OUR FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON!!

It's our first snow of the season. The weather has been calling for it.
I have been busy preparing for it with the animals. You know sometimes it just has to come down to get you ready for it.
I have all the animals waterers ready with the exception of just pulling out the extra water bottles for the rabbits. We will just change them out if they are frozen.

Tim gathered up hose nozzles and drained out the hoses.

We are expected to have freezing temperatures for the rest of this week. I think we have one day that the temperature will above freezing.

We had freezing rain mixed with snow. This always leaves us ice.

I had to find a ice scrapper for my windshield this morning. I didn't think about not having it in there. Who needs one in the summer time? Took care of the animals this morning and the barely noticed the snow. We will be pulling out our winter gear.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!

Can we just say I love our farm!!

 I enjoy taking pictures of my cows.

 They are fascinating to me.

 My ducks came to tell me good morning!

 Three types of people to surround yourself with:

1. The Inspired

2. The Excited

3. The Grateful

Got to have breakfast with this beautiful girl before dropping her off at work.

LAST RABBIT BUTCHERING FOR THE YEAR!!

The last rabbit butchering for this year.

There were 13 left and we finally had some time to do this on Saturday morning.

Several of the rabbits left some good and deep marks on Kaitlin.

Tim had a few himself.

Skylar and I don't help with this part of the butchering.

This leaves a good bonding time for Tim and Kaitlin. It took them about 2 hours from start to finish. They are getting faster with this job. 

PLANTED ELDERBERRY!!

I am a little late getting these Elderberry Plants in the ground.

I have a total of 5 plants. I had one growing in the Vineyard Garden that needs more attention. Right now it's too far away. It needs to be watered more frequently. Moving it to the Big Garden side it's closer to the water pump. Three of the plants I started from one of the plants from our woods. To my surprise, it started to grow. The other plant Tim and I got at the Homesteading Conference that we went to back in August.

Tim and I prepared the area. We laid this fabric cloth down. Cut 5 holes for the plants.

All we can do is see if they will grow next spring. I think it is in a good area for the special care it will need.

CHECKING ON ANIMALS & CHORES!

I have been adding the chickens back into the flock from the chicken tractors. Everyone has been doing well. 

Kaitlin out filling up Cosmo's water.

Me - standing guard to protect Kaitlin.

 You might be asking "Protecting her from what?"

Mr. T 

He only seems to bother her and sometimes Skylar. He doesn't bother anyone else. I have had to run across the pasture to have him leave Kaitlin alone. I am not sure what she did to make him not like her. Kaitlin wants to know when we are gonna eat him.

She's my funny one!

 For some reason Willow likes hanging out with the turkeys.

They are getting big and just about as tall as Willow.

 They are just as curious with her too.

 Tesla enjoying some homemade yogurt.

 Lookie there is Skylar. Don't see much of her on the farm.

She is filling up waterers for the rabbits.

 The baby chicks that Ms. Boss hatched out.

They come out on our side of the yard all day. They don't go back on their side until it's time to go in the Hen House.

They are all over the front of our yard. The other day the guineas were out with them and hanging with the ducks.

 Out checking on cows in the morning.

They look happy.

 You know a cow is happy when they are lying down chewing their cud. Not mooing at you for food. 

 For selling half of my flock, it still looks like I have a lot of chickens. Everywhere I walk there are chickens and guineas.

 These are some of the newest guineas added to the flock. Of course the older guineas don't want anything to do with them.

 We let momma turkey out with 2 of her babies from the tractor. My friend took 4 of her babies. We don't need a big flock of turkeys. So I was happy to share. It's funny that I still call them the babies. When he came by with a small box to pick them up, I realized I am still calling them babies. They are as big as their momma is.

 I have been throwing feed close to where they go in at night. This will help with the babies to know where to go back to.

 Changes of fall are starting to show on the farm. I like this season too. The changing of the leaves. Some of the chores get a little easier. 

 The mornings are very cool. We have been running our furnace because the nights are colder. 

I am so blessed to call this place home. It has been challenging at times. I have been strengthened by my growth and overcoming the obstacles. I still have many more to face. This farm has taught me hard work and to appreciate things that are simple. Life changes too fast with the seasons. Take the time to take it all in.

Grow and learn!!!

FERMENTED GARLIC & HONEY!

Fermented honey and garlic!!!

You only need 2 ingredients:

Honey

Garlic (I used 4 bulbs)

1 clean jar

 Don't buy the already peeled garlic. It doesn't work the same.

I got mine all peeled.

 I had enough and divided between two jars.

 Pour the honey over top to cover the garlic. You don't want to fill up the jar. You will have to open your jar everyday to allow the air to escape. But keep it sealed afterwards.

 You will need to turn your jar over daily. This just keeps everything mixed up. I open mine first then turn it over.

 The two ingredients together become a powerhouse to boost your immune system to fight off colds, allergies and flu. Combine the two ingredients and you’ve got a natural remedy to strengthen the immune system.

This is day 3 and already the honey is getting darker. I plan on leaving mine out for 2 weeks. It is ready to use or you can wait. 

Store in refrigerator.
You can use the garlic after a few days, but the flavor mellows after a week or two. The cloves will last in the honey for months.

HOW TO USE HONEY GARLIC INFUSION

Eat the garlic cloves!

While your body is feeling compromised, eat a clove every hour or two. You are trying to eat about 5 cloves a day. Once you feel you’ve boosted your immune system, reduce the amount of cloves. But, continue to eat for health maintenance.

Use the honey.

Use in cooking, tea, tonics or as a cough syrup.

WHY HONEY:

Honey is an antioxidant that is antibacterial and antimicrobial. It's loaded with vitamins and minerals and almost acts as a multivitamin itself. It can be used to help boost energy, boost the immune system, reduce allergies, soothe coughs, soothe sore throats, fight infections and prevent cancer.

WHY GARLIC:

Garlic is great for its anti-inflammatory benefits and it is antibacterial and antiviral. Garlic contains high amounts of manganese, calcium, phosphorus, selenium, vitamin B6 and vitamin C. Use garlic to decrease blood pressure, improve cardiovascular health, lower total cholesterol, prevent cancer and metabolize iron.

TAKING DOWN CENTER ELECTRIC FENCING!

Fall is here on the farm. The days are getting shorter. By the time Tim gets home it's almost dark. 

 So we work by flashlight. Kaitlin came out to help pull up the t-post. I got the poly wire wrapped up on a board.

 Tim and Kaitlin worked on getting the hard wire on the spinning jenny. Having the electric fencing around on the premeter made it possible to take down the center fencing. We still have one gate area in the front pasture and another one to the wood area to get the power under. But we are getting there. We did get in our other supplies and got them put on the t-posts in the front pasture. 

 Having more than one wire reel sure has made it nice to move the cows. We got the alligator clips in. This makes it nice to hook up power only where the cows are.

We use 2 strands on one side and 1 strand on the other side.

It does work and the cows stay in. Nobody jumps over it or goes under the wire.

The cows are doing great!

They move super easy.

I went to check on my Silkie Coop. We have a momma hen who hatched out some guineas. They are doing great but noticed some were missing.

 I had to go back in the run and looked up. Sure enough there were 4 of my guineas and a chicken was hanging out with them. This seems to be a nightly thing with them. I guess they don't want to hang out with the rest of the chickens.