Bees

Our bees, who worked hard all summer storing away energy in the form of a hive full of sweet honey, did not make it through the winter.  And sadly, neither did the sweet, sweet fruit of their labor.

Of course hindsight is 20/20, but we are now wishing we would have harvested the honey this fall instead of leaving the bees winter food supply in the hive.

Farmer J isn't sure what caused all our bees to perish. Maybe mites? Maybe dysentery? He tells me he needs to do more "research." 

All I know is this is the second time all our bees have died and we have had to start all over. Farmer J is ordering more bees soon. And, he and my dad will make a new bee hive with a totally new design. Fingers crossed that this system and these bees work out...or maybe, three strikes and we are out of the bee business.

I know bees are critically important and this link illustrates why in simple, straightforward terms.

http://www.bbka.org.uk/kids/importance_of_bees

So far this spring we are ordering bees, meat chickens, egg laying hens and feeder pigs! 

I foresee a very busy, but exciting, spring on our new farm! 

PS: In case your curious, no lambs. Farmer J just checked on Aoife and gave me an update on the status of her udder.

Full and firm, again, in case you're curious. Maybe leap year lambs? 

This is getting ridiculous!

Still no lambs. We thought for sure Aoife would lamb this last Thursday as you could see a tiny bit of an amniotic sac poking out of her girly parts. But no, nothing! Selfishly, I'm ready for her to have these babies so I don't have to look at her girly parts so often or read/send random texts to/from Farmer J talking about said girly parts! 

If she holds out to March, I won't be surprised. We've stopped trying to predict when she'll go into labor!

But then I think to myself, maybe tomorrow...forecast is sunny and temperatures will be in the mid-50s! Perfect lambing weather!  

On a completely different note, I apologize for the obvious break in daily blog posts! In the last week, I have had three different iPhones due to washing iPhone #1, iPhone #2 (the replacement phone wouldn't charge and had to be sent back and it took an additional 2-3 days to get and set up iPhone #3! The low point was when I started crying in the

AT&T store. 

One major downside to rural living- poor internet access! I'll go into this more fully another day but the short version is, the only way we can get internet in our home  is through our mobile phone hot spots! Therefore, no iPhone, no home internet either! The result: the fewer blog entries and tears of frustration, along with feeling like I was once again living in the 90s!

What I've learned the hard way:

- check coat pockets for phones before they get washed

-back up your phone frequently 

-check out internet access options before you move to a rural location and realize that cable high speed internet is highly unlikely when you live in the country 

So that happened...

I washed my iPhone in the laundry, it was in my farm coat pocket. 

Yesterday, I was out doing farm chores and then headed back inside. I took out the eggs (safely tucked in my pocket)...that cost a few bucks to replace- and left the pricey phone right there in the pocket. 

Within minutes, I realized what I had done...but it was too late!

Three trips to my mobile phone provider and some money spent...and I'm back in blogger business!

And guess what... Still no lambs. Honestly, I'm not sure what Aoife is waiting for- today was gloriously beautiful and warm!

Farmer J and the boys pruned trees in the orchard and carried lots of brush from here to there! 

Pickle enjoyed riding his bike through the melted snow puddles and JJ even passed up friend time to just hang out outside in the lovely 50 degree, sunny weather!

Ahhhh...a lovely winter reprieve!

I feel like a broken record but ...

still no lambs. It's official, Aoife is waiting for the 50 degree weather we are expecting tomorrow!

I'm thinking she will have twin girls...and I have the names all picked out! 

The snow we have melted a bit with the warmer weather we had today.

I went out to the pasture and fed Duncan and Aoife some apples.  They munched them right up. 

STILL no lambs

Today was sunny and warm- in the mid 30s. Farmer J was home today and was bummed that the lambs have yet to arrive. Maybe Aoife is waiting for the sunny and 50 degree weather coming in a few days.  

We are used to having mid-March lambs. In the past, we didn't have our "rental ram" visit until October, hence early spring lambs.

This year, we bought Duncan, our very own ram, in mid June. Hence, the earlier lambing season. 

As hard as it may be for Duncan, I think we'll try keeping him in his very own pasture until this fall.  And even then, he can only be with Aoife, Beatrix, Una and Jane.  

For obvious reasons, Saoirse and Skye will be kept away from him. But that will bring its own issues, as lambs always like to be by their mamas. 

We'll cross all these bridges when we come to them.

As farmers, there will always be fencing and pasture issues in our future!

Still no lambs

As soon as we get home, we dump all our stuff and rush to look to lambs!

