tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57326501565461452102024-02-07T19:49:18.608-08:00 SweetLand Farm random thoughts from a farmer...SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.comBlogger191125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-53693939239376108892019-06-10T16:37:00.002-07:002019-06-10T16:37:41.476-07:00flash forward monday 2019Just to mix it up a bit I thought I'd do flash forward posts! Because all my posts are from the past. Then you can see some real time posts! I'll keep it to Monday only though. Maybe it will be fun, maybe it will confuse you, maybe it will confuse me!! LOL IDK. But I thought it might be fun.<div>
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So lets talk about breeding age heifers...<div>
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This is Poppy.</div>
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This is Camilla.</div>
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We got them last week. We got them from the same farm we bought our first cow from in 2010. Poppy is actually in the same line as that cow (Maggie). </div>
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After getting neck chains on them my husband took Poppy off the trailer first. She was just fine. Well Camilla didn't like being alone with new people, smells and sights. She started to spin around and knock on the walls of the trailer. She wanted her friend back. My husband went back on the trailer to get her with the halter on her and the door swung open. </div>
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Camilla came out rather quickly, in the opposite direction of the barn. We were all placed around the door of the barn and the entrance we wanted her to go in. She headed my way, and I tried to grab her rope halter to steer her. I'm not much when compared to a scared 800lb heifer...next thing I know I'm on the ground with legs, feet, and a gray belly over me! I was able to cover my head with my arms, and tuck and roll on my side. Then there were arms grabbing me under my arm pits pulling me up! I remember saying "I'm OK!" Then we got her back in the direction we wanted her to go and put in her stanchion. I looked down at my shirt and had a hoof print on me. I knew I'd been kicked and had fallen on a piece of fire wood. I also was kicked between my shoulder blade.</div>
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Rough introduction to a new heifer for sure. I was, and am fine. I took a couple milking's off, and have some fun bruises. </div>
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But Camilla and I are good friends now :) She and Poppy have settled in, and we really like these girls. We're looking forward to getting them bred and having 2 more productive members of the herd. </div>
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Happy Monday y'all! </div>
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SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-1769119055062240882019-06-08T10:02:00.003-07:002019-06-08T10:02:57.413-07:00the cows come home November 16, 2017.<br />
The cows were on their way to their new home. 15 of them. New to us, and us new to them. We had never worked with them. They were used to a parlor barn and never been tied. They were coming to a stanchion barn...oh the lessons and time we were to have. The good, bad, ugly, scary and bloody. Gotta keep things real here. I want you to know the real life of farming here and I'm doing my best to share that with you. Because life is messy, and hard, and wonderful all mixed together. And this new farm life with all these new cows was going to be an adventure for all of us, even the cows.<br />
Now I'll tell you a bit about cows if you don't know. They like things to be the same. EVERYTHING. They don't like change, unless it's a new grass pasture they get to go on. They like the same people milking them. And their routine to be the same. I know people like this (hardy har har) Another fun fact about cows, they like female milkers better then male. Good thing I love my girls now. Milking is my favorite!<br />
The day these new cows came home, was, like I said a mad dash to the finish line. The hot water was being tested, the pipeline was being finished and needed to have water run through to make sure it worked properly. Not to mention we needed to be taught how to wash the line properly. There are several steps and cleaners that need to be used. We also had to be in contact with Organic Valley to set up pick ups. You have to be picked up a couple times and the milk tested before it can go on the milk truck. We also had to be in contact with the milk pick up company to let them know we were now on the list of pick ups. It's an every other day pick up.<br />
It's all kinda a blurrrrrrrrrrrr. The truck and trailer carrying the cows came and went a couple times with cows. I don't think we got any pictures either. Bummer.<br />
Funny little side story here. On one of the trips the cattle truck was there and we had just gotten done unloading the cows when a truck and trailer pulled in the driveway. This man came in the barn came in the barn and started looking at the cows and wondering what ones he could have!! He liked the looks of them! Saaaay whaaaaaaat?! He was all ready to buy them. Then Matthew told him they weren't for sale, that these cows were just arriving at our farm. Everyone looked confused. Upon further discussion the confusion was cleared up. He was looking for a different Matthew at a different farm down the road from us that had cows for sale. We all got a good laugh outta that one.<br />
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The cows were home. They all had collars and a chain to keep them tethered to their stalls. Everyone was restless.<br />
By this time it was time to milk them...now keep in mind these girls had never been in a tie stall. They were used to a parlor barn. Thankfully our Amish friend who had housed and cared for them was there to help us with the first two milking's. This night and the next morning.<br />
