Well, We're Back

Very long, but covers the last 2 days...

So we did have a good vacation, it was just shorter than we wanted. We visited Shipshewana on Tuesday. It was nice but the flea market was mostly junk. I heard it is a lot better earlier in the season. The little shops were neat to visit. I thought it would take 2 days but we were ready to leave well before lunch time. We stopped by McGrew Tractor Parts. Brian walked around and looked at tractors and equipment for quite awhile. I was happy as a clam knitting in the truck. I even found the Dave Ramsey Show on the radio.

We drove over to Michigan City and somehow drove right past all the hotels, well within a block of them, without realizing it. We ended up downtown and then we drove along the coast for a long time. We were having fun but it was like something out of a movie. There was nothing for miles. Then we found a sign for the town of "Dune Acres". It was more like Green Acres. There was a nice little town clerk in a sheriff type uniform and you couldn't even get to the actual town because the roads were private. Yet it was in the woods/dunes so not very fancy.

Anyway that guy gave us a map and we found our way back to the hotels in Michigan City. We went out for a nice dinner and stopped at a little ice cream shop for dessert. Today is my birthday so that was a nice way to celebrate. Brian wanted to get me something but I talked him out of it since there are 3 different knitting classes I plan on taking this fall and those are expensive. That'll be a nice present. :)

So then things took a turn for the worst. We got a call about 8 AM this morning from our neighbor. He said one of our ram lambs wouldn't eat and was just laying around. We talked about it and considered our options and finally decided we should go home. We got back around 2:45. The ram was flat on his side and breathing heavily. Unfortunately it was the ram we planned to put in with our ewes for breeding this weekend. After calling our normal vet (out of town) and a backup (out of the office) we hauled the ram to a third vet.

The vet gave him a poor prognosis. We opted for blood work which showed that our ram's kidneys were failing. At that point he was suffering and so we had the vet euthanize him. It was very weird for me to be on the other side of that. Usually I'm the one reassuring the owners while they say goodbye, not the one petting the animal and feeling so bad!

At first the vet thought he was afflicted with clostridium toxicity. We vaccinated him against the disease but I don't think we ever boostered the vaccine so he may not have been protected. However, after doing bloodwork the vet said it was much more likely that the ram ingested a toxic substance from a plant or his feed. Clostridium would have affected the liver and not just the kidneys.

We're at a loss as to what kind of toxic he may have ingested. He is fed hay that we personally cut, baled, and stacked. All of the animals get hay from the same field and are fed the same corn. All of the sheep get the same pelleted supplement and his came from a fresh, dry bag with no mold. Both of our ram lambs have been in a box stall so they were not even out on pasture where they could have chewed on a poisonous weed.

Also, one of our 3 turkeys died while we gone. No obvious reason. I've always heard turkeys were hard to keep alive but these ones were pretty much full grown and have been fine.


To top it all off, when we arrived home after disposing of the ram his new marking harness and halter had arrived and were waiting on the back step. I guess I'll put it away for another year. We'll be taking our flock to another farm for breeding this year.

I'm sorry to be such a downer. Tonight I told Brian I think I'm ready for a vacation - ha ha! On the bright side, our neighbors did take good care of everything while we were gone. Someone even mowed our lawn! That was a great welcome home gift. :)

I took a walk around the farm to remind myself how good we have it. That's were the pics came from.

Vacation: Days 2 and 3

After the tractor pull on Friday night we followed my cousin and her husband in to Indiana. We had enjoyed the pull with them and had made plans to visit some friends together for the weekend. Our friends in Indiana moved there a couple years ago to join their family business, McCoy Dairy Farm. Brian and my cousin's husband had fun talking to the guys, touring the farm, and helping out where they could. Since my cousin is due to deliver her first baby in October and our friend recently had her 4th child us girls had plenty to talk about too. It was really refreshing to see a dedicated Mom in action who manages to balance work on the farm with parenting. She's my new role model! :)

I was really interested in the farm too. That barn in the picture is new - can you believe how wide it is!? Here's the very best part...those of you who have read about my desire for a milk cow will understand. They. have. a. miniature. jersey. cow. Her name is Elaine and I'm in love. First I got to pet her - and then I got to milk her!!! I wish I had taken pictures but I didn't want manure and iodine all over my camera. I spent awhile (maybe an hour?) in the milking parlor helping out. I've always been interested in milking cows so it was fun to try it. It seems like the type of job a person could get very efficient at with practice which is what I like. I told Brian I know where we're going to move if we ever have to rely on my income over his. I'd love to work for a vet down there!

That is all hay behind Brian. The picture doesn't do it justice - it was like a wall of hay in all directions.





I think Brian could have stayed all week and I was really enjoying visiting and, I admit, holding the baby. As the weekend progressed Brian and I found more and more things we had in common with our friends there so it was great to talk with them. However, the whole goal of taking a vacation was to spend time together just the two of us with no farming to get in the way. We headed out late Monday afternoon...

More to come soon!

