I'm trying to come up for air here but goodness it's hard!!! We've had so much going on at the farm and there is still so much to do. Some days I feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew, but I'm hard-headed and determined. I refused to say that I can't do something. So....where to start? These past few weeks since my last post have been non-stop. On top of family and farm life, I've started a new part time job at a Crisis/Detox facility, which is very different from my world of working with juvenile delinquents. I'm still adjusting, learning, and finding my way. On the farm, we have continued tending to our garden, which has begun giving us gifts.I enjoy going out to the garden after work each day to see how things have changed in such a short amount of time.
We have cut and baled hay and gotten it loaded into the barn loft. We will have to do it again in the fall. This provides the main food source for the goats and the rabbit. Considering it's free, that's an awesome thing. The kids were a huge help in the process and our oldest learned to drive the tractor while we loaded up the trailer with the bales in the field. He's learning that getting older means more responsibilities on the farm.
Given the increased number of animals on our homestead, we've begun learning some basic veterinary care that we can do ourselves at home versus taking the animals somewhere or calling a vet out to the house. You Tube is a wonderful learning tool in that regard....ie. giving a goat a vaccine, The hubby did it like a pro. Last night was treating the rabbit for ear mites. A week ago, it was a chicken who got pecked in the eye by another chicken. It's a never ending saga when you have farm animals.
We are prepping for Cocoa to have her babies (I swear there has to be more than one in there as big as she is.) I am assembling a birthing/kidding kit based on what I've gathered reading online, books, and from other goat owners.
We are very excited to have our first dairy goats born on the farm. Yesterday I ordered a Cheesemaker's kit from
Hoegger Supply Company. It has everything that I need to get started. I'm anxious to learn to make goat cheese in different ways.
Now...on top of everything else we have going on, we did manage to have a little fun on the farm these last few weeks. We hosted a local photographer who came out to do family photo sessions. We had hay bales, tractors, the barn, and a rustic bench that were used as backdrops for some really great shots. You can check these out here
Family Photo Sessions At Ellis Farms. Here is one of my favorites of us. We are planning to do this again in the Fall. I'm hoping we can make it a regular event. Til next time!
Cocoa kidded on the 20th with a gorgeous buckling, who I think looks like a little cow.
In only a week, we have found a buyer for him. They specifically requested a bottle baby so at a week old, he is leaving us today to travel to his new home in the NC Mountains. We also sold all of the Silkie chicks that we hatched out for Miss Mudpie, brought in 3 more hens, one being a special needs crossbeaked Americauna. And tomorrow, we are adopting a special needs Manx kitty named Diamond, who will be our official farm cat. In the midst off all this, we managed to put in a new pool liner next door at my father-in-laws, just in time to help our youngest celebrate her 5th birthday. We are traveling to Black Mountain today to visit Round Mountain Creamery, NC's only Grade A Goat Dairy. I'm hoping to learn some tidbits of info to use with my dairy goats here. I'm off from my full time job all week and intend to relax a bit and spend time with my kiddos. Til next time.....
