December update

Where have the last few weeks gone? Seems like it never slows down. So what have I been up to?

 Let's see, we've split sugar wood 3 times (I think the syrup maker aka Mark is almost satisfied!)

 We delivered the goats to be bred & went back to pick them up 1 1/2 weeks later. Kids should be arriving end of April.YEAH! My 7 year old niece asked me where the goats had been. I told her a date. All the adults got a chuckle out of that!

 My pork was finally ready at the smokehouse, so I had to make a special trip to pick that up. We have a beef going Monday. It feels like we are constantly moving animals or picking up meat. On the plus side that means were selling a lot!

K2 turned 17 (where does the time go?)

Like everyone else I am getting ready for Christmas. We had our tree up for a week before we were all home at the same time to decorate it. Crazy!

Here's lots of pics, so many of JD because he is just so stinkin' cute!

We sheared the sheep when they came in the barn for the winter. 

I call these guys the brat brothers, because they try to escape or jump in the wheelbarrow.

It bloomed!

Looks a little lost in the big dog bed.

Burr...it's cold! He already outgrew this one.

He doesn't like the snow on his feet.

Playing with the big dogs!

My day away...xmas shopping with my family  

Happy chickens- since it snowed they haven't ventured out- they are afraid!

My beautiful tree after it FINALLY got decorated. 

Friends

Not a fan of the leash

How Mark brought the new calf home..in a bag!

So helpful at homework time, a few minutes after he slipped off on the floor with all the homework!

Pretty Daisy

Helping me with paperwork

Thirty things I am Thankful for.

I copied this idea from my niece's blog, because I loved it!

I am Thankful for ......

1. Mark- my sweet, hardworking man, that always makes me laugh. My husband of 21 years. He's part of everything I do & love.
   
2. K1- my sensitive, persistent and happy girl. She is a freshman at Castleton State College and I know she will be a great teacher!
   
3. K2- my fiercely loyal, dedicated, and wonderful girl.  She is a senior in high school and I know she will make a fabulous Cosmetologist!
   
4. K3- my funny, caring, and animal loving girl. She is always trying new things and puts 100% into whatever she is doing.
   
    
   
    I love and adore our beautiful girls! Nothing makes me happier or more proud than the K's!
5. My family that is large, fun to be with, and always here for me if I need them.
6. My friends- we've shared a lot of fun times through the years. They are the best!
7. My dogs.

   

   Miley & Carter

   
   

   

   Our newest addition J.D.

8. Leo & Arlene for providing us with the opportunity to fulfill our dream of farming.  Leo is always helping Mark fix things, or offering advice. Arlene does all the flowers & helped me decorate this fall. Both will come out and help anytime they see us struggling or trying to get in loose animals. They are simply awesome & we are thankful for their support.
9. That we are healthy!
10. To be able to raise all our own meat. I know exactly what goes into my meat & that my animals lived a great life. There is nothing better than a Triple K burger, our bacon smoked at VT Smoke & Cure, or a pasture raised roasted chicken. Yummy!
11. That I live in Whiting VT and always have!
12. For sunshine- when the sun is shining, everything is better!
13. For coffee with Simonds Sugar Shack maple syrup each morning & a well deserved drink at the end of a long day, with the one I love the most!
14. Sugaring season- always a fun time of year with family & friend. Nothing beats warm maple syrup fresh from the arch.
    
15. My pool - I love summer.
16.  To be a Farmer and to do chores every day. I love my animals and they bring me joy.
17. Scented candles.
18. Country music.
19. Wood heat that keeps my house cozy & warm.
20. Fresh vegetables from my garden & raspberries in the fall.
21. That my girls never went to daycare. I cherish every minute that I spend with them. I loved being home for their childhood. 
22. Pictures & scrapbooks to capture memories
23. Danskos & flip flops.
24. Cell phones, so I can always get a hold of my girls & Mark. I love my iPhone.
25. Internet - provides so many options, opportunities, and blogging of course!
26. Watching my girls play field hockey, race around on four- wheelers, ride horses, and play with little kids. Basically, watching them do anything that makes them happy.
27. Christmas lights & Christmas trees, symbols of my favorite holiday.
28. Desserts- apple crisp, sugar pie, and homemade cookies come to mind.
29. Everyone that supports our farming business - members of our CSA, visitors that come to the petting barn, and anyone that buys any of our product. Allowing us to do what we love.
30.  That in a lot of ways we all make our own luck and happiness. And I am pretty lucky & very happy!

Meet JD

Life has been interesting around here! Last Wednesday, my niece called me about an abandon 5 week old puppy. Of course if you know me, than you know I said I would take it! I picked him up and he was 3 1/2 lbs. He couldn't hold his body temperature, so we held him & he even slept with us. Thursday, I brought him to the vet. They said he was healthy, but too little to be away from his mom. I needed to feed him special food & keep him warm. We named him JD (Jack Daniels), for Mark.

