Milking Maebelle & Early Birthday Surprises

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Pandora Necklace

A festive year is dedicated to the bling. We decorate our houses into pieces, hang shiny balls and let their flamboyant celebration of Shops. Jewelry is completely all-natural light for a year and often brings suit, with a layer of the situation pandora charms.

Wear a Pandora bracelet with charms chosen children requires me to for the season early in the morning a couple of years in the past, the tension in the air as I unpacked. Pregnant women, their faces then triumphant joy. The next day the echo with my husband's favorite beads earrings, which held its breath when I opened it to see what happens, if it is agreed homesickness? He did not pandora uk.

In fact, there are beautiful pieces of jewelry, and plastic parts; Branch toddler macaroni necklaces; Pearl bracelet that says "Mom Rocks", they often have to remind my teenage daughter would dress when I was nice. The price of the dollar does not often receive the value of coins pandora bracelet.

Select jewelry for other people is often difficult. "Um" and "Ah" and check it using the provided elements can disagree and leave almost nothing, only to return a few minutes later and buy the first thing that I looked at. I want to know exactly what they mean to me as a receiver pandora rings.

Regardless if it's actually a one-way ticket for my husband's cufflinks, a necklace bought at the store for your friend, or a piece of craftsman designed for my sister, I know I wear to remind them that they are really valuable pandora necklace.

Believe it or not, I’m still alive. Has it really been 2 weeks since my last post? I’m really slacking off here…

Anyway, we’ve been really busy around here doing many things, but my most notable experience has been milking Maebelle for the very first time. I would love to have more pictures of the actual milking to show you, however my hands were a bit preoccupied, so the story alone will have to suffice.

separating the kids for the first time was a little traumatic, although they had lovely fluffy straw, the best second cut hay and fresh water- they were still (understandably) sad. They made it through though, and the next morning I got all my milking equipment ready and headed out, knowing full well that my first time milking a goat who was being milked for the first time after her first time being separated from her kids for the night, wasn’t going to go super well. That’s too many “firsts” for anything to go smoothly.

I gave Maebelle her grain and put her hobbles on, just in case, and set to work. It was a mess. I had milk running up my arms, my fingers were cramping, and it was taking FOREVER to get just a little bit of milk. Then Maebelle ran out of grain, and even with the hobbles she was able to kick enough to knock over my bucket. Luckily there wasn’t much in it. At that point I decided it was in my best interest to milk with one hand and hold the bucket with the other. This got the job done well enough and, when my hands started cramping too badly I decided that was enough for our first time. I was so anxious and excited to have my very first jar of milk! What was it going to taste like? How much had I gotten? I was so busy with these thoughts running through my head that I released Maebelle’s head catch…and forgot to take her hobbles off! Ooops. I was scooting along behind her trying to grab them off her legs while she bee lined it to the babies.

The happy ending of this story is that I got far more milk than I thought I would!

1 Litre Mason Jar, A Little Over 1/4 Full

Even today, my second milking, was much better than the first, and I know I’ll get better at it every day. I doubled my amount today, which I thought was excellent progress.

In other news, I got an early birthday present from my mother in law yesterday, can you guess what it- or they- are?

Peafowl! 4 of them actually, 2 peacocks and 2 peahens. The older male’s tail was too big to fit in any transportation cage or box we had, so we drove home with him on my lap, and his tail laid out over Farmer B’s lap.

I used to have a pair of peafowl, Mr. and Mrs. Pea, but unfortunately they flew away last fall. This is a risk you take with peafowl when you free range them. They’re not like chickens, in that they are incredible flyers and seem to have quite a mind of their own. My M.I.L. has had many over the years and some have stayed for years then just flew away. And no, they weren’t eaten because they have been spotted from time to time in the area. In fact I actually got Mrs. Pea because she flew in to someone’s yard a few towns over, and the orignal owner was never found. But if you can keep them around they really are a beautiful addition to your property. I definitely do not recommend them for people with close neighbors though as they are very loud during mating season. Last year, Mr. Pea slept in a tree outside our bedroom window and would scream all night . If you haven’t heard a peacock call, YouTube it. Not to mention they are very vain creatures, and enjoy staring at themselves in car windows and mirrors, and I assure you, your neighbor won’t find it endearing to have huge scratches put on the hood and/or roof of their car because your peacocks used their windows as mirrors.

These 4 I have now are living in our old feed room with access to an outdoor pen for the time being, until they get used to their new surroundings and new owners. After a couple of weeks I’ll start letting them out in to a fenced in yard, and from there they’ll be allowed to roam free. I have my fingers crossed that all goes well and they’re happy in their new home. Once they’ve settled in I’ll take some more pictures, but as they’re a little stressed from the move, I’ll give them some privacy.

