Clara , the pot belly sow, has finally has her babies! She was so big in the belly, she was dragging it on the ground for the past week and did not want anyone too near her. I imagine she was quite uncomfortable with that great size. Clara is a pink pig with grey hair and the boar is black. All the piglets are black, with a couple of them with white patches or white on the legs. I guess his genes are pretty strong, which is good, because Wilbur is a  super friendly unobtrusive  guy that wanders the farmyard and goes in all the pens at his will. So far he has neve rcaused any trouble and he stops for an ear scratch or belly rub when he thinks I will give it to him. I am hoping for friendly piglets just like dear old dad. Clara is not unfriendly, but does not like to be petted, though I can come very near to her. 

The ravens ate all but one of Clara's last litter of piglets. This litter was born under a blanket of hay which she pulled out of the big bales to make a bed for herself and her babes. When I looked for her, I only noticed a pile of fresh hay where there was none before, then saw that the hay was jiggling. Carefuilly uncovering a little, I picked up a still damp newborn baby potbelly piglet. Clara was busy birthing and was not paying attention to me. The piglet is so tiny and adorable. It yawned and I put it back carefully. 

Later when I checked Clara and took the video, she was uncovered and her bed was larger. She had pulled a lot of hay and made a trough with her body to contain the piglets. I sure hope the owl or the ravens do not find her there. She is not in a shelter, but just out behind the old pig barn against a large round bale. She was quite protective of the little ones and very careful when she plunked her big self down, so as not to squash a baby. She is a good mamma piggie. 

The piglets need 6 weeks to nurse from their mother before they can be separated. Hopefully they will all find good homes wiith loving families. Would you like a  potbelly piglet?

Goat kids are adorable and when the kid has blue eyes, it is even cuter. Stevey has blue eyes and is very small. He was a triplet and likely won't be a large Nigerian Dwarf buck, but he is sure a handsome one. Because Stevey is so small, he can get out of all the pens on the farm. So far, he is in a hoop coop, which must be like jail and he has not yet escaped. He climbed into a nesting box and found a hole where I would reach in to collect eggs and thought he might fit through, but I caught him. Then the hole was stuffed with hay and he has not pulled it out yet. He stuck his head out through the chicken wire but I don't think he can fit though the opening with the wire there. 
From time to time I let him out to see how he will do. Today I put him with the other  bucks and the rams and he did not stay there at all. But I did let him stay in the  yard of the little house. It is all good there except if he goes back to the west side where there are feeders that he can fit through. The reason he is in jail is because, even though he is very small, he is old enough to breed and he definitely wants to do that. He heads for the girls every time he is free. Goats are social animals and he is lonely, yet he won't stay with the males. I am looking for a companion wether for him, but so far had no luck. 
Stevey gets hay and fresh picked weeds and grass, plus a handfull of grain twice a day. He does not eat much of the hay  but usually makes his way through the greens.  He would eat a lot more grain if he could. He only gets a little because he is small and I want to ensure he has enough energy to grow. 
His little girlfriend, Nix, was  with him for a while until he wanted to marry her. Poor little boy is alone now. He is very tame and friendly and follows me around when he is out and  I am too.  I can't wait to see his kids. He may not be tall enough to breed some of the larger goats, but he should manage with the smaller girls. At least some of them should be blue eyed. The doelings from this year will not intentionally be bred until next year to allow them to fully mature. However, if Stevey has his way, that could change, and he is quite the escape artist already. Hmmm, time will tell.       

Finally, the little house was emptied today. I was nostalgic. I would like to move back when all the stuff is sold that I don't want or need now. It will take a while and I am giving myself three or four years, but maybe enough will be gone in two and I can move back for two years. I am grateful to have the house I am in, or a roof over my head at all, when so many do not. I just don't love this house. I have a hard time even liking it. It is so poorly planned with no ventilation, no proper opening windows and those that there are do not supply air because there is no cross ventilation. The house is larger but there is so much wasted space that is not even usable and no storage. 

The Mormon missionary boys came today to help finish moving out. Now there are boxes stacked upstairs, downstairs and in the garage with more outside the garage in Rubbermaid type totes that won' t allow the contents to get wet in case of rain or big dogs. It was a hot day at 27 with no breeze, but the little house remains cool. The beautiful large spruce trees planted in the 1950's, shelters the house from the sun, perfectly planned and the windows all open except for one, so there is a lovely cross breeze. The dirt basement is always cool as well. 

I had started to put down synthetic rubber tiles in the basement. First I laid weed cloth down, then rubber matting on top of that and then the rubber tiles. It is bright and cheery and made it much cleaner to walk on. The ants were the major problem and the occasional mice. When the mice got in, usually from some one leaving the door open, they always went downstairs. They ate right through the weed cloth, rubber matting and even the coloured rubber tiles. They dug and created pathways, sending the dirt out on to the tiles too. 

