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! 

15 minutes can change a lot

7-28-15 Started out a normal day. Nice, sunny, and  hot. Not many clouds. The kiddos and I spent about 2 hours in the gardens weeding and picking. It looked so nice when we were done.
The night had been unsettled. Thunder and lightening almost all night, but no rain. It had started again late in the afternoon on the 28th. I  could hear the rumble and grumble of it in the distance.
It was late in the afternoon when my Mom called me. I was finishing up cooking supper and the kiddos were chilling watching a movie after a long day. She told me we were having a tornado watch. WHAT?! I live in New England!  We don't get tornadoes! But we did have a funnel cloud here, last week or so.
 So I hung up and went to tell my husband. Then I checked the weather on the computer. It had a severe weather warning. Heavy rain, damaging winds of  60+ MPH, heavy hail, and heavy thunder and lightening. Headed our way at 20MPH! I quickly told my husband and hurried the kiddos to do chores, not telling them why. Didn't want to alarm them.
We had about 20 or so minutes to get things done. Getting the cows in, the horses fed, making sure water was plentiful in case we lost power, etc. We also made sure to put things away that could be a flying hazard too! I watched the storm coming closer. The thunder was angry with it's rumbles and clapping and more rumbling as it moved closer. Then the hard snapping crackle of the lightening. The air changed. I sent the kiddos and dog in the house.

I wanted some pictures of the storm coming. I love to watch them rolling in. Coming up from the valley. I could feel the wind kick up, and the air change and the first drops of rain hit my face. This storm sounded angry, and looked angry.
But come it did! First the wind with the thunder and lightening. Then the rain. It came down so hard and so fast.  I was in the living room with the family when I heard the hail. I pointed to the window as it came down and hit the windows. But then with a swiftness and anger I have never experienced before the hail came down. We couldn't see out the windows the rain and hail was coming down that fiercely. The noise was deafening as it pounded on our metal roof. I couldn't hear my daughter speak to me and she was right in front of me!
And just as swift as it came it was gone. In about 15 minutes. And just as fast as the water flooded everything it was gone too. Really weird, but I'm glad it went!
 We went out and I had my camera ready to go around my neck!

This is in front of my house right after the storm. Standing water! I have a flat driveway.

I was looking around when I noticed something on the ground near the grass. This was the first piece of hail I found...
We all came out and started looking around. Then I noticed this

 The river that was coming down the neighbors driveway that we share and the wheel barrows blown into it. Then I saw this

Our hay wagon crashed into the chicken coop. I just laughed. Then upon further inspection of the ground I found more hail. The kiddos had never seen anything like this before. Ice in the middle of the summer!

More hail. Then I went out back to see my gardens...

Destroyed by hail. Oh how I wish I had taken a picture of before.  Green beans and tomatoes are all that were in this garden.

They were so beautiful. Doing so well and the first fruits were coming along. I should still get some carrots and beets. As for the rest I have no idea. It doesn't look very good or promising. How depressing. I am not, and was not mad. It's life and I know. I've never experienced anything like this. I was shocked.

We kept on looking around and found more hail. Here is 2 more of the biggest pieces we found. Ping pong ball sized.

Our poor broilers were in standing water and not at all happy. We moved them, fed and watered them and they settled down. We had to put 4 in the brooder with a light on them. We didn't think they would make it through the night outside. They were not walking, very droopy, and not eating. Not good signs for them at all. But this morning they were up and eating and warm and dry. I'm happy to report!

 To give you a look at how strong the wind was, here is a round bale in the field that got blown away. I'm standing about where it was left out of the baler. See it's path?!  Ya.

And again. The wind blew our chicken brooder about 4 feet from where it started too. You can see the white and brown thing the left. That is what we propped it on to keep it even and steadier. Some serious wind and damage to the farm.

As the sun was setting and we were wrapping up chores I was in awe of God and his awesome power to control all things. The wild winds that do His will, came to mind. I am so thankful and grateful to Him. The storm that destroyed our garden did not harm any of the critters. He protected them through it. Our home and vehicles were not damaged. But most of all, He kept all that I hold near and dear to my heart and my whole being revolves around safe. My family. Humbled and thankful I went to bed to start a new day. Today.

year of the bull

Yup. That's right. We had our third and final bull calf born yesterday afternoon. Maggie surprised me with it. Now  knew she was due, but I really didn't think she would go yesterday. It's baby number 6 for her, but she just didn't look like she was going to go. But thinking about it I think her due date was yesterday.

My husband and son were away for the whole day, and I was home with the girls. We weeded one of the gardens and staked up tomatoes. Then I went to clean the horse barn, while the girls played in the kiddy pool. The reason I mention my husband being gone is due to Maggie's attitude when she has a calf. She is VERY protective and gets mean for about 3 days, then chills out. Throwing her head and pawing the ground. She has tossed her head at my husband and pushed him aside in a not so friendly way in the past after calving. She's a wonderful easy milker and mother. So I guess we take the good with the bad. She's just doing her job, as we have let the moms raise the calves for now.
I had come out of the horse barn and had things to put away. I looked up in the field and saw Maggie and said "son on a gun. She just had that calf!" I dropped whatever I was carrying and trotted up to where Maggie was. Sure enough there was the calf. I still have no idea what was carrying and where I dropped them. The girls called and asked if they could come up. They did.

He was almost dried off. It was such a warm beautiful day yesterday. It was also Suzie's first birthday too! (Last years calf)
We stood and watched for a while.  Then I called my husband to let him know. He said let her be for the afternoon, and milk her later in the evening. Then I called my brother and father in law and asked if they would come over after work to help me get Maggie and calf in the barn. I needed some help in case something went wrong, and I got hurt.

Well much to my surprise Maggie was totally fine. She did paw the ground when we walked up to her pen, but then she just walked nice as you please to the barn. She chowed down her grain while I milked her out. Then my BIL helped me give her some calcium to help prevent milk fever, and she never tossed her head. She just was like OK. I could hardly believe it. She was a totally different cow! I wondered when she would act out, and kept my guard up, but she was fine. I was so very thankful.  Later that evening when my husband called to see how things went I couldn't stop gushing about how good she was for us! He was pleased to hear that! Almost as pleased as I was to tell him.

Here he is this morning. See his tongue? He was a hungry little bugger. The pail that I milked in was almost full. We don't save the colostrum milk. That is why it's in the dirty plastic pail.
Well as far as the cows we currently have, we are done with our calving season. 3 bulls in one year. I'm thankful for the healthy calves and mamas. I am lookin forward to breeding them again, and hopefully getting some more heifers next spring and summer!
Have a great day ya'll!

some of the Creators handy work

I just love the view from our farm. I pray when we move to our own land I can enjoy the beautiful sunsets in the evening after a long day. And the warmth of a fire pit makin s'mores with my loved ones around me.
I can't find words to describe these sunsets other then one word. Beautiful.

Hope you enjoyed the view from my place and my fire pit.
 Have a wonderful day!