Thanksgiving Pie

My 12 year old daughter puts my pies to shame. I've never liked making pies, and she loves to make them.  This year I turned the pie making over to her.  Here's what she came up with. Apple and Cherry...they tasted just as good as they looked.

Its a boy!

Fiona surprised us yesterday morning with a little bull calf - a week early.  She gave birth in the wee hours of the morning. Rhiannon went out to the pasture to check on Fiona and came running with the news.  Naturally she had him waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out in the pasture and we knew when we saw Rhiannon running back that something was up. He's a really pretty calf.

Brad brought the calf up to the barn in the tractor wagon around 5 last night and put him in the manger of the stall where we milk.  Fiona was a bit nervous when she first came in (mostly I think because Dorothy always pushes her out of the barn). Once Fiona settled down and started to eat her grain, Brad proceeded to milk her.  She lifted her leg once and wiped the machine off, but it was not really a kick, she just scraped the machine off.  After that she stood like a pro - even after her grain was gone and she only had hay to eat. I think she was just so happy to have the pressure in her huge udder relieved.

What a GOOD girl.  She does not seem to mind us handling her calf or anything either.  I guess spoiling our cows has paid off in the long run.  They are really just big pets who happen to give milk.

So far she is doing great.  I was worried she might not be so easy to milk at the start, but if this first milking was any indication, I think she'll be just as good as Dorothy - who does not care where she is milked.  I am very pleased that we are able to leave Dorothy's calf with her, just locking her up at night, when we need the milk in the morning.  I hope that we might be able to do the same with Fiona as well - but we will see how that goes.

This morning's milking went as smoothly as last night's, and the calf was locked in the stall next to Fiona.  Hopefully she will not start kicking or holding back her milk.  If that happens, we will have to separate them, and we are hoping not to have to do that.

Mother and son are doing well, though he did lead us on a merry chase this morning.  He decided to wander away and take a nap.  We looked for hours and finally Robert found him laying in the bushes.  What a scare.  He is penned now where Fiona can lick him, but he can't wander away.  We'll let him out several times a day to nurse.

Horse Show Fun

A Handful of Ribbons

 

 

Nothing says summer like Sun Glasses and Bike Helmets

Remember how cool you felt when you got a new pair of sun glasses?

Rebecca got a new bike helmet and has decided it's her new favorite thing to wear around the house. Add a princess dress and you are ready for anything.

Big weekend

Today was a big weekend for our family. Our baby turned 4 years old on Friday and and was baptized today. Brad's parents were able to come from NH to share our joy.

Posing next to the new church steps.

Rebecca wearing her traditional Ethiopian dress.

Yum!

Were you talking to me

You really expect me to wear this hat?

This birthday stuff is fun.

It's a girl

Dorothy presented us with a beautiful little heifer in the wee hours of the night.  She is beautiful and mother and daughter are doing well.

Dorothy woke me at 2am mooing - I knew something was up - she never moos.  I woke Brad up and we went out to find a beautiful little heifer.  Brad had last checked her about midnight, so she was born sometime between midnight and 2am - a memorial day baby. We gave Dorothy a bucket of molasses water and a tube of CMPK Gel.  We helped the calf nurse, we dipped her navel and put a goat blanket on her, she finally got the hang of it and nursed some, not as much as we would have liked, but she was standing.


Now we need to come up with a name.  And while we are at it, we need to come up with a farm name too.

Goat Milk

A while back I posted that we had some lovely goaty girls here.  We are loving them and their milk.  Right now we are getting about a gallon a day from BoPeep, and about two and a half quarts from Velvet.

Velvet, ever on the look out for a treat

Velvet resting near the calf hutch (aka goat house)

BoPeep prefers to rest in the feed tub

BoPeep - looking to see if she missed anything

Milk, lovely white gold!

BoPeep's milk on the left and Velvet's on the right - morning milking

Not Fast Food

The kids wanted hamburgers, fries and milk shakes for supper - home made at that.

Definitely not fast food

I started with fresh cold goat's milk and made vanilla ice cream, then added more cold fresh goat's milk and chocolate syrup to make the milk shakes.

The beef was locally grown and pasture raised.  My first attempt at hamburger rolls was a bit lacking, they were too small and a bit thick, but tasted good.  Instead of fries, I made chips - they cook faster, and the kids like them just as well.  Over all the meal was a success, a lot healthier than fast food BUT a whole lot more work.

Hamburger Buns

Chips in the making

Chips - the finished product

We have goats!!!

Meet the newest members of our farm family.

Brad built a nice little goat pen along one side of the milking area.

Bo Peep

Velvet

These lovely girls arrived on February 23rd.  They belong to Welbian Farms.  Donna and Glen Pearce are loaning them to us until the goats we plan to buy from them kid.

Why goats you may be asking.  Well Dorothy is 18 months into her lactation and is due to calve in late May, so we needed to dry her off.  We needed a supply of milk during her dry period.  And since I have wanted goats since I was 9 years old, and specifically Oberhaslis for the past 3 years, we decided to get some.  We contacted Donna Pearce - a well known Oberhasli breeder to see what she had available. She did not have any Oberhaslis that would be in milk as soon as we needed them, but she kindly offered to loan us 2 lactating goats until her Oberhaslis kidded.

We are loving the goats and the milk. I have to say, I think I like goats milk better than cows milk, but shhhhhhhhhhh don't tell Dorothy, she'd be upset.

Bo Peep ready to be milked

Velvet ready to be milked