Merry Christmas!

From our farmhouse (see below) to yours... Merry Christmas!  I hope your belly is full, your heart is "super happy" (as we say in our house), and you can find some special moments of peace and joy in the midst of the holiday chaos.  I am thankful for a healthy family, another year on the farm, friends, family and God's love. Pickle was thankful for "nothing" today (he was being a bit of a Scrooge when saying our blessings at lunch) and JJ is thankful for "two weeks off a school." I forgot what Farmer J was thankful for (sorry, it's getting late) but I do recall it being something pretty darn good!  Off to wrap presents by the warmth of the fire...

Baby it's (been really, fricken) cold (and now snowy) outside!

Winter on the farm is always interesting. These last few weeks we have been really concentrating on 'conservation' of warmth. As the days became shorter and darker, our energy bill became larger and larger. Heating 'this old house' is easy and hard, all at the same time. We warm the house through electric heat, heat from the wood burning stove and heat from the gas furnace (that replaced the previous fuel oil furnance).

Electric: The newer part of the house is kept warm through baseboard, electric heaters. Each room has a dial that allows you to regulate the temperature of that room. On the dial, there are two arrows and between the two arrows, the words "Comfort Zone" are written. If you turn the dial to the left, passed the sound of a "click", the heaters are off. The only "room" we have the heater turned off in is the hallway between the boy's playroom, the main bathroom and the kitchen. The boy's playroom (old bedroom) is kept pretty darn cool. Therefore, our kitchen has become a main playing area. For the most part, in the winter months, their room is basically for toy storage and clothes storage-- with me quickly running in to pick out their clothes for the day or jammies for night before I get too "chilled to the bone" (a phrase I am often saying in the winter months)! In the main bathroom, we keep the dial just within the "Comfort Zone" (on the cooler end of "comfort.") If you go out of the "Comfort Zone", your comfort is definitely reduced by the feeling of the cold, tile floor on your tootsies and the very cold toilet seat on your bum.

Wood Burning Stove: Farmer J has been busy (with help from family) cutting up and stacking wood in the barn. Most of the wood in the barn now will burn better next year (once it has had time to dry up). A tree close to the road was taken down by the town officials- which will also be cut up and stored away in the barn. Next year, we will be set for dry wood (and cheap heat). The benefit of heating the house with the wood burning stove is the upstair bedrooms get quite warm (hence, why we moved the boys' bedroom upstairs). However, if J is not around, or we are low on dry wood, we are pretty darn cold upstairs. Luckily, we have lots of warm quilts and down comforters. Initially, its cold getting into bed but by morning, we are all warm and cozy under the big pile of bedding. And... the boys can snuggle with each other and I have Farmer J.

Gas Furnace: The gas furnace is relatively new (and this is the first winter we have had it.) We keep the thermostat set in the low 60's. I remember when I lived at home (and other apartments where I didn't pay the heating bill) and I'd crank the thermostat up to 70! Yeah, not doing that anymore!

Another change to the farmhouse will be coming in a week or so. The current hot water heater has gone cah-put! In the morning, one person can take a very brief shower. After lunch, we can run the dishwasher. In the afternoon, another person can take a very brief shower. And before bed, the boys can take a hot bath (with less water than typical). Laundry is on cold/cold! I never thought I'd be so excited for a new hot water heater to be installed. But... good things come to those who wait-- the new tank will hold 65 gallons (instead of 50). I'll be able to wash my hair AND shave my legs in one shower! I'm already excited for 2014!!

One of many benefits we have gained from renting our first "farmhouse" has been the education that comes with living first hand in an old home. When the time comes to move on, we will be much more educated on what to look for in our next home. We will also be able to much more realistically budget heating expenses and continue to learn how we can continue to "conserve 'warmth."

So long Ace...

On this cold, sunny, crisp, winter day, Farmer J (with the assistance of his trusted sidekick Luke- and Luke's SUV) took Ace back to his home farm.  Luckily for me, I was back home visiting friends and family with the boys so I got an early Christmas present (in the form of not having to help wrestle a small ram into a mini-van and transport him back to his farm (and then drive back to our farm) with two small children.)  Thank you, Santa!

