Wood Shortage

At the beginning of Winter we had a lot of wood ready for burning. Outside we had enough wood to be covered by two tarps. The outside wood consisted of various softwoods cut down this year and the woodshed was filled with well seasoned birch. The wood under the first tarp started at the stump to the left of Sara's tail.

Notice that one complete tarp is gone, the second is already in the process of being burned.

The woodshed had three rows of cut/stacked Birch wood on each side and 2 rows in the back. One side is completely burned and there is only a single partial row left on the other side. Half the wood in the back is gone, the way I figure it we have burned 2/3 of the total wood supply and still have the rest of February and all of March (still Winter) remaining.

Winter

I was looking at some posts over at Critter Farm and saw a picture of Pete and Reggie on their spools. My goats can't get to their spools because the spools are buried in snow.

The scenery is pretty but also a little bit sad and lonely. Come Spring the spools will be alive with little goats jumping and playing on them. I can't wait.

I want to thank everyone for leaving their hard boiled egg recipes on yesterdays post. The chickens gave us 8 eggs today so I am looking forward to trying them out!

How to Peel Hard Boil Eggs?

We have a lot of eggs, a LOT of eggs. The last few weekends we have been hard boiling about a dozen so they could be made into egg salad or just eaten straight from the refrigerator. We have been having one problem with this, they are very hard to peel.

These eggs are fresh, less than 1 week old. After boiling the eggs we plunge them into a bowl of cold water and then move them to the refrigerator. When peeling time comes the shell sticks to the egg and a time consuming battle begins.

Does anyone know any tricks to make peeling fresh eggs easier?

Life is Good!

The Ohio Farmgirl has presented me with the Life is Good Award. If I ever have a question, or just want to be entertained, I head right over to OFG's site and enjoy.

The rules for the award are as follows:
1. Link back to the person who gave me the award - check
2. Answer the ten questions listed below - check
3. Pass the award on to other deserving bloggers - check
4. Contact the other bloggers and let them know they have been tagged - check

1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this? If you are not anonymous, do you wish that you had started out anonymously, so that you could be anonymous now?

This blog is not about the humans that reside here, it is about the animals and how we and they adapt while trying to turning this place into a hobby farm.   Bottom line, the names have been changed to protect the innocent....


2. Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side.

 I don't have a stubborn side, even the goats find me to be totally reasonable.


3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?

A city girl gone bad, or country wild. 


4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?

I like a good Mikes Hard Lemonade followed closely by a DQ Mocha Moolatte.  

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?

  Kindle, reading.  Filling a tub full of bubbles would be next.

6. Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?

  Getting through our first kidding and lambing season would be enough for me, I want everyone to survive and thrive.

 7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person, or always ditching?

Overachiever.  My senior year I took 3 hours of science as electives instead of taking it easy. At home, I used to PLAY SCHOOL - how warped was that!

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?

  The day I married the Commander.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?

  I look at my blog (and the ones I read) as journeys of learning, everyone sharing sometimes hard and always informative lessons.  The happy, sad, bizarre, and mundane are all part of the life I have chosen to lead.  I have met so many online "friends" and learned so much over the past year that I am truly amazed about all the creativity going on across this country.

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

Read, not even close.


So that's it, you now know a little bit more about me than before. Hope it wasn't too boring.

Now the good part, I want to pass the award on to NancyDe at Hapless Homestead because everyone wants to know what it would be like to live in Hawaii.

Just so you can live the other perspective I will also pass the award off to Ian at Life on an Acreage, I figure Northern Canada is equally as interesting as Hawaii - dueling extremes.

Life here in NE Minnesota is Good (and really cold). It is like a fresh bowl of hay during the Winter, just ask the sheep!

How to Beat a Rug

Sara is a different kind of Border Collie. Sara loves goats, Sara loves herding goats, Sara loves visiting the goats barn. Herding goats is hard as they have zero flocking instinct, they have minds of their own, and they are very stubborn, yet Sara is very good at rounding them up.

On the other hand, Sara is afraid of female sheep and wary of the boys. Sara no longer goes anywhere near the ewes barn, Sara will visit the rams but stays well clear of them. Sheep should be easy for her, yet the ewes follow her around and it totally unnerves her. Sara is an odd duck.

The other day I was watching her through the window and when she thought no one was watching she would put her head into the snowbank and eat the snow like it was ice cream. If someone was watching she wouldn't do it, the only time she would go for it was when she thought she was getting away with something.

When it warms up I am going to have Sara help me clean the house, for as you will see she is very good at beating rugs.

Chickens on Ice

Leopold doesn't mind the cold, but he can't take the bitter cold.  He spent most of January in the coop, refusing to come out until late last week when the temp finally got over 15F.  I was happy to see him outside and surprised at how much he had grown.

I looked at his comb and feet for signs of frostbite but didn't see any.  He is a handsome fellow and much larger than the girls.

They all came outside to enjoy the sun while it was "warmer".  I put down the straw from the sheep's feed "sleep" bowl as they wouldn't eat from it anymore.  The chickens and Guineas loved rooting about in the hay.

The hay kept the chickens feet warmer than the snow, notice the "The snow makes my feet cold!" pose.

Even when Leopold stays inside I can lure the girls out with daily rations of pasta and yogurt or sour cream.  Note the girl on the right with sour cream all over her head. 

The temps dropped back to -2F today so the chickens and Guineas are back to staying warm  in the coop, but it can't be too long before "warmer" weather returns.

Sound of Music

Several Days this week have been relatively warm with temps in the high teens low twenties. For the first time in weeks the Guineas have come out of the coop and flown up into the trees.

For the first time in a long time the chickens and Guineas have been coming out to meet me at lunch time to get their pasta and yogurt.

They have a call that is squeaky and loud but I have missed it. Around here Guineas crying is the sound of music.