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Hi Everyone,

               As I sit here reading over my little pocket calendar notes from last week I am glad that I have those notes for last week seems like a decade ago. Some things I vividly remember and some things are just a blur. So how about we leave the blurs in the past for they evidently were not that important in my mind—but there were some happenings that I would love to tell you all about.

               When the schedule makes you anxious, you can sum it all up in one word—“Tuesday!” No other day is quite like a Tuesday. No other day of the week gets as much crammed into 24 hours as a Tuesday. It is one of those days that builds character and helps you realize that with God all things are possible. It had rained all day Monday preventing us from doing some things that needed to be done before Tuesday—so Tuesday started off full speed ahead. We started our day at 6:00 and were eating breakfast by 6:30. At 7:00 Papa and I headed outside to gather some sheep that were scheduled to go to the butcher that morning. While the tractor warmed up Papa put out some nice green alfalfa hay for the Jerseys. I headed down field to bring the sheep up the lane to the panel pens. First I had to put a netting across the lane so that the sheep would be tunneled into the panel pens, and then I walked down the lane and put up another netting across the lane so that when the sheep came back they didn’t walk past their field and head up the hill to the lower 40 like they did the last time we brought them up to the panel pens. Then I called the sheep and followed them up to the panel pens and closed the gate behind them. The tractor was now warm and Papa was coming around the corner with the cattle trailer. I helped him back up to the panel gate and then we started separating our rams. I do not know how old our Big Daddy ram is, but I think he is at least 5 or 6 years old. I decided that it was time to butcher him and turn him into ground lamb that I plan to make maple/onion/apple/sage sausage with. Then we had two ram lambs sold. I was surprised to find that our ram population was few in number. Out of around 60 sheep only about 8 or 10 were rams. Once the three rams were loaded Papa headed out and I took the sheep back down pasture. Then I brought our nurse cow Ana to the panel pens and let her nurse the two little calves Noel and Bobbie Socks. Next I brought in the Jersey herd to munch on the alfalfa hay while Mom and I set up the milking equipment. While we were doing that Steve was in the brooder house setting it up for the first batch of chicks that were due to arrive that afternoon. Steve helped me in the milking parlor until Papa got back and then Papa helped me while Steve did his morning chores. When Steve was done with his chores Papa headed out to do his morning chores and Steve helped me finish up in the milking parlor before he bottled the milk and washed up the milking equipment. When I was done milking I bottled the kefir. Then Mom and I did a garden tour to see how the veggies were growing that are supposed to be served at our Farm to Table Dinner this coming Saturday, January 25. Then we did some measuring of the picnic tables to see if they would fit in the Poultry Kitchen if it is too cold to eat outdoors. It was then time for lunch and the egg packing party—and a visit with my brother and his friend. Just as we were fixing to eat our quick lunch (peanut butter and jelly) my brother David stopped in for a short visit. His friend loves gardening and canning and he wanted to show her the garden.

Papa had to go to Live Oak to pick up our new batch of broiler chicks (meat chickens). When we first started raising chickens there was a local hatchery here in town and you picked them up the day they hatched. It was great—until the man got old and retired. Then we tried different hatcheries around the country. We ordered chicks from Iowa, Texas, and Pennsylvania—some were better than others, but all came through the mail. There were times when the summer heat or the winter freezes would cause us to lose the whole batch, but for the most part they arrived safe and sound through the mail. It took three days from hatching to arrive at our house, and because the yolk of the egg is in the chicks tummy it is not hungry for three days—but by day three it is ready for some food and water. Then last year the Post Office started taking four days to deliver chicks—and the problem was not just ours, it was everywhere. Then I heard of a hatchery in Georgia who delivered her chicks to local people the day the chicks were born—and that is why Papa went to Live Oak to meet the person in a parking lot to pick up our freshly hatched chicks. So far those chicks have been healthy and strong—and we have lost only one. What a blessing that they didn’t have to travel in the cold weather or hang out in a Postal truck for four days.

When the egg party was over Steve and I headed to the Market Garden tunnels to harvest the veggies for the JAX delivery. Then he went home and Mama helped me label the veggie bags. It was then time for me to cook dinner and Papa to do the evening chores—but before I could cook dinner I had to finish making the yogurt. I had forgotten to heat it up at breakfast time, so that didn’t get done until after milking which made the finishing time later in the day. After dinner Mama did the dishes while I put together the JAX orders and figured out who got milk and who didn’t—not the grandest job on earth. By the time Mama finished the dishes I had all the orders figured out and I asked Mama to make the receipts so that I could get a shower, and then I finished them up when I was done.  Yes, it was a long day—because it was a Tuesday!

