Rams In

Since I was home with a sick boy today, naptime proved to be an excellent opportunity to establish our breeding groups for this season. For my own record keeping here is the info:

Ram: Marshmallow (shetland, white)
Anna
Ella
Shrek
Cocoa
Sugar
Plum
Emma
Cream

Ram: Jimmer (1/2 shetland, 1/2 suffolk)
Sunny
Bunny
Scar
Jacobs
Fiona
JJ
Kizzy
Poppy
Pamela

Marshmallows group is all pure shetland except for Cream. He is such a gorgeous ram, with outstanding fleece that we wanted to try and capitalize on that. The ewes he has been placed with are our finest fleeces and best conformations. Well, except for spoiled AnnaFleece who somehow managed to squeeze herself under the fence when I was cleaning out the water trough. I figured if she needed to be with Ella and the others that accept her so bad, I would not deny her.
Jimmer's group is our ewes of unknown background, more experienced shetlands, and icelandics. The plan is that these will all be market lambs.
Speaking of market lambs, we slaughtered our own this year. It was tough, but not as tough as I thought it would be. I know it would have been different if it was a sheep I was attached to, but I still have my favorites in our current group of 19. We had five lambs that are on their way to the processor as I type. They are already promised to freezers from here to the twin cities.
Nate and I also have the hides drying in preparation for sending in to the tannery. I think my husband is more excited about sinking his toes into a gorgeous 1/2 shetland, 1/2 Jacobs pelt than he is about a freezer full of lamb!

A 4 year old obsession

This past summer Kohen would talk about musical instruments he saw on television, or heard in a song. We would often listen to Josh Groban in the car, and Kohen fell in love with the song, "You Raise Me Up." His favorite part is the violin. This blossomed into discussions about violins, and a desire to play the violin. I don't want to be a pushy parent, so I would discuss and encourage, but that was all. Well, after a month of listening to Kohen talk about learning to play the violin, we relented and arranged for lessons. The unfortunate part of living in such a rural area was finding an instrument. Kohen and I ventured to the closest music store, 30 minutes away, and had him sized for a violin. He needed an 1/8 size which they did not have in stock, but would get sent up. Two weeks later, still no violin. We found a violin shop in Duluth that had an instrument his size we could rent, and Nate was in Duluth, so it worked.

Kohen began his first lesson with some nerves, and ended with some disappointment that he couldn't just pick up his bow and play all the songs he loves.

Three lessons later, he now knows all the parts of his violin, The notes of his strings, and how to pluck. He also knows the position for his first and second fingers, and we are working on adding in the third.

It is sometimes a struggle to keep this active boy focused for a thirty minute lesson. He wants to move/eat/go to the bathroom, generally in that order! We are lucky to have found such a patient teacher that just laughs at his antics and brings him back into focus. But so far his desire has not waned, and we will continue as long as he enjoys it.

Building a Barn- Take 2

So last Saturday was supposed to be our barn raising. Horrible weather and a lack of manpower limited our progress. The posts are in, the materials are standing ready. Our hope is to get some beams up sometime this weekend. Even though it's a small barn, it takes time and work. Rain, snow, and cold have been wearing on our ability to work outside lately. We finally used the last of the left overs last night for some split pea and ham soup.
In other news we have had the fun of Kohen's first stitches, a long weekend during MEA, Christmas and birthday pictures, and just plain busy times. We are trying our best to dodge the H1N1, and waiting patiently for vaccinations (both seasonal and H1N1 are unavailable in our area right now.) I worry the most about Isaiah with his history of breathing problems. Daily vitamins, probiotics, LOTS of handwashing, garlic ear oil drops, saline nose swabs, and hot tea are all preventitive methods currently in use at our house. Speaking of tea...

A Barn to Be

Mark your calendars: Saturday, October 17th, 9:00 am.

It's an old fashioned barn raising ya'll! We may not be amish, but we sure are going to try, and we need all the manpower we can get.

All summer Nate and I have discussed the necessity for better shelter for the critters come winter. We are planning on wintering 20 sheep, along with the donkey, and 3 or 4 turkeys. We've decided we must just do it. So the plans are in the works for a barn raising. Excellent food is promised, along with plenty of friendship and laughs.

So, if you can make it stop on by. We will need more than just manpower. Try some WOman power, plus some wonderful assistance to watch the children.

A Boy and the Bus

Last Thursday was a milestone in Kohen's life. For the first time he attended 'real' school. Our district has a school readiness program that allows children who are at least four to attend school one day a week. They attend for a full day, and are even able to ride the school bus to and from school. The school bus ride is even more special for my boy since my dad drives the bus. I was home sick and was able to see my boy off on his bus before heading to the clinic for some antibiotics to combat a sinus infection. I held it together until the bus headed down the hill, and then the tears came. How can he be this old already? Time moves much too fast.

They don't look excited about the school bus coming up the hill, do they?



Kohen loving up his brother as we walked out to wait for the bus.
Kohen loved his first day of school, and was able to see some of his friends who are seasoned first graders. Of course he did not want to be picked up after school, but rode the bus home as well.

It was one tired four year old who stepped off that bus at 4:05 pm. I knew the standard question of "What did you do today?" would be met with the standard response, so instead I asked Koe what his favorite part of the day was. "Riding the bus home," a genuine, honest, answer.

Isaiah wasn't sure what to make of Kohen not being with us, but was most excited to see Papa driving the bus. He now believes every bus he sees is "Papa's Bus."

Not quite a month...

So in the last 48 hours I have had three calls/discussions about my lack of updating on this blog. What can I say? Life gets too busy. Which is unfortunate, because I would really like to share a little bit of this life with all of you out there. So here it goes...

September 12th was our last day at the local farmer's market. Kohen and I sold our apple cinnamon scones and mini apple pies that we had made, along with produce. Nate's mom Jan was up for the weekend, so we headed up to Ely after the market to attend the Harvest Moon Festival. Kohen's favorite part was listening to Pat Surface and the Boundary Water Boys, especially the fiddler, but more on that in a later post.

The following weekend we headed to Rochester for some visiting and farmer's market shopping. The cousins had a wonderful time together, and it was a great visit. I stalked up on garlic to plant, and lots of other good treats. We were able to pick some perfectly ripe pears at Holly and Cory's. Kohen loved having a reason to climb the ladder.

How adorable are these three?