Snowmelt 2010

... and it is officially Mud Season here in Wisconsin. We don't have Spring with pretty flowers and clover and robins - we just get eight weeks of fog and muck. Well, that's what it seems like. When I look out the windows, all I can see is brown.

This is the first time I've seen the run without snow. It's located where the geothermal coils were installed. I do think I see a tiny island of pasture grass remaining...





"Please let me in! I'll wipe my feet!" says Boris.



At least Otter is already brown.





But Miss Molly's sparkling white boots have disappeared!



Molly actually hates stepping in anything oozy. She misses her very active exercise sessions, and instead tiptoes out and perches on the lone snowbank that remains. By the look on her face, I think Mud Season is making her a little bit crazy as well...



We all can't wait for May. In the meantime, I'm pretending I live in a sod house with a dirt floor out on the prairie. And washing lots of loads of old towels.

Yee HA, Back In Business

Yippee, something got fixed and my entry page is back to normal. Phew! Thanks to those of you who suggested WordPress - I did set a new blog up over there and it was indeed very easy to use. I'll keep it there, just in case Blogspot goes wonky on me again.

Summer on a farm - even a hobby farm - doesn't leave a lot of time for blogging, as you can imagine. Add to that new Facebook and Twitter accounts, and my life took a major detour as I caught up with friends old and new. Sorry - I have missed you and your wonderful comments!

We had many more hatchings of guinea keets than anticipated, the most recent being this week! We are inundated with guinea fowl. They really are the cutest babies - much more adorable than baby chickens. They're like little "scrubbing bubbles" that zip all over the place on their huge, bright orange feet.



We are still awaiting the shearer to clip the Icelandics and the Angoras, both of which must be shorn twice a year. We had snow this week, so I hope he gets a move-on, since I want the goats to get a decent growth on them before the truly cold weather sets in. At least they have a snug barn, and we have heat lamps should we need them.





Speaking of the snug barn, the Golden Laced Wyandotte chickens that Chef Jeff pasture-raised for the freezer are now having a lovely night's rest in the box stall, before their first (and only) car ride to the humane Mennonite butcher tomorrow. They had a week of feasting on cracked corn, carrots, and apples, as I spoiled them a bit. Perhaps I should have fed them garlic to pre-season them? Well, joking aside, they will receive a blessing from Chef Jeff before they make their journey. I hope we have treated them with the respect they deserved, and that they had very happy days here at Tuppinz Farm.

The livestock are all well. The dogs are all doing great.


Otter sleeps very soundly.


Molly stops chewing her cow ear to watch the big machinery pull up the driveway.

We did have to say good-bye to our wonderful kitty Max due to liver failure. He had never been a healthy cat since he first appeared here at the farm. The other four cats are all just fine. Despite our feelings about outdoor cats, we made the decision to move everyone but Abby out to the goat barn. There, they have two levels of room to run about; a large, heated bed; windows to let in sunlight; and no dogs to chase them. Boris and Otter were a little too interested in some of the cats, and the floorplan of the new house will not allow us to keep the cats and dogs separate any longer. Abby is older and keeps to herself - she will live in the studio and loft in the new house, in which the dogs will not be allowed.

The new house - ah, the new house. Did I mention the new house?

Suffice it to say, the old farmhouse in which we now reside is going to fall down soon. Literally. It will cost less to build a new one than to fix up this one, which in all likelihood isn't even possible. We also have five dogs living in this one - can you imagine trying to repair it? So... we have begun building a new house up on the hill and hope to move in in December.



The old farmhouse will be burned - not only to give students in the firefighter program at a local college experience, but also to get rid of all the awful karma, bad energies, and evil spirits which have clouded our lives for the past three years. I wish I could be excited about it, but the fact is, the experience of moving to a place where dishonest folk left so many very, very bad things really took a toll on me emotionally.

Thank goodness Chef Jeff has been up for the task of choosing counters, cabinets, flooring, and fireplace rocks! I never could have made a decision with so many choices, but he narrowed things down very quickly:



The interior will have a warm, Southwest feel to it. We will have geothermal heat, so the puppers will enjoy a heated floor in their rumpus room downstairs. I will have a larger studio in which I will be able to spread out my knitting, spinning, quilting, and painting, and I can hardly wait for that!

It has been a long and troublesome journey but I am confident that moving on up the hill will make all the bad mojo a thing of the past.