Today we’re building a new fenced area for the goats, I can’t wait to see it done :)

I Survived My First Kidding

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After weeks of anticipation, it finally happened! Maebelle is the proud mom to 2 beautiful twin boys.

Yesterday morning I noticed that she had “bagged up” a lot in the last 12 hours, and she seemed to be a little more  solitary, but I didn’t notice anything really notable about her “rear view” other than a great big udder…

Yesterday evening, a calf was being born at my brother-in-law’s, and since I hadn’t seen a cow give birth I was pretty excited to witness this miracle.

If you look closely, you can just see a pair of feet sticking out the cows rear end.

However, things weren’t going well, and they had to take the cow in to the barn to pull the calf. I didn’t watch because I had Little Farmer with me, and since he doesn’t quite understand the concept of being quiet, I thought it best we wait outside until everything was done.

Luckily, the calf survived, and mom and baby were doing very well. I took so many pictures, I was like the paparazzi.

This guys so fresh, he still steaming!

On our way home, I was feeling a little disappointed that I didn’t get to see the birth. When I got home, I almost went straight inside, but thought instead I should take a quick peek at Maebelle. I still wasn’t anticipating anything, since I’ve been holding my breath for a couple of weeks now, with no action.

When I  went in to the barn, I found Maebelle near the water trough laying on a bit of spilled hay (there’s usually no hay or straw in this area but I managed to spill a bit when I was taking it outside the other day). I thought she might be in labor because the wouldn’t move. I really wanted her to be in her pen with all the lovely fresh straw I had prepared for her, but even her favorite graham crackers couldn’t persuade her to move. I told Farmer B I thought it was time, and that I was heading to house to get my camera and a blanket to watch the show. He took one look at her and said I didn’t have time. As soon as I heard that I ran full speed back to the house to get my camera. When I got back this is what I found

I was so excited and nervous! I didn’t know what to do, if anything at all. After a little while, Maebelle was working hard and there wasn’t much progression. I would always rather be safe than sorry, so I grabbed the little guy’s legs and pulled the next time Maebelle pushed, and out slid our first sweet baby.

Baby #1 is born!

I was so overwhelmed, watching mom and baby and reveling in the miracle I had just witnessed that I almost didn’t notice another little nose poking out

Baby #2 is on his way

Baby #2 was coming out head only, which really made me nervous since I was afraid the legs would cause him to get stuck, and she really seemed to be labouring, so once again I pulled as she pushed and out slid baby #2

Cleaning off baby #2

By this time we had quite an audience. One of the horses thought he’d come in for a drink, but took a look (and smell) at what was going on and promptly turned and left. If you’re not the Dad, birthing isn’t really a “guy” thing I guess, but Marigold was very interested in what was going on with her buddy. So were our cats Flea and Jimmy.

Maebelle didn't approve of the audience

I got the babies and Momma moved to their own pen with clean straw after she’d mostly cleaned them off. Then I sat and waited for them to latch on. 45 minutes of trying to find the teat I knew I needed to make sure they got a drink ASAP so I helped them find their way. I’ll tell you, for the goat that would gladly gouge your eye out for touching her before, she sure has changed her tune now. She was licking me just as much as the babies. Finally both babies were able to nurse and find the teat on their own, so I said goodnight, and thanked God for two healthy babies, and prayed they would make it through ’till morning.

Gorgeous babies

Sure enough, this morning I found 3 sweet little faces staring back at me. Both babies and Mom look happy and healthy. Now to name them. I’m thinking Mac and Morris?

 

Sharing at: Barn Hop #56, Seasonal Celebrations #10

Shropshire Herd In Danger Of Slaughter For Disease They Don’t Have

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ShropshireSheep.org | Save Our Shropshires—Only 132 Heritage breeding ewes left in Canada.

Overall, I’m extremely proud to be a Canadian, and recognize how lucky I am to live in this country. Freedom, democracy, justice…those are just a few things I’m very thankful to have. But today, I ran across something that is so UNJUST it boggles my mind to think that something like this would happen in Canada.

At a farm not too far from my own, is Montana Jones and Wholearth Farmstudio, home of an amazing herd of very rare Shropshire sheep. Montana has been working for over 12 years to perfect and preserve the genetics of these terrific sheep. But sadly, in just a few days, her entire flock will be slaughtered by the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) because..wait for it…they tested negative for scrapies! Yes, they are being slaughtered under the guise of “disease management” for a disease they don’t even have!

Rams, ewes (pregnant or not), and lambs. All will be lost. There are only 132 breeding ewes left in Canada, so if this flock is lost, it will be an enormous loss for the Shropshire breed overall. If you think this is as crazy, disturbing and unjust as I do, please visit the link above or below and sign the petition. There’s not much time left.

You can visit http://shropshiresheep.org/,  or http://wholearth.com to read more about Montana and her sheep, and to sign the petition. You don’t have to be Canadian to sign, you just have to care.

