Fred (l) and Barney (r) arrive at de Good Life Farm.
They arrived in the back of a pick up, looking adorable and docile. These little guys have made history…they are the first calves not to be born here on the farm. Some of you might want to know that they are Jersey/Hereford cross. We think they are adorable.
We put their halters on them and then the lead ropes so that we would have some control over them.
Barney getting his halter put on.
We gave them some milk in a bucket to welcome them, which they eagerly lapped up very quickly. Fred (purple halter) decided to take advantage of his handler not paying complete attention and bolted away…he was caught but not before he had literally climbed through the electric fence into the pasture. This, of course, got Herbie and Elsie all excited!
He was caught and brought back to the milk in the bucket, which he happily helped Barney clean up. We then proceeded to properly introduce them to the pasture. Bless their hearts, they had not experienced an electric fence yet. We took them in on lead ropes and let Herbie and Elsie check them out. We showed them the hay and they seemed calm so we unhooked them from the lead ropes, exited the pasture and watched.
Herbie and Elsie followed Fred and Barney everywhere they went! If the calves ran, so did Herbie and Elsie.
“follow the leader”
Fred is definitely the one who seems to be destined to push the boundaries. Typically, with our other calves, we already know their personalities, since we’ve been with them and handled them from birth, and they know us and what to expect here on the farm. These new calves are strong little guys and they don’t know us and we don’t know them.
We expected they would test the boundaries…which they did…especially Fred. He got zapped and made that adorable sound that I have no idea how to spell. And then he proceeded to get zapped a few more times! Jeff seemed convinced they would be ok, so he headed off to do something else…I stood and watched and what did I see? Fred sailed right through the electric fence on the other side of where I was standing.
“feeling their oats” and enjoying the new space
I yelled “one’s out!” I ran to the barn to get the lead ropes and Jeff rolled under the fence to get over to the other side where he got through. He was free and who knew how far he would run before we could catch him, if we even COULD catch him? (Honestly, I had visions of when Snickers ran the entire pasture, crossed the road and nearly disappeared into the cornfield.)
I then proceeded to go around the pasture to head him off if he decided to head for the road. Oh my! I got all the way down the driveway, around to the other side of the pasture and up almost to where he was investigating. I was walking slowly so as not to scare him into running away…and what did he do?
HE CLIMBED BACK THROUGH THE FENCE!!! I stood there both shocked and amused! I think he realized his buddy wasn’t with him and evidently had no plans to follow. Now he had a reason to stay!
Aren’t they adorable??
We left them alone while we milked and did chores. We have kept a watchful eye on them since and they definitely seem to be settling down. I went out before I headed to bed and they were all four (Herbie, Elsie, Fred and Barney) watching me, but the important thing is that they were all accounted for INSIDE the fence!
I will have to update you as time goes on so that you can know how they acclimate. I’d be fine with time passing without any chaotic surprises for awhile!
Now on to the next big event…finding a future wife for Odin. STAY TUNED! Oh, and speaking of Odin…the calves are just about the same size as he is! He wants to play with them so badly! There is usually something going on here at the farm!
Odin, King of de Good Life Farm, Protector of the Six Realms
I am a storyteller…not stories in the sense that I am a liar…but I tell stories that must be told…REAL LIFE STORIES! To date, all of my published works are nonfiction books for children. They are stories that must be told about our animals who cannot tell their own stories; they just live their lives and I feel like they count on me to tell their stories.
Yesterday, a story happened in front of my eyes. I often say that I wish I could capture the videos/pictures my brain sees and somehow share them with my readers…but, alas, stories with pictures are the best I can do. This story could have been a horror story. It could have been a devastating tear-jerker. But, instead, it is a story of a hero…more accurately, two heroes who worked together to do the job that they were created to do, and the result was an heroic rescue which averted the demise of some of de Good Life’s residents!
You’ve probably guessed one of the heroes…and if you guessed that gorgeous “white lion” pictured up above, you are correct! Odin is an amazing protector of “his” chicken flock and our cattle (Have you read My Name is Odin!?). He has owned the role and has shown himself to be trustworthy! The second hero isn’t as big, not as loud and not as fast, but he is beautiful in his own rite and has a very important job to do guarding from his vantage point, which he does quite well (if you haven’t read My Name is Merlin!, then you MUST!)!
Merlin with a few of his girls after their close call with the hawk
I will start at the beginning…it’s a very good place to start. Typically, I do not open the door of my chicken coop to let the chickens free range until afternoon, so that their egg-laying is finished while they are in the coop and I do not have to replay Easter morning egg hunts every day. This day was no different.
