What's Happening

Hello Everybody, Frank here.

Last week we had an exceptional amount of snow and ice for this area. This week we've had rain just about every day. But the good news is, next week, we have a day and a half that is forecast to be partly sunny. Then the weather forecast shows us going back into another rainy period for the foreseeable future. 

Needless to say the garden has not been worked, and it will probably will not be worked for at least two weeks. We had planned on having seedlings in the ground a week or so back. Things like cabbage, broccoli, cole type crops. But that's just not going to happen any time in the immediate future. Where I'm going with this line of thought, is that outside of planning and getting a varied assortment of seeds up to the sprout and seedling stage, there's just not much happening in the garden.

Our baby goats are doing good, they're out grazing with the big girls now. They're eating grain and seem to enjoy it greatly. For the most part we don't have to chase them down to go into the pen at night any more. I think the grain has a lot to do with that. 
 

First mozzarella of the season

We're getting about three quarts of milk a day, from only milking once a day right now. With the babies penned up overnight, we take all of the available milk before they get their breakfast. 

Our three first fresheners are coming along well. We're expecting their babies around April 2nd. That will also be about the same time that we wean the current batch of babies. So, that's the update for the goats.

Our chickens are doing good for the most part. We need to get rid of a couple of roosters. There is a good chance one of them may grace us at our dinner table tomorrow night. We're still not getting the egg production we want. We have 19 hens, and we're probably getting on average about 12 eggs a day. That's just not quite enough for our needs. But we are giving thought to what we're going to hatch around June 1st, so we can start that 6, 12, 18 month cycle. This will provide us with friers and replacement hens for the flock. So, that cycle continues also. I just wish we were getting more eggs. You see we feed the eggs to not only us, but to the dog and the cats.

The kittens are healthy and it's about time to get them spayed and neutered. And it's also time to ban the little boy goats. You probably remember them as Breakfast and Lunch.

We've been working on getting our garage cleaned out and organized. It just seems like every time you clear out an empty space, there is always something to take it's place.

We tried some fermented cabbage the other day, and we've been having a couple of bites of it each day for the last two or three days. For us it is definitely, let me say that again, definitely, an acquired taste. So, we'll have to wait and see how the fermented cabbage works out.

There's not much going on around the farm except everyday business as usual stuff. Our taxes are completed for the year. We have plans to butcher a couple of our older wethers, and tomorrow we're going to make some fresh pressed herb cheese. Or, we could go out in the garden and make mud angels. Now wouldn't that be fun? I've only put to or three loads of goat and chicken manure on the garden this year. Nah, we're not going to be making any mud angels. That's a tad bit immature. How about if we make mud pies and give them to our neighbors? Nah, because then they would expect pies every year. Well, as you can tell, things are a little slow around here right now. Hope you're having a good day. Take care. Bye-bye.

We'll talk more later, Frank
 

What Have We Been Up To?

For the past month, Frank has been attending a CERT class. Community Emergency Response Team. Some of it has been a good review/refresher to some of the things we learned in our EMT training. This training involved five Thursday nights, one Tuesday night, and two all day Saturday classes, with this last week involving a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He finished up this afternoon. In the midst of this class, he also attended a Tuesday evening storm spotter class, during another week that CERT was on a Thursday evening and all day Saturday. Now he only has his monthly county Communication Support Team meeting, which is next Tuesday evening. It has been a rather busy month for Frank in this respect.

In the meantime, we have both been studying for our Amateur Extra Class license. This is the top level of ham radio licensure and is more involved and detailed than the Technician or General class license tests we've taken so far. We have been trying to put in an hour or two per day for our studies, but haven't always been successful. There is an area ham fest coming up in about three and a half weeks where they will be administering licensing tests, but we're not sure if we will be ready by then. It just depends on how much time we can devote to studying.

In the search for variety in our new low carb life style, I have come up with a new twist for egg salad. We have some Chevre cheese in the freezer we need to get eaten up, so I have been gradually thawing it out and experimenting with a ranch type of seasoning. Not long ago, Frank mentioned having egg salad. I have to admit, my egg salad has always left something to be desired. Like flavor. Well, this time I chopped up six boiled eggs and added a few spoonfuls of the ranch flavored Chevre, along with a little mayo and bacon bits. It's actually pretty good for a change.

We had been crossing our fingers in hopes that the hay in the barn would last long enough for the snow to melt, and it did, just barely. So yesterday we cleaned the last of the old bale out and moved another large round bale into the barn. We shouldn't need to feed much of it now that the temperatures are rising and the grass is beginning to grow. But we will need it in about three weeks when Penny, Cricket and Lady Bug kid. 

The other thing we needed hay for is the 'baby pen' where we pen up the kids at night, so we can milk the does in the morning. This will keep the babies from nursing in the night and will probably give us almost a

gallon of milk a day. After I finish milking, I let the babies out so they can have their breakfast. We planned to start penning the babies up a couple of weeks ago, but then went into temperatures in the teens and low 20's at night and decided to wait until the weather was a little more cooperative. So, today

while Frank was finishing up his CERT class, I finished cleaning out and setting up the baby pen. I didn't take one picture, though, so this is what it looked like last year when we penned up Penny, Cricket and Lady Bug when they were babies. When we did the chores tonight, we penned up Patch, Breakfast, Buttons and Lunch. Surprisingly, they didn't do much complaining while we were still in the barn finishing up, but I expect they will be complaining in the morning when I go to milk.

