A lesson learned about fermented fruit and pigs

First I want to say thank you to all for your kind comments here, emails and on Facebook for our loss of Mac.  We have so many friends and family who understand how sad it is to lose a pet and I'm grateful for your understanding.

Now I'm going to share something with you and you may wonder where my brain was.  I'm not going to blame it on grief.  It was a moment of stupidity and carelessness, but I assure you it was an accident. 

On Friday I had folks here looking at some goats I had for sale.  I took them on a tour of our farm and while showing them our pigs I decided I should take them some food.  I had a bunch of fermented blackberries from 10 gallons of blackberry wine sitting in a bucket in our basement.  In the back of my mind I knew I should only give them a small portion of them.  In the past I've given 500 lb Roxie lots of fermented fruit without giving it too much thought.  She always appreciated it.  What I should have considered (and did, but brushed it aside) was I have 3 very lightweight piggies who gobble up everything we give them with gusto.  It wasn't long before two of the piglets were tumbling instead of walking.  Their legs weren't working at all.  Poor Mickey had completely passed out and I couldn't right her for anything.  She was completely out of it.  I thought I had poisoned her.  Wendell recovered more quickly and skinny, sickly little Wassee didn't seem the least bit affected by the alcohol.  I think Mickey is a glutton and that's why her tummy is so round. 

I'm not exagerrating when I say Mickey was drunk for at least 10 hours.  I gave her activated charcoal in Gatorade and kept pumping water into her with little improvement.  Later in the evening when I went to check on her I found her stuck in their mud wallow and the other 3 had retired far away from her for the night.  I rescued her and carried her to be with them and at this time she could stand on all fours but was still uncoordinated.  What a relief it was to find her sober and running around the next morning, begging for food.

I assure you I won't do this again. 
 

Death on a farm

You know, sometimes I think I've worked through this.  I've toughened myself up when it comes time for butchering pigs or goats.  I reconcile myself that this animal has had a much better life than those animals whose meat is sold in grocery stores.

What I haven't toughened myself up for is dealing with the death of my non-meat pets.  Today we said goodbye to Mac.

He had been losing weight ever since I got him and no matter what I tried - more food, exercise, teeth floated - he continued to lose muscle mass.  Looking at this older picture I can see how much he had shrunken in the past 3 months.  I had made and appointment for the vet to come out today to draw blood and test him for Cushings disease but things went downhill fast after I made the appointment.  I won't go into details but the vet said he appeared to have both neurological and hormonal problems and assured me I was doing the right thing by putting him down.  He said he would do the same if it was his animal.  That was what I needed to hear.  Mac couldn't get up and kept moaning. 

What made it even harder was Jaz kept standing by and braying at him like she was ordering him to get up.  She hardly ever brays but yesterday did it all day long.  It was heartbreaking.  She was much closer to Mac than she was to her own kids.  They shared a food bowl without picking on each other and spent lots of time side by side.

Burying a large animal isn't easy for many reasons.  We were lucky to have folks a 1/4 of a mile away with a backhoe who were able to come within the hour to dig a hole and bury him.  The young man was very serious and when he went to push Mac in the hole he said, "I'll be as gentle as possible".    Watching him tumble into the hole was disturbing but it's always hard to put an animal in the ground. 

I don't know how the other donkeys are feeling today.  Probably much like me.  I'm fine until someone says they're sorry or till I typed this blog. 

Mac was one of the most gentle donkeys I've ever known and we're going to miss him.  We have many pictures of him with toddlers on his back.  I'm glad to have had him for the short time he was here.

The name on everybodys' lips is gonna be...ROXIE

Some rainy days I'm very productive.  Other days I waste all kinds of time on my computer.  You can guess what kind of day today was.  I think both videos are cuter in full screen, so click the little picture frame in the bottom right.  Sorry the audio is so bad.  I could have wasted much more time trying to correct it but I'll save that for another rainy day. 



Pig development

I returned Wassee to his piggy family on Tuesday and he's doing great.  I have no idea what made him sick but whatever it was is gone and he's running around just like Mickey and Wendell.   Mickey had lots of secrets to tell Wassee.  Now he needs to put some weight on like them. 

  It may have been good for Wassee to be away for a bit because Roxie has accepted the others and they all get along well now.  Wassee is still her little buddy though and she's very protective of him.  He adores her too and I know he's glad to be back in the fold. 

I had worried Roxie wasn't going to allow Mickey and Wendell in her house so I thought it would be a good idea to build a second one for them.  Yesterday James and I assembled it and the inspectors did a quick once-over, taking bites out of and rubbing on it.

It still needs a metal roof and more paint.  I wonder how long till they move in.  I'd like to have several of these in different paddocks so when we rotate them we don't have to move houses around.  Pigs are really good at piling dirt all around the base of the shelters making them hard to move.  They've already begun burying it.

I also threw together a rabbit tractor so the rabbits can have grass to eat and I can move it around the yard.  It's built out of old screen windows, a few 2 x 4s and a tarp.  I thought they'd be excited about it but maybe they're going to have to get used to it.    The 2 girls I put in there (along with two babies) chased each other round and round and I worried they'd have heart attacks they were panting so hard.  This morning they seem to have settled in more and have eaten so much grass I had to move it.

