It isn’t a understatement that we have been swamped with activity here on the farm. This year has brought us many changes….many good changes for our family and we are starting to feel like we are gaining traction once again.
This spring, we are enjoying all the babies being born. We’ve had several different sets of sheep twins born recently. Baby lambs are so adorable!
We also had baby goldfish born which was is something we didn’t expect!
We are now getting lots of eggs from the chickens and even some from the ducks.
The boys have been working on repairing their “Indian Fort”. It’s served them well over the years and they have put a lot of hard work into getting it back in shape. So they have been measuring, drilling, cutting, sawing and nailing wood for days.
We are still having some cool nights but on the warmer spring like nights, we all love hearing the loud frogs. During the day, the little ones are having a great time making frog homes for all their pet frogs.
We also found the first snake of the season yesterday and it brought back really bad memories. I know warmer weather brings the ticks, chiggers and snakes, I just like to forget about it and hope they might just go away one year.
Also with warmer spring like weather comes the beautiful greenery in the leaves and grass. Which means the grass is going to need to be mowed soon. We’re taking a proactive approach on keeping the grass down this year. It’s an old fashioned lawnmower and natural fertilizer all-in-one!
Feed corn, winter snow and boyhood farm work are beautiful sights! The boys went up to a new feed store that just opened up in town. They bought some bags of corn for $5.75 for a 50 lb bag. They were doing good to get the trailer unloaded and the feed put away in the barn with the down pour of snow we were having. After they unload and stack feed bags, they bolt in the back door wanting hot cocoa. They take the layers of coats and gloves off as I fix them a warm mug of raw milk hot cocoa…something our family loves on cold days like today! I love hearing them talk about how many pounds they lifted and watch them compare muscles. Boyhood farm work is so good for young men!
If we were real agrarians, we would have a corn crib full of corn and hay piled high in our hay loft that we grew in our fields this summer. But we aren’t experienced agrarians yet. We’ve experienced a lot of what not to do. (like the example we give here)
When you start living on a farm, you quickly realize how inadequate your farming efforts really are. It’s good to put your hand to the plow so to speak and start somewhere and be grateful for the work you do get done. However, as spring turns into summer….summer to fall….and fall to winter….the grass disappears, it gets cold and your animals get hungry! A real farmer would plan to store up enough food for the winter. Just like a real farm wife would still have a pantry full of wonderful food stores conveniently stored away for the winter blasts.
We’re grateful for the lessons we are learning on the farm. We’re grateful for the challenge, for the growing and the stretching. We’ve come to understand the completeness and depth of the words provision and preparation. Our 24 hr. Stuff-Mart cultural mindset is completely opposite of the agrarian life where forethought and preparation are vital to survival.
Ideally, we would love to find a resource for buying bulk corn and mixing it ourselves. It’s too cold to think about that now though. We’re collecting the last pieces of firewood and hoping to hold out until spring so we can start over and try preparing for winter again!
I found some other “When It’s Cold Outside” posts I’ve written in the past. Here are just a few. There are a ton more:
We are very thankful the temperatures are supposed to be pulling up into the 40’s tomorrow!!! We’re wondering if that is going to happen!
We’ve enjoyed the winter wonderland. We had 3 days of snow falling from the sky last week…not accumulating much on the ground…but definitely beautiful! We’ve had I’ve-lost-count-how-many days of below freeeeezing weather. The icicles hanging from the rock cliffs are amazingly beautiful and the frozen ponds are a sight to behold! My, how we enjoyed the frozen ponds.
Below freezing weather is fine for a short while, but we are so looking forward to some warmer winter weather— 30’s and 40’s would be a good start! We love the winters and the beautiful seasons in this part of the South…
The kids enjoyed skating across the pond while I stood on the sideline worrying about cracking ice.
Our boys are the main milkers here on our farm. They have strong hands to prove it. I am very grateful to them for all their hard work around here.
Having a milking animal changes life pretty dramatically. She’s a big part of the family. She requires attention and care daily, but we are rewarded with lots of good fresh milk.
