Monday January 31, 2000

The farmer is home again and is greeted by many changes, most of them wonderful. Daughter Sally and her energetic family have taken great care of Helen. She is giving approximately as much milk as when I left, 3 gallons and something a day. Such sustained production is always a tribute to good management. Hector, the steer her calf of last July, looks as good a Jersey calf could look. Sally acquired two piglets (Susie and Bertie) and they appear to have tripled their weight in five weeks. She also bought a Jersey bull calf, now two weeks old, and he appears to have at least doubled his weight. The farmer asked only five dollars for him but Sally thought this was criminal and gave him twenty. She named him Wilberforce. He had three days of colostrum and is getting 1.5 gallons of milk. Sometimes this shorts the household so I bought a bag of milk replacer for him. Calves are better fed than many human babies. The formula contains no soy.

Grandson Rafe built a fine new manger for the sheep. Dave, the Jacob ram, has managed to bash down part of it. This week we had him castrated (crushing the tubes method) to see if we can soften his disposition. Rafe went in with him and wasn’t attacked, in fact Dave fled. Perhaps that is merely reflects a recently acquired association of men with painful procedures. I’ll have to go in with him myself, I guess, and check his response.

I reviewed my hay situation and decided I’d better call my hay man. He came Saturday while Rafe was here to help and we put in 100 bales. This should be more than enough, but I hate having to worry that I’m running out.

One gloomy report: the water to the barn froze up again this winter, like last. Sally has been hauling water in gallon jugs, 12 at a time, twice a day on most days. As soon as Dave has settled down we will open up fences so that cattle can water under the garage using the system Martin put in last year. The sheep are under there now.

Yesterday I cut into the cheddar cheese I made in September. Apart from being a little dry, it has received excellent reviews. It’s good enough so people keep eating another piece.

I’m wallowing in seed catalogues at every opportunity. I’ve already marked more than I can possibly dig space for without a tiller but I guess it doesn’t hurt to dream. I can always cross off half of it later. We have new fruit trees coming in April, too. It’s wonderful to be back, snow and all.

2/1/00 Tuesday This morning I heard prancing footsteps outside the kitchen door and opened it to find Wilberforce (the jersey steer)had followed Rosie right up to the house. He is so friendly and inquisitive. But Sally says that today he ate some pink fiberglass insulation so I hope he is not poisoned. He is safely in his stall all day except at feeding times when Sally lets him run around and get some exercise. Sally reports that he now eats his calf grain from a bucket. It didn't take him long to learn. Helen loves her new hay. It is light and fluffy and green. Today she gave 3 gallons plus 1 pint. I only got one egg. I'm sure the hens are hiding their eggs somewhere. Tonight I found a hole under the barn floor which I will further investigate tomorrow. I may have to tear up a board.

2/2/2000 Which date I am told is the first time since the year 888 that there has been a date composed entirely of even numbers. Helen gave somewhat over 3.5 gallons today. She also stepped on Sally's foot. Sally says she stepped on the same foot last night. Sally says it's her own fault and Helen is not to be blamed. I got only two eggs today and one was frozen. The chickens have a heater in their water and all they can eat. So what's their excuse?

2/3 Thursday. We took granddaughter Rosie to the airport so Wilber the calf and Susie and Bert, the piglets, for the first time did not get lunch. Of course they were just fine this evening. I had Helen and Hector piled up with hay and they had barely finished it when we got home. Helen gave over 3.5 gals today, very good. I got only one egg, though. Darned hens. Sally reports that Agnes, one of the ewes, finally begins to look as though she might be pregnant. She had been looking discouragingly flat sided. The other ewe, Bernadette, is promisingly wide. Stanley, the young ram, was off his feed tonight. This is worrying as he is ordinarily an aggressive eater. It was cold all day. 8f this morning and no warmer this evening and even colder weather promised for tomorrow.

2/4 Friday Today was sad. Stanley was dead this morning. We have no idea why. Sally got right down there after milking and carried him upstairs to the garage and laid him out on feed bags. Using the hand clippers, she sheared off his lovely fleece, very soft, white with black polka dots. Meanwhile I sharpened the knife. Then she skinned and butchered him. It took her about 45 minutes to shear him and an hour an a half to butcher him. I helped, and there was no internal evidence of what killed him. He was not more bloated than one would expect from an animal on its side. All the organs appeared perfectly healthy. We'll see how the meat is. Right now it's cooling in the cellar. She cut it up warm. One of the ewes, Bernadette, acted slow this evening. Helen did well today, 3.75 gallons. I got three eggs. Weather is cold, about 10f all day.

