Part two of the farmy walkabout but have I missed somebody?

This is what the very few people who drive down our country road are seeing.thursday17-004

Daily changes.thursday17-005

Not much changing with Daisy though. She stands exactly here for most of the day. Watching the kitchen door for movement.  Daisy is an Ayrshire. A very old breed of dairy cow.  She is almost four. She is being milked once a day now, until late next spring – hopefully. Then  she will get pregnant again and the whole cycle will recommence. Her milk feeds the house, the pigs, the baby animals (calves and lambs in spring).  The cats, the dogs and even the poultry drink her milk.  I make cheese, yoghurt, butter and ice-cream with her tasty raw milk. Her manure is used to make compost for the gardens. I call her the mother ship. thursday17-018

On the left below – we have a portion of the barn flock. The Son of Neanderthol Man (Neanderthol Man is deceased) and the Son of the Son of Neanderthol Man and then his son Bob. There is a barn flock that have never been caged who do all the housekeeping in the barn keeping the straw turned over.

And on the right of your screen is The Duke of Kupa.  He is going to be three this spring and in peacock terms that means he is coming into his prime and should be fertile.thursday-3

Kupa has two wives, Tui and Pania who even I cannot tell apart anymore. We are rather hoping that this colourful grouping will result in peachicks this coming summer.  In anticipation of this I have begun to put old tires full of straw in dark corners of the barn loft, to encourage the girls to nest somewhere safe.
thursday17-024

Here we have Mia and Mama lounging about with Hairy MacLairy the biggest sweetest Dorset ram on the face of the earth. I think that Mama and Mia are both expecting. We are aiming for lambs in early April. thursday17-034

And below – these two dancing naughties are Minty and Meadow.  They are not allowed anywhere near a ram until next season. They are much too young and silly.

thursday-2

The Guinea Fowl are in their fourth winter. They are the noisiest group on the property and sleep with the peacocks and barn flock on the rafters in the top of the barn. thursday17-038

The unchanged Daily View.thursday17-040

I know I have missed the cats, and the laying chickens in their own coop. I shall introduce them tomorrow but I have a feeling I am missing someone else as well.

 

As you know every collection of images is from the last 24 hours. So you are always very current on the goings on in the farmy.

Good morning. I know that may of you comment on the green of the above  patch of  grass. It is frozen solid. It breaks as I walk over it. I gave up mowing too early last autumn so when the freeze hit it just froze the grass green. Just think blanched  and quick frozen spinach. If I mowed it off now there would be nothing but brown. So I keep it.  But hush. It is our secret. Everyone else thinks my grass is still growing!!

Have a lovely lovely day.

If the weather is not too bitter this afternoon The Matriarch and I are going to drag our chairs and a bottle of champagne out into The roofless wallless Coupe to have a celebratory drink. We will be well dressed against the cold and may even take blankets!!

celi

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About cecilia

I am a New Zealander living in America. For ten years I was a High School Teacher of Drama in New Zealand. Then I travelled to work in Europe. Six years ago I relocated from my job in the film industry in London to the Midwest USA. Together my husband and I are developing our property into a small sustainable farm. We are passionate about good clean food and healthy animals and healthy land. Being frugal, and bucking the consumer trend sounds scary but is actually fun. It is simple. And we really love our simple life. It is a good life.
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58 Responses to Part two of the farmy walkabout but have I missed somebody?

  1. Daisy is such a beautiful cow! Enjoy your celebration today. :)

  2. Celi, I think you should turn part 1, 2 and 3 which is coming up with the kitties of Farmy Walkabout into a children’s book! Imagine how beautifully it will be with all the pictures of the animals and possibly you could use the Coupe (once finished) for the front cover.
    Have a beautiful weekend. :-) Mandy xo

    • cecilia says:

      Maybe I will do something like that and just print a few copies for my childrens children and a few extras for friends.. they would make very cool gifts for bed time stories.. of course everything would need to be reshot on high resolution! c

  3. Beth Ann says:

    I didn’t add my comments to your huge amount yesterday but will get on the list for today! What lovely pictures and even if it is cold outside the warmth of your love of your farm and all your critters oozes through and warms my heart. Obviously you are right where you are supposed to be even if it is in a different country !!! Glad you are here!

    • cecilia says:

      Beth Ann that is such a lovely thing to say, you are right after all this time I have found my home.. sometimes it takes a long long time to find ones place in this great life of ours.. Thank you and have a lovely day .. c

  4. The Coupe is really taking shape!

  5. nrhatch says:

    What a marvelous introduction to the animals on your farm.

  6. In conjunction with the cataloguing of your livestock, the building of the Coupe has a similarity with the building of an ark:)

  7. A celebratory drink is definitely in order. We need photos of you, The Matriarch and John!

  8. Lovely pics. What are your temps running? I know it must be much colder than it looks. It looks like we’ll have sun today and 35F! And it went to 20F last night so the ground froze. Yippee! I have to get out there for a while. Have a great day Celi!

  9. vivinfrance says:

    You left out TonTon. My doggy friend will be cow-ed! There’s a picture and a little haiku on my blog about Kupa’s Plumes.

