Tuesday, November 27

A Cold, Blustery Day at the Farm

As many of you know, Tuesday is Brandon's day to go to the farm. Today it was cold and windy. With the windchill factor, it was -7 C or approximately 19 degrees Fahrenheit. Now that's not really cold for this area, but it was the brisk wind that chilled us to the bone. I asked Brandon if he'd rather stay home (hint) but he said no, he'd like to go. So off we went.

As we were driving toward the outskirts of town, it began to snow - a fine and heavy snow. We couldn't see a city block in front of us. Again I asked Brandon if he'd like to change his mind. (another hint) But he said, no, he wanted to go. So we continued on.

The snow didn't last long and when it was coming down I didn't figure it would. However, I was trying to convince him that we should stay warm and cozy. Grandma doesn't like the cold nor the heat, but alas, he wanted to see the animals. By the time we arrived at the farm, the snow had stopped. We buttoned up our jackets and headed to the barn.

The wind was so strong that it blew the barn door shut behind us with a bang! We headed into the barn and there were all of the goats in new pens that had been built since Jordan and I were out there last Thursday. One pen held the baby goats and sheep. In the other were all of the adult goats butting and pushing each other because they were in such close quarters.


The goat in the background facing the camera is Gertrude. She had three babies in April. One was stillborn, one had broken legs and Baby Pueblo was very small. Pueblo is the only one that survived. He is between Gertrude and the wall of the stall, but you can't see him. I will try to get a picture of Pueblo when Jordan and I go on Thursday. He follows Brandon around and when he was a baby, Brandon would sit on a stool and Pueblo would climb into his lap. Brandon loves Pueblo. Unfortunately Pueblo cannot be bred to these goats as they are all related. So Pueblo will be leaving the farm and be replaced by another Billy.

Matthew is the lamb that was born about two months ago. When he was with his mother, I couldn't get a photo of him because the stall was too dark. However, he was separated from Rosie (his mother) today and he was protesting fiercely. He was crying and baaing the entire time we were there, except for when Brandon coaxed him to eat a little hay. Here is a photo of Matthew:
There were 300 baby chicks brought to the farm about a month ago. You won't believe how they have grown.

There are only 202 left. Unfortunately the chicks got chilled when they first came and 98 of them died. When they are full grown, all but 50 will be sent to slaughter and the remaining 50 will be left to roam free in the spring with the roosters.



Chickens help to keep the amount of insects under control and they are also good for the soup pot and to keep fresh eggs on the table. In this instance, once the eggs are fertilized, they will be put in an incubator and then more baby chicks will be born. The people at the farm are hoping to have a flock of about 50 chickens and three roosters on a continuing basis.

The barn wasn't too cold because the animals' body heat help to keep it warm. Brandon had a great conversation with James, the hired man, about all that is being planned for the farm. He holds a great interest in farm life, probably because I've told him about living on the farm when I was a child. He does love the animals and he's come a long way since he began this animal therapy in March. It's good for his self esteem and when he helps feed and water the animals, it makes him feel good about himself. He knows the names of every animal on that farm. Before we knew it, an hour and a half had passed.

We left the farm and stopped at Tim Horton's (coffee franchise.) I got Brandon a hot chocolate and I enjoyed a hot cup of tea. We were chilly, but had enjoyed our time together.

I hope you enjoyed your tour of the farm. I will try to get more photos on Thursday when Jordan and I visit.


Carolyn at Talk to Grams has so kindly asked me to accept not one, but two awards from her. Grams is one of my most special blogging buddies. Carolyn, thank you so much. I'm truly honored and cherish your friendship.






Thanks again, Carolyn.

Now, in the spirit of giving, I would like to give these awards to any of my blogging buddies that would like to have them. You can take one or both. Enjoy!

Note: Blogger was giving me a bit of a hard time tonight, so please excuse the mess of this post. I'm not sure why some paragraphs are double spaced and some single. *sigh* However, I must get back to my writing.

34 comments:

  1. The heart of a grandma does not feel heat or cold... One day the Lord is going to let me be a Grandma... and I will take that grand baby to see the chickens... I loved your story...... what a gift he will remember.........

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  2. P.S. Did you send html for the Christmas stamp? I did not get yet?

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  3. Denise,

    I do hope that one day you get to be a Grandma. It is such a special gift from God. I cherish the times that I spent with the boys and when Brandon left tonight, I said, "Thank you for spending time with Grandma, I really enjoyed it."

    Brandon kissed me as he was going out the door and said, "Thank you for spending time with me." What a darling he is.

    I did send the HTML, but will send it again.

    Blessings,
    Mary

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  4. Mary,

    The goats and lamb are cute.

    My ex and I use to own about 30 Rhode Island Reds - I liked that, I always had fresh eggs. They lay little brownish/pinkish eggs..:)

    We also a few Prairie hens and a Yellow Buff rooster, but didn't keep them long, the Rhode Island red rooster was a terrorist. lol

    We gave the Yellow Buff to neighbor, Troy.

