Thursday, December 31, 2009
Horseshoes - Dilemma Resolved
We received Sadie's new shoes and have been working to make applying them part of the routine. When we started working with her, we noticed she was touchy when we were working with her back hooves, but with patience and practice, it's getting easier every time. I am so glad to let her be barefoot when she is in the pasture. Her hooves are easier to keep clean, and thankfully I do not have to mess with steel shoes in the really cold, wet, icy weather. She also seems to have really great traction in them. Here are some pictures of me driving her with her shoes on.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Home for the Holidays

Here is Papa Paul holding his Great-granddaughter. She was such a good girl for the entire trip.

When we got home, we noticed that she was a little bit grumpy, and now has all the signs of having a little cold. What a cute little stuffy nose! We are hoping she feels a little better tomorrow for Christmas day!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Horseshoes - The Dilemma
There have been a few issues with the shoes coming loose, and I am told that steel shoes in the winter are very difficult to care for. So -- not looking forward to that.
Our farrier suggested we consider hoof boots, and in fact recommended we carry at least one for when she might throw a shoe while on the road. When we started doing the research, we found they could be used as a replacement for steel shoes. We are very excited and have found a farrier/PBHT expert that came out to help us get her fitted. Our shoes are on order for our "petite" hoofed pony, and we can hardly wait until they arrive.
Check out the web site for Nature's Path - any of you farmer friends who read my blog - I have Rebecca's card to pass along if you are interested.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thursday Post -- Happy Thanksgiving
When we finished dinner, we decided pie had to wait. I hitched Sadie up to the fancy cart, and Tim and I went for a long ride. We saw very few folks on the road, so it was a very pleasant ride.
When we got back from our ride, the pie was cut and enjoyed. All the food was put away and the first load of dirty dishes washing in the dishwasher.
After that we cleared the fancy tablecloth and napkins off the table and got out the college pig and started rolling coins. Great Grandma and Grandpa brought a silver piggy bank for Holly in April and we have been putting all the loose change from the laundry area, emptying of pockets, spare change in it for the last eight months. After we finished rolling it, we put it with other money Holly received and we now have $200.00 to put in her college fund. Now we will start feeding the college pig again until next Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wednesday Post

We've had a bit of indian summer, but with cooler weather has come prodigious rainfall. We do need the rain, but it makes the goats miserable. Since they do not like to be wet, they have spent much of the last couple of weeks cowering inside barn. Many of our pastures where goats and pony reside are incredibly muddy. This year, instead of struggling with unlined dairy boots (not meant for any kind of terrain but cement floor) and crocs, I bit the bullet and purchased myself a pair of work boots. Of course since I am now a horse owner, I had to get something will a little cowgirl style.

Time to go pick up a baby Holly Anne. More later.....
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sleeping and crying........
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Look Everybody - My Diaper Bag is Ready!
Sunday night she picked up the crochet needle and got to work. She had two rows left, handles and the trim. Now her wrists are tired and sore. She says she's going to put some dividers in it so Mommy can organize my stuff, but it will have to wait a while.
Mommy picked out all the colors for it after she found out I was going to be a girl.
Here I am modeling it. Nana wrapped me up in the pink flowered blanket she got me and tucked me into it for these pictures. I thought it was pretty boring, but I posed for the pictures anyway.
In two days I will be two weeks old. I am pretty much in charge around the house. I sleep whenever I want. Mommy feeds
My room is all fixed up with lots of pink, but I am spending most of my time hanging out with Mommy on the couch. I have a cozy place to nap, and a place where everyone takes me to change my diapers. I have a bouncy seat that I sit in to watch Nana working in the kitchen.
Everybody is always kissing and hugging me--but I guess I'm just too cute to resist!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Holly Anne Leap
Saturday, October 3, 2009
View From the Back of a Pony
Saturday, we hitched her up again and checked out a couple of yard sales. I scored big! I got a bathtub for Holly, stacks of baby washcloths, towels, bibs, and recieving blankets. A box of baby toys, and assorted teethers. We also found a bunny step-stool, and some pegboards for John to put together to hang hats on.
After we got home, we hopped in the truck and headed for Greensboro. We had a glider rocker to pick up, and we also stopped in at the farmers market and got some fresh fruits and veggies. Tonight we had fresh mashed potatoes -- man were they good.

