Winter Goings On

Well, it's been quite a while since my last post on this blog - over a month so I had better put something on here before everyone forgets about it!  Since it's been over a month we've had the whole gamut of winter weather - from more snow, to a warm up then cold and a very once in a while the sun shines.  Currently we are dealing with ice.

This was January 18th, after a significant snowfall

The current state of our driveway

Kevin and Rollie continue to work in the woods as much as possible.  Kevin is generally the one cutting down the trees.  He is very safety conscious and wears chainsaw chaps, ear protection, a hard hat and a face shield.

Rollie pulls the trees and logs out to the work area.  Today they were working on a pretty big oak.

Getting the log hooked up with a choker

Rollie puts it in position near the pile

And then turns the tractor around and skillfully rolls it up to the pile with the front tires!

Out in the barn the does are showing their pregnancies.  Vinca is in her seventh and final pregancy and is truly enormous considering she has several more weeks to go. I sure hope there are only two kids in there!

Echo is merely well rounded by comparison.

The chickens are doing fine - although a couple of them think it's time to be broody.  I tell them sorry, not yet Ma'am and take the eggs away.

 When it is sunny, some of the hens like to go over and dust bathe in the loose dirt in the woodshed.

We haven't had a cat in the house for a quite while now, Lily left us some months back and we just weren't ready.  I was just starting to think about adopting a young cat but that is on hold now that Spot has moved in.

Spot lived out in the shop (heated) and as an elderly kitty just hadn't been taking very good care of herself .  Her fur was getting clumpy and she was losing weight.  Then she had a wound on her face.  I took her to the vet to have that looked at and it turned out to be an abscessed tooth, poor thing.  An antibiotic shot seems to have taken care of it. She also has some other old cat issues so would not be a candidate for dentistry.   After seventeen years as a barn/shop cat, she now lives in the house.  She adapted to the change with little fuss and pretty much stays in the kitchen and the laundry area where her food and litter box are.  This is a good thing as I have never known a cat that sheds as much as she does, she has always been that way.  Most of her shed hair ends up on the two rugs that she favors.  I am also brushing her daily which helps.  She is doing much better and seems to have put on some weight.

I will try not to stay away from the blog for so long - spring is coming after all and things will be changing - thank goodness!  Until next time, be well friends!

Winter Wood Work

It's been about a month since the last post here.  In that time we have had a couple of holidays and some crummy weather.  You locals know all about it - lots of snow, cold, more snow, then rain that froze - what a slushy mess to clear up - heavy stuff! 

A few years ago, one of my very first blog posts was called Rescuing the Avalanche Victims - or something like that.  The snow comes off the north roof of the pole barn and blocks the little goat door.  That year I had to tunnel them out and it took  most of a day.  This time wasn't that bad.

Before - trapped in the shed

After my work

Vinca, Echo, and Hickory came out, looked around and went back in.  They sure look grungy compared to the white snow - especially Hickory - He reminds me of a polar bear on the ice cap.

Poppy and Tamarack didn't get blocked in but when the snow came down on the south side of the hayshed, they got a big ridge of hard packed snow to play on.  Thankfully, they didn't figure out that they could have easily jumped over it and gotten into all kinds of mischief.

Since those pictures were taken, we have done some rearranging.  Tamarack and Poppy have moved back in with Vinca and Echo. Hickory moved into their pen after Kevin and Bob(cat) dug that snow away. 

Rafael and the hens, and the turkeys Tom and Peanut have been getting outside some too. 

The hens are laying very satisfactorily now, and Peanut has been laying an egg every other day too!

Three new hens came to our place from friends Bonnie and Duane - they are Buckeyes saved from Bonnie's canner.   

Buckeyes are a heritage breed of chicken originating in (of course) Ohio. They are said to be quite docile, cold hardy, and good mousers!  Rafael is also a Buckeye.

Hoover and I have been walking the logging trails on the weekends.  He has to be on a leash to prevent him from following the deer trails and potentially chasing them.  He enjoys our outings anyway.

As usual in the winter, the guys are putting in a lot of time in the woods.  Usually Kevin cuts the trees down and Rollie pulls them out to an area where they can be cut up.  Some of the lengths are cut up with the buzz saw, and the bigger pieces need to be split.  Team work gets it done more efficiently. 

