50? When Did That Happen?

No, no, no.  I must be mistaken.  I have been having so much fun and loving my life, that time has truly sped by.  Like in a blink of the eye.  I remember as a small child sitting on the front porch with my grandmother, swinging back and forth, and she was telling me to not wish away the days.  In time they would fly by and I would wish them back again.  In a childs' mind I just couldn't understand that.  I wanted summer to come and it was taking it's own sweet time.  Well, I guess that woman was wise and knew exactly what she was speaking of.  Here I am. 50.

The very best gift of all was having 2 of my sweet daughters here along with Jasmine and of course Ted.  They make my heart sing.

They know how much I love a homemade cake with icing.  No bought or boxed cake here. What wonderful people they are.  I didn't even have to ask.

You can never have too much help. Jasmine loves to bake and be in the very middle of everything.

                                                                    The exuberance of an 8 year old.

How about that color?

Yes, and the running joke is "if there were 50 candles on the cake the house would be in jeopardy of burning down".

I think everyone had a wonderful time. I know I did!

Thank you guys so much. I love you and appreciate all the wonderful gifts.  You really know me! And love me anyway! 

Now I can sit on the porch with Jasmine and tell her of long ago times, not wishing your life away, taking time for yourself and appreciating what we are blessed with.  Family and friends.  Cherishable gifts.  Okay, can you tell that I have been watching The Walton's reruns? We have to put a porch on the house so I can have my front porch swing.  I want to hear that squeak, squeak as we go back and forth.  Just like when I was a child on my grandmothers' front porch swing.

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm

What Happens When Your New Refrigerator Dies

Can this be my rant for the week?  Let me at em! Long story short, July 20-fridge less than 1 year old, fan making noise, repairman came out, our fault, fridge set too cold, readjusted.  August28-fridge and freezer warm. Repairman came out, circuit boards ordered, four days later circuit boards installed, repairman left before checking if fridge was actually cold. Never cooled. Repairman out 3 days later, compressor dead. It will take 4 weeks to arrive because it is DC rather than AC. Whatever that means. Rental fridge obtained because it will take 4 weeks for compressor to arrive per technician.  Compressor arrived next morning. Old/new fridge repaired and now working.  I have a feeling deep in my gut that this is going to be a big fight with Sears because I had to pay a full month for rental fridge and they aren't going to want to pay for the whole thing.

Anything good out of this situation?

Yep, Chickens are happy. All the chicken edible food was placed into a bucket and taken outside.

Happy Hens

Happy Turkeys

Some ladies don't share very well. They like to use the grab and run technique.

Never a dull moment. At least we can find a bright spot to this story.  Chicken treats!

Now, I have to reorder my vaccinations for sheep, goats and cats. I think I had more animal medicine in the butter compartment than butter.  Come to think of it, we have never had butter in there. Only animal meds.

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.

Bangor State Fair 2011

We worked really hard this summer and I think we played hard too.  It just wouldn't be summer without fairs.  Each year we go at least one time.  Jasmine looks forward to the fair each year too.  I guess we do too.  I just don't tolerate the rides like I did when I was younger. They make me a bit dizzy....Yep that one would make me dizzy.
The lambs are more my style.  They don't spin me around or stand me on my head or shake me to death.  They are sweet and clean and oh they smell so good.



Jasmine likes to be spun around and shook up and down.  She is fussing because neither Ted nor I would ride this ride with her.  I think she was calling us chicken here.

What? the pony ride is too slow? Oh, come on when I was a kid I loved pony rides.  What? you think you are too old for pony rides? Make your Nana happy and ride the darn pony. Smile. No? Okay, I won't make you do that again. 

More like it? You want to spin Papa around and make him sick? Okay,go for it!

Bumper cars? I don't think they have changed too much.  Same concept.  Run into Papa and try to get away fast. 

Now this is Nana's ride.  The Ferris Wheel. I think Jasmine liked this one too.

Yes, now this is more like it.

Even Papa was having a good time.

Wheeeee........

No, the boat is just for kids.  I would loose my lunch for sure.

We all loved the tractor ride.  After all of that walking it was relaxing.

And you can't go to the fair without getting cotton candy.

Back to the animals.  Just look at this beautiful goat.

Is your fair small or big?  What kind of fair food do you eat?  Have you ever gotten sick after riding? What ride was it? I still love fairs.  They remind me of a time when I could ride the rides and not get sick. Have you been to a fair this year?
Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm

Bradford Days

Each summer for one Saturday in August we celebrate our town.  It may be small.  One blinking light.  One store, Bradford General Store.  A Town Hall and a Post Office.  That about sums it up.  Quaint.  Yes, that does sound better than small.  On this very auspicious day we have a parade and it passes right in front of our house.  I think that most of the town is in the parade.  If you want to be in it go to the vacant lot just down the road by 10am and you can be in our parade too. Jasmine wasn't sure if it was okay to pick up the candy that was thrown.  She is a city kid. Come on and enjoy our parade and celebrate our town.

There were muscle cars.  I remember these cars and they make my heart beat faster.

Just look at that horse power. 

There were tractors in the shade of green...............

Red......big and small.

Fire trucks complete with ladders and hoses. 

Search and rescue vehicles in wild colors....

 Our own EMS crew....

Our bush truck for going deep into the Maine woods and I do believe that Smokey The Bear is riding in front. 

I'll be darn....that is our neighbors from across the street riding in the parade.  They are heading to the show ring for the rest of Bradford Days.