Saturday 2/5 First thing this morning before I was out of my bathrobe I climbed down the ladder to see the sheep. Three were at the feeder but at first I could not find Bernadette. I shone the flashlight into all the corner and suddenly she emerged from somewhere. No telling why she wasn't feeding with the others. Sally decided not to give them their sheep feed, instead gave them Helen's feed. And we brought them a bale of Helen's new hay which is very nice. Soon all four sheep were eating enthusiastically. All were still lively this evening. When Sally was coming back from the barn tonight with the milk after dark she saw showers of sparks coming out of the chimney. She ran to the kitchen to tell me we had a stack fire, indeed we did. I started to call the fire department but she said she thought we could put it out with water and soda. She immediately carried out the largest log and put it into a snowbank. Two boxes of soda and a quart of water added one cup at a time did not put out the fire. We closed the draft on the woodstove which shares the chimney. And I put the facing board onto the fireplace; this is a board I use in the spring and fall to stop all draught up the chimney. These measures in combination succeeded in putting out the fire in the chimney but an hour later the remaining logs were still burning. Helen gave a bit less than 3.5 gallons today. It was very cold today, -15 this morning.

2/6 Sunday It remained cold all day with a strong wind blowing the snow into drifts. We didn't let Helen and Hector out. We had a nice visit from a reader of Keeping A Family Cow who lives in New Hampshire. She gets fresh skim milk from her neighbor who makes butter. I intended to give her some cream but forgot. For dinner I roasted a saddle of lamb from poor Stanley. We both gave him full marks for flavor and tenderness, sadly though we miss him. Sally washed some of his fleece today in preparation for carding it. She reports it to be exceptionally fluffy and spongey. We carried water to the barn today twice, 14 gallons each time. Helen gave 3.5 gals today and I got 2 eggs.

2/8 Tuesday Helen gave 3.5 gallons today and I got 6 eggs. the weather remains cold and blowy. Nonetheless, Helen stayed outside quite a while. The sun was shining much of the day and she finds spots out of the wind. We carried out jugs of water twice today, usually 14 gallons each time. Tomorrow I have to go to the dentist and will stop afterwards for a big new water tub to have ready for when we get a bit of a thaw. Then we will set up watering for the cattle down with the sheep where son Martin installed a freeze-proof system last winter.

2/9 Wednesday. Zero degrees this morning. Helen's production was down a bit under 3.5 gallons. But I got seven eggs. Hector the calf is now close to a month old. Sally is giving him 1.5 gallons of milk a day split into three feeds. She has got him eating some calf pellets. She is still feeding the piglets three times a day. We think we should keep this up until the weather is warmer. But from now on the midday feed will be simpler, just pig pellets and warm water. For their other meals she cooks cracked corn and adds fat and protein from various animal sources, usually milk or buttermilk and meat trimmings. They also get all the vegetable trimmings. Son Bret has looked up the answer to a persistent question on sheep feeding. All the sheep feeding materials warn against letting sheep have feed containing copper but we have been unable to find out why. Even the material from Cooperative Extension merely said avoid copper. The problem is that sheep have an exceptionally low tolerance to copper. It builds up in the liver causing rupture of liver cells and of red blood cells. One may note blood in the urine. Death occurs within 3 to 5 days following this symptom. We do not know if this is what killed Stanley last week but cannot rule it out.

2/10 Thursday I found a bantam nest today with eleven eggs up in the hayloft. I doubt I would not have found it except I saw the tail of a black cat sticking up out of a gap among the bales. She had her head down there licking eggwhite off the eggs some of which had frozen and cracked and thawed. I left three in the nest.  Perhaps that will be enough to encourage the hen to continue laying there. Helen gave 3.75 gallons. I got four eggs from the regular layers.

