Memorial Day 2019

Hello all.  Today is a day to take a little time to remember that many, many people have died serving our country and protecting the rest of us. Just thinking about that is a somber thing.   We must never forget them.

So, a little update on the farm activities.  Kevin and Rollie got the wheat planted but did have to change the planting plan due to some overly wet areas.  I have made some progress with the garden make-over, but am not done yet.  We have the first regular farmer's markets of the season behind us.  The weather could have been better but they went ok. 

I put some basil in a tub by the garage - handy to the kitchen; I have to protect it from the poultry though - they seem to think any pot of dirt is some kind of buffet.

Gus the goat has a bit of a skin condition going on - a new paint job is called for!

 These pots of impatiens hopefully will be safe with the rocks that I added to cover the soil.

Added a fun piece of art to the garden shed door.  Eventually this will rust and look even better.

The first set of chicks are pretty much teenagers now.  They roam around the place and get in trouble by digging in the mulch around the garlic. 

The youngest bunch are still delightfully cute. 

Sadly, Mamma Hen 5 did not hatch any of her eggs - bunch of duds I guess.  But - very exciting news from the hay shed - peeping is heard from under Peanut!  I kept checking but so far she hasn't given me much of a look.  I did snap this one photo of them - I think I see twelve little cuties in there!

The kids are a blast.  We had some visitors this weekend who wanted to try out goat yoga  The doelings were happy to oblige!

There are a couple of old doghouses in the goat pasture.  This year's kids especially love the peaked one for climbing.  Poppy was the first one I noticed up there.

 A few days later, Tulip was using it for a launching pad!

Ready...

Set...

Go!!

Thanks for stopping by the blog - until next time, be well friends!

Soggy Weekend

Hello all!

It was an interesting week - I took vacation time from my town job to work on the garden, and with Kevin's help did get some clearing out done.  As usual, not as much was accomplished as was hoped for.

Kevin and Rollie got the oats planted and were very happy to check that off of their "to do" list.

We did have a couple of sunny days this week.  Mamma Hen 1 and her big chicks joined me in the garden while I worked.

Mamma Hen 4 and her chicks enjoyed the sun as well.

I had visitors - this is my beautiful Aunt Virgie who came with Uncle Roy and California cousin Russ.

Virgie brought me some old photos - in this one she is the girl on the right; that is my dad in the middle, and Aunt Arlene on the left.  This would have been around 1938 or 1939 I think.

The beautiful spring weather abruptly ended - cold, rain, wind - it's been a downright unpleasant couple of days- no further garden work happened.  Today we even had some snow!

(there really is snow going on in this photo!)

 Garden Project Interrupted!  

The plants in the greenhouse are way behind where they should be.  The lettuces are still tiny!

There was a bright spot today though, despite the weather - we had our first asparagus to eat this evening and it was delicious!

Those were the highlights of this past week. Coming up we have our first Farmer's Markets of the summer season, so you will hear about that next time.  Until then, be well friends!

Happy Mother's Day!

What a beautiful day we had for our traditional Mother's Day picnic!  We hope that you all had as nice a day as we did here in our part of Minnesota.

Earlier in the week it was a different story.  The snow began Wednesday afternoon and made for a slushy drive home from work.  Here is the view from the milking stand at evening chores.

 And the next morning - about three inches of very wet snow.

But, easy come, easy go... it sure didn't last long!  The fields are very wet though, so planting is delayed again - Kevin is getting impatient!

The kids enjoy the spring weather as much as we do!

News from the coop - more new chicks.  This is Mamma Hen Four - she hatched out six little cuties then celebrated with a dust bath!

 Mama Hen Five is still waiting patiently for her eggs to hatch.

Mama Hen One's chicks are at that awkward looking stage - half feathers, half fluff. 

Mama Hen Two is the most protective.  Most of my pictures of her brood are running away from me!

And Mama Three's chicks are doing just fine as well. 

Thank you for stopping by the blog - we wish you all a great week!  Be well friends.

What's New the First Week of May 2019

That's the thing about spring  - always something new going on. 

It was kind of a cold damp week but there were some sunny spots.  Here's one:

Mama Hen #3 hatched out six new chicks.  We now have small, medium, and large chicks and a total of 15. 

Speaking of large - check this out:

When you have chickens, you find out that eggs come in many shapes, textures, colors, and sizes.  The enormous egg on the left weighed in at 4.7 ounces. I believe it is the largest chicken egg I have ever had. The one on the right is a more normal 2.4 ounces.  That is considered extra- large in the egg grading world. 

As expected, it was a double yolker - I had it for breakfast this morning.  Delicious!

The kids are doing great - here are a couple of updated photos.

Daffodil on the stump and Tulip trying to join her

Tamarack

We have started separating the kids from their mamas at night.  In the morning Kevin spends some time with them while I milk.  I just cannot seem to get a good picture in the low light of the shd, but I will share a couple less tha stellar ones here anyway just to show you the fun Kevin and the kids have while they wait for their breakfasts!

Goat yoga - Ole Lake style!

He is under there somewhere!

One last thing - wanted to share a couple of pictures of a kitty that seems to have moved in with us.  He or she is pretty shy, but not too wild.  I call him/her Scruffy - not sure why as he/she looks pretty good.

Kevin and Rollie have starting working the fields and getting ready to plant - no pictures tonight but hopefully next week.  Until then,  be well friends!