Spring Break on the Farm

Two weeks of spring break felt like an overwhelming amount of time to kill with all 3 kids but it managed to fly by.  We didn't end up accomplishing everything on our spring break to-do list.  Ah well.  Summer's just around the corner.  At least it felt that way over the Easter weekend when the temperature hit 20-something...

The first week of spring break was still a bit cool and wet.  In fact one afternoon we even saw some snow coming down for a few brief minutes.  But despite the weather there was still plenty to keep us busy.  One cannot forget the episode of Patches and the new baby calf that provided some excitement.  After Cow #1 delivered, we knew that Cow #2 (Daisy) was not far behind.  Erik and I felt determined that we were going to witness the next calf birth so I was watching her like a hawk.  On Silas' birthday I could tell she was acting a bit different and after dinner she was in obvious labour.  We spent the evening outside sharing a set of binoculars but wouldn't you know she went into the far corner of the pasture and waited right until the point that it got too dark for us to see anything.  Really, who can blame the poor girl, but still we were disappointed to miss the actual event.

Since the first calf was named Bambi, we decided it was fitting to name the second calf (a male) Thumper.  Bambi and Thumper have been fast friends.  (Meanwhile Patches has been sequestered to a separate pasture).

(Cow #3 {Brownie} is not due for her calf until the fall but the kids are already brainstorming more Bambi-like names for him or her.)

Over the long weekend Erik and his dad started work on the next farm venture - a chicken coop.

The kids enjoyed the sunshine and the chance to don their tool belts and "help Daddy work".

Daddy's trailer is always full of fun tools to try...

After the forming was done it was time for the concrete.  The boys were filthy but Erik said Micah was actually super helpful - a future Alderidge Construction employee in the making we think...

Not sure when this coop will house actual chickens but I'll be sure to keep you up-to-date on the egg-production venture.

And, speaking of eggs...

The warmest and sunniest day had to be Easter Sunday.  What a perfect afternoon for an Easter Egg hunt.

Ahhh, Mom - it's too bright!

 

Little Miss Organized made sure everyone had equal amount of eggs.

There has been much too much chocolate and sugar consumed in this household as of late and it's time for this preggo Mama to go into a bit of detox mode.  (If only it wasn't for this baby girl making me SOOO hungry... All. The. Time.)

And now some exciting stuff starts to happen here on the farm.  The plans for expanding the current house to meet the needs of Erik's parents and our own growing family are finally getting underway.  There has already been some demolition happening around here.  When I got home this afternoon I no longer had any railings on my deck - slightly dangerous but I'm definitely not missing my concrete block railings (which matched the pattern of the blocks on the bottom right).

The view from the house is much more unobstructed and I can start to envision a much nicer looking deck in our future...

The rest of the current house will stay as is and we will be building an addition out to the west side (to the left of the house on the first deck picture).  Once the addition is complete, Erik's parents will move into the new part and our family will take over both floors of the current house.  We're looking forward to having another bedroom, another bathroom and another living room to spread ourselves out a bit.

The real digging starts tomorrow so stay tuned!

Jamie Toews: Official Cattle Wrangler

I think I earned my cowboy spurs this week.  

Monday started innocently enough when we looked out the window after breakfast and saw that there was a new baby calf!  The older kids were home because of Spring Break so we all booted up and went outside to get a closer look.  It looked like the event had occurred very recently as the calf was still wet and struggling to stand.  Our 1-year-old jersey calf Patches was super interested in this new "friend", which seemed really sweet at first glance.  But I quickly realized he had more on his mind than befriending this new little calf...

Exhibit A:

If you remember, I used to bottle-feed Patches twice a day when we first got him last spring.  Then I worked with him many times to wean him off of said bottle.  So the two of us have a bit of a history and I have an overall affinity for the little guy.  But after watching him mount this newest addition repeatedly and noticing that the calf would collapse under his weight - and wasn't getting a chance to be cleaned off or try to nurse from Mama Cocoa - I was starting to get annoyed.

With Erik's parents in Saskatchewan and Erik tied up at work, I felt a strong sense of responsibility to "save" baby Bambi (named by the kids, of course) from her perverse predator.  So enter me, my rubber boots and my pregnant belly (with 3 other kids shadowing closely behind).

And this challenging terrain to maneuver through...

The challenge was this: luring Patches away without getting too close to Mama Cocoa - who would no doubt feel threatened by my presence (let alone my 3 tag-alongs) and do who-knows-what to protect her new baby.  And I needed to lure Patches a long way to the barn where I could lock him up in a pen.  We had just run out of grain - which seemed like it would be the perfect bait for him - so I first tried shaking some rocks in a bucket.  Patches seemed only slightly curious and the only thing it served to do was attract the other cows to see what I had for them.  Not successful.

After a bit of brainstorming, I decided to try again.  This time I grabbed some fresh hay from the barn and put a bit of dog food in the bottom of my bucket (it seemed more realistic than the rocks I guess).  Then I searched for a rope and made a lasso - at this point I must've been tapping into my inner farmer... or perhaps my inner Wonder-Pet... (you could hear the kids and I singing, "to help the baby calf and save the day!").

After watching Patches repeatedly "offend" the baby calf and Cocoa idly standing by, I was more determined than ever that my plan needed to work.  This time I got as close as I dared and did my best job of making the hay and pail of dog food look appealing to the occupied Patches.  Lucky for me he took the bait and I had my lasso ready to get around his neck and cinch tight.  And another lucky thing was that we were close to a fence post where I could quickly tie him up - out of reach of baby Bambi.

