tick tick

It's really hard to believe lambing is supposed to begin in less than two weeks.

Argh!

Easter Saturday

The moon sets (in the trees) as the sun rises on this crisp morning. Bella, Bess, and Bonnie waiting patiently for breakfast.

End of snowshoeing season. Again.

Usually snowshoeing is for pleasure, for exercise, and with Jonah.

This week its for work - frost seeding two hay fields with clover seed. Best done in snow so I can see my tracks while spreading the seed. Also best when snow just about to melt but still cold temperatures at night - the freezing and thawing on the surface of the ground helps work the seed into the soil.

Of course the 15 acres I'm doing are on hilly land and the snow is actually 18" of slop - so hard slogging. The red bag holds about 25 lbs of seed, enough for 7-8 acres.

Stomping while turning the crank is sort of like patting your head while rubbing your belly.

-28

This morning it was -28 at the farm. Same as yesterday.

Yesterday I decided it was too cold to go for my usual snowshoe hike out back. Jonah was not pleased and was squirrely most of the day.

I don't mind the cold because I can layer up for it. But I wear my all-year hiking boots and can only manage thin socks without getting them too tight. As the years go by my circulation isn't what it used to be, and the past few years anything colder than -15 gives me very cold feet.

I have these great winter boots that I wear to the Farmer's Market, and in the truck driving in bad winter weather. They are rated to -50. But they're bulky and fairly heavy. I've never tried them on my snowshoes.

Until today.

Really wanting to get out there, and Jonah with his big sad eyes, I decided to see if the boots would even fit in the snowshoe bindings.

Lo and behold they did fit. So after layering up, off we went.

We got a lot of snow the last few days so we were breaking new trail. The the boots are heavy, so it was like snowshoeing with a 5 lb bag of sugar strapped to each foot.

Turns out I didn't need so many layers - I was roasting by the top of the first hill.

And my feet were toasty warm.

Yay.

Clean, crisp air. Blue sky. Deer all over the place.

The heavy clouds in the distance are over the water - probably another snow storm brewing itself up.

5 km through deep snow with heavy boots. I don't know what's for supper yet, but it will be BIG!

Honey Bees

I learned at a course yesterday: tomato plants hold their pollen tightly. It takes a vibration wave length equal to the note 'C' to shake loose the pollen. The vibration wave length created by a honey bee's wings is equal to....the note 'C'.

(photo credit: The Travel Foundation)

Strange Sun

The sun didn't really set last night. More like it exploded and fell from the sky.

Photos captured by GD Maddy at their farm down the road.

Br-r-r

Certainly not a record cold, but at -14 degrees its the coldest its been for a while. Must admit I'm debating about Jonah and I hitting the bush today. But that's just us; er, mainly its just me - I'm sure Jonah wants to go no matter how cold it is.

The rest of the critters around the farm are just carrying on in the cold...

New Staff on the Farm

New additions to the farm staff. Bella (with bit of pink on the nose) and Bess (all black nose). Born Dec 1 2015. These girls were born into a sheep farm and will now join Bonnie as interns in the guardian department.

Baby, its cold outside

Let 'er rip

A nice snow storm clobbered the area beginning yesterday afternoon. I'm happy to get some serious snow.

I was way organized for the storm this time. It was only raining in the morning so I made it to church and then hit the grocery store to bog in enough supplies for a long haul. When I got home the snow had started but I still had time to get out several round bales of hay to tide the flock over for at least a week. And for good measure I rolled a bale into the barn and pulled it apart to make up some deep cozy bedding.

Of course once the storm hit full tilt the sheep were quick to choose eating bedding in the barn over eating hay outside.

Mature Ewes breeding group

Ewe Lambs & Goats breeding groups

Not everyone hid inside though.

Jonah and I went for a hike when the wind eased up. The snow was almost knee deep today. I took this bleak shot from the top of the knoll which is about half way back on my regular trail. The deep snow is a lot of extra work on the snow shoes - especially these newer kind that are so much smaller in the surface area. So that's as far as I got today. If it doesn't snow and blow too much more overnight I'll at least have a partial packed trail to head out on tomorrow.

Or not.

It's all good!

Finally

Winter finally arrived at the farm.

Lots of snow over the past 48 hours.

Two happy boys off to the woods.

Some of the snow remains in the bush.

The rest is in the house, stuck to Jonah's legs.

Welcome, 2016

Partridge in a Pear Tree

Christmas felt art by DW.

Didn't measure it, but approx 24" diameter. All wool felt.

On the fourth day of Christmas... waiting for the kids and grand kids to arrive, and a couple o nieces, and a brother-in-law.

As usual my actual Christmas eve and day are spent churchifying.

One must exercise patience for one's presents. (Everyone knows they are getting socks; they just don't know what kind!)

Kitty, Kitty, and Kitty

The young kitties are growing nicely. They are mousing the barn and outside around the house and yards

Kitty, on the left with white paws is the most friendly. I have to watch that she doesn't sneak up too close to me. (Allergies )

Kitty, on the right, is the most stand offish and runs for cover when I approach.

Mama cat continues to visit for a meal several times a week, but I think she is leaving the good eats primarily to her young.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the farm.

Needless to say, the snow shoeing so far this festive season really sucks! I did a lot of work improving the bush section of my snowshoe/hiking trail and I'm really chomping at the bit to get out there. With all the rain (and deer hunters)this fall I haven't been on the trail much lately. Jonah and I have been taking our walks on the concession road, to keep out of the mud.

The barnyard is a muddy mire. Thankfully there are high ground areas, and a dry barn for the sheep and goats. And, more thankfully, we haven't received as heavy rain as the folks in UK where many sheep farms have been virtually washed away.