Today I'll be moving donkey fencing so they'll be grazing new pasture and the old will have time to recover.  This year I  plan to rotate my animals and see if I can manage the pasture in a healthy manner.  We'll see how it goes.  It takes time to move fences and I get lazy about it.  Thank goodness most of my animals respect the electric ribbon. 
  

Getting ready for mom and dad

My mom and dad will be visiting later this week and I've been trying to think of things we can do while they're here.  Last year my mom was such a good sport.  Remember how I got her to plank?
http://holesinmyjeans-kpannabecker.blogspot.com/2012/09/photo-ops.html

When I was young I remember my mom putting together puzzles.  I too love puzzles so I thought we could put one together while they're here this week.  I went to Lowes and bought one today.  It didn't come with a box so we'll have to wing it since we don't have a picture to look at.  It's not nearly as many pieces as the ones she used to put together but, you know, we're all getting older and too many pieces might be more than we can focus on.  See if you can guess what the puzzle is.

 Actually, it's part of 2 puzzles and both are missing a few pieces.   There will be no planking involved. 

Mom and Dad, you can't back out now.

P.S.  Wassee was still struggling today.  He didn't have much of an appetite and his back legs are weak.  He did, however, drink quite a bit of Gatorade.  I've spoken to some pig experts today and I'm not feeling terribly hopeful for a recovery but I'm not giving up yet.
 

Wassee Wasserman's bath

Wassee's name lends itsself to nicknames, I think.  Sometimes I call him Wassee Wasserman or Wasseemoto.  Right now I need to call him Wassee-we-want-you-well.  After the new piggies arrived I noticed how much slower Wassee moved and how he didn't have the energy they did.  He also had diarrhea so 2 days ago I moved him up closer to the house where I could give him special attention and he wouldn't spread any diseases to the others.  He's living in a chicken coop surrounded by a kennel.  He spends most of his time burrowed under the hay in the coop though.  I dewormed him, gave him an something to treat bacterias like e coli and have given several servings of yogurt but still he has runny poop.  Yesterday I gave him some Peptol Bismol so I hope that helps.  He loves to have his tummy rubbed.  I'm sure it feels good on his achy stomach.  He's become so sweet since we spend so much time together.   I thought a bath would do him good; get that poop off his butt.
He seemed to enjoy it.


 After his bath he got his yogurt.

 Mickey and Wendell (as in Wendell Berry) are just as friendly as Wassee.  As a matter-of-fact it's hard to visit them and Roxie without being plowed over by them.  They all want scratches or belly rubs.  Here are a few videos from last night.   Pigs are forever rubbing against things for a scratch.   This one made me smile. 

The 2 of them came over for rubs and as soon as I reached under them to rub their stomachs they rolled over so I could do a better job.  I need more than 2 hands to video and rub two tummies. 
 


This morning Wassee wasn't interested in his yogurt or bread.  He talked to me but didn't reallly want to  get out of bed.  I need to consult some pig experts today.






 

What do blueberries and pigs have in common?

Not much, really, but I happened to pick up both yesterday while visiting the town of Renick, WV.   Two weeks ago I was invited to go blueberry picking in Renick.  It was an hour and 45 minute drive away but I picked 26lbs so it was well worth the drive, plus it was fun hanging out with my friends.  I'd never heard of the town of Renick before.

Just two days later I discovered a breeder of Gloucestershire Old Spot (GOS) pigs.  A friend had recommended this breed because they're good grazers and we have lots of pasture to graze on, that's for sure.  Strangely enough, they were also  located in Renick, just 15 minutes from the blueberry farm.  If that wasn't a sign to go pick more blueberries and buy more pigs, then I don't know what it was.  GOS pigs are pretty rare and hard to find so of course I took it as a sign :)  We bought a breeding pair, a gilt and a young boar, so it will be a while till we get babies from them.  They're about as cute as can be and way more adventurous than Wassee.  We named the little girl Mickey, on account of the spots on her rear end.  The boy has no name yet.

In this next picture you can see how much pinker Mickey is than the boy.  She has a sunburn, which I hope goes away soon.  She needs to learn to cover herself with mud like Roxie does..

Roxie hasn't adopted them like she has Wassee. 

Just now (11PM) I went out to check on them and Wassee was sleeping on top Roxie's back in their house.  It took a while before I found Mickey and ______________ sound asleep in the grass about 25 yards from the house.  I need to build another shelter for them for when we need to separate them for breeding in the future.  I guess I should do it soon in case Roxie doesn't let them in her house.   

All three babies are about the same size.

Notice how Wassee's ears stand up and the new kids ears flop over their eyes.   Wassee has some GOS blood in him but he didn't get the floppy ear gene.  He seems to have more hair than them too.

There's lots of really tall, thick grass/weeds for them to get lost in but so far I've been able to find them, even though they've claimed the 10 acres as theirs instead of staying in their 2 1/2 acre fenced in (electric ribbon too high off the ground) area. 

 

These two pigs are being  registered so I feel like I should give them distinguished names, maybe something British since the breed originated in Gloucestershire, England.   I know Mickey isn't a very distinguished name but I had no choice.   Any ideas?  I thought of Vern, since the farm he came from was called Vernal Vibe Rise.  Or maybe Renick, since we named Wassee after the town he came from, Hiwassee. 

