Monday, July 27, 2009

Sunday morning we came home from work, took a shower and hit the bed. It felt so good to snuggle down and sleep. After years of night shift I sleep very soundly during the day. Now I have trouble sleeping at night. That cycle is not conducive to working on the farm. When we woke up around 1pm I really, really missed the animals. Ted takes care of them when we work three shifts in a row. The goats, sheep and llama were grazing in the pasture. It makes my heart melt when they look up and Maaaaaa me. We are going to put the fence up on the second pasture next week. The field has been well grazed and it is time to move them onto fresh pasture. Everything I read states that rotational grazing is healthy for the animals and land. By moving them the parasite load is lessened and the animals are healthier.

It seemed like a good time to take the goats for a walk. Yes, our goats like to go for walks. They graze everywhere. Even in the woods. They love all the different plants. We have to take time outs so they can get their goatie love.

The tree trimmers at work.

The leaves are so tender and green. Mmmmmm.

Even Oreo likes to take walks. Our last walk consisted of 2 adults, 1 child, 2 cats and 3 goats. What a procession.

After walking for a bit we all came back into the barn to feed the animals. The smorgasbord for the broilers. We have to feed them first, otherwise, they will storm the net between them and the hens to get the other feed. It is kind of scary to watch. I get the feeling that if I were to fall down I may be on the menu.

Now we can feed the hens. Most of them were still out in the pasture.

The turkeys were waiting for their food next.

Jasmine went inside to help bring the feeders out.

I love their front porch.

Later in the evening I went out to close the chicken door when all the girls were in. The fog had started to roll in. It was quiet and peaceful. The sheep and llama were getting some last minute grazing in.

I know the world is in turmoil, war is raging, and the economy is sinking daily. I can sit here and look out of our barn and for a time, forget it all. There is peace in my heart.

Much love and prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm. May there be peace in your heart.
Kelly

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Blogathon09

Phelan at http://a-homesteading-neophyte.blogspot.com is busy with the Blogathon09 to raise money for Farm Aid. She has been blogging all day and needs our support. Go over and check out the blog. She needs help staying awake. Farm Aid is a great cause and needs our support. Hope you like my sign Phelan. It's the best I can do from work. Shhhhhh........
Last 12 shift of 3. WhooHoo!!!! Much love and prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.
Kelly

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Tying Up Loose Ends

Today was the day to get caught up and finish a few jobs. We hate having jobs around the farm left undone. The turkeys are happy with their enclosed house with the snazzy front porch. After covering the trench and french drain we had bumps and lumps from the clay that we were unable to get spread with the little back hoe we rented. Too big of a job. We have a neighbor that has a grader who was able to spread and level the bumps and lumps. For a fee. A fee we gladly paid. Now the yard is smooth and we are awaiting grass.
The goats needed to be de-wormed. We would like to keep as organic as possible. I won't do anything that would cause harm to the animals. I have read great results and rave reviews on a product called Garlic Barrier. The Shepard that we bought the sheep from made a drench and gave it monthly with great results. She mixed 10ml Garlic Barrier and 10ml Apple Cider Vinegar. This is the first time that I have drenched the goats. I was afraid I would make a mistake and get it into their lungs. Hey, I'm an ICU nurse, I worry about these things.

Edward, Bella and Sophie thought the concoction was horrible but they didn't cough, a lot of gaging but no coughing. I now smell like I ate at an Italian restaurant. Whew, I need to shower the garlic off. We have had the fence chargers installed on the fence posts for about three weeks. The weather has been so rainy it was hard to find the time to get out there and string the electric fence. There is just something scary about playing with electricity in the rain. The charger is in place and will knock the teeth out of your mouth. Just ask Ted. He was our fence tester. I don't think that we can ever get him to do that again.

Take this sign with good warning. It is powerful!

