Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Weather Conditions Affect all Farmers............

Indiana October 2010

...........that goes without saying!  A link I found via The Coming Depression from Bloomberg
Dust from Corn Harvest .........Indiana October 2010
about current drought conditions across Texas and how it is affecting the costs of hay nationally. There is interesting info on corn production and ethanol.......a good read in my humble opinion.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Even Though It's too Hot to Blog, Our First Tractor........

A Case 1949 VAC arrived at our farm on July 9th, 2011.  Boy, have we been excited about this! It does run and we will use it to work the farm.  We plan to restore it to it's original condition in the future....

My hubby with the tractor.......

This smile about says it all!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Waiting for the Vet.........and the Heat!

Rambo's castration day is  here.........I'm kinda anxious and hope that all goes well for him. He and Madonna are in the cleaned out center aisle of the barn.
It is very hot and we are entering a dangerous heat wave for the coming week. We will try to keep the animals as comfortable as possible. My hubby cleaned out the walk through yesterday which has a concrete floor . It was horrible heat conditions yesterday here on the farm. We had to take frequent breaks while working.
We will keep an eye on the animals and hope for the best in the coming week.
Everyone stay as cool as possible!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Slaughter or Castration?

What to do with an intact ram.........slaughter or castration? Rambo has bred the Dor Galen flock once, resulting in a nice 2011 lamb crop. We are sharing a Horned Dorset ram with Tim, who will be used for breeding purposes this fall.....( the ram, not Tim!).  Rambo has been gentle and non -aggressive with us. He produced the largest fleece I have ever seen on this farm when we sheared him this past spring. I've noticed that he is with the ewes if they are not feeling well, so I've used him as a type of barometer for the flock.
My hubby made an appointment for Rambo and Nemo at the local slaughterhouse for this coming Thursday. I understand the necessity of  having to slaughter intact ram lambs, but it is very hard emotionally to deal with......at least, it is for me.  My husband is more practical about the matter, but he said I could check with Dr. Culbertson about castration for Rambo. Nemo, on the other hand, needs to be slaughtered to see if the Dor Galen breed we are developing can be dual purpose and used for meat as well as fleece.
I called Dr. Culbertson this morning. He will be here this coming Monday morning to castrate Rambo here on the farm.
Nemo will be going for slaughter this Thursday. He will have done his duty for the survival of the flock.
Farming is not an easy occupation...................

Friday, July 8, 2011

Grandkids Come Visiting!

Summer is for grandchildren visiting the farm. We are blessed with beautiful grandchildren, but we don't see them very often since they live so far away. Anytime they are here is special.......
The first grandchild to visit was the youngest grandchild, Drew. He will be two in October and he was here with his mom and dad on Memorial Day weekend. Here he is with  his mom, Rhiannon, holding him on our front porch. He loved the "animals", especially the chickens. It was a hot day , but he had a great time. His parents live in Alexandria, Virginia.
Over the Fourth of July, we had our grandchildren who live in Bloomington, Indiana, a one and a half hour drive south of here....one way. The youngest of the group, Christian, had never seen fireworks before so we drove to Sheridan, Indiana for a fireworks display.
The oldest grandchild is our grand daughter, Elizabeth. She is thirteen and attends middle school in Bloomington. She wants to be a writer and a teacher.
Jonathan is ten and loves the farm! He loves to help gather chicken eggs. He is a very polite boy and tells the chickens, "Excuse me chicken. I need your egg!"
This is Christian, the youngest of the crew. he is seven and wants a farm of his own when he grows up. He was a great weed puller and as he fed the weeds to the chickens, he exclaimed, "Now we will have hundreds of eggs !"

They had great fun with GrandPa's goat , Blitzen.......

A great time was had by all...............

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Some Summer Color.........

Still waiting on the color splash from Black-eyed Susan..............should happen in the next couple of days............

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Milking Scottish Blackface

"You learn something new every day", is a familiar quote.  Here is a link to a great website I discovered and a great post about milking Blackies.  Wild Thing, Mild Thing.......you better watch out!