<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-25137209236680288752019-05-31T17:19:00.002-07:002019-05-31T17:19:58.234-07:00pipeline <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Thankfully we were able to do a lot of the work ourselves, on a lot of the projects that needed to get done. But we did have to hire some help in getting the pipeline set up just right. It needs to be at a certain slope for the milk to work with the suction and the milk to flow properly to the holding tank, to then go into the bulk tank.<br />
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I know nothing of this type of work, but I can hold things and be the "gofer" you know, go for this and go for that! LOL And it was time I got to spend with my husband. We kinda like each other. And being able to work together in all this new adventure we were on was fun.<br />
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A little out of order, but none the less the pipeline went inSweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-9213874070519172662019-05-28T16:17:00.000-07:002019-05-28T16:17:12.588-07:00good qoute<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic."</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>John F Kennedy </b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit goes to our girl DaLaney </td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b> </b></span><i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /></i>SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-1711141836767826282019-05-14T11:15:00.000-07:002019-05-14T11:15:37.898-07:00the fire truck comesNot in the way your probably thinking though. Thankfully.<br />
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We needed the under ground water drain cleaned out to make sure that all the water we use during wash up would actually go out where it should go. The best way we could be sure it was clean was to have the water truck come and dump pressurized water down it! So we did!<br />
We also had the plumber out to set up the on demand hot water supply system. Our water temp is run on propane and needs to be 185 degrees. So ya, it's super hot. And yes when it hits your hand it is so hot its almost cold then it's instant pain. Gives a nice little burn on your hand. I've gotten one. So we try not to touch the water.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the truck arrives</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">getting everything ready</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">worked like a charm! there she blows!!! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEU0LKi2ujiwMMgUc1tVmSLP3xLxcG6JKwbBOSa18lb97iFg2I0g44OBeeqpZ5m56LOOjUWKOkWI-T9o89xndacrVXpOmEscqpmEWDrZm0un2MCdS1Gv5RGGV5j-eI14yJFvR14yfcuLlP/s1600/IMG_8535+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEU0LKi2ujiwMMgUc1tVmSLP3xLxcG6JKwbBOSa18lb97iFg2I0g44OBeeqpZ5m56LOOjUWKOkWI-T9o89xndacrVXpOmEscqpmEWDrZm0un2MCdS1Gv5RGGV5j-eI14yJFvR14yfcuLlP/s320/IMG_8535+%25281%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the plumber and my husband</td></tr>
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<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-85700313648728486162019-05-13T12:55:00.000-07:002019-05-13T12:55:25.413-07:00family The days and weeks went by super fast. There was always a flurry of activity around the farm. New excitement, and stress building as the day was coming closer that the milking herd was coming home. There was never a day that went by that something wasn't going on.<br />
Life in the big, yellow, farm house was great. We were still not moved in totally. Still needed pictures hung up and making it "home" was last on the list with getting the barn ready for the girls. But we were home, and very happy and content to be where God had planted us. Close to family and friends where we wanted to be. Our farm house was so much bigger then the trailer we had come from. It was a little strange to be in the house and not be so close together all the time. My kitchen is so big along with the pantry that I had no idea where to put my small amount of kitchen things. Not a bad problem to have. It was fun to figure out how to organizer it...ahahaha. I'm not an organizer by nature. It's something that I work at and thank goodness for Pinterest!! I had no idea how to make my kitchen work right for me. It was not a huge big deal, and I've figured it out. I love the big kitchen and was looking forward to having lots of family gatherings and such here.<br />
I felt so blessed. I still do. I haven't forgotten where we came from and how we started. I pray I never do. We took the old number of our place and screwed it to the door frame out in our garage so that we would always have it there to remind us if we needed reminding.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">see the number? 338</td></tr>
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The whole life journey we've had together has been lifeful. I don't think that's a word, but my life if full of life. We've had our share of ups and downs as any couple has, but we are stronger for it as a couple and a family. That being said we are very thankful for this big house. That is where family comes in. My husband has a big family with 4 other brothers. I joke with him and say they should have made a movie about you guys, 5 brides for 5 brothers! ahahha. Do you know the real movie of which I speak? It's a classic.<br />
Anyways. His youngest brother, and his wife were selling their house, and looking to buy one closer to the family in our area. They actually had one picked out and were just waiting out all those annoying buying/selling a house details to be worked out. Well, as it turned out their house sold before they could close on the house they were looking at. And then the house they wanted fell through, they couldn't buy it. So as a family we all talked it over and decided that we would offer our house to them to come and stay. The girls have a large room and didn't mind staying together longer. So they could have the 4th bedroom. It even has it's own entrance to it, so that added privacy for them. We invited them to stay as long as they needed, and we were happy to have them. They accepted and moved in. They have one son and he stayed in our sons room. We set up a bed for him there. My sister in law and I get along famously so having her around was great! She is not a farm girl, but I love her anyways, hehehe. Then she happily offered to do all the cooking so I could be more available to be in the barn! Boy what a gift that was! I knew everybody would be fed I didn't have to worry about getting a meal. Made my life easier for sure, and she's a great cook.<br />