Image via

A Colorful Dozen

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Now that spring is here, everyone is laying well once again. After a long wait, I think all my Ameracauna hens are laying. They have such beautiful eggs! Some are green, and some are more blue, but they add such interest to the eggs cartons!

Ameracauna Eggs, Easter Eggers, Blue Green Eggs

Blue and Green Ameracauna Eggs

Our new girls are laying the typical tiny first-timer eggs, being about the size of those Cadbury eggs you get around easter that are filled with icing “yolk”. But some of them are a beautiful dark brown, and others are much lighter. A few of my heritage hens lay a great pinky colored egg. Over all, the different breeds make up one colorful dozen!

Mixed Eggs, Blue, Brown, Pink, White

A little blue, a little brown, and one white egg for good measure.

Personally, I love the multi-colored packs, and was shocked when I had customers knocking on my door (I have a fridge right outside and sell eggs on the honor system) demanding a new dozen of eggs because they “didn’t like the way the blue eggs taste” (which is ludicrous. All eggs are exactly the same on the inside no matter what the shell color!) or were just plain freaked out by them. The first couple times I tried to explain that no, they didn’t taste any different, and there was nothing weird about the color. In the end though, I started refusing to accept “egg racism”. I added a disclaimer of sorts in the packages explaining that blue eggs are exactly the same as white or brown eggs, and just like people are the same on the inside, no matter what their outside looks like. People take what I have or don’t buy from me. I probably lost a few customers over that, but I don’t mind ;)

My American Buff geese started laying yesterday as well. They’re eggs are massive compared to the chicken eggs. It looks pretty funny to line them all up and really get a sense for size difference.

Goose Egg compared to Chicken Egg

Eggs from left to right: Goose, chicken, first-time chicken, bantam chicken

I think I’ll make omelets for dinner tonight :)

Linking To:

The Morris Tribe

Barn Hop#55

Frugal Days Sustainable Ways#20

Chickens, Fences, and Landscapes- Oh my!

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Today, we set temperature records here in Ontario. A blazing 26 celsius (It is March for crying out loud!). I don’t think anyone other than a fellow Canadian can fully appreciate how bizarre this is. It was actually almost too hot to work. But, I know this is just temporary, so I’m trying to get as much done as I can while the weather lasts.

On Monday, our old production laying hens went to a new home. A nice retired couple came and took all 22 of them to their hobby farm to peck around their lawn and provide a few eggs. On Wednesday, I picked up our new ready-to-lay production hens. These hens are Red Sexlinks and, as their title states, have either just started laying, or will in the next day or two. Some of them have taken longer to settle in than others, but over all they’re doing well.

A new hen getting acquainted with next boxes.

Most of the girls that are currently laying kind of missed the boxes this morning. I found about 10 eggs here there and everywhere. They’ll get the hang of it no time though.

We have also been doing a little landscaping around the area of our fencing project. Years ago a giant pile of gravel was dumped along the edge of the field where my piggies will be going. It grew up with all kinds of weeds and scraggly grass. It’s the area of our property that’s very visible from the road, and it’s always been an eyesore. But…not any more! Farmer B and I, (Ok, Farmer B did all the work, I just supervised) leveled it all out, and WOW. What a difference.

Our gravel hump "before".

And after...

And last, but not least (I didn’t realize how much we’ve done this week until I start writing it all down!) we fenced my vegetable garden! I have wanted my garden fenced since the day I dug it. We did once have a crummy chain-link fence that had only corner posts and no centre supports…even though the sides were 36′ long! You can imagine how it sagged by the end of the season! I ripped that down the following spring. It wasn’t helping improve the appearance of our property in any way. Last year I went fence-less and didn’t get one scrap of lettuce. The geese and chickens devoured my lettuce, pecked holes in my tomatoes, and trampled my beans. When you put so much effort in to growing a good garden, it is soul crushing to see it destroyed. So, as the saying goes, if you want something done, do it yourself! I donned my work gloves and loaded up our truck with 50-ish split cedar rails that were piled in a rotting heap on another one of our farms, and put them to good use again. Being the fantastic husband he is, Farmer B jumped in to help me (and thank goodness, because I would have been there for a loong time otherwise!)

Rustic Split Cedar Rail Fence

My Rustic Split Rail Fence

I’ll cut the posts off to a more proportionate level, but over all I’m thrilled to bits with the way it looks! It doesn’t really show in the picture, but there is chicken wire around the bottom to keep them from sneaking under (or between) the rails. Can’t you just picture it full of lush vegetables, with glorious sweet peas climbing up the rails, and sunflowers waving gently in the breeze?

I could do without the heat stroke in March, but as long as it stays above 5 celsius, I’ll be a happy girl. I can’t wait to put together next weeks “To-Do” list!