Sugaring pics...

I am too tired  to blog, so here's a few pics to enjoy :) Our nephew Q. came to help us. He had more fun running around the woods, but did help with a few buckets, so I could get some pics! He did like riding the four wheeler with Uncle Mark & Grandpa Simonds!

Q & K3 hard @ work!

Uncle Mark, told him to show me how strong he is....

Our syrup canner!

More Kritters ......

Meet the newest members of Triple K Farm....ALPACAS!

                                       
                                         

This is Daisy.

Here is Gianna.

Quad update: They are all doing great!One ram lamb nurses on Myra - he doesn't drink from the bottle at all. The white ram & Pepsi nurse a little & supplement with the bottle. The all black only drinks from the bottle. They are so cute & fun. Poor Pepsi still has really crooked bow legs from being squished inside Myra. They have improved some, but still have a ways to go. She has no problem getting around, which is good.I am not sure what the outcome is going to be, she might always have crooked legs.They are starting to run & jump around, which is really fun to watch. After they eat & their bellies are full its nap time.They like to sleep together.

Good old Phoebe had twin ram lambs on Friday. She plopped them out no problem, they are nursing, and doing great! Phoebe is K3's first sheep. We got he in Maine, but she was born in Washington state. This girl has been around! She is 9 yrs old & this is the 3rd time she has had lambs for us. They all look the same black and a face like Phoebes.

I love the way lambs wag their tails when they are nursing!

We are up to 9 lambs- 5 rams & 4 ewes. I believe we are going to have a little break. Peony is due March 7th. I have 3 more possible but I'm not sure if they are bred, if they are it will be end of March.

We gathered & boiled on Friday and Sunday. We've made 6 gallons of fancy syrup.

I am done vacation & back to work today...Last night I told K3  my "vacation" was exhausting and I dreaded going back to work & trying to keep up with everything. She told me that I often stress out and say how busy I am, but this week she told me I really was going non stop.

 I have to say all the Ks were very helpful. Doing some of the dishes and laundry. They helped gather sap and did a few of the daytime bottle feedings. They are great girls! I did manage to sneak in a few hours alone with each of them & take them to lunch and shopping.  Burlington & a new comforter for K3.  Port Henry & a prom dress for K2.  Rutland & a new phone for K1.

Phew.... it never stops!! But, it all makes me happy & I wouldn't want it any other way. (Except, I could do without the middle of the night feedings!)

What's in my kitchen?

No, Thankfully not a lamb. Myra is tending to them all with a little help = every 3 hr supplement feedings.

• 25 lb bag of milk replacer
• 1/2 empty bottles of lamb milk
• lambing kit (don't want everything frozen)
• defrosting chicken water
• defrosting sap pump
• Flash light on the table (all the night runs 10:00,2:00,5:00)
• Everyone's muck boots (no one wants to put on cold boots, especially in the middle of the night, OH...wait, ONLY I get up then!!!)
• Way too many dog prints (even though K2 mopped yesterday)

I am so ready for SPRING!!!!!

K1 feeding our ewe lamb. K3 named her Pepsi!

OMG......QUADS!!!!!

 Yes, you are seeing correctly....Myra had FOUR LAMBS!!!!

 So, yesterday was her due date. During morning chores I fell on the ice & dumped the 5 gal. water bucket I was carrying. I smacked my knee, which caused me to limp all day & night for the MANY  trips to the barn.  I checked on Myra through out the day. I did leave to bring the dogs to the vet for their yearly shots.

Around 5 PM we noticed that Myra was hunching up & was in the beginning stages of labor. All evening we checked, we were worried about her but wanted to give her space. Mark went to bed around ten, while I waited.
10:00 I saw the water bag starting to emerge.
11:30 It was fully out. I set my alarm & slept for an hour.
12:30 I found the white ram lamb had been born. I set my alarm & slept for another hour.
1:30 I found a black ram lamb. I moved her into lambing jug & I thought she was done.
2:30 Finally go to bed
5:00 AM I hear Mark come into the house, briskly walk into the bedroom, "Tracy GET UP, there's four!" and he turns around & walks out.

In the pen, there is one more black ram lamb & the tiniest black ewe lamb. She had just been born.The other ram lamb is still wet too. I take the ewe into the house & we wake up K3. She takes over & uses towels & the hair dryer to dry her. We go back to the barn & check everyone else. After she is dry we bring her back out. At 8 as soon as the vet opens I call & ask them for advice. He says as long as she is accepting them all then leave them but we will need to supplement them.  Now, I notice Miley is acting strange. She is reacting to her shots. I call the small animal vet, they want me to give her an aspirin.Off to Brandon for milk replacer.
Once, home (10 am) we hold Myra down & try to get each one to nurse. Then we bottle feed them.
Repeat @ noon. Now it's 3 and time to go back to the barn.

P.S. Miley is doing better!

More pics because they are sooooo cute!

Meet the Littles!

This ewe is named Anna. She is number one, the very first lamb born on Triple K Farm! One morning in January I went out to the barn & she was standing outside in a snow bank next to her white mama Cloey (yes, Hearts mama). We bought Cloey bred, so we have no idea what Anna is, except original. When we shear her she looks like a goat. Anna was a very large baby & grew really fast.

Last year, was her first time  lambing & she plopped them out no problem. They were so tiny, like 5 lbs compared to out typical 10 -12 lb lambs. We thought they must be early. Even though they were small they were healthy & rumbustious. We call them peanut & tiny A (cause she looks like Anna).

