Lola's First Date

I suppose that there comes a time in every dad's life when he needs to send his little girl out into the world to experience life...and to meet boys.  That time came for Lola late last week. 



She and I took a ride in the Taco up and over the Green Mountains to visit Troy, his herd of 32 milkers, and this guy...



Meet Red.  Red joined Malawi (our crew's dad) this fall as one of Troy's herd sires.  Red was VERY interested in Lola.  He was perhaps a bit too interested and his attempts to win her affection only made our Lola more unsure of him.  It was quite a display.  Since we aren't quite sure of how successful the breeding was, we might actually bring Red here to Silver Hill in the hope that we can still squeeze some kids out of this breeding season.

 

It was a fun trip over the mountain...54 degrees and sunny in December.  As a bonus, my hands smelled of goat for about a day after our mission despite many washings.

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree (# 2)

This year's Christmas Tree came right from the middle of our yard.  It's a good 7 feet tall and a little wild around the edges, but it does the trick.

This is the final pine that was due to be cut down.  I asked, "What will we do for a tree next year?" and the response was, "Go find one!"  

Neighbors beware next year, as we may get desperate to find a tree!  I like to think of ourselves as frugal though and not cheap!

Got Eggs? We do.

This may be the first (I can't exactly recall) and last "Farm Update" for 2015.  The truth is that things are usually a bit too busy to write updates when the list of things to do grows faster than the grass.  The garden is extremely easy right now.  There are parsnips over wintering in the raised bed and the garlic has been in the soil for about a week.  The rest of the beds have been tilled twice this fall and early winter in an attempt to cut down on the cucumber beetles that have plagued us for the past two growing seasons.  The remainder of the rock "crop" for 2015 has been removed and thrown into the woods.  We hope that is the only yield that decreases in the coming years.

 

Without the cows, animal chores are quite a breeze.  The goats are well acquainted to their routine and have been enjoying some bonus time in the pasture and woods thanks to the beautiful and unseasonable weather.  We (and an in rut Winslow who is acting like an absolute fool) are keeping a close eye on Lola who should soon be cycling through her second round of heat for this year.  Once that occurs, she is going for a ride to meet Troy's new buck "Red" for a little date.  With any luck, we should have the first generation of Silver Hill babies on the ground in mid May of 2016.  The laying hens have really hit their stride within the past week or two.  Our current record for most eggs in a day currently stands at 19 which occurred yesterday.  Omelets anyone?