I also moved the 'garden' outside today while Frank was gone. The weather was gorgeous with light winds, sunshine and temperatures in the 60's for most of the day. 

 






We will leave the seedlings on the south side of the house in the sun during the day, and move them onto the west porch in the evenings when the temperatures are predicted to be in the middle 30's just in case of frost. 

All of the seedlings so far are cold hardy, so they should be just fine. As long as the kittens stay out of them, that is. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed on that one. 

While I was at it, I planted another 40 paper pots with carrots and 40 with beets. Now that the south window in the house is empty, it's time to start the tomato and pepper seedlings. Maybe I can get to that tomorrow afternoon after church.

Cabbage

Transplanted seedling for a friend

Carrots

My favorite watering can

That's what we've been up to. We have been very grateful for some sunny, warmer days. The weeks of long, gray, cold, dreary days were really beginning to wear on me. They always do. Just looking out the window at the sunshine can make my day, and it's even better when I can be outside playing in the dirt. 14 more days until spring. We hope you've had a good productive week. It always makes you feel good when you can get something done, even if it's just the little things. Thank you for taking the time to read.

Until next time - Fern

Life & Death on the Farm

There are times that life on a farm or homestead can be a joy and a challenge. After One Stripe's successful birth of healthy, vigorous babies, we had a couple of days before Copper was due. So we tried to get a few things done.

 

We wrote about the beginning stages of getting the solar panels ready for installation a week or so ago. Frank has started charging and conditioning the batteries that will be used with these panels. We bought the batteries a few years ago, and it's time to charge and desulfate them in preparation for installation. He got that in the works yesterday in between trips to the barn to check on One Stripe and her babies, and to see if Copper happened to be in labor.

 While Frank was working on the batteries, I managed to make up some coleslaw and deviled eggs. I figured the next

few days would be busy and  wanted something quick and good to eat on hand. Then I was able to get a few seeds in the dirt. I have some old seeds that may not be viable any more so I wanted to try and use them up. I put a thick planting of dill, lettuce, mustard, onions and mixed baby greens back in the

herb bed. Then I planted three dishpans of seeds to put in a south window in the house. It was a beautiful, sunny, 65* day, and it was great fun to play in the dirt.

Patch and Breakfast this morning, 2 1/2 days old.

We decided to let One Stripe and her babies out of the birthing pen last night after two days of confinement. The babies are very vigorous, jumping around and exploring the barn. If they had not been this active, we would have kept them penned up for another day or two until we..........[Interruption.......] We just had a little rain shower pop up and I went to make sure these babies were in the barn instead of out in the corral or pasture. They were tucked into their birthing pen with One Stripe. This is one pen that we are able to remove the gate easily since we have it attached with double end brass clips. When we let them out, we actually just removed the gate so the kids can 'go home' when they want a warm place for a nap that is out of the way of the regular activity in the barn. And that is where I found them just now.

While Copper was eating on the milk stand last night around 5:30, I checked her udder and it was tight and full, which means her milk had come in. I knew then she could give birth anytime, so we planned to check on her again around 9:00. We also put her in a birthing pen, just in case. Her tail was becoming very pronounced and I figured she would have her kids in the night, so we made plans to come back and check on her at midnight. No babies.

When we got back to the house after the 9:00 barn check,  I went out to feed the cats and found Little Bit barely alive. She was having difficulty breathing and was very limp. Little Bit got her name from being the very littlest kitten of the four we got a few months back. She has always struggled to be healthy, fighting a type of kitty cold from the time we brought her home. We carried her to and from the barn a lot, because she couldn't keep up with the others. We had taken her to the vet a few weeks back for a long acting antibiotic and steroid shot which helped a little, for a short while. Instead of letting her suffer and die in the night, with much sadness and tears, we put her out of her misery. Thus is life on the farm sometimes. This morning, I miss Little Bit.

After the short trip back to the barn at midnight, Copper hadn't started labor. That made for a short trip, so it was back to bed until about 5:45 am. As I sleepily got dressed to head back to the barn, my thoughts were on another short trip, and back to bed for just a little more sleep. It wasn't to be. My arrival at the barn this time found Copper having contractions, not often, but contractions. With the sun just beginning to color the horizon, I settled into my barn chair to await the sun and the birth of new kids. I called Frank on the radio to give him the news. Remember we use our handheld radios all the time, and they come in very, very handy. Now it was his turn to get dressed and gather water, coffee, the camera and some snacks for me. He is truly a great husband.

After a little over an hour and Copper spending most of her time standing up, we decided to go down to the house for a quick breakfast and to warm up. Upon my return, I found a beautiful baby girl, mostly cleaned up and talking to her momma. From the looks of Copper, I knew she wasn't finished yet. Since nothing seemed imminent, I brought One Stripe in on the stand to be milked. No sooner had I gotten started, when Copper laid down pushed real hard a few times, and had another baby half way out. I guess she thought that was far enough because she stood up, and out he came and plopped in the hay. Copper is a great mom and started cleaning him up right away. 

