up. Our ladies were starting to wander too far and with the death of our rooster and a hawk in the tree line, we figured best to re-acclimate them to the coop for a bit.
The perennials we planted are doing ok, and we started building a dead hedge/stick fencing behind them and I’m happy with how it’s turning out. 😍

10/09/2024

I have been down and out dealing with a reaction to something and so these are the only photos I’ve taken recently 😂
My hinge on the bunny barn busted in the bottom and all our grow outs got out…again 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’ve got about half back in, and about half enjoying my driveway 😂 I caught this guy free hand and the bunny barn has a rancher strap keeping it closed until I can get to repair it.
Tigerlily kept me company all of one day and she is such a sweet lady 🥰🥰
The tomato have been processed except for three bags I ended up freezing to process later. So I have diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with peppers, sauce, crushed, paste, and spaghetti sauce! Most I’ve ever done at one time and it was a doozy but feels great!
Hope everyone is doing well and I’ll start posting again as I get more into the swing of things again!

09/30/2024

Got some Apple Cider Vinegar fermenting and (not pictured) another batch of sriracha too! If I can’t see it, I won’t remember to stir daily, but it’s supposed to be in a dark spot. So wrapping it in a dish towel is a phenomenal compromise! Thank you Pinterest! 😂

09/28/2024

We got an awesome deal on some tomatoes and apples, so we’ve been processing!
Had a quail inside the feeder at chore time today 😂
Found another egg stash 🙃 We’ve had such great luck all the previous years with our free range flock laying in the coop and suddenly they’ve abandoned the cook, taken up residence in the garage, and are laying in every hidey hole 😂🤦🏼‍♀️ Working on getting them relocated back to their coop 🤞🏻
Caught this lady laying an egg in the sawdust bucket 😂 she’s back in the coop with her friends and nest boxes 💪🏻

Address

Louisville, IL
62858

Telephone

+18165470900

Website

https://www.etsy.com/shop/HearthandHomestead90?ref=search_shop_redirect

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Videos

We had our #GwensBunch runt, Red Girl, out on the porch with us to watch the rain. Then we grabbed Red Boy and Light Green Boy from #AvalonsBunch so we could put in their microchips. They all decided that playing chase in the rain was more fun than watching it on the porch 😂😂 you can tell how little Red Girl is compared to the boys that are a week and a half younger than she is! 🤯 Bust she’s not afraid to give as good as she gets! 💪🏻 . All three of these babies are looking for their forever homes . #smithhearthandhomestead #goldenretriever #puppies #rainyday #playtime #raisingretrievers

A little video of the bouncing baby birds 🥰 there were 6 when we went to bed, so I’m excited to see how many well have in the morning! . #smithhearthandhomestead #quail #homeraised #meatbird #sustainable #chicks #backyardfarm #homestead

Whitney let the buns out to graze a bit and Conrad had to check them out 😂 . #smithhearthandhomestead #meatrabbits #colonyrabbits #homeraised #sustainable #backyardfarm #homestead

Puppy calls, figuring out their legs, and the ever changing makeup of a puppy puddle 🥰 #GwensBunch is doing pretty good 💜 . #smithhearthandhomestead #goldenretriever #redretriever #rainbowofretrievers #houseraised #purebred #puppies #raisingretrievers

While I had the pups in the basket to prevent any chemical contact from mopping the floor, Aurora took the opportunity to practice her counting!! . #smithhearthandhomestead #goldenretriever #redretriever #puppies #agirlandherdogs #packlife #raisingretrievers

We ended up with 14 hatched out! 💪🏻 . #smithhearthandhomestead #quail #chicks #hatchedathome #farmbabies #bathroombrooder #meatbirds #sustainable #backyardfarm #homestead

Chicks are enjoying some spring greens 💜 . #smithhearthandhomestead #farmbabies #chicks #blacksexlink #farmlife #backyardfarm #homestead

Look at all the wriggling from these sweet kits! Furred out and beautiful coat colors! So excited to watch them grow! . #smithhearthandhomestead #meatrabbits #colonyrabbits #rabbitkits #farmbabies #raisingrabbits #backyardfarming #homestead

Such a wiggly bunch! Since they can’t regulate their body temperature and we don’t have heating in the barn, I won’t break open the nest unless there’s obviously an issue. But I definitely enjoy seeing the signs of life! . #smithhearthandhomestead #meatrabbits #sustainable #rabbitkits #colonyrabbits #cagefree #backyardfarming #homestead

My little chicken chore helper! 🥰💜 . #smithhearthandhomestead #backyardchickens #backyardflock #freerange #chickens #hens #mixedflock #backyardfarming #homestead #farmkid #farmchores

This makes me so happy 🥰 Aurora picked a tomato I thought needed another day and started chowing down on it! 😂 The whole pack was invested and hoping for a snack. Triton won 😂 💜 . #smithhearthandhomestead #packlife #raisingretrievers #goldenretriever #farmkid #farmfresh #offthevine #backyardfarming #homestead

Puppy stampede! It was so grossly hot today that the pups didn’t get a whole lot of time outside, but we did bring them out this evening to get a little running out of their system! 😂🥰 . #smithhearthandhomestead #puppiesforsale #puppies #goldenretriever #raisingretrievers #houseraised #raisingretrievers #smithbloodline #since1983 #packlife #AvalonsBunch