March 2020. a month to remember

It's been longer than I had originally planned on to get a new post on here.  There was supposed to be one last Sunday but this happened to me. I broke left arm just above the wrist. We had some fresh snow that covered the ice and I slipped and went down hard.

Two weeks ago on Saturday a racoon showed up on our deck at 2:30 pm in the afternoon. Definitely not normal racoon activity. Kurt was home and we went out to try to find it but it had disappeared. Later at choretime, Kurt spotted it again and was able to track it down and shoot it. We are so grateful that it did not take any of the chickens.  

Yesterday the turkey poults hatched. One of them seems to be pretty adventurous and hopped down out of the nest early. We found it very cold and almost dead in the corner. I was able to warm it back up and we put it back under Mom. This morning Kevin went out to check on the poults and again one was missing and cheeping. After a bit of searching, he found it under the heater we have in the coop. Kevin got Peanut off the nest and put all three poults down on the floor. They are doing fine now, but only three of the four eggs hatched.

Now in goat news, Hickory has gone courting. He has moved to another farm to mingle with some pretty does.  At that farm they are trying to have fall kids. Usually larger breed goats only go in heat in the fall, but they want to see if he can push them into heat in the spring. Hickory is a very willing participant in a science experiment!

In the doe paddock, nothing much is happening except Vinca is really ready to be done. We are checking on them about every two hours and she is almost always laying down and in the same place.

With my broken arm Kevin is getting to do many things he normally does not (including typing this post, if you notice the difference.) Before I broke my arm I had a flat of lettuce growing and last weekend Kevin helped plant a flat of peas for sprouts, which sprouted really quick and we moved them out to the greenhouse on Friday. We then planted 2 flats of peppers and tomatoes, which are currently in the basement under the lights.

So last Sunday was bad, and then today. This morning we woke up to 6" of wet heavy snow and no electricity. No electricity really does not affect us too much, but not having water is a pain. Most of the animals had enough in their containers for a while, but when we still had no power at evening chores, things got a little interesting. Kevin put a bunch of buckets under the down spouts and collected enough water to fill everyone's containers back up. Power came back about 6:30 pm, thank goodness.

Above is a picture from the milking stand this morning. Before yesterday the fields were pretty clear of snow, and now this. Below is one of the pine trees in the back yard. It's melting fast and it is getting really messy out.

It's hard to keep on doing the normal things we do with what is going on in our country and world. We will be growing more vegetables than we normally do, and following our elected officials mandates for our own safety and the safety of others. Our biggest concern is feed for our animals, but we are doing fine with that so far.

I will conclude with my usual - Until next time, be well friends.  I always sincerely mean that but right now even more so.