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!