Hopefully, Beatrix and Aoife are with lamb!  As we patiently wait for spring, longer days of sunlight and warmer temperatures, we will also be anticipating the sight of growing, swollen Ewe bellies.  Spring will be extra exciting this year!

James

We have officially 'adopted' an orange and white tabby kitten.  JJ has named the cat, James (despite the fact that we have no clue the true gender of the animal.) I think the name "James" is perfect, if the cat is actually a male, as the cat is orange like a peach and the boys LOVE IT when J reads them, James and the Giant Peach. James looks to be kitten that was most likely born this spring.  Like the hens, James seems to have learned that we toss out our kitchen scraps out the back patio door.  We have seen him by our back door and over by the barn.  He will always be a "barn cat" as JJ is incredibly allergic to cats, and I'm incredibly annoyed with cat hair in the house (RIP-Oliver).  But, we have started to buy kitten food at the store and have been putting out food and water for our newest member of our farm family.  Today, we learned that James likes ham, warm milk, water and kitten food.  He dislikes Cheerios.  Because today is extra cold, snowy and windy, we put James' food/water in a box (turned on it's side) to allow him to eat/drink in a less harsh environment.  It will be tricky to get a picture of James...but we will try.

Until then,  I'll leave you with some pictures of our sheep.  But first, a quick sheep update. Aoife and Beatrix are doing great.  They still LOVE goat chow and are now getting extra hay at night, as it is getting more and more difficult for them to graze in the pasture with all the snow.  We have Ace for another week to ten days. I'll be happy for him to return to his original farm/owners as he is getting much more physically aggressive with Farmer J and I.  We no longer trust him around the children, as Ace 'rams' J and I (often in our behinds but, at times, in the front too.) He also smells different and just isn't as calm and peace provoking as the female sheep.  Taking him back to his farm shall be quite the adventure that I'm sure I will write about later.

A few more "Turkey Day" Pictures

Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Farmer J's extended family on Saturday! Lucky for me, J is the cook. After I bought all the groceries, J (with the help of his dad) cooked the turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, garlic butter, cranberry chutney and stuffing! His family brought salads, side dishes, appetizers and many bottles of red wine. The farmhouse was warm from the mixture of heat from ~25 bodies and the wood burning stove. The excitement of the night was, of course, the turkey. J first smoked the turkey (on the grill that he converted to a smoker via the addition of chicken wire and lots of "heavy duty" aluminum foil), then cooked the turkey in the stove and then (see below)...

The "Turkey Skin Crisper" (as labeled above) is actually J's "Weed Dragon" (a 'natural' way to eliminate weeds by torching them).  The children were amazed by this 'finishing touch' on the turkey (see their little faces pressed against the window).  The adults were set with their smart phones to capture the moment!

The actual highlight of the day was getting to spend time with family.  Happy Thanksgiving from our farmhouse to yours!

Aoife & Beatrix...pregnant?

I've been wondering, and many people have been asking me, how we will know if Aoife & Beatrix are pregnant? So... I 'goggled': "how do you know when an ewe is pregnant?" Basically, my five minute research yielded no great answer to my question. Many sites stated it was "difficult" to determine if an ewe is pregnant without "ultrasound or other medical equipment." Another site stated you will know if your ewe is pregnant if she does not go back in heat. Well, that doesnt help me much either, as I don't know what an "in heat" ewe looks like. Another website stated a ewe will be visably "pregnant" about six weeks prior to full-term gestation. On another website, I came across the "Sheep Gestation Table/Lambing Date Calculator." This table was some-what informative as I figured out the typical gestation period for a sheep is 145 days. If Aoife or Beatrix got pregnant today... we could expect baby lambs around our 11th wedding anniversary (mid-April.) We got Ace (0f Base- as I like to call him- sorry, I came to age in the '90s) in the middle of October. If they started 'gettin' busy' a week or so later, we could see lambs as early as the middle of March. So, to answer the question of "How will we know if Aoife & Beatrix are pregnant?", I will answer with: We should have a good idea if they are pregnant by February or March, as they should be visably pregnant. If we do have baby Tunis lambs in the spring, this is what they will look like (see below):

The Rainy Days of November

Here are a few pictures to cheer you up on this wet, rainy day!  These photos were taken by Farmer J a few weeks back, when we still had leaves (and green leaves at that) on the trees.  

