whats cookin in my kitchen

MmHmm.
My sister came over and we made some Bismarck's. We always have a great time cooking and laughing over silly things. We try to make something new and exciting. And a supper meal too. But always save room for dessert!
 They were really good too. These were a bit like a Boston Cream doughnut. So we looked up a couple more recipes of them, and most were like this. I guess you can call it what you like. I like to call it more! haha

Have a great day ya'll

spoiled

I think our little pooch may be just a little bit spoiled. Just a bit.

It was cold out. So the kiddos decided to warm Belle up in their jackets,  sweater and a pillow to rest her weary head on. Poor little doggie. LOL

Belle is a great croquet player too. She won every round we played.

This dog of ours is very much a part of our family. Her personality is bigger then her, along with her heart for her family.

Yup. We love our Belle.

Have a great day ya'll

best buddies

I turned the two girls loose in the barn the other day so they could be free. I was going to be gone and it was a chilly day. I figured the two could snuggle together and keep each other warm. Well I took a peek out to see them before I left and ran to the house and grabbed the camera. This is what I found when I went to check on them.
Goldie is the one facing me. Callie has her back to me.

Isn't that the sweetest?! Babies all snuggled up together?!
 Don't be alarmed by the red spots on Callie's back. When we went to pick her up we had to put her in a crate of sorts to keep her safe and secure in the back of the truck. Well, when my husband built the box it was a little short and she rubbed her back on it when she moved around. She was taller then we had anticipated her being. The spots are all but healed up now.
Have a great day ya'll!!

thankful

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I look forward to it every year. The family, the food, and the memories that we make together.



                                                  HAPPY THANKSGIVING YA'LL

handy man

I've said it many times. My husband is very handy, and I'm so thankful for it!  He built this...

 A hay feeder for the cows! Now we can put the hay in this and not have the cows poop, and sleep all through their hay.

Side view. He saw one like it for $2500. Then decided to build his own. We love it. And I think the cows do too!
We put up our winter fence this morning. It snowed last night, the 22, as you can see. Just a dusting. Our first snow of the winter. We made the fence so that we can open it up and scrape the manure off the gravel pad, to help keep where they eat drier. Seeing how cows poop where they eat. This was just another winter project we needed to get done.
Now that is done and we can breath a little easier. Feels good to know that the cows won't waste as much hay now that it's in the feeder!

part 2 calla lily

Well the day after we had agreed to buy Goldie and sent out a down payment on her to the owner to show we were wanting her we got a phone call. This call was from the owner of the farm where we bought our first cow! They have an amazing herd of Jerseys. We had called them, but they didn't have any heifers. But they had a few more cows that were due in a month or so, and if they had a heifer they would sell they would call and let us know. Well, turns out they did have a heifer. Oh my!This farm is very particular about who they will sell cows/calves to, these cows are their family. I can appreciate that. We were particular who we sold our bull calves too as well. So after chatting with the farmers and then we chatted we decided to buy this calf. We are building our herd and want to keep a good line of Jerseys. We told our youngest only that we were getting a heifer in November and to keep it a secret. She did well to keep it too.
So on the day we went to get our newest little calf I was excited. She's my calf. I picked out her name, one that I had picked out a long time ago and was waiting my turn to name one. Calla Lily. Now I'm not the most sentimental person, but I do love lilies, and I had them in my wedding bouquet. So there you have it. I do have a little sentiment in me. lol.

So here she is, Callie. And we found out that her father is the same father that we bred one of our cows to! So we can make sure we don't breed her to him in the future.
Have a great day ya'll

part 1 goldenrod

OK. So about the remodel job on the horse barn.
We had 3 bull calves this year. Ya. 3. So we decided to keep the Jersey Red Angus cross for our freezer and we sold the two other calves. That we were happy about.
As we have been blessed with heifer calves we have given them to our kiddos. They take on the responsibility of it. Well this year our cow Maggie had a bull calf, and if it had been a heifer it was to go to our youngest daughter. Well she was in tears when I told her it was a bull. So after getting her calmed down and all she was ok with it. We told her that maybe next year she would get her calf. Maggie is still healthy and all to have more calves. Well my husband and I talked and decided that we would see about buying her a heifer calf. But we didn't tell her in case it didn't work out. Well look we did. All over! We called every Jersey cow farmer we could think of. Turns out a lot of farmers we spoke with had mostly bull calves and what heifers they did have they didn't want to sell. Can't say I blame em either. We thought we had exhausted every avenue. So we resigned ourselves to not finding one. But our daughter had no idea, so she wasn't disappointed. Then one evening my husband found some Jersey cows for sale online. Upon further looking he found a 5 month old Jersey heifer in another state. So we investigated about her. Turns out the man had to move and was selling everything. So we decided to take a chance and buy her.
Well the night the calf was to come, our youngest still had no idea we had bought her. The man brought the calf to the door and we brought our daughter out. She was speechless, and looked at her daddy. I was crouched down nearby holding the camera and got a picture of her as she wrapped her little arms around her fathers neck when she realized that the calf was hers! We got the calf settled in the barn for the night, it was well past 8pm when she arrived to her new home.
 She had her name for her calf all picked out as soon as she knew Maggie had settled last year. Goldenrod, in keeping with the flower names for the cows.

