Oh where to begin.....

Lambs are doing great!! 6 rams & 6 Ewes. We have lambed for 3 years, and this is the first year we haven't lost any. I read that the average mortality rate is 20 %, many die within the first 24 hrs, then a high percentage die within the first 10 days. We are well past the danger zone, and everyone is thriving.

We have shut down sugaring due to the fact we have too many other things that need our attention, and we are out of wood. We sold a little sap & will sell the rest if it runs anymore. We plan to clean the pan & sugar shack this weekend. We ended the year with over 80 gallons. We are pretty happy with that!

Last night of sugaring & everyone is tired!

Tuesday we had a chicken fatality. One of our hens was eaten by a hawk - that's a first for us. Our fall chicks are just starting to lay. We got 17 eggs last night! We have had a slow winter & haven't been able to sell eggs, but now were back in business! Next Wednesday our 100 meat chick arrive. That's another thing on the weekend to do list - set up a warm & secure place in the barn for them.

Wednesday night, poor Cater stepped on something & cut his toe pad pretty badly. We found that vet wrap & duct tape work pretty well.

Thursday, I went on a trail ride with K1 & K3. It was a great day, I love to ride, and I am feeling a little sore. I haven't been since last fall.This was a birthday trail ride for K1 who will be 18 on Easter. Saturday we are going out to dinner, on Sunday we will have cake & Spaghetti (she requested white- not multi grain that I usually buy). Doesn't seem possible our baby girl is all grown up.

Our CSA is doing really well, with only a few shares left! Our beef & pigs went this week. That was a relief- a few less mouths to feed & chores go a little faster. We have two new freezers, ready & waiting.

Progress on the barn is SLOW! With lots to be done. K1's boyfriend spent last Saturday pressure washing the ceiling. I went on Sunday. It's all white wash, which looks like it will flake right off, but doesn't. I tried scraping it off, but it's a huge space to do that! Thinking we are going to finish pressure washing & call it good.Spray paint & see what happens. If area's flake off, then we will just have to spray it again. Mark installed the front door into the store area today, Looks awesome. Hopefully, tomorrow he & Andy will frame up the store. I will work on cleaning the rest of the floor & washing ceiling. I will try to post pictures at the end of the weekend.

Our logo is done & so awesome. I am working on our website in my free time (hah! who am I kidding, I don't have free time). Hopefully, it is up & running soon, because I can't wait to share it!

Hope you enjoy the glimpse into this crazy farm life.....

P.S  Had to leave you with this cute picture of Ryder:

The rough life of a cat!

Snapshots!

K3 & her dad  (this is the first day of spring?)

K3 & her baby Ava.

Pepsi & her brother enjoying their bottle.

Dogs ready to go home after we gathered sap - yup it's running again!

Oh My!

Insurance, logos, and paperwork OH MY! This is the other part of my farmin' life. After making syrup & taking care of animals. My LEAST favorite part.

Starting our CSA & petting barn requires a variety of licences and Insurance. Which equals paperwork and of course  fees/money.

K3 came up with some ideas for our logo, which we than took to Winning Image. They used her concept and added to it. It's awesome and I can't wait to show you. They do really great work.

Paperwork/finances UGH! I have given up and now have Laurie Bertrand (CPA) come once a month to keep me on track and enter all my info on quick books.She is my lifesaver.

Farm Updates:

• The sap hasn't run since Monday = a much needed break from sugaring. We are going to check today and we might be boiling tonight.
• K3's show sheep Addison had a black ewe lamb which K3 named Ava. They are doing great & I will post pics soon. I think that is the end of lambing season for us. 
• We haven't worked on the barn since last Thursday, but we plan on working this weekend & pouring concrete on Monday.

So, that's all the news I have for now. Enjoy your weekend!

Got Syrup?

WE DO!! It's been a crazy run. It started Thursday & hasn't stopped yet! We have gathered 1,385 gallons of sap, boiled 44.5 hrs out of 73 hrs , and we've made 29 gallons of Sweet Maple Syrup.

