Abby and Sandy

Oh my goodness! I hope this works and it shows up. But these are my 2 does that I have left. Abby is on the left. She is Lamancha. SHe just turned 9 in Feb. And she is due to kid in a few weeks. Sandy is on the left. She is mostly Nubiam with a little Togg thrown in. She is also due in a few weeks. She will go first I do believe. The are both HUGE right now and I don't see how they can possibly go any longer. And I am ready for nice fresh goat milk. Right now please!

Is anyone else milking yet?

Mazie and Chuck

Oh my goodness. They are so cute together. I was a little worried about Chuck yesterday. He had a drippy nose. He was born when it was about 33 degrees so I was thinking he could get pneumonia. So I gave him a 1ml shot of LA200 yesterday afternoon. I'm glad I did. This morning she had brought him back over here to her hay bale mountain. And he has been peeing and pooping! So I know he's getting momma's good milk. And he's running around the hay mountain. She chases him. So cute.

And I have been milking her! And she lets me! But yesterday I noticed the back left quarter was brownish-red in color. So I called my dairy friend up the road. He said lots of 1st time heifers have that happen. Just to milk that quarter out. It could get better and it may not. He was amazed though when I told him she stands still and lets me milk her. It's like milking a big giant red goat. No problem. But this morning she raised her left leg a few times. I just hollered NO! real loud at her and smacked her leg. Then I tell her "Good girl". So I think it will be ok and she'll let me milk her. My friend said she won't have alot of milk this first time. And she is a beef cow. But as long as I can get a little bit for us. Anyway, this is fun. And he's so cute. Now I have to think about castrating the poor little guy as soon as possible. They should just be born without that little package.

He's Here!

It's here! A bull calf born early this morning just like me and Mazie talked about. He was all nice and dry and nursing first thing this morning when I looked out the window. Such a pro she is and this is her very first calf ever. Mazie the Big Red Heifer is now a COW! I have given her several buckets of molasses water and fresh hay so far. The calf is nursing great. He knows exactly where those faucets are. And he knows how to use them. I just hope he lets me have a little bit sometimes.

I am so relieved that mazie is ok and that the calf is a bull and he is healthy. And I didn't have to do a dad blamed thing! Yee Haw!

I'm off to give her more water. She's gonna have to move over a little closer to her water trough. Enough of this already!

Mazie is Almost Ready!

I have been checking on Mazie all during the day now. She is very close to calving. And I am very nervous and anxious and scared all at once. I so want her to be ok and the calf to be healthy. But I want her to wait til the weather is better. I purposefully planned it so she would have the calf in good weather but the weather is not cooperating with me. We have had a monsoon the past week and it's a sopping wet muddy mess out there. It's been sprinkling all day and the temp has been dropping. So tonight is NOT a good night to have a calf. I have told her this so I hope she will wait. I have her due date as the 14th. So just 4 more days to go. But today I saw goo. About a 3" clear goo hanging off the back end. Which, by the way, is very floppy and big. Oh my, I am so nervous. I have helped goats give birth, no problem. But a cow? I don't know. I hope she does ok and the calf will be strong and healthy, all on her own with no help from me. The Herefords up the road are popping calves out all over the place this week and last week. SO stinkin' cute! Mazie's calf will more than likely be black.

And Abby and Sandy still have about 5 weeks to go. I thought I was going to lose Abby a few weeks ago. I didn't know this, but she had gotten out (which I did know, thanks to Sandy!) and she got so sick a few days later. I thought she had ketosis which was strange because she had almost 2 months to go. So I dosed her with all the stuff for ketosis. She got better. I was out front a few days ago and saw what was once an azalea but is now just a stick. I do belive the pig goat ate the azalea. She is very lucky to be alive. I just hope the kids are ok. She did look like she had 2 basketballs on either side. But she is back to her mean ole goat self again.

And the pigs are growing like, well, pigs! They have til the middle of April then off to the butcher they go! Can't wait for some good fresh bacon and pork chops and sausage!

And yesterday I was feeding the turkeys and found 2 eggs! 2 eggs! I was so surprised to see them. They are 9 months old. Then this morning I found 3 more! So 5 eggs in 2 days. I went and found a few turkey roasting pans and filled them with pine shavings for them to hopefully lay the eggs in.

Last Friday a friend came with his big huge tractor and a big huge seeding machine to seed my front pasture with fescue. I know this is not the time to plant fescue. But like he said, you plant it when you can. SO we did. Then the next day we got flooded. I mean the pasture was under water. Well, then a few days ago we had a monsoon. It was under water again til today. So we'll see in a few weeks if the seed survived all this water. I did this to get the pasture ready for some spring lambs. A friend has some Suffolk sheep about to have lambs and I want some for meat. But I also want to find some wool sheep. I think I might try to find some Shetland sheep. Been researching them. They seem to be a small breed and the rams are supposed to be nice. Ha! Nice rams? We'll see.