They moved in in October.<br />
And as farm being new farmers and all these new farm things to figure out, their time living with us would be an added blessing.<br />
SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-85781884078066414352019-05-11T06:36:00.000-07:002019-05-11T06:36:22.958-07:00the first load of grainAt the time we started getting our bulk grain delivered it was coming from Canada. This was our first load to come. We get a load once a month at this time as I type this post.<br />
We usually have a revolving driveway of trucks and people stopping in. Folks seem interested in what we were/are doing and how we were reviving this old farm back to a dairy. Like I said in an older post no cows had been here in 40 years. The previous owners had horses in the stable and hayed the fields.<br />
So on to the grain coming in. All these firsts were exciting.<br />
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Good thing we have a loop of a driveway. Makes it a lot easier for these big trucks that come and go. </div>
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It was kinda cool watching all this happen and how it goes from the grain truck to the grain bin. My husband has climbed to the top of the bin before, and I told him I was only too happy to let him do that! I would watch from the ground. <br />
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All the girls came up to see what was going on. I guess they could smell the grain and were wanting to get in on the action!!<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-83391460456759077702019-05-11T06:18:00.004-07:002019-05-11T06:18:49.802-07:00cement pouring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
There is always so much to do on a farm. We never have a problem falling asleep at night. And the milking herd wasn't even home yet! We just had our 12 here. </div>
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Getting the spot ready for the grain bin we bought at an auction from a dairy farm that sold out. It's really sad to see these old farms selling out and no longer farming. Unfortunately it's happening a lot all over the country.<br />
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Cement truck came to pour! We had a little extra help to get it all smoothed out too!!<br />
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Almost done!<br />
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Making it all even to keep the grain bin even and level. We put the date in it, and that night while it was drying a naughty barn kitty can across it too. So there are paw prints in it. Kinda funny!<br />
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This is in front of the milk room door. There has to be cement in front so that the hose that goes into the milk room isn't on dirt.<br />
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Smoothing it all out. We all put our hand print in it along with Belles paw.<br />
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For some reason we never got any pictures of the grain bin being delivered and set up. That was fun! LOL<br />
Oh well.<br />
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<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-32412852458912199252019-05-07T12:53:00.002-07:002019-05-07T12:53:53.123-07:00painting and other such projects<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Life seems to pass me by and I don't get around to blogging. Or the computer dies on me. LOL I'm still a year behind on this farm life we get to live. So much to try to catch up on. I'll do my best. I seem to say that often. But when you farm, home school, and are a full time wife and mom, well you know what happens. So here is my attempt to blog again, and again! </div>
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It was a nice sunny day so DaLaney and I decided it was a good day to paint the boards for the milk room walls. Not much else to say here.<br />
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^^^ These pictures of the painted walls being measured and put up in the milk room. As you can see part of out pipeline has gone in too! The glass bulb, or the holding tank is to the right. Our bulk tank is the big silver thing behind Matthew!<br />
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^^^ These two pictures were exciting. This barn is our old barn! We milked the cows by hand in there! We picked it up and moved it to our new home! It's not being used for anything right now. We'll figure out what to do with it when we have time to think about it!!<br />
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^^^ These pictures are of some of the cleanup that needed to be done in order for the milk room to be redone. Probably a little out of order, but none the less. Here they are. As you can see there is a huge hole in the wall, so we could get the bulk tank in the milk room. <br />
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I guess that's all I'll bombard you with today. I have to go milk the cows shortly...Lets hope I can get a little more going on here...SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-78675130319807831672018-06-01T06:28:00.006-07:002018-06-01T06:28:51.185-07:00workin on the milk room redo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The barn was great! The milk room was empty. It needed work done to be brought up to code. It needed to be Grade A inspected to be able to ship milk. We had our work cut out for us. But we are used to hard work. So off we went. <br />
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All the old boards needed to come off and new ones put on, and painted white. That was first. It also needed insulation. Can't have things freezing here! Yikes! <br />
