Oops. .
We got four eggs and one and three fourths gallons of milk.
When I got to the barn Agnes the head sheep had pushed her head through into the wire Sally put in the hay ring and got stuck. Sally rescued her and then took her wire away. . Sally is experimenting with inventions to keep the sheep from squeezing into the hay ring, messing up the hay, getting stuck and having to be rescued.
It was very cold in the morning but not windy so Sally and Willie were able to go for a nice walk around the fields. They came back through the barn and were able to catch an annoying rooster so she chopped his head off. She has a nice new machete which is extremely heavy and very sharp. I have a knife sharpening attachment for my Kitchen Aid which works very well to keep it sharp. .
DS Bret called from Fairbanks . He looks at the weather online a lot and had noticed a huge cyclone bearing down on the Philippines so he immediately notified his brother John inAdelaide . John’s wife Lou called her family because it was coming exactly over their place inCebu . It is considered to be a very dangerous storm with winds over 140 mph.
There has been a mouse that Willie, my Westie, has desperately been trying to catch for two days. Today Sally saw where it was hiding out and set a trap. Pretty soon Willie noticed the sound of the trap snapping and was thrilled to be in at the kill.
Sally made a cocoanut cream pie which was a success. As usual I worked on my revisions. I believe the weather is starting to warm up.
Monday, December 03, 2012
During Sunday night we had rain and sleet and in the morning it was quite icy. . Mitra said that at her place every surface was encased in ice. Mitra had her heart was in her mouth when she saw the cow Nellie creeping out to her hay bale. The ducks were funny; they couldn’t stand up on the ice either and kept falling down on their fluffy bottoms.
It was above forty this morning. It had rained a a lot during the night and all the ice was gone. The cows and sheep were happy to see their grass back and spent the day out grazing.
We drove to Weld and bought coffee. We also went over to Marcia’s camp to check on it and get some water which we dipped from the lake. My spring line is frozen and my tap water has a flat flavor. I am not sure I trust the lake for drinking but it will be fine for coffee and tea. We always drank it when I was a child back in the days before giardia so I know it tastes good.
Sally made a delicious shepard’s pie out of a farm raised rooster. It had been the main course yesterday when I roasted it in my Romertof. These roosters are a treasure. Their mothers take all the trouble to raise them. We have almost no investment in them except that in the fall we have to put out feed. They totally free range Many people complain of the toughness of their farmyard roosters, but since we have learned of the tenderizing effect of giving them a few days of chilling before cooking or freezing we have no problem. And the flavor is superb.
Sally worked again on cleaning the sheep room. The sheep can’t spend the night in there until it’s done. They stay with the cows and seem to like that.
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Four eggs today and I found a new nest. Sally found a new pullet egg in the chicken room. A little over a gallon and a half. Of milk
We were completely out of cow feed after milking today so we went in and bought feed and a rope to tie in a down tree by the river. I also bought black oil sunflower seeds for the birds. I’ve been reading about the millions of birds hitting the windows of tall office buildings and I thought I would do my part to support the bird population.
Sally and Willie walked the electric fence on the wet fields and discovered more electric wire down in the North Field. Next year we hope to make it a two-wire fence.
Later on Sally took some of my frozen blackberries and made a pudding. She also made the rest of the chicken into chicken noodle soup.
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Three eggs, a good gallon and quarter of milk.
Sally and Willie went out and fixed the electric fence again and let the animals into the Pocket Field through the far gate which they always enjoy doing. Then she continued working on mucking out the sheep room while I worked on my revisions. Sally dressed off another rooster.
I cooked a delicious large piece of brisket for our dinner.
After doing the evening chores Sally had to go out again to put the car away. She heard a chick desperately peeping somewhere. She went back to the barn and found it had gotten itself wedged into a crevice. She rescued it and gave it back to its very worried mother.
Thursday, December 06, 2012
It is cooling off again. It was clear and frosty this morning with bright sun all day.
Fern gave close to 2 gallons but I got only one egg.
Sally and I and of course Willie took a walk to the river where Sally tied up another huge fallen tree. She tied it to one farther back. The roots of the fallen tree were still well anchored. As it lay in the river it seemed to reach nearly to the other side.
On the way back we went to say hello to the cows and sheep. Willie loves herding sheep and on this occasion he had a particularly good time as one ewe was in heat. Two sheep are young rams and every time one would jump on the ewe the other would give it a body slam. They were just running in circles around the ewe alternately jumping and ramming each other. It was very funny; they looked like two overstuffed easy chairs having a war.
Sally made a little tart that called for sheep’s milk ricotta. She used our homemade quark cheese supplemented with cream. For the jam layer that the recipe called for she used DDMarcia’s delicious marmalade with some of Marcia’s very fine honey/quince sauce.
Friday, December 07, 2012
Fern gave a bit over 1. 5 gallons anda I found 4 eggs/
Temperature got up to the mid 30’s with some sun.
The cows and sheep are so cute in the late afternoon when Sally assembles them for the night by putting out a little grain. She tries to see thatMilton . He is quite shy and not the least pushy.
I made feijoada for dinner, black beans and rice.
Sally worked again in the sheep room and killed another rooster. She and Willie went to the river and tied in two down trees. I worked on my corrections.
We received the sad news today that Hilda Heinrich, mother of Bernd, passed away on Wednesday afternoon. She was 90. She led a hard but very full life.
A few years ago she gave me her little flock of Spangle bantams. One wee hen is still with us.
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