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Crafting kind of went by the wayside as Chef Jeff's company underwent a "rearrangement" of sorts, resulting in much, much more traveling for him (and many, many more chores on the farm for me - ouch!) Absence - and doing without someone else to haul the hay - really does make the heart grow fonder.

I am almost finished with my Drops sparkly shawl A/K/A "Dixie Shawl" (Ravelry link) - just doing the lower edge border now:



I've done two Baktuses (Bakti?) thanks to the pattern suggestion (Ravelry link) from Professor Nannette. If you are looking for a relaxing, mindless knit that will result in something infinitely giftable and wearable, and will let you enjoy your favorite sock yarn in a new way, this is IT!


Baktus Scarves In Drops Fabel and Koigu KPPPM from Yellow Dog Knitting


I'm loving the Fabel sock yarn's stripes.


There are more colors here than meet the eye initially. Very pretty.

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Things I'm Liking:

The color ORANGE.

This Swedish (or Norwegian?) shop's clothing - I wish I could get it here in the US!

I follow a number of Scandinavian blogs and I like their aesthetic. I'm a big fan of Carl and Karin Larsson, white rooms and white furniture with handmade accents, and the simplicity of the Gustavian style. I can't read the text of some of these Scandinavian blogs, but I enjoy them nevertheless.

http://miaslandliv.blogspot.com
She has many more great links in her sidebar!

http://posidriv.blogspot.com

http://shabby-roses-cottage.blogspot.com

http://kathrinesquiltestue.blogspot.com

http://blomsterverkstad.blogspot.com

http://maalaiselamaa.blogspot.com

http://angelattable.blogspot.com

http://mykindofblog.blogspot.com

http://whitecountry.blogspot.com

http://ljo-s.blogspot.com

And now I just realized that my RSS reader isn't working properly; those blogs have some new entries I haven't yet seen. Argh! If it's not one thing, it's your mother...

I'm thankful for Birkenstock Central, who restored my stinky old Birks and kept them out of a landfill!

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And so, dear readers, as the chickens go off to market and the "top" of the new house arrives tomorrow by semi truck, we embark upon a new season at Tuppinz Farm - one of gratitude for abundance. We are indeed very grateful.

Have a lovely week! I'm off to listen to the new episode of Electric Sheep!

This Week In Farming

Busy, busy week at Tuppinz Farm. Here are some of the highlights...



The sheep and goats were finally shorn! They are so relieved to be nekkid, as the days are starting to get very warm. That's "Fontina" (whom we call "Caribou" for obvious reasons) in the foreground. Need fleece? We have LOTS!

This year's Largest Fleece award goes again to our Jacob ewe Montana. Jeff tells me the Shetland fleeces are again very nice and soft. I'm looking forward to keeping the two badger-faced Icelandics' fleeces for my own use - they are identical in coloring so it will be nice to combine them and have enough matching wool for a big project.

I would have preferred that shearing not take place on the same day the farrier and vet were scheduled to attend to the donkeys, but on a farm, you have to roll with the punches. Farriers, farm vets, and sheep shearers are not as easy to coordinate as the business projects I was used to in my "former life". There simply is no option to have a "Type A" personality on a farm.

Poor Michelle had to have her shearing appointment on a day when she couldn't even be home! I hear her wether's fleece is really nice...



Potatoes are up and growing nicely. We're using this method.



My crazy junk garden is also doing well.



I tried to make raised beds using only materials I could scrounge up around here. I decorated with rusty bits of metal that were found on the property.



I'm growing lettuces, hot peppers, tomatoes, scallions, cucumbers, basil, cilantrol, parsley, three pumpkins, and sunflowers. We had lots and lots of rain this past week and the plants loved it.



We moved about 100 iris plants from the area that became the veggie garden, and popped them in the beds in front of the house. Several of them flowered despite this insult. We have planted echinacea I started from seed, as well as rudbeckia, in one bed, and roses in the other; next year it should be very pretty - all purple and yellow.



Little goats are growing like weeds, too. Here are sisters Elfine and Daisy May, almost all grown up (but still very tiny!)



The purchased Golden Laced Wyandotte chicks have their wing feathers now. Soon they will no longer need a heat lamp. They enjoy the thinnings from the veggie garden - feeding them teaches the chicks to eat greens (which they won't learn without parents to raise them) and it gets some good vitamins into them.



