Farm News

There are stories to be told but little time to give life to them now. Instead I offer just the news without any attempt to bring you to the level of laughter and tears as it all really happened.

We recently borrowed a ram.  It has been on our "to do" list for several weeks and months but it did not move to the top until my neighbor Beth came over and taught me how to properly prepare a lamb shoulder roast.  We had a memorable feast and the next day Paul made arrangements for the ram to join us. We are hoping it is not too late in the season for breeding to happen.

The kids know to stay out of the pen and pastures but have enjoyed getting to know him through the fence.

In other animal news it is confirmed that Yuleme (one of the goat ladies) is pregnant! We wanted to know for sure before drying her off so we performed a blood test.  It looked easy enough on a youtube video but the reality of drawing blood from an animal was another experience. I almost fainted once but was urged to keep trying. Finally I called a nearby vet to give us a good lesson in it.  Still not sure I will ever grow into that task, I even threatened to leave the entire farm life behind because of it, let's just say I'm glad that experience is behind us.

Now with only one of the does pregnant we are happy to still be getting 2 qts of milk a day from the other doe Arabella.  We are considering staggering their breeding so we will always be in  milk but really this is just a reminder that we really don't know what we are doing.  And the reality of baby goats due to arrive in a couple of weeks will be its own reminder and experience.  But aside from any outcome from these animals, I admit over all the farmyard, these goats have won my heart and maybe that is why the blood draw was too painful for me to perform.

Meanwhile we are all anxiously awaiting the return of sunshine.  We enjoyed one day of it but the reality is right now it feels more like January with fresh snow buzzing around outside our windows and a chill in my finger tips as I type.  So I'll stick with sharing pictures from that one beautiful day.

William's been working with Polar everyday. Except for chasing chickens he is proving to be a good dog.

I am reading more garden books than I ever imagined I would and find myself still questioning.  So the greatest lesson I am learning is the need to simply put the books down and turn to experience as my teacher.  That is not an easy thing for me because I'm really good at mistakes and even better at beating myself up after the mistakes.  

May these trees, the plants, this land, the animals and even my children be understanding and forgiving of my inexperience.  May I see the perfection in the imperfection, be unattached to the expected outcome and simply embrace the experience.

That is my way of saying I hold both a longing and terror for this upcoming garden season.

The children on the other hand see it all as joy.  With a chance to dig in the dirt they discovered rows unharvested carrots, they were the colorful ones ranging from yellow, orange and purple.  We tasted them and decided they were more fun to find than to eat so most will be left behind as food for the soil.  

As for "the stories", just know there was a close encounter with both a opossum and a skunk in recent weeks.  I am happy to report that Paul was in town during both these episodes and chuckled his way through them.  So grateful to be sharing this life with someone who holds a cheerful disposition and willingness to do the jobs that no one wants to do.  I also look forward to someday (soon) reading his record of it.  Because "farm news" actually has the power to make us laugh and touch hearts.

Meet Emma

This is Emma, Maryanna's new 29" doll.

We started making her at the beginning of winter after visiting a friend who had a large collection of handmade dolls.  She gave us some fabric and let us borrow a stack of her doll making books from Germany so we could get started on this very special doll.

The time spent at the sewing machine for making this type of doll is minimal, it is mostly a lot of hand sewing and sculpting and I was happy to do that by the fire.

She is stuffed with wool and Maryanna selected a carved stone and placed it in her body for her heart.

The kids all thought it was kind of creepy as she started to come to life.  When it was time to finish her Maryanna gave her some anesthetic so she would not feel the pain of me stitching her eyes and sewing on her hair.

"When she was finished we woke her up and she was refreshed and happy to see the sky".

Maryanna selected the color of her hair and eyes, choosing the most beautiful colors in the box.  Since she is the size of a toddler I simply pulled out some of the girls' old clothes and shoes and they proved to be a perfect fit!  This outfit was one of my favorites, it was made for Clara for Christmas several years ago.

Maryanna says she is so fun to play with because she like a real person and so soft to carry.  They will have many good times and adventures together!

Maryanna says Emma especially loves to ride her horse named "Moonie".   She also likes to play "big sister" to Clara's doll "Rosie".

I have to say the time for sewing is hard to come by these days.  I limit my projects to what is needed most or to what brings the most joy. And this doll has already brought much joy so I am grateful for the dear friend who shared her knowledge and supplies and the cozy days by the fire that allowed for Emma's completion.

Peter's Pinewood Derby

Guest Post by Peter

Last Wednesday was the pinewood derby. The week before I went over to my neighbors house and cut out my car out not knowing I was going to win.  The cut design was very simple because I wanted it to have good aerodynamics.

My dad and I bought some green spray and painted it 5 days before the race. 3 days before the race my mom and I designed a crocodile mouth with teeth and eyes and a windshield nostrils. We also added a license plate and some other details.

