Happy New Year! I will begin this post with a view from the milking stand:
Beautiful and COLD! As you can see, we've had a fair bit of snow!
We haven't had a post here since Thanksgiving - sorry about that! December was a crazy busy month - we spent a lot of time supplying our customers with our flour, cornmeal, soaps and lotions. Thank you to all of our customers!
The picture above is a market at the Butler Building in Aitkin.
In the farmyard, Birch has re-joined Tamarack in the bachelor paddock. There are large rocks in there and Tamarack seems to like balancing on this one.
Christmas Day was spent at the North House (that's Mom and Dad's place next door). They have a group of birds coming to the birdfeeders in back that are not common in these parts. The general consensus is that they are a hen pheasants - possibly released or escaped from someone who was raising them. They are fun to watch!
Can you see all six of them?
After our mid-day Christmas feast, some of us went swamp stomping. The idea was to determine how frozen the swamp is in the area that wood-cutting will be happening soon. There was pretty good ice in some places but Kori did fall through and got a wet foot which sent us back to the house in a hurry.
This is the only surviving cedar tree we can find on our property.
We have two new furry residents here. Sister kitties Luna and Waffle moved in about a month ago. They were both very shy at first, this being a big life change from their former home. They are living in the shop which is heated and are gradually getting used to vehicles coming and going, Hoover being out there during the week days and resident cat Roye. Luna is now very friendly with us and loves to be cuddles and fussed over whenever we are out there. Waffle on the other hand will not come out of her hidey-hole when we are around.
Kurt and Kori's cars are parked in the shop for the weekend. The cats seem to be going to for maximum number of footprints per square foot of car surface.
Luna keeps her distance from Roye.
Milking season comes to and end this weekend. Today it was so cold out there that Poppy and Belle stayed in their bedding nests while Daisy demanded her goat kibble. Daisy is always first to be milked and they all know the order. Why get up when it's not your turn?
Notably absent is Vinca. We had to let her go a few days ago. No animal has ever touched my heart like Vinca and it is difficult to write this about her. Her health has not been good for a while now and with the onset of the really cold weather it just made it so difficult for her - she was suffering and we had to say good-bye.
It was love at first sight for me almost nine years ago. She was only a couple of weeks old then and hadn't been registered yet. I knew right away that she just had to be Vinca so instead of the name she had been called, she officially became Berube's Split Rock Vinca.
She had fourteen kids over the years, eight doelings and six bucklings. She was an awesome mama goat and my best doe-friend.
Gone but will never be forgotten; forever in my heart.
And that is our post for this time. We'll be back with a new post in a month or so and will be looking forward to spring, baby goat kids and growing things. We wish you all a healthy and happy New Year. Be well friends.