  10. RecyclerSA says:

    Bobby Blanc at a quick glance … and TonTon. :) Laura

  11. I love a walkabout to see who’s up to what. It’s always the first thing I do when I get back to the garden – a nice top to bottom stroll.

  12. And, as passersby drive past, I’m sure they wonder, “What are they building?” Or do you have a sign out front, “Coupe under construction?”

  13. Lisa says:

    That is so cool that Daisy feeds everyone on the farm. Do you have to add anything to the milk before you feed it to the lambs? I bet it is much healthier than milk replacer.

    • cecilia says:

      Nope I just give it to them straight. I have had all kinds of problems with lambs on milk replacer, I hate the stuff. With the cows milk I just make sure to give them less-often, rather than two great big feeds, I will feed them little feeds four or five or even six times a day for as long as I can bear it. Welcome Lisa. c

  14. Veronica Roth says:

    I’m with Viv, more about Ton Ton please. To me he seems to be the policeman (in that Keystone cops sort of way) on the farmy. Also, I’m with Chika and would like to humbly and very softly suggest you use the timer on your camera and take photos of yourself, matriarch, John, teens etc? I’d love to be able to put faces to the names. (You can tell me to bog the hell off.) :)

    • cecilia says:

      I would never tell you to Bog the hell Off!! brilliant expression though.. John does not want his face anywhere at anytime and nor does the recalcitrant teen, I shall ask The Matriarch tho.. you never know!! c

  15. terry1954 says:

    I love all the color amongst the browns of winter

  16. ChgoJohn says:

    Amazing how big Meadow and Minty have grown. Seems like yesterday they were wobbly-kneed lambs. And I love the shot of TonTon, standing guard out in the field, as well as the one of Daisy. Hers is a nice photo for an introduction — or Match.com. :)
    Have a great day, Celi! I’ll echo Mad Dog, Cheers!

  17. Happy Friday on the Farmy:)

  18. JanetNZ says:

    Isn’t there a lamb missing?

  19. dayphoto says:

    If I remember correctly, this is going to be your Mother-in-law’s little house. If I also continue to remember correctly you and your mother-in-law a great friends, having been friends from the beginning of your time in the states. You, your lovely Mother-in-law and your special man all together on the land. Who could ask for more?

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
    http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com

    • cecilia says:

      Yes The Matriarch is indeed my mother in law and she and i have always been the best of friends, since I was 16 actually.. so it will be lovely to have her out here in her own little space, though she is not ready to be old quite yet and hopes that other people will keep her space alive until she gets here.. ! c

  20. belocchio says:

    We will raise a glass of bubbly with you . V.

  21. A Table in the Sun says:

    Lovely photo journal. I learned something new from you today. I didn’t know that chickens like milk. I might give them my extra endless streams of kefir rather than dumping it down the sink.

    • cecilia says:

      initially i would mix it with their grain and now they drink it straight from the bowl, in fact they fight the cats for it. I am sure kefir would be fantastically good for them! c

  22. What a lovely Friday on the farm…so many things to look forward to.

  23. Juliet says:

    it’s pleasure to take this walkabout with you, and to be reminded of all the important characters in the story of the farm. What a great scene for the imagination: you and the Matriarch sitting out there in the Coupe, wrapped up like eskimos.

  24. The M.S. Daisy is looking mighty fine as she surveys her lot! Fun to see Minty and Meadow frolicking about and looks like everyone was enjoying the sunshine. Enjoy your champers and happy weekend!

  25. Anonymous says:

    Well, I’ll raise a glass to the fast growing coupe too [still white wine, I am afraid!] and hope someone has taken a photo of the Matriarch and you together :) !

  26. Eha says:

    Just ‘lost’ a comment, so my apologies if two end up on your page! Shall definitely raise a glass to the coupe also [even be it in dry white wine} and hope someone managed to photograph you and the Matriarch for us :) !

  27. Nancy S. says:

    Hi Celi…….I recently discovered your blog and absolutely love it and read it everyday!! I grew up on a farm so nostalgia touches my soul when I read of your daily adventures. I’m so sorry about White Cat…such a lovely picture of him in his fluffy glory! Thaks so much for your wonderful writings and I’ll keep right on enjoying! Happy weekend to you!

  28. equus says:

    Maybe you could tell us about how you acquired Daisy–how she arrived at the farm–also the history of the lambs. We never tire of these, you know. I do remember a photo of her as a little tyke and that she was sooooo pretty. Still is–absolutely photogenic. And TonTon too. I don’t know how you came to have him.

  29. bhoyt10 says:

    Loved the walkabout! We have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger award. Follow link to see details. http://muckingmoms.com/2013/01/17/blog-award/

  30. Miss C, sending some excess warmth your way…….express post!

  31. pattisj says:

    That was an interesting bit of info on your secret to green grass. All those babies, it is going to be one busy farmy this year. The photographer is going to get a good workout. :)

  32. OH, will next spring be busy (2014), with FOUR possible pregnant sheep…and pig…and cow…or cows…
    Love the walk, C…sorry I’m a day late :)

  33. Granny says:

    Ha! To end the day by taking a virtual stroll on the Farmy! Thank you Cecilia. Always a pleasure.

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