Country Girl's Creamery

A few months ago, we noticed this milk in a cooler at our small little hardware store, which is close to our kid's school.  It was a little more expensive than the milk we purchase at the grocery store, but we didn't have to drive 20+ miles to go get it.  It was convenient for us, so we decided to try it since we were close to running out of milk at home.  Ever since that day, we haven't gone back to any other brand of milk.  This milk is pasteurized but not homogenized, so all of the cream will rise to the top.  All you have to do is give it a little shake, and you are ready to go!  It is the best tasting milk ever !  Here is a video that I found that talks about the dairy farm that produces this milk.  It isn't very far from where we live.  We really like supporting local businesses, and this milk is definitely worth it.  (They also have other dairy products available).

 

Thistle and Stinging Nettles

One wouldn't think that this beautiful flower belonged to a plant that most farmers hate to see sprout up in their pastures. While the flower is lovely to look at.........

the plant itself, is not.  

 

The picture below is of a well established plant in our back pasture.  It is a type of thistle, and is very common in our area.  Each plant produces many, many seeds that become airborne when the flower turns all white and fluffy.  Similar to the way a  dandelion does.  

Here is a closer view of all of the "leaves" that are on the stalk. They are covered in very large thorns. Take it from me, those thorns are fierce. They are not something you want to come into contact with.

One of the things I have noticed about the thistle is that it attracts lots and lots of stink bugs.  It's amazing to see how many stink bugs can occupy this one plant.

 

stink bugs

and more stink bugs

Most folks try to spray this weed with an herbicide to try to eradicate it.  We, on the other hand, just let the goats get after them. It's amazing to watch them nibble at that thorny bush and eat it like it's candy.    Unfortunately our back pasture isn't completely goat proofed yet, so they are unable to get these just yet, but in time hopefully we will get it.  

Another weed here at our farm, that we most definitely steer clear of, is this one in the picture below. The kids call it a stinging weed. If any skin comes into contact with it, it will cause some of the worst stinging ever! I've been told by several people that this is a type of stinging nettle. It is short lived here, it comes up and dies off in a couple of months. Those few months they are here, we are ever so careful not to come into contact with it. This is one of the plants I think neither the goats nor cattle have any desire to consume.

notice the fine little hair-like needles on the plant

If you look closely at the photos, you will notice all of the tiny little hairs on the plant.  They can actually "poke" through clothing and come into contact with your skin.  I found that out the hard way a while back.  I've learned to check before I take a seat in the grass around here.

 

It grows everywhere!

I hope everyone had a great Easter. We had several visitors Saturday here at the farm.  I got some photos that I will have to share next time.  I will be trying to work on the blog a good bit today.....

Colts, Calves, and Kids

I went out this morning to see if we'd had any new calves born and those crazy horses followed me everywhere I went. I realized that I haven't put a picture up of the colt lately....This one's for you Mr. AWS :) 

The calf on the left was born last week, and I had taken this picture right after he was born because his eyes were so bright and I'd never seen anything like it.  We've never had one with eyes this color.  They are so beautiful.  I wondered if they were this color due to being blind but it seems to me that he is able to see.  A week later they are still just as bright. Just had to share.....

 

This little guy was watching me curiously, so I decided to take his picture...When I got off of the mule, he looked like he was ready to break into a fast run to get away.  I managed to get his picture before he was able to.

 

Of course I had to share  some kid pictures.  They are literally everywhere I turn.  I think we ended up our first round of kidding with 65 kids being born. 

I just love their little curious faces

playing around

One last thing, baseball is in full swing around here. I will try very hard to continue to make posts on the blog and not forget ;)  It looks like we are going to have a great season this year.  Dillon's coach this year is AWESOME!  I think he will learn so much this year, and have fun while doing it!  

New Man In Town

There's a new man in town....He arrived this week; coming all they way down south from Lasater Ranch in Colorado.  He is in  a pasture by himself for now, to get adjusted to the forages we have available here on our farm.  We put him in a pasture that has clover that is not as lush as our other pastures.  We had just moved the goats out of this particular pasture, so they had eaten it down pretty good.  He came from an area that didn't have all of the green that we do, so it's important not to turn him out on the lush clover.  It could just shock his system and he could get bloat.

