Harley gets to come inside the porch, which is just above freezing, but better than 30 below outside. It likely feels warm to him. Sometimes animals that need a little extra boost stay in the porch. There has been pretty much most of the baby animals except cows and horses. Robbie shares his bed with the babies and usually keeps them clean and tended. He does not mind at all. He does not mind Harley sleeping in his bed either. Harley comes in when I go out or a bit later and then stays in until Robbie goes out for his last jaunt before bed. I don't actually know if Harley was ever house trained, but he has never messed in the house as an adult, so I just think he is smart. He is an awesome dog. 

I put new straw in some of the shelters again, particularly the Angora/Pygora/Nubian and ram lamb round barn. Since the cold has been so bitter, they are all cuddling together inside, though often the sheep prefer the three sided shelter outside. They are well insulated. 

Some friends dropped off some freezer burned and stale meat today for the dogs. They will certainaly appreciate that tomorrow. Plus, a big huge bonus, an almost full bottle of Ivermectin worming medicine was given to me too. I am very appreciative for these gifts. 

After tomorrow the cold is supposed to let up with temperatures rising rapidly to close to zero. Let's hope that happens. Some of the chickens who hang out in the biggest shelter have moved to the insulated coop. I tried to put some other in there, the ones that like the waterfowl coop, but they just ran back to where I picked them up, so I left them and went inside. I have really done nothing since then..watched a movie and spoke to some people on the phone and now, early for me, I am off to bed. I have started looking at heritage seeds with a mind for spring gardening, if you can believe it. 

Again, I am humbled with a feeling of gratitude for this simple life and the ability to care for the Creator's smaller creatures. Blessing to you, too.

When I am outside working, I generally am well dressed in many layers with my newly crocheted wool helmut that I created this fall and a wool felted vest too, with a wool hood. I may even don long winter underwear when the temperarture and wind drops. I tried a different wool balaclave but felt smothered in it in one way, because it sits directly on my face except for two eye holes and mouth hole. The cold air enters the mouth hole and my teeth freeze. Weird, I know, but they feel frozen and hurt for hours when I come in. The other balaclavas I have, have some petroleum based microfibres with covered mouth areas, but the humidity from respiration makes the mouth area stiff and very uncomfortable in a short time. This helmut that I designed for my personal taste, keeps the wool away from my face, but is close enough to warm some of the air as it enters and my teeth are OK. Yay!

I need to find my leather winter sheep fleece lined mittens. That is what I should have had on today. I tried a double pair of gloves, with one over the other, but did not have a firm grip on the pitch fork and had to take one pair off. By that time, my hands were warm enough that I was not uncomfortable. The temperature was almost minus 30F. All the animals were huddled in the warmest places they find, except the sheep. Sheep are naturally well insulated for the most part, but breeds like Cotswolds do not have the same wool and their curls only provide marginal warmth in comparison. The Angora goats are the same. Their fibre parts along their spines and they can get snow against the skin and a fierce chill resulting in pneumonia and quite often death. I was seriously thinking of putting coats on the little Angora buckling and the three Pygora babies. If they are freezing tomorrow, I will do that, at least until the temperature climbs up or the wind stops. 

The people who built the Inn, obviously had no intention of using the exterior frost free tap during winter. They put the outlet, the only exterior water outlet, on the north side of the building where it gets the full winter wind and no sun. It freezes. Last winter my son broke the handle trying to open it and I did buy a new handle, but it is not fixed. Of course, the handle froze today, though I have devised my own way to open it. The dryer vent is beside the faucet, so I go inside and set the dryer to high for 10 minutes. Outside I put three buckets together to create a warming pot for the faucet and then go do something for the ten minutes. When I come back, the tap is thawed and easy to open, though if I leave it for too long, I have to repeat the process to finish the watering. 

I spent a long time chatting with the wonderful couple at the Inn this morning and was late starting the chores, so late finishing too. The temperature had already plummeted and by the time I finished putting new straw in the waterfowl house and two of the coops, it was already casting long dark shadows in the dusky light. I was cold. 

I fed the dogs and removed not one, but two mice from the traps I set yesterday. The three traps in the basement did not catch any mice, so I am thinking they came inside when the door to the porch was left ajar and had made their way into the kitchen area. I hope there is not another way they got in. I reset the traps after giving the mice to the cats, for which they were grateful. 

And speaking of gratitude, though I have not warmed up and remain feeling chilled to the bone, my spirit is glowing and I am living in gratitude for this life. This may not be what folks think of as bliss, but what more is there? I want nothing more for myself, only for my children and my heart is filled with love. How could I not be grateful for my humble existence? I am, most certainly, I am, even on this very cold day.

Winter arrived with a vengeance. Boy did it ever! 

