A Farmer's Amazing Race

Well, not really.  It involves me, a sneaky hog and a gaggle of geese.  With some onlookers....an energetic dog, a snooty horse and a crazy calf. 

I live on the edge.


First of all, lets start by talking about the picture above.  It's a nice summer day in the photo, but it's 1 below windchill this morning.  What gives?  Well, I went to use the camera a couple days ago and it didn't work...the little girls were throwing it on the floor and it broke. 

A Facebook friend said, "Put it around your neck on a string". 

Honey, if I put everything worth any value around my neck I'd have choked myself by now since our kids are into everything.  Case in point; they stole Ron's glasses from his hiding spot (guess it's not a secret anymore) they broke them and hid them in our closet.  Right now they have their baby sister in a laundry basket with blankets stuffed around her, pulling her with their little ride on cars and scarves as tow ropes. 

Quite the imagination.  if only I had a camera to take pictures to show you. 

=)

Okay enough.  Back to my story.  So for the last week, each morning I go into my sheep/goose/duck/chicken/calf/horse barn and it looks completely ransacked.  Everything is messed up and thrown around.  Heat lights broke, feed everywhere, I don't know if they were trying to tie the geese up or what...there was twine everywhere. 

Now I actually debated scanning in a map of my barn to show you what the layout is since I have no camera, but then thought for the sake of looking like a complete dork, I better not. 

I know, I need no help to show off my dimwitted side.

Anyway, I blamed these shenanigans on the dog.  "That stupid dog is wreaking havoc in my barn," I said to Ron after chores a few mornings ago. 

"I'm sure it's her stealing the eggs too."  He said.  "I always see her going out of there."

The next morning I walk outside already knowing the mess I'm going to find; the chicken water dumped upside down and froze onto the cement floor, the geese's gate knocked down and their feed scattered all over, again - the twine....

As I walked out, I heard the geese squawking like someone was threatening them with a Christmas dinner menu.  But.wait.a.second...the dog was right by the steps.  More clanging ensued and the geese' squawking was so loud that you'd have thought the devil himself was in there.  I started running, thinking that it's got to be some wild critter in there or something that was wrecking the place.  As I ran I pictured something killing the geese as loud as they were. 

I opened the door and I saw....

One pig, about this size.  He had knocked down the goose gate, the geese were in the corner screaming and he was blissfully eating all their feed.  The dog had a look on her face like, 'SEE!!?!' I was wondering how nine ducks and geese could go through a five gallon pail of feed every two days.

So I shoo the pig back out I find where he was getting out, he was smart, going through his pen pushed a panel down between the horse pen and his, went into the barn, underneath the mangers and into the goose pen.  Pretty smart. 

Smarter yet was the fact that by the time I cleaned up everything, told Ron and went to go fix the panel, he was back in there and the geese were telling on him again.  But the second time was the charm, and I got him out of there once and for all. 

Apparently the corn is more yellow on the other side of the fence? 

Sincerely,
Fairchild Farmgirl

Wool

I don't talk much about my sheep, frankly don't know why this is.  They're cute.  Even though I'm totally a goat person and miss my goats every day.

They will get a lot of attention in the coming months...hopefully my little ram got his job done and my ewes are breed.  When I first put him in the first part of September, the females went up to him, sniffed him and were not impressed. 

Pretty funny actually.

Throughout the breeding season the temps were warmer than usual, but October was colder, which always seems to make everybody in the mood...even my old crabby ewe.  It would have been easiest to breed her, she's fat, slow and she's got so much wool covering her face and eyes, that she wouldn't have known what hit her and he would've been done. =) 

Sorry a little sheep breeding humor.

 This is what those cute little sheep look like sheared.  SO ugly and funny looking!  Notice the white/pink one in the background.  It gets me every time I walk into the barn and look at them sheared.  Funny!

I'm sure you're asking what I do with all that pretty wool, right?  That's what this picture is about.  I'm boiling water to hand wash the wool.  It's filled with a yellowish sticky oily substance called lanolin.  The hotter the water, the better to get that stuff out. 

This is from last year off my old crabby ewe.  She's got beautiful white wool. 

My good sheepy buddy, Jody Fuller of Hamps & Downs http://www.hampsanddowns.com/ graciously gave me a large sack of her wool. 

Very large. 

Like so large, when I went up there to pick out my ram, I heard the tractor start so Bill could put it in the back of our pickup.  That's big folks.  But thank you Jody and Bill, I'm having a blast with it. 

This gray above came from them.  This is washed, but its not picked or carded.

Yes, this wool thing is quite the process.  You get the cuties sheared, you laugh at their nakedness, they give you a look back that says "I'm going to ram your knee so hard that you'll have to get a replacement...."

