And More Peas!

I finally finished the rest of the butter peas. A total of 30 pounds were picked with at least that many more with a bit of rain. Not too bad for one row. I remembered why I only plant butter peas every other year. They are sooo labor intensive to pick. Now I need to shell them...
We also planted the first of our fall crops, brocolli, brocolli raab and cabbage that my sister started from seed.

Peas, Peas

Today we picked peas. Crowder peas and butter peas. LOTS of peas. And I didn't get finished. The butter peas are very time consuming to pick and after half the row and a heaping half bushel I was done. I will finish the rest tomorrow. Doug picked the crowders and okra. Another half bushel of each. It was a hot day and we were soaked to the skin after working in the garden for 3 hours so we moved to cooler jobs, raking the barn and feeding hay while Luke and a friend split wood. So many projects, so little time, it seems!
 One of the Icelandic rams we sold, left this evening. He was probably one of the finest fleeced animals we have raised and I was thrilled to find out he was going to a spinner's flock in addition to being their flock sire.

Picking Up Hay

Still recovering, I was not allowed to pick up hay today. The boys did fine without me tho~ hmmm... that's food for thought! We had a lovely farm visitor and fellow homesteader and that kept me occupied while they worked. The count today was 299 bringing our year total to 1480. Not too bad.

Mowing Fall Hay

Our fall cutting of hay went down today. Though not very thick it looks to be some really good hay. I have fed a good bit already since the cows and horses have eaten down their pasture pretty well.
With this cutting out loft will be filled to capacity. And with that we are ready for the winter!!
The vets were out today and critters were looked over and taken care of. Health certificates were filled out and the sheep are ready for their new homes. The LGD that killed the skunk has to stay in quarantine for a couple of weeks--it seems his rabies shot had lapsed by a few days. Ugh. We are not really worried as it was a normal event with the skunk, being nighttime when it was out, but just want to be safe. He also has to take antibiotics twice a day for the next 2 weeks. That is already proving to be a challenge as he spit the first one out, even wrapped in meat. Hay should come up friday!

What Color Am I ?

I am hoping with the help of some Icelandic breeders we can make a call on the color of these two ram lambs.  I think this one is a spotted black badger~

Newborn:

And this one a spotted moorit badger?

Newborn:

Now

Will let you know!  Okay-- the top one is a black badger and the bottom a moorit badger. Mystery solved!

Morning Chaos and Vet Checks

I fixed my first cup of coffee and went to settle in on the screen porch to enjoy it, only to hear one of the dairy goats screaming her head off. She was struck in the fence. I could tell she wasn't hurt so decided to ignore her and finish my cup. My mom appeared and asked if I knew the one of the LGD's was in the wrong pasture. No and that was not a good thing as he is still not allowed to be in with the chickens. As if on cue, squawking started. I ran out barefoot and screaming- "Drop it!!!" He did so and the chicken ran off. And so began my day.
The large animal vet was due at 1 and the small animal vet at 6 this evening. Over the weekend the same naughty LGD killed a skunk and it proceeded to rip his mouth pretty bad.( Sometimes he takes his job a little to seriously!) In order to be safe I wanted him to have a booster rabies shot. In between waiting I milked, baked bread and 2 Amish friendship cakes. I also checked the garden. I picked 24 eggplant. I'm sorry but I really don't know what to do with 24 eggplant....

Late tomatoes have started to ripen and the butter peas are ready. Lots of peppers as well. I got everything picked but the peas and hope to get to that late this evening after supper and the vet leaves. Looks like I will be doing some preserving this week.

Rounding Up The Sheep

The vet is coming on Monday to do some health certificates for the Icelandic sheep we have sold. So today we had a roundup. First we had to play musical pastures. Cow here, horses there, to allow the sheep to be moved. Once that was done, I walked ahead of the sheep with grain while the boys and Luke's girlfriend followed behind. Out of the front pasture, through the lower and finally into the barnyard. Only a few escapees and in short order all were up. I was so excited to see the beautiful fleeces this year. I made a mental note to get in touch with the shearer asap. I checked over everyone to find the adults all looking good but in 2 weeks time the lambs went from pink membranes to pale. Ugh. So, the boys got to hold and I dewormed. A couple have developed a raspy cough so they were quarenteened and started on antibiotics. I will have the vet check those on Monday too. Lastly I had to tag the ones leaving but even that went surprisingly well. Gotta love those days...