Apple Harvest 2011

My mother has a small apple orchard with one lone pear tree. Every year we have to harvest those apples and the one lone pear tree. To get this done without a lot of work on our part we have an apple harvest party. Friends and family are invited.

Food is served.


Apples are picked.



with a lot of posing



Pies are baked.



Cider is pressed.



more posing


Everyone goes home with a box of apples and a jug of cider.

This year was extra special because I had my kids home.



Oh no, more posing...

Fil Does The Farm Tour

Today was the annual Key Peninsula Farm Tour. For the third year in a row Filbert has been an attraction at Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch, where Shire horses reign supreme. Filbert is the candy goat. He carries his pack of chocolates and tempts children (and middle age women craving chocolate) to look in his pack. Fil has always been a professional goat and has taken his job seriously. He is almost a celebrity and has appeared in our local paper. People remember Fil in his handsome brown, white, and black coat with his green pack and matching collar and lead.



This morning when I went down to load Fil he looked a little dubious. I could tell he was thinking, "hmmm it's the first of October. I know what this means"

And he ran.

I chased him all around the field until I caught him by the collar as he hurried by. We wrestled all the way to the car and I hoisted him into him crate. He muttered pitifully as we drove.
When we got to the farm and I let him out he shook with anticipation of a day of children getting in his personal space.
I know just how he feels.
He continued to shake a bit as we set up but after awhile he settled in and ate some hay that was sticking out of a feeder nearby. As the crowd started to gather I had to hold Fil while the kids came forward to select a candy out of his pack.
Then Fil got a taste of the chicken feed that the kids carried around in small bags to feed the chickens. He somehow forgot his fear and gently nibbled food from their hands.



He hardly noticed them digging in his pack for a chocolate and started to enjoy himself.



As the day wore on he started to relax and appeared to be, once again, taking his job seriously.



Then he got full.

It was like a switch was flipped and Fil was ready to go. Just like that. Time to go. Filbert drug me to the car and when I opened up the back of my Jeep he dove into his crate-the same crate I wrestled him into earlier that day.

This may be Fil's last farm tour. I will start taking applications from the other goats in the herd to fill the position of the candy goat.

Anyone want to apply?



How about you, Buttons?

I Won....

a 3 hole nest box from Pam and Billy at Life on a Southern Farm. I started reading Pam's blog several years ago when I first discovered blogs and have been a fan ever since. Her husband Billy is quite the builder and he started building nest boxes that have apparently taken over their life. Oh how I wanted one of these but just stuck with my recycle bins nailed to the wall. They have had several giveaways and I have entered every one, along with a lot of other chicken owners. Boy was I surprised when Pam contacted me and told me I'd won. I asked Billy to autograph it. One person's nest box is another person's art and no matter what he builds whether it's an incubator or a boat it is always a work of art.
Now those recycle bins can go into the recycle bin because my hens are moving uptown to their new Hen Pals Nest Box.

My DIL

On a recent visit I taught my daughter-in-law to milk...after all this will all be her's some day. Anyone that has tried to milk a goat for the first time knows it isn't easy. There is a lot of squeezing with nothing coming out.

That's how it started. Lots of squeezing with nothing coming out.



Then she started to get the hang of it. The milk started to flow one squirt at a time.



My DIL is a gal that can take on a challenge and doesn't give up until she makes it happen. Most mornings she joined me for the milking and before too long she got her rhythm down.



As I went about doing other chores she perfected her milking techniques. Soon I heard the rhythmic ping of the milk hitting the bucket.



As I came around the corner I saw her big smile.


"I have foam!"

Cora Belle misses you Steph.

We Did The Puyallup

Much to the goats' relief, we are home from the fair. Everyone was in the top half of their class with our best being Boots who took a second in the yearling milker class in spite of her coin purse udder. Pepper Ann did better than Bliss with an almost second that turned to a third and Bliss getting a 4th. Wedding Belles did not like the fair at all but managed to pull out a third behind some beautiful Poppy Patch does. Cora Belle did her signature princess walk around the ring but it wasn't enough to take the judge's eye away from the lovely Mae West who lives at Poppy Patch.

The day belonged to a tiny doeling from Herron Hill named Pebbles. The smallest goat there caught the judge's eye from the start and went all the way to Jr. Champion.
It was a day to remember.

The Fair...so far

After a day of shock and awe the goats of Minter Bay are settling in to life at the fair. They are acting like it's every day you hear a band warm-up and Tina Marie the hypnotist outside your barn.

Here is Cora Belle and Wedding Belles relaxing with their relatives from Poppy Patch. The brown and white doe behind them is Wedding Belles' grandmother, Angel.



It's exhausting.



But the foods great.

The Fair Line Up

I can smell the fair already. Sawdust, animals, fried onions....and scones. We are busy getting ready to head to Puyallup next week for the Western Washington Fair. I will be taking 5 goats this year. I have only ever taken one goat and that is work enough. Getting 5 goats ready is a bit more challenging. For one thing, there is a lot of shaving involved. I'm glad they are miniatures.