Vacation: Rough Start

We worked and worked and stayed up late on Thursday so we could get out of here Friday morning. We planned to leave by "10 or 11" and pulled out of the driveway at 11:05. Typical! We left separately, me with the horse trailer and a ewe we were going to drop off at the breeder's and Brian with the pickup we were dropping off to be worked on while we were gone. I went to the bank, he made a few stops, and we met up at his uncle's (he is our mechanic).
I parked on the road and got out to check the ewe. I opened the side door on the trailer and was surprised that the ewe didn't startle and jump up. It took me a few seconds to realize why. She must have put her front feet up on the manger (4ft tall) and got her left front foot stuck in a big gap where the manger had rusted out. To make it worse, she tried to get down and ended up in an almost sitting position, essentially hanging from her foot with it way above her head and her toe pointing at the ground, thus make a hard angle at the last joint. I jumped in a straddled her, trying to pick her up so she could free her self. I started yelling for Brian to help and when he got in he was able to pull her foot out.
She would not stand and was shaking, obviously traumatized. I petted her for a few minutes and tried to calm her down. We were only 2 miles away from our next stop so we continued on. At Brian's stepsister's house we stopped. I was supposed to trim her pony's feet. Turns out the pony didn't want to be caught so we didn't get it done. We opened up the trailer and got the ewe to stand but she would barely put weight on her injured leg. She was in no condition to go see the ram so we headed back home. We parked the trailer in the shade, left out some bute (pain medicine) for our neighbors to give her, and put food and water in with her. I hated to leave her but we were running way behind and like Brian said, there really wasn't much I could do at that point. I will say that a newer trailer just moved up on our list.

Our next stop was Wind Racer Farm in Charlotte, Michigan. The farm's co-owner, Violet Hickey, had contacted me recently to say that she had some Blue Slate and Bourbon Red turkeys ready to go to a new home. The turkeys look great and we really enjoyed visiting the farm and talking with Violet and her family. If you're looking for local food in her area I would look her up for sure. We still have not decided if the turkeys are right for us. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to branch out in to heritage turkeys with the hope of breeding our own. On the downside we would have to feed and house them all year. I'd love your thoughts on this!

Oh and pictured here is one of Violet's Buckeye hens with chicks that she hatched herself!


On to Ohio! We rolled in to the Fulton County Fair just in time for the truck and tractor pull. Our friend Rob Foster runs Simply Red so we had fun cheering him on. Of course Brian likes it a little more than me but I finished up one sleeve on my latest baby sweater while I was watching! :)





Next stop: a dairy farm! :) Stay tuned for less talk, more pictures, and a lot more fun!!

A Weekend's Work

This is what I accomplished over Saturday and Sunday...


33 quarts of pears in all. They are chuck full of pears too since I hot packed them, the only one with much free space is that one there in the front since it was my last jar. Yesterday was my Grandma's birthday so I took 3 quarts back to her (they're from her tree!).


When pears were finally done I literally ran to my knitting...I was having withdrawals. I whipped up this little booty for my friend Maria. One more to go and I can seam them up and they'll be done.

I hope you had a great weekend. Back to work today for me. We'll be busy getting things done around here all week and then Friday morning we head out for vacation!! Wahoo!

It Has Begun...(drumroll please)

What is IT? Canning season that is. And no, that's not why I've been missing. I've been missing because my blogging addiction has given way to a Ravelry addiction which has led me to begin knitting everyone's Christmas presents now, while I'm still motivated and sort of have the time.

I promise to post more soon. My order of peaches came in tonight which will lead directly in to apple and tomato seasons which might clash slightly with the vacation to who knows where that we're taking the week of Labor Day. That will all keep me busy but it will give me lots of blog worthy material too.

I leave you with this. Anyone who can tell what it is gets an imaginary pat on the back from me. :)

Honeymoonin' (again, but where?)

So in honor of our fast approaching 1 year anniversary Brian and I have planned for a week off work in the fall. On our honeymoon we went down around Chicago to Moline, IL. We went for the John Deere tractors of course! While we did not get to tour the factory there were some good sights to see and we took a ride on the river (umm, the Mississippi? I don't know my geography...). Then we went through the bottom of Iowa and up to Wisconsin. We stayed in the Wisconsin Dells and visited some of the many water parks there. Then we rode the car ferry back across Lake Michigan and drove home. We got a late start and weren't gone the whole week but we had a great time.

I thought I'd share some pics since no one has ever seen most of them...













It is always hard to get away when there is so much to do on the farm. I'm tempted to just throw in the towel and say let's stay home instead. However, I know how we are and we WILL NOT relax and spend our time together if we're here, we'll find a project to work on, the cell phones will ring, and everyone will stop in wanting to buy hay or something. So we have to go somewhere.

Right now my only idea is to head out west a little and visit Mount Rushmore and the parks out that way. We want to drive so we have our own wheels and don't have to pay expensive airfare. We would absolutely love to incorporate some farm tours in to our vacation.

Does anyone have any ideas? What is good to do in the midwest or nearby? It doesn't have to be big or expensive. Last time I was hoping we'd find neat little stops along the way but we really didn't. I'd love your suggestions!

I Wish I Was A Cow...Or A Cat!

Can you see them?


What about now?


This is how our two calves spend their days. They aren't real interested in eating their corn or picking at the hay. They don't even go wild for the lush green grass like I expected. They mostly lounge around the pasture and sleep in the sun. It is a beautiful sight, and I'm jealous.

We don't have any set plans for the weekend yet. We may head up to the beach tomorrow and get Brian's Mom's camper settled in to her lot for the summer. I can hardly wait to get back to the farmer's market in Port Austin. It is the best one around by far, especially on holiday weekends. Then we have a lot of work to do around home, as usual.

What are your plans for this weekend? Is the weather supposed to be nice? I'd love to hear about it.

P.S. This just in...he's trying to help me type with his back feet I guess.