"Goldie"

 Here is Goldie out on the lawn enjoying the sun. She is a real sweetheart and a nice addition to the farm. And our daughter just loves her!
Part 2 is coming tomorrow.
Have a great day ya'll! 

just a swingin

My husband is very handy to have around. He built the kiddos a swing set!

A tire swing, 2 regular swings, monkey bars, a cabin and a slide! All it needs is the roof. Even Belle goes sliding!

makin sweet hay

It was late in the haying season when we were finally able to get the last of the hay done. We ended up having to hire getting some of it done. We don't have a round baler or a wrapper. Two things that we have talked about needing in the future. We've come to the conclusion that we will be feeding sweet hay to the cows. So we will be getting the equipment to do that. It's hard to depend on others, their schedules,  and the weather as well. But we are thankful that we were finally able to get it done.
The day that it was baled and wrapped started out to be a nice day. Thankfully. Nice and warm and partly sunny. Because, come to find out, to make the wrap stick to itself the temperature needs to be warm. I have never wrapped hay before so I had no idea. But it makes sense. So my husband and the guy who was baling the hay were out in the field. Another guy was at the house with me to load the bale onto the wrapper, I was the wrapper. He showed me how it was done, and then got in his tractor and loaded a bale. I ended up having one of the kiddos bring out some ear plugs for me. It was kinda loud. We had the kiddos stay in the house, because we didn't want the guy driving the tractor, or me, to worry about where they were while he was moving bales around the yard.

 Well, here I am. Unloading a bale from the wrapper. As you can see by the picture I have on some layers. The weather cooled off later in the day and we even got some sprinkles of rain ... I was afraid I was gonna get soaked! But I'm pleased to say we did not get any rain! Phew. And the temperature kept warm enough to keep the wrap to stick to itself. But just standing there not moving around a whole lot I got chilly.

Here is the guy and his tractor loading up some hay. Both tractors and wrapper are his.  He wasn't too worried about it if it rained...haha
Well needless to say we got the hay home and wrapped and it's here at our farm. The cows love it, and we are pleased with the outcome.
Oh have no fear a post about the empty stanchions is coming.  :)
Have a great weekend all!

remodeling...

Well hello blogger world. Seems I post for a while then I don't for a long time. Life seems to be flying by me at a rapid pace. My weeks seem to jumble into a blurr of activity.

Thankfully our fall hasn't been too bad. The weather has been good, except for some cold snaps early on killing off all the beautiful fall foliage.  Still seems to be so much to do around the farm. I think that is the way of it though. There is always something to do! We have been getting ready for the winter. Making sure everything is "buttoned up!" Slowly but surely we are getting it done. Makes life interesting living on a farm and making sure everything is ready for snow. That and living in a New England state we are forever and always preparing for winter. From the critters, to the equipment, to the buildings! And making sure we have enough fire wood to last us through. Have no fear we are all set, just in case you were worried I might freeze ;)

Some of the work we have been up to is remodeling the horse barn.  We needed a place to keep some of the younger cattle we have. So, my husband being the amazing man that he is, remodeled it, and then put in electricity!!
SO here is the before picture. The inside of the horse barn, one side of it. Now keep in mind this part of the barn has been a hay storage,weaning stall, a stall for a cow through the winter, sheep barn, pig stall, and a birthing stall for a cow too. I think that sums it up.

 Here is the inside of the stall. Pardon the poo we've had a cow in there. I forget the size of it..see the little side door that has a board across it? That was for the sheep, and pigs to go in and out. All sealed off so no one will fall out.

 Here is to go into the barn. There are boards on the sides like a jail. My mare, Abby, is crabby and will bite anyone who is in the stall. So we blocked her from doing so.

Here is my honey cutting some lumber for the floor. See the wrapped hay? MmmHmm sweet hay for the cows. They love that stuff. The old wall for the stall was ripped out, a new floor laid down, 4 stanchions were built in. And...

Tada!! The finished product. Rubber mats, water buckets, and a place for 4 young cows. Well one of them is a steer that is a Jersey, Red Angus cross. He will be going in our freezer when he's old enough. Now about those 4 young cows. We have Suzie last years heifer, and the steer, we call him Bullseye. Now what of the other 2 stanchions that are there....you'll have to come back to find out...

Have a great day ya'll!