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Took some time, but all the old walls came down, insulation put in, and new boards, white washed were put up. That was one job done. <br />
<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-28389598413534640192018-05-29T15:59:00.000-07:002018-05-29T15:59:33.382-07:00barn kitties<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Whats a farm without a hundred cats running around?!<br />
This is one litter that we got. A fellow farmer texted my husband and said he had some kittens that needed a new home. My husband said we'd take 2. We already had one barn cat and 2 black cats came with the farm.<br />
The morning that we got them I picked them up. I had my youngest with me. Well you know what?! Kittens are super cute. I mean look at their little faces. I took them all! I got home and my husband was surprised that I had all 4. I said they were just looking at me all cute, I couldn't just take 2! He called me a softie. hehe He called the other farmer and said we'd bring 2 back. Oh no! Was the answer. I have more coming tomorrow! LOL<br />
So we kept the kittens. They are the most friendly barn kittens around. They love to be lugged around and loved on. They come when you call them and they get milk every milking. Maybe a little spoiled!<br />
Enjoy the day!SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-6856204908377461132018-05-25T10:13:00.004-07:002018-05-25T10:13:55.596-07:00remember that post about fencing...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I found the pictures of all the fencing we pulled out of the tall grass and the wire and posts. Such hard work, but we did it together and got the job done. It also gave us the opportunity to look at the land and the old stone walls. As well as the over grown pastures. It needs work. And no big surprise they were over grown with brush and some trees and such. We decided we needed to bring back the stone walls too. But I'm ahead of myself.<br />
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All the wire we found left behind from the previous tenant who used the fields for horses. We threw it.<br />
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Fence posts left behind. We saved the good one. About 300+-.<br />
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The clips. We saved those too. Those are 5 gallon buckets too.<br />
<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-77043425342535704922018-05-16T07:48:00.001-07:002018-05-16T07:48:45.292-07:00new lifeAs we are busily working to get the big herd of cows home, still having pressure to get our cows on the milk truck, all the work to be done, the days getting shorter, the work getting heavier, the need of hay, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.<br />
We have new life. It takes a moment or several to see and observe the miracle of life. I love watching! It's been 40 years since cows have been on the property and 40 years since a new birth on the farm as well. We were so excited! Plus they were Jersey calves being born. We were hopeful for heifers. We had spent a lot of money on getting these girls artificially inseminated. We had not wanted a bull where we were and AI was what we used. Not always the cheap route to take either. <br />
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<b>BIRTH PICTURES BELOW! </b><br />
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So on a beautiful, sunny, warm day in August Daffodil had a healthy bull.We all watched as she gave life and took care of it. It's simply amazing. <br />
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The other girls come over to see whats going on.We didn't keep him for long. A few days and he was gone to another farm.<br />
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Then on another beautiful, sunny, warm, day in September Goldie had her first calf, a bull.
It was actually on a Sunday afternoon. She worked hard to have him too. She is by far our most gentle cow. Real
sweet. And she stayed sweet.<br />
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This calf was up and sucking so fast after being born! I've never seen one so fast! Goldie was such a great mama too. She showed him off and didn't show any aggression towards us. Only the cats, when they came too close. We kept him for a few days and he as gone too, another farm.<br />
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So even in the midst of business we still got to watch calves being born. Happy, healthy, mamas and calves. We were thankful for.<br />
Enjoy the day y'all!<br />
<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-16681689864604096012018-05-15T16:19:00.001-07:002018-05-15T16:19:19.724-07:00firewood We live in Maine. Nuf said. Hardy har har.<br />
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We get snow, ice and cold. Yup. Seems like we just got out of it and finally have some buds on the trees and finally mowing our lawns! Why am I posting pictures of winter!? Well I'm almost a year behind posting and telling you about our crazy life on a farm!<br />
Life has a way of flying by. I was told once that the days are slow and the years are fast. Looking back I can see that. It's always stuck with me, that line. I look at my kids and think wow, how fast they have grown up and become teenagers. Young adults. Too fast. But it happens. I'm so proud of my kids, and who they have become. But before I cry I'll change the subject. No just kidding, I'm not a crier. But my kids...they are my heartbeat. This farm ya. My life. I love it. I love the work, the births, the cows, the idle times, oh wait, not much for idle times, but none the less I love it all. Even the struggles, and we know our share of them.<br />
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Sunsets. Yup. I still have them. Christmas Eve!<br />
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This one is one our oldest daughter took. I just love it. She is getting quite an eye for picture taking. I encourage her in this too. She really enjoys it. <br />
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But this picture here is fire wood! YAY!<br />