2/11 Friday It began snowing last night and has scarcely stopped. I expect we have a foot of fluffy new snow. It's warmed up to the mid 20's. Helen is eating a lot of hay. I guess it's a bit over a bale a day. One can't be certain because Hector the steer eats his share. We got 3.5 gallons of milk today and five eggs. Wilberforce, the bull calf, is one month old today. He ran out of the barn today and straight up to the kitchen door. Sally couldn't get him to come back where he belonged until Tim, the reindeer dog, got on the far side of him and moved him along.

2/12 Saturday It seemed very cold today, I suppose because of a light wind and the new snow, but it was in the 20Ęs and the eves were dripping. Helen gave 3.5 gallons and I found 5 eggs. I also found a new bantam nest with its first egg in it, still warm. I took it so it wouldn't freeze and put in a goose egg. It remains to be seen whether the little hen will consider this an inducement to lay again. We ate our second roast from the unfortunate little ram Sally butchered. It was perfectly tender and very tastey.

2/13 Sunday At 6am it was -18 but by midday the temp had risen well into the 20Ęs. It ended up being a nice day after a painfully cold start. Helen gave 3.5 gallons. I got two eggs plus some eggsicles. Sally has been trying to check her ewes for signs of lambing without overly disturbing them. So far no luck on checking their udders even with a flashlight. They are flighty.

2/14 Monday It began snowing last night and snowed until about 5pm leaving us at least a foot of sticky new snow . Nobody has plowed us out so we won't be going anywhere right away. Fortunately we are fixed alright on feed for a few days. The temp warmed up some. Much of the day was in the high 20Ęs. Helen gave 3.5 gallons and I got 7 eggs. The animals don't mind this weather. Helen even went out and stood in the snowstorm for about ten minutes. The dogs have to be swept before they come back in the house. Ted, the llasa apso, had snowballs on his underside. He took a nap on my new Atlantic and soaked it.

2/15 Tuesday Today was bright and sunny and about 30. A neighbor plowed us out. Everybody in the barn seemed happy and Helen gave 3.75 gals. and I got 5 eggs. I do hear a lot of cackling from the bantam hens and have found two nests from which I am getting an egg each. But there are a lot more little hens than that. The cats are romancing. There are a couple of fluffy black males swearing at each other every night now. The vet stopped in today and Sally tried to catch one of the females to be spayed. It got away, but not before clawing her hand pretty badly.

2/17 Thursday Yesterday it snowed all day. We got more than 3.5 gallons of milk. Today was brilliantly sunny and cold, around 10f with an icy wind. Helen gave less than 3.5 gallons today. We mostly stayed inside and answered email. Also I made lemon bars using 5 eggs now that I am getting a half dozen most days. And I gave a half dozen to my cousin who was ill. We would like to go down to the river and see if the witch hazel is getting buds. But the snow is too deep to go without snowshoes and I don't have any. I also don't have a snow machine to break open a trail.

2/18 Friday We're still carrying water and see no end in sight. We switched this evening from filling gallon jugs to carrying 5 gal. buckets half full. Sally can carry two while I carry one. Maybe I will decide I can carry two soon. Today I slipped on the driveway while loading the cart with gallon jugs, of course spilling a couple of gallons and slamming my butt and shoulder. Now, after the fact, I have put a lot of ashes around. I suppose some people would have broken their hip or other key apparatus but I think years of raw milk have given me tough bones. So far I don't even detect a bruise but maybe that will come later. It was -10 this morning but has now warmed up and started to snow again. Helen gave 3.5 gal and I got 5 eggs plus a couple of eggsicles. We put those in to boil with the pigs' cracked corn. I fried Sally and myself some home grown pork chops for dinner and she made a pumpkin pie from some pumpkin we froze. I also ground wheat and made bread.

2/19 Saturday Yesterday’s snow continued for 24 hours and left us about another foot. The old Dodge van looks like a giant marshmallow. There was no wind with this storm so all the snow stayed on branches and fenceposts. I took some pictures in case along about next August I am ready to appreciate its beauty. I slipped yesterday and slammed down fairly hard on my right side but fortunately I don’t seem to have any bruising or stiffness. Sally and I focused on indoor activities. She did more carding and weaving. I tidied up in the garage and buttery since with this snow the weather is warmer. Our man Barry plowed us out and the berm he created down at the barn is a good six feet high. Helen gave 3.5 gals and I got a six eggs; three were from bantam nests I have located. I chopped up a bunch of carrot tops for the hens and they ate every bit. I baked popovers in the Aga which we had with soup for dinner with lots of butter.