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  5. Deborah,

    My grandparents had an old banty rooster with spurs that would rip your flesh apart. He chased us kids every chance he got. I used to tell Grandma to put him in the soup pot and she told me that he would be too tough.

    Thanks for visiting. I always enjoy hearing from you.

    Blessings,
    Mary

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  6. What a wonderful tour of the farm, Mary! I really enjoyed it, and I know you enjoyed your time with your grandson ;-)

    Smiles,
    Michele

    And... I imagine you're enjoying being warm and cozy right about now!

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  7. Good Morning Mary,
    Oh this tour of the farm was so enjoyable. I wish I was there to take my girls. They don't have anything like that around here. Well, every year at our County Fair, they have what they call a Petting Zoo for the kids. They have several animals inside a building and you can feed them. But you have to buy the food out of a machine and feed it to them. My parents and I took the girls this year and my Mother took my youngest daughter inside there. Thank you so much for taking us on this wonderful farm tour with you. I can tell you both enjoyed it. I am looking forward to seeing some more pictures from there. Congratulations on your awards. Grams gave them to me as well. She is such a sweetheart. I haven't known her very long, but I have really come to like her alot. That temperature sounds very cold. Now that would be frigid here. It is 32 degrees right now. Well, take care my friend and have a great Wednesday. May God Bless You and Yours.

    Hugs,
    Karen H.

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  8. You are a very good Grandmom, to go out in the cold like that! :-)

    Mari-Nanci

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  9. Mary,

    Enjoyed reading about your visit to the farm again. Loved the photos, especially of the lamb. Brandon is so sweet! I'm glad he really appreciates his wonderful Grandma.

    Take care and stay warm. We are to get to 60 sunny degrees today. Don't know what that would be in Celsius.

    Hugs,

    Renie

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  10. Mary I heard from Eddie Denise's husband he wrote:

    Donetta, this is Eddie. I wanted to let you know about Denise before I go to work. So sorry your calls were missed last night, thanks for your love and concern. We did not get home from the hospital till after 2A.M. She does not feel well at all, they put her on an I.V., due to her being severely dehydrated because her blood sugars are over 600. The kidney infection is really bad, making her so sick. They put her on some strong antibiotics. Her eyes are really hurting her also, they told her to go see another eye specialist Thursday at 3:15. She has to go see her regular doctor today at 2:40 for more blood work, and urine check. Please keep her in your prayers, she loves you so much, like a sister. Bless you. She is resting, and I am going to work. My mom is staying with her.

    November 28, 2007 2:30 AM

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  11. First Mary, congratulations on the awards!

    Now, I'm with Brandon on going to the farm...cold or not. LOL [Ya, I'm with you on the 'Grandma hints too'] But to experience this with Brandon beat out all the cold and snow.

    I'm a farmer's granddaughter so I love all the farm animals...don't goats have the greatest eyes?

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  12. Thanks for the tour of the farm. Is it hard naming the animals and then selling them?

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  13. Thanks to Everyone for your lovely comments on the farm post. We did have a wonderful time and didn't notice the cold much at all. Before we knew it, we had been there an hour and a half.

    Now to answer a couple of questions.

    Renie,

    60 degrees would be about (not exactly) 15 Celsius. To get an approximate figure you double the temperature and add 32. So you are having spring where you are. LOL

    Lynn,

    Brandon was a little taken back when James told him that Baby Pueblo would be traded for a different ram. He has Asperger's Syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum and along with that goes a little bit of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. However the farm has taught him that things come and things go and we promised him that he would find another favorite out of the new goats that will be born. He decided right then and there that Matthew is now his favorite.

    Brandon goes to the farm for animal therapy and he has come a long way since March. It is helping him a LOT.

    Thanks again, Ladies for all the lovely words. Each of you brighten my day.

    Blessings,
    Mary

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  14. I miss animals. I think I told you I used to have horses when I was a teenager.

    Those horses helped me through a tough time in my life. It taught me responsiblity too. Maybe one day, I will have the opportunity to have my children ride horses.

    I have been to Tim Horton's in Michigan. It is very yummy. (Michigan is where my husband is from)

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  15. Good morning dear Mary:-)

    It's a very chilly morning here too, only -14c as I type this. Our power went out for a few hours last night and it sure got cold fast in the house! This morning everything seems back to normal so let's hope it stays that way! lol

    I think it's so fabulous that you bring your grandsons to the farm every week...I'm glad to hear that the "animal therapy" is helping Brandon so much! Children never seem to feel the cold like we do, do they?!! Loved the pictures!

    Thank you so much for passing on those two awards to all of us...I will proudly place them in my sidebar:-)

    Take care, dear friend and hoping you have a truly wonderful day! Love you! xoxo

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  16. Mommy,

    Horses are wonderful friends. They listen without judging. They nuzzle and love affection and they give it in return. I do hope that one day your children get to learn to ride.

    There is a Tim Horton's on the edge of town about five minutes from the farm. We have about 10 of them in our small city but they are all busy most of the time. We sure needed the hot drinks.

