Missing Willow Farm

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

From our (messy) home to yours!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

If you’ve read my ‘about’ page, you know how our farm got its name.  Beavers took out hundreds of trees on our property, including the large expensive weeping willow tree I’ve always wanted within a week of planting it.  They had burrowed into the bank directly across the pond from our dock.  The last one was ‘removed’ April of 2008.  I called our game warden and asked him to send someone to trap and relocate them.  He said there’s no one around here who traps them, even for their pelts.  He told me they’re nuisance animals (no kidding) and suggested we shoot them.  I said I would if I had a gun!  So I went to Wal Mart.  Did you know when you buy a rifle at Wal Mart, the manager walks you to your car?  I found that interesting.  Anyway, as it turns out I’m a pretty good shot.  So’s my husband.  When we were house hunting in this area we knew we wanted water of some sort.  Either a pond or a stream large enough you couldn’t jump over it.  We got both.  One of our property boundaries feeds the Mayo river and beavers have taken up residence in the bend.  They have already taken out dozens of small trees and have started on a few large ones.  If they get it dammed, it will take out our neighbor’s creekside cabin which is just upstream.  So… we’re on the hunt again.  Since they’re nocturnal, it means going out at night in the freezing cold with a big flashlight.  Dam beavers!

Honey waits by the barn door every morning to greet me.  She starts clucking when she hears me feeding Zeus and Xena because she knows I’ll be visiting the chickens soon after.  My visit means the door to their little outdoor chicken yard will be open and their frozen waterer will be replaced with a liquid one.  The best part is I trade her last night’s dinner veggie scraps for a fresh, warm egg.  Amazing in this weather and quite a lovely trade!

Taking a breather from the flurry of activity when a new bale of hay is put out, Beatrice takes a moment to say hello.

A few months ago we transplanted some resilient potato plants that came up after our potato bed was plowed under.  They went into the new raised bed inside our greenhouse.  Since we shut down the greenhouse heater a few weeks ago, the frigid weather finally did the plants in.  Luckily, there were potatoes under the frozen plants.  We plan to dig the remaining beets and rutabagas for our holiday meal.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our Christmas tree kind of encroached on Jenna’s indoor space, aka her kennel.  She’s practically living under the tree right now.  She’s not allowed to run around the house because my husband is allergic to dogs so she relaxes in there when it’s too hot or cold to be outside.  I’m sure she’ll enjoy the festivities on Christmas morning, she has a front row seat!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our pond is spring fed so it takes a long spell of frigid weather for it to freeze.  We’ve had that spell, plus an inch of sleet.  What’s weird is there is a round spot near the center that didn’t freeze.   It’s not the deepest part of the pond right there off the dock.  Did some ducks spend the night there paddling around, keeping that spot from freezing or did an alien spacecraft beam up some of our catfish in the middle of the night?  It’s a mystery.

The morning routine…  Milos and FiFi waiting at the pasture gate for us to come in and give them breakfast and some affection.  They walk on either side of me as my escort to the barn.   Those dogs are so big I can pet their backs while we’re walking without bending over.  Jenna waits patiently to be let into the pasture so she can wrangle up some sheep.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our good friend and shepherd came over to pick up his handsome ram, 802, and brought his portable ultrasound to do pregnancy checks on the flock and herd (flerd?).  The sheep were surprisingly calm about it.  They closed their eyes either to signify “Hey, let me relax a bit”, or, “If I close my eyes tight maybe this nightmare will go away!”.  My husband has become expert at putting a 150 pound sheep on her rear, but the goats don’t want any part of being ‘sat down’.  They were all about the kicking and fussing.   You can see that Jenna was ready to ‘help’ in any way we asked her to.  That’s her working stance.  She was secretly hoping we’d ask her to nip one.  We didn’t.  Maybe next time, Jenna.   The outcome of this rainy day exercise was that the ultrasound tool needed a better battery charge so we’re planning to try it again, so no results …yet.