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We got lots of fire wood last year for the house. We now have a big house, and wood fire places. So fire wood it is! <br />
I love a fire going when the wind is blowing and the snow is coming down. And this past winter we got plenty of cold, and snow. It was the coldest winter we've had in Maine since 1976 I think is the year. No I'm not kidding either. I wouldn't kid about something like the cold. I'm not a fan. I tend to run cold anyways. Ridiculously cold. FOREVER. Ya, I did a little complaining towards the end. I'm human and I was sick of the cold. <br />
But even in this terrible winter we were better of this year then the previous and I'm thankful for that. Our cows were warm, and dry under one roof.<br />
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And just for giggles...<br />
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Belle loves the snow! She is so happy to leap and jump and try to get the snow and catch it in her mouth! So funny to watch. She'll even back at it while she chases it!<br />
Have a good one y'all!<br />
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<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-29424925552684529852018-03-28T17:59:00.001-07:002018-03-28T17:59:16.475-07:00we buy a pipe line <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As much as we love our cows, we were not going to be milking 20+ cows by hand!<br />
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We needed a pipe line. Those things are expensive, but then again so is starting a dairy farm. But how we got this gem is great.<br />
My husband grew up in this town. He knows all the dairy farmers, and most everyone who lives in town. But I guess when your family has lived in town for 8 generations, you get to be known. Anyways...<br />
We ran into a fellow local dairy farmer, and he was asking how things were going. He knew we had just bought a farm, and were working to get it up and running. They talked for... a while. You know how it is. LOL. In the conversation Matthew said we were looking for a pipe line. Well the farmer looked at him and said his dad had one in his old dairy barn that was fully intact, and wanted to get rid of it! Whoa! OK! The dairy cows had been sold off a long time ago, and the owners just kept young stalk at the barn now.<br />
Matthew contacted the owners and asked about the pipe line. He said come look at it, and see what you think. Now this is really cool. It's a glass pipe line! Really cool to watch the milk slug through during milking! We needed to measure the pipe line and our barn to see if it would fit. There is more to this pipe line stuff then I knew. Never had used one before. Well as it goes, the pipe line would fit in our barn perfectly! The dairy barns are about the same size. So we paid for it, and a week or so later my husband and his brother went and took it out of the barn and brought it home! On a trailer no less. Wrapped in blankets and strapped down and ever so carefully it made it's way across town. Yup. This pipe line was just a few miles up the road from our farm! Pretty cool eh?<br />
Well I think so. <br />
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This is the set up in the old dairy barn, not ours.<br />
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Again, the old dairy barn and pipe line. But this barn looks a lot like ours!<br />
We had one huge part of the puzzle to begin.<br />
We still had a ways to go, but we were happy where we were at. Things were looking good!<br />
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<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-1662354062810114342018-03-23T17:54:00.000-07:002018-03-23T17:54:11.329-07:00fences <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Boy let me tell you what. This was to be done before we could do much of anything with the fields. We had miles and miles of fence to be taken down and fence posts and those stupid fiber glass poles to be taken down. This was a family project. And no joke it took us 3 days to do this huge task. I only got a couple pictures because we were so busy right after we moved in.<br />
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What a mess. Wire everywhere, and buried in the grass that had grown over it. Deer that had gone through the fence and took it down.<br />
We were glad to do it though. It gave us the opportunity to walk the land and see the old fence lines that have been over grown with neglect and it gave us some ideas on how to bring back the fields and reclaim them!<br />
Well that and we couldn't do anything with the fields until this was done. What a night mare to get this stuff tangled up in the tractor and equipment! Yikes!<br />
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Here is all the poles we found and took down. The land had been used for horse pasture, that is where all this came from.<br />
And...<br />
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Two five gallon buckets of wire holders.<br />
I wish I had gotten a picture of the wire and the rope wire stuff. We threw all that. But have saved the poles and snaps. They are all stored for use or a quick repair or what have you for the well very near future now as I write this. Or not. Not sure. We have some planning to figure out for pasture. We have yet to get that planned out. <br />
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<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-36007133587509690042018-03-22T09:30:00.000-07:002018-03-22T09:30:30.363-07:00the cows are out <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We let the cows out in a small paddock that we moved around a few times. It was late in the season but they were happy to be out in their new fields and seemed to settle in, and munch on the grass, after kicking up their heels for a few minutes. We kept them in the barn for a few days and fed them in their stanchions so they knew that was were home is. They settle down and eat, and are happy.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweet Belle the farm dog. She loves to help, and keeps an eye on the cows too.</td></tr>