To give you an idea how hard it can be to find GOS pigs and how lucky I was to find them so close, read below.

Endangered breed

GOS is currently on the "Critical" List by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy,^[5] meaning there are fewer than 200 annual registrations in the United States and estimated fewer than 2000 global population. In the UK the Old Spots is listed as "Category 5, Minority" by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as there are fewer than 1000 registered breeding females.^[4][6]

In 1995 the last few Gloucester Old Spots pigs had dwindled down to four animals in North America. Fifteen years before that time, a group of GOS pigs had arrived in the US from the UK but had since disappeared into the hybrid pig population. Kelmscott Rare Breeds Foundation (1994-2004), located in Lincolnville, Maine, felt that it could help re-establish the breed by bringing another group of GOS pigs from the UK to the US. Kelmscott, with the help of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, contacted farmers in North America, who were interested in pig conservation and offered GOS piglets from the UK importation. A group of breeders joined Kelmscott in the project. Kelmscott farm contacted Richard Lutwyche, of the UK Gloucester Old Spots and he graciously assisted Kelmscott in locating willing farms that could contribute piglets from all four color groups for export. Robyn Metcalfe, owner of Kelmscott Farm, traveled to the UK farms to discuss details, see the proposed stock, and made arrangements with UK and USA agricultural departments. In 1996, after the piglets were born and passed through the required tests, they flew (on British Airways) as cargo to the USDA facility in New York. Twenty piglets arrived and, after a quarantine period, of a few months, arrived at Kelmscott Farm in Maine. Kelmscott and the other breeders picked up their pigs and met to re-establish the pig registry and breed association. By that time there were only two aged GOS living in the US. Kelmscott set up the organization and began developing a pig registry and registration process. Newsletters, a breed census, and other aspects of GOSA (Gloucestershire Old Spots of America) began to operate as Kelmscott and the other breeders began to raise the numbers of GOS pigs in North America. With the closure of the Kelmscott farm and a period of transition between registrars, the GOSA organization ceased to function.
In 2007 a group of concerned GOS admirers got together to rebuild GOSA; beginning with resurrecting the registration process. Between 2008 and the present, memberships were once again reinstated, a Board of Directors was voted in, consisting of a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Registrar/Treasurer, as designated by the Bylaws (click to view) that were brought up to date and expanded. The Board of Directors began to hold regular meetings, a newsletter was once again circulated, a breeders survey was taken, this new website was designed and launched and the first annual members meeting was held in 2010. GOSA is once again thriving, the number of GOS pigs are increasing while members and breeders are on the rise.
An application has been made to gain European Commission Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status for Old Spots pig meat.^[7] This was granted on 29 July 2010.




 

Basil Mozzarella

Our garden is full of basil and our refrigerator stays full of milk. 

Basil mozzarella was a very good idea. 

James bought me a wonderful present tonight but I can't blog about it because I don't have pictures yet.  Till tomorrow................

Roxie got a present

His name is Hiwassee.  That's the town we had to drive to to get him.   Maybe we'll call him Wassee for short.  He's a boar and maybe next year when he's a big boy he and Roxie can make some cute babies.  He's a Yorkshire/Landrace/GOS cross.   I'd still like to get another girl.

Roxie seems thrilled with the company and he has adopted her as his mom for now.  He follows her everywhere and tonight they were sleeping together in her shelter.  It was an easy introduction and I loved watching them share table scraps.  He appears very relaxed and was very quiet in the car too.  Hopefully he's always going to be an easy going guy.  Once I know he'll follow her everywhere I'll expand their pasture to a much larger area which I began preparing today. 

These videos are of them in the first 5 minutes of his arrival.  You can see how he made himself at home right away.








 

So much more to learn

This is a busy time of year.  If only I had the energy to do everything that needs to be done.  I've been a bit lazy (ok, a lot lazy) and some days make myself do at least a few things on my to-do list (which is in my head, not on paper).   I feel like if I can check just a few things off my list each day then I don't have to feel too guilty.

I've been saying for months now that my spaquaponics garden is under construction, which wasn't true.  It NEEDED to be under construction.  I finally got it back in shape; kind of.  I've learned a lot in the past year about what I did right (a very few things) and what I did wrong (many, many things).  I've made it smaller and have replaced the flimsy kiddie pool with a sturdier kiddie pool my neighbor gave me.  The beds get root-bound very easily so I'm sticking with lettuces which are easier to thin out.  The hot tub gets so algae-filled this time of year which is a challenge too.  Some days I'm ready to give up on it but now that I've invested more time in it I think I'll give it another season at least.

While I feel lazy, James seems to have all the energy in the world.  His gardens are producing like gangbusters.  He's a harvesting, canning, freezing maniac.  We've now added corn-on-the-cob to our list of vegetables/fruits ready-to-eat.  Cucumbers, tomatoes, blackberries, green beans, swiss chard, beets, kohlrabi, carrots, squash, wheat, kale, potatoes and herbs are also on the dinner list. I'm sure I've left some things out.  I should also mention we have more milk than I can keep up with which the dogs, chickens and Roxie are pretty happy about.