I look forward to Bradford Days every year.  I come from a city of over a million.  I didn't know my neighbors.  I went to work and came home.  Every hear the term "rat race"?  That was how I felt. Spinning in my little metal wheel not looking left or right.  It's time to celebrate. Celebrate small town America. I hope you have enjoyed our parade.  Oh, and the fireworks are nothing to sneeze at either.

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm 

We Have a Hay Rake

Finally after 4 years on the farm we have all of our hay equipment.  Something old and something new, nothing borrowed but lots used.  I have to say the old stuff last longer, is easier to repair and works great.  The new, John Deere tractor, has been in the shop each summer since we purchased it.  If a tine on the tedder breaks it is an easy fix, same thing with replacing the blades on the mower.  The tractor, not so much.  We will see how it behaves next summer.  It makes me sad when it leaves on the trailer heading off for we don't know how long.  Oh, they give us a loaner but it just isn't the same. Okay, nuff grouching.   This is Ted using our neighbors hay rake.  It is a really interesting machine.   An old John Deere.  Fred even puts a 5 gallon bucket filled with ballast to weight it down.

Welcome new/old hay rake.  I can't find a whole lot of info about this on the internet.  Most rotational rakes I find are horizontal and rotate.  This has 5 wheels and shifts the hay to the left.  It is sturdy and strong.  Not a whole lot of moving parts so not much to repair.  Ted got carried away with the Rustoleum paint again.  We want to repaint the black a John Deere green.  Right now it looks like a bumblebee.  A big bumblebee but not rusty.

We are really looking forward to getting our last cut hay in a couple of weeks.  Now we can mow, tedder, rake and bale when the weather is good and then transport it to the barn and put it on the conveyor.  Oh what a dream come true.  Hopefully, we will have about 1500 bales of hay for this winter.  Enough for our animals and some to sell toward the last part of winter.  We have been having daily rains which are turning the hayfield into a lush green pasture.  After talking it over we plan on fencing the whole field in next spring.  Then, after we cut the last hay of the year we will be able to turn the sheep out to graze in the fall.  No parasites on the field, thus no parasites in the sheep.  We did loose 2 lambs to worms.  One day they seem fine, the next they are dead.  We lost 1 ram but not quite sure what he died from.  After much reading and searching the best way to combat the worm problem is to have the sheep rotated at least every 3 months.  New pasture breaks the parasite/host cycle and we can keep up with the worms better.  At this time we turn them into the woods during the day when we are home and can watch them and then in the pasture at night.  They are really enjoying the leaves and weeds.  Happy Sheep.  The goats are always happy.  They get to range in the woods and fill their rumens with leafy treasures and drop apples.  Yum.

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm

Where Our Summer Went

I can't believe that it is September already.  Time has flown by and we have been so busy.  I have been very spotty with my posting. Actually I feel like I have fallen off the face of blogland.   I just seemed to run out of time and energy.  After a long day we fall into bed exhausted. I have been visiting and reading blogs. I have been keeping up.  I will try to do a bit of catching up.  I feel like I'm so behind.

Of course we have been haying our fields and any other fields we can.  We even got a chance to hay the fields next to our town hall.  Not the greatest of hay because it had so many weeds but still sellable.  We sold  a few bales straight from the field and then we took the remaining bales back home and sold it from there.

We had Jasmine, our granddaughter, for the summer.  She loved helping out from a shady spot under the hay wagon.  She had plenty of company from Emma and Lucy.

This is the hay wagon we have been using. It belongs to our neighbor and holds about 100 bales.  Not bad but not ours.

We were able pick up this chassis via barter. It looks like it is a John Deere.  Old and rusty now.  All we needed was some lumber and time. Ted was positive  he could turn it into a masterpiece.

I came home from work the next day and he had been very busy.  We are now the proud owners of a very beautiful hay wagon.  Can you call a hay wagon beautiful?  Yep!  Well, I do.

                                                                          A masterpiece.

We have been keeping the Rustoleum Company in business lately. If we can slow down the aging and stop it from rusting we should be set for a while. 

Now just a coat of sealant on the wood and we are ready to go.  Just in time to get our second cut in the barn.  We should be able to get about 200 bales on this trailer each trip.  Less trips is just fine with us.

I love to barter.  It makes both parties happy and feeling like they got a good deal.  How can I get so excited about a hay wagon?  I just am.  Rough cut wood from a local saw mill:  $160.00,

bolts: $16.00. Ted's labor priceless. 

More on our summer soon.

Much Love and Prayers from MainelyEwes Farm 

Summer Meat Birds

Each summer we order Cornish Rock X chickens.  They are excellent meat birds.  Easy to raise and ready for the freezer in about 12 weeks.  We try to make our birds as happy as possible.  However, I think we may have given the boys a little too much freedom.  They had outdoor space and made use of it.  They were walking in and out, chasing each other and doing push ups in the indoor gym.  Well, maybe not quite doing push ups.  They were still more active than birds from the past.

Time came to visit West Gardnier Beef.  We loaded the birds up and took them for their last ride.  We take our birds off to be dispatched.  We have found it is worth it.  So far we have not had any problems with predetors.  (knock on wood?)   Freezer full enough for this next year. Average weight is about 8lbs. 

Wonderful fried chicken for supper.  One bird will feed the two of us for about 3 nights with a wing or two for lunch.  Have you ever heard of a pulley bone?  Do you cut up your chickens or do you buy pieces? 

We are very thankful for our birds.  We treat them very well and provide a good life  for them.  In turn they provide for us.

Much Love and Prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm