Sunday, June 28, 2009

Whew!















What a weekend! Friday when I got home I was so tired so I went to take a nap and woke up at 730! Nobody even came to check on me! Refreshed and re-energized I decided we should hit the drive-in movie in Huntington. It was a beautiful night, cool with just enough of a breeze to keep the mosquitoes away. We made it through the Transformers, but then it was after midnight so we headed for home. A Sheriff's deputy started following us in town for no apparent reason. I think he would have followed us all the way home, until we happened upon an accident and he had to let us go so he could help those poor folks.

Saturday we were supposed to go to the Farmer's Market. Unfortunately, we sold all our eggs earlier in the week and the lettuce fried in the heat. We need to get our production ramped up! We worked in the garden instead. the kids and I weeded and weeded while Chris re-tilled some areas. He got second plantings of green beans, beets and carrots in the ground, and a lot more sweet corn, too. By then we were all hot and tired so it was off to drop in on our friends who live on Loon Lake for a refreshing swim and visit.

Rebecca had an appointment to work with her dairy cows Saturday night. Here is a picture of Diana. She is a dry yearling Guernsey that Rebecca will be showing for the second year. The kids worked the cows in the yard instead of in the pasture the cows are used to and they did much better! Remember that- get them out of their element and they might behave better- think we could apply that theory to children? Rebecca also worked her junior steer, Bubba, after we got home.








































Wonder what they are talking about?!?






Sunday was a cleaning day. I power washed the kennel while the kids tried to muck out the cow pen in the barn. It was very wet and Rebecca and Nicholas were not getting along, to say the least. It didn't take long for me to lose my temper, and boy did I ever. So we called it quits and everyone showered so we could head to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We needed to pick up an old pigeon house they were letting us "free-cycle" into a chicken house. The photo at the top is of the generation hand -off!

Nicholas can be such a great helper when he wants to. Here he is hanging the bird feeders he refilled for Grandma.


PS. Yes, we did get the pigeon house safely home and unloaded!
Whew!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Reverse Psychology?

Chris and I have been arguing with Rebecca about working with the steers she is supposed to be taking to the fair. She isn't working with them enough to satisfy us. Granted, I have been working most every day, but I have not witnessed any sessions. Not so, anymore! I got really mad tonight and decided I was going to walk her junior steer. Chris said I shouldn't- the first rule of 4H is that parents don't do the work, only help. I got him into the barn using the bucket Rebecca feeds him milk in. I was able to get a gloved hand on his halter, but I couldn't get over the fence without letting go. Hmm. Now I have ahold of this steer through the fence and he is pulling backwards. With amazing timing Rebecca shows up to see what I am doing. I told her I was going to walk him but I didn't get myself positioned correctly. In a huff, she says she will get her boots and do it. Wink, wink. Next thing I know she is in the pasture with the steer fighting her, but he wasn't putting much muscle into it. He was just testing her while she talked to him and kept leading him around. After about 10 minutes he wasn't going to his knees anymore and she could actually give the halter a little slack. So after lots of praise for both of them, hopefully she will start working him several times a day. Tomorrow I have to get my hand on her older steer and see how long it takes her to come running!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday!

Sorry, everyone, I should have mentioned - no chickens were injured in the house disaster! It must have just rolled right off them and they were confused, but they stayed right where they had been before. You can see most of them in the photo in front of the house. A few wandered off to the gardens to dig for bugs. They are now safely in their new homes- one for the laying hens and one for the rest.


Saturday we spent the morning at the Farmer's Market downtown. I felt like we did really well since it was our first week. All we had to sell were eggs, 2 varieties of lettuce and we took a few Californian juniors. We sold several dozen eggs, lots of lettuce, and one rabbit! It's $50 to have a spot at the market for the season and we almost made that back in one morning. We also made lots of contacts and talked to alot of people about chemical free vegetables and pasture raised meat. One lady who bought lettuce was so sweet- she thanked us for growing it! She said she loves garden vegetables but she is not able to grow them, so she really appreciates people who do grow and share with others.

After the Market we came home and got busy weeding and mulching the garden. we had the turkeys out while we were working, they are so much fun to listen to and watch. Here is their picture, can you tell they are waiting to be released? We use the red two wheel dolly to move them to fresh pasture every other day.



