Saturday, December 19, 2009

Last of the births for a while


Amy calved this morning! One little bull calf. So her record to date is bulls-3, heifers-0. Lars was the lucky one to bring the news, she'd calved just before he dropped the morning feed. Dang he's cute, he's also destined for the freezer. He's been out exploring, trying to romp and keeping Mama busy....I guess somethings never really change. Amy's proving to be a good mom, with the way she kept those two steers groomed we weren't too worried about it, but you never know. So, here we go! My year is starting a month early, whether I'm ready or not. I was sitting the other day thinking it's kind of like being excited about someone dumping a pile of paperwork in front of you and going crazy with anticipation. Another reason that I question my sanity on a regular basis. Yep, I do it every Spring with the garden....oh yay! Can't wait to get it all planted so that I can stand over a steaming canner while it's 105 out with no a/c and firmly convinced that winter can't get here soon enough.
.....................................yeeeaahhh...................

This morning was filled with the flurry of our first calf, I'm not sure where the afternoon flew off to, probably somewhere less chaotic. So this evening was catching up on the Christmas baking (I learned a few years ago not to start this too soon). My first couple of batches of gingerbread disappeared mysteriously within 2 days. Amazing, there must be a gingerbread vortex somewhere in the kitchen. So I was off to get dinner in front of the masses and bake. I still have "one" batch left, but I now have 100+ gingerbread men sitting on my counter. Yes, I counted, I'm also keeping track of the how many have been authorized to report to duty. Phase 1 is almost complete, but I ran out of steam. Phases 2-4 will begin tomorrow and continue on through the afternoon. That should have me well placed for the end of the week, provided I can fend them all back for a couple of days.


Thursday, December 10, 2009

How time flies

I do think about getting posts to the blog, really. Life keeps getting in the way, pesky life.

So what's new around the farm? Cold. It's cold. We've warmed up last night to a balmy 6 for the day's low, I think it got up to 24 yesterday afternoon. There's a slight dusting of snow, so I'm enjoying that....of course more would be nice (hopefully the powers that be are listening). Yes, I know that winter hasn't even officially arrived, but Christmas falls just a mere 4 days after said "official" date and I do love a white Christmas. Besides, if I'm going to become a living icicle it would be nice to have Cousin Snow to hang out with.

All the animals have been heat lamped, tucked in deep straw, tank heatered all the fun of the wintertime that comes with living here. The young rabbits are now all weaned, moms are getting a winter break. I have fingers crossed for baby Angoras this next week. Amy is bagging up, so there will be a calf soon.

Christmas decorations have been up for some time, still a few to finish but all will be in place for the holiday. I finished a couple of outside projects this last week, so now it's time to settle into the house and start baking. Oh yum!

Justin has been in New Mexico for the last couple of weeks for training, will be nice to have him home soon.
There's the news, time to stoke the fire and get the day in full gear. Maybe today I can foil the pigs so there's no out of pen romping...maybe...