For many years, when I lived in the big smoke, I hosted a formal Christmas Eve dinner for my siblings and parents. DW would always excuse herself later in the evening to attend Midnight Mass. There were several years where green Christmas threatened, and each year this happened we implored DW to pray for snow. And each of those years it did indeed snow before DW returned from Mass.

That was then, of course. Now my parents and all but one sibling have passed on. My surviving brother and I had lunch the other day at Boston Pizza. And as of this year there is no Midnight Mass. These things don't bode well for the miraculous arrival of Christmas snow!

Nevertheless, we'll put in a special request to the Mighty Manitou qt the 5 p.m. service tonight and see what happens.

I hope you have snow, but not too much, wherever you are....

It's a race

It's a race to get the barn cleaned out before winter.

Porky and Bess are doing a pretty good job rooting - turning everything over and eating all the bits and pieces of hay and grain these find mixed in the bedding pack.

Still, they're not going as deep as I thought they were, as I found when I began to shovel out each section as I moved them on to each subsequent section.

What they root is very easy to clean up - like peat moss really. But the lower layer that they didn't get is very thatched, compact, and heavy.

That lower layer is about 18" deep. It has a brutal crust on the top, which is why I expect Porky and Bess didn't root it. Using a sod spade with a sharped edge, I have to jump on hit quite hard 5 r 6 times to penetrate. Often even that won't do it and I have to chip at it first with the sharp corner of the spade. That crust on top is basically like the rings on a tree. It signifies the pack from two years ago, while what Porky and Bess rooted was the past one year's accumulation.

I built the barn almost 25 years ago when I had my first 10 sheep. I didn't have a tractor then, and didn't expect to have more than 10 sheep so I didn't design the barn for tractor clean out.

Lambing on pasture for so many years meant very little build up in the barn. But with increased coyote pressure I've gone to barn lambing which translates to a lot of pack building up. Solution is likely to get a few pigs every year instead of every other year.

Meantime I'm getting a pair of arms like an 18 year old.

Chicken Upside Down Cake

Last year I built a chick coop in one corner of the barn.

Under the roost I've got two XL Rubbermaid tubs that catch most (er, much of) the poop. The plywood panel on the face of the roost is held in place by just a few screws, for easy removal.

Last week I did a thorough cleaning out of the coop in preparation for the coming winter. The Rubbermaid tubs were full-to-overflowing and I was sure they would weigh a zillion pounds and be difficult to move.

To my pleasant surprise, they weren't very heavy at all, and I wasn't sure why. Poop is generally pretty heavy!

I carted the tubs to one of the vegetable garden plots and dumped them.

This is one full tub's worth, dumped upside down.

Only the top 6" (the bottom in the picture) or so is still poop. The rest is thoroughly composted already - virtually high test peat moss.

I guess the plastic construction of the tubs created a good composting environment.

In my sheltered life I think this is totally cool! Next year this is the patch the zucchini, cucumbers, squash and pumpkins will go. I know they will appreciate my Chicken Upside Down Cakes.

Early Winter?

Here's what it looked like coming home from church this morning:

It's still dark when I do my morning barn chores now, so the sheep content themselves with hay from the summer harvest until I get home, and then they are happy to head out to pasture:

There is still a lot of grass left in all the paddocks so I hope I can keep the flock grazing for quite a while yet. If not, no never mind as the hay crop this year was more than generous.

But what to do with the rest of a wet, cold, blustery, muddy Sunday?

I knit myself a new pair of light weight work socks that I'll wear til the really cold weather sets in.

I used my Columbia lambs wool (75% blended with 25% nylon) for this project. Its a single ply that runs about 400 yards/ 120g. The coloured yarn is a light variegate grey on my monitor it shows a bit of a reddish tinge which is inaccurate - its like a mouse grey. For the topper, heels and toes I used natural of the same blend.

The single ply has virtually no twist in it, since its not plied. Twist provides strength, but in this case the nylon content takes care of that. The non twist makes this a lofy yarn - so it has a good insulating value, and a softness under foot.

I've got two pair of these in natural that I've been wearing for several years farming. They are getting pilled from the felt liners in my barn boots, and the heels are starting to thin a little. Mostly they are starting to look like skanky man socks, so this first breath of winter inspired me to make myself a new pair.

They are size Large (for my 11 EEE foot). Knit with the 72 needle cylinder and 36 needle ribber on my Verdun 47; a reverse e-wrap selvedge on 1 x 1 ribbed top, and the rest of the sock in stockinette.

I expect the snow will be gone in the next day or so, and I'll be left with ....mud.

I hate mud!

Sun Setting

Snapped from the car by GK4 en route to the farm last weekend:

No matter how crazy the day may have been, there's nothing like a beautiful Georgian Bay sunset to soothe your spirit.

Dawn til Dusk

Day begins early at the farm. Though with our brief summer fading to fall, day break comes a wee bit later each morning.

Its dark when Jonah and I head out to do our morning chores.

First we feed and water the cats, the rams (who are in the barnyard this time of year), the goats and the pigs. The chickens are busy in the early morning so I leave them to their work, and feed them later in the day when I gather their eggs.

The sheep have spent the night in the yard, and by the time the other animals are fed daylight has arrived, signaling it is now (relatively) safe to take them to their pasture.

The coyotes and wolves tend to hunt at dusk and dawn when the light is dim and shadows for hiding are abundant. (Unless they are really hungry, in which case they will hunt at any time.) So I wait for full daylight before taking them out, and bring them in for the night before the sun is down.

The sheep know the drill - they and Bonnie run to the gate and wait when they hear me coming. In this case the gate is 3 strands or portable electric wire that sub divides the pasture into smaller paddocks - more efficient for grazing and easier for Bonnie to supervise.