Between yesterday and today, we have over a foot of new snow and some drifts. We already had over a foot of snow, so in a few places, the snow is four feet deep. Because it happened so quickly, it was difficult to get around at all and the snow had to be managed so I could feed and water the animals. 

I had my friend Andy ready the snow blower the last time her was here. He put oil and gas in and made sure it started. I cannot pull start it, but fortunately, I bought a model with an ignition start, only it would not start. I tried and tried and said a prayer and then it went and quit, so more prayer and it finally started. Thank you. 

I plowed paths where I had to walk but around the hay bales I could not go because hay gets tangled in the tines of the blower and then I have to sit and cut it all out. At least it created useable walks where I could hall the toboggan and water. 

Feeding was a chore and half though. The hay was under more than a foot of snow and had to be slowly forked out first, then tossed into the feeders. The feeder needed emptying, as they normally do, every few days, but there was a foot of snow on the straws left in the feeders so it was extra heavy too. 

Finally, the animals were fed and then the watering began. The snowblower had blown snow over some of the paths though and the toboggan tipped with the buckets. OY! Back to get more water and being more careful, I managed to get every one a drink. Because it is so cold, minus 30 tonight, I did not give the ducks and geese their bath water, just the drinking water. I did not want to come out the next day to find a frozen duck in the bath bucket. 

Then, after all that, the driveway had to be plowed. There is a lovely couple at the Inn tonight and with all that snow, it was important to clear the driveway, but the bucket was frozen and the levers would not go down. I used a little hand sanitizer and thawed the ice and finally, after an hour, got the bucket to work. There was a huge amount of snow in the middle of the driveway. It collect there for some reason, maybe the wind blowing or the funneling of the trees, but it had to be bucketed off the driveway, not just plowed. Soon, if the snow keeps up, there will be no place to put the snow though. It took 2 hours to do the driveway tonight and my feet were frozen. I have been fighting a bug that Travis brought from work camp, hoping my garlic, ginger and honey would keep it at bay, but when I got off the CAT, my left ear was blocked and aching. I succumbed to taking some antibiotics, since I cannot aford to be ill. 

Finally, after working seven and a half hours straight with no break, I was done. I spent some time with the lovely young couple, begged myself off for the night and am just about to climb into the hot bath to soak these old bones. I must say, today was the hardest of all the days so far to do the chores and that was with the luxury of the snow blower and skid steer. Imagine if I only had a horse? 

One more thing..there is a mouse in the house. I have 5 traps set and have not caught him. He got all the peanut butter off two traps, two brand new ones, without setting them off, so I set three more, this time with cheese. I like mousies but not in my house. I may have to enlist the services of one of the cats if he is too smart to get himself caught in a trap. Judging from the little presents he leaves behind, he is very tiny and is just trying to stay warm and alive too. Just not in my house, please, little mouse. 

And that, my friends, was today at The Fat Ewe Farm. Bedtime is going to come very soon, zzzzzz. 

The internet is down so posts may be intermittent, sorry. 

Jack, short for Jackass, (that was already his name) came to the farm about a month ago. I did not mean to go looking for a donkey, though many times had considered one. I went to get a potbelly pig, Wilbur, a cute little boar. A few days later, the pig's wife came along, Clara and the two of them have set up house in an extra large dog house in the garden. 

But, back to Jack. When I saw Jack, my heart broke. His halter had not been removed in too long and had affected the bones of his face. Fortunately, it had not grown right into the skin. I asked if he was for sale, thinking I should rescue him form that dire situation. He was and I bought him. He came home in a few days there after and I removed the halter. Jack has indentations that most likely will be permanent. He is much happier now without the halter. I can only imagine the pain it must have caused him. Talk about a head ache!

Jack is a small standard stud donkey. One day I will find him a girl friend and we will have a little ass of our own. He he. In the meantime, he is next to the sheep and where Elsie, the Jersey cow lives, but he has his own shelter. I was told by his former owner that he is not good with other animals, but he has shown no aggression to any so far. He could easily reach over the fence to the sheep on the other side and bite them if he was mean. I don't think I have anything to worry about though. He seems calm and good with the other critters on The Fat Ewe Farm. 

Say hi to Jack!

The farm dogs stay outside all the time except for the border collie, Robbie, who does not have the same fur coats of the livestock guardian dogs. They grow a thick down coat and a hair coat to keep warm in the winter and their legs are well covered as well. For the most part they can be found outside lying on some hay they have pulled down from the big bales with their paws and made a hay nest for themselves. They move according to the way the wind is blowing and the snow does not seem to bother them at all. 