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SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-92144642863470405462018-03-21T16:18:00.003-07:002018-03-21T16:39:36.365-07:00moved in 1Well the cows had water and our 12 at our home were now moved into their new home. Now we can move into our home. It was a busy couple of day. We only moved 3.9 miles to our new home, but moving 6 people takes some trips. We didn't think we had that much stuff, and we weeded out a lot as we moved it out. Ahh! feels good to throw stuff.<br />
I'm not a super sentimental person, and can throw a lot out. I have one thing I tend to hang on to. Pictures. Here is a little tit bit about me, the author of the blog. I love to scrap book. I just really love to go through our family history of 32879285789 pictures and put them in a neatly organized photo album. Then when I'm old I can look through them and remember our lives. They are short and fleeting. Especially with kids. Oh man do the days drag on when they are little, and you think you'll be changing diapers forever. FOREVER! But nope. A blink of the eye and it's gone. Now my kiddos are older and well, I'm so blessed. But time is not on my side. I don't have a lot of down time to spend hours, ya, hours working on albums. But someday, when I'm older....... hardy har har!! No, in all reality I know I will make many more albums to come. Rabbit trail over. <br />
Back to moving in. We did it, with a little extra help, but it wasn't that bad. I don't ever wanna move again. I love my home. The farm. Our life. I still drive up the road to home and can't quite believe that it's ours. In all the times and years we drove by it, it never entered my mind it would be ours.<br />
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Lest you forget my love of sunsets. Oh how I was wanting to have a sunset view. Well God heard my prayer and granted yet another yes for me. I can see the sun setting in the big ole Maine west! I can be in the dairy barn or on the veranda and watch the sun sinking low in the sky.<br />
<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-80414677472748389562018-03-13T11:42:00.001-07:002018-03-13T11:42:12.633-07:00till the cows come home40 years have passed since there has been a cow in this old dairy barn. We brought life back to it!<br />
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Our original 12 are home. Happy. Eating. Drinking. Pooping.<br />
The man who hauled the cows over snapped a photo and sent it to the man that grew up on this farm and showed him the cows in the barn. He almost cried he was so happy to see cows back in the barn again. <br />
<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-4599874872014942822018-03-06T08:02:00.001-08:002018-03-06T08:02:44.997-08:00the work beginsBefore we could move into our new home, we needed to have water in the barn. No cows had been in the barn for 40 years. So it was a job to get it done, but all in all not too bad. Took some time though.<br />
I think the slow transition to moving in was good for all of us. We were at the farm everyday cleaning, and working, and eating meals. But at night we went home. We got used to being in a new place without moving in right away. The kids started bringing over their stuff and putting it in their rooms! That was exciting for them too.<br />
We tried to get the old water lines to work, but quickly found out they they were too far gone and rusted so we went with pex instead. So much easier and quicker and way easier to fix should something break. And my husband is quite handy in the whole carpentry aspect of building. So we did it together.<br />
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Was fun to work together on something we waited so long for.<br />
We only needed to get water on one side of the barn to get our 12 home. So we did. Then we could work on the rest of the barn.<br />
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Then the day came. Just like that! LOL. Not really but sounds good. The cows were coming home! We were really excited too. A local dairy farmer said he would haul our cows home for us!!<br />
And the day came for the girls to move over to the new farm!!<br />
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Here they are on the truck on their way to their forever new home!<br />
All 12 of em. Took 2 trips to get them too. <br />
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<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-75323133073311522632018-03-02T08:29:00.002-08:002018-03-02T08:29:54.294-08:00this is usNever despise the days of meager beginnings.<br />
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<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-23847898828553279052018-02-15T07:02:00.000-08:002018-02-15T07:02:59.571-08:0010 days One phone call on that one Friday and life changed.<br />
"Our offer has been accepted." Those words. I can't even describe how that felt. I can't even begin to put into words all we had been through the last two years. Two years we looked, worked and prayed. <br />
All the time spent looking. All the pressure of finding a farm. Moving. Having to move. Wanting to move.<br />
Was over.<br />
10 days.<br />
That was all it took for us to see decide, offer and have that offer accepted. The house was off the market. We were the only ones to get a showing. That's how fast it all happened. We knew it was right, and we moved fast to get it off the market.<br />
We had our closing date. <br />
We closed in July. We wanted to close at the farm. Such a fine idea. The man we bought it from was really great. We still chat with him from time to time too. He lives in Florida. <br />
But we didn't move in the day we closed. Why your wondering?<br />
Well, there was no water in the barn. Part of the reason the cement was in such good shape. <br />
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The night we closed we had a big family BBQ! We invited all Matthew's family and mine. Bring something for the grill and something to share! It was such a huge celebration for us!! We were home. We had our dream farm. We were not moving to the county!<br />
