....but thankfully, I'm behind here because I've been so busy staying mostly caught up with life elsewhere. :)
SOOOOOO, to update you:
Ruger & Beretta are growing so fast. Beretta is an escape artist so she now has to stay tied up in their pen, until she gets fat enough to not be able to squeeze through the cattle panel fence. Of course, they get to run around the farm with Michael and I when we're out there to watch them and keep them out of trouble.
A few weeks ago, Michael and I (mostly Michael did it and I was his assistant) sheared our llama, Oscar.
He looks so much smaller now.
Michael planted oats in the north alfalfa field to help fill in the places where it was thin. That ground will get broken up next year. I got to drive all over the field with a drag pulled behind a 4-wheeler to smooth out the gopher mounds. Speaking of gophers, the count on gophers we've trapped in the 2 hay fields is now well over 120!
We went to Kist's Livestock Auction in Mandan about 3 weeks ago to buy calves.
We did NOT buy this guy.
*sigh of relief*
We did get 3 calves. They are pictured later in this post.
The puppy pen:
They are dragging around and chewing on everything they can find.
Puppies are like that, you know.
We also bought 4 Guineas! :) They have to stay locked up for a few weeks so that they know that this is their home, but we did build a small pen in front of their door so that they can go outside. So far, they haven't been brave enough to do so.
The bottle lambs are really getting big now too and are not glad that they're weaned. Michael and I gave them some pretty green ear-tags a couple days ago.
Our calves:
Sunflower... (a heifer)
Safflower.... (a heifer)
Spelt... (a spunky bull calf)
Of course, the calves are all bigger by now, as I took those pictures 3 weeks ago.
James & Jenny did come and see us a few weeks ago. :) We had a very nice visit.
They went to church with us and we visited the neighbors too for a while.
It was pretty cold and wet when they were here, but we were able to show them around the farm anyway.
Brothers...
The next weekend, Anna U. came to visit us! :) We had fun gopher trapping together and just visiting and doing chores and everything. Michael and I finished shearing our sheep that morning.
Oh, and my dad bought that yellow car in the background. We'll be celebrating his 60th birthday this weekend.
Michael trapped a badger!!
On our 6-month-wedding-anniversary, we went up and spent part of the day with the C. family and sheared Heather's sheep. It was good to see their family again. Michael bought me supper on the way home too. :)
Some of our chicks came. They spent the first 10 or so days in the house, but they now reside in the stock-tank in the barn. I give them honey, onions, brewers yeast, and apple cider vinegar in their water and also feed them kefir to keep them healthy. In July, we'll be getting more chicks and turkey poults.
Michael went on the annual fishing trip to Devils Lake with his Uncle, cousins, and James & Jenny. He was gone for most of 2 days and brought home his limit of Northerns and a Walleye. He smoked some of the fish and we froze or ate the rest.
My dear husband and I went to an auction sale together last week. We found lots of treasures....a garden tiller (which Michael is trying to get working well now); garden tools and other tools; mineral feeders; bricks and cement blocks for projects; and a grapple manure bucket for our skidsteer.
The vet came last Thursday and tranquilized Oscar and then made him an "It". He's not impressed.
We've been pretty busy in the garden and I just saw a potato plant poking up out of the ground this morning. The onions are greening up. The radishes, lettuce, peas, spinach....are coming up. We transplanted rhubarb over here from across the road. On Mother's Day, we went over and helped my mom with transplanting rhubarb, raspberries and strawberries into her new garden spot across the road, near her house. Michael also dug up a new, fairly large garden spot down by the barn and we planted more potatoes in there 2 nights ago. We'll have sweet corn and squash down in that garden as well. Things in the greenhouse are coming up pretty well now too, especially the weeds.
Michael has been a resident in ND for 6 months, so he was able to get a fishing license and I did also, so we've been having fun several evenings going out exploring at different fishing spots in the area. Saturday afternoon, we went to the Long Lake Refuge and Michael snagged a huge carp by the tail, but it got away.
We then drove over to Fresh Lake/Alkaline Lake NE of Napoleon and tried fishing there by some culverts, but didn't have any bites. We went back to fishing on a little creek to the West of us and caught some Northerns, most of which were too small to keep.
I feel so abundantly blessed to share so many interests with my dear husband. We both love animals, and growing plants/trees, and now we're having fun fishing together.... God sure knew what He was doing when He brought the two of us together! :)