2/20 Sunday Sally and I speeded through the morning chores in hopes of getting through in time to go to church but we didn’t make it. So we put on the snow shoes and walked down to Pocket Field, the bottom field, and around by the river and back up by the sleeping veg garden. Sally went ahead of me and broke trail. All four dogs came along. Poor little three legged Liz and short legged Ted hopped along behind with Muffin, the old lady. Big strong Tim plunged ahead until we got to the the woodchuck holes. There he stopped to sniff and bark and declined to accompany us further. The view on the way back up towards the farm buildings was very fine and I was sorry I had not brought my camera. About an hour later we could still hear Tim down there barking so Sally put the snow shoes back on and went down with his leash. He must have had a sore throat by that time. I expect the woodchucks gave up on hibernation and were probably laughing. I made queso blanco again today using a gallon of whole milk. I fixed a half of one of my home grown chickens for dinner, just oven fried in butter and olive oil with a bit of curry powder. Those home grown birds don’t require much effort to be tasty. We also had baked potatoes with creme fraiche which I made on the Aga warming plate. And cole slaw which I dressed with a bit of horseradish sauce and mayo and the juice of an orange. I got a dozen eggs today. Helen gave only about 3.25 gallons. I can’t think why she should be down in production.

2/21 Monday. We had beautiful weather today and all the animals got some sunshine. Sally tried to see the udders on her ewes with a flashlight this evening when she grained them but wasn’t able to get a good look. In theory lambs could arrive any time now so it would be nice to have a few advance clues. I spent most of the day at the computer composing a letter to the editor in response to another letter slamming dairy products. Because I was away I had not had one of the new pork roasts. So I cooked one tonight and served it with carrots and mashed potatoes. It was excellent. I cooked it in my clay cooker so there was no work to it at all. Helen gave 3.5 gals today and I got 9 eggs.

2/22 Tuesday. Helen was was back down to 3.25 gals. today and I got only five eggs. Two bantam nests among the hay bales were exposed by some bales falling away. Neither hen was willing to lay out in the open. It was so warm today that we ripped the plastic off one kitchen window so we could let in some sunny air. What fun! I am sprouting a pan of sunflower seeds for the hens and made them a big pan of yogurt too. All I did was refill the last pan with skim milk without washing it and set it on the Aga warming plate. In a few hours I had a new pan of yogurt. Sally lets Wilberforce, our bull calf, gallop around in the barn while she milks. He thunders back and forth ringing his bell and skidding to a halt and having a grand old time. Helen doesn’t approve of this behavior. She may be holding up her milk. Tonight I cubed and fried some queso blanco in butter and curry powder. This is particularly good and Sally likes it a lot.

2/23 Wednesday Helen gave a bit less than 3.5 gals today. I got 7 eggs. The weather warmed up and the wind blew. Sally said it was a Chinook. Quite a lot of snow and ice melted. I am not sorry to see it go. But with the ground still frozen we have to fear flooding if this continues. I expect the sap is running.

2/24 Thursday We had a thaw today. We set buckets under the eves of the barn and caught more water than the cows could drink. Sally put Wilberforce the Jersey calf outside with Helen and Hector today for a get-acquainted visit. All three got very excited and ran in circles throwing up their heels. This is a remarkable sight in a pregnant cow. Tim is now addicted to running down the trail to check out the woodchucks at the bottom of the field. He went by himself. When he came back he couldn’t figure out how to get back through the fence. Sally found him cowering in terror while a couple of big animals stared him down. Helen gave 3.75 gals today and I got 10 eggs. I will now start selling them again.

2/25 Friday Dave, the Jacob ram, is still constantly ramming the pilings under the garage and buttery where the sheep live. Being castrated does not appear to have changed this behavior significantly. He does hang back and and walks out the door when people go down there rather than attacking. That would seem to be the only change. But we doubt he is to be trusted. The cattle drank ‘roof juice’ today, run-off from the barn roof which filled a container we put under the eves. They didn’t touch their tub inside. They have always preferred the melted snow or rain to well water. There was enough thaw today to reveal some dead grass on the plowed part of the dooryard. All the chickens went out there and pecked and scratched and had a party. We had a party too. We invited some neighbors in and had coffee and tea with lots of cream. Helen gave 3.75 gals. today and I got 10 eggs and sold a dozen bantam eggs to an old fellow who deeply believes that bantam eggs are superior.

