Soap Day!

This blogging takes a huge committment. I have been very bad about keeping up, I need a system like I have developed for everything else on the farm. The only way we get so much done is because we have all these systems and schedules, not very romantic of a farm life like some people think. But this totally works for us. So I am really going to try to get better about my posts.

So today I made soap! I have been a soap dabbler for a few years now, but my friend, Jennifer over at CedarHouse Soaps has been really encouraging so I made a batch this morning and so far so good. This is only my fifth batch in my life so you can see I am definiately a dabbler.

On the farm front, butcher hogs going to the processor today and I am waiting patiently for piglets, one of my sows looks like she will explode any minute. I will keep you posted.
Garden is doing well despite the weeds and the cold, cloudy weather. I am really hoping for some heat soon.

Loving the weather!

So the last couple of days we have had sun, clouds, hail, wind and snow, gotta love spring in North Idaho. Last week we got a couple of teaser nice days, washed a few house windows, raked some of the yard, even did some pruning and clean-up on Easter Sunday! Then back to cruddy weather. The good news, tomorrow is supposed to start getting nice so outside here I come! I need to get the rest of the plants to the greenhouse and finish transplanting. Also need to get my plant list together for my customer orders. Always so much to do and so little time. Just to keep you informed of the latest crisis, Alex was playing golf with a stick and cow pies and accidentally hit Alyssa in the head with the stick. Blood everywhere but she is fine. Lots of ice and attention and she will be good as new. Gotta love farm kids, they get hurt at every turn!

Crisis Management

So crisis management is the new term we are using this farm season. I got this great phrase from a farmer up in Bonners Ferry where we bought the steers and hay from. He says that farmers are always in a state of crisis management and that is so true! Just last week, the chick crisis,I was going to try to get some earlier layers at a local feed store that was having chick days on Thursday & Friday, that was a fiasco with the ones I wanted coming in early and being sold and the 2nd choice being sold out by the time I got there. Then the potato/onion crisis, my local feed store hadn't received them the week before last when I got my weekly feed, so I called this last week so my Honey when he was going to pick up my feed could get them. Well of course one variety of potatoes was sold out and they didn't have a variety of onions that I needed so I called another feed store had them put some aside for me and Honey picked them up for me on his way with my other feed. My regular feed store is assuring me my new layer chicks will arrive April 24 so I am trying to relax about the chick crisis.

Needless to say after the chick crisis last Friday I was a bit cranky, but came home to triplets from my oldest doe(goat) Mocha. They are the cutest babies ever!!!! If I was more computer literate I could post a pic. but not there yet lol. We have Milo, Mikey & Mia and they are doing fabulous! Made my day so much better! So the weekend went pretty well, got two projects done each day before the rain started so was happy about that. Just had a quiet Easter just the four of us, which was nice. Usually I do a big family party, but not feeling it this year.

So the new week begins with partly sunny skies, although rain is forecasted for this afternoon, just in time for the little kids soccer practice, which I said I would help coach. What was I thinking?
Do I look like a soccer player? Anyways, the crisis of the morning is that a barn cat ripped a hole in the greenhouse plastic and decided to have a party with some of my plant starts! I was not a happy camper this morning when I went to open it up! So doing a bit of paperwork, posting on my blog with my cup of tea before I go to clean up the mess, not too much mess but still enough work to make me mad and it wasn't on the list for today!!!!!!! Again, crisis management.

Hope to still dust, vacuum and clean the bathroom, we will see!
Here's to a better week ahead!

Happy Spring

Oh my gosh, I think spring has finally sprung! We won't mention that we just had snow flurries last Friday! All of our snow is melted and yesterday was in the 60's and today is supposed to be a bit warmer, yeah!!!!!!!!! So farm life has settled down a bit, we hurried and built a new farrow pen out of an old horse stall since our other farrow pens (all four) which are on the north side of the barn all flooded. I can't imagine why with all the snow pack! So we took an old stall on the south side of the barn which has a wood floor and revamped it for farrowing, just in time I might add. We finished it Friday afternoon, moved Wilma our sow and by Saturday morning she was delivering! 6 live and 3 stillborn, but we still have 6 live ones! No roll-overs! That is what I call it when the sow accidentally lays on them which happens more that I would like. But hopefully with this new pen our mortality rate will decrease. We have 1 more to build but I have time, the other two sows aren't scheduled to deliver until June. Finally got the meat bird chicks, have had a few fatalities but that is expected. Also picked up 5 beef steers on Sunday, we have been a bit busy! Our biggest excitement last week, which was the kids spring break and my honey's week of vacation was that DD#2 Amanda came up and stayed a couple days on the farm. Nothing like having an adult child come home help out and hang out at the barn and have fun doing it! She is such a farm girl at heart. This week she is home prepping and planting her own garden, I taught her well, lol. Well need to get to the greenhouse, I am starting to move plants there from the basement as the temps. are getting a bit warmer. Bye for now!

Okay, I had good intentions, when I started this blog. My plan was to post at least once a week, well obviously that didn't happen. We have had a bit of farm drama this winter. Of course the taxes got done and filed, and I have a pretty good handle on the paperwork and the seeds are growing in the basement. The barn is another story! We lost most of two litters of piglets to the cold and I lost 3 goat kids out of 5, and lets not forget the chicks which were supposed to be here last week but now I'm told not sure when they will arrive. Of course that will set the brooder schedule off for the season but oh well. I can't do anything about these things so I am trying not to stress about any of it. Just keep going on with what I can control at this point. It sure isn't the weather since we just had another 6-8"of snow yesterday and last night. I HAD a clear driveway, path to the greenhouse and my cold frames were clear, of course not now, lol. So today more paperwork catch-up and transplanting in the basement and of course more seed starting. Hopefully now I can post a bit more often.

So here it is snowing again, but I can cross something off my farm to-do-list, create a blog. I thought it would be fun to post about happenings on the farm and everyone could keep up to date about us. So, yes it is snowing again today, we have had record amounts, and the kids are home again today, so I have help with chores, yeah, and hopefully I can get some farm paperwork done today. This time of year is all about my planning and getting organized, we have the yearly farm schedule completed, and need to get all farm books in order before tax time. Once February hits, we will be starting seeds and birthing and the cycle continues again...