Changes in the Wind

Nothing last forever. Sometimes, around here, it doesn't seem to even last a week.

We're always on the move, trying to improve and make life easier for all. So, what has changed in the past couple weeks? Well, we added a kitten to the homestead on Friday. Today Kristen renamed her "Roamer" in honor of her favorite boat that belonged to Grandpa David. Suitable since in not-so-many months hence, she will indeed be roaming woods and fields hunting down rodents and the like. We've had to find a different hay supplier because sadly due to some health issues, our kind neighbor, Mr. Clement, won't have enough hay to supply our needs this winter. And, with the generous gifting of a new-to-us refrigerator from our neighbor and friend, Roger B, we've made getting milk, cheese, and eggs easier for our goat rental and CSA share customers. How? Read on...

THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO VEGGIE CSA SHARES. Nothing has changed with that program.

Behold our oh-so-simple plan for providing your farm products to those who have signed up to receive them. Are you ready for this? When you want or need something, go into the white refrigerator (now living in the mudroom) and take what is yours. Y'all know what you have signed up for and I trust you to take your portion as you want it. It is now available for you 24/7; so whatever works best in your schedule, works fine in ours, too. I attached a piece of paper to the freezer and supplied some pens for you to record what you picked up and when you did that. Pretty slick, huh? To prevent other folks from missing out on products that belong to them, please only take products that you have already signed up to receive. Those eggs might look inviting, but at this time of year, we usually only have enough to satisfy those that are already reserved. But, do ask about additional eggs if you need them. If we have extras, we are pleased to share them with you. To date, this is the list of shares and rentals we have planned for:

Goat Rental (Monthly Amounts)
Nancy- 3 cheese, 1 soap, compost
Judy- 3 cheese, 1 soap, compost
Jan- 3 cheese, 1 soap, compost
Roger- 4 gallons milk, 1 soap, compost
Sherri- 2 gallons milk, 4 cheese (unflavored), 2 soap, compost
Dotti- 2 gallons milk, 4 cheese, 2 soap, compost

Egg Shares (Weekly Amounts)
Nancy- 2 dozen eggs
Judy- 1 dozen eggs
Vanessa- 1 dozen eggs
Sue- 1 dozen eggs
Lisa- 1 dozen eggs
Heather- 3 dozen eggs
Jamie- 1 dozen eggs

The final "change" I wanted to share today is more of an inspiration. I have yet to get bored with our farming business because it evolves just so to prevent it. Take our line of eggshell jewelry, for instance. I have always loved my creations. This is not meant to be a vanity, just an admittance that I enjoy what I create. Last winter when I added wire wrapping to accent my pieces, I fell in love again. This past week, there has been another inspiration afoot. I don't know what to call it, precisely, but I would love to share with you some of my latest creations. These are not available on our Etsy shop, but if you see something you want, desire, need or love, please let me know and we can make suitable arrangements to get your special piece to its forever home. :)

But, they all began
with THOSE...

THIS became THAT------------>

Unused Wire Wrapping Mishaps

If you are a facebook fan, you have perhaps seen these images before. But, with the kooky way facebook works, perhaps not. Either way, I hope you will enjoy seeing them. In the interest of honesty and full disclosure, I share this secret with you. For every new design I come up with, what you don't see are the many, Many, MANY pieces that are epic fails; a design that just didn't look right, a piece that crumbled in one of the various steps, wire wrapping that I could not get to cooperate with me. I'll set a few of these aside to maybe use at a later time, but most of them will go into my scrap bag until I collect enough copper or sterling to return for money.

In contrast, here are some that I just LOVE and hope you will enjoy, too:

It feels so good to be back to writing and sharing adventures with you. Tomorrow when I am at the Bucksport Farmer's Market, I think I will try to grab some pictures if the weather cooperates and I stay dry. Y'all might find that interesting and I would love to share some of the new friends I have made this season.

