Category: Around the Homestead
Isabella’s Big Night…
Okay, so I don’t have any pictures of Isabella (our little cousin) but we did live stream her Christmas program in North Carolina and invited Grandma down to watch it.
Our internet wasn’t quite fast enough, but we got the jist of it and Grandma was a trooper to deal with the skips and pauses. She was just amazed by the fact we could sit in our family room in Kansas and watch Isabella perform live in North Carolina.
Ruby was barking her head off and being a little freak show, so I picked her up and snapped a picture of her to calm her down.
See…
I don’t really think it calmed her down any, but we got a funny picture out of the deal if nothing else.
Have a wonderful Monday!
Another Fencing Project….
We have started yet another fencing project on our farm. We just like to abuse ourselves apparently.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early. Randy had already started working on tearing out old fencing and cutting down thickets along the fence row. We did a walk around the north end of the property to see what we were up against.
There are lots of trees and thickets that have grown over the old fencing and taken over.
Old fence row
There was a smaller mulberry tree that had to come out and a couple more that needed trimmed up really well. Luckily, our neighbors to the north came and helped trim the trees.
They were such a huge help. We ended up with two pickup loads of firewood…one for each of us. Thanks to good friends and good neighbors!
It’s That Time of Year…
Thanksgiving weekend Dad, Mom, Randy, and I loaded up in the pickup and headed to a Christmas tree farm where we (literally) cut our own Christmas tree down. It is an absolutely gorgeous tree! We loved decorating it and pulling out ornaments collected along the path our life has taken us down. From a beachy Santa on a hammock to Bryant-Denny Stadium to golden wheat…our ornaments are like a road map of our lives together. So fun to get them out and reminisce.
County Sheep Tour…
Our county sheep tour was today. There were four farms toured and lunch served. Our farm and momand dad’s were chosen as part of the tour. We learned lots, met lots of wonderful people, and got to visit with lots of people we haven’t seen in awhile.
The beginning of our tour started out with a registerd Hampshire farm.
Their working chute.
3 of their 4 guard dogs…Maremmas
Back to work guarding their Hampshire sheep.
Next was an interesting stop at a farm who no-tills, does windrow feeding, and has a wonderful rotational grazing setup where cattle can graze year around with the special seed mixes this farmer has used. He has found a way to make baling and hauling in hay unnecessary on his farm.
Waterers used to supply fresh, unfrozen water to his cattle in the winter.
Fiberglass/wood composite post used on his high-tensil fencing.
We broke for lunch before heading to our house and then to mom and dad’s. Lunch was a wonderful catered lunch that totally hit the spot.
The weather was beautiful which made for the perfect day to be outside. We learned so much and hope to be a part of these tours in the future.
Have a great day!
Just a quick update…
Just wanted to post a few pictures and an update on Ruby.
Randy lovin’ on mom and dad’s dog, Paris.
Paris lovin’ being loved on.
Ruby is improving everyday. Here she has taken over Koal’s pillowtop and blanket.
She barks, she plays with the other dogs, and she eats well….really well. She has gain one whole pound which is a lot for what was an 8 1/2 lb dog. She now weighs 9.6 lbs and has had her food cut back a bit. She still runs from us when we try to pick her up, but she will hopefully come around there too. We try to take her with us as much as possible, and I think this has been huge in her progress.
Hope everyone is having a great day!
Two Weekends of Work…
We had visitors in our pool house last weekend.
To say they destroyed it would be an understatement. It took Randy and I 4-5 hours and a lot of bleach to get it back up to suitable standards for the cats.
Ruby is still terrified, but slowly coming around day by day.
*That looks like a 6-pack of Sapporo, but is Kombucha bottled in old beer bottles.
Even the other dogs are getting used to having Ruby around. Thai is a good big brother.
Randy and I saw this awesome barn on our way to a co-workers house hauling him a calf mom and dad sold to him. It was such an awesome barn, on the way back by I had to stop and snap a couple pictures.
After Randy sheared two llamas and trimmed one of the llamas hooves for some people, we hauled straw out to our lambing pens from a broken round straw bale. After two pickup loads and a pitch fork we headed up with the tractor the get the third and final load that we will use in some of our smaller lambing pens.
It was so hot in the sheep shed unloading the straw, but we got it done. Our big sheep shed is all ready for fall lambing.
We also cleaned the chicken coop the day before and got it all stuff with straw for winter. The chickens were pumped!
