Can't Wait Any Longer!

I was really wishing for 25 followers...but I just can't wait any longer....so tomorrow August 1st I will draw a winner for Simonds Sugar Shack  Yummy Maple Syrup! You have one more day to sign up or share to be entered! Good Luck!

I Wanna Talk About Me

Twenty Random Facts:

·        I love country music (especially Tim McGraw, who I have seen in concert 3 times)

·        I type really slow and struggle with all technology ( computer, cell phone)

·        My favorite color is red

·        I milked cows for 10 years ( by myself @ 2 a.m.)

·        I have my associates in Early ED from CCV.

·        I am a glass half full not half empty kinda girl

·        I am a picky eater (drives Mark crazy!)

·        I love babies

·        I don't like loud music (drives the K's crazy!)

·        I like to take pictures

·        I love watching my girls play field hockey

·        I like riding horses

·        I really don't like to drive tractor

·        I am clumsy & uncoordinated

·        I bruise really easy and have cold hands & feet (runs in my family!)

·        I hate beer & most red wine

·        Flip flops & dansko's are my favorite

·        My favorite movies are 8 Seconds, The Bodyguard,and Pretty Women

·        I make a really good lasagna & sugar cookies

·        I am scared of bats, snakes, and rats. (I also really don't like bugs)

Super Busy Saturday!

My alarm clock (Mark) wakes me at 5:30. I hit snooze ("wake me when coffee is ready"),this buys me half an hour. We enjoy our coffee on the porch, do morning chores, and by 8:oo am we are stacking 400 bales of hay that we made & unloaded Friday. We get home & run K2 to work & then make a trip to the dump. Mark leaves to go rake &  round bale. I do some dishes, hang out my laundry, and help K3 get ready for her Quenneville camping trip. Next, I run back to Brandon to pick K2 up from work. When I get back I have to water all the animals. Mark comes home & we have a late lunch. He wants me to drive the tractor & baler home from his parents house. Usually, I drive the Grandpa tractor, but today I was promoted!  First I have to help him jump start the Grandpa tractor . 

This is the Grandpa Tractor!

Then, down the road I went with the Case IH!

 Next, I follow him around the field with the truck & dump trailer while he loads the round bales. I truck them home. Now, it is evening & the K's are off to the rodeo. Mark & I move the ewe lambs & check everyone for worms. All the adult ewes needed worming, none of the  ewe lambs, and only half of the ram lambs. Not great, but not terrible either. We do chores & clean the barn. PHEW! Now it's 9:00, and finally everything is done. This means tomorrow we can spend the day on Lake George with my family & drop K3 off.

Sunday we leave @ 8:00 & enjoyed a perfect day @ the lake. I even took a nap in K3's tent!

Still looking for followers! Come on, help me out and spread the word - get a chance to win some yummy VT Maple Syrup! 

Localvore Feast

I'm going to start by saying, Summer is the best! It is so easy to eat locally. Here's a  look at my last few days. Sorry, I wish I had taken pictures but I thought of this blog after dinner last night, and obviously it was too late :(

 Every thing listed came from our farm unless otherwise noted :)

Tuesday night dinner:

Raw milk from a local Whiting farm

Roasted chicken 

Boiled Red Potatoes

Broccoli

Green Beans

Baked breaded Zucchini

For Dessert - Zucchini Bread

Wednesday:

Cucumber sandwiches for lunch (I have to confess I do not make my own bread) CQL - it is one of my goals)

Dinner:

Steak from local Whiting farm

Roasted red potatoes with fresh garlic & rosemary

Beets

Green Beans (which my 8yr old niece ate 3 helpings!)

Ice Cream (not homemade...but I usually do) with Cajeta (caramel made from goat milk) a delicious gift from Trevin Farm.

We start our days with coffee using maple syrup instead of sugar.

Beautiful flowers on our table :

I took K3 to breakfast at Rosies (Remember we are used to fresh eggs that are supper yummy& bright orange) Her plate came with very light yellow eggs. "These look disgusting", she tried one bite and said they were disgusting.

As you can see Life is Good!

I have 17 people entered in syrup giveaway. Need 8 more to draw a winner.

P.S. I have no idea why some sentences are highlighted.If  anyone knows, please let me know.

Sweeten Your Day!

Syrup Giveaway!!

Getting closer to drawing a winner. I need 25 followers. I know some people are having difficulties joining (wish I could help, but I'm not that smart!), so even if you just leave me a comment I will enter you. If you get a friend to enter, post on your blog or Facebook  (let me know), I will enter you twice!  CQL you are entered already multiple time (think your my biggest supporter).

Barn Attire

When picturing barn attire I am sure Carhartts &  boots come to mind. Well, here at Triple K we have our own barn fashion.