We had a lovely Wyandotte hen go broody. Unfortunately, before we realized she was nesting, we gathered the eggs she was laying each day for the refrigerator. We then noticed that she - and she alone - was hanging around with our single Golden Laced Wyandotte rooster... the two chickens we most hoped would reproduce. Hobby Farm Mistake #1027 - when the chickens you want to breed actually do, let the eggs turn into chicks!



So as not to waste her broodiness, we collected two days' worth of eggs which will hopefully become mixed-breed chicks, and stuck them under her. She accepted them readily. Hobby Farm Mistake #1028 - when you have a hen that is broody and you want to hatch out chicks, consider the fact that she is nesting in front of hay bales you will need to access in the next month - not the best choice of locations for anyone involved.



Last Saturday, we went to the farmers market in Eau Claire, at Phoenix Park. It was raining and quite cold, but we had a great time. On our walk back, I saw this Labyrinth in the park - what a neat thing!



On the way home, we stopped at a couple of places to fish for a little bit. Did I mention it was rainy and cold? The only trophy was an ugly thing I caught called a river chub, which went gently right back into the water. We gave up on a fish dinner and went to Tep's Drive-In in Augusta, for their amazing garlic fries. Got to love a place with carhops - especially in an Amish village.



I ended up the week with a meeting of my MaryJane's Farmgirls group yesterday. We met at Dee Dee's Diner in Northfield and had a great time chatting and knitting and sharing pictures.


Dianne, Kayley, Dawn, Michelle

We meet on the second Saturday of each month to just hang out and do whatever... we talk about animals, crafts, gardening, and end up laughing. One doesn't have to be a "real" farmgirl to join; as MaryJane Butters says, "'Farmgirl' is a condition of the heart." We're just a bunch of gals out to learn new things and meet new friends.



The weather has turned glorious. First hay cutting this week. Crickets, junebugs, and moths abound (one notices this when one takes up fly fishing...) Baby squirrels exploring their world. The glow of light as the sun begins to cross the horizon is more amazing each and every evening. What a wonderful time of year.

She's A Witch!

No, not Ysolda - she is perfectly charming! Although we got to YDK too late to join in the weekly Knit Night, we were able to tag along as Dixie and her gang took Ysolda to The Livery for snacks and drinks afterward. We ordered up a plate of smelt for Ysolda to try, because you can't come to Wisconsin and not eat smelt, right? She gamely tried them and even took a couple more on her own.

No, I refer instead to our poor dear Delilah, who is recovering well from her surgery yesterday.



You can click the pic below if you have an interest in seeing the actual surgical amputation site (clean, but not for the meek).



Dr. Bender in Whitehall did an excellent job. We are truly grateful that we can always rely on him. Delilah was feeling so much better after the operation that she attempted to gallop out to pasture with her herdmates! No more "dead weight" (ugh) holding her down and making her wobbly.

"Whoa, there, Nellie, you're supposed to be in recovery in the box stall for three days!" We finally caught our girl (a little loopy on the pain medications she'll be on for a while) and convinced her that there were fresh dandelions aplenty - along with hay, mineral, kelp, and a cool bucket of water - waiting for her in her private chamber. She's enjoying her pampering and the hand-picked weeds being delivered to her door. Her appetite is very good, which is a great sign.

Thank goodness Dr. Bourdon had come out as soon as we noticed Delilah limping. He got her on penicillin therapy right away, so that we were able to halt the progression of the disease through the tissue as quickly as possible, saving Delilah's life! Again, we are so blessed to have yet another good on-farm goat doctor - they are really few and far-between.


Delilah Just After Birth


Baby Samson and Delilah


Delilah and Samson, One Day Old


Mama Tulip, Baby Delilah, Jeff

After consulting three vets and doing research on our own, Jeff and I were still stumped about what caused Delilah's leg to go bad. There was no sign of injury in a fence or by another animal; the illness didn't present correctly for "blackleg" (a tetanus-type infection); and everyone was scratching their heads as to what caused the blood clot that destroyed her leg with no warning... until Dr. Bender mentioned something to Jeff.

"I've never seen it in practice, but I remember studying it in vet school - ergot."

"You mean like rye and witches?" asked Jeff.

