Late yesterday, Nancy wouldn't let me close to her rear. That's little Issy. Issy in a box in the house. I've had to force feed her, as she lols her tongue like one of our calves used to, cannot seem to suck. Put a hot water bottle in with her, have tried to keep a cat in with her, but they have other ideas. Sargeant jumps up against her box and she's escaped a few times, but I rubbed her down and she nuzzles against me. I checked them at 3 am this morning, in the rain and they were under cover in their little house, Issy between the pallet and mum, who was fine. She wasn't contracting as far as I could tell. This morning, Herbie called me that he thought my sheep was dead. She was, lying further down the pasture with little Issy curled up next to her. I'll cut her open shortly to see how many lambs were still inside her, and if they were lying breach. So we have a little orphan lamb. Feeding her with the bulb syringe as not having much luck with the teat. She pooped some grain pellets, didn't know she ate some yesterday, and although I saw her drink from Nancy, she probably only received one days' worth of colostrum. I'll keep a watch on the 4 ewes still to lamb, and try and have one of them accept Issy when their own lambs are born. It's better for her to stay with the other sheep than live with me as a pet.
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Another thunderstorm and downpour already today, we have ducks and geese actually swimming in our vegetable garden, the pool of water there is so big. The pond has extended all the way down to the pasture fence, the ground everywhere sodden with puddles. The earthworms are drowning, which is a feast for the chickens. At last, Nancy has given birth. So far just a tiny little girl, and she is still trailing what looks like part of the bloody sac but still may have another lamb or 2 inside, she's still large. The little brown girl slipped through the fence and was lying outside the sheep pen, so I picked her up and dropped her back inside. Nancy is nuzzling her and I've seen her drink, so all is well with this little one. Remains to be seen if she has more. Have 4 girls still to lamb. We have 3 boys and 4 girls so far, 2 of the boys already bespoke, although I have no idea on how we are going to catch them next week for sale, they are fast little buggers. Took Sockeye to butcher yesterday. Jim and Jenny will be collecting the meat in about 2 weeks, he will be really good eating. The tunnel has over 2 inches of water, I slosh to and from milking. Had to squeegee the milking parlour this morning before milking, as the earth floor room is flooded with sandy water pouring into the milking area. The silt is very slippery, so moved some of the water from the feed room to wash the muck away. Dolly was very suspicious coming in to milk this morning, and then wouldn't leave, her feet kept slipping. I took her collar and "clicked" her out, the sound I make which soothes them and lets our animals know it is all right (Herbie thinks I'm nuts). The rain has washed the red barn paint off the doghouse that Herbie made, which we placed under the tree in the split of the driveway. Weird. One would think that barn paint would stick better than that. Picking up our fruit and nut trees from the Ionia Conservation District tomorrow, they moved collection to their offices as the Ionia Fair Grounds are under water. Can't plant them as I cannot dig any holes there is so much water. It's supposed to get up to 70 degrees today, but tomorrows' max temp is slated for 43 degrees. Michigan weather, oh well. I'll be happy with some sun, please. Herbie checked the new hayfield this morning, which he says looks sparse but is greening. I was washing eggs in the kitchen and saw the cows take off running to the back, so could follow Herbies' progress when he was out of sight. Herbie thinks we should get Dolly a training bra, when she runs her udder bobbles all over the place :). The grass is greening, the willow tree has buds, also our cherry trees, but the others still look dormant. The garlic has started to come up, but the leaves are all shredded from the chickens, ducks and geese. Had to replant 1 clove as it was pulled completely out of the ground - damn poultry. Our daffodils are up, with some yellow showing. Remains to be seen whether the chickens will destroy them before or after opening. I've come to the realisation that one can't have free-range poultry and a garden. Always thought it was dogs or a garden, but I'm wiser now. Have the next lot of yoghurt draining in the kitchen, which will please my husband. He hasn't had any to eat for a while now. He'd actually prefer yoghurt to ice-cream. Suits me, I'll take the ice-cream, thank you very much ! The other day I helped Herbie spread cow manure over the garden. Once again he drove the big tractor, tipping the scooped black gold over the fence into the shit spreader attached to the little tractor which I then drove around and dispersed. The first loads he did both jobs himself, climbing through the fence each time. Amy and Marty gave us the rest of their hay, the sheep are enjoying it and say thank you. Sheep are funny, very verbal when they want food, otherwise you don't know they are there. They just have to see me with a bucket and they all run to the fence, making a lot of baa-ing noise. Herbie no like sheep noise. Yep, just gone and checked on Nancy. She's lying down with her lamb up against her front, having contractions. I walked around the pasture to view her back end, something dark is trying to come out. I've not witnessed an ewe birth before, she actually stands on her front legs and then drops back down at the end of the contraction. Looking at her bulging sides, I'd say there could be another 2 in there. Checked for more eggs, found one in the basement window well, then went into the chicken house. A chicken jumped up and pecked at the egg in my hand and I dropped it. It broke so I threw it outside. Cheeky chicken. I know we have some that break the eggs to eat them, but had never experienced it like that before. Sockeye yesterday before going to butcher. Marmite with her little boy. He's small, but I think Nancys' little girl is even smaller. Nancys' back end yesterday. I'll try get a picture of her and her lamb/s. It's been sort of snowing on and off all day so far. Looks like little styrofoam balls, interspersed with rainy sleety wetness. And wind. According to the news this morning, yesterdays' 1.67 inches of rain broke the previous record for precipatation in a 24 hour period. It's a very wet April, Herbie predicts a great harvest. I just need to finish planning the plantings, and do it, of course.