Muck Boots are our number one fashion accessory. They go well with pajamas, bikinis, and occasionally skirts.  Regardless of the season you will find me most mornings in my pj's doing chores. Since, I am the number one photographer in this family, unfortunately thank god!, I have no pics to post of this. I have also been known to slip on my boots while in dress clothes/skirts to run to the barn for a quick check. My other accessories are a pair of chewed on Dansko clogs (thanks Miley!), and a very old work coat that was Marks (he outgrew 15 years ago). K2 (non farm girl) tells me I look like a hobo & smell like an animal when I wear this coat all winter long.

K3 rocks the bikini & boots. This is one of my most favorite pictures:

As you can see it was taken many years ago. Now, I am not allowed to take pictures of her, but just like her pink boots in this picture matched her bikini, her current black muck boots match her black stripped bikini.

If your not a follower...become one! Leave me a comment  and/or join then you will be entered to win a half gallon of yummy syrup from our very own Simonds Sugar Shack! Get a friend to join & I'll enter you twice!

Never a Dull Moment

Here is a little preview of my summer. Early June the lambs (all 15) come down with runny eyes & noses. After a day or two I decide to call the vet. For eighty dollars he tells me it's viral. Then we had the worm incident with the steer (blog worthy).I stated we were on top of the whole worming thing. Jinxed myself. Had several ram lambs get diarrhea. I needed to take a fecal sample to the vet. Mark was working so I attempt this myself. I straddle the lamb, so it looks like I am riding it backwards. I can only imagine what people think as they drive by. Well, the vet calls with results, guess what? they have worms. He is puzzled because we rotate pastures & I had just wormed them with a strong wormer that he was going to recommend I use. He ponders this for a minute and gives us something else, hoping it will work. Then he  tells me we are doing everything right, but worms in sheep are such a tricky problem . Four days later we run in another two fecal samples. One is clear the other still has worms, so we worm them again. Now, our heifer, Bailey gets pink eye. She is currently unhappy & bellowing in the barn. We are treating her twice a day. This is a two man (actually man & women) procedure. Mark pins her in a corner and I squirt stuff into her eye.


The biggest chore of the day is water, especially on these really hot days we have been having.I  feel like I am constantly dragging the hose all over. It gets kinked or caught on something, so I have to back track & fix it. Some places the hose doesn't reach meaning I lug water buckets. For a while the cows were far enough out that we had to haul water with the tractor. Currently, we have sheep in 4 different pastures/corrals: The ewes, the ram, the ram lambs,and the ewe lambs. The cows are with the horse, except for Bailey who is locked in the barn. Then we have MJ the calf who we bring hot water out of the house twice a day to mix with the milk replacer. Oh, and I can't forget the chickens who have a water inside & outside the coop. 


Cross your fingers & wish me luck- I am ready for only healthy animals & no more vet bills.


Hey, I really want to draw a winner for the syrup, so write a comment or become a follower! 

Lambing

Lambing

The first thing I have to say about lambing season is there is never a dull moment. It is both amazing and heartbreaking (I have read that the average lamb mortality rate is 20%). During lambing I try to check them every six hours around the clock. This is also sugaring season, so I am beat! Here's a few of my experiences:

2010- We bought Phoebe & Raquel who were bred, with a due date anywhere from the end of December to end of January. K3 & I watched those ewes closely, they were getting fat and had little udders. For weeks I would get up in the middle of the night to check them. NOTHING!! Turns out they were never pregnant ( I told everyone we were having lambs, so it was embarrassing to have to admit what a novice shepherd I was!). They were older ewes that always have little udders & they were  just well fed & wooly. What a disappointment! So,  in April we bought a ewe and her 3 week old twins. The female was Addison & the male we were just keeping him until he could be weaned than bringing him back. I said we are not naming him or getting attached. I called him Nameless, K1 called him Buddy, and Mark called him Trouble because he kept getting out. The ram that wasn't going to have a name had three!

2011- This year we had five bred ewes! Cloey was a ewe we had bought bred in the fall. We had no idea when she was lambing. Well, late January I  went out in the morning & standing in the snow next to the barn was our white ewe Cloey with her little back lamb with the most unique markings (we have no idea what kind of mutt she is... ) K1 named Anna. 

Anna

Cloey & Anna

2012- This year we had seven ewes that lambed. The hardest one was Myra, she is our wildest sheep! She was a small  ewe with an enormous belly!

