Finally - I am so excited

Well we had a calf today and finally we got a red and white lineback heifer - Whoo hoo! We have been hoping to get one for awhile now. I don't have a picture because they brought her down when I was milking. Now what to name her?

When the cows get names I try to make their name rhyme with their mothers or somehow related to their mothers name. I just don't remember things like I used to so I need some cheats to help me out. Like this calf, her mother is Tomato, her sister Ketchup and her grandma was Hamburger. Maybe she will have to be sesame seed or something. We have Purdy who had Gertie, Birdie and Fergie. Annie had Fannie, Molly had Dolly then there is Cookie who had Crumbs and Chocolate Chip, Baby Cakes had Twinkie and so on. Sometimes we also name them for the time they were born. We have Kringle and Mistletoe, Valerie(valentines) and Geri because she was born on labor day and the first thing that popped in my head was the Jerry Lewis telethon. Then sometimes the names are just random like my son named an almost all black holstein Casper, who would have guessed. We also have Thelma and Louise because they were inseperable when they were little.

It was sleeting and snowing tonight,Blah! It is hard to believe that tomorrow is going to be so nice after this kind of weather but it is supposed to be. Well want to get some of the housework done so I don't have to spend any time indoors tomorrow.

It is going to get so nice out - can't wait

They are predicting highs starting Wed. to be between 60-80 degrees. I can't wait, I have a big to-do list started for when it is nice. First thing is to get hubby and get my raised beds built. I will definately be outdoors for days, I love to be outdoors! I still have not seen a robin here yet but I am sure on those days I will and I am sure the tulips will pop up finally.

We had another calf last night. I had the 4 AM watch and lucky for me when I got up there, there she was. No assistance needed. Our holstein cow, Chloe, had her. The calf is a holstein/jersey cross and is all dark brown. We usually only have the jersey bull for the heifers but we had a holstein bull that was not doing his job very well so until we could get a different one we let the jersey bull in with the cows so we will probably get quite a few crosses. I don't mind crosses, we have quite a few, but I was hoping to get some more full holstein cows. Maybe the next one.

Well after my check I was headed back to bed but had to walk through the barn where all the little ones are and they all started blatting at me. I thought what the heck and got those calf chores done early and they all happily went back to sleep but not for me I was wide awake so I will probably be to bed earlier tonight.

Some of our critters

Murphy

Gus and March

Well the day after my gloomy one was much better. The sun was out and my mood was so much better but I was still a little tired feeling. So I decided to take some pictures of some of our critters.

Murphy is one of our roosters that one of our hens hatched. He is pretty friendly to us but of course to the other chickens he feels he is the king. He is one of the chickens that when it is cold stays in the calf barn. They have a coop in there but in the day they run free around the barn and when it is warm they run outside. Well he has a couple of sons that run with him and sometimes I find them jammed in between hay bales hiding from "the king".

Then there is Gus and March our nubian goats. I can't wait because March is due to kid at the end of April. These will be our first baby goats. We are hoping to expand and get a couple more female goats and hopefully March will have some. Knowing my luck though they will be boys. We have a friend keeping an eye out for us, in fact tonight was the annual lamb and goat sale and she went there so she said she would see what was there. Hopefully she can find one but right now they go high and we don't want to spend a fortune. I will keep my fingers crossed.

I was trying to take a picture of one of my cats Horatio but he would not cooperate and I did not like any of the pictures. He is my favorite, momma's baby! He was a kitten in the barn and at first wouldn't even let us get close to him but I was persisant and eventually he became my buddy. He is a long haired cat and as a kitten he looked like a ball of fluff running around. Well he got so friendly he would come under the cows when I was milking and want to be pet. I couldn't shoo him away for anything and I thought one of us will get kicked if he does that under certain cows so we both gave Dad the puppy dog eyes and he got to come in the house. Now he comes in and out but doesn't bug me under the cows anymore. Maybe I will get a good one when he is in the house, I was trying outside.