The ants live everywhere in abundance on this farm as I have never witnessed previously. The whole farm is one big ant hill really. This is the time of year some grow wings and attempt to leave to create a new colony. The are in the houses as well as outside. The ants move the sand on the wall sills and knock it down to the basement. I wondered why there was so much sandy dirt in the basement after I spent hours cleaning it, but it comes from the ant action. Spider also live in basements and the cobwebs seem to grow there. After removing the goods, the clean up will have to take place, so tomorrow I will sweep then vacuum and then even wash the tiles if needed and lay the rest of them, too. It will be a bright work space or play area for the renters. There was only one light there when I moved in, so I had the electrician install lots of lights and now it is bright. The furnace, hot water tank, water softener and iron remover are downstairs too. The iron remover should have been installed at the point of entry of the water from the well, which is in the other house, but as usual the contractor was incompetent then closed his business. Now I have to hire a different plumber to remove the system and reinstall it in the other house so it services both houses. 

So, after the day of moving, chores were done and it is with a heavy heart I will clean tomorrow. My dream of the bed and breakfast was shattered by the fall in the economy, particularly the oil industry which serves this area. The dream of the farm is still up and running strong, but the wind is out of my sales. I will have to go back to work as well to support the two houses and the animals and myself without the income from the bed and breakfast, but so be it. 

I also think it is not a bad thing that has happened. It is forcing me to deal with things sooner than I had hoped, but knowing myself, I would have put them off until the last minutes anyhow. Now I have no choice but to slowly wade through things and pare down to a bare minimum. Do you need anything? I have lots? The paint will be left

Not all the fleeces were put in the suint bath.Some worked better than others. The best were the Cotswold and the Blue Faced Leicester. With a proper wash in hot water, they should be clean as a whistle now. The Babydoll did very well in the suint bath too. The mohair, goat fibre, was not put in the suint bath since it does not have wool grease. There are comments for the individual photos. The suint bath took three weeks as it was the initial one this year. Once the fermentation liquid is established, subsequent fleeces only should take a few days. I have a few more I would like to try before emptying the stinky liquid in the garden. It makes excellent fertilizer! 

Last year I got creative and made a helmet style hat from some home spun very soft wool that a friend traded for fleece. I love that hat because it protects my face when it is very cold and wool is warm even if it is wet. Since the front freezes a little or gets wet from the moisture in my breath, the wool was the perfect solution. I am so in love with wool, real wool . It is the perfect fibre for so many things, like a new hat. 

I ordered some Corriedale wool from a mill in the south of Alberta. Corriedale is a spongy, springy wool that retains its shape well when made into things, but it is not known for being overly soft. There is some hay left in the wool, but not much and most of it is coming out when I am crocheting. So far the hat is made from the top down and I intend to just not connect the stiched where the eyes are so that it is a sort of balaclava, similar to my last year's creation. I don't have a pattern and just make it up as I am going along, not really sure how it will turn out. I want to make another similar hat for Travis and line it with felted wool. He will be working outside in Edmonton this winter. The only thing is he won't be able to throw it in the wash with his other things since it is not preshrunk. I don't mind washing it when he comes out if he remembers to bring it or if he will wear it at all. 

This hat will have a built in collar, or rather just keep on going down to the chest. There is a small opening in every coat, it seems, where the zipper meets at the top, that lets the cold air in. Believe me, when I am working outside in 40 below, I feel that, so the hat I made last year went down that far. I like it so well, that I am making this one because sometimes I have to go out twice in one day and the hat has not dried. It feels uncomfortable to put a wet woolen hat over my face. Two hats would give me the option to switch between them. When I was younger my hands used to go numb when I was crocheting and they hurt terribly. I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. I think carpal tunnel is a result of underusing the hands then overusing them. I have not suffered from carpal tunnel much over the years, but now that I am a farmer and using my hands to do hard and heavy work, I think they are mostly healed. I don't sit and crochet all day though. There are too mamy other things to do. 

Sor far, so good though. What do you think?

When I first came to the farm, the only fence there was was a rail fence around the yard to keep the boarded cows out. There were two 14 foot gates. Today there are pens and fences all around the yard. On the south, this spring, the fence for the sheep and goats and the 3 cows was finally finished, 4 years after wishing for it. You see, if one wishes long enough and is also determined, things can happen. The ewes and does are there with their little ones. On the north side the fence to the highway was completed 2 years ago, but the rest to the east was added this spring as well. The rams have more fenced area than they need by far, so the new section is closed and will be kept for the ewes when they are returned to that side if the snow does not come first. It is also an area of heavy bush and small animals could be easy prey. That is where the fox got the baby goat early this summer. The rams would be quite safe from a fox, being much larger and rather agressive if they need to be. 