After letting them out, gathering and bringing the eggs in, I was sitting at the dining room table talking to my mom and dad and watching out the sliding glass door as I often do. I saw some chickens fly…which they do from time to time…and then it looked like one of them had hopped up on the fence post! Now I had never seen them do THAT…and less than a second later, in HORROR! I realized that IT WASN’T A CHICKEN…IT….WAS….A….HAWK!!! I literally screamed those dreaded words, “IT’S A HAWK!”! I sprang up and ran out on the deck and immediately heard Odin in his biggest and fiercest bark warning the chickens of the predator. My first thought was “Oh my word! How brazen to fly around and then perch on the fence post!”
I watched for a split second in amazement as Odin was doing his best to scare it away. He was literally high jumping and barking his loudest, meanest bark and running around like crazy! Thankfully, it finally flew away!
The fence post that hawk DARED to perch on…just next to the chicken coop
But, at the same time Odin was going on the offensive to get rid of the danger, I saw Merlin going on the defensive: taking care of his girls, talking up a storm to them, telling them what to do, where to go and where not to go…gathering them close to himself so he could keep them safe! Some of them had been in the cows’ shelter and some of them were halfway between the shelter and their coop and some of them were near the coop! The chickens that hadn’t been near Merlin were the ones I had seen flying toward the coop for safety!
The chickens busy working on the manure pile
I ran back through the door into the house and breathlessly announced I was headed out to make sure it was gone and that everyone was safe (and yes, I had a grass-fed beef bone in hand to reward Odin for his diligence). Once outside, it took several counts to make sure the chickens were accounted for and ok. I went into the coop to make sure and three of the hens were cowered under their roosting bars, as far back into the back corner of the coop as they could get. I realized they must have been the hawk’s targets. They were pretty badly shaken, but safe and unharmed!
Where I found the 3 hens cowering…no doubt they were the ones most traumatized by the hawk.
Leaving the coop, I wanted to check on Merlin and the other hens again, and when I got outside I was again amazed! Merlin was standing on the very top of the manure pile, standing guard. His body language was almost defiant and he was chattering up a storm. It was almost like he was standing up there as a beacon to the hawk, just making sure he was gone and wasn’t coming back! And the whole time, he was talking and chattering as if to say “And don’t come back!”
As I left the pasture, Odin was happily gnawing on his treat for being an EXCELLENT livestock guardian! And me? I was filled with awe and wonder at the amazing creatures that God has created! Watching them do what has been hard-wired into them was amazing, working as a team as if they had rehearsed it!
Odin enjoying his treat after a job well done…a raw beef bone!
I know my adrenaline was still pumping for quite awhile after the excitement, but I was mostly just feeling so thankful! This story easily could have been a tragedy but instead, it was an amazing story of two heroes who worked together like a well-oiled machine to take care of a dangerous predator to their flock! I am so thankful for them both!
Hi everyone! Well, it’s 2021 and sometimes it feels like we’re living in the Twilight Zone. It’s hard to believe that January is over and February is beginning. I just wanted to take a quick minute to update you on what’s going on in my world.
MACBOOK PRO BITES THE DUST
Last fall, my 10-year-old MacBook Pro decided it was going to retire with no notice and it left me stranded, trying to figure out how to recover my data and how to get a computer I could use again. Although I am definitely an “Apple girl”, my husband who works on PCs for a living said he would suggest I look for a PC, so in case something happened to it, he could work on it. The idea made sense, even though I wasn’t happy at all to have to re-tool my brain to the PC way of doing things after using a Mac for 10 years.
Thankfully we found a refurbished one on eBay and got it for a good price. I also found a local recovery company who was able to recover most of my data. So, I have been trying to get use to this new computer and find the files I needed to work on. It hasn’t been fun, but I am slowly making progress.
This meant I had months I couldn’t work on books, calendars (that were planned for 2021 debut) and had no access to my farm documents during a very busy time. I had to let some things go, but it all worked out and eventually will get the calendars done and get back on track.
UPCOMING VIRTUAL AUTHOR VISIT
I am excited that this week I received confirmation that a virtual author visit is in the works for March for a school that I was scheduled to visit last year the very week that all the schools got shut down for COVID-19! Although it will be different and not quite as fun as being with the children in person, I will be thrilled to be able to answer some of their questions via video and hopefully read one or two of my books to them! I am thankful that they still want to do this with me!
FIRST BOOK IN NEW SERIES COMING SOON
I am happy to announce that the final edits to sketches for illustrations for the first book in my new “a Micah Book” series have been submitted. When the corrections have been made and I have approved the final sketches, the illustrator will add color and the manuscript will be off to the presses!
This book and coming series is very special to me as I wrote the first two books in this series when my almost twenty-year-old son was just two or three years old. Through the years, I have looked for illustrators and publishers, but until a couple of years ago when I first began writing and publishing the “de Good Life Farm” books, the whole idea seemed elusive.
The first book in this series takes the reader through a day in the life of “toddler” Micah with an catchy rhyming text . The illustrations will either be watercolor or colored pencil. I am eager for this first book to be published! Watch for news!
