Spring is springing!

Newt says: "This darn pink monkey can't even properly trim the grass without me constantly riding her ass! With a workload like this, is it any wonder I sleep 19 hours a day?!"

Now for something completely different - apples! We finally spotted some early produce cheap enough to give the dehydrator a trial run. These granny smiths were soaked in an ascorbic acid & water solution for a few minutes to prevent browning. I think they should soak a bit longer next time, since they did turn color a bit. But that's why we're experimenting before we bet a whole season's harvest on this one gadget.

Today we seeded paddock two and used our fancy one-ma'am harrow to rake the seeds in (a rake). We decided to toss in some leftover veggie and sprouting seeds. The mix included - Alice White & Cinnamon Red clovers, 7-way pasture mix (from the feed store), barley, broccoli & alfala & radish sprouting seeds, cauliflower, cabbage, peas, beans, zucchini, pumpkin, tomato, peppers & carrots rounded out the veggie selection. Most of these won't make it to maturity. In fact, we'll have to chop the squashes before they flower to keep them from crossing with our garden choices. It will be fun to see what comes up and who eats what.

More big news - looks like Lassie & Berry are going to new homes next week. We decided we really need to work with Stella and it's nearly impossible with the goats around. So they're going to a home with people who want more fleece goats.

Speaking of Stella - she's got a date lined up June 1st with a handsome lad named Bob. He's going to come up here for a 45-day visit, hopefully leaving Stella....with child! Bob's owner has also mentioned another, younger, bull possibly for sale, so we're going to see how Bob works out and decide if we can handle 24/7 bull at Seven Trees.

Here's Bob as a baby. He's actually 10 days older than Stella and comes from excellent milking lines as well.

Solstice lights, hooves and killer kitties...

Finally got our lights up this past weekend thanks to J. Went out to do some animal wrangling last night, so we took a moment to admire.

Notice the shock and accusation on these little muzzles.Usually we don't go out and hassle these guys too much after dark, but the goats needed their hooves trimmed, so here everyone is lined up when we finished... completely scandalized. Stella did not appreciate us "ma'am"- handling her goats. Not one bit.

And how about this little attitude problem?

Crichton first wanted to play, then quickly lost his temper with the stupid-pink-monkey.

Soon his rage boiled over, and he went for the kill.

Barnyard mods

I built a half-wall in one of the barn bays yesterday on my day off, to help block out the wind and rain a bit more. Next we'll build a stall door to match, so we'll also have place to shut animals in as needed. OR isolate the greedy goats who like to help themselves to Stella's protein ration of alfalfa or all-purpose farm blend. Baby Berry is so greedy he actually jumps in the low hay manger and eats while standing on the food. If you're considering goats, remember that they are greedy monsters! Anyway as you can see Stella took an immediate liking to the more enclosed space and settled right in for a cud chew.

Now that we irritating humans came out to harass her, Stella decided to get up and say hello. She's starting to settle in here at Seven Trees and seems a lot more relaxed.


Here are the "trouble brothers" taking a nap together. Fergus actually had his chin resting on Stewart, but both dogs know the camera powering ON sound, so if they are doing something funny or cute they can cease and desist, before we can capture it on camera. Of course Fergus sat up and Stewart woke up, but they're still kind of cute miscreants.

And here's Mr. Sophistication himself, Stewart, displaying his hotdog toy, with classic teepee ears happening. Stewart's a serious clodhopper and gets bigger by the moment. I believe he tipped out the scales at 67 pounds last night. Soon I won't be able to pick him up to weigh him anymore!

Turkey-day heathens!

Thanksgiving morning here at Seven Trees.

This is the herbivore-gang pre-breakfast. One thing we have discovered about Stella is that she is not shy about telling is she's hungry! Some copious mooing going on, until breakfast is served. We're especially happy as she's taken to hanging out in the barn when the weather is bad, and generally adapting well to her new home.

In honor of the Wampanoag and Patuxet's, here we are shunning a traditional pilgrim style T-day prep, and instead transfering over the pumpkin ale for secondary fermentation.

All after a dinner of crispy duck, chinese style. Mmmm-mm! Must also say the pumpkin ale tastes great, and we are looking foward to when it is bottled, conditioned and ready to sample!

This is Stewart with his duck, a graduation gift from his puppy-class instructor. He treasures the duck for it's fabulous hoot-squawkability, which he wanders around the house mouthing like a squeezebox. Here is collapsed in exhaustion after just such a session.