The next night we started grinding and polishing the axles. The next day was race day and we did a lot of work. We polished the axles, prepared the wheels and weighed it. Fortunately I noticed some gorilla glue got in the axles and wheels so replaced them.  When we got that problem fixed, we noticed the car turned left so we fixed that problem also.

Before the race we met my grandma and grandpa at Jimmy Johns.  I got an unwhich lettuce wrap it tasted good but I was felling nervous while I ate it.

At the church my car weighed 4.7 ounces so we added on a penny and a nickel which made it about 5.0 or 4.9 ounces, some glue almost got on the wheels. On the first race my nickel flew off so on the second race I almost lost.  Then I glued the nickel back on and I won the Bears group. I got pink silly putty as a reward.

After I lost what I thought was the championship.  Then I was relieved to fine out it was only a double illumination so I had a second chance.  On one round and it was a tie between me and Byron which my dad said had to be down to the last millionth of a second.  It was very close but finally after several runs I won! I got a laser pointer and I also won the award for the buffest car. It was a very memorable night and I won't forget it.  It was worth the hard work.

Fun Times in February

February was both long and short.  Looking back it was fun, but while still in it, it seemed it would never end.  Here's a collection of photos that share some of the good times, as for the rest, there are no photos, just a pulsing memory of this packed farmhouse pounding with the energy of many restless children. I admit I sought the refuge of earplugs and an insulated hat on more than a couple evenings. For the rest, I grabbed the same insulated hat and simply joined in the fun and occasionally brought my camera along.

When the snow was fresh our neighbor Hank treated us to a tractor pulled toboggan ride.  He tugged the kids back along a path in the woods and around his pond several times.  We even tied another sled to the back and had 6 of us along for the ride.  Our dog Archie would not miss out on the fun and kept right on our tail chasing us along the trail.  

    

Back in our yard the kids mastered "snow surfing" and happy to report that only one goose egg resulted from it. 

We also spared a full morning for family sledding in the sunshine at a nearby park.    

At home it's been a constant chore to catch Pickles the barn cat before sneaking in the house. 

Speaking of chores, we've gone through a lot of wood this season, more than we were able to stack in November so we had another long weekend of it.



And to stay warm we've heated constant quarts of herbal tea and I'm still wondering how it is that even on the coldest of winter days the kids are leaving the doors open and stripping down to bare skin!

Valentine's Day was celebrated fondue style with fancy cheese and stale bread, and followed with chocolate and strawberries.  We exchanged homemade cards and coupons and Paul presented me with the most romantic gift of all..........a huge box of ear plugs!

We also spent a few evenings hosting friends and family.  Mary came with her family to help us look for Polar and that unforgettable evening moved from cookie making, chess playing, a into the woods dog search party and a tearful chicken funeral.

On a much slower day the kids rediscovered the comfort of hanging out and napping in baby wrap hammocks.

I rediscovered the ease of simply putting all the younger kids to bed at once, for as wild as they may have been just hours before, seeing them asleep and snuggled up like kittens was priceless!

And finally the big joy of February has been cheering on Charlie as he's learning to walk.  We'll find ourselves in circle and everyone will call and clap until he carefully finds his way into some one's lap.  Watching him slowly step and looking into his joyful eyes has been the much needed sunshine around here.  It has reminded me to not wish away even the coldest days of winter.

Finding time to finish

 This has been long winter, but apparently not long enough to do all the sewing I was hoping for.  These two outfits were cut out and started the first week of August.  I remember sewing the first half of them at the picnic table in the shade of the black walnut tree with chickens pecking at the little scraps of fabric and thread I'd drop.  Now it is all covered with snow so I'm back to sewing in the basement. The current season of my life however is not allowing for much sewing.  Since the week I started them in August these two outfits have been waiting for elastic and buttonholes, a simple task but not so simple to fit into my day.  But I've noticed how much the girls have grown over the winter and felt an immediate urgency to finish these and happy that a few free hours on Saturday allowed for it.

I'm thrilled how these turned out.  I've been hoarding this combination of liberty and linen, and Japanese fabrics for years and feel they will see many many wears.
 

I used a wing-needle stitch for pocket detail.

  

And shell buttons up the back.

The gray skirt is double layered

The red skirt has a large tuck around the hem.

The girls have out grown the matching totally and it is fun to see them wear the same outfit in their own special way.

The joy of sewing has been reignited so I'll be digging through my stash of favorite fabrics and aligning them with immediate clothing needs, all with the hope that a little free time with align in my favor. 

In other news Nanny just finished a handsome sweater for James, she has become a knitting pro and we are so lucky to be the recipients of her special gifts. 

Prayers for Polar

This is Polar, a 130 lb male Pyrenese, we brought him home last Friday to join us as a livestock guardian dog.  He is as sweet as he is fluffy and we fell in love with him in an instant.  But what we under estimated was his strength and the work it would take to get him adjusted to his new home.