The second book in the series, Just the Right Size, is not a rhyming book but tells of the familiar plight of the toddler of being to small to do the things they desire to do. The illustrations will also be either watercolor or colored pencil.
THE TALES AND TAILS OF DE GOOD LIFE FARM
I have again begun working on the “history” book of de Good Life Farm called The Tales and Tails of de Good Life Farm. This book is very emotionally-charged to work on. As I allow the words to flow on the page, the memories of the events flood my mind. Because it is so emotional to write, I can’t work on it for long periods of time, but when it is finished, it will be a very special book!
It will include all the happenings and events, births and deaths, from the beginning of the farm until now. It will make you laugh and cry! There will also be an Appendix at the end of the book filled with photographs that will help to bring to life the events on the pages. Watch for it, hopefully is 2022!
BEAUTIFUL JERSEY FACES
And now, I will leave you with two precious faces…on the left is Mocha’s daughter, Elsie, and on the right, her brother, Herbie.
Elsie and Herbie, January 2021.
Have a great first week of February! If you haven’t taken advantage of the sale on the set of my first five de Good Life Farm books, and you are interested, be sure to check it out at www.penitpublications.com. Search my name, Diane Orr, and you will see the offer.
This precious little kitty caused a whole lot of chaos this morning just trying to get back into the barn after a night of carousing in the nearby fields and tormenting the field mice that live in them! The morning was going pretty much the same as the rest of the mornings usually go. I headed into the barn, got my milking supplies in order and headed into the stall to clean Jersey first.
When I was finished with Jersey, I left the stall and was preparing to head into Mocha’s stall when I heard a strange noise. I looked and saw that Gandalf (our sweet barn cat pictured above) had jumped up from the outside of the barn and had come through the barn window in Jersey’s stall. As I was standing there being amazed at his agility, Jersey reacted in a big way!
His sudden presence in the window scared Jersey so badly that she jumped! Not only did she JUMP, but she was determined to get as far from that window as she could get, so she side-stepped– first, away from the window toward the stall door. In side-stepping, she stepped on the bucket I sit on to milk…and needless to say, her weight totally obliterated it!
[If you will look in the picture, you will see the window is slightly open but it is barred. From the early days here on the farm, Gandalf has been an expert at coming and going through that window whenever the “man door” was closed. However, I am not sure that Jersey has ever been in the stall when he has done that.]
Thankfully she didn’t fall, but it took her a few determined steps to clear herself of the bucket and free herself into the main part of the barn! If the big barn door had been open, she would have “flown the coop”! Thankfully, it was shut which stopped her in her tracks, but I could tell she was still actively looking for an escape route!
Then, I glanced over at Gandalf. Jersey had scared him so badly with her reaction that even though he had landed safely inside the barn, he was now frantically trying to climb back up the barn wall to to get back to the safety of the window! When he finally did, he just sat there, unsure of what to do! Seeing his dilemma, I went outside by way of the front door and called to him, and then left the “man door” open so that he could enter by that door and not have to attempt the window trick again!
I went back into the stall and kicked the broken bucket out of the way so it wouldn’t prevent Jersey from getting back into her stall and so she wouldn’t trip on it. Then I realized that there were blue bucket pieces all over her stall. I couldn’t leave them in there so I scooted them with my boot over into a pile and out of the stall (I have been dealing with a flair up of my sliding hiatal hernia, so bending over is OUT OF THE QUESTION!)
Finally, Jersey calmed down enough to realize she was safe and went back into her stall. And then, guess what?? Jeff came back in from doing his chores totally oblivious of all that had just transpired! HAHA! Timing is everything! O well. “All’s well that ends well”, they say! Gandalf was in the barn. Jersey was back in her stall. I hadn’t reinjured myself and no one and nothing was worse for the wear…well, nothing except the bucket!
It is the dawning of a new day for me. My new website, www.dianeorrauthor.com is pretty much ready for launch! It’s scary…hope it all goes well, but guess I won’t know until it’s up and running!
This website offers more than just a link to my blog, but you will be able to access this blog from it. It offers a place to purchase my books, directly from my publisher. It offers a section where you can see what projects I am working on and what is coming up next. It also offers a way to contact me, other than just in response to one of my posts.
In addition to purchasing my books, eventually I will have other products that can be purchased: calendars of Golden Love Retrievers and Puppies; calendars of de Good Life Farm; de Good Life Farm t-shirts; hats; postcards and prints of some of my favorite photographs and so much more…eventually!
But, please be patient and please be kind! Just like when the gorgeous sunrise indicates the start of the new day, we still don’t know how the day is going to go…and sometimes it doesn’t go well, even with our best intentions. So, understand that there may be kinks and problems once the website is launched…but we will get it all worked out and eventually it will run smoothly and hopefully, will be a thing of beauty. If you do have issues, please use the Contact Me form on the new website to let me know of your issues and I will work to get resolved as quickly as possible!
So, please subscribe and share if you like what you see and if you would like to continue following my journey as farmer, photographer and author! I am pleased to have you along!