I spent Thursday and Friday afternoon working in the garden. I wanted to plant sugar snap peas so bad, but the chickens were terrorizing the trellis that I usually grow them on—and I was afraid of the deer too. I had caught up a bunch of escape artist chickens and clipped their wings the week before, but I clipped both wings and afterward I was told I should have only clipped one wing—two clipped wings are even and they can still fly, one clipped wing makes them go in circles. So yes, those chickens are still getting out. I had given up hope of planting sugar snap peas, but after a few days I just knew that I had to figure out something for I wanted sugar snap peas. They are a lovely spring treat. The only secure place I knew of was in the East Garden—where the tunnels used to be. Then end wall and the side fences (plus the deer fence that we added) are still there and I use those beds to grow plants that do not need to be protected from cold weather—carrots, onions, spinach, garlic, snapdragons, ranunculus, for the winter and then I also grow some summer and spring veggies and flowers there—sweet potatoes, squash, and zinnias. I figured that I could put a couple trellises on one end of the garden bed. To my dismay though the two end walls had been compromised in the rain storm. The front half was laying on the ground and the back half was blown out a few feet—and the deer were quite happy to be able to just walk into the bed that we had deer proofed months ago. Thankfully I only had onions growing in that garden and some bok choy that has gone to seed. Steve helped me secure the wall that was on the ground, and then I did the back wall by myself because Papa needed Steve’s help to line the calf barn with plastic to help keep the rain and the cold out during this week’s freezing temperatures. Come Friday I was able to get the area weeded, mulched and planted—and I got the two trellises moved from an old garden bed to the East Garden. That was no easy feat moving the six foot by six foot metal trellises all by myself—but I did manage it.

Breaking new heifers to come into the milking parlor isn’t always easy. Some come in easier than others, and some have to be dragged in for a few days until they get the hang of it. Some come in to eat just fine, but they go crazy if you tie them in. Typically we have nine months to train them so that when they calve they are ready to be milked—they know the routine. Sometimes though the time gets away from us, and we still have not gotten them into the milking parlor, or we haven’t managed to train them to stay in their stall. We have four cows due to calve in a two or three week time period—two are seasoned cows, and two are heifers. We started training Dolly to be tied in about a month ago, and she has done very well—and she is a very calm cow. Sundrop on the other hand is very hyper, and I knew that she would take a little more effort. Thursday morning I realized that Sundrop was due Monday (tomorrow), and we still didn’t have her trained to be tied in. So when she came in to eat, we quickly put a board behind her and the rodeo began. Thankfully she didn’t stand on her head, she didn’t do a back flip or fall down and she didn’t crawl out underneath the bar. We sweet talked her and rubbed her down and Sundrop finally calmed down and ate. Every day is a different adventure to get her into the milking parlor stall now, but she is getting better every day—and it is a good thing because when I went out to separate the calves tonight I found Sundrop in labor. By the time I finished the evening chores she was licking a little calf at her feet. I would have loved to have stuck around to watch her give birth—but the other cows were acting the fool tonight and so it was not safe for me to be in the field, and I had other chores to do before it got too dark. When I did come back the cows were still acting all wild and I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to get close enough to pick up the leg and check the gender. I wanted to know if it was a boy or a girl. The bull was on her right side and another cow was on her left side, and a bunch of other cows were standing all around. They finally made a shift and I quickly darted in to lift the leg and found out that Sundrop had given birth to a little bull that looked just like her. We are hoping that the other cows wait until after this cold snap before they calve.

Old Man Winter is expected to give us a good taste of winter this week, so we spent a lot of time last week making preparations so that the animals would have plenty to eat and be warm. Mom and I spent Saturday afternoon moving our hoop houses into the sheep field. They have no shelter and with all the freezing rain coming this week we needed a place for them to be able to get out of the weather. I am not looking forward to rain/snow/sleet/ice that is being predicted this week—probably because I have animals to worry about. They can handle being cold, and they can handle being wet—BUT they cannot handle being cold and wet for it makes them sick. It shall be a long week of cold weather, with some wet days too. So we shall be spending the week keeping our animals comfortable and getting ready for our Farm to Table Dinner on Saturday.

Serving you with Gladness,

Tiare