After being away from the farm for ten days I am pleased to report that all the animals are well and shiny and the ones who should be fat are fat and the ones who should be lean are still lean.
Our John did a very good job. Above are the little pigs – they are growing very well.
John said that last Sunday Sheila turned up at the verandah steps calling out that the calves were out. They were milling about the driveway evidently, when they saw John and Sheila coming towards them from the house they darted straight back through the barn and down the corridor and back through their pen gate and out the other side into their field. John and Sheila behind them. Sheila accepted a banana as a reward and followed them through before John closed the old gate properly.
Such a lovely little herd.
Mr Flowers the peacock, still has this white substance growing on his lower tail feathers dragging them down which is odd. You can see it more clearly in this image. It is hard, like a shell. It has not spread at all and has been there since these feathers grew. In the mid summer he will lose these long tail feathers which is a good thing. I am still researching it. We had no chicks last year and it looks like this year will be the same.
Cats in the barn. I did not see Moon the new brown stray but John said he had been around. He is a wanderer so I am not worried.
Geraldine, like the dogs, was unusually attentive.
On the other side at the West Barn all the cows and the breeding pigs are well. Today we will being Alex back over to the home fields – she is the smallest in the herd at the West side and getting a hard time from the big milkers. Plus she should be due to calve first – late March early April maybe. No sign of an udder yet so we have a while to go.
These cows and Carls their bull are all locked up on the concrete now, which is not ideal but I don’t want the fields smashed into mud – and they will thaw right out over the next warm ten days, the pasture needs to begin growing now and get long for spring grazing.
Alex will do better with the calves and Sheila. Alex is the only one who actually looks pregnant but it seems to me Dexters always look round.
If Lady Astor is indeed pregnant I have decided not to let her out on the spring grass until she has calved. Her udder got dangerously large last time and with her calf overdue we ran into troubles with that udder with the skin splitting, mastitis, etc. We were lucky she did not get full on milk fever. This time she can stay on good dry food until she calves.
Hopefully I have enough hay. Today we will put the last small round alfalfa bale in with the beef cows. And John is working on our ancient dump truck in the hopes of getting it running so he can collect one big grass round bale and drop it through the gate for the West Barn cows. I have two months left of feeding hay, if the weather behaves (and when has the weather ever behaved) -Lady will be eating the last few bales I think.
I hope she is pregnant.
I see no signs of pregnancy in these two sows (Molly and Poppy) . But they should be pregnant. They can stay with Manu the boar until I am sure.
Today I will spend more time cleaning out the barns, this will take me the rest of the week, I think.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
63 responses to “Good morning Farmy”
Sheila is a great pig! Kind of a Mrs Buttinsky…but in a good way! Good for John taking such good care while
you had a lovely and much needed break! Cheers!
Yes, he is very pleased with himself.. c
Ah, they’ve learned to tread water and play nice (mostly) while you were away. Sheila is such a fine farm hand. Glad MR. Flowers’ feathers will shed soon – that white stuff is odd and it would be too traumatic to try to trim them off.
Love the horizon/field picture – and the hay. Lovely hay!
I love the hay too – wish I did not have to feed it out!! c
When we go to the feed store for garden/lawn supplies, they always laugh if I ask for a handful of fresh hay to take home.
I imagine so!! c
Sheila is quite the pig.k I’m sure she missed you while you were gone.
It would be interesting to get into her head wouldn’t it and see what she is really thinking.. c
So happy to hear all is as it should be and Sheila is doing her part to create reason to receive rewards. She is one smart pig if not a little ornery. 🙂
Pretty ornery today!! c
Must be comforting to know that Sheila is running the farm so smoothly when you go away…oh, did I say Sheila? Of course, I meant to say Our John. Silly of me to believe a pig could be in charge 😉
Laughter!! c
Sheila and John made a good team! It’s lovely to reconnect with home and your land after you’ve been away for a while.
Yes it is- and oh so lovely to have been able to travel for a wee while.. c
Love the pink piggy bottoms…the gorgeous copper colored field…the wise cat keeping his secrets. It’s a good life, Miss C.
It IS a good life and better for the people I have in it! Take care, darling girl.. c
So glad you enjoyed your trip, loved the updates and photos, enjoyed your guest bloggers (well done to them) but I will admit that I am happy to see you home and get such a good update on the farm.. so strange to see no snow and here that you will have warm weather for ten days, I am in the right middle of back to back to back snow storms. . Welcome home, good big pig and here is hoping that your girls are expecting.
You are having wild weather – it is unusually calm and nice here – not complaining!
I love Sheila!
same.. c
I, too, enjoyed your guest bloggers and their life-style stories, but I’m truly glad you’re back! Missed all of the farm kids, too! Your photos are phenomenal! So glad you didn’t get sick this trip! A huge WELCOME4 BACK!
thank you and I am pretty pleased i didn’t get sick either! c
Oh to get sick would be monstrous bad. Well, Sheila has a conscience too–if you break it you buy it. She’s just hilarious. I want to know did she act surprised or huffy when she saw you back? Also, how did Bo and Tonton react to your homecoming?
Sheila took no notice of me at all when i returned – just applied herself to her breakfast. Boo would not get off my foot – I could not move – he just kept planting his bottom on my foot. TonTon wiggled his tail right off in delight. Both the dogs were mad with excitement. Not so the pig of course – she is after all a pig and calmly plods through. And pigs are not dogs who succumb to excitement. Boo is still watching me carefully. c
Imagining Sheila’s reasoning entertains me…. hmmm might go for a stroll – oops forgot about the bloody cows – bugger – better get the [acting] boss – ooh banana very good – bloody cows 🐽
I think you have got “think like a pig” down pat! Made me laugh out loud! c
Haha, now I have this video running through my mind: Sheila hustling John out to get those naughty minions right back where they belong all the while assuring him that it certainly was not her fault and she had to come ALL the way to the verandah just to tell him that those silly creatures don’t know enough to stay in their own field and oh my she really should get some kind of reward for being so conscientious and keeping an eye on things while the boss is away etc., etc. etc.
Denise: like me, back from travels, taking stock, and fired up with renewed zeal!
Zeal – fabulous word.. c
Welcome back! Sounds like you had a great trip! 💚
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