Ok, I need help. This little character is our free bird we got with the Cornish Rock X roos from Murray McMurray Hatchery. I swear they stuck in a chicken hawk in disguise. Does anyone know what breed chicken this is? We think it is a roo. We are hoping for a roo. Poor Sampson works himself to death trying to keep up with all the hens.

He/she is smaller than the broilers but boy does it have attitude.

That is about all for now. We are all beat and in need of a shower. We hope that all is well with our friend Peggy. She is near and dear to our heart. Much love and prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.
Kelly


Monday, July 20, 2009

Turkeys Out of the Barn!

We have had a few good weather days and took advantage of it to get the turkeys out of the barn. They were very quickly getting too big for their small space and bored. I know, they told me so. We started by clearing approximately 1/4 acre of various weeds. We have done weeds very well this wet, cool summer. Last summer we bought a string mower and we have really put it to good use. It basically is a weed eater with a lawn mower motor. It goes through weeds and small bushes.

We are always looking for ways to cut back on costs. Alex had a great idea to use wood pallets as walls and support. 2x4's serve as upper support. Everything is held together with 3inch deck screws. You can't pull this baby apart with a tractor!

We used plywood as a roof, and covered it with pre graveled roofing paper. The turkeys will stay dry. Next we put up chicken wire to give them a yard to roam and look for bugs and new sprigs of grass. We added the turkeys and they seemed appropriately pleased with their new digs.

They seemed a bit lonely so we spent some time sitting with them. I love the way the chirp and pip at you.

All in all it looks really nice. We even added a front porch for them. They can enjoy the shade from the tree. Like we ever need shade! Later we put plywood on the sides to provide protection from rain. It was too dark to take a picture so I'll add it to the next post.

Turkeys and all the animals are wishing you and yours a very happy day. Much love and prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Puppy Update

I got an email from Deb at http://riversmokelabs.com/ with new and updated pictures of Emma and Lucy. They are growing like the weeds in my garden. Look at the intelligence in those eyes and that sweet little face. Look at that mean little boy puppy trying to get my Emma's tail. Stop that you mean little boy! Emma is so unaware.

Lucy, quick go get Deb. Tell her that mean little boy is trying to bite your sisters tail!
Such sweet angels. I'm actually looking forward to smelling that puppy breath,

going shopping and buying toys, chewies, beds, puppy food. Oh..it will be so exciting having babies in the house again.

Good Mama! We hope you are having a happy day. Much love and prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.
Kelly

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Going Home

Time goes by so fast. It seems like just a couple of years have passed when in actuality it has been 11 since we moved north and ended up in Maine. I got the chance to go back to Jacksonville, Florida and visit family. Here, we live in a very small, quiet town with one blinking light, neighbors that wave when you pass, cows that get out and come to visit. At night there are no sirens, no police scanners and blue flashing lights. We can see the stars by the billions. There is no light pollution. Crime is very low to non existent from my previous standards. I love the peace and quiet. Jacksonville is neither peaceful nor quiet. Traffic is a non stop monster from 6:30am till 8:00 pm. The streets are in constant reconstruction. Welcome to the big city.

My mother and I took time to visit the Westside. Jacksonville is so big that it is broken down into areas of one city. I was born and raised on the Westside. We had no gangs then. Neighborhoods were segregated. I lived through the desegregation in the 70's. It was federally ordered because there were areas even in the 70's that were resisting integration. It was a painful time in the south. Painful for the students in schools. Busing was the way that the city chose to move Afro-American students from the Downtown areas into the suburbs. They were angry and so were the White students. This anger broke out in many occasions as riots in the school halls. So much anger over a very necessary, and long overdue change.

This was my elementary school, Annie R. Morgan. There were no 6ft chain link fences then, no signs posted "No Drug Zone". I remember walking home from school. It was safe, clean, and the 60's were a good time to be a kid.

This little house was where I grew up. I remember the yard being so much bigger. The driveway seemed immense to a kid. All the trees have grown up. All the neighbors have moved away. I have pictures of me in the front drive dressed in my pj's and my brother in his Army uniform as he was leaving for his second tour in Viet Nam. We were the lucky ones, he came home.