Found 38 chicken eggs and 5 duck eggs yesterday, no goose eggs. So far today, the tally is 35 chicken, 6 duck and 4 goose. I think I should start advertising the goose eggs, we are running out of space, or should stop collecting them and allow the mama geese to hatch their goslings. Making feta cheese today, with a little blue mould so maybe I can replicate my Farm Bleu Feta. Herbie has gone to work, think I'll read, watch a movie, play computer games or something. It's far too yucky to be outside, or in the shed or garage. Yep, there is hail damage to Herbies car from when I was caught in that storm on Wednesday in Indianapolis on my way back home from Tennessee. The insurance adjuster should be calling early next week. The hail stones were golfball sized, pelting us while we were caught in gridlock traffic. I'm showered and clean, very different from my earlier self. I even had cow poop on my face, my shoes were drowned in it, until my feet were smeared through my socks. My jeans were covered in cow mud, the sleeves also. I actually took all my clothes off in the laundry when I entered the house through the basement with the milk and popped it all into the washing machine. I was cold and wet. When is this yucky weather going to leave ?
Went and fetched hay from Mike today, passed town where I picked up some stuff, came home to find our 6th lamb, a boy born to Marmite. The first black boy. Earlier today I was watching the cows running around the pasture. Herbie said they'd need hay tonight. I waded through deep cow mud to go check, moved the centre hay to the sides so the cows could reach it, but there was very little, so I took the truck back out of the shed, then took the blue tractor out and took a bale off the truck. I haven't done this in ages as Herbie has been doing it. Got it off and took it out to the pasture, was mobbed by hungry cows. Placed it and cut off the plastic wrap and the netting, then lowered the feeder back over the bale. Had to lift it from the bottom as I'm too short to reach the top and push it over. Had to walk very carefully as the cow mud tried to suck my shoes off. Milked Dolly, she missed all the fun as I'd already taken her to the milking parlour, then chose to rather do the hay in the light and the milking in the dark. Anyone needing a tool to move logs, check out Logjaw.com. This is a tool patented and manufactured by one of my herdshare owners, Beth and Tracey McDonald. It is really cool, I look forward to using them for years to come. Only went to sleep at 4am this morning, chatted to Herbie after he arrived home around 3. He was sent up North into an ice storm last night and thought he was going to die with the fuel tanker slipping on the ice. Had to drive at 30 mph max. I think I'll toddle off upstairs now, I need to sleep. Goodnight. Arrived back home last night in the rain and it's raining still. Looks like a huge pond outside. The chickens are all wet and bedraggled, the sheep and alpacas are drenched and unhappy, just watched most of them run to hunker under the shelter I put up for them, but their hay is way on the other side of their plot, so they all get wet. As usual, the geese and ducks are happy, I haven't even seen the guineas. The tunnel is flooded, as is the garage and Herbie says the water is just pouring down the wall into the earth-floor room in the lower barn, but our house basement is still dry. Miracles. Hopefully our hay field does wonderfully this year, maybe the weeds will drown (???). Probably not.