When we finished in the garden we got busy making a new pasture for the goats. They do ok with the cows, but I wanted them to have their own "room". We gave them a calf hut for shade and shelter. I think they like it! They sure ate a lot of thistle last night. I think we are going to take the day off today. It is Father's Day, after all. It's very warm today. I think it's a great day to support the local pool!!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Disaster!

We had tremendous storms last night. Whenever we have high winds we worry about our chicken house. It is a re-used rabbit shelter so the dimensions are a little too tall. Here's what is looked like this morning!



I had to go to work, so Chris and the kids spent the day dismantling the wreckage and salvaging what they could to be re-worked into a new shelter. They managed to get the chickens safely into new homes before the storms predicted for today arrive.I'll post a picture of the new structure tomorrow, it was too dark for a good picture tonight.

Yesterday Nicholas had a lobball game. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jessica, cousin Marielle and Becket came to watch him play. He played well. Then they all came out to the house for hamburgers and some playtime with the animals. The pictures are on my sister's blog because she had her camera available!

Tomorrow is our first morning at the Farmer's Market. We finally feel like we have enough eggs and lettuce varieties ready to go.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Awesome Evening!

An amazingly awesome evening in our household! Rebecca WON her division of the 4H Rabbit Ambassador competition and is going to the State Fair! It was so exciting- she and another 6th grade girl tied (they have never had this happen in Whitley County). The Rabbit Advisory Board members were all making phone calls trying to find out the state rule for a tie-breaker. It came down to the test score and Rebecca won by 3 points! She also did really well on the breed ID- they have to identify the breed, variety(color,and class of 10 rabbits. She only missed two. Considering there are 47 breeds to choose from I thought she did great. we are all very excited and so proud of her. Tomorrow she goes with the 4H club on an all-day trip to Fair Oaks Dairy.

My day off

Today is my day off after working the weekend. I didn't realize how hard it would be to go to work every day knowing Chris and the kids are at home. I'm trying really hard not to leave them lists a mile long of everything I think they should get done while I'm gone. Chris is trying really hard to still give the kids a fun summer by only working outside in the morning and playing in the afternoon. There is always so much to do, though, I know that has been hard to accomplish.

Today we have a couple of appointments in the morning. Rebecca is going to work with the dairy cows she is showing at the fair this afternoon. Here she is with Rejoice, a summer yearling Holstein. This evening she is participating in the Rabbit Ambassador competition, also for the fair. This is a three part event, where the kids have to take a written test, identify 10 breeds of rabbits, and go through a routine where they evaluate a rabbit for an ARBA (American Rabbit Breeders Association) judge. I'm so proud of her for participating- I know it's scary for her because there is so much involved. I'm learning a lot along the way, too!

Nicholas had a ballgame last night, so he is "off" today. There isn't much on his agenda- he just has to wait around at all his sister's things today.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Welcome!

Hello, everyone. This is going to be my attempt to actually journal and keep track of what we try to accomplish here on a day to day basis. Sometimes it doesn't seem like we get anything done, but I know we do. I'm hoping by journalling about it we will be able to see it better!

Yesterday I worked 730 to 400 while Chris shuttled kids around. They picked up goats milk in the morning from a kind friend who is letting us have it for our junior steers. Rebecca had a Rabbit Breed ID workshop to help prepare for the Rabbit Ambassador competetion next week. The 4H Rabbit Club brought in an ARBA judge and they sure learned a lot. Nicholas had a mandatory lobball practice. When I got home we did chores and re-bred all the Hollands and Netherlands we could, so hopefully more little ones next month. The ducklings we hatched are now outside- I'm sure they double in size by the day! They still like to huddle around their stuffed zebra, even though they are much bigger than it is. The chickens enjoyed being out yesterday- looked like they were very happy scratching around and getting bugs out of the garden.

After all that we decided we were too tired to cook. We had heard a local restaraunt had new owners so we went to check out Lake Shore Tavern at Tri-Lakes. Everyone was able to have what they wanted and there was no clean-up. Then home to watch some more of The Walton's- we rented the DVD of the 2nd season from the library and are almost finished with it.