    Thanks for dropping by.
    Blessings,
    Mary

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  17. Pea,

    It's not too bad out this morning, but dull and overcast. I would say it's about minus 3 Celsius, which is a lot warmer than yesterday. That is only a guess.

    Brandon has come a long way in the few months he's been visiting the farm. He was so quiet on the way there and by the time we came home, he was chattering away. He left some of his cares behind, which is good. The farm is another world and it is good for both of us.

    Thanks for dropping in, my friend. I always enjoy visiting with you.

    Blessings,
    Mary

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  18. Thank you for sharing your tour of the farm. I had to smile at your "hints" about going to the farm during the drive in the snow. We all know that kids want to go somewhere no matter if it's rain (snow) or shine.

    Thanks for the HTML and the smaller version. I was already working with the height/width but I thought you picked a better ratio.

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  19. Shari,

    I don't have to make the HTML code. I did the animation on a site that automatically provides the codes for 4 different sizes.

    Yes, the boys don't care about the weather, they love going to the farm. If they don't want to go, you can figure that they're not feeling great. Thanks for your comments.

    I hope you enjoy the button.
    Blessings,
    mary

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  20. I love animals and farms, Mary. I grew up with chickens, ducks, hogs, cattle, etc. and I always loved caring for them. I'm not queasy about preparing them for the table, either!

    Thank you for the awards, my friend. You are so deserving and generous in passing them on to your blogging friends. ;o)

    Stay warm!

    Love and hugs,

    Diane

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  21. Awwww....the baby goat. I would be making a fuss too! They are so cute. Thanks for the pics of your trip. We use to live on a farm but never had goats but I loved spring when all the babies were born. It has been cold here too but we took the granddaughter to the Christmas parade and she loved it.

    Hugs!

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  22. Mary,
    I loved the tour of your farm (but would have needed lots of warm clothes if I'd been there for real since I'm a native California gal). I wish my sister was in town so I could share the "tour" with her. She taught kindergarten for decades and LOVED to take her students to visit farm animals :)

    I enjoy your Blog so much and am sure I'll return often to "catch up" as much as possible.
    Hugs and blessings,

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  23. Diane,

    I could prepare these animals for the table as well, though I don't have the stomach for it like I did when I was younger. Grandpa butchered all of his own meat and took ducks, geese, chickens, duck down and feathers to market. Grandma took eggs and butter. We all lent a hand when it came time to slaugher hogs and beef for smoking. Ah, that old smokehouse had some of the most lovely fragrances I've even know.

    You're welcome for the awards, my friend. Enjoy!

    Blessings,
    Mary

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  24. We didn't go to the parade this year, Kathleen Mari. Brandon isn't much on parades and he stayed home with his parents, though we spent the day together. Jordan rode on the school float and was delighted to do so. I'm sure they all froze, but that boy loves the outdoors.

    Blessings,
    Mary

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  25. Mary,

    I love reading about your trips to the farm with the boys. This is such a special experience for you and the Brandon and Jordan. The photos are wonderful!

    Congratulations on your two awards!! You definitely deserve them. :-)

    Hugs,
    Tina

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  26. Storyteller,

    I would love to have you and your sister come with us to the farm. Wouldn't that be wonderful? However, you would certainly need a pair of longjohns, being a California girl. LOL

    I do hope you visit often. Nice to meet you.

    Blessings,
    Mary

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  27. Tina,

    Thank you for your comments about the photos. They aren't great, but show what I want to express. Brandon is now adopting the lamb, Matthew, as his favorite.

    You are welcome to both of the awards and hope you have taken a copy for your blog.

    Blessings,
    Mary

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  28. Thank you for the tour of the farm, even in the cold.
    Blogger often messes up my spacing. I type it in correctly, but it publishes with no spacing, and then NOTHING I do will fix it.

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  29. Willow,

    I'm so glad to hear from you. I'm glad you enjoyed the farm tour.

    Yes, once it's messed up, there seems to be no fixing it.

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Blessings,
    Mary

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  30. Oh Mary..the trip to the farm looks so fun..Glad Brandon went and sounds like he REALLY enjoyed it!! Brandson is fortunate that God put YOU in his life. My BFF has a nephew who has
    Asperger's Syndrome, animals are great for him!!!

    thanks for sharing .congrats on the awards..Deena.

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  31. Deena,

    Yes, Brandon has come a long way since we started going to the farm last March. He was so quiet on the trip to the farm and once he got there he was chattering away and socializing with the hired man - learning about farm life.

    Thanks so much for dropping by and commenting on my post. I wish I lived closer so I could drop by for a visit, a cup of tea or coffee and give you a hug.

    Blessings,
    Mary

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  32. Enjoyed your visit to the farm. It reminds me of my brothers farm. Sweet memories with Grandma.

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  33. I think I might have to get my blanket when I read your posts for the next few months. Brrrr! Hope you're doing alright today Mary!

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  34. You are such a wonderful grandma, bless you.

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