 Here is Mr. Ciaran. His fur is growing longer and more fluffy by the day.  It's fun to pet him and run your fingers through his dark, black furry coat.  He is getting ready for winter! 

 This is a picture of the pasture, with the bee hive just beyond these trees (to the left).  J's first attempt with a hive and bees was not successful.  He has even recycled his bee box to start fresh in the spring.  

 Here is another picture of the pasture- looking in the opposite direction.  You can see a buff orpington hen and a barred rock hen (black and white) in the fore front and the goats/sheep near the barn.  Ace, our rented ram, is becoming a little more "male" with every passing week.  He is starting to 'ram' Farmer J and me, especially in our rear ends, whenever he can get the chance.  We have him for about another 4 weeks.  I'll be ready to have one less mouth to feed-- especially as we are now also feeding two barn cats (that have found a warm home in the upper part of the barn.)   

Here is Ciaran, Pickle (in football jammies and fireman boots) and Padraig-- three of my four kids! 

The Little House in the Big Woods

As a family, we are reading the story, The Little House in the Big Woods.  I randomly came across the book when I was at our local library looking for the first book in the Harry Potter series.  No Harry Potter but I spotted the first book in the "Little House" series!  I immediately knew that I wanted to re-read the book...now whether the book would be as interesting to the rest of my family was still a question of mine. But, I knew that the book took place in the Midwest (familiar), that their home was a log cabin in the woods (familiar) and that the children in the story were close to the same ages as my boys (familiar).

Here is a link for more information about the book:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_House_in_the_Big_Woods

I started reading the book out loud to J and the boys while they were a captive audience (trapped in our mini-van) en route to pick up Ace.  As our mini-van is older than my oldest child, there is no built in DVD player so any entertainment is better than staring out the window.

Now, even without entrapment, the boys are requesting I read them the "little woods" story.  This first book in the Laura Ingalls Wilder series has been a great bedtime story to lull the children of mine to sleep (and buy some time before bed (when I realize I put them to bed way too early because the black sky outside has tricked my brain into thinking it was later than the actual time.))  

So far, we are all enjoying the book!  The boys love the stories about the woods, wildlife (bears, panthers) and anything associated with Pa Ingalls and his gun (including some step by step instructions on how to make bullets).  Before we started reading the book, I thought the boys were not going to enjoy it as all the children in the book are female; however, the life of a pioneer child appears to be intriguing to either gender.

As a mama, I enjoy reading this story to my children.  Their eyes get larger and larger when they hear how many chores and responsibilities pioneer children (of their same age) had to do each day.  They also find the chapters that discuss spankings and the "no playing but only being quiet and calm on Sundays rule" (my paraphrasing here) quite interesting.  With the holidays around the bend, I really loved emphasizing how happy the children in the book were with their handful of homemade presents they received on Christmas morning.

Farmer J likes the book too.  Ironically, he just told the boys to go grab the book so we can read a chapter before bed.  The fire in the wood stove is roaring, our little cabin in the woods is warm and toasty and we are together as a family.  Life doesn't get much better than this!

Better go... we are about to start reading the next chapter,"The Two Big Bears."

Stay warm!

Our Wee Flock

Beatrix is in the far back.  Aoife is in the front.  Ace (our on loan ram) is on the far right.

Meet Ace.  He is 9 months old (sheep reach sexual maturity at 5 months old).  He is smaller than Beatrix and Aoife.  We have Ace (on loan) until Mid-December.  He is mainly Tunis but part Shetland.  You can see his wool looks slightly different from Aoife and Beatrix's wool.  If breeding is successful, both Aoife and Beatrix will be pregnant before Christmas.  The future lambs would be considered pure-bred "Tunis" as they would be greater than 90% of the Tunis breed. 

Even Ace's facial features look slightly different from Aoife's (both pictured above-- with Mr. Padraig).  (Below): Can you tell who is who?

