March Madness

We have a pair of turkeys that keep coming back to our farm. They love to eat the bird seed that falls

on the ground.  They are quite huge and fun to watch. 



This is a barn cat from the same farm we will be getting our goats from.  Doesn't she look a little thick around the waist???? We are getting two baby kittens the same weekend as our "kids."



This picture is hard to figure out.   This is a shot of a dead mouse.  His final resting place was the back of our fridge.  We knew it was there as the smell of death was in the air.

Who would think that such a small creature could create such a stench? And who would think it was ok to remove the dead mouse with one of our forks?

Here is an apple pie that I made! If you have ever struggled with your pie crust, try Julia Child's recipe! The crust rolled out beautifully!



Here is the finished product.  The pie was gone in less than 24 hours!

Mittens, hats... I hope we won't need these soon! Today feels like spring!



The mudroom! Ugggggg. Can't wait to put away the snow boots!



Baby goats

JJ is in Tai Kwon Do.  Another "Little Dragon" in his class lives on a hobby farm as well.  So class after class, our family got to know their family. We have chickens, they have chickens.  They have goats...

I'm sure you can see where this is going. The Little Dragon's mom let us know that the farm where they got their goats last year had baby goats again this year again.  

I was at work when I listened to my voice mail.  I heard a tiny but excited voice (Pickle) telling me all about how he and Dada were going to go see some goats.  Later I got an email titled the "4-1-1 on Goats" with some amazing pictures (see below.)  

A few days later, JJ and I got to see the baby goats as well.  We fell in love with them quite instantly.  I really loved the smokey/grey colored baby goat.  He nuzzled up to my face and let me snuggle him-- until he got too fidgety and wanted down. The goat farmer told me that baby goats get to know their human "parents" by the human "mama" blowing air gently in their face.  Kinda weird but I did it! The funniest thing I saw that day...  the baby goats jump on their mama's back.  They are definitely climbers.  The goats were in and out of the water trough (luckily empty) and up and down off their mama's back as well as on and off some wooden blocks within their pen.  The outside goats (not the mamas or newborn babies) were enjoying climbing up and down the picnic table (a goat 'must have' per the goat farmer.)  

We can pick up our two boy "kids" the first weekend of May.  Until then, they will stay with their goat mama and get big and strong off 'mama milk'. Farmer J and JJ's spring break will be busily spent preparing the barn for our two new arrivals.  We are very excited.  

We have yet to come up with names for the little guys.  Some options:  Duncan and Declan, Smokey and Bandit, Phineas and Ferb, Thor and Loki or Frodo and Samwise.  There were also many Star Wars themed names as well as other Superheros.  

 The white/black "smokey" little boy is ours!! 

This little white/brown guy is our other baby goat! 

The last day of winter...

Tomorrow is spring. ...according to the calendar hung up in our kitchen.   Earlier this month,  I wrote "spring", boldly in blue Magic Marker, with a line underneath it, followed by numerous exclamation points (obviously in some attempt to wish it true) on the 20th of March,.  Today, I see that my wish was not granted,  as I  look out the kitchen window and clearly see that winter is still going strong.   A week ago, after a few warmer days, I could see some of the bricks from the patio peeking through the snow. Snowfalls earlier this week have covered up those bricks, and my hopes of springs arrival, in another blanket of cold and white.  There are other outdoor signs that spring is not just around the bend.  I have yet to hear any robins.  Our "babies" (hens) are still 'cooped' up as they so dislike walking on snow and ice.  And I was wondering if Mr. Chuck would be by to plow out our driveway as the recent, here and there, small snowfalls were starting to add up.  

Inside the farmhouse, there are more signs of cold season weather.  The down comforters are still on the beds, the wet snowpants, mittens, hats and boots are still drying in the mudroom, the bean pack is still being warmed up in the microwave to keep my toes toasty warm upon first getting into a cold bed and the fireplace shows signs of recent use. 

J assures me that spring is coming and tells me that one day..."pop", it will be spring.  When he says that, I reminded of a Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) book.  A caterpillar "pops" into a beautiful butterfly.  Soon, my winter blues will "pop" away with springs long anticipated arrival.

And there are some obvious signs that spring is coming.  The seed catalogs continue to come in the mail, there is potting soil in the mudroom, I found a bag from Farm and Fleet full of seed packets, and I'm finding lots of other misc. garden supplies throughout the house.  J is starting some garden plants from seed so the kitchen has a few trays full of soil and seeds.  JJ is most excited about the "snake" gourd seeds that he picked out!

My favorite sign that spring is coming happened 10 days ago.  On March 10th, 2013, a mama gave birth to her "kids".  Our farm family continues to grow with two more "kids" arriving in eight weeks... and guess what, they are both boys!!!!!  J and pickle got to meet them today.  I'll share the pictures tommorow....when it's spring!