The babies are arriving

Our baby goats started to arrive the day before Valentine's Day. The are the cutest little buggers. They dance and jump all over the place. Delila had her calf. It's a heifer. A nice little Jersey heifer. The girls haven't decided on a name yet. They have a couple in mind. For the first time in a long time, all the baby goats have names so far. I'm not sure how we're going to spell them all yet so I guess I won't post them yet. We still have enough snow to play in. We're expecting ice in the morning. We'll see what that does for the school commutes. Since it's Sunday, it was pizza night. Jake made us 2 fabulous pizzas. Homemade mozzarella, ricotta, and pepperoni. Pretty cool to use all your own toppings. Bob has bacon in the smoker that we'll finish smoking tomorrow.

Ice Fishing

It's been so long since I've logged in!!
Baby goats should start arriving this month. They are the cutest little things ever!
We've got enough snow to play in but we're expecting more today!
If you're looking for some fun this weekend, The Down Home Derby is headquartered here in Benson, VT. If you're into ice fishing or have never tried, this is your chance! There are even prizes! This derby is held on Lake Champlain.
Looking for a great spot for you and your buddies to stay the night so you can get up bright and early and try your luck again tomorrow? Give us a holler. 802-537-2979 or our cell since our phone service is having issues 802-683-0858.

So HOT in Vermont

It is unbelievably hot and it's on 7:30 in the morning! I sure hope I can talk everyone into heading to the lake.
We have a new baby calf that is 2 days old today. It's a baby bull calf. He's a Jersey. His mom is a black Jersey. He is a dark brown. He is bottle fed and is out there waiting for his breakfast now.
We've made hay for the past few days and have all of our first cut hay in the barn. There was a nice stretch of dry weather and we were able to hustle and get it all done.
If anyone is looking for a fun place to stay this summer we have some open days. Give a holler and make your reservations.
We are close to several wonderful lakes that are great for swimming. Lake Bomoseen, Sunset Lake, Lake Sunrise, Glen Lake, just to name a few.
Our private 3 bedroom guest house you rent by the night and have all to yourselves.

New additions

Ken and Barbie. Barbie-Q that is. That is what I was calling her when we were spending hours chasing her round and round this morning.
Our new piglets are naughty. Usually we name our piglets Pork and Chop. This year it's time for a change. Barbie is pink with black spots. Ken is white/pink.
We got them last night, and this morning we could catch an occasional glimpse of Barbie, but no Ken in sight. We just spotted him and caught him about 15 minutes ago at about 6 p.m.
Now we need to decide what to do with them next. They do not like their fence.

Guests Leaving

We said good-bye to some great people this morning. They helped with chores last night and again this morning. One of the children overcame their fear of cows quite quickly with Heidi's help last night. The baby goats were a hit as usual too. And I think they wanted to fill their pockets with cute baby bunnies before they left.
We sent them to the Wheel Inn for dinner last night. That's the place to eat in Benson. It's right in the village and has something for everyone and their dessert..........the best!
The sun is out this morning. The goats went outside. They're on their daily hike up the mountain (hill).

Still winter but someone else is getting our snow.

Happy Valentine's Day.

The kids are on vacation this week from school.

It's pizza night. We are redoing our kitchen and have ordered new ovens. In the meantime, our old oven burned out and for the past 2 weeks Jake has been making our pizza on the grill. It's pretty good stuff. It's a bit tricky to flip though. I think I'll either offer to help him flip it tonight or suggest he make 4 small pies instead of 2 big ones.

We had a new Jersey heifer calf born 2 days ago. She is little and really cute. She has dark features and looks as though she is wearing eye liner and dark make-up. She is being bottle fed still. Her mother's name is Cookie. She doesn't have a name yet.

Our grandson came to visit for the first time last week. That was fun. He will be one month old on the 18th. My how time flies!

Our renovations are still moving forward. Yesterday the new drywall got put on the kitchen ceiling. It's been quite a while since we've had a ceiling.
We need to make decisions on counter tops. If we go w/ Formica, I think I'd like one counter area that is a stone surface for dough and pie making. We also have to decide on what we're going to do w/ the floor. We put slate in the mudroom and bathroom. I think it's a tad too cold to do the whole kitchen w/ but I'm not positive.