May still has a calf nursing on her. So we are managing the calf and the amount of milk we are getting. The calf is close to weaning.
The ponds have been frozen. Not yet frozen enough to ice skate all the way across. Although they have had some good laughs at the ducks slipping and sliding all over the pond. The kids are sure hoping the drop in temperature coming up later this week will do the trick.
It’s cold…very cold. The boys enjoy updating me on how cold it is outside. It’s been below freezing for a couple of days.
We’ve had a busy first few days of the new year and all very eventful. The boys heard coyotes out one night while doing their chores that they said they were so close that it ”made their heart leap into their throat”. Today, one of our ewe’s had twin baby lambs. We were all guessing that with the extremely cold weather, the ewe’s were going to start having their babies. Today she did and several of us were able to see her giving birth as we watched from the upstairs window.
I hope to get some pictures of the cute lambs soon.
My, how quickly late fall turned into the full force winter we are in right now. I took this picture about 7 weeks ago…when we had some fall color left and short green grass. Here’s our milk cow, May, with her calf, Luther, who was born on October 31st…Reformation Day.
Now, we bundle up for winter walks on the trail in the woods. The bitter cold wind has been howling for days. It’s a piercing bone chilling cold. We follow the brilliant bright green moss carpet along trail.
They found a “perfect picnic area”! They cleared some of the sticks, rocks and thorn vines and rested a while talking about how they wished they would have brought a picnic lunch…or how maybe we could just all go back to the house and pack a lunch for a picnic and then come back….in the 40 mile an hour 27 degree wind. That idea was better than the idea the 4 year old had of “why don’t we just go back home and play in the sprinkler”!
The winter sky beyond the web of sticks. Winter beauty. We were hoping for the snow to last longer than it did.
We’ve had a lot of family time around the fire…a lot of mulled apple cider…and hot cocoa milk. The fire wood is regularly being put to good use and plans are being made for the new year.
We love May the Milk Cow. She has a bull calf that is about 6 weeks old now. They are doing wonderfully. We have an abundance of winter milk for which we are all thankful for.
Having that milk drastically cuts our grocery bill as well. Of course there is a lot of work that goes into getting that milk to the house everyday. We love the fact that we have a handful of very energetic boys who can milk the cow now. We look back at when we started farming and see a huge leap in what the boys can do now. It’s amazing. We have a 3rd cow milker in training currently.
We’ve moved up the younger ones to take over some of the chores the bigger ones use to do. Like collecting eggs…however, this has had its challenges. A 13 year old is a lot more careful than say…a 7 year old….but after losing a few baskets of eggs to mysterious accidents…like tripping over the goat…he’s well on his way to becoming an expert egg collector. He hands me baskets of eggs every evening….and now they are consistently not broken!
The 7 year old and 8 year old are also delivering slops to the pigs everyday. That usually goes without incident, except recently somehow they lost the slop buck on their way back to the house. I don’t understand how things like that happen…but they do. Hopefully, we will have some pork soon.
At the end of this year, our meat is almost gone and we’re having to reevaluate our “planning” on raising meat. It should be timed so that you go from butchering to butchering without lag time waiting on animals to get ready. When you are about to butcher your cow, don’t get so caught up in the glories of having your very own meat to stock your freezer with that you forget about the next cow that should be making its way into your pasture before or around the time you butcher the first one. Keep the cycle going or you will end up with an empty freezer and no “next cow” ready to be butchered.
It’s a busy time…farming and home schooling and livin’ life. We’ve had a full Fall already with difficult funerals and happy weddings. We’ve tried to slow down. I’m beginning to think that is not possible.
So we’ve been hitting life full speed ahead and making progress some days…and other days not so much.
As the day winds down and our family takes a seat at the family meal table, I look around at all those sweet faces. The older boys and girls have worked hard all day. The younger ones…not so hard. The baby…was hard work. It’s loud and busy. They’ve all got something to say about something that happened that day and when we ask them, “So, what did you learn today?” They are eager to talk about all the things they learned.
