Just a day in the hay field

Using Pam's camera. She and I hung out in the truck and chatted while I knitted as we were waiting on the 'boys' to rake and bale the field. 208 bales of hay later.... We got home at 7:15 pm in 89 degree heat and decided to just cover it on the trailer. We have to shear this afternoon, and if it is not raining, we will unload it. Right now at 10:30 am it is 75 degrees and 75% humidity....

 Jerry on his new tractor headed out to rake

 John's new tractor.

 Pam in their new truck.

 Jerry raking, John baling.

 Sitting in the truck watching hubby load bales on 

the trailer behind me. Just waiting to move forward.

 Truck and trailer loaded.

Truck will be prettier once the back is removed

and replaced with a pressure treated flat deck.

There are 84 bales under that tarp.

Just a few sheep shots. Be prepared for lamb cuteness.

They are all too curious as to what I am doing than to be

doing what they normally would be doing. At least they

were fairly calm about me in their yard recording them.

Especially after I put 3 new lambs in their area.

Meredith is 8 weeks old today. So, she and Lucy & Lucky

were moved across the hallway in the barn to the lamb pen.

It is going to be a noisy 2 days here on the farm while the

3 lambs get used to being away from their 2 mamas!

Trying out my daughter's camera

 I found our little porcupine up in a tree.

The way it was sleeping I could not tell if it

was asleep, or dead. Until I shook the tree

 and woke it up. ;)

 First time I've gone down to look at the squashes

in quite a while. Other than losing 3 out of 4 of the

little cukes, they look to be doing OK despite not 

having a lot of rain. I am going to have to invest in

some hose to go way out there.

 The squash with the wool skirts around them are 

doing better than those without. I have plenty more

skirtings under the table to put in the tractor to take

down there. Between mulching out weeds, feeding it

sheep poop and holding in the moisture, it is a win-win.

 And, with me gardening with the no till method, I can 

leave the skirts in place. Just pull the spent plant and 

dump it in the compost pile. A little fresh composted 

manure in the opening for the winter. Dig a hole in the

manure and put in new plants next spring.

 Now to find the time to put in some pole beans.

 Callie Calico

 Jerry covering some of the hay.

 A young porcupine up a tree.

 We still have 10 lambs available for sale.

$150 each.

I am keeping one more female.

Carl the Cow's twin sister. 

Cara (as in Car (soft) a)

 That would be Cara with the hay on her head.

Patty Duke is to the right and slightly behind her

(in the picture below). He brother Carl is behind right

(in the picture above)

 Jack Black

 Looking toward the boys.

 The girls.

 Nea and Noggen.

 Yes, I know my ceilings are covered with spider

webs. We like our spiders. They keep the fly population

under control. As do the Phoebes. But, the 3 babies in 

the nest next to the light are so LOUD!!!

 The cabbage and broccoli are doing well.

But, then again, his nibs has been watering

this garden every couple of days or so.

 One of the upper gardens. There is some lettuce

growing along the stone wall. I need to plant some

more. In the weeds are peas.

See the pea pod?

Hopefully the video works on here.

The lambs are so cute!

Stay cool and have a good night all!

Cool!!

http://www.megacrafty.com/2011/09/tip-easy-way-to-make-felted-balls.html

Eventually

life will slow down, I will have a replacement camera, and the blog will go on.

We did not get much sleep last night...

Yesterday, Father's Day, was like most other days off. Work around the farm trying to catch up on everything that did not get done this spring as we were off farm most days shearing for others. Hubby hooked the hay trailer up to the truck after lunch and we headed to the hay field to pick up hay. (Yes. This year we went straight from shearing to haying. No rest for the weary.) We stopped for gas and got set up in the field.

I drove the truck while he picked up hay in the field. 5-6 bales in I see smoke coming from the passenger wheel area. I stop the truck, put it in park and shut it off. I go  around to see if maybe we locked up a brake. Smoke is not coming from there but from under the hood. I yell for Jerry, go back to the truck and pop the hood. He gets it open and black smoke pours out from under the hood. And, then there are flames!!!

I get out of the field and up onto the dirt road to call 911 for fire and police trying to stay calm through this ordeal. I then call AAA to come get the truck when the fire department is done with it and then I called my insurance company.

I never gave a thought to going back to the truck to collect any of my belongings. My husband did go back after my wallet though. For that I am most grateful as all of my contact info for AAA and the insurance was in there. I had a bag in the front of the truck with my Rolodex and a new address book, as well as my digital camera. I've been taking the address book with me most every time we are on the road trying to update all of our shearing customers, and to get them in a safer location than the Rolodex. The cards keep coming out of it and I felt it was time to do something different. But. that meant I lost every bit of information on our shearing customers. Every single detail.

So, no we did not sleep much last night. I was thinking about the contact book and he about the truck and different contents that we need to replace. Today and tomorrow will be a flurry of activity with phone calls with the insurance people and trying to come up with a list of items lost in the truck.

I am so glad that I had total coverage on the truck, as well as this rest of our vehicles, and that we pay for AAA. And, that no one was hurt.

Getting up at 3 am to get hubby to work by 4 am sucks, but it is a small price to pay. I have to get grain this morning before the phone calls start, and then we are off this afternoon to shear 5 llamas and to go to another hay field to pick up more hay.