 

Poor Aoife.  She has turned into a couch and bed for Padraig and Ciaran!

The Shepherdess

This is how I look when I'm doing my sheep chores!

These are a few of my (least) favorite things...

When the EWE kicks
When the bee stings
And when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things (see below) and then I don't feel so bad!

My Favorite Things:
Caramel Apples
Growing our own pumpkins and gourds
Watching all my kids (goat and human) have fun playing with each other in the crunching leaves
Petting Aoife and Beatrix on their head and touching their soft nuzzle nose
The idea of having baby lambs in the spring

In regards to the above reference to my "least" favorite things:

-Aoife kicked Farmer J (accidently) "in the balls" (as JJ puts it) when she was anxiously waiting for goat/sheep treats.  He has since recovered.
-We have a bee problem upstairs (where we sleep).  Early Saturday morning (4:00 a.m. to be exact), I was stung by a bee on my chubby cheek.  Before the sting, I was awoken slightly by the buzzing sound of the nearby insect.  Then, a few seconds later...came the scream, followed by me shouting, "I was stung".  I tend to be dramatic when it comes to matters such as these.  Farmer J and JJ (who has sneaked into our bed an hour or so earlier) quickly jumped out of the bed.  J turned on the light and spotted the bee on the wall closest to my side of the bed.  Whack!  Dead bee.  This was my first bee sting ever.  And it hurt.  The ice cube on my cheek helped but the pain lasted far into the next day.  Since then, I have probably killed another 20 bees from our upstairs area (and two just while writing this blog entry).   And before the bee sting, I had probably killed over 25 more bees.  So... maybe my sting was karma's response to my bee killings.  Regardless, the mama bear in me doesn't want the bees stinging my boys, so they have to go.  We are hoping the frost will kill off the bees but even after a few frost advisories in the last few days, the bees are still holding strong.  Maybe time for plan B! (Pun totally intended.)

Fall

3 Benefits of the Cool, Fall Weather When You Live on a Farm:

1.) The cooler weather dries up the chicken poop faster which equals less poop on your nice shoes when you are trying to hop your way to the car (on your way to work or school) without stepping in a chicken-pie.

2.) The leaves cover up some of the chichen poop which equals... (see above)

3.) The days are longer and the hens find their own way into the coop much earlier (which decreases the time the wary farmwife needs to do the chicken round-up (when still in her work shoes with fear of getting aforementioned chicken poop on the soles of her work shoes)) 

Coming soon to a farm blog near you...

Wow.  Times flies.  Since my last blog post, JJ and Farmer J are back in school (one student; one teacher) and Pickle has started pre-school.  We have had two birthdays and one more next week.   J has been helping out with a farm education program (with his trusty sidekick, Pickle) on the farm as well.  We also had a farm to plate dinner on the land and hosted an antique sale.  So these are my reasons for the lack of blog posts recently.  Not great reasons... but I'm sticking with them nonetheless.

As most writers need to stick to deadlines... I am going to try something new.  From hence forth...I will be posting one blog entry every Sunday (with some sprinklings of here and there postings at different times in the week as bonus material). For my readers that need a necessary break from the "Mondays", The Wary Farmwife blog's "got your back, dawg."

Until Sunday...here is a brief update on the animals-

Cheeks (a.k.a., "the hurt chicken") is doing great!

Beatrix and Aoife are great (the sheep).

Their new boyfriend ("Ace") will arrive tonight.  He is our "loaner ram" who will be living with us for the next 5 weeks.  Another mini-van animal transport!!!

Padraig and Ciaran have found a nice and warm place to sleep at night (on top of Beatrix and Aoife).  No joke.  Maybe the cutest thing ever.

The Rooster is gone; his last day on this Earth was yesterday.  J "converted" or "harvested" (pick your favorite term) the rooster while the boys and I were at church.  When I picked up the boys from Sunday School, it was obviously that they told their teacher all about their daddy's morning plans. That poor teacher. This morning, I slept til 7 with no pre-dawn wake up 'crow' coming through my window before the sun shone in.  Ahhhhhh.  Peace has once again been restored to the farm.  I think we are good on hens, even for next summer, so there is no chance of a rooster back on the property for quite awhile!!!