We still have sap in the tank & I'm sure we will have more to gather today. Mark, I think will even admit he's had enough & is ready for a break. Saturday night we finally got to bed @ 3:30 am, but thanks to the time change it was really 4:30 (of all weekends to lose an hour time!). Got up to feed the lambs their bottles @ 6, back to bed to catch a few more hours of much needed sleep. Then back to the sugar house to fire up at 9 am. Before I could have my coffee (in the sugar house- sweetened with syrup of course!) I had to clean the filters. This is what I get to do first thing every morning during sugaring:

It's Monday & I am off to work. Mark is cleaning the pan & firing up again today, and the fun continues.....

P.S. The best part is all the help we get from  family & friends.It is always a good time hanging out in the sugar shack!

Sap, Sap & More Sap!

Well it's official, sugar season is in high gear & sap is running like crazy. Days & nights are starting to blur, but here's a recap.

We boiled & gathered on Tuesday.We took my nephew  Q to gather with us. He spends Tuesdays  with his Meme.Most Monday nights he comes with my brother on the 6 wheeler for a quick visit.I told him we would bring him to gather, like we did last Tuesday, if he took a nap. Well, I guess after lunch my sister in law was looking for him & he said he was in bed. Think he wanted to make sure he took his nap so he could go. We head down to the sugar woods & start gathering. Q is like the dogs takes off running through the field & we have to call the 3 of them back (Q & the dogs). Then he likes to play with sticks & ride on the four-wheeler. He  got his gloves wet reaching in the bucket to get out the ice, then he wore K3's gloves - got them wet the same way, and ended the day with mine. He is quite a boy! We love him, he makes us laugh!

We gathered 220 gal sap on Wednesday & 350 today! My sugarmaker is busy! Think we are up to having made 17 gal.of all fancy syrup. That was before tonight.

Barn update- Mark spent the day jack hammering the curb. K3 helped move all the concrete & Leo did a great job cleaning.

Lambs & mama's are doing great! Looks like K3's show sheep Addison is going to lamb. I wasn't sure if she was bred, but she is bagging up, so looks like more lambs soon.  Here's a peak at all the cuteness we have!

Peony's Lambs

Tonight, after gathering sap with K3 & our Tuesday helper (my nephew Q), night chores, dinner, cleanup and then finally a few minutes in the sugar house in was 9:00 which is bottle time for the quads. When I got down to the barn I saw Peony was in labor. I got to watch:) Every year she has had one black & one white, but I have never seen her deliver her lambs, so I was glad to catch it this time.

1st born -ram

2nd born - ewe

Good old Cater was watching just outside the pen - in case I need him!

EXCITING NEWS!!!

So, I know you all are thinking I lost my mind. Why would she get rabbits? What is she going to do with alpacas? Doesn't she have enough mouths to feed already?

Well Folks, I assure you there is a reason....we are opening a petting barn!!! Mark your calender Our Grand Opening is scheduled for June 22.

Here's our story: Mark & I have been wanting & planning our farming future for 3 long years. We've hit a lot of roadblocks. Finding land and/or a barn being our biggest hurdle. We've been disappointed numerous times, due to misrepresentation / miscommunication, property just out of our price range, or sold before we could get everything lined up. Mark kept saying, "we just need someone to give us a break". Leo & Arlene Lamoureux have given us our "break". We are renting their barn & pasture. They have been so wonderful, helpful, and supportive.

It's going to be GREAT...we will have a farm store to sell our syrup, eggs, and house our pasture raised meat/poultry CSA (still have a few spots left....). We will have a party room to book your favorite kiddos birthday party. Lot's of great animals to entertain all ages.  A play barn complete with sensory table for the little ones.We want to provide good old fashioned fun!

I have been working in the early education field for many years. I am currently working in a kindergarten classroom. People think Vermont and just assume it's a bunch of farm kids...not the case. Many children have not experienced the pure joy of holding a newborn chick, cuddling a sweet baby lamb, or feeling the soft fur of a rabbit or alpaca. I see a need to provide these experiences to children.

The barn we are renting was a milking cow barn. We are completely remodeling it.

This is what it looked like.

Andy jack hammering the curb.

Mark cutting out the stalls.

K3 & I removed the gutter cleaner the first day we worked, while Mark worked on some stalls. Today,  Mark & Andy removed the rest of the pipe line, cut out all the stalls, and  removed some of the curb until the rental jack hammer  BROKE (super frustrating!!!)  I was the clean up crew & camera girl!

I promise to keep you updated on our progress and take lots of pic!!