Hi everyone! WOW! Seems like ages since I was able to post on my blog and I have really missed the outlet! Writing has always been such a wonderful way to dump what was on my mind…a way of release and somehow, writing by hand on a piece of notebook paper that gets lost in a sea of other papers just isn’t the same.
So, in a nutshell and hopefully without including all the emotional trauma I have felt, I will tell you “where I have been”. Several weeks ago it became apparent that my more than ten-year-old MacBook Pro was having issues….so I began attempting to back up my data (yeah, yeah…I know, I should have been much more diligent!). I tried three different methods but none of them would/could complete the process of backing up.
I felt panicked because on my hard drive were 15-20 partially finished manuscripts of books not yet published, as well as a multitude of ideas for books not yet started. Also on my hard drive of utmost importance to me were legal and financial documents for our farm and a whole host of other impossible-to-replace documents. But, it was the unfinished books that were eating at me!
It eventually became apparent that the computer was dying, and it took its final breath even though I felt like I was giving her CPR! I was devastated. My husband, who does IT for a large corporation works on PCs and not on Apple products…and suggested that I go with a PC so that if something happens to it, he can fix it…so that’s the route I decided to go for now.
However, that didn’t fix the loss of data. I contacted a couple of my nephews who know a lot about the computer world and it was suggested that I find a local recovery company, especially after Microcenter charged me fifty bucks to tell me they couldn’t help me and that they needed to send it to their recovery company for a grand total of “at least” $1300!!! O my! I thought I would faint.
Thankfully, a week later, I had a recovery disk in my hand for a little over $400 and the assurance that they were able to recover all my data! I was elated! Then, my husband found a wonderful HP professional laptop on eBay and I got it for $375 (thanks to birthday gifts and a temporary loan from my son)! So, I am now back up and running…kind of!
So, yesterday, when I was finally able to get on my blogsite, I discovered that I had tons of messages from people who found my blog and were kind enough to leave comments of how my posts encouraged, entertained and intrigued them! It was so encouraging to me that I feel as though new life’s blood is coursing through me and I just want to get back to sharing my journey!
Some upcoming topics will be more posts on my journey on the death of my dream; new life expectancy here on the farm; where I go from here; and so much more! So stay tuned! There will be much more to make you laugh and cry and maybe even scratch your head in amazement or wonder. Thank you for accompanying me on this journey! Hope you enjoy your stay.
One note: I have been putting off the launch of my new website because of the lack of a computer…but it’s coming. Not sure what to do about my calendars that I had planned to sell since we are already almost at the middle of December. But, watch for it!
Just a quick post and picture of my newest release! This book was fun to write because it was such a mystery to us as it was happening! Very cool! A real rodeo right in our own pasture!
So, here is a quick rundown on my books:
“My Name is Mocha” is the story of Mocha, my favorite cow in the whole world, who I fell in love with when she was just two weeks old and begged her farmer to sell her to me when we got moved to the country, which he did! (Thank you, Ralph!) Readers will learn about the life of a dairy cow on our small farm. As in all my de Good Life Farm books, there is a glossary at the back of the book for unfamiliar words.
“My Name is Merlin” is the story of Merlin, our Easter Egger rooster. He is amazing and smart and his crowing starts my day of right every day! You would never believe all the things he has to teach his hens! Later in November, he will be adding about thirty hens to his harem…poor Merlin! He will be so busy!
“We are Mocha’s Family” is the story of all the calves that have been born here on the farm since its inception in 2014. There are cute stories and a family tree so that readers can get the big picture of the mothers and calves here on the farm. In my opinion, the calves are the icing on the cake here at the farm.
“My Name is Odin” is the story of our amazing Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dog, Odin. He truly is amazing and so very smart! He protects our chickens and our cattle from predators. Most of the time he uses restraint and doesn’t chase the chickens, but occasionally, I have to use my “pack leader” voice and call him back to attention. After all, he still IS a puppy!
“The Mysterious Midnight Visitor at de Good Life Farm” is the story of a visitor who had run away from his owners and ended up here on our property, visiting our calves, Hershey and Cocoa. It’s a different format as the story is told both from my perspective and theirs…since they knew what was going on before I did!
I hope you will check out these books. They will make great Christmas gifts for kids and grandkids! You can purchase them as a set at a discount if you purchase from my publisher. You can also purchase from amazon as well as other retailers.
My first fiction book is nearing completing…Watch for news of it’s upcoming release!
Don’t forget to subscribe so that you don’t miss upcoming news about releases!
Well, it’s been a pretty long time since I wrote on my blog. But, don’t think I haven’t been writing! Since I posted last, in April, we have been very busy here on the farm and I have been very busy as an author!
First, the authoring news! In May, My Name is Odin was released! If you aren’t familiar with Odin, he is our 28-month-old Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dog. He is an amazing creature and my love and respect for him grows daily. He has been “off lead” and in “full guardian mode” since he turned two years old in April and he has literally OWNED the pasture and the protection of the animals who live there!