I’m blessed to know my older sons learned something new in math and figured out how to castrate one of their lambs and ring the pigs noses without adult oversight. My younger boys figured out how to fix the broken electric fence and informed me that their school notebooks need new notebook paper. I’m thrilled to know that my daughter learned her Latin words all by herself, started reading a new book and finished writing her historical letter to a friend at church.
I always enjoy hearing what the little ones learned. Whether it’s the 3 year old telling us that the kitty cat doesn’t know how to eat peanuts or the turtle likes his food washed…. or something a bit more vague, like our 7 year old boy announcing what he learned, ”I learned how to turn that black thingy on with that switch thing ….you know….but I didn’t have the right tools to skin it.”
Hmmm…!!! We eventually deciphered what he was trying to say and told him not to bother the power tools and to forget about skinning the dead bird he found…just bury it.
In the midst of a busy life, are we really taking the time to slow down and savor those moments with our children? I’ve found that those little children grow fast. Time is never still. It’s always progressing and passing. I’m trying to capture the sights and sounds and find complete enjoyment in spending these days with my children.
Cousins watch the momma cow as the baby calf nurses.
One of our boys read an article outloud to the family this morning about cow gestation and how to tell impending labor. It was quite informational and much more interesting than an A Beka reader. Then we went outside to check on her. No baby yet, although, she is definitely showing signs. We are anxiously awaiting.
Usually if they give birth before the due date it is often a heifer and giving birth after the due date is often a bull. Hmm…we were really hoping for a heifer….it’s not looking like that as she is overdue.
7 year old is surveying the damage and replanting the overturned grass.
What happened to our pasture?
Our children like to play a game called, “This Animal….”. You go on to describe the attributes, characteristics and description of your secret animal and see who can guess what animal you are talking about first. Then the winner gets a turn. It’s lots of fun if you have children who own the DVD’s series Creatures that Defy Evolution…and they have memorized it.
So…..This animal has dug-up or plowed-up our pasture…but the boys are about to fix that today with some copper and a pair of pliers.
Autumn is in full swing here. We are having a hard time believing that winter is fast approaching. We are not ready.
We’re still learning all the important seasonal things your supposed to do when living in the country. One of the big important ones is gathering wood well before winter arrives. We didn’t chop enough firewood last year…and this year we are way behind on the wood gathering task. We have already fired up the wood stove a couple of times. Wood heat radiates into the house with a kind of “cozy” heat that is perfect for those cold autumn and winter nights. It calls for the family to gather round for story time with fuzzy blankets, hot chamomile tea and feet pajamas.
Ever feel like you fell off the wagon 3 miles back and have been running behind its dust trail trying to catch back up with it? Or feel like the mound of laundry grows to monster size proportions in seconds and you’re under it?
If you can’t multi-task in the midst of a sand storm with your eyes open…you’ll never make it out in the open country where the simple life has more complexity to it than I could have ever imagined.
I’m still learning to go with it. I’m learning to take a seat on the porch swing ever once in a while and let go of all the “to do’s” for just a moment. I’m learning to focus on the things we do have up and going well and conquer all the other projects in time. We’ve got the hang of canning. I’m knee high in all kinds of herbs making tinctures and teas. I’m full speed ahead and running with homeschooling and we’re lovin’ it! We’ve got a lot going on all around us and we’re hanging on for the ride! Maybe I’m not behind, there’s just a lot going on!
Or maybe it’s the fact that I have a toddler boy who knows how to take apart the dishwasher. Maybe that’s why I feel like I can’t keep up. He’s on super charge without an off switch.
When we are not chasing the boy…we’re chasing animals around. The pigs escaped and ate my beautiful marigold border in the garden. I’m still not happy about that and I’m going to like the sausage just fine;-)
My next tackle project will be the Fall/Winter garden. I’ve been working on getting the summer plants wound down although the okra has taken off and has now grown into towering okra trees and is still producing wonderfully. I’m looking forward to lettuce, cabbage, spinach and other mixed greens!
We were all pleasantly surprised to find out that we also had a new baby lamb born on the farm today. This ewe had problems with her last birth earlier this year in January.
