8 weeks left

I know bad photo I need one of the kiddos or hunky hubby to take a good belly shot but you get the idea!!

Winter in the garden

We got a bit of snow the other day. I harvested a laundry basket of swiss chard and bok choi, I wanted to harvest the rest for the piggies and chickens but got too tired. I hate to waste anything so I have been giving the piggies the frozen veggies, they don't seem to mind that they are a bit crunchier tham normal. The chickens were offended that I would ever think to offer them such sub-par items. Chickens can be such snobs!!

Lucy and Coco

Lucy and Coco have been moved to the weaning pen finally. They are unhappy to be away from Galdys but they were taking most of the milk and really chewing up poor Gladys. Gladys wasn't too happy about the situation she stood by the pen and cried for days. Gladys is a sweet mama.
Lucy is doing so well. She loves attention and comes running when she sees you.. she can be a bit of a pest. She knocked all the eggs out of my hands yesterday so I would pet her!! I have been working with her and getting her used to being touched all over. I pick up her feet and rub her all over she could care less. Coco on the other hand still hasn't decided that being petted is fun. You can touch the top of her head but if you reach for her chin or something she shys away. She is so much like her mother. I wasn't sure that Coco would be brindle like Mable but with her long winter coat I can see some color changes. I will be anxious for her to shed this spring to see what's hiding under that thick coat.

Naughty boys will be punished!!

Trace our ram has been banished to the old chicken run. He is VERY unhappy that his ewes are not with him. He seems to have a dislike for pregnant farmers. Every time I go out to chore he thinks it is his job to knock me off my feet. He usually only does this during breeding and when I am not "heavy with child" I can just move over and he goes right past me but now lets just say snails move faster. I got to where I took a large stick out with me so I could pop him in the nose if he got feisty. He got to be such a pain that we had to do something. It was getting very worry some to me that he might hit me just right and hurt baby#6, so off to solitary confinement he goes. The ewes are bred and we expect lambs in January/ February so really there is no good reason that Trace needs to be out. I feel bad for just a fraction of a second when he gives me that "I'm so sorry mom let me out and I will be good"( see photo 2) look then we have the ears back and "I'M GONNA GET YOU"(see photo 1) look that makes me so happy that there is a fence between us. I hope he calms down once that baby is here and we can let him out until then he stays put!

update

It snowed here on the farm last night, not a ton just enough to make everything white and pretty. I love the first snow and really I love snow when I can stay here in the house. We have not really had any bad winter weather yet so I suppose it was time.
I went to the "city" yesterday for my Dr's apt. I thought that I would do a bit of shopping in preparation for the holidays. We live in a small town the shopping is limited to pretty much one store. I usually can get what I need here and don't want for anything else. I thought it would help inspire me for some gift ideas at the larger stores. We are working very hard this year to only get educational items for the children. I am really sick of cheap plastic toys. I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of "stuff" these stores had. I was incredibly ill and frustrated by the time I left the stores. I was looking for basic things..art supplies...fun cooking things... games... wooden blocks I didn't think that what I wanted was odd. It seems by the look on several workers faces that yes indeed I was a oddball for wanting something like watercolor paper.
I drove the 45 minutes home with gladness in my heart that we live in a small town. I am so happy with our little farm, with the cute one stoplight town and being late to church because we were stuck behind a combine on the highway... Life is good!!

Kindergarten crafts are the best

I absolutely love kindergarten. When they bring home little thing that they have made it just melts my heart.

Cheese

It seems like it has been years since I have had the time to make a good hard cheese. Summer for us is so crazy and this fall I was recovering form the summer and just did not feel like making cheese. I was really missing cheese making so yesterday I dusted off the cheese pot and got to work. I had to find my cheese stuff... it had been at least a year since I made cheese. I was worried about the rennet not being good but it seemed to work just fine. I found my trusty recipe and by lunchtime I was snacking on warm cheese curd. I got the curd in the press and this morning I was anxious to see how things had gone. The cheese looks great. Now we let it air dry for a day or two. After it is nice and dry I will wax it and put in the cheese fridge to age for three months. I bought a special gadget that keeps a fridge at just the right temperature to ripen cheese perfectly.
When we first started milking I would make cheese every week I learned a ton and made some really great cheese and some that lets say should be in a 1950's horror movie called "THE CHEESE THAT WENT BAD". I can just see women running with baby buggies screaming from a giant blob of stinky moldy cheese. I hope that my return to cheese making is rewarded with a beautiful creamy yummy Gouda.. only time will tell!