how now brown cow?

These are our two new heifers, Rosaleen and Catriona- Irish names for the girls, as it was the wish of their breeder- Pam Malcuit. Rosaleen the bigger and older of the two went to the Houston Livestock Show and won 5 or 6th place, and the next week after that, her and Catriona who was down in a breeding pasture, were brought up the cold mountain(yes the movie was referring to this area) to Our magical place. Just behind those trees in the picture with the cows is biltmore park, where full civilisation is- movie theatre, restaurants, ymca, barns and nobles and the lot, so its quite surreal to have all of this here and that just o v e r there.....

We led the two of them out on the 3rd day I think it was... I had Andrew hold the older trained heifer and I had the wild baby - Catriona - who took a little while to catch..... but then Rosaline started flailing her head around and stepped on Andrew's foot...... so I decided to switch- and have Andrew hold the baby Cat and have me lead Rosaline- who wanted to graze and Cat was scared and needed to be as close as possible to Rosas. So we walked them around the lower pasture and then led them back up and gave them their grain. I don't know what is so good about grain but I love it too- pastries, breads, cakes- life without grains would be dull. Right now Flossy has been observed checking them out on the other side of the fence when I let them out to kick their heels up and she darts at them even with the fence between them to chase them off. And of course they run because they are babies. Sometimes I really want to slap that horse around, she's such a pukebrain. So it will be a while before i let them intermingle- need to see the calves more alert and strong- Catriona seems to have weakly hindlegs so some running around will do her good. They are so sweet, and so ancient looking and sounding, the long tails are lion like. And their moo, does bellow loudly and the big wet nose isn't like any of the other animals I keep. They seem to be bonding nicely to us. So next year, we'll enjoy their lovely milk- smaller fat molecules allow for easier digestion - supposedly- so lets see if we fart less- cheese fitz

new goats

On saturday march 27th, a trailer arrived at 10 thistledew lane with 4 doeling goats and 2 heifers. The goats are adorable! Twin nigerian dwarf mixed pygora sisters and two pygora doelings, one white and one champagne, both with wonderful fleece possibly even better than harold's so the combination of this flock should yield some amazing fleeces and milk. They are all so precious. No animal can make me as mad as a goat, but no animal is as endearing. You have to take both sides and take the anger with a pinch of salt- they are not going to change for no one! So we love them as they are. Right now I might be the only one who loves Harold= he's just so much buck...... the testosterone is overwhelming at times and I'm wondering what to do with him. He can get out of every pasture and every stall except the ones in the poultry barn that has chicken netting to the ceiling......... yeah he's the best at getting out, opening doors, opening trash cans and feed bins- they all have to be kept away from him. So lets see what happens with this one. For now we're trying to keep him off the does and let them grow a little more before he starts impregnating them.

horsing around

Paikea and Flossy often sleep under our bedroom window and I can come and lay with them. It is a beautiful thing when horses are so trusting and loving.

Their roundpen came today so I have to set it up and order sand to fill it with, then I can start training the two of them. In my drawings as a child, I drew horses being ridden in bitless bridles- that looked like regular english snaffles without the bit part. Well low and behold! Someone - a doctor has designed just such a thing. A english bitless bridle that applies pressure evenly over the entire head, no more sore mouths and more control with less pain. I am so happy! So my lovely ladies have freedom, bitless bridles, barefoot hoof trimming to simulate wild mustangs and the love put into them really shows, as you can see in the picture above. They are just so happy. Esp from what horses have to go thru living in southern california. Paikea is close to 17hh now and Flossy is atleast 15hh, so they are both ideal sizes for carrying many different riders on their backs. Lets see what type of riding horses they turn out to be..... some horses are really one person horses, like my first horse, he wasn't to be trusted with anyone new, so we have to just see how each individual comes along in life don't we. We'll see what these two get into SOON ENOUGH!

poultry fancy

So our first borns, the two roman tufted geese are doing well. They are highly imprinted on my voice and will use it to discern between the many dog and other people's legs to keep on track following - Gene around. Here in the photo the hens have come to say hello. None have pecked the goslings, they treat all babies near me with respect now, the chicks are another thing though..... like kids in school, you have to watch them, you can get bullies in the crowd. Introducing the goslings to the chicks hasn't been as easy, the chicks want to peck their feet.

The ducks are really lonely now that the adult geese are gone. The two of them follow me around as much as they can trying to keep up and at the same time stay out of the way of all the bigger animals- don't forget ducks aren't as nimble on hard ground. They go down to the creek now to dabble and bathe which is good, so they won't need a duck pond.

I've decided to get somemore snowy mallards, I believe I have two females on my hands. And along with them, some east indies black ducks and magpie ducks all from Ideal poultry. These breeds are all lighter and better capable of flight to help out in the event they need to scat! Ideal Poultry is the hatchery I'm turning people onto, because they ship birds out on wednesdays instead of saturdays like mcmurray, giving the chicks a better chance of survival. Mypetchicken.com is also good with caring for delivered chicks but their stock sometimes is questionable, like they sent wrong stock with one of my orders and other stock they did send were not as true to breed standards as one might hope......, now i have one hen with a crooked beak from them who has to be special fed to keep weight on, just not the best of stock... so I'm using them again this season only because they are selling barnevelders and penedesencas which I want to use for my dark brown egg layerx. Off the point- point being I'm ordering from Ideal in April- ducks and geese. With geese, I'm ordering some females just to help keep order and add protection for the smaller animals. So a small flock of females- white and brown chinese, pomeranian, buff and our two roman tufted geese, they'll be our flock/gaggle. They shouldn't be as loud, but they will still defend the other animals from predators and not harass the hens like my gander used to- that being the reason I sold them. So I think an all female team might be ok. We'll just have to try to find out. Worst comes to worst, they just have their own section on the farm.

The hens will continue to free range, though I might create separate housing at night for the bantams soon. They really get thrown to the bottom of the pecking order and a special bantam house is in order for them. I also don't want the large roosters on the small bantam hens. Anyway its time to go play outside. All this talk of poultry is just making me nauseous.....

pics from this morning

lessons in spirit

Everyday is a different day and a wonder to itself. Who wakes up knowing what the day will be like? We only gear ourselves toward something we know we might stumble upon, and often times, it is like we're stumbling around our entire lives. It is quite a helpless feeling and one I figure I better get used to. Every moment I'm not talking to someone else, I find myself more and more drawn to my own body and the way it moves and responds to outside stimuli. Self absorbed, the feeling of mental retardation seems to take place and yet my body is doing better than it ever did going about my daily chores in union with my body which connects me to spirit. When I'm alone and centered, then I can sing and all the animals come to listen and the power of sound is again met and I have their loving and full attention. In a quiet moment I found the silver the animals were after and ever since have kept it in my mouth and used it in every word....

farm babies update

the goslings got in the creek today- just a crossing twice to keep up with me!

they are good at following me around and eating grasses as they go. They hung out while i raked yesterday following me like two little luminous fluff balls.

The oldest chicks were placed in the forest patch today. They spent the entire day out and got all of them back in at night.

In the forest, something a little queer- queerer than me, caught my attention. The little pseudo cave I found a month earlier on the property had two rusty metal junk pieces way back in there and today they were gone... and there's a hole, which i didn't see before, but it looks like it goes somewhere, other funny thing is couple weeks ago a workman did some repairs on a fence and left a pick axe.... I thought I would need it for something.

when all is done with work that really NEEDS TO BE DONE..... i'm going to pick away at this hole........ wonder what will be found.