Have I mentioned it got hot this week?  Just ask Keri how hot it is.

As you can see, her coat is taking its time shedding out and she's forever putting her feet in the goats' water buckets and dirtying them up so  I filled a boat for her to cool off in.  She seemed grateful.  Summer is much harder on her than winter.  I think it is on all the animals except our old dog, Lex.

I don't think I mentioned that Darla came back here to live.  I had decided not to keep any mini goats so I could keep just one full-sized buck.  She was adopted by a friend of mine but was bullying her kids (goat kids) so she came back here where she's one of the low goats on the totem pole.   She has found a place in our chicken coop that she spends a good deal of time in when she wants to rest without worrying about being picked on.  It's funny how goats can be top dog in one herd and bottom of the pecking order in another.  I'll have to breed her to someone else's buck next spring because Cooper is too big for her.  I'm glad she's home.  She's still very affectionate and dog-like.  If she could live in the house I'd let her.

Remember my post about the pig pregnancy indicator? 

I've decided that's a bunch of hogwash.  I'm pretty sure Roxie isn't pregnant.  I think I've seen her come in to heat twice in the past 4 weeks.  It's kind of hard to tell with a pig.  At least it is for me.  Now I don't know what my next plan of action should be.  I can't really justify keeping a 500lb sow as a pet without having her produce babies, can I?  I called the pig farmer up the road to see if maybe his boar could breed her again this year but I haven't heard back from him.  I hate to buy a boar to service just one sow.  I'd have to build more housing.  I've promised a young couple I'd raise a pig for them for their wedding next September so I'll either need Roxie to have babies by December or January or I'll have to buy a feeder piglet elsewhere.   They're going to use it as their ring bearer :)

I've been raising goats and chickens now for 6 years, pigs for 2, rabbits for a year or 2 and donkeys for 3 years.  Just when I think I have things under control something upsets the apple cart and I need to re-think what my plans for this farm are.  I could really use some help with pasture management.  I'll save that topic for another blog. 

All this time we've been making it up as we go along and learning as we go.  Is it worth it?  I think so.  Do I feel like a farmer yet?  In many ways I do.  Am I an expert on goats, chickens, pigs, etc.?  Nope, but I know a whole lot more now than I did even a year ago.  When I start feeling smart I like to put myself in my place.  That's why we bought smart phones this week.  Ask me how smart I'm feeling now.






 

Cheerios' commercial

I had begun another blog post and was about ready to publish it but then this http://www.dailydot.com/lol/kids-react-cheerios-commercial-race/ came across my computer via Facebook and I had to share it.  It brought tears to my eyes.

Our first real donkey trail ride

Today we trailered Mac and Willo to the Glenwood Horse Trail, which is only about 2 miles from our house.  James rode Mac and I rode Willo.  They were so great.  Willo led most of the time.  She was very alert and watched the woods constantly.  Mac seemed very relaxed and he took the lead over a culvert that had water rushing beneath because Willo was unsure.  After he went over she decided it was ok and followed.

I was proud of all of us.  I think I said, "we did it", more than a few times.

 

Willo's most excellent day

Today was a big day for both me and Willo.  I had my riding lesson at 2:00 and my instructor told me it was ok to bring one of my donkeys for the lesson.  I planned to take Mac because he's usually very reliable and not as feisty as Willo.  I laid in bed worrying about this last night.  I've never towed a trailer before so there was more to this outing than just taking my donkey to a strange place. 

Mac decided he didn't want to ride in a trailer today, than-you-very-much.  I decided to try Willo.   She cooperated but I was afraid my luck couldn't last.  Even though I sweated the whole way there, I pulled the stock trailer safely to the horse farm.  Phew.  So far, so good.  No one was there yet so we walked around and I acquainted Willo with her surroundings.  The horses were pretty excited about having long ears on their property and there was lots of prancing and whinnying.  Willo seemed nonplussed.  She was very interested in everything though.

My instructor, her children and some others taking lessons arrived and began getting their horses ready.  I had Willo tied in the barn behind the horses and she took everything in that was going on around her.  Their corgi came up to her, I held my breath, they touched noses and then the dog licked Willo's nose and walked away.  Sweet, I relaxed a bit more. 

We mounted our horses/donkey and headed up to the riding ring.  Willo had never been in a ring like this and especially not with 5 other horses.  I was shocked when she walked right in and began doing what everyone else was doing - behaving  like a horse.  Some of the horses were nervous having her in there with them.  I don't know if it's her ears, she smells unusual, or they just sensed she's another kind of animal, but they knew she was different.  We did many laps around the ring, stepped over some obstacles, changed directions and for the most part, she did everything I asked of her.  I was dumbfounded.  This may not seem like a big deal to people who've been riding horses a long time, but to donkey people who know how  a green (newly trained and still learning) donkey can be, they would understand how huge this was.  It began to rain and still she behaved.  We weren't setting any records in speed but we kept moving most of the time.  Almost every lap though, she wanted to say hi to a little girl (3 or 4 ish) named Poppy who was hanging on the fence.  Willo was fascinated by her.  She did get a little nervous when one or two horses would canter up from behind and she heard them coming.  That was fine though.  Her ears would turn to listen for them and she usually slowed and turned her butt toward them. 