So he joined us last Friday night and I was sure he would be happy and secure in the smaller goat pen.  By 8 am the next morning though he was gone!  When I discovered he was gone Paul had already left for the temple and the older boys were over an hour away at Paul's parents. Instantly I set Charlie in the high chair and put Clara in charge of him and George, then called to Maryanna to quickly throw on her coat and boots.  We ran into the woods calling for him but there was no response.

Not knowing what to do I instinctively called my mom, and cried, it was still very early in Utah but she got up, soothed me and let me let everything out that seemed to not be going right in my life at this time, the new dog running away was just the cracking point.  I was pacing the hay field still talking and crying when my senses came back to me, I was not properly dressed for the snow and I forgot Charlie was still in the high chair and I forgot to milk and goats and the cows and chickens were calling to be fed.  My mom promised to say prayers for Polar and reminded me to have faith in the impossible.

I completed all the animal care faster than I ever had before, pulled out my book of neighborhood #'s and starting making calls.  Again, they were here for me in an instant.  Someone came to watch the kids inside, there were two in cars circling nearby streets, one making calls to alert other neighbors and one with her dog back in the field and woods with me.  The breeder who only lives about 15 miles away came by also to help.  After a couple hours though he could be anywhere and there were hundreds and hundreds of acres of woods between us and his former home.

I did everything I knew to do, all before I could even get a hold of Paul on the phone, we made flyers and posted them at several locations, called animal control and drove miles calling his name.  It was hard to explain to Paul what happened, the dog just busted out of the pen and then forced open the gate.   It is also hard to describe how horrible we both felt, this poor dog was totally displaced.

For three days we kept praying and invited everyone we knew to pray for this wandering dog.  We spent hours wandering the woods and driving slowly down country roads.

We posted about him on facebook and craigslist and by Monday afternoon we had a few leads.  A jogger took a picture of what we thought to be him about 5 miles away, but it was another male Pyrenees, not Polar.  I slumped with discouragement and instantly heard a whisper "come on Alison, pull up your shoulders and exercise faith".  So I did and instead of heading home I suggested to Paul that we randomly stop by any home where we see someone outside.  A few more miles away there was someone getting out of his car and he said "yes!  that dog was here on Saturday but was too scared to come to me and ran into the woods".  We were encouraged but the reality was he could have gone miles since Saturday.  The next house was more promising, a man unloading woods said he saw him just that morning while he was trapping rabbits.  He drove with us back into his woods to show us where he was spotted and where he thought he may have run.  The man was very kind and even offered to put out some food and set up a camera to help in the rescue.

By now it was getting dark and it was time for dinner and family night.  Paul read to us from Gene R. Cook's book "Living by the Powers of Faith", we listened to the story of his scriptures being stolen somewhere in South America and weeks later being returned.  We prayed once again as a family, honestly I cannot count how many prayers were said for this dog.  Everyone was tucked in bed and Paul and I determined we were going to find him, we slipped out leaving James in charge.  It was cold and freezing rain so we geared up in insulated Carhartts, headlamps and Bog boots.  We drove slowly, stopped and got out where ever we felt like we should and kept calling for him.  I did not want to give up but Paul was scheduled to leave town the next day and I was obviously in need of some rest.  We went to bed still hoping for a miracle.

At 12:30 am I was woken up by the phone, it was our neighbor and Polar was just outside on his driveway, he had set off the driveway alarm.  We were over there in an instant but Polar was so scared and did not know us as his owners, we called to him in the dark and in the freezing rain and circled and searched around our neighbor's property but Polar stayed out of site from us.  We did this until 2:30 and soaked and freezing headed home for bed, we'd try again as soon as it was light.

At 7:00 am there was another call from our neighbor, Polar was spotted in the little vineyard on our property!  We jumped out of bed and Paul and I ran (and slipped on some ice) to secure the gates.  We finally had him locked in but he still would not come to us.  The breeder was heading out for the day but instantly made a detour to our home.  Her daughter was able to catch him and we had him back and this time secured inside a crate inside the goat pen.

I cannot describe the gratitude, relief, peace and comfort that followed, this was a miracle for our family.  We still have our work cut out for us and despite the emotional investment we've honestly had to ask our self if  it was right for this dog is to stay on our farm.

Paul fixed the pen door and we've secured all the fences and gates.  This dog will be on a short leash until he knows us and knows his place here.  The boys are doing a good job with him.

So far Polar likes William the most.  William checks on him several times a day and even took a little nap with him in the straw.

We are hoping he will bond to the sheep as they are most vunerable to predators.  So far though neither parties are very impressed.  But after the miracle of Polar's return, I am reminded with hard work and faith anything is possible.

And Archie our old faithful black lab is a good sport and looking more like a puppy next to Polar.

The other animals are not so sure, they are all on alert because honestly Polar does kind of look like a Polar bear.   So far though he has won the hearts of the humans so now I'm praying for it to work for all of us.