Thunderstorm Play Time

My love bugs needed some extra lovin' during the thunder/lightening storm:). Of course, it was SO DIFFICULT on me to do-hahahahaha. I love sweet piggie kisses-so gentle. Shamrock gives wonderful doggie kisses too. My two indoor loves:). I have other "indoor loves," as well, but these are the two that constantly seek my affection!

Breakfast Bake

Nummy Nummy breakfast bake with farm fresh guinea eggs, tomatos out of the garden, spinach out of the garden, procuitto, tillamook aged white cheddar cheese, and cilantro topped with black pepper and sea salt:).

Brown Thrasher Hard at Work

Well..... I decided not to disturb this little brown thrasher's bird house. Afterall, it obviously LIKES it's new home in the fabric softner box, lol........

Time with my Bestie

Oh........ How I love good "soul time" with my best friend. We have this unexplainable connection. I get so busy around the farm, I often forget to enjoy what I have. I fly sprayed her and she kept hesitating to go back in the pasture. She'd turn her neck and wrap it around me and would try to do the "kisses" that I just love and can't resist. So...... I promised her I'd get her back out of the pasture after I sprayed everyone else down. She patiently waited at the gate to hold me to that promise. After everyone else was sprayed, I pulled her back out just to hang out with her and love on her. It was really too hot here yesterday for any hard riding. My horses aren't acclimated to this heat and humidity yet, so I don't like to overly stress them. What an awesome time we both had.............. I love my Ayla-Bug:)!

Guinea Hens

3 of our 4 guinea hens finally laid eggs.

Bird in the Laundry Room

Will go to town today to buy a proper bird house for this little fellow. Has probably been working all night to build the nest (in our laundry room, in the fabric softner). Will try to relocate the nest into an actual bird house without disturbing it too much........ Lol...... Cutie!

I love my Yearlings:).

Yearlings in training:). Both are doing so well. When they are ready to "start" in a couple of years, they will both be super easy, as they are getting great training and experience now!!! Super star babies!!!

Pig Farts*!#

If you've never had a pig fart in your face, you're missing out, lol...... Kidding! I thought horse and dog farts were horrid. Turns out they're NOTHING compared to pig farts:).

Amelia with Bowling Ball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt1ndOop_tw&feature=youtu.be

Amelia with her bowling ball

Chloe getting Vaccinated

http://youtu.be/9KM5OaqZXsA

Chloe getting vaccines

Insect Repellant for Horses

I spray my horses every 2-3 days generally (or more often if needed). This sprayer provides better coverage and more even coverage. Even my "fussy britches horses" who don't like fly spray don't mind this sprayer.

Piggie Kisses:)

I love it when my sweet pot belly pig, Amelia Bedelia, wakes me in the mornings for her breakfast by gently licking my arms. She is so gentle, it tickles. So sweet!

Horse Shots

Got the horses vaccinated today with their annual West Nile and 5 Way...... I know some people don't like the 5 way because they feel it is hard on the horses, but thankfully, I have never had a problem until today possibly.

Immediately after I vaccinated my almost year old gelding, he started making strange faces like he was yawning. The weird thing is he kept doing it and wouldn't leave my side. I hung out with him for about 20 minutes until he quit doing that, and have been keeping an eye on him. I haven't noticed any other reactions.

IDK if this was from the vaccine or from a new horse treat I tried today.......... All I know is I was SUPER worried and even cut off pieces of a garden hose in case his throat seemed to be swelling shut or something. I would have shoved pieces of the hose down his nostrils to keep his air passages open.

Dang........ Now I really don't know what to do. West Nile isn't just a "maybe" in my area. Animals need to be protected.

Princess Mina

The sweetest little dog in the world! Willow-Mina.....

"Toothie" Time

Amelia getting her teeth brushed at night:).

Piggie Toys:)

The piglets LOVE their new bowling balls! I packed the holes in the balls with peanuts, and they spent hours pushing the balls around!

Randomness

Just some randomness from my day:)

Beauty

Beauty around the farm.