I should also add, Willo was very popular with my instructor's children.  The 15 year old daughter has been wanting a donkey and I heard her say to her mom, "see?, now can't we get a donkey?"  They all thought she was so cute.  I probably heard them say so more than 20 times.  Willo liked them too.  I took a picture of the 6 year old son holding her face but it didn't turn out.  I sure wish I had a video of us in the ring so you could see what a good girl she was.

To say I was proud is putting it mildly.  Our ride home was without incident and as I pulled into our field I said a silent, thank you.  I'm sure I was smiling.  When I let Willo loose in her pasture she took off running.   I wonder what she told the others.  I can't wait for our next outing.

 

Chocolate goat milk ice cream sandwiches

It's been raining here for several days but yesterday it just didn't let up so I found something I could do inside.

When I was grocery shopping this week I saw ice cream sandwiches in the freezer aisle and remembered how much I like them.  Somehow they came up again in a conversation with a friend so I decided I should make some on a rainy day.

First made the cookie dough.

1 1/2 sticks or 6 ounces of butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2/3 cup sifted dark cocoa powder

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

With a mixer beat the butter and sugar till fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla and mix.
Next add cocoa, mix some more and then finally mix in the flour.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or wax paper and chill for a few hours.

When firm roll out onto a surface dusted with flour and cocoa powder.  This was the hardest part for me.  I don't think I let it chill long enough.  It kept sticking to the table and my rolling pin.  Roll to 1/8 inch thick then cut to the size you like with a pizza cutter.  Place on greased cookie sheets.  Mine were very messy because they stuck to the spatula.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Next I made the ice cream.
3 cups goat’s milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3.5 oz good quality dark chocolate, chopped. 
5 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar (split, 1/4 c. and 1/2 c.)
2 tsp. vanilla
In a saucepan, mix the milk, cream, 1/4 cup sugar and chocolate and bring to a simmer.
In a small bowl whisk together the egg yolks and the 1/2 cup sugar.
Remove a cup of the milk mixture and whisk it into the yolk mixture.  Add another cup and whisk some more then pour this back into the saucepan and heat till it thickens. 
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Chill.  When completely chilled I put it in our electric ice cream maker.  It usually takes about 40 to 45 minutes for it to freeze.  It's more like soft serve when it's done so I put it in the freezer to firm it up a bit before spooning it onto the cookies.

They weren't the prettiest but they sure are tasty. 
 

Darcy's Girl

Today Darcy gave me an adorable little girl.  Isn't it funny how she looks nothing like Darcy?

Darcy doesn't seem to mind though.  She adores her and was an attentive, patient mom from the second she hit the ground.  I haven't named her yet but I'm thinking about calling her Rainy.

I love my life

I wonder if this has been a heading for a previous post.  It seems like it should have been because I feel this way a lot.  Yesterday was an especially good day though. 

After cleaning wheat (me) and weeding the garden, picking vegetables and canning (James), we were invited to go up in our neighbor's plane.  Thank you Don and Bailey.   I thought I might be nervous about it but I wasn't at all.  It was very relaxing and beautiful.  James posted some pictures on his blog http://whoisvirginia.blogspot.com/.  I used my phone so my pictures weren't as good.  Here's one of our farm.

And another from higher up.

That wasn't the end of a great day.  We quickly ate dinner then did something we hadn't done in a long time; we took an evening paddle up river.  It was just getting dark when we slipped our kayaks in the glassy river.  The weather and water were perfect.  There was no bright moon but we didn't need it.  Our neighbors had told us some folks were camping on their property that night and might be playing music so we stopped at their place hoping to hear guitars or banjos but instead a car radio was playing.  We were greeted at their rocky beach by one of the campers who invited us up to join them. 

Next we met Benny.   Benny was a friendly chatty guy and either he or the guy who we first met on the beach soon handed us an ice cold quart jar of moonshine which was very tasty and we all took turns handing it back and forth.    I told them we were expecting live music because we heard they were musicians.  Benny hollered, "hey, the lady wants to hear some music".   Minutes later a few folks were playing guitar and singing.  We didn't stay much longer because the lightening was getting closer and closer.

I don't know if it was the moonshine or just my good mood but I didn't feel at all nervous paddling back with the lightening  flashing the whole way.    As I recall I said to James something like, "it's ok if I die tonight".   That's how happy I was feeling.  We're so lucky to have the James River in our front yard and I'm so lucky to have a husband who likes to play with me. 

Now that it's a new day I'll admit I'm glad I didn't die last night :)  I'd hate to miss out on more days like yesterday. 

 

Cleaning wheat is faster this year

James planted way more wheat this year than he has in the past.  While I was excited to have so much, I kept looking at it feeling just a bit overwhelmed when I thought about harvesting it.  Today I decided to jump right in.  I was afraid it might get too dry and drop to the ground if I waited too long.  I wish I could have recorded the sound of the wheat crackling in the garden; kind of like Rice Krispies with milk on them.   I don't know what causes it to make that noise but it's pretty neat.