He has learned NOT to chase the Merlin and his hens (well, he remembers that MOST of the time!). Then in July, we introduced him to our 50 three-week-old broiler meat chicks. Oh boy! Did he love having them in the pasture! He layed by them, circled the chicken tractors and left his mark multiple times a day! I think he was energized by the fact that when he was investigating and making his rounds around the chicken tractor, the chicks would squawk and scatter. But, he is STILL a puppy, right? He has his routine in patrolling the entire pasture, which I think is more than cool!
Mocha and Jersey have learned (again, for the most part!) to put up with him. He loves to “tail” them (literally following under their tails) when they are going from pasture to barn and back again. Sometimes Jersey’s dislike for him is displayed by turning around quickly and giving him “the look” as if to say “keep your distance, buddy, or I’m gonna kick you right in the nose!” And, amazingly enough, he seems to read her, because most of the time he will back off.
His speed amazes me. One day when we were out doing chores, I noticed he was laying over in the side pasture with something between his paws…the typical pose for when he is eating a bone, etc….but I hadn’t given him a bone. So, I slowly approached, talking softly and sweetly to him so he didn’t feel threatened…and he picked his treasure up and headed to the back pasture with it. I am not totally sure what it was, but I am almost positive it was a bunny. It was the right size and the right shape. The thoughts of that boy being fast enough to catch and eat a bunny totally astounds me! However, I know HE IS FAST! When he is running up behind me and passes me, the wind he brings with him is amazing and the speed with which he passes me is impressive! I don’t hear him until he is just a few paces behind me and then it’s breathtaking…hoping one day he doesn’t knock me over. Once, he didn’t steer clear enough and some part of him hit the back of my knee. I don’t know how I kept from falling! Thankfully, I stayed upright with a new appreciation of all of his attributes that make him such a good livestock guardian.
He is SMART! AND, he is motivated by the duck jerky treats I found at our local pet supply store. When preparing to let him off the lead for good, I had to find something that would motivate him to obey. The beef jerky treats did NOTHING! The chicken treats did nothing! So I tried the “European raised duck jerky” and oh my! It’s almost funny because even when he knows he is going to get tied up (to keep him out of the barn when it has to be opened, because he causes havoc in the barn…cats…chicks…etc.) you can see his dilemma. He WANTS the treat but you see the struggle in his behavior as he has to deny himself freedom for the treat! Jeff won’t even attempt to tie him up because he doesn’t take treats out with him and Odin stays far from him and watches because he knows Jeff will tie him up if he gets too close…and he won’t even get a treat for his trouble!
So, on to the next book: my fifth book in the de Good Life Farm book series, The Mysterious Midnight Visitor at de Good Life Farm is waiting for the final edits to be made by my publisher and hopefully will be released in the next couple of weeks! But, the most exciting thing perhaps, is that I have completed my first children’s fiction picture book, Carmella’s Camel, and have begun my first fiction chapter book (name being withheld for now).
Besides the writing I am doing, I have one children’t book being illustrated, with another to follow soon after. And, I am working on some counting books (if you know me, you know that not only do I LOVE words…I LOVE numbers!) Writing is such a joy to me. The marketing…well, not so much! Guess I will just have to continue writing and getting books published because I love it and I have a lot of things to write about..and not because I am making money at it.
The COVID-19 pandemic has blown out the fire in my book sales because the schools have been where I have sold the most, which makes sense because children are my audience! Not being able to do author visits makes me sad. Not only do I appreciate the sales, but I absolutely LOVE interacting with the children, watching them interact and respond to the books as I read them and answer their questions (or hear their stories and comments as well). I hope that someday soon, those visits can continue.
The meat chickens’ “one bad day”.
So, back to the meat chickens – yesterday completed the good life we gave our first batch of meat birds and we loaded them up in the truck early in the morning. Of course, we tied Odin up…can’t even imagine how much harder they would have been to catch had he been loose to rile them up! Anyway, he watched intently as we caught and put each one in crates and loaded them onto the truck. Then, he watched as we went to the second chicken tractor and did the same. The look on his face was perplexed concern. He strategically placed himself in front of the chicken tractor where his new charges are (the four-week-old meat chickens) as if to say, “You can’t take these!”
“You can’t touch these!”
Micah drove the truck loaded with chickens out of the pasture and Jeff closed the gate. I let Odin off the lead and immediately he headed over to the empty chicken tractors to check them out. I headed to the house to grab what I needed to take with me to the processor and then as we pulled out, I realized Odin had run all the way to the front pasture so he could see what was happening with the chickens. It was as if he felt responsible for their well-being and he was reluctant to turn over his duty of protection to anyone else. It was so adorable and admirable!
