pictures!

Well, life has been going good here on the farm for the most part. A sickness ran through here the past couple weeks and got most of the family sick... we're getting over it though.

The weather has been considerably mild for it being late December - odd.

None of the dairy does are due till mid-February. But, there is a crossbred doe that my brother got a few months ago and we do not know her due date. She is very wide and heavy with kids. Yesterday her udder filled up, so I am expecting that she should kid pretty soon here.

Here's some various pictures from the past few days.

reflection in the pond,

 From the Left: Fighter, Grandma (in the coat), Hug and LaWanda being lazy sunbathing goats.

Hug and Grandma,

Prissy (& Aruba, behind),

Snickers,

Peppy, the guard llama,

One of the sows and her piglets having some time out in the 40 acres while my brother watched them. The piglets are getting big!

Have a great day!

Suriyah

new milking barn set-up!

Things are slowly getting set up in the new milking barn. Tuesday we moved out of the old room, and just had enough time to set up the floor and milkstands before it was time to milk again. Since then, I've just been slowly moving things in and getting it set up. It's going to take some time, but right now it is very functional and much better than the old room! Here's some pictures of the process...

bye-bye old milking parlor!

hello big barn!

we don't celebrate Christmas, I just have lights up for lighting and have 'em up all year long!

In this picture, on the right is a door - that is the "IN" door. On the left is the "OUT" door - when they are done being milked, they go out that way.

this was the first night we milked in there... the does were a little scared the first few times. They are getting used to it now though.

Have a great weekend!!

Suriyah

NEW BARN!

The new barn is done!! It took about 2 1/2 days of work totaled up from start to finish - not bad, I'd say. It is 30x50 and will be used as the new milking barn and kidding/lambing stalls. I am excited and very thankful for it - especially to my Granny who made it possible!

MidAmerica Pole Barn Company is the company we chose to go with - they did a great job.

Now comes the phase of re-arranging and getting all set back up. . . I think it'll be a little bit before we start milking in it ;).

Here's photos of the process, from start to finish.

Goodnight!

Suriyah

random!

Well, as I mentioned last time, the new big barn construction has begun. There have been plenty of set backs with the weather and such. All the holes are dug and the 4 corner polls are put in. Due to an accident the construction has been called off for a few days though, but it should resume soon and Lord willing, soon we will have a big barn!

I think winter weather has finally hit us!

Peppy, the guard llama!

Star,

Mr. Fighter (front) with one of his dam-raised buddies (behind),

Have a good day!!

Suriyah

just a few pics...

Just a few random pictures from the other day...

Grandma goat sporting her brand new coat. . . which she likes very much! It is a very toasty coat!

Have a good day!! Barn building starts today... I'll get pictures of the progress!! Right now the supplies are being unloaded.

Suriyah

Thanksgiving

Here's a late Happy Thanksgiving!!

I really meant to do a post yesterday, but the day was very, very busy! We'd been cooking for a few days, planning a large party. It went very well, and for that and many other things I am very thankful! Here's some pictures of our day (with captions :)).

This was taken after the party was over. Lots of leftovers are on the table. Today, we didn't cook, and still have a lot of leftovers.

Call us weird, but we did not have a turkey for Thanksgiving. Instead, all our meat was home butchered and so we had - 2 large hams, 3 chickens, 1 duck and a venison roast. The guys were in charge of it and they decided to try to do a deep pit roast. It's where you dig a deep pit, start a fire the night before so there are a lot of hot coals, line it with rock/brick, put your meat/onions/apples/etc in oven bags, which are then wrapped in foil. The foil bags are then put into burlap sacks that are damp, and thrown into the deep pit. It is then covered with a lid and dirt on top of the lid. Well, after the meat had been in there 8 hours we decided to take it out. It was not done, and probably because the coals were not hot enough. So we threw the meat into the ovens to finish cooking. It smelled SO good when they opened it up, and the meat after it finished cooking (in the oven) was also very good. Maybe we'll try again next time with a hotter fire ;).

We decorated the house for Thanksgiving with dear friends the night before up until 2am - so much for getting to bed early before the party :).

There was so. much. food. Since there are a lot of food allergies around here, all the food was gluten and cow dairy free. There was also a lot of grain and starch free foods for folks on special diets. It turned out so well and the food was so good!

lots of dessert!

green beans,

jell-o,

pumpkin pie,

sweet potatoes, and much much more.

Again, I don't think we have "normal" Thanksgiving parties ;). We almost always dance on Thanksgiving. . . gotta work off all the food that was just eaten! So without missing a beat, no matter how tired we were, we did sing and dance.

I am so thankful for everything in my life. God has truly blessed me with so much, too much to list, and even if things were not as great, there is still and always will be SO much to be thankful for.

Have a great evening,

Suriyah