The hens are doing fabulously well.  The 'pullets' (or hens less than one year old) are now laying eggs as well. We are getting close to a dozen eggs a day.

Only one bat in the house this summer!!!! But, we seem to have some trouble keeping the bees (not the honeybees) outside and not inside the house, especially around one particular window upstairs by our bedrooms!  Thankfully, the weather is getting cooler every day which means less and less bees.  Did you know that playdough helps plug up nooks and crannies in windows to keep bees out???  A temporary fix but it does the job (and our window looks quite colorful).  Thank you Pickle for sharing your birthday playdough!

The Japanese Beetles are back in the house and the random chipmunk sneaks through our mudroom door! Never a dull moment on the farm or in the farmhouse (picture me jumping on top of various mudroom furniture as I'm scared of a tiny, little chipmunk).  Oh how I'm letting down all the previous pioneer woman who have lived in this home before me!

That's it until Sunday...Pick Pick just woke up from his nap!

Catching waves and eatin' Smores at the Lake!

Welcome home Beatrix and Aoife

 Mini-van turned into sheep transporter!

Am I really in a mini-van?  

 All out! Ewe's first! 

Within minutes, Bea and Ee were grazing in their new pasture!

 Aoife in the front; Beatrix in the background. The sheep are already much better 'lawnmowers' than the goats!

 I love this shot by Farmer J!

Pre-bath picture!

This picture is one of my all time favorites.  I love how the leaves frame the shot and how the sheep is in the bright sun! 

The sheep are coming!!!

Through the grapevine, we heard of a family that needs to quickly sell some sheep (or they will be "converted" to food) as they are moving off their farm this weekend.  We went to the family's farm (about a 30 minute drive from where we live) this morning and met their lovely flock... and the lovely family (I should have written that first).

We were looking to buy two sheep.  We decided on "Sarah"- a two year old ewe and "Paula"- a five year old ewe.  They are "tunis" sheep and originally come from North Africa.  They are a very old breed of sheep- around the time of Jesus.  Here is a lovely description of tunis sheep:

"those beautiful copper red-faced, red legged, creamy wool creatures with pendulous ears who give new meaning to good mothering and docile temperaments.  Their gorgeous, almost chocolate fleeced- lambs, born with a double coat of red fibre, look almost like teddy bears at birth, sometimes with a white spot on their forehead and on the tip of the tail."

Sarah and Paula are not related but have been living together for a long time!  (sheep are flock animals- buying just one isn't a humane option.) Both have successfully "lambed" and were good mamas! Having non-related ewes may help with expanding our flock and gene-pool, in the future.

We are hoping to have one of them (or maybe both) pregnant and lambing by the spring-- a dream come true!  And... we have already found a buyer for their wool!  God is good!

Farmer J will be transporting them (yes, once again transporting farm animals via mini-van) from their old home to their new home, here with us.

As the animals don't "know" their names, we will be giving them new names.

"Paula" will become Beatrix, which means "traveler" and "blessed"-- which seems to fit her and her situation well.  "Sarah" will become Aoife (pronounced "ee-fa"), which means "joyful", "beautiful" and "radiant".  In Irish history, there was a famous red-headed "Aoife" princess-- so the name really fits our red-faced ewe.  Also, you all know just how much I love Irish names.  We will call them "Bea" and "Ee" for short.

Here they are!  Beatrix has the tag in her ear.  Aoife has a longer tail!

 Tunis ewes! 

 Meet Beatrix!

Meet Aoife!

P.S.-

Padraig and Ciaran are doing great.  Butting heads (playfully) and loving their goat treats.  We are trying to teach them some manners (i.e., not to jump up on our legs and to use their "plate") which isn't working too well!

Cheeks (the hurt chicken) is still doing well!  Sadly, we are missing one of our new Americaunas and one of our bantams; the downside of trying to go on a little vacation!  But... we still have 16 hens so that is good.  We won't be running short on eggs anytime soon!

Beauty abounds!

Here are some pictures J took around the farm and on various nature walks in the area...Enjoy!