Round Pen Development:)

Tagging Pine and Cedar trees for my round pen:). Happy to be using trees from our property and not being an "over-consumer."

Fly traps

This fly trap has been up for maybe 2 weeks. It's almost full..... It is reusable, so I will dump the flies and add more attractant in a couple of days. These bad boys do their job and are CHEAP!

Insect Control for Horses

In my opinion, if you own more than 1 horse, it is way cheaper and easier to buy a sprayer and a gallon of insect spray (I use Endure) and cover their bodies from head to toe. You get a more consistent and even spray and it is easier on your hand than the normal pump on the small endure bottles. 

Goats........ The Most Social Animals in the World?????

Goats just may top my list of being the most social animals I've ever seen. They just crowded around to say "hi" and to be nosey:).

switched from blog.com to blogger.com

I switched my blog from blog.com to blogger.com because of the ease of use:). Thankfully I found something more user friendly........

Lil' Roto' Rooter:)

My beautiful baby, Amelia Bedelia, coming in from a rooting session outside. LOL....... The life of a pig:). 

Keep Out

Protecting my livestock is my responsibility. It is also my responsibility to protect people on my property. This sign may not look very neighborly, but it's going at the end of my driveway until we get a gate up. Have almost had people run over chickens, spook horses, pull up at otherwise inopportune times, etc.... The sign is great, but needs an "e" in unauthorized. Just ran out of room, so I made do..... 

Flowers

I love my mother's day flower because it's alive:). I love being able to plant flowers and plants I receive. It's a nice way to decorate the property and "live" plants aren't any more expensive than plants that have been "hacked up" and are waiting to die. 

Using What we Had

Besides there being a pig in my bed, what makes this photo unique is the "headboard." I didn't want the traditional headboard and had been looking for something that caught my eye. We had been cleaning out the old homestead on this property and came across the quilting board to which the blanket is attached. The quilting board is from the 1800's. The blanket was also found in the old homestead and is either from the 1800 or early 1900's (not sure). We cleaned the blanket and quilting board up and placed it in our headboard area. We love it! 

Fattening up a Horse

I have a yearling I have been trying to fatten up. I think I've found the perfect mix, as it seems to be doing the trick. I use pelleted timothy hay (soaked in water), milk replacer (yes even with a yearling), cool calories, and a blend of oil (corn, canola, olive, soy, and cocoa). She is a picky eater, so many tricks haven't worked because she refuses to eat them. But.... This seems to be the perfect "mash" for her. 

Apple Cider Vinegar-insect control?

With so many farm critters, it is important to be as vigilant about ridding and controlling  nusance/harmful insects as possible. For years I have added apple cider vinegar to my animal water vessels to help control insects and to keep them from laying eggs in the water. I figurerd if it works for my animals, it must work for me. So.... I take a tsp of apple cider vinegar each morning after my coffee and it really helps. I don't bother buying a particular or fancy brand, I just make sure it is actually apple cider vinegar and not simply FLAVORED as such........ I guess the flies and things don't like the smell of the substance secreted through sweat, and tend to stay away. Humans can't smell it of course, but the tiny pests can. 

Grounds for the Garden

I don't know WHY every plant I've ever been around LOVES used coffee grounds, but they do......... So...... I save all used grounds and sprinkle them on ornamental plants and garden plants. They go WILD for whatever is in the grounds:). When I said not much gets thrown away in my house, I meant it literally:). 

Goofin' Off with the Goats

When it comes to personality........ You don't get much more than with socialized goats. I just love my "Alley." She is always my shadow when I am in the pasture and DOES NOT like other women who enter. lol...... She will headbut my daughter, mom, realtor, etc..... if they come into the pasture, but never does this to me or men. I think, she thinks she's being protective over my hubby and me. LOL. I love her though!

Goat Worming/New Toy

Today was goat, pig, and sheep worming day. I rotate between Ivermectin and SafeGuard (fenbendazole) on a 3 month worming cycle. Because everyone was so good today and I didn't have to spend too much time chasing anyone down to get them wormed, they got a new pasture toy (an old wine barrel). They will spend many days jumping on and over this item I love, but hasn't been doing me much good just sitting around looking pretty. They will get wonderful use out of it.