But, once in a while, they do like to warm up and get away from the winter. They have several options. For days when it is not overly cold, just snowy, they can use their summer houses, which have new straw about a foot deep. The houses protect them from the wind and snow, but are not insulated or warm. There are several plastic shells from the 1000 litre totes with holes cut in them and lots of fresh straw. Those are good for colder days, being entirely sheltered from any wind at all. 

And then there is dog city. Inside the straw bale fort, are 5 houses filled with straw. Around them is straw and then there is a plywood roof with straw as well. They only use these when it is very cold. 

But the barrel house is popular for the two female Maremmas. They are smaller and can easily crawl inside and turn around or curl up. In dog city, there is one barrel and there is one on its own. 

To construct the dog house, simply cut through the top of the barrel. For the outside one, I left the flap of the cut to act as a wind screen. The dogs are smart enough to know how to move it just enough to wiggle inside. Then, there is a lot of straw on the ground under the barrel and two pieces of wood to keep it from rolling, on either side of the bottom. There are straw bales surrounding the barrel house as well and a roof too. Once inside the flap shields the wind and keeps the warm air the dog generates inside. If I put my hand inside after a dog has been sleeping in the house, it is noticeably warmer than outside. 

They also have an insulated house with a light bulb, but none of the dogs use it. Go figure. If I could find a bit of a larger barrel (these are 50 gallon sized), then it would do for the bigger dogs, but the pups who were raised with the sheep sleep with the sheep most of the time at night and the other two dogs sleep outside most of the time. They like to be able to run at a moment's notice when they are on duty. I love those dogs!

Hello. My name is Tommy and I am a baby Nygora. My mother is a Nigerian Dwarf goat, a rather small dairy breed with a hair coat and my father was an Angora. Angora goats are large and their hair is harvested as mohair. When my dad was really young, just a kid, his hair was kid mohair. My mother had four of us, but my brothers were sold to another farm and Sofi and I got to stay. I have little horn buds and will have horns, but I am four months old. I am much smaller than my sister, Sofi, but she is not very big either. Our buddy, Timmy, is a real Angora kid, a little boy, just like me. When I get big and older, my hair is not going to become coarse, but his will. Because I so small, I can fit in places I am not really supposed to go, like inside the feeder. I pooped in it, ha ha. I didn't really do it on purpose. It just sort of happened. Now the farmer has to clean it out so that the other goats and sheep don't eat it, but they wouldn't anyhow, not even accidentally. 

As a Nygora, my hair, or fibre, will have to be cut off twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall and it can be combed, carded and spun into strong, but very soft garments. Wouldn't you love a blanket of something so cuddly? It doesn't hurt me, but I am not fond of being sheared. When I am grown up, I am going to marry some other girls and have kids of my own. Aren't I so adorable?

The store is the granary on the right as you would come into the farm yard. Three really nice opening windows with screens were installed this late fall, and the door is already in. There is flooring to install, and much decorating to do prior to moving the 'stuff' in. There is no instulation in the walls or anywhere for that matter, so the store will be seasonal only, though I do have a pellet stove that could easily heat it for the winter. I just don't feel there would be enough traffic to warrant that. There is also no power, so I am currently looking into a solar panel to run a few lights. The store will sell antiques and collectibles as well as 'stuff' from my life. 

The store has been slow in getting underway due to the lack of available contractors in the area. I needed a door and windows put in the old granary and also a lean to washroom tacked on the back. The doors and windows are in and I am going to try to tackle the washroom in the spring after it warms up a bit, because there is no one who wants to do the job. Then the exterior and interior will need painting and decorating. There is plenty to fill up the store, from organic towels from inventory of my previous green lifestyle store, to clothes and jewellery from my years of being a foolish consumer. 

Hopefully, there will be produce if we have a better growing season than the last year, which had a very late spring and a very early frost. Also, meat from the farm can be sold, as well as eggs. I don't actually know if anyone will come to the store, but it is worth a try. I don't really know another way to slowly disperse all the belongings I own and no longer want, without doing a garage sale on a regular basis. If I have guests at the Inn, the garage sale may not be viable anyhow. 

 This winter I am starting to sort through the materials that will be put in the store, enough to make is intersting and not over crowded. As items sell, new ones will take their place. The store hours will be from 2 pm to 6 pm or so and I will see how that works. Appointments will also be taken for off hours if I can accommodate them. I will enjoy this endeavour, I am sure. Wish me luck!

The snow started in the early dawn and has not stopped. Roads are not plowed and driving conditions are dangerous. There are trucks turned over on the local highway 28 and many small accidents and ditch episodes everywhere. It is always that way in the first heavy snowfall. One would think that folks would stay home, but I suppose those who have to work are out no matter what. Of all days, my son took my truck around early afternoon to go get a few groceries and at 10 pm he is not back. I was worried, called him and he did not answer, so I texted him and he did return the text, but he is not home yet. Mothers worry no matter the age of their children. 

