And winter drags on....

Not much is happening these days, as the winter drags on. Being bored comes quick and seems to last a long time. It feels as if there is a lot of waiting going on. Hopefully, my four goats, Mary, Katherine, Elizabeth, and Anne are all pregnant. But of course, there is not really a way to know until we can see that they are pregnant. I had the goats bred at a near by farm, Dunlooken Farm (www.dunlookenfarm.com) in Glenco. My girls were there for almost a month, so they should have got their business done, if you know what I mean. We must wait until late May or early June to have baby goats. 

I am also waiting to see if and when I can start yet another project/adventure. I would like to raise two bull calves into oxen. I would use them to help with logging in our woods, pull large drums of maple sap out of the woods to be turned into syrup and to possibly help with field preperation. This great? idea came about because I recently met another farmer who uses oxen for logging. And because he did it, I thought I could too. Josh and I visited A to Z Produce and Bakery (www.atozproduceandbakery.com) in Stockholm, WI early this month. Josh and I had a wonderful lunch at the farm and got to see the two resident oxen do their thing-pulling a sled to pick up fire wood. Cattle are so wonderful - so gentle and calm. I really hope I can find two young calves to make this work. And I hope I have the patience to be a good teamster. 

We are waiting for our hens to pick up with egg laying. The weather has been cold so they refuse to lay. I guess I wouldn't want to either if I had to be outside all day in the cold. Hens will not lay (regularly) if it is too hot or too cold or if they are molting (shedding/get new feathers). They are also particular about the snow. They do not like to walk on it. They all wait at the door in the morning when I go to let them out. They are waiting for me to put down some fresh straw or brush away the snow so they can walk with out being bothered by the snow. They are so particular that way, kind of cute actually. 

I guess I am waiting for the season to "start". I am antsy to get into the green house and be warm and work with soil and plant seeds and to see green again, because this winter just seems to drag on and on.... 

see you soon, with a better attitude! :-)