The wood fence that delineates the farm yard from the home yard is mainly to keep the birds in. Last year and this year, the birds reproduced at an enormous rate and towards the end of summer, there were well over 100 birds. This year is the same. I will have to count the chickens, ducks and geese, but I actually know there are 13 turkeys. The two turkey hens produced ten young ones and there is a tom turkey of course. That wood fence is rustic and unpainted, weathering the way it should. I thought I might put an oil stain on it to protect it, but this year I am consumed with moving. Hopefully, painting the outbuildings, maybe the houses and certainly the wooden fence should be possible. 

Today I bought two large 19 foot long by 6 foot high chain link panels and my friend Dale helped set them up to create a catch pen for the sheep and goats on the south side. There is one on the north side already, but rather than run them across the yard, this will be much easier. I will close the pen with a livestock panel and clips. It is small, approximately 20 x 20 and the animals should be very crowded in it, which is perfect because they are easy to catch then. The deck chair is still in the wrapper due to my mental block about assembling things, but it would be a great asset for hoof trimming and medication in that pen, so I guess I have to put it together. The pen will also serve as a winter pen for breeding. It is a good size for 3-5 sheep and one ram. There are 2 Jacobs and a ram, 2 Blue Faced Leceisters and a ram, and so on, so there are lots of sheep to choose from. A winter shelter will have to built on skids and dragged into the pen when breeding time comes the first  week of November. 

The cost of fencing is one that is never recovered. For some, it is a selling point, but for most, they could care less, especially here, since they basically only raise big cows here. Still, for the next few years, the addition of these fences will make life so much easier, the animals so much healthier since they are able to eat fresh pasture and bush all summer and ease the pressure of feeding hay until the snow comes. 

Although I did not do any of the wire fencing, I certainly built some of the wood fence myself and my son and I worked together on some of it as well. Do you like it?

Over the last week and this week, large round bales of hay have been arriving here at The Fat Ewe Farm. I am very grateful for this, since there is a scarcity of hay on the prairies due to a very dry spring and early summer. The grass that is available for cutting is small and has gone to seed, which in itself is not bad, however; there just isn’t the volume that is normal. In fact, there is so much less , that folks are planning to feed straw and grain to their cattle this winter or whatever they have to, to survive and not have to sell their stock. One year is doable, but a second year like this would cause more farmers to sell their animals. Only the huge farms can surive because they feed a lot of grain and can afford, even on credit, to buy hay at the prices being charged.

I bought hay at the beginning of the summer, last year’s, for 40 dollars a bale, but only 10 bales and 10 bales of green feed, which is grain that is grassy and has not fully developed seed heads that was cut for hay. Now, I also bought 20 bales of hay at $140 a bale, which arrived today on a huge semi truck. The driver had to wait for the farmer to load his truck, drive nearly an hour to my place and then he used my skid steer to unload because I asked him to because I was inept. So for around three hours of time, and the running of his truck, he only charged $280 to deliver the hay. I know that those trucks use plenty of fuel and are not cheap to buy. $280 will not make him rich. He was a nice guy, the sort of decent fellow who is not going to short change the cashier and who would be willing to help some one if asked. I liked him a lot.

The next door neighbor also has been bringing hay, 60 smaller bales of it at $40 for the poor quality and $55 for the better, but not good quality. His bales are just less than half the size of the $140 bales, so the cost is about the same. Now I have plenty of hay for the winter and grain too.  I know I won’t need that much hay, but it will be useable the following year, though won’t be as good as fresh. Still, it retains its nutrients as long as it is stored on its side so the moisture cannot penetrate it.

I went to St. Paul to ask about applying for work as a substitute teacher. It is a job I can do for 5 hours a day, just 15 minutes or less from my home and earn about $225 per day. I am not ecstatic about having to go back to work, but as long as we are a depressed economy, I will do it if I have to and I do.  I should be home by 3:30 pm and do not have to work 5 days a week, plus will have holidays and summers to play on the farm and to buy more hay next year.

Those people who have not gotten enough hay this year to feed their animals will try to sneak through the winter and hope for an early spring. Some will want to buy hay during the late winter and I could sell some then. Prices will have gone up even more. Or I could just keep it until next winter and not have to buy much next year. Either way, with going back to work and already being well stocked, the should be lots of room to breathe and not to have to worry about not being able to feed most of the animals. Now, for the dogs, that is a different story. They cannot eat hay, obviously and their feed costs me $500 a month. I do a bit of scrounging for freezer burned meat, but generally, I must buy the meat and bones and kibble for them. Even the pigs eat hay though, just not those hounds! 