  

Last year, Mr. Nic Girgenti gave Shane a book to read called The Lasater Philosophy of Cattle Raising. Shane has been chomping at the bit to try out one of the Lasater's beefmasters since reading it.  Everything in this book goes in line with our goals of raising our livestock....goats and cattle.  We ended up with kiko goats after hearing about how much less labor intensive they were compared to other breeds.  Our desire is to raise the animals on our farm with little to no input and for them to still thrive under those conditions.  The kiko goat has proven itself to be just that.  Now it's time for the same with our cattle.  We have raised some good cows out of Limousin, Black Angus, Red Brangus, and Black Brangus bulls.  It's time to try out the Lasater's Beefmaster to see what it's all about.

I'm still here

Yes, I am still here.  Shane took off all last week to get some work done on the remodeling....in other words, we worked our behinds off.  I was so tired last week, I didn't know if I was coming or going.    I am still recovering, it seems, from last week.   I  will, however, leave you with a few photos taken the last few days.

He now has braces

Little miss snaggletooth

Pecan trees are starting to get leaves.  I have always been told that it means cold weather is officially gone.  I guess that should be true being that we've had highs in the 80's lately. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy a little time relaxing with your family and friends.

Take a little time to soak up some sun.  Maybe even get a much needed nap.

And perhaps, take a little time to share a little laughter with one another.  It is truly the best medicine!

Remodeling Progress

We've gotten a little more accomplished on the remodeling job. Shane "created" a beam to put over the spot in the ceiling from where we knocked the wall out. This is the beginning of putting it up....

Shane put another board on the other side.....

And then he put the last board in.  It is recessed a little in the middle on purpose, so now I have to go back with the stain and get it all touched up.

The floor is also going down in what will be our bedroom.  I'm really excited to get away from all of the carpeting.  We are doing the bedrooms with this laminate wood flooring (shown below) and the living room, dining room, kitchen, and laundry room will have the vinyl plank flooring.  No carpet for that house!  Our current house has carpeting and I can't help to wonder what all gets tracked in from the "farm" that I'm not able to just clean by vacuuming. 

I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel......I'm getting excited.....we may be able to move in soon.

The Kidding Continues

Just a quick post for you all this morning. We are still in the middle of kidding here with 49 kids on the ground since yesterday afternoon. We've been well pleased with a lot of our first timers kidding this year producing twins, of course some did have singles.

First timer with twin bucklings

We also have had an additional set of triplets added to our kid crop.  This doe is keeping up with all three of them.  I've said before that we generally do not like triplets, but the does with triplets are doing a great job this year.

triplets

A lot of the kids are bouncing and running around in groups, and it is so fun to watch.  I hope to get some photos of them doing their acrobatics.  This little guy below was curious as to what I was doing with my camera.  He just stood there and stared for the longest.  I guess he thought if he was still enough, I wouldn't notice him.  :)

This little doeling is our most uniquely marked kid yet.  She is black white and gray.  It looks like someone dipped their fingertip in white paint and made a circle on each side.  It's pretty neat.

This  doeling heard me open the goat and she dove down into the clover as flat as she could get.  It was funny to see her "hide" from me.  I mean, she kinda stood out in all of that green clover.  She lay there for the longest time, not moving and keeping her head low.  

hiding out

I put this photo on our facebook page last week, but I thought I would share it her on the blog too.  It just brings a smile to my face to see this sweet little face.  This little buckling is a twin out of an awesome first timer.  She has done an excellent job of showing us her strong mothering instincts to her twins.  It's so amazing to see.

May God bless you this week!

Kids

So far 15 kids have arrived. It is my favorite time of the year when all of the little ones start arriving. We've had some really nice weather for them to be born in too.  I went out today and snapped a few pictures while I was tagging the newest ones. 

twin bucklings

We have had one set of triplets.  Not my most favorite to see, but the doe is doing an awesome job of taking care of all three of them.  Generally it seems that there is always a weaker one of the three because it isn't getting enough nutrition, but so far all three are bouncing around like little balls of energy!

triplets

This morning had the most perfect weather for all of the little kids to check everything out. 

curiosity

checking out the surroundings

nibbling leaves

Napping in the sunshine

You can check out our Deep South Kikos facebook page for more pictures of our 2012 kiko kids. While you're there, go ahead and click the "like" button to keep up with all of our updates on blog posts, and photos.  Have a great day everybody!

First Kids of 2012 Have Arrived

Our kids have finally started arriving! I went out this morning to make rounds, and found these two in the process of being born. While I was looking at these two, I could hear another doe off to my right. I looked across the field and there was a doe by herself. She was in labor too. I checked in with her later, and she had given birth to twins as well. I'll have more pictures to follow, but I wanted to go ahead and share.

kiko kid minutes after being born

kiko doe with her new twins

Now, I'm off to go get them tagged and weighed.