This time, she and the new baby ram are doing well.
Evidently, the farm boy knows more about his barn cat than we thought! After breakfast, the little farm boy noticed the barn cat meowing at the back door. He went out, picked her up and said, “Yep…she had babies…somewhere…I bet they’re in the barn loft!” He put her down and he followed her to the barn.
A few moments later, he yells from the barn loft. “Yep…She has four babies…just born!”
So that means her fat belly wasn’t due to the fact she ate the rat!
We really enjoy the changing seasons. Last week our oldest son came in the house from evening chores and commented on how amazing it was that you could smell Fall in the air. The nights have been cooling off rather nice. Fall is in the air…in August. It has been a very mild summer.
This last day of August, as the sun started to duck behind the trees, our little 3 year old came romping thru the back door and into the kitchen and announced…
“Somebody Turned off Summer….It’s winter outside. I need my coat!”
I took a break from canning over the warm stove, stepped outside and sure enough discovered she was right. “Hmm”…I said, “Someone did turn off summer…it’s down right cold out here!” She nodded her head in agreement…and we came inside. I made a mental note to find the jackets as soon as possible for these cool evenings…although I am sure we have several weeks of warmth still, Fall’s coming in faster than I expected!
I guess we should start collecting firewood before Someone turns on winter
This is kind of a farm update, but also a fun look at the “little things” of farm life that we over look so much of the time. I say little things, because when we think of owning animals we think of caring for them, feeding them, etc… But we don’t often remember that those animals had to come from somewhere and someone had to convince the critter to get in their transport wagon!
This is us delivering my sister’s hogs, yesterday. We already unloaded the little one – the one my 8 year old could lift. This is the one my two older sons and I lifted over the fence to place in the trailer. Based on the way he is acting getting out you can imagine the fun we had getting him in.
Anyway, remember we are not professionals so it is OK to try this at home.
I remember the first time I discovered the fact that real bats live real close to me. It was quite disturbing. There’s nothing like taking an evening stroll with your husband as he shows the kids how to make the neighborhood bats nose dive…. at us. Everyone but me thought diving bats were the neatest thing on earth. I was the first one back to the house.
We have a lot of bats in Tennessee…real bats and scary caves like in Huck Finn. Bats are very beneficial to have around the house. I know that. I just can’t get over the horrifying mental image…something resembling a flying rodent with wings and tiny pointy ears and beady eyes with sharp teeth and claws. They eat around 1, 200 bugs every day. They are mammals and give birth to live little “batlings” who nurse for about 6 months.
The other day, one of the boys caught a bat in the loft. I was outside in the yard when I hear our 12 year old yell, “QUICK..Somebody get me a jar with a lid…I think it’s going to bite me!!!!!!”
One of the other children ran to get the much needed jar…quickly. He came out of the loft holding a very alive and creepy looking bat. We were all amazed. We had a great close up view of this incredible creature and decided to keep it to show dad when he arrive home later that evening.
About 11 pm that night, when I was sitting at my computer checking my email, now in a quiet, dimly lit office. I was interrupted by something swooping down right over my head. It didn’t take me long to figure out that the “something” was that creepy bat and it didn’t take but a millisecond after that for me to become completely hysterical.
With my hands covering my head, I ran down the hallway…screaming then quickly slamming the bedroom door I waited impatiently for my husband to catch the flying rodent. He runs around the house for the next 20 minutes with the table cloth trying to out smart this keen sonar flying escapee.
He did catch it…finally and returned it to the jar… this time putting the screw top lid back on that one of the children had taken off. They feared the bat might suffocate in the sealed jar…so one of the boys put plastic wrap over the jar top right before going to bed. He poked a few holes in the plastic giving the bat plenty of fresh air and a great opportunity for escape.
The next night, we released the bat. We found out that bats evidently don’t just jump up off the ground and fly away. We eventually placed it near the sunflowers and it climbed up the stalk and swooped down and started flying around eating our bugs again.
I was just sad that 1,200 bugs didn’t get digested the night the bat spent the night in my house. I was glad to see it back at work and out of my house!
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
