
It's been a while since I have made a blog and here is why. I have decided to make these posts more personal to me .. kind of like a journal and bring you along for the ride......on the inside of our real farmlife.
With that said, I cannot promise to be consistent as you will discover my life is well.. hectic. But I will do my best to keep up to date, not only for you but for me.
Today's date is February 1, 2025. We have now had one full month into 2025, and this year as already been a lot.
We kicked the year off fighting with house insurance. They demanded we change our Oil Furnace to something else, which is fine. That is now done as of last week, but then they also came at us wanting us to stop all farming operations - that is where we fight. Wish us luck! After 3 years of living on the farm and 10 years with the same provided, we are nothing but thinking WTF. Can't help but think if this is something bigger than just us.
On January 11, 2025 we were surprised with new life on the farm. We welcomed to new baby girl kids. Imagine our surprise... Toostie, new momma, just came out of the breeding pen 1 week prior. We thought we were on top of breeding this year, but apparently her and our guy Buckshot had made other plans. To my attentive credit, I did notice her teat enlarged the night before and thought that was odd, but I figured it was perhaps hormones as this is her second pregnancy and also she only has one teet due to an injury. All our goats look fat as they are extra fluffy in the winter (even their cheeks are pudgy looking), and we give them extra food to help them stay warm and they are pregnant. Baby goats is always a welcomed surprise.
Our livestock guardian dog has obtained an ACL injury. So he is on med's every morning until he is healed and is on light duty, which if you have a LGD you know how hard that is for them and you.
This year we processed out cows. That was hard. They were bottle babies, so we have had them a longtime. They were all alfalfa fed and finished and we are surprised how amazing their meat is. We had no clue if it was going to be good or not, as we were told never to pasture cattle on alfalfa... but we did and it is amazing meat. Marbleized and tender.
We have decided to adjust our soaps, and make them more "goaty". We h opt o have a standard smell, style and name for our soaps in 2025. Also for the body care line I have been playing with Tallow products.
Finally - we welcomed MORE life to our farm. Tilly our main girl has given birth to 14 piglets on January 30! We did loose a few, and as hard as that is, we have come to understand it is natural. Squishing is something we do our best to avoid but these little piglets are so tiny and so fragile and not fast when they are first born. Also with such large litters, stillborn's are common. We are down to 9 healthy piglets as of today.
All this is just farm related. Remember we still work full time jobs, and run Cody's Stone Masonry business ... and are raising 4 kids.
In this lifestyle choice is it rewarding, sad, joyful and hard work. We definitely question our sanity sometimes but then something beautiful happens and we say "oh, this is why".
Take care, my friends, and if you are on this parallel journey, I am proud of you and your work. Keep it up! If you support small time farmers like us, we thank you from the very bottom of our hearts.
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