Well the hubby made a deal with me that he would take my egg washing duty tonight if I would make him some bread. There is an italian herb one that he just loves but I make it in the bread machine so I think I got the better end of the bargain. So off to making bread.

Oh a day in the life of a cat

Looks so stressful, doesn't it


I don't know if it was the rain and gloom after such nice sunny days but today was just not my day. I had no energy and seemed to have to drag myself through every chore. I just did not feel like I wanted to do anything, I was just wanting to be done, wanting a day off. Day off, what is that? - a luxury that are few and far between at least at this farm and usually is gained only when you are vomiting every half hour ( if it is happens every 3-4 hours then there is still time in between for milking the cows).


My mood was even gloomy. We have a chicken that everytime I go to collect eggs under her she pecks at my hand terrible which usually I handle quite well. Not today, when she did it I felt like ripping her out of that box and plucking every last feather off her and putting her in the oven for dinner. Dinner, cooking- ugh! I just had no energy to even think about doing that today. Tonight my family would be dining on cereal so the chicken lives to see another day, lucky her.


It was becoming a long day that I kept hoping would soon end but it just dragged on. All I could think about was I wanted to have a day like my cats' day where the only decision I would have to make is when do I want to get my butt off this couch and go get something to eat.


Half way through milking tonight I did start to step it up a little and gain a little energy because I kept thinking it is almost over with, pajama time is near and MOVE OVER CAT! I even mustered up enough energy to cook dinner ( and no not the chicken!). So instead of rice krispies and lucky charms my family got ham, potatoes and corn although I think my son would of been happy with the lucky charms. So maybe it looks like tomorrow will be a better day, maybe more sun, more energy, a better mood but for today sorry for whining and thanks for listening ( the way that sounded it popped in my head that I should of said- Don't worry we'll leave the lights on) .

Geese in the back yard

Well the sun has left for today and it is raining but I didn't expect to get those nice sunny and warm days every day especially this early. I think this will be a good day to do some baking. I have spent most all my time outdoors lately I think I will bake some goodies for the family today.

We had another calf today and it is a heifer - Whoo Hoo! It is not a lineback one but it is a holstein. Usually if we get a full holstein calf it is a bull and the heifers are the cross breeds. She is little compared to those monster sized bulls we have been having. The barn is getting full of calves and we really haven't started the time when we usually get most of our calves. I will have to end up tucking some away in my son's bedroom if this keeps up.

The seeds that I started are up and I will be so glad when it is time to put them outside. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy too so I think I will start another batch of seeds.

Yesterday I was making butter when out of the corner of my eye through the window I caught a glimpse of the geese in my back yard. I was wondering if they would venture out of the cornfield and down to the yard and visit the ducks. I have to say I am not real happy about this. I didn't mind the geese when they stayed in the field but in my yard is another story. The ducks already make kinda of a mess out back by the chicken coop and we don't need the geese to help. I don't think I will have any grubs or bugs out there thanks to the ducks but I hope the grass will grow back this spring. I should of grabbed my camera cause they are pretty but I was in the middle of the butter making so I just watched them as I worked.

Well off to baking before afternoon chores come.

The energizer chicken

A few chickens soaking up the sun

The energizer chicken

It was such a beautiful day today that I let every animal out that I could, opened up every barn door or window possible and even opened up a couple in the house. I love when you can let the fresh air in, not that I stayed in at all today. I made sure I found lots of things to do outdoors today.

It was so funny, when one of our black australorp chickens got outside all she did was run around. She made laps through the front and back yard for hours. Everytime I turned around there she went running by. All the other chickens were sunning themselves or picking in the grass but not her she was like the energizer chicken she just kept going ( as you can see in the picture, she would not even pause long enough for a pose). I think she overheard our conversation about putting some of the chickens in the freezer so she was determined to slim down and toughen up. The other chickens were probably laying there chilling out enjoying the sun thinking that girl has gone mad! In fact I took a little break today and sat on the back porch watching her thinking the same thing.