Now we have the second batch of broiler chicks in both of the big chicken tractors in the pasture and the cycle starts again. As soon as they were all safely moved into their new homes…Odin began making his rounds, keeping his watchful on them…and of course, making them noisily scatter when he came near.
Besides broilers, we are raising thirty layer chicks. Our layers’ production has dwindled and in this family, 3-4 eggs per day will NEVER do…so we will eagerly anticipate the day in late fall that we will begin getting eggs again and have enough to share. This time, when ordering, I opted for a higher percentage of the good egg producers and fewer of the “pretty variety egg” producing hens. After skimping on eggs for weeks now, I want the majority of my hens to be all about laying eggs. I did get a few Americana’s for their pretty blue eggs, but just a few!
And gardening…this year I have grown the most amazing garden I have probably ever grown. My zucchini plants are monstrous (as are some of the zucchini that hide under those amazingly large leaves) and I have frozen tons of zucchini spirals for use instead of pasta and shredded zucchini for breads and muffins. YUM! Now my tomatoes are starting to come on and I made my husband’s day when I put fresh tomatoes on his turkey sandwich and salads.
My sweet red peppers are nearly ready to harvest and I have banana peppers ready to freeze. Jalapeños are already in the freezer, so when my Roma tomatoes are ready, it’s salsa time! I will also be sharing my Roma tomatoes with my mom for canning, since I seem to use a lot of the tomatoes she cans. This year it will be a joint effort.
But the “funnest” thing about my garden is growing pumpkins. I don’t ever remember growing pumpkins before but I have wanted to for some time. The pumpkins started off as something fun for whatever grandkids can be here when they are ready to harvest…but they have turned into something FAR more than that! (I am going to be slyly evasive about this for now).
I love how the pumpkin leaves grow so symmetrically!
We have had a pretty difficult last four weeks — the first weekend, we lost our air conditioning on one of the hottest days of the season. We couldn’t keep the house cool enough and we are so sad that even with fans and water, Beau, our not-even-five-year-old male golden retriever died from heat stroke. Our hearts are broken.
The next weekend, the air conditioning went out AGAIN…a different issue…however it wasn’t AS HOT as the previous weekend and we took our female golden, Lacey, to our son’s house to hang out for awhile. Thankfully, the problem with the air conditioner was discovered and the fixed!
The following weekend our other son got sick with some stomach/intestinal bug (oh, this is AFTER a week and a half before that when my husband got sick with the same symptoms!) and he was pretty sick for a week! Then, he had to get a COVID test in order to return to work. We are still waiting on those results even though he has been well for several days.
Then, this past weekend, (YES! another weekend!), we blew a fuse in the barn when going out to do milking and evening chores. Our sweet neighbor, Dave, came and tried to fix it (he can fix anything!), but no luck. We put together more than 240 feet of extension cords and plugged them in on the deck so that our 3 week old layer chicks wouldn’t die. We have done the milking with no light and no fans…until I got fed up and found another extension cord for those luxuries during chores! Today, we finally got electric restored…it was a BIG ticket…issues that should have been caught when we bought the house, but unfortunately, weren’t.
the path where the new electric lines were laid from barn to house
Well, I just wanted to catch you all up on what we’ve been up to here at de Good Life Farm. It has been an eventful few months, but what can you do but be thankful to the good Lord for the blessings and keep plowing ahead?
Hope you enjoyed this update and will subscribe to my blog. Watch for the announcement that my new website is up and running (hopefully soon) http://www.dianeorrauthor.com. You will also be able to access my blog there as well purchase books and eventually other items!
Mocha and Elsie’s last day together. She is definitely Mocha’s “mini-me”!
I am sitting here inside my family room beside the bay window that faces the barn and I continue to hear Elsie bawling her heart out because she is permanently separated from her mama, Mocha. Mocha is beginning to settle down some, but sometimes joins back in to make it a sad duet, singing their woes of isolation. Beside me, lie our two golden retrievers, Lacey and Beau. Beau is snoring peacefully.
If you read my previous posts about “Tenney”, I am sad to say that I haven’t seen her for three days. The first day I let her out she went about her day as normal, checking out all her usual places…the manure pile, the pasture, etc. That night she didn’t show up for feed and I didn’t see her until the second day after that. She was out front, in the garden and the front pasture living it up.
Tenney doing her thing…
I was relieved and stopped worrying about her, but I allowed my fears to subside too soon. I haven’t seen her since then. I feel sad, but there are, from time to time, many things that make me sad here on the farm. I find that the only way I can deal with the sad things is to just allow myself to be sad and to cry. Eventually, I am able to deal with it and move on. As in other areas of life, some sadness takes longer to get over. I guess I have adopted the attitude that I will do everything I can to take the best care of the animals that I can, and after that, I just have to understand and accept that this life we have chosen has a very front row seat to the life and death cycle of this life.
