The last oak next to the new garden is down!!

               Even though the big oaks are down, there are still 10+ acres of trees to come down.

 This is what is next for the other new garden. We get plenty of morning light, but not afternoon light.
Getting cut up for firewood. Notice Maxmillian coming to see what he humans are up to.

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi


Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

And where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled, as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal light.



--St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)

Farm update

We've had 3 more lambs born this past week. 2 rams and 1 ewe. Her name will be Faith, as I have faith that we can make a name for ourselves with Registered Horned Dorsets. We tagged the 5 and banded their tails. At this time, they are making a 'puppy pile' under the light in the creep.

We've put the 5 heaviest /closest ewes in the lambing pen. Those poor things are so close... We are listening carefully for that sound of labor.

No pictures at this time. They are still in the camera and I am too tired to load them into the computer. So...I am off to the recliner, a good movie, dinner and a lap warmer. Hopefully to bed early to get in at least a couple hour nap before all 'heck' breaks loose in the barn.

Hmm...maybe dinner will be delayed. Someone is making noises. Off to the barn.

TTFN

What have we been up to the last few days...

We had 2 ewes lamb one night after another. This brings us to 4 ewes lambing 5 lambs (2 ewe, 3 ram) in 7 days. We are both working, and shearing has started up. We've not had time to shear our own yet!

                                     
                                     
                                      
                                                          A newly born ram lamb.

                                                        Tina & Ruth with their children.

                         Cloud is looking on from the boys pen wondering 'What are those little things?'

                                                     One of many very pregnant ewes.

                                            Cornelius. Father to all the lambs born so far.

                                      I am so very lucky to be married to this wonderful man!!

                                                    Candace and her new ram lamb.

                                               Gracie and Faith and a no name ram lamb.

          Faith will be registered soon. She will be going to the NH Sheep & Wool May 14 & 15, 2011   

                                           Hey! It is safe in here. No one can mess with us!

Hmmm!

What do you think?

Lambing has begun for 2011

Christina. Born Tuesday, 2/15. Mother Tina, father Cornelius. Will be one of our new registered ewes.

                                           Lillian and Cheyenne waiting their turn to lamb.

                                      What's going on Mom? Tina is giving you a little sister.

                                                          Ruth and her newborn son.

                                                                     Aren't I adorable?

The groundhog needs a shovel - Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011

The groundhog needs a shovel - Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011

Recovering from work and snowstorms

Sometimes people are so mean!! Read the comments at the end of the newspaper article here-

http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=When+storms+stymie+Granite+State+deliveries&articleId=6f5337d4-eb51-4e33-ba61-3075cc3c03fb

We tried our best to deliver your mail! But, when roads aren't plowed and are impassable, or the snow plow driver plows in your mailbox, you will need to wait. Or pick up your mail at the Post Office.


I am enjoying a day off from work. It is Martin Luther King day and it means that the PO is closed for the day. That just means that the mail volume is going to be incredible tomorrow and we are in for 6 more inches of snow PLUS freezing rain! Double whammy!! I am seriously hoping I don't get called in tomorrow, but if I do I will make the best of it and try to get you your mail...

TTFN. Off to skirt fleeces and hopefully get some on the blog later!

Happy 1-1-11

 No New Years resolutions for me, except to try to enjoy each and every day to its fullest, and to appreciate those around me more.

Happy New Year to one and all!!

May 2011 be more prayerful, healthy, prosperous, happy and family oriented for all of us!

Ewe & I Farm thanks everyone for a wonderful 2010! Thank you to all of our customers for allowing us to pay for our animals feeds and needs from your purchases. Another year we are still healthily in business and enjoying farm life with each other and our animals. (o; TTFN.

Merry CHRISTmas to one and all

And happy birthday Jesus!

Newport Holiday Farmer's Market

I will be here Sunday with my knit goods, yarn and fresh eggs from our chickens!!

Sorry I've not been here. Busy knitting a customer's sweater, and trying to get the new computer up and running. I still haven't downloaded the pictures from the camera...

Happy Thanksgiving all!!

I am thankful for all that we went through this year and what we will go through the rest of the year. This has been a growing year for us- vegetables, replacement lambs, lots of wool & wool products, and chickens. We have also had loss on the farm, but unfortunately that is part of life. Jerry's shearing business continues to grow and we thank all of his customers for their continued support of him!!