Now you can meet Buttons, another beautiful baby girl. Her coloring and markings are very similar to Patch, except the white on her side is kind of splotchy and she has white on two of her feet like her grandmother, One Stripe.

Her brother, in keeping with the way we name boys, is named Lunch. He has more white than Breakfast, and is really a good looking boy.

Both of the babies are vigorous with a healthy set of lungs and a very good sucking instinct. I made sure they had another meal when I went up during the rain to check on One Stripe's kids. I also collected the afterbirth from Copper's pen since she was finished passing it. The goats will usually eat some of it, but we remove it once it's passed to prevent the smell from attracting any predators. On this trip to the barn I found Pearl laying right beside the gate to Copper's pen, right where she is supposed to be, protecting the new mother and kids.

Right before I left the barn this morning, I realized that one of the young wethers was limping very badly and wouldn't put one of his feet on the ground. But my back needed rest, so inspecting his hoof will have to wait for the next trip up the hill to the barn. Raising and breeding animals is not always a successful venture. More often it is, but not always. Sometimes they live, and sometimes they die. Such is life on the farm.

A different topic. If you are looking for more information about homesteading, gardening, preserving food, moving to the country and more, we would highly recommend that you check out the new ebook store, Country Living Series by Patrice Lewis, from Rural Revolution. Frank and I have read two of them, The Death of Knowledge and Bovine Basics for Beginners, and found them well written and informative. The Lewis family has been homesteading for several years. Patrice and her husband, Don, share many of their experiences in these writings. There is nothing like experience to teach you something, but reading first hand information from someone that is describing their life and learning is the next best thing.

We continue to learn each and everyday that we are blessed to live, and for that we are truly thankful. Each day that we can spend living life on the farm is one more day in paradise. Challenges and hardships cannot dim the blessings that this life brings with each new day. Now it's time for another trip....to the barn.

Until next time - Fern
 

Guess Who Came Home With Us?

A few days ago, on Friday, we drove into our little town to go to the post office, take the trash to the dumpsters and buy some livestock feed. As we made our rounds, we drove down a road out on the edge of town and found a passel of kittens in the road. We slowed way down and honked the

horn to get them to move out of the way so we wouldn't run over them. The owner came out and thanked us for slowing down. As we went on down the road a short way, Frank looked at me and said, "Do you want some kittens?" We had been talking about the need for more cats. We have noticed more mice and rats lately. One ran out of the hay in the barn when I was picking up an armload a few days ago. We pondered for a few short seconds, and I said, "Yes." So Frank slowly backed down the road and asked the owner if he was looking for new homes for the kittens. He quickly offered all we wanted. We completed our rounds, had some lunch, loaded up our small pet carrier and headed back into town.

One thing we had noticed about some of the kittens, was some goo in their eyes. The owner indicated he thought it was allergies and he had been putting allergy eye drops for people in their eyes. I thought it was more on the lines of pink eye. We initially didn't plan on getting any with gooey eyes, but ended up with two of them. The kittens are also thinner than they should be at this age. We have some eye ointment made for pinkeye which I started using the day we brought them home. Within a day and a half their eyes cleared up.

Since we have three adult cats, we keep new kittens in a large dog sized pet carrier on the porch until they have a chance to become familiar with their new surroundings and we feel they will be safe. We let them out for longer and longer periods of time during the day until they have adjusted. We will continue to pen them up at night for a while to keep them safe from other critters that wouldn't mind having kitty bits for a midnight snack. We keep a clean layer of hay inside and a large rubber mat over the top and down across the north end to block off most of the wind. It will be a big help when the gusty north winds come blowing in tonight.

  

We took the kittens to the vet today, Monday afternoon, for an overall checkup, their first shots and worming. When they're about six months old, we will have them neutered and spayed. I think right now they're about six to eight weeks old. The previous owner wasn't sure of their age.

One of them has a viral infection in a lymph node, but everyone else is okay. I'm glad we were able to get them wormed today. A couple of them have rough coats, instead of a nice slick coat, so they were in need of a good worming and good nutrition. Tonight we started adding a scrambled egg to their diet. In the morning they we will introduce milk. This will give them a little extra protein and added nutrition to get them off on a good start.  

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to our new critters.

Pretty

Tiger

Little Bit

Scruffy

We hope they turn out to be good mousers since all of our animals have a job to do and have to earn their keep. An added bonus to getting more than one kitten is watching them play. I expect to have many a good laugh watching these little guys grow up. We have high expectations for our new kitties. They will be loved, well fed, well taken care of, medicated when necessary, and provided a warm safe place to sleep and dream kitty dreams.

It's interesting how things in life work out. We had been talking about getting more cats for a number of months, but things just didn't work out. Then, Friday, when the time was right, we just happened to drive down a little side road full of kittens. And here we are, November, cold weather is coming, and a cat house (dog house) full of kittens. Life is good.

Until next time - Fern