That's exactly what he meant (and if you are Dianne RJ, you get bonus points for knowing what I was talking about when I ran into you today!) But for everyone else, I will "'splain, Lucy"...


Samson and Delilah at Two Months, with Mama Tulip


Baby Samson and Delilah, nibbling on my scarf.

Remember the Salem Witch Trials? And how young girls were murdered for "being witches" - having tremors, being possessed, seeing visions, going spastic? One theory which explains their behavior is that they had ergot poisoning. Though I see on Wiki that that's disputed, what isn't is the effects of ergot poisoning on animals.


Delilah at Three Months

We won't ever know the source (pasture, hay, grain, oat straw used for bedding), but thanks to Dr. Bender's recollection we were able to look it up in our copy of The Merck Veterinary Manual (thanks forever for that, Pamela! We use it ALL the time!), confirm Delilah's symptoms and progression, and solve our little mystery.


Samson, Delilah, Mama Tulip

I guess if something completely odd and out of the ordinary will happen, it's going to happen at Tuppinz Farm.

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In other farm news, due to the ground being litterally covered with fledgling birds, barn cat Barley is being held prisoner in the house (confined due to his penchant for beating the crap out of the other cats). He'll remain indoors until the birdlings can actually fly on their own. The chickens are quite amused by all the little ones and seem to think they are baby chicks that they are supposed to guard.


Baby Blackbird with Sumatran Rooster

Animals are just so... odd.

Have a great day! I get to sit and knit with Ysolda at Michelle's tonight!!

Hero, Part Two

A feature write-up about Jeff's grandpa appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today. It is here.

We've created a memorial website for Bill, which can be found here.

I also found a couple of photos of Bill in his younger days, which I really like. Thought you might like them, too.

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Photo caption reads: "William & Edward 12 and 15 yrs old taken spring 1929."

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Bill "bustin' a bronc" (you know I don't go for that method but that's what they did back then!)

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A newspaper photo showing Bill having a make-believe cup of tea with granddaughter Becky. She was born with Down syndrome and Bill did much volunteer work for Milwaukee charities that helped brain injured children.

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Bill and his wife, "Sutty" (Etelka) at Jeff's college graduation performance. The Chef's degree is actually in music, did you know that? He was a classical composer before he became a Pharm Boy (joke there...)

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Chef Jeff's been away in California but is returning tonight. I hear he shipped some wine home which is a good thing, as I think I'm going to be needing some in the next few days: Delilah goat had a blood clot in her femoral (leg) artery and now the leg must be amputated.

At first the vet thought it was from a tetanus-type (clostridial) infection, but then it didn't present in a manner that made him confident about it (the goats are all vaccinated for tetanus but this would have been an odd type of clostridia (?) that usually only affects cows.) He saw no sign of an injury - and Frieda The Just earned her name by being very careful about being the only horned goat in the herd, so she can't be blamed. So Doc Stan the farm vet thinks it was just a freak thing. He says things like this sometimes just happen in a barnyard, and we shouldn't second-guess ourselves about it being something we did, or didn't, do.

Delilah is doing as well as can be expected. There is no feeling in the leg now so she is not in pain, just uncomfortable. She is eating well and brother Sammy and mama Tulip are looking out for her, standing on either side of her when the goats get hay or a treat of grain. She's very good for her shots, but thus far, I have given myself one penicillin puncture and have swallowed some as well - I'm looking forward to Jeff returning to veterinary duty tonight.

We've discussed the potential amputation with several vets, and the vet that has seen to Delilah's needs since she was born is able to perform the surgery. He's actually really a small animal vet, and we always took the goat kids to his practice for disbudding under sedation. He gives us the impression that recovery will go smoothly with sufficient pain meds. Lila's attitude is good right now, so we're thinking this is the appropriate path to take.

So unfortunately I won't be able to attend Bill's funeral. I'll be here giving more penicillin injections and toting hay bales (split into flakes first, of course) and exercising the dogs who can't seem to be outdoors enough in the spring weather. But when Chef Jeff returns from paying his respects, I plan on us toasting Bill with something from Sonoma... and maybe having some time to actually relax and visit with Jeff for more than the five minutes a day we've had to speak to each other in the last few weeks... months... year?

Oh wait, baby chicks arrive in two weeks... and my cold frame just blew over - still haven't gotten my seedlings into the garden bed. No time for sitting still on the farm...