Just another Day on the Farm

Rest in Peace my old ram Dram!

In part because there is a glut of good ram, in part because folks want the new bloodlines, and in part because most rams become just plain old nasty after a year or two of being the top breeding ram, and they older they get the meaner they get..

I bought dram as a proven two coming three year old, he was bought in part because he was what I wanted gen wise, (being from a quebec breeder) and part because he had been a bottle baby, was as sweet as they get and was halter and lead broke.

I have never regretted it for a moment, he has been with us for eight years, for eight years he has been a total sweetheart for around 50 weeks of the year and a total butthead for two weeks a year..  he has always been better with Dh then me during the rut, but thankfully, even during the rut, he is respectful to the hounds that come out to do chores with us, bring the hound, and he will keep his distance.

He is 11 coming 12 this winter and I do believe it will be his last with us..(could I know that the very day I wrote this post, I would find him passed in the barn on the evening chores) in truth we need new blood, but not in a huge way, I started my lines carefully, I had five different female bloodlines and a unrelated male bloodline, the truth is, I can now line-breed for a good long while in the herd without it being much of a issue.

what will no doubt be his last babies are filling their mommies tummies, the ewe’s are the bringers of new life, they are the first of the critters on the farm that will bring new babies in 2014,and I am looking forward to it, forward to the lambs, forward to the fresh sheep milk, forward to fresh feta cheese, forward to that amazing rich sheep cream in my tea’s.

I can’t wait to see baby lamb bops and jumps and running to and for.. to rub velvet soft lambs ears and while I never want it to happen, if I end up with a wee bottle babe, it won’t break me, I will have a lamb puppy that while driving me crazy on the house cleaning, I will in fact adore its cuddle time, being its momma, and feeding it the bottle.

So while it is sad to see my old boy dram losing just a bit of ground each day, I know that it will be only a matter of time before his son’s and daughters fill my life and world with smiles.. the cycle of life as they say..

This in so many ways applies to 2013 coming into 2014, there have been many good things in my life in 2013, but they are waning and new are coming!

Well, its that time of the year, first we had nice temps for a meer two days and we are right back into the deep freeze, welcome to Canada baby..  I have not seen cold like this since we lived in the artic or alberta, I have been spoiled with the nice winters we have been getting here in Ontario since I got here but clearly not this winter..

Christmas has come and gone, the days are now getting just a touch longer each day, and the promise of renewal is coming!

2014 is looming.. another year.. days will flow by and the season’s will change and before you know it.. it will be gone..

The seed catalogs are coming in, making promises for the coming garden season..

So how do I slow it down, how do I get the most out of the coming year, how do I make things happen, how do I relax and let! things happen..

So many things I want to do, and yet, trying to make them happen at times seems to hard, to much work or just out of my grasp.. but they are really not!

Its about will power, its about being stubborn, its about taking a risk to push just a tiny bit harder! Do just a tiny bit more, be willing to take the hurt, be willing to ??????

Its also about forgiving, forgiving myself on my failings, letting go, and understanding that I have to let go of some things in order to make room for the new, I can’t breath in, when this happens, I or we can do this, when we get here, we can do this or that..

Do you know the strength it took to trust that we could leave the farm in the care of a friend and just have one evening/night/morning to ourselves.. we do travel, but we have not had a night off the farm together in almost nine years.. nine years!

That was because the last time we left the farm in friends care, we had a issue, and so I said, NO and we just didn’t do it again..

It was wonderful, it was scary and I am glad we did it, but I am just as glad that the friend, kept in touch, that we got updates, baby steps here people! 🙂

I have a whole bunch of things that I want to do in the new year and I will get to it, but that’s not what this post is about.. its about dreams and wishes and hopes..

Dream on! Dream ON!

Happy 14th Anniversary, to my wonderful husband, you make my world a better place with you in it! Thank you for all the amazing memories and times over the years.. Love you!

Look what we found on our trip yesterday, its nice and close by the farm, and its been all redone, new wood, cleaned up and repainted for a very very reasonable price!

Hello Dear Friends

The storm appears to have been finished with us, we have lots of ice and snow, we have gotten at least half of our normal winters snow in a matter of about ten days, well over three feet, plus drifting, we have had down limbs and branches.

We did prepwork on the farm and we got lucky! It could have been much worse, it was not..

As I read the news reports, I say it again, please, please consider preparing for a event like this, I know that the government says prepare for 72 hours, and if a 72 hour kit for your family is the what you are willing to do, then do it! and that ‘s is awesome!