I want to give a big shout out to our friend John Wylie for coming out to the hay field when I called to hook his truck up to the trailer and to help hubby load the trailer. He then brought  us, and it, home and then proceeded to help hubby unload the trailer into the hay loft. He will then stop by this morning to pick up the trailer on his way to the hay field and take it with him.

Our next big undertaking will be to find another 1/2-1 ton truck. I don't know yet what they will pay us for totalling the truck, so I need to be cautious about what I look at. The neighbor has a 1 ton that needs some work. We will go look at that tomorrow, or Wednesday. We also stopped and looked at one in Danbury a couple of weeks ago that has possibilities. Right now it is a waiting game...

I will end this post saying that I thank God for His hand in everything yesterday. It could have happened when we were getting gas. It could have happened on the road with the trailer fully loaded with hay. It could have happened any where. But God's hand was on it to happen in the field away from everyone and every thing. All we lost was 'stuff' that can be replaces. No one was hurt. And, the insurance and AAA were all paid up. Despite losing all that, God is still good!!

Off to get this day started. Hopefully we sleep tonight!

TTFN.

Another blogger's method of' handpainting yarn with the solar dye method'

Now that I have enough clear containers, and when summer ever decides to return, I will have to give this a try.

https://hippiepenguinfibers.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/handpainting-yarn-with-the-solar-dye-method/

I have dye in gallon glass jars, a LOT, in black trash bags on the front lawn, the cold water method with urea (http://www.jacquardproducts.com/urea.html), and TONS of stove top dyeing.


Off to feed and get my day started, off the computer!

I will have to give this a try. Bug Be Gone

http://theheartysoul.com/bug-spray/?t=THS

Skirting table plans

I posted these on my Face Book page, but thought I would put them all here to make it easier to find.

http://www.southerniowaalpacas.com/images/SUM07_skirting_table.pdf

http://www.dutchhollowacres.com/2009/05/18/poor-mans-skirting-table/

http://www.dutchhollowacres.com/2011/05/19/fiber-arts-friday-skirting-table/

http://cushyalpacas.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/category.display/category_id/63/index.cfm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vj3hH6qmsw&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLB0B08510169827FC

http://afcna.com/others/skirting-and-storing/

Barber Pole Worm aka Haemonchus contortus and FAMACHA

Ewe & I Farm got slammed with this worm a number of years ago. Before much was known about it in the North East. It took lots of research and the help of the likes of Pipestone Vet, Jeffers, and I believe Premier (it has been MANY years now) before we figured out what was wrong with our sheep. We knew they had worms. We also knew that the available wormers were not working! Finally it was suggested that we try Cydectin. Within a week, our flock was bouncing back. Before that, we were changing wormers every week, and worming for a LOT of the summer. But, everyone was getting thinner and thinner.

We now worm with Cydectin once a year. Right after the ewes give birth in the spring they receive their dose. They are covered, and their lambs are covered through their mother's milk.

We then check eyelids and gums and worm as needed. Since we've started using the Cydectin, and use more aggressive rotational grazing, we've not needed to worm any other time of the year. We may get an occasional sheep that needs Ivermectin in the fall, but that is rare these days.

This is where we buy our products. If you click on the link, it will tell you what each wormer (dewormer) kills.
http://www.jefferspet.com/products/cydectin-oral-sheep-drench
http://www.jefferspet.com/products/ivomec-sheep-drench


http://www.hobbyfarms.com/signs-of-barber-pole-worms-in-sheep-and-goats/
http://www.hobbyfarms.com/new-test-more-effectively-detects-sheep-parasites/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemonchus_contortus

https://www.apsc.vt.edu/extension/sheep/programs/shepherds-symposium/2004/03_managing_worms.pdf

http://www.whitecloversheepfarm.com/prl-articles/FarmingMagazineTheDeadlyBarberPoleWorm.pdf

And, the FAMACHA 'test' for checking for anemia caused by worms.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAMACHA

http://www.agriview.com/famacha-score-card/image_b8a3a6d6-8dca-5263-9ec1-66aab6111060.html

Meningeal worm

Brought to you from another blogger. Her post is very informative.

http://www.homegrownandhandmadethebook.com/2013/12/m-worm-nightmare-for-goat-sheep-and.html

And, probably more information on the deer worm/brain worm than you probably ever wanted. ;)

http://www.vet.utk.edu/news/story/brain-worm-(meningeal-worm)-infestation-in-llamas-and-alpacas.html

http://www.sheepandgoat.com/#!deerworm/czwc

In alpacas.
 http://www.bagendsuris.com/?page_id=269

In goats.
http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/meningealworm.html 

From me, and Hobby Farms, back in February.
http://eweifarm.blogspot.com/2016/02/prevent-meningeal-worms-in-your-herd.html

Ewe & I Farm does NOT have goats!

I got an email today for someone looking for a goat, I assume to eat. We do not have goats. I am trying to find the websites she said list us as having goats. We have sheep. Period.

One site I found says sheep, no goats. http://www.agrilicious.org/Ewe-I-Farm/about-us And, it won't let me log in!


http://www.localharvest.org/ewe-i-farm-M19539

All I find about goats on these sites is that hubby shears them...

15 lambs looking for their new home

These lambs and their mothers are NOT happy! First time they've been separated. They've got their own grassy area, and will stay in the lamb jug/kindergarten until they are all gone.