Horses on the Homestead

It's icey on Jingle Bells thismorning. 

But the blue sky very much makes up for the blue fingers and toes : ) 
It amazes me how the various animals on the farm cope so well with the Winter (and Spring!) chill. Homesteaders living in areas that receive snowfall will probably be laughing right about now. We dont get snow.
At all.
Ever. 
Probably just as well, because if we did I would likely move every goat, horse, alpaca, pig, turkey, goose, duck, peacock and chicken into the warmth of the family room : )
Just sayin.

Keeping livestock has been a huge learning adventure.  We've come a long way in the short time we've been here.  It's interesting looking back over the past 21 months at just how much we've learnt and the practises we've adopted.  There has been alot of trial and error and constant garnering of knowledge through hands on experience.
Take the horses.
With no horse-keeping and minimal horse riding experience,  we never-the-less decided to add horses to the mix on Jingle Bells last year.

Son Richard's Brumby, (in the US, that would be a mustang) Hammer.

 Daughter Megan's thoroughbred, Cricket

 My beautiful tb, Toffee

All the family share Zanda, the palouse X.  His winter coat makes him look decidedly donkey-ish

Surprisingly, finding the right feeding program was the biggest horse related challenge and nowhere near as straight forward as I had imagined.  It took much research, experimenting and patience but we finally found what worked right for the four horses.

I love the concept of natural horsemanship, and this winter, with the horses decidedly overweight slightly on the tubby side, I decided to not rug them through the cold weather.  They grew nice thick winter coats and did brilliantly.

And I have to say it was totally wonderful not to have to rug them, one less thing to do in the wintry rain!

Staying with the natural horsemanship theme, our plans for a Paddock Paradise is drawn up and planned for implementing over the summer break.  Basically, the system is designed to create forward movement in the horses, providing stimulation and movement. That's a really important thing, so I felt compelled to repeat myself : ) Movement. 'Tis Good.

Another thing we tried with success was to add a slow feeder  hay net to the horses paddock. It slips over a large roll and poses a challenge to the horses.  Unfortunately Hammer is brilliant at making holes in the slow feeder net. Which makes the net not so slow-feeder-ish.

And Cricket takes full advantage of...

 A new net is well overdue!  There is only so much baling twine can accomplish. Believe me, we've tried.  Weekly.  With each new hole. Thankyou Hammer!

"My pleasure : )"

Sunday Musings

Recently the microwave decided it had earned retirement. 
Personally I would have been quite happy to keep it employed for many more years- I'm all about equal opportunity employment,  dontcha know. I'm not at all prejudice against the aged.
But said microwave had other ideas. 
It was ready for long days in the sunshine, unplugged and happily chillin'.
It wasnt very convenient.  I could have done with a little warning.  Doesnt two weeks notice apply to employees working in the electric appliance division?
Apparently not.
Surprisingly it was very easy to find  a willing new worker to fill the vacated counter top position.

As for the retired microwave....

 

No, thats a chicken.


Here it is.

Lovin' it all over again : )

                                                               

                                                              

                                                                           

Too Tempting

It's Saturday, and that means chore day and definitely NOT my favourite day of the week.  But I know I'll enjoy waking to a freshened home tomorrow and a day off between farm feeds so I kept motivated : )

The past few days have seen more chicks and our first turkey-ling hatch!

...I'm beginning to wonder if I have perhaps gone a little overboard on the poultry population this season.

I enjoy the chickens and appreciate them for the eggs they provide the kitchen. I have no qualms over selling surplus chicks to good homes. 

.  But the ducks and geese?  They are another matter entirely!  I am very possessive over my ducks and geese : ) 

Which poses a dilemma because currently there are two turkeys, three  hens and three geese sitting on nests with a total number of perhaps 65 eggs.  And  40 duck and geese eggs in  the  fan forced incubator. In fact, the egg collection has grown so large I found myself  pulling out the old incubator to house even more eggs!

And this is how I found it the morning after setting it up in the workshop-cum-barn.

Claimed by the Ginger Ninja...

"I believe these are mine"

He was adament as they were in HIS domain, they must belong to HIM.

It took a few minutes to convince his Lordship this wasnt the case. Mr Whiskers (aka the Ginger Ninja) eventually resumed his normal post on a hay bale.

"One needs ones beauty sleep.  Go away"

What a life!