We have very little snow down here by the house and barn. Up the hill it's still pretty covered. It's strange how it's like 2 different worlds.

Last week we got 5 pick-up trucks full of firewood out of the woods. It was 22ºF and it seemed so warm. It was beautiful in the snow covered woods. Our 3 sons and one of their friends along w/ 2 of our daughters made light of a lot of work. Everyone got along and the work went quickly. Just a nice day in the woods. Almost all of the wood fit in the cellar. There is a little still outside the cellar door on the lawn.

I'm about to head outside to check on the goats.

Ice Fishing Derby

The Benson Down Home Derby is one of the first of the season. This year, weather permitting, it will be held January 30 & 31. The headquarters have moved this year. They will be at Benson Landing. There will be signs in Benson Village showing you the way. The price for adult tickets is $20 and the prize pool is more than $2700. Tickets can be obtained through the mail by calling 802-537-2468 by Jan. 25th.
The kids' derby will take place January 30 and fish must be at the scales by 6 p.m. Youth under the age of 14 can purchase tickets for $5.
The fishing waters open to participants fall between Dresden, NY (Bouy 16) and Larrabee Point on Route 74 in Shoreham.
For more information call 802-537-3044 or tbarthol@shoreham.net
If you're looking for a place to stay, we offer nightly rentals of our 3 bedroom guest house. http://www.falkenburyfarm.com/
(We obtained the information for this post from The Lakes Region Free Press so please don't hold us responsible if any is incorrect.)

Happy New Year!

I had big plans to show everyone some photos I took for Christmas. My computer had other ideas.....
On Christmas Eve we had a new baby calf born. He is adorable. He is big and strong and blocky, yet still adorable. He is also very friendly. He's black with a white face. His name is "Nick" after St. Nicholas for Christmas, get it?
There are also some of the cutest bunnies ever in the barn right now. The littlest ones are a light red with some patches of other colors on them, like calico. Actually there is one grey one in that litter too. Kind of strange, but what can you do?
We had all of our kids here for Christmas. That was the best part of the holiday!!
On New Year's Eve we had a few friends over and had tons of food. At midnight we were in the hot tub as planned. Several tubbers made snow angels and then jumped back in. I really wish you could see those photos!
We hope everyone celebrated their holidays happily and we wish everyone a very happy, healthy New Year!
Oh! And we have snow!! Come on up and play!!!

School vacation

Our kids have a 5 day weekend. They are so excited. Now if we weren't tied down with these house renovations, we could actually go somewhere and do something. But, the plumber is downstairs plumbing in our bathroom renovations as I type. I kind of need to be here to answer questions, etc. Our son is helping him this morning.
We have part of our hay field fenced in with what I call stretchy fence. So the cows are where they usually aren't and when you look out the window you think they are loose. The field was too wet this season and we weren't able to mow a second time for hay or we would've made big ruts and ruined the field.
Our new BIG Boer buck has been busy. If it's baby goats you're crazy about, make a reservation for the middle of March!

Haunted Hayride

Benson Vol Fire Dept is holding their Haunted Hayride this weekend in Vermont. It runs again tonight, 7-10. The 8th grade is selling concessions. Chile, hotdogs, burgers, etc. Come get yourself frightened in the dark spooky woods!
Our oldest is here for the weekend! Love it when she comes. Also another friend from CT is here.
Poultney town wide tag sales are on our agenda for today.
The leaves are great. The weather has been trying to cooperate. Come on up for a visit!

Something is eating my plants!

Something or someone has been eating all my squash plants AND my pepper plants. They seem to eat some of the leaves, but not all of them. Some of the leaves they just leave beside the plant. I have seen no woodchucks nearby but I have seen rabbits. More than one person swears that a rabbit will not do this. I don't believe it. I have put mouse traps and human hair around them. It doesn't help. Any ideas would be welcome. Thank you.