In past years you may remember we put the cut wheat on a tarp and used our feet to thresh it.  I checked out Youtube to see how others did it and came across a much faster way than dancing on it.  It may sound like a big job to cut the wheat heads off with scissors like we do but it really doesn't take that long.  Of course I only did 2 small gardens today and have lots left to do but I'm not feeling so overwhelmed anymore.  This is just some of what's left to harvest.

I filled a trash can half full then took the weed eater to it till most of the seed heads were broken up.

Then I ran it through my hands in front of the fan and the berries would fall back into the trash can while the chaff blew away. 

I got about 22 lbs of wheat berries from 2 small gardens.  I probably have 5 times as much left to do.

 

Blue cheese fail

The cheese recipe book said blue cheese wasn't a beginner's cheese.  I should have taken that advice.  I've been making cheese for 4 years so I thought, maybe I'm not a beginner but an advanced beginner.  The give-away that it wasn't a successful cheese was the smell.  It smelled heavily of amonia.  Moldy smell can sometimes be good but amonia is never good. 

I scraped the orange mold off thinking that might get rid of the bad smell.

I cut it in half and smelled it.

COUGH!!!! COUGH!!   If that wasn't enough to deter me.....I had to taste it.  I'm still alive to tell about it but I can tell you it was not something I'd try 2 bites of.  Ok, yes, I tasted it twice just in case.  You never can be sure, you know.  It was terrible.

Maybe it wasn't a complete fail.  There was one someone who thought it was delicious.

Will I make it again?  Maybe in 4 more years.
 

Donkey cart progress

Today was our third time to hook Willo up to the cart.  She's very patient while we fumble to get the harness on her properly.  We really need to do it more often so it's second nature.  We began by James leading her while I sat in the cart and used the reins.  She was very willing.  Next we removed the lead and she followed James along while I instructed her from behind.

When I thought she was responding well to my commands James hopped in the cart with me and she continued to move along nicely until Earl called her.  She stopped and turned around to go the other direction.


On the way back to where we started I got out of the cart and James drove.  I loved seeing this.
 

Driving is very relaxing - for us anyway.  I don't know if Willo thinks it's relaxing or even fun but when we're done she seems very proud of herself. 

Remembering fishing

This weekend my brother-in-law asked what my earliest memory was.  He and James were both able to come up with memories from very early in their lives.  I couldn't think of anything.  This doesn't mean I don't have lots of memories from my childhood.  I just don't remember when events happened and how old I was when they happened. 

I have fond memories of fishing as a child and I know most of what I'm remembering is from when I was pretty young.  My familys' vacations were usually camping in the Poconos.   I have no idea how many times we went fishing while we were there but I feel like we did a lot of it.  Maybe that's how I want to remember it because those were fun times.  I need to ask my parents how old I was when I fell in the reservoir over my head but held on to my fishing pole.

I don't know how we introduced Adam to fishing but I know he began at a young age.  He could fish for hours even when the fishing wasn't good.  I loved watching him.  Watching was almost as much fun as fishing myself; maybe even more so.  I still enjoy watching family and friends fish.  Living on the river gives us lots of opportunities to do that. 

Adam lives at the beach now and is discovering surf fishing.  I'm glad to know he's fishing again.  Sometimes he sends me pictures of fish he catches and recently described how he cooked up one of his catches.  I love it.  I also love this photo of him with a bass he caught in a pond outside his apartment.

Here are some not-so-recent pictures of other fish he caught.

These pictures make me smile.

I wish I had pictures of me fishing when I was a kid but they'd all be on slides. 

This year I'm going to fish!  It's is my summer resolution.   Would any of my friends like to join me? 




 

One of these things is not like the others

Remember this?


This song was going through my head as I looked at this picture.

I'll hum the song while you study it closely.............

There are a few reasons why the animal and human on the right are not like the others.   It's not just the long ears and furry body.  It's also the imposter riding him.  The women on the horses have been riding many many years.  I've had 4 riding lessons so far.  I'm really having a good time and my confidence has grown immensely. 

The others in the photo are my neighbors.  They were kind enough to invite me to ride with them a few days ago.  Mac was a trooper.  He didn't exert any more energy than was necessary but he was a gentleman and took good care of me.  The day before we led Mac and Willo to their property to see how they'd do away from our farm.  They were awesome on the way out and I was pleased to see Willo cross the road without hesitation.  The way back she was not well behaved at all.  She practically drug me the whole way back.  I could hardly hold on to her.  My riding instructor has given me some pointers how to work with her to correct this bad behavior going forward.  Willo and I have lots to work on but we've already made lots of progress.  I was amazed at how she behaved differently away from our house.   Learning and learning more.  All good stuff.

One day I'll post a video of me and Willo galloping into the sunset.  She will never have short ears and I will never be a professional rider but we might feel like we belong.

You're still humming that song, aren't you?

A little drama from a piggy's mama

And I don't mean Roxie.  I mean me.  I tell ya, breeding animals can make me a bit crazy at times.  I really thought I was getting better at waiting for babies to arrive but I'm not. 

For the past 3 days Roxie has been needy, following me around very closely and a little too affectionate for my liking.  She's always covered in mud these days so cuddling is messy.  Goats often become more affectionate when their due date nears so I thought maybe Roxie was indeed pregnant.  I never saw her be bred so I didn't have any idea if she was pregnant or not so of course I have no due date.  I don't let this happen with my goats. 