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We felt so blessed!SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-34319279140592413412018-02-14T17:29:00.000-08:002018-02-14T17:29:57.108-08:00june Rachel was fine.<br />
Life seemed to be moving forward again. We decided not to plant a garden. Our neighbor asked how the farm hunting was going. We told him we found a place and were waiting to here from the owners.<br />
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Then life got real interesting for my husband one afternoon. He received 2 text messages, and 2 phone calls. A friend. A brother. A neighbor. His father.<br />
There was a new farm for sale. In the town we live in. 3.9 miles from where we were currently living. Just on the market that day. His dad saw the sign go up on the lawn.<br />
Matthew called me. He asked if I wanted to go look at it. I knew right where it was. Such a beautiful place. I said yes. Whenever. He called me back about 10 minutes later. We were going to see it that Friday. OK. I thought. I decided not to look at it online. I told myself it wasn't going to happen. The barn would make it a no. Don't get excited. It's not going to happen. Besides we were still interested in the county property, maybe a little. But not really so much. Things were on hold with that property, due to some estimates on building a dairy barn. And we really didn't feel like that was were we were supposed to be. Non of us wanted to go.<br />
Friday morning came. We went to see it. We pull in the long driveway. It's a yellow house. Just so happens to be my favorite color. It's a colonial style house. My favorite. We walk in the barn first. I didn't want to see the house. My jaw almost hits the ground. The barn is clean. It still has the stanchions in it, and water bowls that are rusted. The cement work is great. A few cracks in it, but the best I had seen in all the barns we'd looked at. 1959 in marbles by the milk room. That was the year the barn was built. Matthew knows the boy, now grown man, who put them there, and he lives down the road from the farm.There was nothing but an old saw in the milk room. My eyes looked all over. Dare I hope? My interest increased, and I looked to Matthew. He looked as surprised as I did.We didn't speak to one another. <br />
We walk into the house. Oh the house is a beautifully restored country farm house. We open the door and enter a mud room. Oh a mud room! It's heated too. Barn boots outside I think. I step into the house. A huge kitchen. A long counter top with granite. The cupboards are the ugliest shade of yellow I've ever seen. A big table. A big stove with 6 burners! Whoa! I could cook a lot on that bad boy! Then I see the pantry. It's as big as my kitchen back home. The living room is a beautiful shade of pale butter yellow. I love it. The office is a deep blue with wood trim. The stairs are open and we walk up. The house gets better and better. The master bed room is pale yellow with a tinted blue curved ceiling. We kept looking. Four bedrooms and two baths. I felt like I should pinch myself. Don't get too excited. Don't bond with it. you ladies know. We like to bond with things! :)The house turned out to be better then we thought possible. And the dairy barn.<br />
We walk up to the horse stable and look that all over. A big, beautiful riding arena! Big beautiful stalls, nice big tack room, grain room, a kitchenette. Oh man. This was right up my ally. Horses. Dare I even think I'm not dreaming? <br />
After we look the whole place over we chat with the Realtor. He said go home, pray, think, talk and let me know what you think. We leave.<br />
We talk. Pray.<br />
It's everything and way more then we ever dared hope for. And the timing. The timing was all God. <br />
We go see the farm again the following Monday. We decide to make an offer. We did so on Wednesday night.<br />
They had until Friday to answer. <br />
Matthew called me Friday afternoon and said our offer was accepted. I immediately burst into tears. Happy tears. The stress and pressures of looking were over. We were finally buying a farm. A dream farm. No more searching. No more wondering where we were going. We were staying close to family, friends and church. Moving 3.9 miles from where we were. The relief flooded my whole being. Two years of looking washed away and it felt so good.SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-40441628789183837812018-02-12T17:49:00.000-08:002018-02-12T17:49:23.281-08:00life tipped on its axis Our youngest was sick.<br />
I had never seen her like this before. None of the other kids were sick. She would be OK, then spike a fever, turn white as sheet of paper, grab her stomach and burst into tears. This would last about 10 minutes. Then she would get color back, the pain would subside. The fever stayed. This would happen at different times in the day. She would sleep, a lot. This lasted a couple days when I called the Dr. Things were not changing and she was not getting better. My Mommy's heart was in my throat. I couldn't make her feel better.<br />
We were sent to the hospital to get some blood work done on her. One of the tests that she needed done they could not do at the hospital we were at. We needed to go to Bangor. Off we went. The other kids were with Matthew's mom.<br />
She was a trooper. She napped in the van on the ride up. She would chat with us. The pains she would get were not as strong, but still happened. Our minds were whirling with what ifs. Not a place you want to go, and yet somehow you find yourself there. I was glad I was driving. It helped to keep my mind occupied.<br />
At the hospital she had the blood work done, and we went home.<br />
Life moves at a turtle speed when you wait for doctors to call you. Somehow you continue getting things done. All the while keeping a watchful eye on you sick daughter.<br />
<br />
The call comes. It was the Doctors office. Her blood work was not normal. We needed to go to the cancer center in Brewer to have some more extensive blood work done...<br />
My world stopped. Nothing mattered anymore. I couldn't think, or breath. Cancer Center? Ran through my mind like a freight train.<br />
Life moves at a turtle speed when you wait for doctors to call you.