Still no lambs. Aoife is big but still up on her feet and eating!

Today would be a warm(ish) but snowy day for birthing!

The last day....

Farmer J assures me today is the last of the very cold weather. Today it is cold, cloudy and snowy! The temperature is in the low teens and our golden orb in the sky is covered up by thick grey clouds.  

Today is a good day for a warm nap under quilted blankets (exactly what Pickle is doing as I write this) and eating chocolate (exactly what I did before writing this)! 

Aoife is walking very slow today.  Her belly and udder are full and heavy. She has got to be pregnant with twins!  We have given up trying to predict when she will lamb.  

Skye is doing great. She is still on the small side but no longer needs any supplemental feedings. Saoirse is a huge lamb! She looks almost as tall as the goats!  Little boy still has a limp but can get around well and is growing. All of them like to play outside the shed on warm, and colder days. They are all starting to eat hay and lamb chow, as well. 

We still have one boy lamb from last spring. Yesterday, I saw him and Duncan playing in the pasture, literally kicking up their heels.

Still no lambs..

I asked Aoife to wait until this cold, Artic weather has passed before she had her lambs...and so far, so good!  The sheep rarely seem bothered by the cold, which may have something to do with their inches deep wool coat!  But lambs do not like the cold and it's unhealthy for them to be born in such harsh weather. 

Farmer J bundles up and heads out to the pasture to check on Aoife every few hours. She could deliver at any moment. Tomorrow would be ideal...or Monday morning or Wednesday! HA...like you can schedule a lamb birth! The boys have seen plenty of lambs being born so they could take or leave another lamb birth experience but J and I love to be there for the event. So far, during this lamb season, I have yet to witness the amazingly surreal process. Maybe this time!

Happy Valentines Day Weekend!

Ahhhh, Thank you Farmer J!

No new lambs yet

Aoife is hanging in there. No lambs yet. Fingers crossed that she holds out until the weekend but tomorrow is a high possibility. 

Cold weather; hot oven

Pretty darn good! Walnut and chocolate chip brownies with homemade fudge frosting! 

Aoife

Farmer J thinks Aoife will lamb this week, and likely will give birth to twins. 

I'm hoping she holds out until the weekend! Temperatures are to drop, to snot freezing in your nose cold, this week--and I'm in my second week at a new job with Farmer J teaching an extra class this week--so of course she'll lamb mid week when I'm insane and home alone with two small children.  

I'm back to doing direct patient care, and wearing scrubs, so at least my work attire will be better suited for the barn (than the last two times I came home from work to find lambs in the pasture and me in the barn in high heels and dress pants).

The great news...Aoife is a birthing champ and a great mama! She has already had two sets of twins and has never needed a lick of help from us!

Sunday afternoon cat nap

Sparrow Hawk Winterfell

Trinity Eve Lutheran aka, Trin

Fisherman Finnegan aka, Finn

You know you are married to a farmer when...

You find these three things all within a few feet of each other:

Wool shearing parts on the kitchen table

Sheep family tree on the fridge

Lamb formula and bottle by the back door

If it's on your heart

This weekend I participated in the IF women's Christian conference and learned about this amazing organization:

International Justice Mission

IJM fights slavery across the globe. Please see the link below, if you are moved to be a freedom partner!

https://www.ijm.org/if

For more information on the IF conference, see below.

https://ifgathering.com/

Broken eggs

A: Broken egg shells in the lint collected from the dryer

Q: What you find after you clean farm chore clothes?

I'm certain everyone in our family has put an egg in their pocket for safe keeping until inside the house...and everyone of us has forgotten the egg was in our pocket until we had...raw, scrambled egg in our pocket!

The farm wife's best friend, along with the shop vac, is the washer and dryer!

Wet, snowy, cloudy and slick

Today's weather was enough to make me want to spontaneously book a trip to anywhere sunny and warm!

As I'm a responsible, enough, parent and employee...I'm staying put.

Thankfully, the lambs and mamas are doing great in the warm and dry barn.  I'm even more thankful that Aoife didn't give birth today (she could deliver any day now, likely twins). 

Farmer J is home tomorrow...so maybe she'll lamb then!

Spring must be around the bend, as just this weekend J ordered 9 laying hens and ~20 meat birds.  No turkeys this year...the guys will have enough meat with the lamb, chicken and pork. And we can't forget the great protein source of the amazing farm fresh EGG!

Again this weekend, we collected half a dozen eggs...which made our homemade chocolate chip cookies taste even better!

Wishing you all warm, gooey cookies on a cold and dreary day like today!