Those first few days were rough, like having a newborn. I would feed him, wash his face, clean up his poop & pee  (it was too cold to take him outside), hold him till he fell asleep. Then put him in his crate with a hot water bottle,  he would sleep for a few hours. Repeat the whole process. It was exhausting! Not to mention I did a load of dirty peed on blankets everyday.

It's been a week and he is doing great! JD weighs 5 lbs. We've started taking him outside. He sleeps 6 hours at night. Hasn't had an accident in his crate in two days. When he wakes up he wines & I take him out. He is becoming playful. He has this super funny growl that makes us all laugh. He only plays for an hour or less, than he's worn out.  He is so smart, sweet, and absolutely adorable!

First Day!

JD loves to eat!

This is how he likes to sleep & I am tired by day 3!

His favorite toy - sometime he attacks & growls at it!

Miley can't wait till he plays with her!

Checking out his toys!

After toy bin is empty, he was to tired to play!

If I'm in the kitchen, he will find me & fall asleep at my feet.

Another busy weekend!

Picture from the party last week. K3 is quite the baker/decorator!

Friday, I spent the day with K1 & 2, oh how I love those girls! We went to lunch & ran errands, including finally getting my oil changed- way over due!

Again, we spent the weekend getting ready for old man winter (whom I could live without). We brought in more wood, worked on buttoning up the barn (almost done!).  Saturday, we moved the chicken coop.. Mark hooked onto the coop & got stuck with his truck. We really have to bite the bullet & buy him tires (one of those things I hate spending money on). He had me hook my Mariner to his truck & shockingly it pulled him out!  The hens were very happy to have the leftover popcorn.


Then K3 & I pulled out my snow babies & put up some lights inside. I love being warm & toasty inside with white x-mas lights & a scented candle. Definitely one of my favorite things, I love Christmas!! Mark, K3 , and I spent the evening watching season 3 of walking dead. We are all addicted. We don't have cable, only Netflix so we have been watching last season all week & we finished it on Saturday!

Sunday, morning I went riding with K1 & 3. I rode K1's horse Ranger. I haven't ridden in a year. K1 gave him a pep talk to be a good boy, & I reminded him I bought his grain. We had a awesome ride!
After, lunch, we moved the cows. We brought the big ones home in two loads. We loaded them much easier than I expected. We had my nephew Quinn with us for the last load. We had him outside the fence, holding the trailer door opened. Once the cows were loaded, we told him he did a good job. he said " when the big one with horns came, I almost let go!"

 
 We weaned Black Jack from his mom & brought him in the barn. He is a big boy, bigger than all our other calves, that are older than him. Both him & his mama have been protesting this all week. Lots of moos around here. Doesn't he look sad?

Sunday, night we had Quinn & Peyton- they were so fun!

Peyton got a hair cut, by K2.

Crazy Animals

Our calves all comfy in their new pen.

I love my goats!

Friday was my first winter CSA pick up. It was great to meet new members. It was also a very rainy day and Mark was unable to work, so he worked on the barn all day. We have been working on getting the back half ready to bring in animals for the winter & a few border heifers. That meant demoing the stalls, building some pens, redoing the gutter cleaner, and getting water to the back of the barn.

On Saturday we had 7 ram lambs in the pasture. We put one in with the ewes, than we sold 3. Here's the three that are left & they are cute!

 On Sunday we had our last b-day party in the barn for the season (my nephew). It was cold. K3 made an amazing cake (as always). We have an understanding, I bake the cakes & do all the cleanup and she comes up with the ideas, makes the frosting, and does all the decorating. This time I had to make a cake, cupcakes, and sugar cookies!

Monday I planned my meals for the next two weeks & went grocery shopping. Tuesday I spent in the barn cleaning, because we moved animals around & the borders came in. Today was clean my house and bathe the dogs, who found something nasty/dead to roll in! Tomorrow we have an appointment & Mark will be home, so that means work on getting ready for winter! Friday is paperwork day. In case it's not apparent I am a planner. My white board is full of list - Marks jobs, the menu, to do list of the day...

As always we've had a few surprises:  We treat our animals so well, they think they belong in the house!

K3 sent me this "Well Hello there!"

K1 found this when she woke up this morning.

Tis the Season

Tis the season...breeding season! Which to me = headaches! Let's see, first we have to find the perfect suitor, which given the multiple species we have,  that in itself is a challenge. Then we have to figure the timing of when they are going to calve, lamb, kid, or farrow. Now we have to catch them in heat....and so the fun begins.

