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First Time for this One.

9/29/2014

Quatra wanted to learn how to change the oil in her truck. How else to do it than hands on, dirty. Nice job Quatra. I almost didn't even have to get my hands dirty. Few helping fingers here and there.
Later it was time to get the log splitter going and start thinking about the winter supply of fuel. There were a few nice sized logs that were in the stack that weren't going to be used for lumber. Made for some interesting sizes to get on the rail! 4 hands worked great and Quatra kept feeding and the split stack kept getting bigger and bigger. At least a couple months supply now. Thanks Quatra.
Well time to get back to work. Lunch is over and we still have the morning chores to finish. We had a very distracted morning and started chores about 11 am. So back to work.
Take care, stay safe and Maureen is back home tomorrow!!! Yeah... Thanks Annie and Malc for taking good care of Maureen for me. G

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Freedom!

9/27/2014

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Quick update. Today was Sirloin's first day in the big field with mum and the other cows. What a frolic. Tail in the air and a good run around. Then it was check out the new field mates. Misty would not let Sirloin near her milky bar. A cows foot can move pretty fast. Sirloin heeded the warning shot. All Daisy was interested in was the grass. It has been a few weeks since she has been allowed out on the pasture. Bella figured she had a new playmate. But far too much energy. Lovely to watch. Sirloin should be REALLY tired by this evening when its time to come in for the night.

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Resting Peacefully

9/26/2014

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Little Sirloin is doing great. For having such a dramatic entrance into the world, life has settle down to learning whats its like to be a cow on Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch. The down side of it all is that he has not been given all the handling we usually give our calves and has developed keeping his distance when we go into the pen. Daisy is a different story. Mama will follow me all around the field while I am cleaning up looking for a back scratch! Little Sirloin follows us, but keeps his distance. Not sure about us. Yesterday evening I was in the shelter and Sirloin was laying down in the corner. I pounced on him and was able to hold on to him. What a squirm. Wiggle and yell. Well... Mama didn't like that. She came running in to see what was wrong and bellowing like crazy. Didn't do anything to me, but letting me know that she didn't approve of her little boy being disturbed. Everything was fine when I let him go. Daisy stood there for a back scratch!!!
Maureen is having a great time in England visiting friends and relatives. This week, Maureen is up north being chauffeured by Annie and Malcolm. Sure do miss being with her. So many friends and family that I would have liked to visit with her. Someday we will be able to leave here with someone able to handle all the fun here.
Time to get on with the morning chores. Lots to do and I want to get done before dark! Take care, stay safe and have a fun day. G

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A Grand Birthday for Maureen

9/21/2014

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It is one of the best presents I have ever seen. Maureen is away in England celebrating her birthday with twin sister Annie. Robin Peterson was commissioned by Annie and Malcom to paint this for Maureen's present. It's fantastic. I captures sooo much about us. It's lovely. Can't wait for Maureen to get back and see this. Annie had a print made for her. Thank You Annie and Malc.

The team has been great here. We harvested over 120 lb. of grapes the other day and no room in the freezer to store them. So, now what. Voila... Large plastic barrel in the loft. This is a grand scale. Normally its the 5 gal buckets a few at a time. If this works, I'll be looking for more 35-50 gal juice barrels. Trouble is how do I bottle all that win?. Hhmmm sounds like a new challenge for me.

Quatra, Grace and Justin finally got a chance to ride. Quest has been willing to take new riders and and Charm is on the mend and is now doing light exercise at a walk. it was nice to see him back under saddle. Starbuck on the other hand... Well, he just needs to be ridden more. Its nice that he does keep steady for a short ride. Its been over a year since he's been under saddle.
Not sure the scarecrow will work but it was fun building it. Everyone had some fun. Not sure it will make it to the community gathering of Scarecrows for the KP Farm Tour, but it will make a fun addition to the garden.

Time to go, animals are waiting for their breakfast. Take care, stay safe and have a nice day. G

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On the Move!

9/19/2014

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Its going to be a short one today. The young hes were on the move yesterday. They are old and large enough to fend for themselves with the older ladies in the Roost. They even helped us out a little by huddling in their shack before we got there. Makes for an easy roundup. Checked on them later in the day and all was going well. All the newbies accept for the few roosters were huddled together for security. It takes a little while to venture out, but they will be fine.
Today was also a day for small projects. KP Farm Tour Scare Crow time. Grace and Justin got busy starting to put the skeleton together. Quatra and I decided it was time to replace the window in the Ford that got knocked out a couple years ago (couldn't let Quatra forget!). No blame remember around here. Hopefully we will get that done before the winter rains. It would be nice to have the shop space open without the truck parked in there so it stays dry.
Oh yes... It was time for Sirloin to become a steer. Daisy watched on as we caught Sirloin before he could get on his feet. There he was taking a comforting nap and the next thing he knew he had this strange stinging sensation between his hind legs. Before for him and us. We like calm animals around here!! Especially since he will be here for a couple years.
Well, take care, stay safe. Off to the new adventures of the day. Hope a calm one... G

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Lots of Help

9/18/2014

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Thank you Grace and Justin. It would be a long day with the Boss (Maureen) if you hadn't volunteered to help out while she is away visiting with twin sister Annie in England to celebrate their birthday. Sounds like it will be a fun time for them. But, ranch life has to go on.

Sirloin is growing nicely. He as finally taken to completely getting nourishment from Daisy. We are happy for that since we won't have the extra chore of feeding and caring for the calf. Way to go Daisy. Luke has also taken a liking to the calf. I think he wants a play mate. NO!!!!