I worked in the little house again tonight. There is not much left to do upstairs. The windows and floors will be done when the house has been emptied, any time after tomorrow.  The Mormon missionary boys are coming one last time to help move the things over to the b and b house. I am grateful for their assistance. Then the final cleaning can get finished, including the basement. I bought snap together rubber tiles when I first moved there and put down rubber floor underlay under the tiles over the dirt basement to keep the place cleaner.  A sub floor would have helped, though the ceiling is only just over 6 feet. Still, with the windows in there now (I had them installed when I moved in), it is a nice storage area and could even be a space for sewing or crafting, as long as the items taken down fit through the trap door. 

While I was cleaning and packing and doing laundry, I was thinking of how much I love that little house with its old wooden floors, even though the previous owner topnailed the living room floor. Who does that? Seriously, the man and wife should not have been allowed to own any tools. But, the wood stove and the wood floors, the clay painted walls, now touched up as of tonight, and the weathered barn wood here and there..well, it is my place. That old kitchen sink that I dragged out from Vancouver fits perfectly in the kitchen. I was thinking that maybe when I get rid of more things I could possibly move back to the little house and rent the bigger house out. I would have preferred to do that anyhow, but there are too many fine antiques that no one here values, so they will not pay anywhere near what they are worth. So, I will wait and try to sell them to people a little further away who appreciate antiques and don't mind paying the real price for them. 

I am really going to miss that porch too. After the headache of the idiot contractor who attempted to build it the first time and then declared bankruptcy because his work was horrible, I still love the porch. The second contractor fixed the most important problems and it is perfect, or at least serviceable now. The laundry sink was where I washed the bums of the little lambs or warmed the new borns who were abandoned. I have no idea where that is going to take place now. The only possibly place would be the bathtub. Who wants lamb shit in the tub that they bathe in? Not me. But where else? 
I won't have anyplace to take off the dirty boots and coveralls in the winter except the hallway in the house. How inadequate. What were those people thinking? 

Anyhow, my little house was a most wonderful place to be. Even my son, who visited me on the 22nd, my birthday, said how much he loved that little house. It is so homey and comfortable. I don't know if it will ever be feasible to move back to it, but I will keep that in my mind. For now, some one else will get to enjoy it and love it. I hope I find that renter soon. 

It is really hard to combine two households into one. 

I have been thinking. I have not gotten a renter lined up for September yet, so perhaps it would be more alluring if I rented the little house furnished. I have extra everything and could pare things down so there were basics, then offer the house for rent a week at a time, utilities included. 

I bought a small loveseat for under a hundred dollars for that house. Unfortunately, I sold all the dressers and beds, duh! Now I just need to find some good condition used ones and put them in the house. come to think of it, I have a small dresser in the store as my counter and there is a painted night table in there and a desk. Oh, now I am on to something. If I could find some antique beds with mattresses, that would be perfect. 

I have been cleaning that house as I have been emptying cupboards. Yesteray I pulled out the fridge and stove and cleaned behind them and wiped down the cupboards too. The windows will need doing and there is some painting to do as well. I can make it cozy and quite appealing, then put it on air b n b as a weekly rental or even nightly rental. At least some income would be generated from it. I wold not be too worried about the furniture either since most of it is already here and not terribly valuable, but very appropriate. Gosh, I should have been an interior designer! Oh, wait, come to think of it, I was! Pictures to follow. 

When I was still at home in White Rock, my friends and I sat around chatting with a glass or two of wine. My daughter was home and just in the other room since the kitchen and great room were basically one.  Then she piped up to tell us that our entire conversation consisted of aches, pains, medications, treatments, and other gross interventions that she did not need to hear. We all stared at one another rather dumbfounded. She was absolutely correct. 

When aging folks are in pain, and who isn't, it seems talking about the aches and brakes seems to help a little. Just having an ear to listen to the woes is nice. But who wants to hear that over and over again? 

It occurred to me today when talking with a new friend, that we, he and I, were talking about our ailments, just as my good friends were that tell tale day. Is that because we, the new friend and I, were comfortable with one another? I must admit, of all the people here, he and his lovely wife are among my very favourites. They actually make sense, are down to Earth and pleasant and know what the rest of the world is going on about. But, we are getting on, as she would say. English, you know. 

The night is never without an ache. The day is naught without pain. It does no good to mention it, for it neither takes it away or eases the mind. It is odd how people try to "out do" one another with the number of ailments and medications they have. At least I  do not take any medications at all, not even pain killers with the exception of times that my spine, which is in an 's' shape, starts to go into spasms. Then, just in order to breathe, I take something strong and ease the agony. Otherwise, I suffer along. Aging has its virtues, but also as the body begins the slow process of dying, it also has its downfalls. 

I am thankful I chose to come out to Alberta and work hard, not too hard, but much harder than I would have if I had purchased a condo and stayed in the city. Then I would have gotten out of shape and fat, no doubt, and not been nearly as healthy overall. Small blessings are good, and well, really, so is getting on. We know so much more, care so much less and just take life as it comes in these years. And, those aches and pains and complaints…they can just be getting on too.