2/26 Saturday We let Wilberforce out with the big cattle again today. He appeared to be having a wonderful time. I think he would have sucked Helen but she kicked every time he got close. The bantam hen that has been laying in the feed room sat down today. We've had a goose egg in that nest as an inducement. So I took that away and gave her five other eggs, just the ones that happened to be in my poclet. Most are bantam eggs. If she is still sitting tight tomorrow I think I will replace them with large eggs. Sal and I visited our neighbors today and were given two goose eggs. These are not fertile so we hard boiled them. Helen gave 3.75 gals and I got only 6 eggs. I guess the hens are having a day off.

2/27 Sunday It got up to 50 today, amazing. But the snow pile by the barn made by the plow is still up to my eye level. Sally continued her heroic cleaning of the buttery, actually a shed area which separates the old barn we use as a garage from the kitchen. She moved out a lot of furniture and greatly disturbed the cats. Sal got behing Agnes, the obviously pregnant ewe, with a flashlight and reports no sign of udder. So I guess we wont see lambs for a while yet. Helen gave 3.5 gals and I got 7 eggs. I took away most of her own eggs from my setting bantam and gave her four large eggs. She is sitting tight and didn't move at all.

2/28 3.5 gals, 7 eggs

2/29 Tuesday Helen gave more than 3.75 gals today, nearly 4 gals actually. It's interesting to see how both Helen and Hector sort through their hay to find the new better grade of hay. I usually put down about half and half of each. Wilberforce is growing so fast. Sally now needs to but on his third collar, a larger size. He is clever. Today was the third time that I let him outside to play with Hector. The first time I had to nearly carry him down the ramp. Today I just pointed him and gave him a tap and down he trotted. March 1 Wednesday We started the day with a surprise. I was drinking my tea and looked out the window to check the thermometer and there was one of the sheep. Soon all four appeared staring at the kitchen window. We got our boots right on and Sally got them to follow her back the way they had come. The way they had come was right across the high granite wall of the old foundation that I formerly used as a pigpen. Despite our week of thaw the snow is still so deep there that it forms an easy ramp up and over the wall. Sally thought their hooves would sink in to prevent them from walking across but this morning there was a heavy crust on the snow. As they trotted home I was struck with the resemblance sheep have to guinea pigs. A very similar expression and like guinea pigs they move forward as though on rollers. We moved the cows' water tub outside today. It will catch some roof runoff and the sun will be good for it. Helen gave about 3.25 gals today. I got 6 eggs.

March 2 Thursday Another surprise this morning. A big new snowstorm. It continued most of the morning, then turned briefly to rain before stopping. The temperature remained above freezing and the animals seemed hardly to notice it. Sally now puts Wilber out with the big guys while she milks. He has lots of fun but Helen worries. She feels it's her job to supervise him. We went next door to see Stewart's new litter of pigs. Thre were fifteen. He keeps two sows and a boar all together in a fairly small space anad never loses a piglet to overlying. He says the boar is perfectly mellow so long as he can be in with the girls. But he only minds Stewart so if he gets out only Stewart can tell him to get back in his pen and be obeyed.

March 3 Friday Sally says she thinks Dave, the Jacob ram, is finally getting more mellow. It must be a month now since he was castrated. But come to think of it I have not heard him mashing away on the underpinnings of the garage lately either. The weather today was dreary and damp, right around 33f. English weather I call it. I cheered us up with a three layer carrot cake. I believe it was the best one I ever made (recipe on request). Helen gave 3.75 gallons today but I got only four eggs.

3/4 Saturday Sally had to loosen Wilber's collar again today. He is growing fast. This is a small management task which is easily overlooked. I have done it myself. An animal outgrowing its collar is very uncomfortable and of course soon becomes unthrifty. Also the animal can become very hard to handle. It is always safer to use a halter because it cannot strangle an animal. Sally cut back on the pigs feed today. They weren't quite finishing it up. She has put them on two meals a day. It was a lovely day. Wilber spent a couple of hours outside. Helen gave 3.75 gallons and I got 8 eggs.