It was so nice the last few days even my neighbors honey bees have spring fever. There are no blossoms for them yet so they have been hanging around our big bin full of ground corn. Everytime I go to get feed for the calves and heifers I have to walk through a whole bunch of them buzzing around. They get in my buckets and follow me for a bit. All I think is Nice Bees please be nice. I try not to dump any feed on them because I get my honey from my neighbor so I don't want to kill the poor things. My son says it freaks him out to go out and get the feed and have to go through the bees so he doesn't like to do it by himself when they are there.

Well there was a glitch in the tractor today and the hubby is out there working on it and it is getting late so I think I will go see if he needs a hand ( which usually means I just sit there and talk and usually to myself cause he is to busy concentrating on his stuff to listen to me). Hopefully more sun tomorrow!

Another Fuzzy

Well we had another Fuzzy calf and again it is a bull and this one was black/white. I don't have a picture of him because we went up to clean the barn and wasn't expecting to find a calf. The man who buys our bull calves must be getting close to maxed out and I don't know what I will do with them when he is. I hate to send them to the auction because some people told me they have gotten a bill from that. We have not yet but you just don't get much from them from the auction these days. You know I always think too that a person will spend up to $500 on a puppy that will be just a pet ( don't get me wrong I love my dog) but don't want to give anything for a bull calf that will eventually fill the freezer or breed a lot of your cows). Go figure. I do hope that we can continue to find someone who wants to buy them directly from us so we won't have to send them because soon I will have bull calves in every corner of the barn. Out of our last7 calves only 2 were heifers.

It was another beautiful sunny day and we had someone working on the plumbing so we did not have water in the house today so this was a good day to get the scrubbing done in the milk house. It was funny, I like to use bleach when I am cleaning the milk house and my husband didn't know I was out there doing it( he was in the cellar helping with the plumbing) so I came in just as they were testing the water and they both were worried because that couldn't figure out why it smelled like bleach since they hadn't used any. They were relieved to find out it was me. Thank goodness the plumbing went quite well and the water is back on. The time we were changing the sink in the bathroom because this is an old farmhouse every time I turned around they were sending me to the hardware store for more parts. The house is about a hundred years old and I think the plumbing is too. The guys at the store were getting quite a kick out of all the trips I was making and they lasted 2 days. I was putting in my lunch requests cause as much time and money I was spending there I figured I ought to get a lunch break.

Tomorrow another sunny day predicted, can't wait. If only it wasn't so mushy out so I could clean out the chicken coop. Maybe soon - I hope!

It's a boy

We had a new addition last night, a red/white lineback bull calf. He was born late last night so we left him with his momma until morning milking. Well as you can see when I headed up to get him and take his picture he had left his momma and crossed over to go to the side with the milking cows. He probably figured the mother load of milk was over there instead of with those dry cows he was hanging out with.

We love when we get linebacks just to bad he was not a heifer. This is the second red/white one we have had and they were both bulls. We raised one of our black/white lineback bull calves to breed and that is his daddy, Fuzzy was his name. In fact when we see lineback calves we all say It's a Fuzzy! Well our chances of having anymore Fuzzies is getting slim because Fuzzy is no longer with us. He was very proficient at his job and was determined to breed one of our holsteins that was quite a bit taller then him. When we brought the cows in that afternoon Fuzzy had injured the part of him that makes him a breeding bull. It looked awful, it was swollen and huge! The vet said maybe give it a little time to see but it never got better. I wonder if maybe the cow had kicked him or he fell and it got stepped on but we do miss Fuzzy. So the cows that he bred are almost all had their calves. We did get 3 black/white heifer lineback calves and then about 4 bull ones besides the 2 red/white ones. I think there is no more chances for red/white ones. When we sent the last red one away my son was quite upset so I think he has convinced his dad to keep this one. I am glad my son will be happy but this one will not be able to breed any of the younger cows just the old gals so I have a feeling I might have to take care of this one and it won't be anything more than a pet for quite awhile. Kinda hoping my son will change his mind. I have enough calves to feed already. Wonder what he will name him.