We did manage to move the rams in for breeding today. Friar and Tuck were bashing heads with Quinn and Johnny. Johnny has four huge horns though, so the naturally polled guys were sort of out of luck. That did not stop them. You know, macho dudes all the way….Poor Friar and Tuck. They are bald on top. I was wondering if I should make hats for them, but did not know how to keep them on their heads. I hope they will be alright. One thing for sure…winter is here!

That is the question. When I set out to be a farmer, I had grandiose dreams of creating an organic permaculture farm. Well, that is hardly even possible here. I am feeling very defeated today. Try as I might, I could not get any organic , or naturally grown grain this year. The place I had been acquiring it from did not grown any this year and no one else seems to have any. The one organic farm that I did visit was not very organized, the grain was not cleaned and was full of volunteer canola seeds, almost half, so I opted out on that one. Canola, in its raw form, is extremely bitter which is a resource of the plant to stop the seeds from being eaten, therefore assure procreation through germination. Unfortunately, the seeds are primarily blown in GMO canola seeds from neighbouring farms. The farm with the organic grain was certified, so that there was a buffer zone around his growing area, but obviously, it was not enough. 

So, rather than let the birds go hungry and starve, I had no choice but to buy conventional grain. The kind young man who delivered it is a farmer too and we chatted about Round Up in the grain. He uses it and did not disagree when I said it is killing the world (at least North America), but he was not really intersted in that conversation. He just wanted to deliver the grain and get on with his day. The grain is a mix of a quarter of field peas, or feed peas, wheat, oats and barley and that is a good mix for the poultry and waterfowl. The ruminants do not get any grain at all. I got a truckload, ordered exactly a month ago on October 21st. All the grains were feed quality, meaning they are cleaned but not clean and chaff and other impurities are present The grain was augered into 4 one ton tote bags in the yard, the bags being attached to the forks of the skid steer for stability. Once full, the bags remain upright. Then I covered them with two tarps to help keep them dry, though over the winter, the bottom foot of grain will become damp and begin to mould when thawed. 

I can no longer say my eggs will be organic, nor the birds, when eaten will be. If no organic feed is available in this area, then raising the birds becomes a whole different story and one that really deems a second thought. The birds are here to forage and keep the worms and insects down. They do that. Finally, the breeds I have acquired are excellent foragers and most can fly. 

Secondary is the egg production. Here a dozen eggs sells for 2 dollars or 2.50 from the farmer.  People do not pay for organic quality and do not care. Here, that it, they don't. So, the selling of the eggs does not pay for the feed, which came to $815.00 for this load. That will last until spring, but there is also the extras like oyster shells and grit that must be provided. About 50 birds were processed for food this year, all for the farm and bed and breakfast use only. I really do not want to use them for food if they are not organicially fed. 

So, the options are: drive to Wetaskawin every 2 months and bring back a tote of organic feed. The cost will double with the fuel and the extra cost of the feed. Or, cut down the birds to maybe 5 geese, 10 ducks and a dozen chickens and buy less feed, but keep it organic. 

I am likely going to do the last option. Once this grain is gone, the birds will be gone too, except for a small flock of a few. I am determined to remain organic. The small flock will only provide enough eggs for the farm and the foraging of insects will mean more mosquitos and flies in the yard, but oh well. A little glitch in the plan, this non organic grain, will not deter the overall focus for long. Onward we go….We farm!

Yesterday I thought I had found an answer to the hay problem and fibre animals. But today, what I observed was hardly different than the previous days. There was not as much waste, but the stems were not eaten. The farmer assured me the animals would clean up every morsel because on second cut, fertilized hay, the stems were soft and easy to digest. That did not happen with the sheep and goats and most of the coarse stems were still there in the feeder and had to be taken out. 

But a new problem was discovered with the premium second cut hay. The smalls, that is leaf bits, had fallen apart, fractured, and were at the bottom of the bale as I unraveled and loosened the hay. Feedlot farmers would not notice this of course, because the bales go into large grinder mixer machines and the farmer really does not see or handle the hay beyond that. The machines even take the bale twine off the bales nowl. The small bits are deadly to fibre animals, working their way down into the fleece and then become embedded and impossible to remove without many passes over the wool and extra work. 

This is the dilemma that set me off to create the best feeding system to alleviate hay on the backs of the animals. Today there was wind and as I was loading feeders, the fine bits were blowing down on the animals, who of course, were directly under the feeder with their heads already stuck through, anticipating tasty hay. 

I need to find a way to feed the animals with good quality hay that does not get into their fibres. I need to find good quality hay that is not falling apart. I need farmers who provide the same quality hay on the reorder, not send me their rained on crap. Is this impossible here? Booooo!