Seriously, what I do is hand wash it in water that someday is going to cook my hands.  For one fleece I do this 4 times, with a grease fighting detergent, rinse, then use some fabric softener.

I then dry it for about 4 days, then I card it.

This is that gray fleece carded and blended.  Now I have to pick through it to clean all the little bits of hay etc that are still in there. 

Yes, hand pick it. 

Yep, it's a long boring job that if I even mention it, it will send kids flying to do homework that they don't have, messy rooms that were just cleaned an hour before, etc. 

It sucks. 

After I get ten pounds clean, I will send it to Mountain Meadow's wool in Buffalo WY to get it spun into yarn.  I'm excited about that part.  Wouldn't this gray be pretty yarn?  I would like them to try to dye it dark colors like navy, black or purple. 

One fleece takes about 2 weeks from start to finish to wash, card and clean. 

Why am I telling you all this? 

Because, this year I'm more determined than ever to get our van.  I looked through our books and right now I don't have any wiggle room to start saving for one.  SO...I'm using MY farm money from my stuff off the farm to save for at least half of the van.  I really don't want to get a loan at all in case some of this land around us would ever come up for sale.  We need our credit for that. 

So with that said, all you knitters out there...come see me in a few months.  I'll keep you in supply!

The ever determined,

Fairchild Farmgirl

Beddin' Down The Cows

This morning was early...and cold.  Big D took some of the kids in to town early so they could catch the bus to their FFA meeting, and while it was still dark, I got Grace and Levi ready for the bus and on it.  Since the babies were still snuggled in their beds asleep, I went out to do my chores so I didn't have to bring them out in the cold.

I watched the sunrise from the sheep barn.  It was pretty cool.

After Big D came back from doing his brother's chores then finishing his, he needed me to come down and open gates so he could bed cattle.  It was below zero out but as you could see, the sun was out and the air was crisp and I love those mornings.  Of course I'd do it.

As Fluff and I contemplated the day while opening gates, I thought "this is the life".  I know it isn't every body's idea of a good time, but it sure is mine. 

Stay warm everybody and until next time,
Fairchild Farmgirl

You're Taggin' Along With Me Today.

Well, to be different and since I don't have that helmet cam (hee hee), I thought you as the reader could tag along with me to see what a Fairchild Farmgirl does each day.  I'm going with my trusty camera.

I start early.

Once we get the kids off to school and Ron comes in from feeding cattle, I go out to feed every other critter on the place, our calf (ves), horse, sheep, geese, chickens and my partner in  crime...Fluff Dog, pictured above.

After I come inside, I meet a pile (PILE) of dishes and a grody messy house to clean. 

This is what it looks like 2 hours later.  This is my favorite.

We walked down to get  the mail before lunch.

Then we checked for calves since I had my wranglers with me.

After we have lunch made by Big D, we get the kids to bed and I help in the shop. 

There...finished.  Many people do not know this....

But the lady behind this scary mask...that'd be me...does 85% of the staining jobs around here. 

Just sayin'. (What's scarier, the mask or the eyebrows?)

After I got the staining job done, the kids were still asleep, so I did some more work with the horse with ground training, hence that's why you are looking at her butt.

Since I knew nap time would soon be over, I decided to get in a half hour work out and then fold clothes.  I also found a mill to spin all my roving into yarn...yeah!  That just means I have to clean.over.30.fleeces.

YUK!

After the kids got up, we rode the rig down to check for calves.  None...of course...it's way too nice.  60 degrees in January and we are in Minnesota.  Those old cows are waiting for 2 feet of snow and a blizzard that paralyzes our farm.

After all the kids got home, we finished up homework and went outside to play in our sweatshirts.  We worked with the horse, I had every little kid on her and she did great.  Then Kara wrapped up practice with Grace while I went to the house and made this for supper.

After we ate and read books, I gave the youngest five baths, cleaned up the kitchen and will soon be putting kids to bed.

Soon, I will have my headphones on ready to work on my painting! 

Woohoo!
A "good tired" Fairchild Farmgirl



T-H-E-E Painting

 

Why am I showing you my two beautiful daughters coloring pictures in a dimly lit room, with toys scattered about behind them at approximately 6:40 PM?  To tell you that I enjoy living in clutter?  That I expect my kids will all be in glasses by the time they hit middle school?

OR that it is 6:40 on one clock and each clock is saying a different time?

No and maybe and I have strategically set clocks in the house to fake myself out that I'm running late all the time when really I'm on time?

The time thing is a lie.  Ask anyone.  I'll be late for my own funeral.

But, I digress.  Onto the subject at hand:  The Painting.