But if you really want to get a good solid start, have a rock solid plan for 2 weeks if needed, and then work your way upward depending on what happens in your own neck of the woods, here in my area, if you get a proper nasty ice storm, you are looking at two to six weeks of possible on your own..

But lets go back for a moment, lets cover the basic’s, and by true basic’s I mean what you will need in order to cloth, feed, water and shelter..  when the heat is off, layer up.. one to three pairs of socks, with good heavy slippers, to layers of pants, at least three layers on top, don’t forget to cover your head, gloves for sure and if you sit, you want to use blankets, if its wet, switch for dry..

Close off most of your house, live in one room only, ideally the room you pick will get any sun you can, adding solar heat but cover the windows as soon as the sun is no longer there to keep out all thermal cold, your room should ideally not be more then about 400 square feet, make a honey bucket and use it. A good lamp or two, (keep in mind that if you are in a very draft new eco house, that you can have issues with not having enough air flow (have a tester in the room with you!) and a little warmer with a candle, and good quality sleeping bags, even if you only have one, and if that is the case, put it under the whole family on the bed, sleep together with lots of blankets on top and if you can do it, create a outer old fashioned bed coverings to help keep in the heat that you and yours will generate.

IF the beds have a chill to them, warm a brick or a stone or even a marble cutting board over the candle and run it down the sheets, to take the chill and damp off before climbing into bed, sleep with a touque on! you will lose more heat from your head.. don’t let it happen..

Forget about washing for awhile, warm just enough water to wash hands, faces and feet if needed.. that’s it, no wet hair, no full body scrub downs, etc..

When you heat water for tea or drinking etc, use a flask, and then you can hand out warm drinks for hours afterwards.. Consider investing into something like the shuttle chef, I can heat water, and it will still be hot eight hours later.

Think about these things now or after the storm, so that when the next one comes, you are better prepared! I want each and everyone of you to come out the other side holding your own, please! It does not all have to done at once, just pick up one or two little things each payday and make a box, make a kit and when something happens, it could be life saving!

Hello folks

Well, like most of the rest of the eastern Ontario, we knew that a big old storm was pushing its way in, we had already had two days of storming, and snow but now it was going to get tricky, freezing rain, sleet, ice pellets and more snow, and a couple days worth of storm, not just one and done..

So after we cleared away the last of the night before’s snow, we headed into town in the morning to finish up some last min shopping, get to the second hand shop so I could pick up some size 4 and 6 childrens sweaters to turn into winter hound coats for my one old pup, so that it gets a little bit of weather protection.

We were not off the farm more then two hours, and we had done all our morning chores and put out extra hay just before we left..

So imagine my surprise and the heart race that came when we got home and say that the big main gate was broken open, the cow and calf in the yard, worse yet, having broken into a feed bag and stuffing her face (more on that in a bit), the hay bales, pushed around, and hay scattered, we drove the cow and calf into the field and called for the horses, the sheep flock came but no horse’s..

O My Goodness! O NO!!! no horses in the yard, no horses in the pastures, no horses in the barn, they were not on the farm.. called and called, scanned the fields left and right, nothing, knew that being horses they would go anywhere we had ridden them without a thought to it.. that is a pretty good area to cover..

But first things first, lets check to see if they went to their riding buddies on the farm across the road, sure enough.. there they were, standing with the herd on the outside of the fence and the herd hanging with them, on the inside of the fence, they were safe and sound and happy to see us, came when called and walked right up to be lead rope clicked on, and followed us home.

I will admit that I burst into tears when I realized they were gone and I didn’t have a clue where they were, and then I cried a bit when I found them.. I know, I know.. being a girl but so be it.

So get them home, sheep are fine but the cow, well the cow is already swelling, which makes sense as she just eat somewhere between 30 to 40 pounds or so of grains.. frickity, frack! now I am on bloat watch..

Walking, walking, burping, farting, cud chewing and lots of checks, I am very pleased to report that while she is still bigger bellied then I would like to see, she has made it just fine and I think given that she is up, walking, pooing and burping and eating her hay, that the odds are safe to say, that all is going to be well.

Still, there was flash backs to my childhood on when a large much loved critter got into the grain bin, o how I hate bloat..

Woke up this morning to a world of white ice/snow, everything that was cleared yesterday, is back and it brought friends, one more day of this storm they say, and then we will be though the worst of it.. hope they are right!

Still have power at this point, how you are my friends that live close enough to be effected by it!

The funny thing is that I finally figured out that this drink needs to be considered a meal or at the very least a snack, not to be included with a meal, I don’t understand how it makes me full but it does, I am working hard at keeping it 80 veggie/20 percent fruit, and the old hound loves the extra fiber in her meals.

I think the fresh ginger has helped the most..