Busy Farm Day

A dear friend arrived this morning to help me get some overdue chores done. We spent the morning cleaning out the barn shed side where I keep feed, the milking stand and the skirting table. Over the summer feed bags had stacked up and garbage cans were full of hay twine. After 1 1/2 hours the truck was loaded and ready to be hauled over the the dumpster hubby keeps on the equipment yard. We stopped and enjoyed a yummy farm fresh salad before unloading.
Once that was done we swept and set up the skirting table so that in the days to come all the fleeces can be finished and readied for shipping to a local mill. We also hauled the milking stand in from under the trees where I have milked over the summer and put it to bed for the winter. The girls have been dried up and kids are expected in March.
Then it was time to separate the sheep. I am doing limited breeding this year with just a few select ewes. I am retiring a couple of old girls, ages  9 &10. They can live their life out on green pasture with no babies to look after! With the purchase of the additional 16 acres we have a lot of work ahead of us and I feel like less will be more next spring. As of right now the girls are with the girls and the boys are with the boys. The rams are extremely pissed with decision as there was a lot of gate bashing this afternoon ;-( !
After my friend left, I had to prune the blackberries, pull up the dead zinnia row in the garden, gather eggs and feed the chickens.
A busy farm day for sure...no pics since I have yet to get a new memory card for my camera. That will happen tomorrow after 2 sheep will leave for their new home.
Check out the FB page for pics!

Fall Shearing and Sheep Sales

We are shearing tomorrow. And wouldn't you know when I needed to get pre hair cut pics, my memory card for my camera went kapooy. So for those of you that have been patiently waiting on the sales page to go up, I apologize! I was able to get some decent pictures on my phone and have posted them on the farm facebook page, Maple Lane Homestead. So check it out and if any of these gorgeous boys and girls catch your eye let me know!