The truth be told, I have not painted since spring planting began last spring.  Not a brush stroke.  It's sad. 

This is the last painting I finished.  It's the first painting in a series that I call, "30 paintings in 30 miles" and it's 30 abandoned farms within 30 miles of our home.  It's really sad to think that there are so many just with in a 1/2 an hour drive from here.  I really think they these old structures have such cool stories.  For those who have not seen this painting, notice the six deer in it?

 

This is painting number two before I started on it last night. 

This was afterwards.  Each night I get one glorious hour to spend on my painting.  I seriously look  forward to that hour all day.  I bought  the latest Josh Groban CD, which is weird, because I'm more of a Nickleback, Steve Earl, red dirt country person than anything but he has so much passion in his voice and in the instrumentals.

I think it makes me paint better.  Really.

So I pop Josh Groban in and sit here in the little messy corner of the living room (we actually clean it before the kids go to bed) with the bad lighting and paint to my hearts content.  For one hour.

I painted furiously last night, while Josh sang in a different language that was the most beautiful thing ever and I imagined running through a field in the french countryside with my painting and...

a bag of chips.

This diet is killing me.  And it's only the third of January.  Not good.

By the way, to all of you who have a separate place to paint, sew or create of some kind, stop reading, (I'll wait) go in there and kiss the floor and hug a piece of furniture.   Then come back.

And look at my pathetic 3x2 foot space I share with 9 others.

Awwww shucks, I still love it. 

Fairchild Farmgirl

Christmas Vacation

Let's face it, Christmas vacation means goofing off and having fun.  This was Grace acting silly on a nature walk that her and Kara took to find some good pictures to take. 

Having these kids home for almost two whole weeks is a blast. 

I mean it!

Two nights ago, we had game and craft night and we had chips and chili dip as well as a hot artichoke/ sun dried tomato dip which yes, some of my kids did like it!  That's okay, mom loves it and would've eaten the whole works.  No need for chips or crackers. =)

Last night the girls had a friend over and they watched a movie, then we all sat down for Gold Rush and Flying Wild Alaska.  It was a fun night.  Levi and I also got to card a little bit of wool he's very into that. 

I'm going through a lot of these.  This morning for example I used 15 eggs, I made a batch of 15 caramel rolls and 1 1/2 jugs of juice.  YIKES!  Through the last week, we've also went 6 loafs of bread alone.  Thank goodness we raise a lot of our own food. 

This could get expensive. =)

We've also gotten a lot of chores done.  We cleaned up around down by the cattle lots, the yard, the actual feedlot, the house, and hopefully before they go back, the shop. 

Yeah, they could stay home another three weeks and I'd have stuff for them to do. =)

"What?  No you can't go to school before Wednesday, there wouldm't be anyone there....oh that's perfect you say?"
Happy trails!
Fairchild Farmgirl






 

The 28th Of December And We're In Sweatshirts Outside

Today we worked 140 head.  What was different today was we only had to work 140 head....and that it was December 28th and we were only wearing sweatshirts.

It was awesome!!

That was until...

I received these 3 unwanted gifts:

1. Cow boogies in my mouth.  Contrary to popular believe you don't need to be right by their face when that happens.  They have some blowing power.  When your standing there shooting the breeze with the vet tech and the cow beside you has an itchy muzzle, well, just watch out is all I can say.  Mouth open + cow snot = disgusting.
2. Poop on my sleeve.  Usually that's a given.  New rations and a cow that's been on grass, sometimes equals runny poop.  But as I was pulling off back tags off this wild baldie cow, out of nowhere there was her tail and she splashed me with crap. 

Both of these things happened within minutes of each other I just want you to know.

But the piece de la resistance?

I wanted the vet to look at Fluffy Bear's upper lip and above her gums.  So I tried to call her over to us (the big baby wriggled out of my arms about nine times...did I mention she's 125 pounds?) SO Vicki sat on her front half with her screaming and bawling...picture it, Kristen  hadn't even touched her yet. She was so scared that as I was holding on to her back end, she peed on my leg.


"Ahhh!  I feel something warm!!!"

YUK!

Then as I'm reeling from the pee incident (just kidding I could handle it)...

We run an old cow through the chute and Vicki points out a big puss sore on a her hip.  It had to be the size of a salad plate.  The poor thing's hip was broke or at least the cap, it abscessed and broke through the skin. 

GRODY! 

We gave her a bunch of meds and are hoping for the best.  She's not limping which is good.  She's one of the ones we got in in the last week, but this obviously happened before her arrival here.  But now she's in good hands!

Hopefully she won't be the one that decides to kick our butt if we have to work them again.

Sincerely,
I'm still gonna run as fast as I can if she's after me Fairchild Farmgirl .