For tonight, it is time for this girl to get some dinner on the table and spend a little time with Sean. Thank you for stopping by today, friends. :)

~Sonja ♥

Guinea Fowl Update

Chocolate Guinea Fowl                   Pearl Guinea Fowl

Sean captured some fantastic images of our maturing guinea fowl population this week. It seems like such a short a time ago I was carrying them home in a cardboard box secure on my lap, worried about maintaining the proper temperature in the car lest they catch a chill and become ill. Now, only 4 months later, our raucous teenagers have graduated from their brooder and live outside in the coop with the rest of our poultry populace.

Neicy (black chicken on the left) and one of our Rhode Island Reds joined the guineas in taunting the dogs this day.

The 6 foot fencing is a joke in terms of keeping any of our birds inside it's safe confines- except for the geese (who have no idea that they can fly) and the ducks when their feathers are properly trimmed. The fencing is supposed to serve the purpose of creating a safe yard for our birds, away from dangerous predators. And, it works for those birds who choose to remain inside it. Mostly, they don't. They do use it as a convenient perch on sunny days. This drives the dogs mad, especially Fenn and Klaus who are convinced that the chickens would make the tastiest squeaky toys and are eager to test out their theory. For the safety of everyone, Klaus and Fenn roam free inside their dog play yard or remain on a leash when they are in the yard otherwise.

We are very happy with the decision to add guinea fowl to the farm. We are eagerly looking forward to their first eggs and molting. Why? I am glad you asked.

There are many uses for eggs and feathers. We'll hatch some eggs to sell guinea fowl to our neighbors who want to raise them.We'll sell some eggs to folks who want to eat them, use them for crafting, or hatching their own guineas. The rest of the eggs will be used here for eating, jewelry, and I have an idea to offer blown out guinea eggs for decoration purposes. Our guinea feathers are strikingly beautiful; black with white polka dots or tan with white polka dots. I think these will make fetching mixed media earrings. This is just a rough idea, but maybe I'll create a cool and funky line of earrings similar to the image on the right. Or perhaps, I'll make them more simple and use just the feathers themselves. Either way, I can't wait to get my hands on enough eggs and feathers to play!

Speaking of playing... Our family is leaving for Florida to visit with Sean's parents on Sunday. We'll be gone for a week or so. Caitlin and Justin will be here, holding down the fort or at least keeping the hungry masses from committing a full-blown mutiny in our absence. As much as we are all looking forward to seeing family and basking in some 80* weather instead of freezing ourselves in Maine, it is always with mixed feelings that we take these much needed (and appreciated) breaks from our work schedule. Florida won't be a complete vacation for us. Sean and I mailed a collection of 30 pieces ahead of ourselves in the hopes that we'll find the perfect venue to display and sell our jewelry while we are there. So, it will be part work, part play, and part worry.

We'll take lots of pictures of our trip and I hope we'll be able to report a new retail outlet in another state where you'll be able to purchase Lally Broch Farm Egg Shell Jewelry. How cool would THAT be?

Thanks for stopping in to visit with us today, friends. We're glad you did.

Sonja ♥

Neglect

I have been neglecting my writing. Not because I don't want to write or because I don't have thoughts, plans and ideas to share. I have been legitimately WORKING HARD and by the time I get settled for the evening and have a spare moment, my eyes drift close and morning arrives. Sneaky, sneaky morning! I appreciate that you have been so patient; it has helped me be more productive. Before I share all of that with you, though, first an update on our goats.

On Friday, Dr. Larson came out to the homestead to check the goats for us. We know what happened to Sapphira, but after losing Pepper so abruptly and without warning, we needed a vet call to reassure ourselves and certainly to address any problems within the herd. Dr. Larson was quite thorough in listening to hearts and lungs, feeling over shoulders, spines, and haunches, checking gums and eyelids, and collecting fecal samples. I never find "bathroom" humor funny, but I have to share this gem. Just as we were discussing the need to collect a sample, Ellie decided to oblige us with some fresh pellets. Dr. Larson looked around for her gloves and a sample container and finding none readily to hand, cupped her bare hands and caught the sample she needed. THAT is a dedicated vet! After a hand wash, the exams continued. Overall, the herd looked good and healthy. Ellie, in particular was still underweight and Dr. Larson suggested a Blue Seal dairy goat grain with at least .03 selenium and a higher protein content for all the does. Ellie's fecal exam showed some Barber Pole Worm (Haemonchus contortus) eggs, but neither larvae nor worms themselves. We just wormed Ellie with Ivomec 2 weeks ago, so we decided to administer another dose before Spring to catch any eggs that are laying dormant before they hatch and multiply. (All goats carry parasites. The goal is to control their levels, not eradicate them.) Otherwise, everyone looks good and healthy.