I think I am a bit melancholy due to the state of the world right now. I have no doubt that God is in control but it’s still concerning to me. Thankfully, my world hasn’t been horribly affected other than not being able to see and spend time with my friends and family. Everyone in my family still has jobs. The biggest change is that four out of five days my husband works from home. It’s been a bit of an adjustment but I am so thankful that he still is employed. It has given me a new appreciation for him…getting this up close reminder of corporate life. It makes me glad and thankful that my days are spent here on the farm.
Odin is still enjoying his birthday bone!
Now that Odin has turned two years old, he has entered the next phase of his Livestock Guardian training. He is now loose in the pasture from the time I finish morning chores until we finish evening chores. He is calming down nicely and seems to enjoy his new promotion to pasture supervisor. He wanders around and checks out every area of the pasture, chases birds and sleeps in the sun. He has even stopped chasing the chickens when I let them out after gathering eggs. He is becoming such a great dog!
This year we are waiting to breed for calves a little later so that we can, for the first time, have spring calves. Previous years, we have bred for fall calves so that we were calving during baseball season, but sadly this year, it doesn’t matter. So, the plan is to breed in July or August for April or May calves. This will be so nice because the calves can be out in the pasture with their mamas. We didn’t intend to have a December calf, but that’s just the way it worked out, but will avoid that from now on. Even though they were in the barn all winter, Mocha had chapped teats from freshening in the dead of winter.
One thing I am looking forward to is ordering chicks for our new batch of layers and broilers soon. Undeniably, there is something so cute about the chicks. Of course, the broilers grow out of that cuteness rather quickly. The layer chicks stay cute much longer!
Sales for my first three published nonfiction children’s books, My Name is Mocha, My Name is Merlin and We are Mocha’s Family weren’t doing too badly until Covid-19 disrupted our lives. The bulk of my sales have come from Amazon and from author visits to the schools. With the onset of the Covid-19 virus and the subsequent “distance learning” orders, my scheduled school visits were cancelled. Not only did this hurt sales but it made me sad. I really enjoy reading my books to the students and answering their questions.
My book Micah’s Day is finally in the process of being illustrated and I am so happy with the sketches. Other books: The Mysterious Midnight Visitor at de Good Life Farm, My Name is Odin and Tenney, The Part-time Chicken are in the works as well. I enjoy writing so much, but I have found it difficult to sit down and write the past few weeks. Just now do I feel like I am becoming myself again.
Odin with Mocha and Jersey in the background.
I will leave you with this picture of Odin learning to co-exist with the cattle. He gets so excited when they head out to the pasture and he frustrates them by getting in their way and wanting to play. Mocha seems to tolerate him better than Jersey does at this point. Usually on her way to or from the barn, Jersey inevitably sideways kicks at him. Hopefully she keeps missing!
ONE MORE THING! Here on the farm, as in life, you never know what is going to happen next! I just happened to look out the window while making dinner and saw Snickers and Hazel had helped themselves to an unauthorized dinner time in the pasture! It would be cute and funny if it didn’t pose the potential for a life-threatening condition commonly known as “pasture bloat”. When cattle have been on hay and in the barn all winter, transitioning to the richness of the grass can cause bloat in them. There are several ways to guard against this. One of the ways we guard against it is to make sure they aren’t too hungry when they go out to the pasture and by limiting their time in the pasture, beginning with thirty minutes and gradually increasing the time.
Well, I guess these two girls decided they weren’t happy with how we were managing their time in the pasture! It’s frightening because I don’t know when they decided to pull this little stunt. If they were in the pasture for hours, we could have some sick calves in the morning.
We ran out there and thankfully, they were obliging and were dutifully coaxed back into their little shelter area. But, in the meantime, we realized that the fence wasn’t on (later discovering that the wind had disconnected a wire on the other side of the property). How did they know? I can’t tell you how many times it has happened that the only way we knew the fence wasn’t on was that one of the cattle had discovered it and had taken advantage of the situation and helped themselves to the pasture.
If we caught them shortly after they broke through tonight, then they should be ok. It’s hard not knowing. They seemed ok after chores. Just praying that we caught them early!
Snickers and Hazel after being coaxed back into their shelter area after an unauthorized romp in the pasture
Hope you have enjoyed reading about some of the happenings here at de Good Life Farm. Come back soon! Feel free to comment or ask questions if you’d like!
I have been thinking and planning to write this post for several days now…and now it has an ending different than it would have been had I had written it then…but I will tell the story as it has unfolded.
Over the next several days after my last post, I became totally amazed at the intelligence and self-preservation this “stupid” chicken possessed…totally dispelling my beliefs that she was “stupid”. She got into the habit of waiting until it was dark when her flock was all settled in the coop into their spots on the roosting bar and in their nighttime “trance” and she would sneak into the coop and find a spot on the roosting bar. (If you don’t know chickens, they can be very ruthless, especially when one of them is ostracized for one reason or another, or when one of them is weak or has been injured). When I would go out in the mornings to feed them, she would patiently wait until I fed them and they were all busy eating. Then she would sneak out of the coop while I cleaned and filled the water. I would then put some feed on the cinder block outside the coop and she would eat in peace. She spent the days in the pasture finding worms, eating grass and taking care of the manure piles she found. This continued until yesterday!