I'll start with the cows. We have Bailey, Flicka, and Black Beauty to breed. Two months ago we finally noticed Bailey in heat. We called all our farmer friends & with a little help from Google, we found an artificial breeder. She was bred- one down two to go, or so we thought. A month later she is back in heat, we breed Bailey again. We gave the other two a shot to induce heat. It worked for Flika and we had her bred. We waited 10 days and gave Black Beauty another shot- still nothing....ugh! This morning I went to quickly do morning chores, so I could head to Rutland for a much needed haircut & color (need to get rid of those grays!), by K2 @Stafford. But..nope change of plans, Flicka is in heat, again. So I cancel my appointment & wait for the breeder. Fingers are crossed that she takes this time.

The sheep are easier, we have our own ram. We traded him for some hay last month. I don't love him, but he should be fine, and hopefully give us bigger lambs which = more lamb chops. I think we are going to put him in this weekend which means lambs the last of March & early April. Hopefully, we have lots of sweet lambs running around when the petting barn reopens for the season.

S'more & Nala, the Nigerian Dwarf goats. I have found them a perfect match. A driveway breeding service (I kid you not!). First they only breed registered does, so I had to send in all my paperwork & am waiting for that to come back. Then I have to notice them in heat (unlike cows...I have no idea what I'm looking for). When they are in heat I will drive them 1 1/2 hours away for their "date". I am betting the odds of them being in heat at the same time is zero, meaning two trips. I am told I can entice them into heat with a buck rag. They take a rag & rub it on the smelly buck,and then I put it in with my does. They should come in heat within a few days. Once my registration papers are back, I will try this....wish me luck!

Then there is the pigs. We bought two piglets this spring, Freckles & Charlotte, with the intention of breeding them. Well, they aren't big enough for spring piglets, we will have to wait and breed them this spring for fall piglets. So we kept one of the pigs that was going to go for meat last week. She didn't have a name because we weren't planning on keeping her. I call her mama pig (I'm hopeful that she will be!). Now, mama pig needs a daddy pig. We thought we had one lined up for January. We were going to bring him here for a month or two until she was bred. Then we find out he is a Big Daddy. Too big! Mama pig needs a small daddy. So anyone one know of a small daddy looking for love in January? Didn't think so...I'll keep you posted on the pig love match.

And...this is my life right now,  animal match making.

Thursday Thoughts

The week has been good. Monday we took the piggies to be processed. Mark was worried how we were going to get five pigs into the trailer. Last week he started feeding them in there. The only problem was not all the pigs were going in at the same time. On Saturday,  I husked all the popcorn, only took 2 hours! Mark fed the husks to the pigs & they all went in the trailer, so he kept some as back up. He also put hay in the trailer. Sunday morning they were all sleeping in the trailer instead of their hut, but as soon as they saw Mark they came running out for food. Here was the plan, he tied the door with baler twine, so he could sneak down early in the morning & cut it with his knife then quickly shut them in. Monday morning in the dark Mark snuck down there, and looked around he assumed they were all in but it was dark & hard to see. You guessed it- only half were in the trailer. He brought out the back up - they all jumped in the trailer for the corn husk. We got um!  We had kept one of the smaller females intending to breed her, so after we delivered the pigs to be processed, we went to the petting barn & loaded the 2 younger female pigs that we kept there. We put all the "girls" together. The first few days were a little rough, the big pig didn't let the smaller ones eat or sleep in the hut, but now they are getting along. This morning all the girls were snug in the hut together, sleeping.

The next adventure of the day was to round up all the ewe sheep to check for worms & trim their feet. We chased 14 ewes around the pasture. Of course Leo saw us struggling & came out to help (they are awesome like that, always helping). We got all but one, after trying for quite awhile Mark went to get the four -wheeler. Finally we got them all loaded in the trailer and brought them to the barn. I am happy to say we didn't have to worm any of them, they looked great. We did trim their feet. I usually trim the smaller one & Mark does the older ones, cause their hooves are tougher. When we trim hooves we flip them, sit them right on their rumps, leaning  the sheep up against us & hold their front feet.  I was holding crazy Myra, when she caught me off guard & we both tipped over. I never let go, & pulled her back up. Mark said it must be lugging all the water buckets made me strong! Then we loaded them all back up and took them back to the pasture, we did keep all the ewe lambs in the barn, so we are ready to put the ram out to pasture in a few weeks for breeding. The last thing on the daily list was to move the ram lambs to fresh pasture.It's a good feeling at the end of the day knowing we got all the animals taken care of and put where they needed to be.

Today, after chores I brought all the chicken waters & feeders to the barn and cleaned them. Lets just say at one time this summer we had 150 ish birds, that = lots of feeders & waters. It took me 1 1/2 hours, but happy to say that chore is done. Then I made homemade turkey soup and apple crisp for dinner. K3 came home & said it smells like fall in the kitchen.Sure felt like fall outside today!

We continue to get ready for winter, which means the fun continues..

P.S.- We decided not to get Raven the foster dog - it was a hard choice, but I decided she wasn't going to be a good fit for our family :(