Somehow you continue getting things done. All the while keeping a
watchful eye on you sick daughter.<br />
<br />
The appointment was set up. We didn't tell the other kids or Rachel anything. Just that they needed to do more blood work.<br />
The day came. It seemed like an eternity to me.<br />
During all this there was much prayer. Much confusion, and still trying to function normally, and buy a farm. But that didn't matter. Life was on hold.<br />
We get to the doctors. We get taken in. She gets her blood work done. We wait. Keeping cool, and not alarm Rachel. We read a story together on the couch. She eats a snack of chips. We get taken in to a room where we wait for the doctor. The doctor walks in. My palms are sweaty and my heart racing, and I'm fighting a silent scream in my brain. I look to Matthew. He's silent. He looks at the doctor. The doctors first words were:<br />
"Let me get the hard part out of the way. There is nothing wrong with your daughter..."<br />
Now those words penetrate my heart, mind, body and soul. They still do today. I still get teary eyed just thinking of it. Like now as I type. I'll never forget because it was Rachel's 10th birthday.<br />
Relief. Thankfulness.<br />
"Your daughter had a bad virus that took her body for a ride and that was her way of fighting it off was her off blood work."<br />
I'm blinking rapidly to keep from crying. Rachel is looking at us with her big beautiful blue eyes and big smile. We chat for a little longer with the doctor and then we leave. <br />
We bought Rachel McDonalds for lunch, per her request. And start the drive home.<br />
We were quiet for a while soaking it all in. Then I said:<br />
"Matthew, what would we do if we were in the county? We have no one up there."<br />
"I don't know." was his only response.<br />
<br />
We had quite a nice birthday party that evening. We were all very thankful that this had turned out the way it had. She was fine, and healthy. We could breath. Life could continue. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5732650156546145210.post-78460560108617365192018-02-09T10:38:00.000-08:002018-02-09T10:38:10.970-08:00aroostook county Quite a drive. It was cold. There was still a lot of snow. It was the county. It was winter. I kept all kinds of thoughts to myself. I really didn't want to be going. I kept saying to myself that "it will be worth it if this is where God wants us". <br />
The further North we went the more snow there was. There was no traffic that we met on the highway. The temperatures got colder too.<br />
<br />
Arrival at the farm with the white house. The driveway was bearly plowed, and we had to carefully climb up a rather large snow bank to get into the front door. The house was very nice. The kitchen was huge. As I said I do like to cook. The kids picked out what bed room they would like to have. 2 bathrooms. The land was flat and open. Nice view.We chatted with the realtor and got the disclosures and all that fun stuff. More looking around and seeing how we could make the house work. Not really all that hard. A few things could be changed around and fixing up a room and it would be bigger. Totally doable. <br />
On the very long ride home we weren't really talkative. So much over load and we were all tired.<br />
Over the next few weeks we talked things over and decided to make an offer on the farm. We told OV about it and they said yes that it was a doable pickup. We made an offer.<br />
We told the kids. They cried.<br />
We told Matthew's mom, she cried.<br />
We told my mom, she cried.<br />
Sigh.<br />
Why if this was it was everyone we loved crying? Doubt creeps in. We move forward with it. <br />
But things seemed to be falling into place. Maybe this was it. The decision was made to go. If this was the place then it would be a good thing for all of us. <br />
Moving to a place with no family, no friends, and no church family. Such a huge deal. For us anyways. This decision was not made lightly at all.<br />
We got a counter offer.<br />
We were working with the realtor and the farm owners were in Florida. So this all took some time to work out.<br />
We had some more questions about the farm and got answers and then again counter offered. Had more paper work drawn up...<br />
<br />
Our youngest daughter was going to be turning 10 soon. She was all excited about that. Then she came down with a cold of sorts...SweetLand Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17597550653388046385noreply@blogger.com0