Update on Stitch

Stitch did well through the night.  This morning she went outside as usual. Until today, Ed has had to walk outside and encourage her to stand up and walk into the barn. She wasn't really interested in eating at all, so she didn't really care about coming into the barn. Here is the picture Ed texted me this afternoon. Stitch was the first one at the barn door waiting to come in!  Hopefully she's on the road to recovery! Our next project is to get the skinny little Jersey cow we just bought looking healthy & happy! You can see her standing behind Stitch. We don't do Skinny  Cows at this farm! 

Surgery

My husband & sons have decided to convert our farm into an organic dairy. That means we have had to buy some more cows to increase our herd.  One of the cows we bought became sick right away. We called the vet & he had us treat her for milk fever.   We've had cows with that before.  They have low calcium levels after giving birth.  We give them some IV calcium & they're better.  But this cow wasn't getting better & she stopped eating.  So we had the vet come back & check her.  He found that she had a twisted stomach.  That's fatal for a cow. So, Ed, Andrew, Kelly & I got to help with the surgery.  Right in our barn! It was fascinating to watch.  He sedated the cow so that she was drowsy, but still standing. Then he numbed her side, cut a slit & stuck his arm inside & fixed her stomach.  She just stood there like nothing was happening! She felt nothing at all! Then he stitched her up & gave her lots of penicillin.  She was already trying to eat before we left the barn! Saying prayers that she recovers! We've named her Stitch!

Petey's New Home

Early birthday present for me! My bunny Petey  has a new summer home! It's right by the chicken yard so he has company, & it's the first time he can really play safely in the grass.   The ramp is going to take some getting used to though. He has a nice nest in the top that's filled with straw in case it gets cold at night. That's a lot of getting used to for a 10 yr old bunny!

CHILLY CHICKIES!

This cold weather has been really hard on all of our farm animals.  The cows and chickens and ducks love to be outside and usually, thats the best place for them to be.  They need fresh air and plenty of exercise.  But when the weather is really cold, it isn't safe for the animals to be out for very long.  Lately the temperature has been near 0 degrees and that means the chickens and ducks can't go out at all.  We have 3 heat lamps in their chicken house.  We also put extra straw in to help keep them warm.  We put their food and water in there too. They really don't like being cooped up! Here is a little video of the chickens and ducks on a cold winter day!

THE FARM

MARTIN FAMILY FARM

Here are some pictures of our farm

OUR BARN AND MILK HOUSE

 WE SEE A LOT OF RAINBOWS!

THE CHICKENS & DUCKS LIVE HERE.  THE OLDER CALVES ARE IN THE BACKGROUND

WINTER IN THE BARNYARD

CHOPPING WOOD FOR WINTER

WORKING WITH THE TRACTORS ON THE HILL

MOM AND BABY!

 PRETTY FLOWERS!

                                                                                  LAZY BARN KITTIES LAYING IN THE HAY

                                        CORN FIELDS

FISHING IN OUR CREEK!

THE VIEW OUT OF OUR KITCHEN WINDOW

FARM LIFE 2015

FAMILY FARM - FAMILY BLOG!

I love helping kids explore our farm!  I thought the best next step would be to create a blog about our farm that was kid friendly! Our farm is a real, working small family dairy farm.  There are good times and bad times on a farm. Our animals all have their own personalities - even the chickens! We grow to love them all.  But, because we have so many animals, we sometimes have sad times too. Right now we have 16 cows, 4 heifers, 7 steers and 6 calves. A heifer is a female cow that has not had a calf yet.  A steer is a male that has been neutered (parents, you can explain that one!). We also have 3 pigs, a lot of chickens and ducks, five dogs, Petey the bunny, 2 birds and a whole bunch of cats! 2 cats live at our house and the rest are barn cats.  Our barn cats are VERY big and healthy.  Some farmers only give their barn cats milk so they are hungry and catch mice and rats.  We give our cats milk, but we also feed them every day.  I don't think they really care too much about catching mice! Here are some pictures of our current farm animals:

THIS IS AMOS. HE'S MY SPECIAL BUDDY. AMOS WAS BORN TOO EARLY.  HE DIDN'T EVEN WEIGH 19 LBS! HERE'S A LINK TO HIS FACEBOOK PAGE!;        AMOS OF HOLLY'S FARM

THESE ARE OUR VERY BIG  HEALTHY BARN CATS!