When she finally lambed Mark & I were there to assist. Typically, I am the sheep midwife & have watched or  assisted most of our sheep. This day Mark was home. Brandie was also here, excited to watch her first lambing. Myra's lamb was huge in comparison to her tiny body. Mark & I struggled trying to pull that lamb out.  I finally sent K1 up to the house & before she got the call into the vet we finally  got the lamb out, but he wasn't breathing. Mark rubbed him & swung him but nothing happened. As a last attempt he gave "sheep p r ". I told him I could not believe he did that (slimly.. nasty.. lamb), he replied "me either". Bran & I laughed...but the baby did not make it. Then we had to pull baby number two. When we were finally done, poor Myra was swollen & bruises & exhausted. I was up to my elbows in blood & slime. I looked at Bran & said " will you get my hair out of my eyes & pull up my pants (I forgot my belt)." I think this was an experience none of us will forget. The rest of them lambed with no problems. We had lots of fun watching the lambs run around. See for yourself how cute they are.

Peony with Mystic & Dash (I checked the sheep & no one in labor and one hour later I went down & she had lambed). Mystic is short for mystical & Dash is from the movie The Incredibles.

Baby Bliss

Anna with her baby Alyianna  a.k.a. Tiny A

Harley

Barn Cats & Farm Dogs

What's a farm without a good barn cat & farm dog?......Well, ours are really more like pampered pets, but they do like to follow us to the barn. Does that count?

Jessica: She actually was a barn cat from my brothers farm, but has been ours for the last ten years. She is a typical female cat, she loves you when she wants to, otherwise don't bother her or there will be consequences. All the pets & humans in our house understand this about Jessie. Her favorite place to be is in my bed.Some nights if she is feeling friendly she likes to sleep curled up next to my legs. Every day she suns herself at the foot of our bed. I have learned to make my bed right after I get up or Jessie will claim it and I will feel bad & not make my bed. Next thing I know it is noon & she is still there and my bed is not made. Jessie never strays far...I can look out the window at any time & find her. She loves to watch the chickens (wishing they we not so big), and chase chipmunks.

Ryder:  She also came from a barn. K2 wanted a kitten very much. We told her if she made the honor roll then she could get a kitten, but it had to live in her room. She made the honor roll & we got Ryder. Ryder & her litter box lived in her room for a while.... Now, Ryder uses Jessica's box and they both go outside a lot. She is still a kitten & can be crazy. Such as taking a running leap off our kitten chairs and clinging to the sliding glass door handle. She hides in my plants. Suddenly, I will hear a rustling sound & see my plant move. The list goes on......

Carter: Is the man! He is our guard dog, fiercely loyal especially to me & K3.He is K3's dog & she has been known to sneak all 80 lbs of him into her bed. He also has a fondness for skunks & has been sprayed twice. The first time we tried everything. Douches seemed to work the best & we would purchase several boxes at a time. Poor Carter had a bath ten days in a row, and because of this he now hates bathes. The next time he was sprayed, we spent $50 and took him to the groomer. Let me tell you, it was worth every penny. Then, we have the prom incident. In May, K1 went to the prom. They had car trouble and long story short, arrived home at 2 a.m. I met them (her & her friend that is here so much we call her K4!) at the door and just as the boys started to back out I heard a yelp. I panicked & yelled for Carter...Phew! Here he comes up the steps, but his nose is bleeding. Somehow, he must have been sniffing the tires as they backed up and it caught one nostril & ripped it all the way through. For the next hour we stopped the bleeding, washed the blood out of K1's prom dress, and then finally went to sleep. Poor Carter! I am happy to say he recovered fully.

Miley: Well, K1 made a plea for a pet of her own. (We had to put down her dog & horse in 2010) Last year we gave her our first baby lamb...but that wasn't good enough. She wanted a puppy. We caved and got Miley. We got her as a puppy from  *Potter's Angles Rescue. Miley is 99% housebroken unless she sneaks into K1's room, then for some reason she likes to pee on the carpet. She loves to wrestle with Ryder, steal & chew flip flops (we've had to send kids home with one shoe), pull all the stuffing out of her dog bed, and follow us & Carter everywhere.

* P.A.R.S. : K3 became slightly obsessed with saving the dogs after we got MIley. She did a bottle drive & raised $100, bought collars & leashes with her own money, and collected donations of dog food. Then she made amazing cupcakes, chocolate lollipops, and homemade dog biscuits for a bake sale at a P.A.R.'s event. One guy purchased a tree of her "dog themed" cupcakes for $100!! 

More Pics, because they are so cute!

                                                                            Ryder & K2

K3, Ryder, & Carter who is not so sure he likes sharing his bed with the kitten.

                                                           Ryder wants to go to school with K1.

                 Ryder is so helpful, she wants to help me pay the bills, or just chase the cursor around.

                                                    Homecoming Dance. Girls with their babies!

                                                            Jessica had company this morning!

                                                        Miley & Carter love to cuddle.

                                                      Miley helping K1 with homework.