Saturday, January 23, 2016

Our herd/flock is growing!

A week and a half ago, Michael bought 2 calves at Kist Livestock in Mandan.  This one (Rudolph) wasn't doing so well, but after much "doctoring" (herbal tea, kefir, eggs, essential oils, vitamin C, etc...) and keeping him warm in the shop for over a week, he is now learning to drink from a pail and resides in the barn with the other livestock. :) The other calf is now sick, so is getting lots of natural remedies and seems to be improving.  
I babysit Tracy Jo and Vonn here at the farm on Wednesdays and then babysit all 3 of the Littles at their home on Thursdays.  While here, the Littles love playing with the animals! 

 Michael is pretty happy as his pickup is fixed up again. He bought a used pickup box and had it sand-blasted and painted to match. 
 He'll probably take it to Napoleon this week sometime to get the striping/sticker put on. He also bought a black pickup topper from an ad he saw on Bismanonline and that's already come in handy a couple times. He hauled a couch home in it one time and another time, some, uh, livestock which I'll tell you about a little later. I think that having a pickup on a farm is pretty much a necessity...
 Yes, we did attend family camp. That was enjoyable, as always.

 Michael participated in "The Amazing Race". One of the sections of the race, each team member had to blow a mini-marshmallow across the floor (blowing through a straw) to the finish line while keeping their hands behind their back!  Another part of the race was where each team had to assemble a 300 piece puzzle as fast as they could. Then there was the button sewing...
 AND NOW, for the announcement of our newest farm additions:

We are now the very pleased owners of 7 SHEEP!

Yes, the Littles love them too....
 Vonn wanted to kiss them....
 First, on Monday, we drove down to a farm by Zeeland and bought 3 lambs that are half a year old. One is a ram and the other 2 are ewes. They all fit nicely in the trunk of our car. :)

Cute, eh? ;)
 This is Buckwheat......the calf we bought when we got our milk cow, Ivy.  He's spoiled and still gets some milk twice a day 'though he most certainly doesn't need it.
 Our little Amram. We're naming our sheep with Bible names, in alphabetical order, so he gets to be first. Then is Bilha, Chloe, Drusilla, Eva, Faith, and G ?. 
Tuesday, we met a guy in Bismarck (he was from SW of Bismarck and met us halfway) and bought 3 more ewes--two yearlings and one 3 year old. This is Eva.

 Drusilla (who missed a shearing last year and has way too much wool on her.)
 Yesterday, we drove up north a ways to buy a 3 year old ram from my friend, Heather C. The C. family invited Michael & I to stay for lunch and we had a nice visit afterwards. Loading this big guy was interesting, and it took 5 of us to lift him into the pickup box/topper.  His name will start with a G.
 Ivy likes Michael. She likes licking Michael. What a funny cow. :)

 Eva also likes Michael. Of course, Michael is a likable kind of guy, so maybe that's why? ;)
We are really enjoying having animals and the fact that almost all of the them are friendly and enjoy being played with. Life is good. 

Tomorrow will be our 3 month wedding anniversary. :) 

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Update~

Life is very good and full!  

When Michael isn't up at Steele working at Mid Dakota Grain, he's home working on projects, making our home so much nicer! 

I helped him with a project yesterday...  His snowmobile needed some reupholstering done.

 It didn't turn out as smooth as we would have liked, 
but it's much better than what was there before (nothing).
 He installed this laundry-room tub/sink so I can wash our milking buckets in there and he can wash up there after being in the shop and such.
 He put a light above my stove, connecting it to wires which were just sticking out of the wall.
 Andrew came over and tuned my piano for me the other day. I gave him a haircut in return. I also gave Michael and Jacob haircuts that day.
Michael also rewired a lightswitch in our bedroom so it's easier to find in the dark. He's so handy!

When I'm not babysitting, I've been keeping busy with odd jobs too. I've been making lots of dairy products lately (cream cheese, sour cream, buttermilk, kefir, cream for whipping, butter, and Mom made cottage cheese). We're still looking for a couple calves to buy...  

This weekend is the Cabin Fever Family Camp at Crystal Springs, so we plan to attend that, in between milkings. My mom has been feeling pretty poorly lately, so please keep her in your prayers.

OH, and Michael shot a coyote a couple mornings ago! :)