THIS IS AMOS WITH SOME OTHER COWS

DUCKIES!

HECTOR!

GIVING THANKS

Its Thanksgiving season and I've been thinking about all of the things I'm grateful for, as we all do this time of year.  It was so nice to have my Dad and Ed's Dad with us for Thanksgiving dinner.  We were so lucky to have them with us. But I truly would give just about anything to have just one more Thanksgiving like we did when I was little.  I loved going to my Grammy's house, even though I had to sit at the kids table in the little sewing room.  I couldn't wait until I was old enough to sit at the grown up table.  Actually, I used to plan how I was going to get an invite to the table before my older cousins did. Since I was the baby, everyone was older than me.  I was low man on the totem pole for a grown up seat.  I would sit and plot and plan my attack when I was alone.  I was usually alone a significant period of time when my older cousins would "play house" and pretend I was the baby.  They made me a bed in the box of blankets in my Grammy's living room closet.  They would tell me it was bedtime and leave.  Of course, they never came back. They are obviously all adults now, and whenever this topic comes up, they sheepishly deny that it ever happened. However, if you look at the gleam in their eyes, you know they remember very clearly!  I miss my Grammy.  I miss my aunts and uncles.  I miss my mother.  I was so fortunate to be adopted by such a wonderful, loving family.  It even sounds funny saying that, because I never felt adopted.  I just felt loved.  My cousin Karen and I would laugh when our moms would do something that just made us shake our heads....and I would tease her and tell her that she was going to get it and I wasn't!  

The Christmas season was particularly wonderful in my family.  There were three pews of us in church Christmas Eve and then we'd head to our family party for the stuffed cabbages and gift exchange.  We still do this, but there are much fewer of us now.  Then, we would spend the week between Christmas and New Years visiting each other's houses, looking at each other's presents, and laughing at Uncle Geno's annual Charlie Brown tree!  

But, I realized that I found myself getting lost in what was.  Nothing can be as special as the memories that we grow up with and the people who loved us.  But, I don't want to ignore what's good about today.  Today, my son Andrew has a girlfriend, Kelly, that we already love as one of our family.  Today, our friends, the O'Rourkes have their first beautiful granddaughter, Ryleigh.  Today, I still have most of my cousins, however, I no longer play house with them!  Today, I have my husband and my boys and we have the blessing of tomorrow, when two of my dear cousins are spending what is probably their last holiday together after 44 years of being together.

And, today, I have the blessing of my animals.

I have a duck who goes to work with me:

A bunny who likes to swim:

A cat who likes to help me write my blog:

A beagle who loves to snuggle in pillows. I'm particularly thankful when they aren't my pillows!: 

A big dog who just loves life....and really loves to sleep:

A Gus, who just loves everyone:

 

A husband who loves our animals as much as I do!!:

And Amos...who has enhanced our lives in so many ways.  He has innocently fought to survive and inspired so many of us to smile at the joy he brings. Amos has brought new friends into our lives, reintroduced old friends, and strengthened our current friendships.  Best of all, he brought us to pray together.  Amos is definitely a dwarf, and we have no way of knowing what internal abnormalities he has been born with.  Every day with him is a blessing. I look forward to starting every day being greeted with his big, innocent eyes and his exuberant bouncing around when I bring him his milk. Mostly, I look forward to sharing his life with all of you!

And finally, I'm thankful for the smiles on the faces of the people who have come to our farm to experience farm life, and to be loved by Amos:

And Delaney says it all.......