Woo hoo

I finally was able to squirrel away enough money to buy a nice (very entry level) camera. I havent had a decent camera in over 20 yrs. I am attaching a slide show of some of the shots I took today

Hollywood horse aka Grace, was very difficult to photo as she kept getting closer and closer even fogging the lens at times.

Tiny jumping fish

LOL, this afternoon at dusk we were walking along the creek when I spotted a expanding ring in the water. I knew it had been made by a fish jumping, but when I saw the little tiny sardine come fully out of the water in a wonderful dolphin jump it was funny. It was a tiny brown trout, this year the creek seems to be fuller than usual with all sizes of trout. Two blue herons are visiting daily, we have Canada geese a pair that come over every morning, lots of Robins this year,and goldfinches. I hadn't seen many robins or Goldfinchs in years past. I am waiting on my bluebird pair that has nested in the same house for 2 years to come back. Hoping that maybe they are just using one of the 6 new bluebird houses I placed this spring. I have also seen what appeared to be a teal, but it moved away before i could fully identify it.

Cows are all doing wonderfully. We moved them to the small pasture Saturday so they could eat of the rapidly growing grass and allow the two bigger pastures to rest and recover. Bob, (the bull) is apparently excavating a basement in the small pasture. There is a small gully where the runoff goes and Bob gets in the gully and scratches his head at surface ground level. He has taken the 2ft wide gully into a 4 foot wide gully. His hair on his head, does look marvelous!!

How many geese fit in a dog house? Apparently the answer is 4. The geese all roost in the dog house that I put out for them to nest in. It is a multi-purpose house as they lay eggs, some sit on the eggs and all but one goose gets to come and sleep at night.

Broiler chickens are getting big, dumber every year, but we don't buy them for their IQ.

This year we are really able to see the wonderful changes and improvements that we have been making over the last 3 years. Pastures and creek bank are restoring wonderfully, I believe that is also the reason for the increased trout numbers.

Picture was taken on 5.6.9 evening toward the east, if you look close you may be able to see the full moon also. PTL for this beautiful place.

Bee's are making comb and the queen is laying, overall it looks like a happy hive. I am surprisingly more excited about the bee endeavor than I thought I would be. How sweet is that? ahahhaah sweet..honey..... :)

Been Beezy!!!

Wow, it has been very busy around here, the spring clean up, clearing more trees in compliance with the forestry plan we have developed with the forestry service, and bees!!!

Yes, it's true. We now have a hive and as of noon today bees to occupy the residence. I am excited but filled with a little bit of trepidation as I react strongly to certain insect bites/stings. Re-assured by the fact that the bees will leave me alone if I leave them alone. Hoping it will be a successful endeavor for us. I didn't realize that all farms in years past had a hive or 3-5. Hubby wasn't taking any chances with them, a wise decision.

Rain!!!

I can almost see the grass growing and greening before my eyes. Not sure who will be happier the animals with the new grass growth or myself for the same reason.

Morning brought 4 new chicks, 3 black/white and 1 yellow. It's so cute to see them peek out from mom's wing. Geese eggs are due to hatch any day now also. If you are interested in some American buff goslings let me know, there are LOTS of eggs.

We deliver "Larriette" and her calf to some great people today. I always love getting to know the people our animals go to and Susan and her family seem to be kindred spirits, with the same goals of land stewardship and animal husbandry that we have. I'm excited also to see their farm and the jersey calf and other critters they have.

Here's to green growing grass!!

Easter Baby!

Woohoo, this morning beckoned with lots of sunshine, frost on the ground, hungry critters and a new heifer calf this morning. We just missed the actual birth but were able to observe the newcomer getting up and nursing. Sandy, the mom, allowed hubby to pick up the calf and we were able to tell it was a heifer. Mom and Bunny (what else could we name her?) are both doing great! Looking forward to seeing Bunny up and running around.

Larriette, another cow is also very close to calving so maybe we will have two of close age to watch play.

Geese are waterfowl right?

I have always thought that geese were waterfowl. However the keystone cops aka the geese have taken several weeks to venture down to the creek. Once there it took over 30 minutes for them all to actually get their feet wet! Walking into the creek, but still keeping their feet on the bottom of the creek at all times. One finally lifted its feet and seemed startled that there was a current and it was now going backwards aaaaaaaaah, quick run away!! They all four finally got into the water but left and went back to the barn w/in the 30 minute span.

Morning found them wandering the south side of the creek and then discovering them on the north side of the creek in the pasture. I am thinking that they must have crossed the water, but now have serious doubts. They spotted me outside (I'm mom) and thought let's go see her. I am expecting them to cross the creek and come back to the south side where the house and barn etc are located.......Nope, not my crazy crew they decided to cross the bridge, heaven forbid they should get their feet wet!!! All I could do was laugh and once again consider renaming the farm to "The Funny Farm"

Cows seemed to have discovered that we fixed the electric fence and it does shock them. Daisy our shortie has tested it at least twice but seems to have realized it means to stay on her side of the fence.

We have snow today, currently it's going sideways!!! I'm so glad its spring.

We do have a goose setting on her eggs, I don't have a count on how many eggs are in there, hopefully not toooo many.

Baa Baa Black sheep

Last tuesday brought us a black lamb. "Gonzo" is doing well, and is a joy to watch sproing around the field. We are still anticipating another lamb any time soon, hopefully a little girl this time around.