So lots going on here at Outback Farm. It's almost spring! I want to get the garden tilled and planted too. But it is only March. I will try to get back and post about Mazie's succesful calf delivery soon.

On Being Anxious and Worrying

It is now 1:22 AM. I cannot sleep because I am being anxious about everything right now. First, we took the old gas logs, the whole thing, out of the fireplace so we could see if it would burn wood. Because we can't afford to buy propane. Because we are poor. So the chimney did draw up the smoke. I was very excited about that. We spent the day gathering and cutting wood. Then I called a guy to come deliver a rick of wood. Then I called the son-in-law who is a logger. He is working right up the road. He said to meet him there and we'd fill the truck up with green wood. So we did. Had the grandkids there and they really helped load. And unload. And bring some inside too. Great grands they are! All this because we were supposed to get slammed with a foot of snow and everything would be shut down and power could go out. And we are all electric here. So I was worried I'd freeze to death. Hubby had to leave to go back out in his truck so I'd be here alone. Now I am scared I am going to burn down the house! That's why I'm still up. I did the same thing last night. It's just an open fire and we don't have a real fire screen yet. So if anyone reads this, please pray I don't burn the house down with me and the dog and cat in it.

Then I am worried about paying this big huge electric bill I just got for Dec. Good grief! $313.00. That's another reason I wanted to burn wood for heat. We have a heat pump of all things. And the darn thing just blows out cold air. And we have to pay for being freezing cold. In the winter. And it will not shut off. It goes constantly. And all I see are money signs. Heat pumps SUCK! So last month we got one of those radiant heaters from Oreck. $400. Supposed to only cost $1. a day to run it. Ha! Anyway, I hate winter. I am ready to move on over to the big island. Right now.

So the other morning in my devotional I read Phil. 4:6-7. Be anxious for NOTHING but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication, with THANKSGIVING, let your requests be made known to GOD; and the PEACE of GOD, which surpasses ALL understanding, will gaurd your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. So there. Why am I still up then?

I've written myself a few notes of things I need to do in the morning because there is not a thing I can do about this right now. Except pray and give it all to my God. Who will take care of everything like He always does and always has done. Forever and always. Amen.

So goodnight then.

Elderberry Syrup

I just love this stuff. It's great for keeping away sore throats and stuffy noses and flu. I had bought a little bottle last year and it's very expensive. Then I found a few bushes out back in September. So then I found a recipe to make my own. I only got about a few cups. So I had a friend order some organic berries from Frontier. Really reasonable price too. And so easy to make. I double the recipe. I give some to the grandkids and they love it. I usually take about a tablespoon every day for prevention. Last week I started noticing my throat was getting sore. So I went to taking a T. every few hours for a few days. All better! I do not want that sore throat I get just about every winter. It hurts! So here is the recipe if anyone wants to make their own.

1/2 cup of dried elderberries.
1 cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
5 T. grated ginger
2 cups water

Bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and reduce by at least half, about 20-30 minutes.
Strain berries through a sieve. I smash them to get out all the juice. Then add 1 cup of honey.

Pour into dark bottles and refrigerate. Take a tablespoon daily. It tastes really good too.

Winter on the Farm

It has been a long time since I've posted anything here. Happy new year! It's been cold. I am ready for spring now. We had about 6" of snow Christmas day. It's been a long time since that's happened here. It stayed on the ground almost a week. Then we had lots of rain. Then some really beautiful days but cold. We have lots of winter left. And a big ole huge electric bill.

I am going to get a few pigs this week. A friend is getting one also that will stay with mine here. We'll split the feed costs but I will be doing most of the work since they'll be here. The pigs are a few months old already so hopefully we can get them fattened up in a few months. I really am not looking forward to the keeping of pigs again but do miss the fresh pork chops and bacon.

We butchered 2 of the turkeys right before Thanksgiving. A friend came and helped. He had made a feather plucking contraption that really helped alot. But the turkeys we did were only 6 and 8 pounds. I was really kind of upset. They looked bigger. Guess it was all the feathers. My mom and step dad said they'd just get a turkey from the store. Really not good. So I have the other turkeys confined in a big coop trying to fatten them up. It's costing about $50. a month to feed these guys.

Mazie is getting huge. She's due in March. I can see teats but no udder yet. I guess with first time heifers she won't get an udder til right about delivery time. I have never had a cow before to give birth. First time for me too. I am already nervous about the whole thing. I am hoping she'll calve at night and the calf will be up and all dry and nursing when I get up in the morning. That's my plans anyway.

I am calling the butcher in the morning about getting a time to bring the other heifer in. She's just too mean anymore. And we are almost out of beef. SO she has to go. Plus Mazie will have her calf to keep her company.

I hope everyone has a greta new year and lots of fun on the farm! More later I hope.