We will have a post again in a few weeks - by then we will really be looking forward to Spring I am sure.  Until then, be well friends!

Digging Out

To start the post, and update from Kevin and the hunting party. As a group of 9 we filled 7 tags with 2 bucks, 3 does, and 2 fawns. We did not see the amount of deer as we have in past years, and from the reports we hear from others we had great success. We decided after the second weekend to be done. We will see how the deer do over the winter now.


Sorry about the fuzziness of some of the pictures in this post - guess I was in a hurry!

As most of you know, Thanksgiving was followed up by a pretty major snowstorm in our area.  We estimate anywhere from 18 to 24 inches at our farm.  The wind really piled the snow up in places so it is pretty hard to be accurate on that.

The snow got started early on Saturday.

By late morning today it was done and the clean-up began.  Kevin spent the entire day plowing, pushing, and piling snow.  Thank goodness for Bob - he earned his keep today!

I got reacquainted with the shovel.  I worked on the front deck and then shoveled a path the the back door of the Winter Coop.  Later this afternoon I spread some straw out there to entice the poultry out. 

 Tom and Peanut were disinclined to exit.

Good news from the coop - the hens are picking up their egg production - 15 eggs today - we haven't had that many for a long, long time.

Tamarack and Poppy were snug in their little house through the storm but their outdoor quarters filled up deep.  They are made of sterner stuff than their mama though (prima donna Vinca does not care to get her feet wet!)- they waded right out when I came out to shovel. 

After clearing away much of the snow, Kevin threw some straw out to make their place a little more comfortable.

In the big shed, quite a bit of snow was blown in the little goat door.  It is unusual for so much to come in on the north side - there is also a solid fence just a few feet away.  The wind was going every direction it seemed.  Fortunately we have expanded the goat area and Vinca, Echo, and Hickory have plenty of snow free space.

Sunset was brief but beautiful this evening.  

 Thank you for visiting our blog.  Until next time, be well friends!

Deer Hunt 2019....so far

What a difference a year and in this case a couple months make in the hunting world. The area we hunt is area 155 and this year we are listed as a bonus zone so each hunter could harvest 2 deer if they want to, just like last year.

Last year we had deer all around us and this spring we saw a lot of deer out in the fields. Even early this fall while we were harvesting grain we saw quite a few deer. Then about a month ago after Kellen was here hunting over the MEA weekend, the deer seemed to disappear.

We were not real worried; opening morning we had 8 hunters going afield, a smaller group then usual but we had a plan. After a full day of hunting we had 1 deer. Nick harvested his first buck right away in the morning. The text messages started flying like 30 seconds after the shot, it was so much fun. This is one of the biggest reasons I love to hunt, the excitement and fun we have as a group together. The pictures will be below so those who do not like to see harvested deer can stop before the pictures.

Nick has now shot more deer than his Dad and after this season has shot twice as many bucks as his Dad (just had to throw in that little jab Tim) As a group this year we saw a total of 8 deer opening weekend. Last year we saw over 40. Maybe it was just the cold weather that was the reason; all three mornings we woke up to single and low teen temps.

After 3 days of cold hunting, we had 3 deer; 2 bucks that Nick shot, a 8 point and a 6 point, and a fawn that someone (not naming names Kevin) shot. so opening weekend was a real slow one.

Now for this weekend. On Saturday Kori and I harvested some does, 3 of them in fact. I counted a total of 6 shots before 1:00 pm and 3 of them were us. It was so quiet. Just a little fun fact, both Kori and I shoot rifles chambered in 7mm-08. I have really become a believer in this little caliber, it does not beat you up when shooting and it does all that it needs to do down range and is very accurate. If someone was looking for a new or used gun, especially for youngsters and people who are sensitive to recoil, this is a great little cartridge.

Anyway, back to the post. These were the only deer seen this weekend; a whole day spent in the field today (Sunday) we saw no deer. It is just really weird, all the deer that we did see were traveling, either moving in a quick walk, trotting or most likely running. Normally we have deer out in the fields feeding and just milling around, especially the dumb little fawns. This year we saw just a couple fawns and none just really hanging out.

