Quilt Tops :)

E's is the purple and R's is the pink :) 

G's is on the list for tomorrow :) 

Backs are also on the list for tomorrow. 

They are laying on the wool blankets they will be covering, and have some room to spare.. 

Perfect :) 

YUMMY!

Beef roast from the other night.. 

Papa's on day shift... and renewing his love for BBQ!! 

Baby Pigtails! G!

Hee hee I'm so cute!! 

Pigtails!!

 Mom is so unused to putting in baby pigtails in baby hair that she couldn't get them even and could only get one in a picture at a time... until she got a shot from the top! 

Lift Power :)

First I have to say THANK YOU STEVE!!! For the wonderful idea!!! :) 

Lovely little addition to the farm this weekend..

What is it you ask??
It's AWESOME!!! 

L and E trying it out while J and J3 look on. Tucker in the way... as usual. 

The cows were pretty sure we should feed them as we did spend about 45 minutes in the milking area putting it all together and trying it out.

Here is a little clip to show you how it works. 

This wonderful idea makes it super easy to get those heavy milk buckets on to the porch after milking and makes it possible for me or J, maybe ;), to milk the cows no matter how much milk they are giving!! 

Just for reference Maggie is now giving 8 to 10 gallons a day... that makes for a pretty heavy bucket!! Much more then a 9 year old or a 7 month pregnant lady should be lifting!! Papa may even use this system to keep his back in better shape!! 

Maggie's Calf! March 22nd/2013

 I knew Maggie was in labor yesterday when I saw her with her tail up and how restless she was. She would lay down and get up and lay down and get up. When I went outside to take a looks see after several hours of watching from the window I saw this! There wasn't even time to go get the kids...I did get it on camera though and a MOVIE of his birth!! 

She just turned around, laid down and pushed him out!! Two pushes :) She MOOOOO'd while she pushed which I've never seen a cow do before! Isabel was quite excited too but after he was born she left. J and I pushed him up to her head as she wasn't getting up and she cleaned him off a bit. Finally I was worried because she wasn't standing up, after about 35 minutes, and got purposely too close and she got up. He got up right after that and was nursing very soon after that! When I saw how active he was I called Papa.. we'd not decided if we wanted him to nurse her or not. I thought we did because it's so much better for both of them but we've also had trouble with calves who suck til they are 2... or in the freezer!! As soon as Isabel saw him trying to suck SHE WANTED HIM!! I had to fight her off!! J ran back to the house and got a bucket of sweet mix and called her and sure enough off she went a running. He got her locked in the milking parlor, GOOD JOB J!!, and Maggie and baby had some alone time. He had a good meal and she cleaned him off. 

Isabel got left in the milking parlor for about 90 minutes.. I wanted them to have a little time together before I had to take him away. These same to cows fought over Isabel's calf last year and it got a bit rough so we figured it would just be safer to take him away from them both.. the same thing we did to Star last year. Isabel was actually using her head as a wedge to get between Maggie and the calf. She also used her head on Maggie a few times to chase her off.. what a circus!! When I found out we had a bull calf I WHOOPED super loud!! We don't know her exact dates but the later they calve often means heifer where as the sooner they calve means bull. I really wanted a bull!! 

So now he lives in his little pen in the front of the house! I'm SO glad Papa put it up on his last day off as I'm really not sure where I would have put him if not for the pen. Here are the kids checking him out. He's tired.. He had to walk, get pushed, a long ways from the hay bale, to the milking parlor (Maggie WOULD NOT go in without him) and then to the front of the house and his little pen. After I got him in I milked both cows and let them out. Maggie searched for him for about 20 minutes and unless he bawls she doesn't even call for him. He has a heat lamp because he was shivering. I also covered him with straw. This morning we hit -15C here and he was as far away from the heat lamp as he could get and still be in the pen.. so I think unless it gets really cold he will not be needing a heat lamp anymore! 

Last night when Papa got home we took a bottle out and got about a cup into him. His cord was still bleeding, which I'd been worried about all evening and googled, so we tied it off with a piece of dental floss.. what Google recommended. :) We had to do it twice as the first time didn't work but the second did and it stopped bleeding and this morning it's looking nice and dry like it should be. 