Washed a lot of eggs this morning, chicken, duck and goose, which Herbie had collected. He said he's not fond of washing and packing them :). Just called Jackie who helped collect, wash and pack them when I was away. Should see her Saturday, she needs eggs. Should have taken some down to TN with me, together with yoghurt, cheese and butter, but I was in a rush, packed light and frankly didn't think of it. I did take pickled beetroot, bread and butter pickles, concord grape jam and I think a black raspberry jam for her, took a large and a small jar of each so she could choose what she wanted as she flew in from California and she took them all except one little jar of B&B pickles she left for my dad. It's all good, he can have more when he comes to stay. Spoke to my dad, he's doing as well as could be expected. He hasn't been a single man for many, many years. Wonder when the ladies are going to start going around with caseroles etc etc. He is quite a catch, very active, bright, independent, kind and he has means. But then, he'll probably not realise why they are there either. I can't wait until he comes to Michigan. I sure could use his help, the bees, plumbing, soldering a gas line, running water, fencing, pruning apple trees, building more shelters, sheering the sheep, he knows so much about stuff, and it would be great to have him and Herbie fix the tractor. I brought a box of various Little Debbie snacks home, didn't know which ones Herbie liked so when I asked this morning, he replied there wasn't a Little Debbie he didn't like. He prefers Hostess, but Little Debbies' will do. I'm here at the computer trying to figure the monies left here while I was gone, what is for milk, eggs etc etc. Herbie just left the $99 on the kitchen counter, so there's some figuring to do. Remembered to show Herbie the satellite photo of our farm on Google, they updated it. You can see animals in our field, a car / truck parked in the front, something halfway out of the shed, the tarp in the back field, Bills' one blind, the fence posts, possibly sheep (or cows) can't really tell, my beehives, the corn we planted, it's really cool. What a perfect day in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Can hear a lawnmower outside, now that sound is aways off in Michigan.
Had my hair cut by Lori, who cuts my dads hair, visited with Rose, my sisters' mother-in-law, saw Audra at the Little Debbie store, ate well, spent time with my dad and sister. Tomorrow morning I set out to drive the 11 hours back home, stopping off in Dayton to pick up a transmission jack which we'll use the fix the tractors' clutch. Thank you Herbie for doing all the farm chores, including the milk for the herd-share owners, so that I could spend a few days with my dad and sister. I last saw her about 5 years ago, she lives in California, and last saw my dad 3 years ago. Took some photos of flowers, just for you, Herbie. My dad just called. Trudi died. She was on morphine and didn't know him today. She was in hospital for their 44th wedding anniversary on March 31.
I'm sorry dad. God be with you. My thoughts also with my sister Tanya on losing her mum. Fetched a ton of corn/oats for the poultry and as a bribe for the cows and sheep from Westphalia this afternoon.
Had a difference of opinion with Herbie about the vegetable garden this morning. He wants me to plow the whole acre up again and disc it to work the manure and improve the ground quality so that we can broadcast seed the buckwheat, millet, amaranth, chia etc. I did this the past 3 years and told him last year that I wanted to do it differently in 2013. I want to keep the pathways unworked, just plow the planting lines, with the space between the rows 2 ft, not 8 ft like we've had previously. Won't be able to drive a tractor or buggy between the rows. And then have block sections of the above plantings. There were too many weeds last year, and purslane, 8 inches high and I spent so much time watering in the draught that I ignored the weeds until they were gigantic. The sheep liked it, but only in small quantities. I would like to try permanent pathways, so hopefully some weed seeds stay on top of the ground instead of being plowed into the ground where they'd grow. I'd like to put thick layers of sawdust down on the paths to kill those pesky weeds so that it will be easier to keep the rows weeded. Well, wouldn't you believe it. Yes, we finally got Herbies' phone working again, only to discover today that they'd given him a new telephone number ! What ?? Already been on the phone for an hour with them again, trying to get it changed back to his original number. They are going to send the 4th SIM card for him, another 3 - 5 days before it arrives. Not sure when they're going to cut off the existing number, but it will probably be before the new SIM arrives. Well, back to the farm. We have the hens that lay their eggs on the chair in the lower barn, with their little Bantam rooster who looks after them. Currently about 4 hens as I usually collect 2 eggs in the morning and 2 in the evening at milking time. The last couple of nights 3 hens and the rooster have been roosting on a pallet in the lower barn. I've shoo-ed them up to