So after two weekends of hunting we have a total of 7 deer for 9 hunters which is still a great season, just not what we were expecting. We may be done for the year; we have venison to eat and because we are seeing so few we will let the ones we have in the woods try to make it through the winter.

Now the pictures of Nick with his two bucks. Great shooting young man.

First Buck, nice smile.

2nd buck. Does he look cold?

Be well everyone

November Goat Moves

November has arrived and with it the excitement of the impending deer hunting season - for some folks anyway. The weather has been pretty chilly with freezing temps every night and sometimes all day too.  This weekend getting the heated water pails organized was a priority.

Out in the barnyard, there is another kind of excitement going on - and a big change.  Our buck Ranger has moved to a new farm, and a new buck has come to ours - meet Hickory!

Poppy and Tamarack have moved to a nearby pen and shelter while Hickory visits Vinca and Echo.  The kids aren't thrilled with the arrangement but Kevin has been making their temporary home as comfortable as possible.  In the picture you can see the straw bales he has piled up on the right - when he was finished they had straw bales on both sides and the back to keep them snug and keep the drafts down.

Last weekend was my first indoor market of the fall/winter season - this is what my set up looked like.   I sure wish I had noticed the crooked tablecloth, but otherwise it looked pretty good.

My last pictures to share are kind of fun - I caught Tom napping today!

Surprise!

The next post you will see from us will likely be from Kevin with a hunting update. Until then, be well friends!

Feeling a Little Fall

This post is just a few bits of things

The latest View from the Milking Stand, taken just today  - about half of the leaves are down already.  There are at least three deer in this picture although it's really hard to see the out there. 

Preparations for the regular deer hunting season have begun and these past few days Kevin's brother Kent and nephew Kellen visited from Wyoming for a special early youth hunt.  Kellen didn't get the buck that he would have liked, but he still was successful and hopefully had a good time visiting Minnesota anyway. We know he learned a little more about that favorite chore that comes after your deer is down. Don't have lunch first.

Kevin and Rollie started to harvest the small field of buckwheat this weekend.  -The swather behaved pretty well (after acting up with some of the other grain) but the crop turned out to have too much moisture in it and the combine got all bound up.  The guys were struggling to dislodge a lot of ground up stems in the bowels of the machine when I happened along. 

I was in there, digging out the silage-like plant material and remarked that Kevin ought to take a picture.  I was thinking a side view of the machine with my feet sticking out the end would be amusing - this is the picture he took instead!

It was pretty cramped in there but we got it done.

The turkeys are within days of  being processed for the freezer.  We have most of them rounded up and jailed in the summer coop now.  They are not easy to catch!

Stray cat Scruff has been making more appearances - usually around milking time.  I am hoping she stays around.

Winky, Tulip, and Daffodil left today for a new farm home in southern Minnesota.  It's always a little sad to see the youngsters move on but we just can't keep them all.

 

As always, thank you for stopping by to read the blog. Until next time, be well friends!

Soggy Start to October

October, I am not impressed with you so far.... cold, wet, Very Wet - enough with the rain!

I didn't have a post last week because there just wasn't much to say - and not too much this week either.  It's just that time of year.  I will probably be posting every couple weeks for a while, or maybe even every third week.  This one is just a few tidbits.

Good news for the little orphan turkeys.  They had the smaller room in the Winter Coop to themselves for a while - a lot of valuable coop space for just a few ounces of poultry. Then they were adopted by friend Dana - doesn't she look happy about it?  What a great smile! Her first turkeys.  Thank you Dana!!!

In an all too brief interval between rain showers, I captured the latest View from the Milking Stand.  The woods are too soggy for woodcutting, but are getting pretty to look at.

Out in the barn, lots of hay is being consumed - the goats are constantly reminding me that they are water soluble, the slightest sprinkle will prevent them from going out!

I finished bringing the pumpkins and squash out of the garden today.  Many of them are stacked out on the front deck at the time being.  I'll be cooking and freezing them as time allows.

These leaf prints are from the sidewalk near my work.  Nature's art will not last but I think it's pretty cool.

And that's all I have!  Thanks for stopping by the blog, and until next time, be well friends!