Eye Candy of a Different Sort

There is something enchanting about ducks in a meadow of green.

Ok, I find ducks enchanting wherever they are : )

But the puddle ducks  were looking especially picturesque today.

Tom, Barbara, Jerry and Margo

The good life : )

Peachicks, please!

The spring sunshine earlier in the week seems to have inspired Kevin.

He is making renewed efforts to captivate his girls, Gemima and Griselda.



Kevin displays both views to his girls.  Who knew?

Ahh, now here is the angle we most expect : )

They do seem interested...

"My, oh my"

The girls made a stunning nest last year, settling side by side inside an old, tipped over 10 gallon drum.  Unfortunately, the drum was located in a neighbouring farmers garden and the two needed to be moved back onto Jingle Bells at the farmers request.

We did our best to disrupt  Gemima and Griselda as little as possible during the move, but as you might guess, they didn't take kindly to being relocated and,sadly,  abandoned their clutch.

This season I am hopeful the girls will lay somewhere on Jingle Bells.  They seem to be scouting around for potential nesting sites and that's a great thing.

 After watching them favouring a sheltered spot near the poultry run, we hastily set up a potential nesting box for them.

The puddleducks thought it wonderful.

*sigh*

But there is hope.

Last year the piggies Mr Pumphrey, Little Pumphrey and Benny, were still free ranging and destroyed a preliminary nest the girls had made -which is probably the reason Gemima and Griselda set up camp on the neighbouring homestead. Sometimes there are exceptions to the saying 'bird brain' :)

 With the piggies now located in their very own field, the girls should feel safer to nest here on Jingle Bells

.

Cross your fingers for us! I'm hoping we have pea chicks this year, and if I am very lucky there may be a pure white male in the hatchlings.

I'd love to hear about your own experiences with peafowl!

Saving the Surplus

There is a bounty of strawberries around at the moment.

I wish I could say the bounty is from my own crop but having only just made the potential vegetable, herb and orchard beds safe from pillaging by free ranging piggies and escape artist goats, that would be fibbing.
I have BIG plans for growing our own produce next year.  In the meantime I find a thrill at discovering lemons that have managed to evade being eaten by marauding livestock. 

Thankfully the apricot , nectarine and mulberry trees have fared well and are full of blossom which should mean plenty of fruit for jams, pies and preserving.

With the days getting longer, the chickens are laying well again and we have plenty of eggs happening.

Lemon and eggs?  Hmm, must make lemon butter.

And 'cause I try to put everything to good use, the lemons were first de-zested :)

The lemon peel went into the compost and the zest went into the freezer. And the eggshells were oven dried and crushed to go back to the poultry as grit. Nice!

Back to the strawberries.  Which aren't mine. But still delicious.

Rinse

Chill

Freeze and bag

Just waiting to be used as filling for this:

The Bestest Strawberry Pie EVER

Bananas abound too at the moment.

Which means , you guessed it.....

Bag and freeze, baby, bag and freeze!

Banana Splits.  Banana Cream Pie.  Bananas for the having! I highly recommend a bagful of bananas in the freezer at all times : )

Can't wait for the mulberries to ripen! 

Any favourite mulberry recipes you'd like to share?

Impatiently Patient

It's happened, it's happened! 

Morning feedtime held some surprises :)

 In fact, FIVE surprises!

SugarPlums eggs have hatched and her goos-lings are all fluffy buttery yellow puffballs with smudges of grey.

 And they seem so much more advanced than the goslings from last season, which were incubator hatched.  And it's wonderful not to have to worry about brooder boxes/warming lights etc.  Mama does it all!  Yay!

Mama and babies stayed close to their nest initially before Sugarplum decided to take them on their first tour of the farm.  The entire gaggle joined in.

And by days end, Mama  had decided to move her brood to share Dorothys cosy nesting spot.  Dorothy took it in good form. I'm not sure if it was a pre-arranged thing or not, but together they make a great team and are keeping the goslings super cosy.

Which works great for Sugarplum when she needs a minute or two to herself....free babysitting services!

Oliver and Miss Martha continue to take their guard duties very seriously, which is just as well- Mr Potts the emu was extremely curious of the little yellow balls with legs, and did his best to take a taste test really good look. 

Yes, YOU Mr Potts!

I'll introduce you to Mr Potts another time. 