Almost can't close the freezers

I read on someones blog where she is not going to go to the grocery store for 6 mos. I decided that I might try that for May and June and see if I can do it. I mean those are 2 very busy months and it would save on impulse shopping. Today we got beef back from the butchers and I practically had to sit on the freezers to get them shut, they are full and that was after I gave some away. We have 2 chest freezers and 2 frigerator freezers and I couldn't put another thing in. Some of this is pork and some of the last beef we got. So with full freezers that helps out the no grocery store challenge. Now each time I go to the store I just buy extra of some things even though I don't need it. Maybe I can make it last longer than 2 months. With gardening, hay season, new calves and lawn care, a little extra time from not having to go to the store will be welcomed. I am a diet soda addict so I better stock up so I won't have to kill anyone from lack of caffine.

Well unfortunately things popped up and I never got my seeds stared but tomorrow I am definately going to do it even if it means locking the doors and taking the phone off the hook. I will just throw some sandwiches out the window at lunchtime and noone would need to come in, right? There are bushes out there(hee hee).

I just hope we don't get too much rain tomorrow. My brother in law heard it could be quite a bit. Of course it runs down hill to the barn here and if it gets too hard the drops are full and we are doing an awful lot of sweeping to try to get it out. I don't have time for that, I will keep my fingers crossed but it is already so mushy and wet out now.

Little excitements, seed starting and new outlets

The sun is out and the temperatures are in the 50's, it is so nice. I like that when I go out to milk cows I don't need thermal clothes or 4 layers on. It is also nice to open up the big door when we are milking, I love when it is natural light to milk with. I was also able to open the big doors on the calf barn so they can get sunshine too, I am sure they are pleased about that.

They are predicting rain though for the next few days though and kinda heavy on Sat. I guess. So the pond that has developed in my back yard will probably turn into a lake( because there is still quite a bit of snow to melt also). Well I guess I will have lake front property then. I just hope that the geese that hang out in the corn field don't decide to come swim in the back yard, oh the lake I mean, with my ducks. Last summer it rained so hard there was quite a large stream running down the hill in the yard and the kids were having a great time using it like a slip and slide.

I am also excited because we are getting some electrical work done in the house. We bought the farm from my husbands parents and it is an older house that needs some remodeling so as milk prices allow( which isn't too often) we try to do some. I am finally getting a bathroom light with a switch-Whoo hoo!!! I know most people have those but when you don't you get excited over little things like that. All we had was the one that his parents had which was a flouresent light sitting on the medicine cabinet. I had to use a flashlight to find things in the closet. Well as I type the light is going in. Also most of the rooms only have one outlet in them. A 100 years ago they didn't have all the computers and stuff so I guess one was sufficient. So before today I had a whole bunch of extension cords in my craft/computer room to plug everything in to the outlet. Anytime I needed to use something else like the sewing machine something else had to get unplugged. All the cords ran under my computer chair so if I forgot and moved the chair I would unplug the computer, how frustrating when you were right in the middle of something. But Whoo hoo again now I have 2 more outlets with 4 outlets in each and no more cords under my chair. Yippee how these little things excite me.

Well today I am starting some of my seeds. Another thing that excites me, boy it doesn't take much does it. I have been busy lately and haven't got the chance but now is the time. I also bought some of those water walls that go around the plants. I have never tried them but I have read about people who have used them and like them so I got a few and I am going to try to plant some tomato plants a little earlier in the garden this year so I need to get those seeds started. Only a few this year and if they work I will do more next year.

Well off to start my seeds and get out and enjoy this sunshine before the rain starts.

Say what

I read somewhere recently ( I can't remember where because that would mean the memory section of my brain was fully functioning and it is not much to my dismay) about farmcation. People pay money to spend time at a farm and help with chores and get home cooked meals. Well my first reaction was Say What, people paying me to help with my chores Wow! If someone was going to help me do my chores I would make them a home cooked meal for free. I mean I already have to make them now I just make a little more. But really I guess sometimes we take for granted even though it is hard work at times how nice it is to be able to have land and the farm. Even after the most frustrating day I would not exchange it for a life in the big city. I know there are people who love city life but there are probably many that would love to have the country life. Of course you take a litlle less for granted when it is 60 out and not 2 !!