So here he is! He needs a name.. 

an M name, because he's Maggie's bull calf. 

We already have a Meatloaf.

Papa is thinking Milton . 

He is all black.. not a speck of white on him. 

I think Milton sounds smart and he is that!! This morning he drank a bottle full like a pro!! I don't see weeks of force feeding in my future with this little guy!! 

Still I do like my name too... Melt'n :) 

As in Melt'n in my mouth :) 

Maybe this guy will be Milton and his, hopefully, soon to be stall mate from a local dairy, will be Melt'n. :) 

So what do you think?? 

Good Morning.

We got our camera back from the camera doctors and I've been taking quite a few pictures. Papa was playing with the camera the day we got it home and I thought he was just making sure it was in good working order. Later in the day I picked it up to take some pictures and as it turned on it said "Good Morning." in Papa's voice! Gave me a bit of a start the first time. Of course I turned it on and off a few times and showed the kids and we all enjoyed it. Now every time I turn the camera on a smile comes to my face and I remember just how much I love that guy!!

Forgetful Fridays. March 22.

I think everyone who lives in the North has a selective memory. Wait hear me out. I know I have a selective memory.. Every summer/fall/winter I choose to forget how long it really takes for Spring to come to the North. My sister in law posted on FB yesterday that work she planted peas and got some rows ready for corn. Here are some pictures of our place I took yesterday afternoon... about the same time, as it turns out, she was planting peas. 

The yard. 

Looking into the place.

Looking out down the driveway. 

The plow line.. that lump in the middle there is one of my raised beds....

J on a pile of plowed snow.

L on his 'ship' making a railing beside his captains chair.

OH and this is what it looks like in the summer.....Oh I can't wait to see green again!!  

Quilt Works :)

A sneak peek of the girls new quilt top and G's new blanket :) 

The kids and I just finished putting them all over the living room in groups of 4, making sure there were not two the same in each 4 square. We had 3 left over. I'm not sure if I'm going to make one more or just leave it.. I guess it will depend on if I need that last 4 square when I go to put them all together! 

Thankful Thursdays!! March 21st!

Miss Maggie heavy with calf! Look at that bag!! I can't believe it's still getting bigger everyday! From the back you can't even see the quarter lines! She looks very rectangle these days. She is very fat for a Holstein and we are excited to see how much milk she'll be giving!! 

The cows salt block is on a stump in front of her.. she's licking it. Yes.. ON A STUMP!! 

We do have that much snow. 

Miss Isabel. She's been officially milking for a year and 8 days. Still gives about 4 or 5 gallons a day. We will probably dry her up when Maggie calves.. We recently AI'd her for the 2nd try and if it doesn't take we will probably take her to a bull. She is a good quiet cow who has really only bonded with Maggie. Where as Maggie has bonded with the dogs as well as Isabel and will lick all three! 

She was staring at Tucker.. 

Tucker.. handsome is't he? I need to get a picture of him standing next to Chip or Papa so you can see how big he is. We thought he'd stopped growing UP awhile ago but then just last week I noticed he's grown UP again. He was already bigger then both his parents before this last growth spurt so we really aren't sure how big he'll get! I love his coloring!! 

The calf pen waiting on Maggie.. Yes this is just outside my front door.. Yes I like it that way :) 

Makes chores so much easier and it will keep the calf under shelter. The plywood is to block the wind. The gate is on the left by the pallets. The little 1X4 fence is because Star, our last calf, always tried to jump on to the porch and where this pen is at is LOWER then where Stars pen was at. 

Big Momma enjoys the sunshine!! Little 'Hairless' is beside her.. She has very little hair and most of it on her head. Born that way and it never did grow in.

Anyway our camera is home and working so be aware :) LOTS of pictures to take and post in the next little bit. Critters today.. Kids/Snow/house/Beer stuff coming soon :) 

Camera!

Our camera is home AND IT WORKS!!!! Yay!  Lots of picture taking/blogging happening soon :)