Bliss.


Pepper Ann



Wedding Belles



Boots



And Cora Belle



Come by and see us at the fair. We are there the 13, 14, and 15th. Nigerians are showing on the morning of the 15th. I will put on my white pants, after Labor Day, and hunch my tall frame over some very short goats and attempt to walk around the ring with them.

I might even buy you a scone.

Wild Flowers

I have lived in Washington my entire life and have gone to Mt. Rainier National Park many times...but never in the summer. While my kids were here we decided to go see the wildflowers in bloom on top of the mountain. It was cold and foggy when we arrived at the park entrance. We asked the ranger where to see the wild flowers and he told us that we could see them at Paradise (top of the mountain) and also along the road. As we traveled the windy road we saw lots of dandelions and Queen Ann's Lace but that was about it. I guess technically a dandelion is a wildflower but I wanted more.

And more we got. It was beautiful. Magenta, blue, pink, purple and yellow flowers covered the ground like someone had planted them there.



The wild flowers are in full bloom right now as they are late because of our crazy cold summer.



I highly recommend if you live in driving distance of Mt. Rainer you take the drive up the mountain to see nature at its best.



We also saw this....



But this got the most attention...

My Kids

My kids are coming tomorrow. I can't wait. Tomorrow is my birthday and I can't think of a better birthday present than that.

A Silk Purse

Pepper Ann had her first haircut today to get ready for the Western Washington Fair and as the hair fell away I liked this girl better and better.



Now that's what I'm talkin' about....

Minter Bay Orient Express

This is Pepper Ann. I always say nobody wants Pepper Ann. She's been for sale for awhile and there has been no inquiries. I'm starting to call Pepper Ann a sleeper. The goatfarmer's not yet convinced but I see something in this pesky little doeling. Maybe it is just that she loves to stand and pose as long as I scratch the spot between her front legs. I'm going to give this little girl a shave and take her to the fair. We will see if she is at the front of the line or way in back. You know me...I hate being in the back. I get cranky.



She stays in her pasture. Not like some goats we know.



What?

Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound

I can't keep this one in.

Kiwi Pig

Watch that Dog

Are you lookin' at me?

They're back. The yard is full of eagles. This photo was taken from the door of our bedroom. I don't really know if they would take a small dog with all that salmon running up the creek but I don't want to take a chance. What a way to go.
Imagine having huge six foot wingspan birds flying through your yard and resting in the large fir trees all around. Feathers and poo fall from the trees. Occasionally we get a salmon carcass for the dogs to discover. I was talking to the neighbor, who is an official feather collector for the Native Americans, that the eagles were getting to be a bit of a nuisance. We aren't talking one or two but more like 50. Well you would have thought I said I hate America. He couldn't believe I could feel that way so I back-pedaled as fast as I could, as two eagles flew past us blowing back our hair.
We did agree that people wouldn't believe it unless they saw what we see every day. Sunday while down on the beach, Hubby and I witnessed two eagles fighting in flight. As they tumbled over and over with talons locked we stared with our mouths open. One hit the water with a splash, stunned and wet. Stormy being an excellent bird dog jumped in and tried to retrieve it. Luckily her training is solid and Hubby was able to call her off the big duck with the razor sharp beak. We watched it for awhile wondering what to do when it started to swim. Using the breaststroke it made it to shore and pulled itself on a log. It seemed fine, just needing to dry its feathers. I have only seen an eagle swim one other time and that was when it locked onto a salmon and wouldn't let go. The salmon pulled it in and so it swam with its wings until it got that fish onshore.
I have been able to witness first hand the recovery of the Bald Eagle and I am here to tell you that they are alive and well in beautiful Minter Bay.



God Bless America

V-test

As you know the herd is on milk test(the herd being Cora Belle who is the only one milking) and with the information came a letter that explained the need for a verification test if you had a doe milking in the top ten goats of their breed. They sent the top ten numbers and Cora Belle was smack dab in the middle of the top ten in Nigerians. A verification test was in order to get recognized by ADGA.
Today was that day when another tester came out to verify that CB was indeed milking a whole lot of milk. The poor tester had to drive to the farm three times instead of two. The first to set the time and the next two actual tests where the milk is weighed and sampled.
CB is consistently at 4 pounds a day. She was giving 6 pounds for a while and if we can hold at 4 we should be looking good. I use the collective we. CB is bored with the whole process. She has better things to do than eat alfalfa and make milk like all the rest of the girls in the top ten. She is flirting with Pepe and worried about where the Tiny Giant went off to.
We have done 5 tests with 5 more to go. Eat Cora Belle Eat.

Welcome Home

Pepe came home from being on loan. He left a boy and came back a man. The girls are all in love. Cora Belle is having a hard time concentrating on eating....which makes more milk. Even the grandma goat, Lexi, is finding herself alongside his pen more times than not.

Lucky has the misfortune of being Pepe's companion. He is in shock. Sometimes he has to go to his safe place and think happy thoughts.

Summer if finally here