Sunday, March 24, 2013

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Fern gave a skimpy 1 ½ gallons. We have stopped counting the eggs, there are so many.

The weather is stuck in a holding pattern around 25 to 35 F with some sun.

                Last night I went with Martin and family joined by Max and family to hear the Franklin County Fiddlers, a high school age group that Max’s girls are in.  They performed at the Grange Hall in Weld with about 200 people present.  They did a rousing job with mostly Cape Breton style fiddling.  Roshann and Shireen play viola and cello.  Afterwards we stopped over at Martin and Amy’s camp and walked around on the frozen lake under a brilliant moon.  The stars were vexceptionally clear and you could see every one, I think.  Orion was right in front of us.

   Before going to the concert  Martin and family joined us for a chicken and rabbit casserole..  I made it with a rabbit that Martin shot (not a cottontail) and a farm chicken.  Everybody seemed to like it.

   Abby and Sally separated the two rams from the pregnant ewes as lambing is coming up.  They have the rams in a little side pen in with the cows, next to the ewes’ room.  There was a lot of complaining but eventually everyone settled down.

Monday, March 25, 2013

    We only got about a gallon and a quarter of milk,  and about 20 eggs.   We have three or four setting hens now, each with two eggs.  The young chicks are doing well.

   When Sally went to the barn the rams had escaped their pen in the beefer pen and were standing on the cow hay.   She managed to get them into the sheep yard but later when we put the ewes out the rams squeezed out the gate and rejoined the flock.  They are starting to try to butt everyone who comes near and are generally so annoying as to have caused us to decide that we will have to make terminal arrangements.  It is sad as we are really very fond of them, alas. They are terribly cute.

   Martin and Amy came to lunch.  They said they went yesterday to Bowley Brook Maple Syrup Farm.   Bowley Brook makes particularly fine maple syrup.   Abby cooked them a nice lunch of hamburgers  and then they left for Biddeford.  We had our hamburgers for dinner later on, and found them excellent.

   It was a very fine grey sort of day, well above freezing.  The snow is disappearing fast.

    My daughter Marcia is moving back from California, we are excited to report.  She and my sister Barby started driving today.  She will be opening up her camp at Weld.  We think they may arrive in a week or so.

  Son Bret sent a picture of his daughter Maia in her prom gown.  She is the prom queen.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Yesterday Abby and Sally went to Rumford her eye appointment but it turned out that her insurance had not kecked in. Abby had already dropped her off and driven away when she discovered this but she knew where Abby was shopping and pelted down the hill for several blocks and caught her. She was at the What Not Shop (thrift store) and they both found treasures..

Fern’s production is dropping and I know one reason is the inflations on the milking machine need replacing. I will do that before I go to bed tonight.

Sally and Abby took a carload of stuff to Marcia’s camp today so that she and Abby Rose and little Violet won’t be sitting on the floor until their stuff arrives. They drove through New Mexico today.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Yesterday’s milking was a struggle. I could hear a whistling air leak somewhere. We put   in new inflations but it was worse than ever.  I found a couple of little apertures in the central casting of the claw and got it to function be holding my fingers over them, Afterwards we discovered that the metal     loop by which the claw hangs when not in use had fallen off leaving these little holes. Clearly, it had been getting loose for a while. Sally jammed it back together. We’ll see how I  t goes tomorrow.  It it still leaks I will cover the holes with duct tape.

The weather today was moderately warm and very moist.

Abby and Sally assembled items to furnish camp and Abby did a lot more cleaning. Sally checked fences. A man called Sally to see if he might access the river across her field so that he could trap beavers. She said no. They aren’t doing much harm.

                Marcia and Barby have passed Amarillo TX.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Fern gave less than 1 ¼ gallons this morning.  I held the hanging loop in position to prevent vacuum loss. Sally was hoping this would do it so that we don’t have to relinquish thee loop but tomorrow I am going to tape it over. I will contrive a loop from wire or cord. When we get green grass her production will rise but that is at least 6 weeks away.

                I made a grand garden tour and admired all the manuring Sally has done around the fruit trees and berry bushes. She was not able to do all of them because so much of the snow has melted that she can’t use the sled.

   Abby has been spending many hours doing spring cleaning.  Today she made a banana cream pie which was a big success.