Missing Willow Farm

Hermione is an awesome milker.  I’m getting close to a quart from her every morning.  We let her spend the day with her buckling in the big pasture then move her over to the small pasture with the pregnant sheep and goats and Zeus and Xena for the evening.  I milk in the morning after feeding chores and then she goes back to the big pasture for the day.  My chevre recipe calls for a gallon of goat milk and feta calls for two.  Looks like we’ll be enjoying cheese again really soon.

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We took seven of our sheep to a neighbor’s farm for shearing.  They hire a professional shearer to come for the day, and serve delicious smoked lamb ribs for lunch.  Four fiber artists attended to help with skirting the fleece.  That’s when you remove any poop or vegetation that may be stuck to the fleece, a lovely job.  We had to take off Nellie Belle’s bell collar before she had a turn.  We keep one sheep belled in case they escape from our pasture.  It’s easier to find the flock (they all hang together) if  you can hear a bell.  Luckily, they’ve never escaped.  Everyone was remarkably calm during the shearing with one exception.  I’m looking at you, Beatrice!  At least she didn’t take the shearer’s prize this year as being the worse one of the day like she did last year.  I have four texel fleece I’m planning on selling.  The other three are texel/katahdin mix.  Their fleece will go into our garden.  It’s an annual process, it’s nice to have shearing over for the year.

Our lamb spiedie recipe has been published in the April edition of Virginia Living magazine.  If you’ve been reading the blog for a while you’ll recall we hosted a lamb dinner in January that a food writer attended.  That resulted in a request for recipes and an afternoon in February with a food stylist, art director, photographer and chef who replicated the recipes.  The steamed asparagus recipe was provided by the chef.  Check it out.  It might as well have read wash it, cook it, eat it.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/capefear/virginialiving_201104/#/102

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Karakachans are known for being ferocious, territorial guardians.  Wikipedia says this rare breed wouldn’t hesitate to fight wolves or bears to defend its owner and family in case of danger.  That much is known, but who knew they could be so smooshy and adorable?

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Christmas is finally over… we decided it’s time to move our Christmas tree from the back deck to it’s final resting place in the pasture.  Before we had ruminants, we would sink our Christmas tree in the pond for a fish habitat.  But now, how can we deny them such a refreshing evergreen snack?  Rudy saw it enter the pasture first and came running with his boy in tow, clueless as to the excitement.  Then the rest of the goats caught on.  The sheep were last to the party, but would not be denied.  It was like a shark feeding frenzy!   Everyone’s breath smells like a car deodorizer now.  Is it any wonder we no longer have pine trees in our pasture?

Poor Mina.  She looks like she’s about to burst.  She was given an ultrasound on Sunday.  There are only two kids in there.  Maybe they’re both pregnant, too?  😉

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I did a craft swap with the same lovely woman who made our needlefelted Jenna last year.  She sent me a needlefelted Bindi!  It looks just like her.   Bindi gave it a taste (it would have been impolite not to) and then a toss.  I am happy to say it’s fine and displayed where she can’t reach it.  I think…

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Hooves on our farm get trimmed a few times a year.  Just like fingernails, they grow and need to be cut back.  It’s easier to trim the goats than the sheep because the goats will go up on the milking stand.   Each one gets some alfalfa and grain in the bucket and they mostly just stand still and let us groom them.  The sheep weigh at least twice as much as the goats and aren’t quite as docile about being handled so they get put on their wooly butts and are trimmed sitting down.  Usually while wildly flailing their legs.  I never escape that one without a few scrapes and bruises.  We trimmed the goats and have set aside another day to deal with the sheep.  I’m so looking forward to it.  Not.

Since I took my finished January quilt block in to my localish sewing studio in person on the correct day (there are many rules to this process), they gave me a free pattern and fabric to make February’s square.  Here it is.  It was hard.  I took it in on the correct day in March and have the free March one now.  It looks even harder.  I know I am teaching myself a lot of things with this project.  Like how to quilt, use my new sewing machine, follow a pattern, humility.  I’m going to do every single months’ square mostly because I’m stubborn.   That’s how I roll.

When we applied to become an Animal Welfare Approved farm, one of the requirements was to document a farm emergency plan.  It seemed a bit much for a couple who considers themselves resourceful and who spent 10 years in the fire service but it was required so we did it.  As it turns out, when we came in from chores this morning we discovered we’d lost power.  It probably has something to do with the two inches of rain we’ve had in the past few hours.  At any rate, the house has a generator and the barn doesn’t and that’s where our brooder is.  So we ran out and put them in a box, grabbed an extra chicken light (you all have an extra one, right?) and brought them in the house.  Yes, that’s a toilet in the photo.  They were cozy in our spare bathroom with the door closed to keep the cat out!