Yesterday when I took her her breakfast she refused to eat.  That's when flags went up.  I knew she was off her game.  She also couldn't walk on one of her rear legs.  My guess was a baby may be sitting on or pinching a nerve.  I was pregnant once - I remember something about this kind of thing but it was oh so long ago I wonder if I'm making things up. 

I spent most of my day getting her area cut and fenced and clean hay put in her house so if she was nearing delivery she'd have a safe area for her babies.  Roxie loved all the attention.  She chatted away to me most of the time unless she was miserable acting like she "might" be in labor.  She had a bit of white sticky discharge.  Sometimes goats have this long before they kid but I had myself convinced it was a sign of labor.  I laid in her house with her because most of her mud was dried and she seemed to want my company.  I wouldn't have done this last year but she and I are much better buds this year and we trust each other a whole lot more.

It rained a little and we listened to the rain on the roof and she eventually fell asleep.  Later that evening I fell asleep sitting with her.   When I knew she wasn't having babies anytime soon I came in the house and Googled signs of labor in a pig.  I found this excellent website http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2011/08/28/pregnancy-indicator/ which told me how to tell if my pig was pregnant.  As it turns out, a pig has a pregnancy indicator.  Yes, kind of like the little thing that pops out of your turkey (a store-bought turkey - not one of mine) when it's done.  It's supposed to be a sure sign a sow is pregnant.  I wish she had a thing that popped out the day she was due.  Here's how to tell.  Look at this picture.

See that little pointy thing under her tail?  That's the clitoral hood.  I'm allowed to post these kinds of things about animals without getting in trouble.  See how it's pointing up?  That means she's pregnant. That's the pregnancy indicator.  If it was pointing down or even sticking straight out you'd know she's not pregnant.  Well, Roxie's is pointing up, pink and swollen so I feel 90% certain she's pregnant.  Ok, maybe 50% certain.  Her teats are not full of milk but they have begun to change and look much like the above picture. 

I checked on her around 11 PM last night and decided nothing was going to happen soon so I went to bed, fully expecting babies in the morning (even though she wasn't full of milk).  Now that time has passed and I'm using my more non-emotional brain, I wonder why I thought that.  I went out early to check on her and of course there were no babies and she was in her mud pit.  I tried to make her get out but she was very lethargic and couldn't get out of the mud no matter how much I tried convincing her.  I called James, who is out of town to be with his mom who just had surgery.  As if he could help me, I drug him down with my drama.  Eventually she got out of the pit, I hosed her down, she looked at her shed and then walked straight to her pond (different from her mud pit).  I decided she knew best and there was nothing more I could do.........except give her goat milk.  Yeah, that'll fix her.  She hadn't eaten in a day and a half so I was elated to see her enthusiastically guzzle the milk.  It's crazy how I go from depressed (ok, maybe not depressed but in a funk) to elated over something so simple as a pig drinking milk.  She also ate a few handfuls of corn. 

I've checked my notes on my calendar and it seems like she can't possibly be due till this Friday at the earliest.  At least I don't think so.  I'm going to make her a sandwich tonight to be sure she's getting more to eat than just the mud I've seen her sucking on. Her leg seems worse but I don't know what else to do about that.  I don't know why but I'm feeling much better about everything this afternoon. 

To be continued........

My first successful cured meat

Who doesn't like bacon?  Our freezer is packed full of pork; at least 250 lbs of it.  Instead of having the butcher slice the pork belly and sides we decided to try curing it and make bacon.  As you may remember, my duck and goat prosciuttos were a bit disappointing so I was a bit nervous about attempting this since it involved at least 12 to 15 lbs of meat. 

I got out my trusty book, Charcuterie, The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing, by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn, given to me by some good friends.  I think I owe them some bacon.    I followed the instructions pretty closely but it gives you some leeway on spices you may want to add.  I won't go into detail but what it entailed was heavily salting the meat and adding brown sugar or maple syrup and other spices and sealing it up in a bag and refrigerating it for a week, turning it every other day.  After it felt firm I rinsed it off and took a deep breath.  So far it looked pretty good.
 At this point I could have put it in a 200 degree oven for 2 hours, slice it and call it done but I wanted to go all the way and smoke it too.

James split some apple wood for me and I started a small fire in the pizza oven.   After it had cooked down a ways the oven temperature varied from floor to wall to ceiling so I had no idea if it was too hot or not.  I took a chance and put the pork in the oven on racks and closed the oven up tight so the chimney was closed off and the smoke stayed in the dome. 

The meat needed to reach an internal temperature of 150 degrees.  That took about 2 1/2 hours.  Every now and then I'd open the chimney a little bit to produce some more smoke.

When I announced it done I sliced some of it.  It was a lot of work since we don't have a meat slicer.  I did about half and put the rest in the freezer to firm up a bit, hoping to make it a little easier to slice.

It's definitely sliced thicker than what you'd get at the grocery store but I had much more satisfaction eating our own bacon for dinner last night knowing we raised and prepared it ourselves.  It's quite tasty and definitely has a smokey flavor.  Yay, finally a success!

Our lawn mower has been in the shop for 2 weeks and our grass is shin high.  As I type this my wonderful neighbor is out cutting it for me.  I owe him.  Maybe I'll pay him in bacon.

