Here she is!!

We are pleased to announce that Cinnamon had her calf this morning at about 6:55 a.m.

 Many of our recent visitors and Facebook followers have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our newest addition! Well, here she is!! Be warned that she is wet, naked and slimy in these photos. She is only moments old in these photos; before she even stood up for the first time. They were taken before our photographer got on the bus this morning!

 Cinnamon is one of our oldest dairy cows. If you've visited the farm, chances are you've met her. She is a Jersey cow. She comes in the barn every night. You've likely even milked her!

The calf  is a heifer (girl).  Both she and her mama are doing well. She will need a name. We've one suggestion so far; "Nutmeg".

Feels like winter

Wow is it chilly! We have both of our wood stoves going. It's a good thing we spent some time on Sunday getting wood.
The girls have their calves outside. They are taking them for a walk right now as I type. I can see them out of the window.
We have a new fullblood Boer buck. 150 days from now we should have some really cute babies running around. That will be the beginning of March. If you'd like to come and play with them when they're tiny and cuddly, that would be a great time to plan a visit.

Fairy House

A little guest that is staying in our guest house made a fairy house w/ her godmother today. They left it by a tree here on the farm. They made it for a dream fairy. It was made from all natural things that they found around the farm. I hope to post a photo soon.
The same 3 year old guest fed most of the cows their dinner tonight. She was a great helper!

Too much rain

For the second time in days part of our road in under water making it impassible. There are no road closed signs posted either, which makes it seem dangerous to me, especially in the thick fog we've been having. We've been getting showers that are bringing large amounts of rain in short periods of time. The roads are washed out all over town. One of the drops behind the cows in the barn had about 2 inches of setting water in it tonight because the water table is so saturated. The farmers are having a bear of a time getting any hay made. Even if we get a day w/out rain, the fields are so wet they have standing water in them.
Two of our sons are in Oregon working on a ranch. There they don't have nearly enough rain and have to irrigate the fields. They said it did rain today. There was lightning too. They said where the lightning strikes it starts fires because it is so dry. They saw a fire like that today.
I wonder if anywhere between here and there they are having the perfect summer?

Construction Underway

The construction is moving along on our house's addition. We are moving things around a bit inside and making a new deck, etc. It is crazy. I spend more time moving things around than anything else. What I really need to do it throw stuff away. I'm not good at that!

The guest house is open for business. The baby goats are getting bigger but we still have some friendly and fun ones that like attention. We are close to a few great lakes and ponds that are wonderful for swimming, boating and fishing.

Hay!

Finally made some hay today! I need to ask what the count was. We were rushing the clock when the clouds started moving in. It's pouring now. There was a rainbow earlier.

We have guests arriving any time now. I hope they get here before dark. I don't want to leave lights on for the bugs.

They started ripping and tearing on our house today. They made a few test holes yesterday but today they really got into it. The boys took 2 truckloads to the dump and there are 2 trailers full of wood for a fire. Oh, what a mess we are in for! There is a blue tarp trying to keep the rain out of the kitchen and bathroom right now.

Our 12 year old milked the cows tonight all by herself! She really had no choice, we were all busy. Dad was baling, mom was raking hay and the boys were unloading wagons. At least it got her out of unloading a couple of them.

Our 10 year old has been spending a lot of time with my camera lately. She has taken tons of photos. Some are pretty good. I keep telling her it will make a good hobby. Something to do on the side....She really loves taking pictures.

From the flower bed

Think this is called Sweet William.

Bob is mowing the first hay of the season this morning!!! Please cross your fingers that it dries! The weather, NOAA, seems to change every time we check it. This morning it has no rain posted for today and tomorrow so we're going for it.

Summer vacation

The boys have their last exams today. The girls got out of school Monday. Now if it ever stops raining we can make some hay!
We've got oatmeal cookies in the oven. Boy, do they smell great. Taste even better.
The girls are walking their calf to where their dad is working this morning. It's quite the hike. Over 3 miles one way! I'm off to meet them there with a picnic lunch.