We had to do an emergency harvest yesterday. Crows... Lots of crows. They appear to like almost ready grapes. I wanted to leave them for about another week, but they thought the sugar levels are just right. Got over 100 pounds yesterday with about another 100 still on the vines. We are out of frig space. Hhhmmmm. How much wine will that make? I think I need a bigger fermenting barrel!
Well time to go and face the hungry mouths. Take care, stay safe, and enjoy the cool weather while it lasts. G

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Love is in the Air!

9/15/2014

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At Last... Barney the Oxford ram has been released from solitary confinement in his bachelor pad. He has been given about 5 months of freedom to roam the pastures with the ladies. Of course I am sure there are secondary intentions on his mind (really a priority, he's a male!). This morning when it was time to put him into his lonely pasture, we directed him off to the back of the barn. Of course he was curious what we had in mind for him because previously it meant a trip in the trailer to who knows were or what. I swear I could see his eyes light up when he realized he was being turned in with the ladies. Off he went, nose following the nearest ewe. We didn't see the flock for the rest of the day. When it was dinner time though, there they were all at the gate including Barney at the forefront. Seems he had a good talk with the ladies to learn the ropes. Gates were opened and off to the pen raced the flock with Barney in the middle and grandma in the lead. We look forward to this spring as there will be a whole new breed of lambs. We will have a few Katahdin X Oxford, pure Oxford and Oxford X Coopworth. Fun times. Love those little lambs.
Time for some eye rest. Take care and stay safe. G

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Survival!

9/14/2014

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Survival. That has been the key word this summer. We were surprised to see the Rose of Sharon in full bloom even with the lack of water and high heat. Then there is little Sirloin. He is a survivor. The first couple days he did not know what to do about the milky bar offered by Daisy. Then when he did try, Daisy would give him the boot (hoof, cow kick). So there was a bit of reluctance on his part to even try. So it was bottle time for us, but we left him with Daisy since we did not was to have him become totally dependent on us. There was also the off chance that he would eventually get hungry enough and Daisy sore enough with too much milk that the relief would feel good. Or better yet know what it is to be a "cow mum". Tonight if was quite evident that Sirloin was doing the calf thing and taking the trip to the milky bar as needed. Daisy was standing for him patiently and gently nudging him in encouragement. It was great to see him drink on his own. He was even moving away from me as I approached with Daisy warning me to leave him alone. Luckily I can still approach Daisy and test her without getting kicked to see if Sirloin is indeed getting what he needs now. All is good. We will keep an eye on him of course on a daily basis to try to make sure he stays on the friendly side. Hopefully Daisy will settle down and let me handle him more. He is a cutie.
Then there is the Freddy the Frog. He has taken up residence in the barn kitchen, eating what is a mystery. He stays in the corner of the sink molding. I moved him out to the garden outside the kitchen yesterday afternoon thinking it would be more natural for him among the plants. Silly me! This morning he was in the kitchen again in the corner. He has actually been living in the kitchen since spring time but I never really knew where his hangout was. I could hear him but not see him. I moved the wood stove to fix the wall so now he is up on the sink. I guess he was living under the stove nice and snug and warm...
Survival...
Take care and stay safe. Time for my survival sleep or I turn into a toad! G

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Its a Boy (Bull) !

9/13/2014

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For all you Daisy watchers, she had a little bull yesterday just after noon. As usual it was not without difficulty. We were looking forward to a repeat of last years smooth delivery. Well keeping up with this years mishaps and trials, the calf was presented upside down and breach! We were lucky to have had to deal with this situation in years past and were able to help the calf out safely. Wait a minute... Dad bull was black, Daisy is black... A red calf?? Who was in Daisy's field? Well, I guess that's genetics. Oh yeah, we could have sold a heifer calf twice over. So Sirloin will be made into a steer and stick for at least 20 months... He will still be loved as part of the ranch family as all others are treated around here no matter what his future holds.
Its also harvest time. We got Greg's version of the fruit press set up and smusching apples, pears and grapes. A couple years ago I came up with the idea of using a sink disposal to grind the fruit. Much easier and faster. Well the wine still comes out GREAT and clear. I believe it releases more fruit juice for the fermentation. Also very efficient to freeze if not used immediately. Smelling good!
Time to go and check on the calf. For here at the house, all looks well in the pen.
Take care and stay safe. G&M

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Finally, We Did It!

9/10/2014

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Today we decided it was time to put Quest to the test and see how he would do on the neighborhood trail and with another horse. As it turned out, Quest was the best. Only one balk when we had to go past Heidi's house with a "scary" water hydrant sticking out of the ground next to the road. Maureen asked him to continue and with a couple nudges and he just walked on by. He has been so calm we are absolutely pleased. There were dogs and mysterious dark woods with long shadows! Starbuck on the other hand was a real hand full. He has not been ridden for over a year and always was tricky on the trail with other horses. He did not let me down and was a nervous bundle. Toward the end, though he calmed downed and realized he had to pay attention. We are looking forward now to riding together again. Thanks, Deborah for letting us use Starbuck. Great feeling!!
And its harvest time!! Yesterday afternoon we started with the grapes. Its not that everything is completely ready. Its beat the CROWS!!. After our ride we had to harvest our Jonogold apples since the crows were sampling the bounty. You don't want to know what I called them. It wasn't nice. Oh well, thank heavens we have a big fridge and don't have to process everything at once. We will have to start grinding and freezing as well as get some fresh "rocket fuel" going. Yummm. Looking forward to my famous apple and rhubarb blend. Also some apple butter, pear butter and grape jelly.
Time to get going. Hope I am doing a good job and hold the readership. Not as colorful as Maureen, but I'll get there.
Take care and stay safe. G&M

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<<Previous

First Time for this One.

Freedom!

Resting Peacefully

A Grand Birthday for Maureen

On the Move!

Lots of Help

Love is in the Air!

Survival!

Its a Boy (Bull) !

Finally, We Did It!

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