On a sad note, something got our ducks last night.   We really liked these two so it's very disappointing. 





Memorial Day music (?) and a little madness

Seven great friends from NC came to visit this past weekend.   Every time we're together there's lots of laughter and music.   What a great 2 days.  I wish they could have stayed longer.    I just happened to catch some of it on video.  You might notice every video has the same leading lady. 


Wait, there's more.


It's very quiet here today.

Donkey dentist

I learned lots about my donkeys' mouths yesterday.  Did you know there was such a thing as an equine dentist?  I guess I never thought about it until a vet suggested I call one to take a look to see what's going on in Mac's mouth.  He's had a snotty nose for months and we suspected an infected tooth.  It appeared not to be that but he did have a deep hole in his upper gum that collects "stuff" and goes way up into his sinuses.  Maybe that's what's causing an infection and exrays were recommended.  I was really hoping it was a tooth that could be pulled and it would all be over.  Mac and Jaz both needed their teeth floated.  I had no idea what that meant either until yesterday.  Donkeys' teeth move side to side when they chew, not up and down.  If their teeth grow longer on the outsides they won't slide back and forth properly and their bite is, what the vet called, locked.  They showed me how to check for proper bites.  The equipment they used was fascinating too.  The donkeys were sedated before any of this was done. 

They used a regular garden sprayer to wash out his mouth.

At one point I was asked to hold Mac's gigantic tongue.  I wish I had a picture of my fistful of tongue.  I have to admit I kind of enjoy visits from large animal vets.  They teach me so much.  Not only did I learn a lot yesterday but the vet and her assistant were hilarious and I could have hung out with them for hours.   Here are some pictures of horses' teeth.  The long tooth in the center belonged to a young horse and the short one to the right of it belonged to a much older horse.  The tooth grows out from the gum and keeps getting shorter and shorter.  It's hard to believe that long tooth could be way up in the gum. 

Mac and Jaz were both troopers and behaved beautifully.

Our 12 year old boxer, Lex, also had dental work this week.  He had 3 teeth extracted and now his breath no longer announces his entry to a room.  Unfortunately his right rear leg seems to be bothering him worse after his visit to the vet.  I wonder if they hurt him while moving him around during his teeth cleaning procedure.  He's on pain medication and I hope we see some improvement over the next few days.

I might get hooked on donkey driving

I've ridden Willo twice now and it's gone ok.  I do like sitting on her back.  She and I both need some more time in the saddle.  We'll get there though.  Yesterday I had my first horseback riding lesson.  Yes, a horse, one of those shorter eared equines.  Can you believe that?  The horse I rode, Stretch (a quarter horse), was very sweet, patient, slow and smooth, which is just what I need at this time.  Even though he was very smooth my legs are feeling it today. 

What I've really been itching to do though is hook Willo up to the cart and that's what we did tonight.  When she saw the cart she quickly approached  and checked it out.  She'd never seen our cart before so I wondered how she'd react to it.  She was totally unconcerned and willingly followed us to a pasture where I had cut a circle in the grass to drive in.  I thought it would be a safe place with few distractions.  She was very patient while we bumbled with the harness, "I wonder where this goes.  This looks like it might go here."  Eventually we got her hooked to the cart and after a little pause she walked while I led her. 

She seemed comfortable with that so James hopped in and took a ride.

After one loop I was going to take a ride but a thunder storm was moving in so we quickly packed up.  I was so pleased with and proud of Willo.  I can't wait to sit in the cart and actually drive her.  It'll happen.

Our livestock guardian dog

Keri is a treat.  Yes, she's still very hyper when guests come to visit, but I just love her.  She stays with the goats fulltime now and I think she's happy there.  Even though she could very easily jump over the electro netting, which isn't even hot, she never leaves.  Today she had a job to do as protector-of-the-farm.

I heard lots of barking and looked out the window.  I knew immediately by her posture what she was barking at.  She did the same thing last year.


She may look brave but I could tell the snake made her nervous.  If there was a bug or moth at her feet she would jump like she thought she was surrounded by snakes.  Watch the goats in the background.  They take Keri's bark very seriously.  Often when they're out in the pasture Luti stays very close to Keri.  Some of the other goats get nervous when Keri bounces near them but not Luti.  There's a bond there I haven't figured out yet.  Maybe they pass messages I can't read.

Much to Keri's chagrin, or maybe pleasure (I'm not sure which), the snake hung around for a few hours.  I've never seen a snake do that.  I think it was playing with her.

Don't mess with Keri's goats or humans.

Newspaper pots

Now that we have a greenhouse James starts lots more things from seed.  He goes through hundreds of plastic pots.  Two years ago he blogged about his little pot maker that makes 2 inch newspaper pots. http://whoisvirginia.blogspot.com/2011/04/pot-maker.html
When he said he ran out of 4 and 5 inch pots this year I decided to copy this newspaper pot idea and make some for him.  All I needed was a tin can, scissors, newspaper and a bucket of water.

4 layers of newspaper seemed to work best for me.  It wasn't too bulky and it was sturdy enough to hold its shape.

I made 40 of them and I think he's already used at least half of them.