Labor Day Weekend…
I have been planning and scribbling a list of to-dos and purchases to make for Randy and I to get back into some traditional eating (WAP and Nourishing Traditions). This will include things like:
Dos:
Cod liver oil/butter oil (Green Pastures)
grass-fed raw dairy products
fermented food (homemade sauerkraut)
soaked grains
butter
bone broths
pasture/grass-fed meat (venison, chicken, beef)
local pork (nitrate, nitrite, and msg free)
organic fruits and vegetables whenever available
seafood
organ meats
Don’ts:
coffee (probably the hardest thing on this list to give up, especially going into winter)
alcohol
refined sugars and flours
chemicals and additives
high-fructose corn syrup
soda
hydrogenated oils (use coconut instead)
We’ll see how it goes. Randy is onboard, but we haven’t started yet. We hope to add a workout into this plan, P90X, Yoga, stretching, and some treadmill time. I hope to take my bike to work this week so I have a way to get around other than walking since I am carless due to carpooling.
Today was the last of the heat here (we think). Our forecast gives us hope fall is on its way and our spirits are reflecting the cooler days predicted ahead.
We did lose a lamb this week to the heat. We lost a lamb and a ewe earlier this summer due to heat. We have four lambs struggling and getting doctored right now. We are in hopes the cooler weather will be the boost they need to get turned around. It is so hard to see them miserable and struggling in the heat.
We dropped hay yesterday and will continue to feed hay through the winter. Our pastures are done for the year. Little rain and blazing hot temperatures were hard on it and left little grass this year and will affect the grass available next year as well. We need an early spring with sufficient rain to get that grass growing.
I can’t wait to throw open the windows and get some fresh, cool air in our house. Our cookstove should be here in a few weeks. We plan to go cut more wood (hedge) Monday.
Ruby is adjusting…everyday she makes progress. Medically she seems fine. Socially she has quite a ways to go. She rode with Randy and I when we hauled lambs to the sale today. Her head was up and she watched out the windows and walked comfortably across the seat back and forth to each of us. A big improvement from the cowering little dog plastered to the floorboard like she has been everyday until today. She still finds the closest corner of the house to hunker down in, but she will get there. We try to take her with us as much as possible. She’s going to be devasted when we leave and go back to work. Thank goodness we had this week off to snuggle with her or her progress would have been even slower. The other dogs don’t LOVE her, but they tolerate her pretty well considering she is 5 to 8 times smaller than her. She goes back to the vet Friday to have her staples and stitches removed which means no more cone on her head at night. She will be pumped about that…Ruby hates her cone!
Take care and have a safe and happy labor day weekend!
Ruby at Home…
We finally have Ruby home and settling in. She is still pretty timid, but slowly coming around.
Here is Ruby and Randy at the Bentonville Farmer’s Market in front of Walton’s 5 & Dime before leaving Arkansas. We had just picked Ruby up from the vet and wanted to see if we could find some fruit, pecans, or something fun as a thank you to mom, dad, and Craig for watching our farm while we were away. We didn’t find any food, but did meet some really nice people. One young couple we met asked if Ruby was a Brussels Griffon? Randy said, “she’s a…we found her along the side of the road on our way from Kansas.” We looked up Brussels Griffon when we got home and sure enough. She fits that breed description exactly.
She seemed to feel more at ease inside the kennel than out. Our three other dogs barking didn’t even phase her. Did she come from a puppy mill? Large breeder? I guess we will probably never know.
We haven’t gotten her to eat solid food yet so I have been feeding her lamb milk replacer through a syringe. She LOVES it. This was the only way our got our cat, Max, back on solid food after his bout with pancreatitis, so I thought I would try it.
Not sure she has ever been on a leash. She hates it, so that may take some training to get her to walk on a lead.
Here is the tongue she uses to lap up the milk out of the end of the syringe. Everyday we are making a bit more progress. Hope she continues to improve and warm up to us.
We took her up to see Grandma this morning. She loves little dogs and loved Ruby. Once she is a little more active and friendly it will be fun for Grandma. This visit she was rolled up in the towel like a burrito because of all of her incisions and stitches.
I hope to continue to post on her progress here…and hope there is progress to post!
One Hot Summer…
I have said it before and I’ll say it again. We have had a hot, dry summer and everyone has felt it around our farm.
We have left the dogs inside for days on end because of triple digit weather and even they are getting tired of lounging inside in the a/c.
Ash
Koal
Thai
Even the llamas are feeling the stress of the heat.
Here Lexus is trying to tell us her pool is dry. It is dry because she has nearly destroyed it laying it, but all she knows is it needs water…now.
Please!!
We have lost a few chickens due to the heat as well. They are free range, but for some reason don’t always leave the coop which gets really hot in the afternoon and evening. Hopefully we have seen the last of this 2011 Summer for everyone’s sake.
Have a wonderful day!
A Simple Prairie Life 