Ahhh the snow is melting

It is getting so nice out. Todays high was almost 50. I know we will still have more cold days before it is all over but I will take these nice ones when we can get them. We still have a lot of snow but it is melting away. There was a huge wet area in the back yard where a small stream popped up and was running in to it and another one out of it on the ohter side. I had to go through it to get to the chicken coop ( or I could go all the way around but didn't feel like carrying buckets that far), well when I did the water was up past my boot. I did not expect it to be that deep. Well later I see the ducks were swimming in it and floating down the stream. They are definately happy for the snow melt.

This wet spot is exactly why I am moving my garden this year. Last year all the rain streamed right into my garden. So today I let the chickens out of their coop to soak in some sun and started spreading some of their poo on my new garden to be spot. I went to home depot to buy a garden cart so I wouldn't have to lug my buckets anymore and I bought another packet of tomato seeds. I just need to stop buying seeds if I don't get to plant them soon I might find myself buying brussel sprouts to plant and I don't like them at all. I really hope the garden does well in this new spot.

A girls day out

The girls (and 2 guys) got to go out and play in the snow today. They were pretty excited. It is funny to watch them they are like little kids, they run around till they exhaust themselves then they want to come in, eat and take a nap. This is the first time out this year for them. I am glad it was nice enough for them to get a little "recess" time.

Please hurry spring

I just am getting cabin fever awful, I want to be outside so bad. At least it has stopped snowing and the sun is shining. It is going to be in the 40's for quite a few days and hopefully all this snow will melt away. Of course then we can wallow in the mud. I read somewhere once- What are the four seasons called in New York?- Winter, still winter, mud and construction. Oh so true!

With this spring fever I have everytime I am out and see seeds I get more. Really too many if I don't stop but I am wanting to be in the garden. My husband says if I don't stop we will have to turn the whole yard into a garden.

We had another calf and whoo hoo it is a heifer and I didn't have to do any night checks on this cow, in fact we were expecting two different cows to freshen before her. On a sad note though, Corin, the cow we waited forever on then she had the huge calf, well she won't get up. After she had the calf she was up a licking it and doing great. We left for a couples hours that day and when we came back she was flat out with milk fever. The vet came and gave her calcium in the veins and she spunked up but didn't get up. She dig drag herself into a stall and one day we went up and she was two stalls down so she had to get up for that. She is really spunky and alert and healthy looking but just not getting up. The vet saw her again and said maybe it is a muscle now and with some pain killers and time she will get up. We keep trying to help her but she just can't get it. I was telling her one day if she didn't get up she would be hamburger, not like that would work and I didn't really mean it but my son in hopes that she doesn't end up on a bun has taken over her feeding. He is so good he is up there watering and feeding her faithfully. Maybe with all this attention she just got lazy and is enjoying it. Hopefully she will soon, the vet seems to think she will so we will keep trying.

Well think spring!!! I figure I better go throw all the seed catalogs away, for my own good, because I do still have away to go before I will be digging in the dirt.

Becoming self sufficient

Last night none of our dinner was bought from the grocery store ( except the ketchup, my son puts it on everything). My oldest son helps out a farmer who raises pigs so that is where our ham came from because we got a pig from him. We have friends that are potato farmers and we give them eggs for potatoes so hence our potatoes came from there and we froze the corn from this summer. The milk is from our own cows and I even make the butter from that. This doesn't happen all the time but that is what we have started working towards and it just seems nice when it happens. Hopefully our garden will do well this year and we will have lots of canning to do and we grow our own steers for beef and have chickens for our own eggs. Being self sufficient is hard work at times but when you know where your food came from and exactly how it was grown and what went in to it, it is well worth it.