the chicken house, only to find the little rooster back in the lower barn when I return from taking Dolly back to the pasture. I shoo him out again, closing the overhead door so that he can't come back in, but this messes with the cats coming and going into the upper barn where they sleep, and Rosco, who has free range of the farm at night, but who still takes shelter in the lower barn when the weather isn't great. This morning when I opened the door, the rooster and 2 hens were waiting to come inside, 1 hen going straight to the chair to lay her egg. I pace while I talk on the phone, and the reception is not great in the house, so I tend to pace outside, when I saw one of the little black ewe lambs' on top of the new hay bale. She was complaining as she couldn't get down, it must be 5 ft high ! Went in, grabbed her by the leg and took her down. If I wasn't talking on the phone, I could have taken a photo. Our girl babies on the farm have always seemed to be more adventurous, more inquisitive. From cows to puppies. Maybe they know they are worth more and can get away with more. Time to go outside and do something constructive on the farm. Last night I helped Herbie spread manure over the vegetable garden. He drove the new John Deere in the cow pasture, scooping up the manure and dumping it over the fence into the shit-spreader attached to the little Farmtrac tractor which I was driving, and I'd go spread it and return for the next load. There is still tons and tons of manure to move, he didn't even start cleaning it out of Lil' Africa, which must be 3 feet deep. Farmer Herbie, taking a break from spreading manure. He had to fork off a load as it clogged up the spreader. I helped after this. Look at the back "lawn". Poultry are really really hard on a garden. Holes, mud, poop. Not much grass anywhere. Maybe Herbie would be proud of me. I took the John Deere out and did some work with it today. The neighbours below us, Doug & Doris, advised I could pick up as much as I wanted, or all (Doris) of their sawdust pile. I figured out how the levers worked, got it to go forwards, lifted the bucket high so that I could see where I was going, drove down the driveway and up theirs, picked up 5 loads. Dumped it outside the chicken house as some of it is still frozen, some wet, and I need it dry to use as chicken bedding. Otherwise I'll spread it over the vegetable garden walkways, or maybe in the small enclosure of the chicken-run over grass seed as I can keep the chickens out of there, giving the grass a chance to grow.
The tractor is very heavy and I made some ditches and tracks in Dougs' yard, so I took a spade and fixed it as best as I could after I'd picked up the last load. Backed it back into the shed, lowered the bucket, and got it turned off. I'd struggled with this previously. Whooppee for me. I have the wet bum today from the cracked seat ! Spoke to my sister today. Her mum is in hospital with a broken hip, but she has alzheimers and can't say where, or if, she hurts. Our dad said today she wasn't doing so well, her kidneys are having difficulty processing all the drugs after the operation where they gave her new bone. It's hard when you're so far away. Dad lives in Tennessee, sister in California and I'm in Michigan. Not an easy time for them. Yesterday we had a day and a half here on the farm. I took the wrong cow down for milking. Only figured it out when she wouldn't go into the set-up milking stall, she went into the one against the wall, twice, before I realized it was Buttercup and not Dolly. Duh. Took her back, fetched Dolly. Then I threw the udder wash cloth out with the wash water. Duh.
Herbie went out with the new tractor and moved poop around to air and dry it, and the front tyre blew, poof. He said it startled the cows, and he came limping back to the barn. I made pizza for lunch, which turned out all right. Put some new ingredients on it that I hadn't tried previously - water chestnuts and spiced up the tomato sauce with fennel seeds and red pepper. Made chocolate cupcakes, square ones and round fluted ones with a hole in the middle. Mixed up a Marscapone cheese / fresh strawberry filling and topped them off with a piece of fresh strawberry. Cut the square ones in half and but the cheese strawberry mixture like a cake filling, then topped them with chocolate / coconut icing. Last night Herbie shaved off his beard. I'm still not used to his smooth face, keep looking at him. Gave the sheep another bale of hay this morning. I take grain down to the bottom of the garden, then while they are busy with the treat, Herbie takes the fence panel off, drives the tractor with the bale into the pasture, then we fasten the cattle panels around it and Herbie re-attaches the fence panel. Really need to find the gate hardware I bought for this purpose last year, it would be easier once we have a large gate there. Also need the put one of the solar fencers in there with a strand or two on the inside of the fence to keep the sheep from breaking it. Need to put more of those 12 ft metal pipes into the ground for it first though. |
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March 2023
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