Have a great day everyone!

Little Oscar

Lots has been happening on the farm the past few days.
Rosie finally decided the time was right for little Oscar to be born.  It was a 6am surprise : )
My cup of wake-me-up Lady Grey had to wait...

Because we were racing up to the goat run as fast as we could pull on our wellies.
And here he is

Have you ever seen anything as gorgeous?

Mama Rosie thinks not! 

Lady Jane was skippiting everywhere in excitement over her latest playmate. 

And Russel  is looking very proud of himself and his new progeny : )

But Woolie is wondering what he signed on for when he came to Jingle Bells two weeks ago.

'No one told me this gig involved  4 newborns'

The  new arrivals have all decided he is their honorary Uncle Woolie.  Luckily Uncle Woolie is happily embracing his new title.

Marshall and Uncle Woolie

Isn't Spring fabulous?  I'm thinkin'  yes.

Sunday Lovin'

I love Sundays.
Saturday is filled with end-of-week chores, the floors are mopped and bathrooms scrubbed. You know the drill.
I dont mind that one bit.
It means a clean house and an organised space.
But what really makes it worthwhile is knowing it also means Sunday is my day off  :)
It's a great routine and one I intend keeping through spring and summer.
Of course, the whole day isn't totally free.  There is still the farm feeds in the morning and late afternoon.
But the hours in between are blessedly free.  So many choices!  Play a boardgame with the kids.  Wander around the Farmers Market.  Bake. Build. Take a moment to appreciate what is around me.  Bliss.
Today has been one of those great Sundays.
The children have the same Saturday routine- chores caught up on and rooms tidied- so their Sunday is also free. 
Today they decided to sleep in. 
Good for them :)
Thismorning I was busy (relaxing- hey, it's Sunday) and I heard this monster noise. Of course I had to investigate.  This is what I found.
(Note: toward the  very end of the clip, you'll hear my son Richard, but until then, it's all Barney).

Anyone else have a pooch that snores?...

So what have I done with my Sunday?  Well, I took my time with morning farm feeds and spent some extra time with the animals.

 And then I fell in love all over again.

With the compost pile.

And Horatio fell in love with me.

For the very same reason.

I had to wrestle with Horatio to take this pic before he claimed Mr Worm

'What is this tousled headed creature'? I hear you gasp

Why, it's Horatio of course! Could it be any other??

Ok, back to the compost. You may think I'm crazy and perhaps I am.

But it's a wonderful thing to dig into aged manure sourced from your very own horses and pigs

And find it full of life. Good life.

All lined up just for you! 

No, I didnt arrange them, they apparently are just very orderly wormie-types

Oh, be still my beating heart :)

It's been a wonderful day. I can't wait to put this amazing compost to good use.

And here is it's new home..

But that's another post entirely...

And how was your Sunday?

It's Raining, It's Snowing...

...Well, not quite..

The snow isn't quite snow

But it's covering the ground in drifts and looks a little like it :)

It definitely is raining, though. 

The beautiful spring weather we were basking in at the beginning of the week has been replaced with storm clouds and winter chill.

Still, the rain is always welcome.  It renews the land and fills our water tanks, and that's a wonderful thing.

And Philbert and his girls don't mind a bit.

What's the weather like in your part of the world?

A Word From Sugarplum...

'Dontcha just hate it when you've decided to call it a night...
Room service has been.

You've had a fine gourmet meal of grains lovingly prepared by your owner pet

And nothing sounds sweeter than calling it a night and settling down for sleepy-byes, like my friend Violet here

When that unexpected visitor drops in...

I mean, really, don't you goosies know how to use the phone? 

A quick call would have been nice. 

I could have said, no, sorry, I'm not up for visitors tonight.  It's Saturday. 

 Hair washing night, dontcha know. 

Or I might've tried the truth:

 "No, I do NOT feel up to visitors tonight, I have been sitting on this nest for the past 27 days and I am

t  i  r e d, you just cannot BELIEVE how tired sitting on a nest can make you, IT IS BONE WEARY STUFF and the last thing I want at this point in time is to stay up all night until the wee hours of the morning chatting 'cause, did I mention, sitting on a nest for 27 DAYS can really take it out of you."

Now, really, I am the most accommodating of hosts as a general rule of thumb wing, but last night I was just not in the mood

Somebody call security...'