I did learn some new things with this visit.

(1) I learned that a "fat" goat may still be under-weight. All of our goats have great, fat bellies and a good heft to them. I did not know that, like dogs, you judge weight by running your fingers down a goat's spine. It should not feel "bony". Additionally, it is necessary to feel around your goat's ribs. You should just be able to feel them with a nice layer of fat and muscle covering them. Based on these tests, Abigail and Ruby need to put on a few pounds. We increased their grain rations slightly to accomplish this.

(2) I also started to feel a little better about my ability to tell for certain if a doe was pregnant or not. Dr. Larson's first question to us regarding this was, "Has she been exposed to a buck?" All the does had been exposed when Jedi escaped months ago- except Ellie. Dr. Larson checked over Ellie first and stated that she could not be certain whether or not Ellie was pregnant without a blood test. We explained that Ellie has had no opportunity to become pregnant, so that possibility was ruled out. Dr. Larson moved on to examine Abigail. Without a blood test or sonogram results immediately available, Dr. Larson resorted to an old farmers method of bracing her hands on either side of Abigail's belly and giving her a slight shake. According to our good doctor, sometimes you can feel the kids move in this way. Abigail did not appear pregnant based on a manual examination and that her udder has not formed at all. We did not think she was, but this confirmation was fantastic news. Ruby, Leah, and Rachel are all pregnant and are growing the udders to prove it.

With the getting ready for new goat kids, it feels like spring must be just around the corner. We are not alone in this feeling. Our geese, Justin and Caitlin are planning for babies of their own. Caitlin has laid 3 eggs so far. Justin is pulling out his chest feathers to help create a nest for his would-be offspring. And, he has decided to evict the chickens from using the duck/goose house without notice. Actually, he has become quite territorial about the yard in general. He feined at Sean a couple times this week while he attempted to collect goose eggs and outright bit him once! When the weather gets warmer, we will allow them to sit on their eggs, but for now, it is still getting into the low 20's some nights- too cold for hatching eggs outside! The ducks apparently want "in" on this, too. I collected 3 Mallard eggs and 1 Black Swedish egg this morning when I fed them. The first duck eggs of the year!

Along with all these things, we have finally launched our new "Farm Pals" program. I am so excited and proud of this program. It comes as an off-shoot of the idea I wanted to implement of "Farmer for a Day" program for 4-9 year old kids. Basically, once each week through the summer, we would host a group of up to 10 children for a few hours once each week. The "farmers" would  participate in farm related activities like: collecting eggs, help feeding animals, learning about gardening, story time, making cheese, and enjoying a farm fresh snack. Our "Farmer for a Day" program won't be ready to roll out until our barn is complete- hopefully by Summer 2014. This lead me to think, "How can I get children involved now?" and "How can I open this program so that children who don't live nearby can also take part?" And, that is how "Farm Pals" was born. It is an interactive, educational program designed with activities packages full of information about farm life. (Click the link for more information about it.)

If that wasn't enough, we also added to our farm products line available on our Etsy store. We have had available our homemade goat's milk Lally Broch Soap and our Lally Broch Scent Shots (to use in your tart warmer.) We have now started our line of original, custom costume jewelry for the farm chic farm-girl. Our one-of-a-kind, unique, hand-painted Eggshell Pendants are made from the eggshells of our very own beloved flock of chickens, ducks, and geese. Each one is a wearable piece of art. I am so in love with these and I think you'll like them, too!

A final bit of happiness, our selection of organic, non-GMO seeds from Fedco arrived last weekend. In a few days, Sean and I will start our 6-packs for this year's garden. How exciting and what a complete change from the sad events from weeks past.

So, that is the update of what has been happening around here. As Spring blooms, you may look forward to lots of pictures, some videos, and updates from Lally Broch.

Thanks for visiting tonight, friends. We're sure glad you did.
Sean & Sonja ♥