 The turkey is cooking, the bread machine is going, the pies are waiting their turn in the oven, and the veggies will go on when Valery & Paul arrive. I am very thankful that they are coming as well! 4 hours is quite a ways away, but not like Guam. I am thankful for my sister and her husband spending their furlough her with us from Guam, and that they are able to spend their Thanksgiving in Arizona with 2 of their daughters. They will be back in time for the youngest daughter's birthday. They are only 'home' every 3 years, and this is the most we've seen of them in the last 10-12 years and I am very thankful for that!

I hope this finds you surrounded by those you love, whether 2 legged or 4, and that you are having a good day/week/year. TTFN!

The chickens are here!

Recycled wood.

 This is all so new to me! I have never had chickens before, but have always wanted some. Now, we have 14 hens and a rooster. Jerry didn't want them near the house and told me to clean out the garage overhang. So, I did. Judy and Jean allowed me to recycle some doors, wood, and a nesting box. As well as their feeders and waterers.

During construction.

I needed to rehome some heat ducts (a house worth) to the 2nd floor of the barn, a van full of 'trash' to the dump, and the Gravely attachments all to 2 pallets, as well as other 'stuff'. Now we have a large chicken coop, and Jerry's tractor can go under the overhang to stay out of the weather. Now, I need to do the same to the garage. It is FULL of wool from our customers. I am sorting by color to go into blankets, and breed to sell or have processed into yarn, roving or felt pads.

PT 4x4s form the foundation. Psycho comes to watch.

 (I wish I could put these pictures in order, but Blogger is giving me a hard time about it. Sorry. But most of it is self explanatory.)

Cleaning out 10 years worth of 'stuff'



10 years worth of stuff.




Ewww! Found a dead woodchuck under all of the wool!





Grapes are yummy!

  Free ranging for the first time since we brought them home Tuesday night.

Isn't he gorgeous?

Can you see me?

 

 Inside the new chicken coop. The only thing not recycled was the chicken wire and the 2x4 studs.

The back plywood came from the original barn. The floor boards were left over from building the house and barn. The window was a free cycled sliding glass door. We took off the handle and lock and put it on its side. The rooster spends a lot of time there. The door, nesting box and feeders came from Judy & Jean. The trash cans for grain had come from another farm with sheep. The saw horses are left over from building the house. They are not good for anything heavy anymore, so the chickens get them for roosting. The roost posts are trees from behind the garage that Jerry cut down and screwed to the saw horses.

So far, the only expense is food, chicken wire/hardware cloth and 2x4s. I can live with that!

Romneys-One of our sheep

The thing I liked the most about our Romneys is the different colors that we have here on the farm. They are usually easy lambers and good mothers, but occasionally there is that one...

My favorite sheep here though is my Romney ram on my Dorset ewes. 9 times out of 10 we get a fine crimpy fleece (Dorset) with the length (Romney) that is highly desired by my husband & myself as hand spinners, and many of our customers. (You know who you are and I thank you!!) That 10th sheep still looks Romneyish.

This year we are trying Cornelius (our Horned Dorset ram) on 2 Romney ewes to find out if it is just the combo or if it makes a difference in the way that we have been doing it. We will know in the spring, after the lambs are born.

We like the other Romney crosses that we have on the farm. The other favorite is the Border Leicester/Romney cross.  We get the Border Leicester crimp and length and the Romney colors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romney_(sheep)
http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/romney/
http://americanromney.org/
http://www.romneysheepuk.com/
http://www.ehow.com/about_6318590_romney-sheep.html

Sometimes I dislike the human race!!

Why do we as humans act like the animals and think only of ourselves??? I just got off the phone with Zeilinger Wool Company. I called to pay for the shipping of my newly processed roving. At the end of our conversation, she let me know that someone with sticky fingers stole the cash that I paid to have this processed. That was almost $290!!! Why do people do that!? I realize that in this economy everyone is hurting and that Zeilingers is a big company, but they still have to pay all of their help, the electric and maintenance on all of their equipment. That may seem like a drop in the bucket to them, but at the same time they are a 'Mom & Pop' operation and that money missing does affect them! If you read this and are the thief, please return the money to them anonymously. Just drop it in the mail to Zeilinger Wool Company, 1130 Weiss Street, Frankenmuth, MI 48734.  I told her that if I had the cash that I would pay what was stolen, but I simply don't!! We here are a very small farm, trying to keep our business up and running ourselves.

BUT! To all our wonderful customers out their. THANK YOU!! For all that you do and for continuing to purchase from us and allowing us to keep our farm and keep our animals fed. Thank you again!

Fleeces are being skirted at record speed in the garage and pictures will be coming to the blog. When the roving arrives, some of it will be for sale in the natural color and the rest will be dyed. Stay tuned!

Getting off my soap box...  TTFN