Thursday, October 1, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Driving Miss Sadie
We met Sadie in early September on a trip up to Ohio. She lived on a farm with goats, sheep, and just about every size equine, from the tiniest miniature horses to Percherons. Now those are some gigantic horses. Last weekend, we traveled back to Ohio to her farm to pick her and her rig up. Here she is hitched to her cart. She is very good on the roads, even 18 wheelers do not phase her.
Ponies are measured in inches. Horses are measured in "hands". Sadie stands 48 inches tall at the withers. In horse measurements, that makes her technically 12 hands. There are 4 inches for every "hand", for anyone who is wondering. Any equine under 14 hands is considered a pony. I've always wanted a horse. I also know I can't handle a horse. So a well trained pony is exactly what I needed.

Here is a short video of me driving her in the front yard. We have actually had her out on back roads during the day, and we are having such a good time with her. She is so well trained it is a pleasure to have her out on the road.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Winston-Salem Airshow - Our Helicopter Ride
Last weekend we went to the Winston-Salem Airshow at the Smith-Reynolds Airport. Andy, Karol, and I got to do something we'd never done before! Ride in a HELICOPTER! We had a top notch camera crew, so movies are available for your viewing pleasure, THANKS to PAPA JOHN! While we were waiting for our flight to be called, we watched a Harrier Jet take off. Now that's an amazing aircraft. We also watched a ton of stunt pilots in little planes doing absolutely crazy stuff. At one point we watched an F-18 scream by. Karol reported that it seemed to startle Holly, because she started kicking around after that big noise. The F-18 actually went by, and then the sound caught up with it -- man they are loud!
Here we are at the briefing station. Recieving instructions for pre-flight, flight, and post-flight behavior. Pre-flight instructions -- which side of the aircraft each of us were going to sit, how to duck and hold your hat. Flight instructions --DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING! Post-flight instructions -- Wait for the flight crew to open the doors. Per the FAA, passengers are not allowed to open any door. Our briefing guy told us his son is 14 and has been flying helicopters for 2 years. So I guess they let 12 yr olds fly these things?
Takeoff -- This is the first time I have ever been in a helicopter. It's amazingly smooth, sort of like floating as you take off. We gained altitude quickly, and I could see my office and where it is in the surrounding neighborhood. The city of Winson-Salem was spread out right there in front of us. We headed for Winston Tower, the RJR Building, and the Wachovia Building, which we call the Chapstick Building, because it's rounded top makes it looks like a giant lip balm.
After skirting downtown, we circled and headed back for the airfield. I watched cars moving along Liberty Street. In a helicopter you have the opportunity to really watch what is going on down on the ground. Off in the distance we could see the runways on the airfield. We could see still more planes doing stunts. We landed around 4:00, and the airshow was over shortly after that.
Sunday, September 13, 2009

Friday, September 11, 2009
The New Feeding Trough
Sunday, September 6, 2009
I AM A ROCK STAR!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
ACTION!
Our Alpine goat Hollyhock is very friendly and curious. It would take 2 people to take a proper picture of here, one to take the picture and one to distract and amuse her. She seems to know that you are trying to get her to pose for the camera!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Daisy is so tuned in to farm life. We can walk right up to her and she never stirs. Let a strange person or animal come onto the property and that's different story. You may be sitting right beside her in the hammock and suddenly she will erupt out of a sound sleep and gallop across the yard to investigate something that is cause for her concern. She still spends a portion of her time chasing chickens, and occasionally carrying one around in her mouth, but all critters on our farm are safe from predation.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Baby Stuff
Sunday, July 19, 2009
My Sweet Ride
Check out my 2010 Ford Mustang Sport Edition. It came loaded with Sirius radio. It also had Bluetooth and Microsoft Sync. So my car essentially became my phone when I was in it. "Dial John" dialed up John for me, and no headset or handset needed. The microphone was up by the mirror, and John's voice floated out of the speakers. Later on, as I was tooling down the road, the phone rang again. The radio automatically mutes and switches to phone mode. The display reads "Answer?" and you just hit the OK button. For the duration of the rental, my address book was resident in the car, and everytime I got in, it would sync to my blackberry phone. Totally AWESOME.
As fun as it was to drive, it's not a practical car. Miniscule backseat, trunk difficult to load and unload. Wonder what I'll be driving tomorrow!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Who's that farmhand?
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Summer is flying by!