Monday morning I go out to the barn & once again Anna plopped out, with no problem 2 tiny ewes.  We call them THE LITTLES! My niece wanted a lamb named after her. Well, we had planned on naming Anna's lambs after her & her husband, because their last name is Little, but Anna had 2 ewes. So we had to improvise.....Christa & Travanna! My niece Lily (who is 6) said the one with white should be Travanna, because Travis had gray hair (sorry Travey!)

Rubbing noses!

See how tiny!

Christa

Travanna

Myra is even BIGGER if that is possible . Her belly is lopsided & she is waddling when she walks , which isn't much. Today, is her due date since she was a heat cycle later than I thought. Pheobe is also due today. Let's hope all goes well.....

Whatta Week!

 Valentine's day started out great! This little cutie was waiting in the barn for me. I named her Heart!

 K3 came down to snuggle her. Cloey is a good mama! When I got home Mark told me he wasn't feeling well.Oh No! K1 had the stomach bug on Wednesday. We went and gathered sap. When we got home, Mark told me he was done for the night. So I did chores. Well, there goes my Valentines dinner of steak & chicken, since he didn't feel well & all the K's were with their boyfriends. Mark tossed & turned & felt awful all night. I woke up @ 4 and started throwing up.

We both called in to work. At around 8 Mark dragged himself to the barn & did chores. I love him! We spent the day in bed & sharing the toilet. We begged for help gathering. K1 & K3 & K1's boyfriend gathered all the sap for us, while we stayed in bed.  They are awesome! K3 did dishes & laundry. Once, again Mark toughed it out & did chores.

Yesterday, Mark was feeling much better. I was not sick, but really wiped out. He started boiling 2 days of sap. I washed our bed & cleaned the bathrooms, and caught up on some paper work. Then I had to clean the coop & lambing pen. We let Cloey & Heart outside!

 As I was cleaning these smelly places I was thinking , I don't really feel well & this isn't helping. Then Mark tells me I need to go gather sap. He's still boiling. The only help I could round up was K3. It took us about an hour. When we got back Mark was sweating...he was down to a gallon of sap. It would not be good to burn the new pan! He made 5 qts of Fancy Syrup. I was pretty happy when my head finally hit the pillow!

Today, we went & got round bales, cleaned the cows, and brought in wood. I am happy to say that Mark & I are both back to 100%.

Should be a busy week..... looks like it will be too cold for a few days for the sap to run, but should towards the end of the week. We are expecting 3 sheep to lamb. One being Myra!

                                                                               MYRA!
                          Her udder is enormous & her belly has dropped, so you can see her hip bones.

Sweetening the pan

As you all know, Mark is anxious for the sugaring season, so we tapped about 1/2 our trees on Sunday. Tuesday it ran a little, but not enough to fire the new arch. Today ran a little better, and so we fired up for the first time. This is called sweetening the pan, which means you get everything started but no draw off (syrup).

 When ever we go to the sugar woods we take the dogs, because they love to run. Today, I was getting on my boots I asked Carter " do you want to go the Grandpa's?" He ran for the door & started whining.  He knows when I say this he is going to go run!

 We take the bucket of sap off the tree & dump them into 5 gal buckets  which we then carry to the 4-wheeler trailer. Here, Mark is waiting for me to dump in my bucket & watching the dogs.  We defiantly get a workout during sugaring season, between all the walking & carrying buckets.

Then, we pump the sap from the 4-wheeler trailer into the tank on the back of the truck. Here is Mark's dad, he comes out to get some fresh sap, he loves to drink it!

And so it begins.......

Simonds Sugar Shack has kicked off the 2013 Season!

Well, we took the leap & tapped some trees. We put out 115 buckets. We will tap the lines a little later in the week when we have some more time. Now, lets hope Mother Nature helps us out and gives us the perfect sugar weather.Here's some pics that will show you all how much fun we had today :) I have to say I love my I phone, it makes it so much easier to take pictures to share.

Ready & Loaded

K3 drove the tapin' supplies from tree to tree

Mark drills the holes & puts in the taps.

I hang the buckets & lids.
 (Don't you think I should be a model in  farm girl magazine LOL!)

Carter & Miley love runnin' around the woods.

As you can see an afternoon in  Grandpa's woods tuckers them out!

 

Friday Update

First of all, NO LAMBS! I am beginning to think that even though I saw Myra bred, maybe she didn't take & she is 17 days later. It's hard for me to  believe since she is huge, but it is either that or she is a week overdue. I guess time will tell & NO sleep for farmer Tracy until Myra finally lambs :(

On a positive note, here are a few pics. Really, I love my animals & these pictures are examples of why and the joy they bring me. If you have not seen the super bowl commercial on God Made a Farmer than you need to you tube it right now. It brought tears to my eyes & helped remind me of why Mark & I  are working so hard to do what we do and our big dreams for the future.

Enjoy my Kritters!

Bunnies enjoying laptops, I-Pods,and TLC!

Ryder looks very cozy!

Morning Sunrise, I love VT!

Not pigs in a blanket, but Triple K Pigs in a hut!

Happy Piggies!

Snow anyone?

Good old Dora, enjoying the fresh snow!

Bailey prefers the barn!

Cozy Chickens!

Snuggling Sheepies!

Faithful Friends, coming in after doing chores with me!