This is my favorite Christmas show

Enjoy!

I fed the sheep yesterday for the first time this winter.   They have been out grazing the portion of the hay field that didn't get cut for hay last fall.  They are all in good condition, ready to withstand our cold Saskatchewan winter.

This is our new cheviot ram Shrek.  I decided to go with a bit of cheviot in the flock to add some vigor at birth.  Some of the suffolk lambs are so dopey at birth that it can be a challenge getting them going.  Cheviot lambs usually get up and suck on their own no matter how cold they are.

Larry the guardian llama eats with the sheep.

Happy New Year to all.  May 2012 be healthy, happy and prosperous!!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas.  We were blessed to have most of our family home this year; lots of laughs and good times.  As usual, I cooked way too much and ate way too much.  Got the kids Just Dance 3 for the wii so now I can workout and maybe loose my Christmas pounds!  The kids have certainly enjoyed playing Just Dance, even Delaney and Sydney got in there and moved.

We got our first heavy snow of the Christmas season so now we can take the kids tobogganing.  We have about 6 inches of snow in the yard this morning.  The Chickens will not step past their front step into the snow so I had to put their water troughs right outside their door.

Jazz, my collie, doesn't mind the snow in the least!  She's looking for new victims to herd.

Good Bye Moose Mountain 723 Air Cadets

Last night was Rebecca's (a.k.a. Warrant Officer Second Class Miller) last night as a cadet.  She finished off her cadet career with their Christmas Parade.  The first years have come a long way with their marching and the seniors were very impressive with Sgt Stevenson as the drill team commander.  Rebecca is joining the Navy Reserves with her enrollment on January 10 in Regina.

Weaner pigs for sale

We had a litter of baby pigs in the end of September and just weaned them last week. She delivered 9 babies and they are all still alive.  She is a very good mom but I didn't want the her pigging until March so I left her babies on her for longer then I usually would.  They are weaned now, living in a warm pen in the barn, and doing great on grain.  Every day they get a treat of pumpkins, which they gobble up quickly.

We sold most of these pumpkins but there were still quite a few left over after Halloween so the pigs and goats have been enjoying them.

A Living Nativity

Once again we have been asked to provide the animals for the living nativity scene held at the auction barn.  This year we took down 3 lambs, 2 goats and a bottle calf.  The animals really add to the ambiance of the evening and make it come alive.  It's also a good opportunity to teach the kids about agriculture.  They love coming in afterwards and petting and playing with the animals. 

Water...

Wow, I can't believe this fall went by so fast and I haven't posted in over 2 months.  I've been doing Christmas craft shows every weekend, working at the auction barn,  and have also been busy around the farm getting ready for winter.

We had a high-hoe in last week to dig a dugout for us.  It will allow us easy access to water for the market garden and greenhouse.  Although we seeded when it was really wet, by the time August came it was dry and we were hauling 3 1200 gallon loads a day to irrigate. It was dug in the draw where water runs during the spring run-off. The dugout will sit empty all winter, but by late next spring it should be full of water.  Next spring we'll trench in water lines and add supply tanks at the garden.  No more hauling water with the 3 ton!