We've been trying to keep up with farm chores, gardening, and the house with limited success. Seems like laundry and dirty dishes multiply and I am always behind and this weekend I decided I must blog and tell you all what we have been up to on the farm. The first item of newsworthyness is a couple of new additions to the farm. We've got a couple of new barn cats. Spike on the left and Ike on the right. Spike was adopted from a friend of mine, and he's an awesome cat. He is pure white and had one blue eye and one green eye. He spends the day playing in the milk parlor and lying on the warm stones in front of the barn. The other little guy, another white cat with grey patches is Ike. Ike came from our favorite dairy farm, and also spends his day playing in the milk parlor. He loves to hang around during milking time, looking forward to that little bowl of warm goats milk.

These pictures are not very good, but you can see here John is enjoying a ride with one of his favorite farm hands. She on a Pasofino (sp?) and he on a Tennessee Walker.

He got the hang of it pretty quickly and seemed comfortable in the saddle.

While John was horsing around, I picked blueberries. We are enjoying blueberry cobbler!
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Tractor Restoration Continues
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Farm Chores

I came home to a pan of lasagna bubbling in the oven, and the house is in pretty good shape!
Who could ask for anything more?
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Goat Milk Butter!
When my grandkids were in town, we used a glass jar and a marble and shook it like mad. So I knew how good fresh goat milk butter was.
Using the mixer makes it easy! Warm the milk to between 61 & 65 degrees. Put it in the bowl with a paddle. Mix at high speed until the buttermilk starts to separate. Remove the bowl and squish the butter against the side of the bowl to get out as much buttermilk as you can. Mine did not have much buttermilk, Think it's because the cream separator is so efficient. Next you want ot clean out more of the buttermilk, that's what makes the butter not keep as long. Pour some icewater into the mixer(NO CUBES) and blend again for a couple of seconds, discard the liquid. Keep doing this until the liquid runs clear. At this point you can blend in flavoring. salt, or next time I might try a little honey.
It's easy!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Long Weekend!
I also am celebrating. Thursday marked the final test in my physical, so I am officially IN GOOD HEALTH!
Pretty good since next month I also mark age 50 - bleh!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Saturday on the Farm
There is also plenty of milk. We have been making chevre, riccotta, and even cottage cheese with all this milk.
This week, we received a gift of a cream separator. **Thanks Dad**. This afternoon we processed 8 gallons of goat milk and ended up with about 3 pints of cream. We have a gallon of
Since the cream is not pasteurized, it converts to sour cream very well. 1 Tablespoon of red wine vinegar, leave it out overnight, refrigerate for 4 hours, and then it is ready to eat. It is the best sour cream we have ever tasted.
The cream separator is a quality machine. The basic design is superior to our hand crank model. Runs very quiet, takes about a minute to get up to speed. Works like a champ.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Kitchen Remodel
We decided that the time had come to replace the counters, and we decided that granite was the way to go.
We decided to do the demo ourselves, and save a little money. In the meantime, I was still in search of a plumber, but could only find one that would come out the day after the counter install.
So the demo began. While the tile itself popped off pretty easily, what we did not anticipate was two layers of plywood, adhesive, and copious nails. I swear someone had a nail gun and used the plywood for a little therapy session.
Here is John saying "What were we thinking?"
Once the counters were in, it was time to get the plumbing connected.
Steve and I had to make a couple of trips to Lowe's for bits and pieces
The completed kitchen is absolutely georgeous!