Chicken (nka “Tenny”) eating feed off of block after escaping the coop
I found that if I went out too early at dusk to shut them in, she would get left out of the coop. She would wait until it was very dark to be sure they were all settled down for the night, deep into their nighttime “trance”.
This particular night, I watched her from the kitchen window. I saw her hanging around the coop, no doubt waiting for her flock to settle down so she could go in. It was nearly dark and I didn’t see her anymore, so I headed out to do my “chicken count” and shut the coop up. As I got to the door, I saw her huddled right in front of the door. I experienced simultaneous sadness and anger! She appeared at first to be dead, then I realized she must be in shock. There was blood spattered and feathers scattered all around. She must have been brutally attacked by one (or more) of her flock as she tried to enter the coop. Bless her heart! She looked so defeated. It broke my heart.
I didn’t have my gloves on (and I have this thing about picking up chickens without my gloves), so I headed back into the house to ask for Jeff’s help. He came out and as he reached down to pick her up, she ran away toward the corral. I was relieved that she was moving, however, in hindsight, I should have followed her to make sure she was safe in the shelter. I didn’t.
The next morning, when I came out to do chores, she wasn’t hanging around anywhere near the coop or the barn, like she usually is. I looked around and she was just inside the corral fence but out in the open, looking pretty bad, but still breathing. I felt immediate remorse. Because I hadn’t secured her safety in the corral last night, she had been beaten by the pelting rain, hail and wind during the night. I was thankful a predator hadn’t taken advantage of her condition. I felt so sad for her.
I gently carried her to the shelter farthest from where the chickens could find her and settled her into some hay. I honestly don’t think she will make it, but I wanted her to be comfortable. Bless her heart…she has fought hard against the bullies of her family and I am angry at them.
Chickens, by nature, are ruthless…which is one of the reasons I am not a fan of chickens themselves. I love having them, seeing them in the yard, and gathering and enjoying the eggs they provide, hearing my rooster greet the morning…but I am reminded again how mean they can be. It’s a sad day here at de Good Life Farm. Farm life is hard. Some days are good and rewarding and fun. Others are filled with hard and sad things…this is one of those days.
But, just so I don’t end on such a depressing note…Spring has sprung here at the farm and we have begun acclimating the cattle to the fresh, lush spring grass. We must do this gradually…so for 3-4 days now, they have been enjoying the pasture grass and sunshine for 30 minutes right before milking time. They are so cute. They romp and play like big puppies when they leave the barn and then settle down to the business of eating!
MochaJersey
I have noticed an increase in their milk over the last few days…don’t know if that is coincidence or just the result of them being happy to be outside some. They amazed me by responding to the “dinner bell” when it was time for them to come into the barn for feed and milking. Such good girls!
Snickers and Hazel
The calves (Snickers and Hazel) have become quite vocal when they think it’s time for them to be let out into the pasture. They almost sound angry if I don’t respond by opening the gate!
UPDATE!!!
Before this post got published, there has been an amazing turn-around in the health and well-being of the chicken who has shown herself to be tenacious, brave and have more stamina than I would even have imagined. I am going to name her “Tenny” for “tenacious”. Yesterday morning, after I found her, we got her all set up in one of the shelters with straw bedding, food and water. I didn’t want her to become a hawk’s free lunch just sitting in the pasture and I wanted to protect her from her flock when they got out of the coop.
“Tenny” on day 2 of recovery
She was so weak and listless when we put her in…I suspected when I checked on her at chore time, she would have died. But, NO! She was sitting up in the coop! Didn’t appear she had eaten anything, but she seemed more alert! And this morning when I went to the shelter to check on her, she was STANDING UP and it appeared she had eaten some food! I am absolutely flabbergasted that she is bouncing back. The wounds on her head are healing and she seems to be regaining strength!
And, in conclusion, I have to include this next photograph! Snickers and Hazel…once cattle get the taste of fresh spring grass, it must be like a drug to them…they want more and more. Of course, my job as their caretaker is to carefully manage how often and for how long they have access so that I can keep them healthy. But, every time I head to the barn for midday chores…or, for that matter, go outside for anything…they start yelling as if I have forgotten they want to get into the pasture. One day it’s Hazel, the next day it’s Snickers. Today it’s Hazel. I wish you could hear her. It isn’t a sweet, imploring “moo”…it is a very disgusted and demanding “moo”. Anyway, you can see her mooing at me in this photo!
Snickers and Hazel screaming to get into the pasture.
I know these are frustrating times. I sense a “covid-19” post in the near future. But, just keep safe…and find things to make you smile and always, count your blessings!