Not much goes to Waste Here

Not much goes to waste in this household. I use the containers veggies, fruits, eggs, and other items are packaged in from the grocery store to start many of my seeds before I transplant them into our garden.  Much cheaper than purchasing "pretty" pots. Also with the cardboard egg crates, I can just plant them directly in the soil because they are biodegradeable.

Horse Hooves

Trimmed 2 baby horses hooves today. TIRED:)! Trying to do as much as we can ourselves to save $$$. 

Goat Hooves

Trimmed 11 goat hooves today and 2 sheep:).

Our Lives Would Never be the Same

Our lives would never be the same.......... We began our journey from the southern coast of Oregon to the southeastern US. ALL of our animals made the trip with us. I looked into animal transport companies, but NONE of the companies GUARANTEED all animals would be delivered alive. I knew my animals and their needs and personalities best, so my husband and I invested in a custom built stock/horse trailer so ALL of our animals (horses, pigs, goats, sheep, dogs, barn cat) could make the cross country trip as safely and comfortably as possible. ALL of our animals have names; they are all pets and are dear family members, actually. When an animal crosses onto our property, it gets a collar, a name, and a safe place to live out the rest of it's life.

We weren't sure we would be able to afford to bring everyone. We actually contemplated NOT making the move because we didn't want to leave anyone behind. I promise each of my animals I will take care of it (he/she) to the best of my ability for the rest of my life. My burly looking, but tender hearted husband actually shares the same sentiment:). We spent an exorbitant amout of money getting health certificates for ALL of our animals so we could cross the US legally. Wooooooooooooh! That final bill from the vet almost sent us into a tail-spin. Uggggg..... The vets spent a day and a half chasing and capturing my 2 rescue pigs so they could be vaccinated, ear tagged, and get their blood work done. Half of the many thousand dollar vet bill was spent on 2 pigs I basically rescued....... I knew if I left them, noone else would care to spend the time and money dealing with them, and they would end up in someone's freezer. NOT HAPPENING to any of MY babies!!!

We started our trip leaving Oregon in late September, 2013. I love the Pacific North West, I LOVE THE PEOPLE and we have great friends there...... I just couldn't hack the "over" 120 inches of rain we were getting each year. The ground never seemed to dry out and I was dealing with mud-on-top-of-mud with all of the animals we have. The weather was wearing on my soul, and I longed for change and a better environment for my animals where we could get out of the mud. The trip out with the animals took almost 2 weeks. We had to find "horse hotels" and/or fairgrounds where the horses, goats, and sheep could stretch out and rest each night. The poor pigs were confined to my tack room for the entire trip because if I unloaded them, there was no way I would be able to "re-load" them again (they aren't small). My tackroom was TRASHED, to put it nicely:).

I loaded all of the animals up with electrolites each day because I knew they would not consume the amount of water to keep them properly hydrated and I didn't want any serious illnesses or deaths. THANKFULLY, everyone made it and we didn't experience any sickness or lameness issues. To put it mildly, the trip across country was HELL, and I would never want to do anything like it again, but I am glad I did. We travelled with 4 horses (all atleast 1/2 draft horse, and 1 full draft who doesn't tie), 10 goats, 2 sheep, 2 pigs, 1 barn cat, and 7 dogs. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

So..... That's where our journey begins on our small homestead. We decided to cut expenses, and buy a "tiny" home. We realize what is important to US is our "family," which includes all of our animals. All of the excess "stuff," can be nice, but it comes and goes. "Family" is always there:). Our "family" even includes one expensive dairy goat I will never "rebreed" because her last kidding session almost killed her. Another includes a show quality sheep I will never rebreed because her last birthing almost killed her....... I reiterate that our animals are pets. We DO use some goats for milk and cheese, but only to the extent that they seem comfortable and healthy:). Is our hobby expensive? HECK YES! But, Hey....... What hobby isn't? It makes us happy, so that's how we focus our lives!!!