It was a bit of an adrenaline rush, I'm telling you.  And I felt a deep sense of satisfaction when I watched him struggle against my amateur rope-tying job while Cocoa was finally able to tend to her new baby.

But of course the drama wasn't over.  I won't get into too many details, but basically Patches got out of his rope eventually and made a bee-line for Bambi where he proceeded to violate her repeatedly for the next few hours.  I watched and waited for an opportune time and managed to get him roped up again - this time was trickier as he was in the middle of the field with no fence posts nearby to attach him to.  So envision me smacking his rump, pulling him by the horns, and just plain tugging with all my might.  After some sweat and some patience I finally got him tied back up.  And there he stayed until Erik got home a few hours later.

Now Patches the Offender is where he belongs.
Behind bars.

And Mama Cocoa and Baby Bambi (who we suspect is a female) got in their all-important bonding time.

So, I don't know about you, but I pretty much think I just single-handedly earned some sort of 4H badge or something...

At the very least I think I deserve a cute pair of cowboy boots.

The Fruit of the Land

It's been nearly a year since we've been living the farm life.  And we're at the best time of the year, when we can really enjoy the fruit of the land.

Our garden is in full production these days.  It's come a long way from planting day back in May.

The corn is officially taller than most of us.

We've been having garden fresh suppers that include foods like potatoes, dill, green beans and peas.

And we have a bumper crop of zucchinis.  I've already got enough grated zucchini in my freezer for a couple dozen batches of muffins.

We've enjoyed the first of many yellow plums.

And a few apples as well.

And the other night we discovered that there were ripe blackberries along the east fence that were waiting to be enjoyed.

And I would be remiss if I didn't include the beef.

 

Our big mama cows and their calves came back to the farm after vacationing at the neighbour's pasture for the past couple of months.

(Willy & Russell)

These calves are not little babies anymore.  And as cute as this face is, I can't help imagine the nice juicy steaks that we will be enjoying sometime in the not-so-distant future...

Animal Farm

The cows and their calves have grown braver over the past few weeks.  Most mornings we find them by the fence and we patiently coax the curious calves over to check us out.

Little Willy is the biggest and bravest of the 3 and usually the first to come over.

Mama Cocoa was a little curious too.  She was eyeing up that handful of long grass in Keziah's hand.

Stretching as far as possible without taking another step forward - because these two cow feeders look far too dangerous, I guess.

Finally, Russell comes close enough to sniff out Micah's hand.

And Micah gets a few strokes of the calf's nose before he scampers away.

All the while there were some other friends in the pasture - 3 deer hanging out by the back fence.  The cows didn't seem too bothered by the visitors.

Unfortunately, this lot of cattle was moved out of here yesterday.  Dad Toews made an agreement with a neighbour down the road to keep them in his pasture for a couple of months.  This will allow our pasture to heal and the grass to fill in, plus our cows will be living with a bull who will (hopefully) impregnate them the old-fashioned way.

And the cows aren't the only ones who've left the farm.  Our 2 cats have both disappeared in the last several weeks.  First the old farm-cat Mindy (who "came" with the farm) and then our new cat Moses who wasn't even a year yet.  With our small house space it just wasn't working well for us to have them inside at night.  So as soon as the weather turned nice we made them go outside at night.  This is what probably led to their demise what with all the coyotes in the area.

So our farm animal count has gone from 8 to 0.  A little sad for the kids.  We're already planning on getting another cat or 2.  And there has even been some talk about getting a puppy...

Meanwhile, we'll be missing our 3 handsome boys.

New Calves & Other Fun

I'm sorry if you're sick of reading about cows.  I know I would be if I were you.  If I'm being honest here, I have to admit I've taken more pictures of cattle in the last few weeks than I have of my own children.

It's a bit of a problem.

But with that said, I have to post a few more.  We have two new calves since I last posted and now our little herd is complete.  The second two came with very little fanfare - they just kind of popped up overnight.

Calf #1 (Russell) & Calf #2 with their Mamas. Both are males.

Cousin Caleb named Calf #2 "Willy".  Russell and Willy spent some time getting acquainted last week.

Then yesterday morning we woke up to find Calf #3 - a female.  We're thinking of naming her "Buttercup", though this morning Keziah was also considering the name "Mikayla":)

When we're not watching our new baby calves we're busy playing on our yard.  Erik is amazing at going out with the kids almost every day (even after a long day of work) and playing with them - giving me a chance to clean up dinner and just have a few moments of peace!  Some days they play hockey on the street, other days it's crazy daddy-games on the trampoline, but the current favourite has been baseball.  The kids impressed me with their batting skills on Friday night.

Keziah has fun doing sports with the boys, but she can often be found discovering and nurturing creatures that she finds on the yard - snails, caterpillars and ladybugs.

Not to mention the cats, of course.

And even though we have a lot of space on our new yard, we don't really have much for playground equipment.  The other days the kids found a patch of sand on the edge of the driveway and dubbed it "The Sandbox".  I'm thinking with a handy husband like Erik we could probably build something a little bit more legit...

As for me, I'm really enjoying the first spring on our new farm - watching everything coming to life and feeling the warm sunshine after some long rainy months.