Now this is what I call a Farmers Market. The colors are a treat for the sense's.

One southern treat is boiled peanuts. They always taste great.

What wonderful colors.

Have an avocado or two! I love hearing the different accents and dialects. English is not the first language here.

Florida has many bugs, snakes, lizards, and spiders. They can be found everywhere. My mother lives in community outside of Jacksonville named Middleburg. There is a lagoon ( retention pond for water because the area was once a swamp and uninhabitable and some developer thought it would be an excellent idea to build homes there, and paid off the proper officials in order to get wet lands permits) in her back yard. They have to have alligators removed occasionally. There is always the one resident who will not use the brain God gave them and feed these reptiles. When the alligators become acclimated to being fed by humans, then small animals, children, and pets become an acceptable food source. Someone gets hurt or killed. There are many less dangerous creatures. I love the lizards. I'm sure that there is a correct name for these. We always called them lizards. Technical I know. I remember my daughter, Sue, placing one on each ear lobe like a matched set. If you hold them behind their jaws they will open wide and then clamp down when you let go. She didn't count on her brother tickling the lizards and making them wiggle. They bite a bit harder than you expect. No harm done to the lizards, Sue may have something to say about the clamp down.
This Momma and her babies call the lagoon home. They love to come up and take advantage of the seeds dropped from the bird feeders.

The many bird feeders!

The beautiful flowers from my mother's garden.

I was telling my mother about Don's blog, A View From The Green Barn. He combined Madagascar Vanilla beans in alcohol and made his own vanilla extract. Hmmm....... we had this bottle of Vodka and we went to Penzy's Spices and picked up vanilla beans. Oh how I did shop for spices. I love that store. I'm waiting for them to come up with a scratch and sniff catalog for spices. By the time I left that vodka smelled so good.

I got the chance to visit with family. The main reason for my trip. This is my daughter Sue, my son Richard and my most handsome grandson John. The trip was wonderful.

Now, it truly wouldn't be a trip home to the south without fire arms. My nephew James inherited a very special antique double barrel shotgun from his father. The saga is complete. After every trip away it feels so good to be home. Peace and quiet. Chores to do. Much love and prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.
Kelly

Friday, July 3, 2009

Baby Pictures

As our farm grows so does our family. We have been looking at Labrador Retrievers for a couple of years. They are an excellent breed, smart, funny, playful and become great members of your family. We are very careful to only purchase from reputable breeders. I refuse to buy any puppy from a store. Puppy mills make the lives of these animals pure hell. Riversmoke Labs is a clean, well maintained kennel which produces healthy, happy and sound puppies. Their reputation is exceptional. We will be welcoming Emma and Lucy when they reach 8 weeks of age. I really don't know which will be Emma or Lucy but here is their first pictures. Aren't they cute? Can't you just smell that puppy breath?

We were referred to Riversmoke Labrador Retrievers by a secretary from our hospital. April has a female that she bought from Deb Madore and she is very happy with her girl. She was a rescue dog. The first family didn't understand that puppies take time, love, and patience. April is the perfect match. They are best of friends.

I love their brown noses. Just look how fat their little ears are.

The grow so fast. What a bunch of pups!

We wait rather patiently till Deb gives us a call. We will pack up the truck, head north to Mapleton, Maine (a hop skip and jump from New Brunswick) and pick up Lucy and Emma. If you are interested in checking out the web site it is Riversmokelabs.com
Does anyone know how to put a link in the blog? I want a blue thingy that you can click on and go there. See how my computer vocabulary just grows and grows. We are still in the midst of storms here. We had a big thunder and lightening storm tonight that awakened a few patients from their sleep at the hospital. So far the hay has had to wait. We can't get it cut and dried. It's that patient gene that I really didn't get in my DNA.
Much love and many prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm
Kelly