3/5 Sunday Sally put hay outside for the sheep today and Dave, the ram, was obnoxious and wouldn't let anybody near it. Helen gave 3 1/4 gal and I got 8 eggs.

3/7 Tuesday The air is light and balmy but there is still plenty of snow on the ground. While walking down in the field we found chicken feathers. A fox or a racoon must be after the hens. Most likely a racoon, unless there was a hen setting somewhere at ground level that I didn't know about. Many of the bantams roost where a raccoon could get them. There is nothing I can do about this. One of the barn cats was struck on the road today. A neighbor reported this when we got home from doing errands. The cat was not killed. It was seen dragging itself. However we could not find it. We think some passing girls may have carried it away. All the animals including Wilber had to miss lunch. They made up for it with a big dinner. Helen gave 3.5 gals and I got six eggs.

3/8 Ash Wednesday Sally always feeds the barn cats first thing in the morning and stands by for awhile to fend off marauding bantams bent on pecking up cat food. As she stood there being helpful she noticed a drip coming from the frozen barn faucet. She plugged the heat tape back in (I unplugged it weeks ago because it serves only the upper end of the system) and low and behold, the tap ran again within a short while. I at once connected up the hose and filled the stock tank. Helen had a huge drink. Later we took a walk to the bottom of the property. Right by the brook we saw where a beaver had felled a 6" tree. His lodge must be quite a way downstream because we could not see anything of the tree. The dogs also pointed out a muskrat den. They seemed to have been quite active. We came home with pussy willows and witch hazel, all signs of spring. Along the riverbank we did find several trees which have either tumbled over uprooting themselves or seem about to. We are trying to think of ways to assist the bank to hold. We are considering chaining one tree that's already in the water to another farther inland. Perhaps this will help hold the bank. Helen gave 3.5 gals. today and I got 6 eggs.

3/9 Thursday There are some big bare patches now on the fields, all brown of course, but Helen was so pleased to get out and walk around on the ground. She even tried to graze. Sally walked part of the fence line and found only minor damage so far. Wilber now eats his grain with much enthusiasm. He is still getting 6 qts a day of milk. One ewe, Agnes, is getting huge but still no signs of making up udder. Helen gave 3.75 gals and I found seven eggs.

3/9 Friday The pigs are getting so big and frisky now they want to jump their barrier. When they see Sally with their dinner they climb into their trough and seem about to slither over the wall in their enthusiasm. Grandsom Rafe arrived this afternoon and he has offered to reinforce the pigpen. They are also rooting around their wall and nibbling holes. Helen now takes regular strolls out onto the brown fields. WIlber gets to play outside part of the day. He is six weeks old now and energetic but having been people-raised he isn't clear on the cow rules. Helen gets very worried when he gallops far away. We haven't finished checking the fence line so Sally closed off the north field to stop him running so far. Helen gave 3.75 gals today and I got 6 eggs. \

missing week!!  Hope nothing exciting happened.

3/18 Saturday It was 5f above thismorning, not as bad as predicted but cold enough to be no fun. I tried all day to get the barn hose to run. Finally at night I connected up a brand new hose with no ice in it and filled the stock tank. Helen seems to be improving steadily but is as touchy as ever about having her teat handled. We still have to use both the kicker and Sally holds up her tail while I insert the cannula. Her production was good: 3.5 gals today.

3/19 Sunday Today was warm enough in the afternoon so that I was able to fill the stock tank with only a little trouble with the hose. Helen came in for milking without much urging and put up with all my ministrations with only the kicker, no tail holding, and for the first time she didn't make a cowflop. I have gotton better at inserting the cannula. I squirt milk out with one hand so as to clealy identify the end of the streak canal and twirl the little cannula while inserting it. We got almost 3.5 gals today. Wilber now excercises by running way down the field and back. He has a wonderful plushy healthy coat. Hector has gotton very crabby. Sometimes I have to take a stick in with me when I look for eggs. Only 5 eggs today.

3/20 Monday Sally had to go to the bus station this evening so I did the milking with help from grandson Gabe. Helen missed Sally and was very naughty. When I had about a gallon milked she deliberately kicked over the bucket. I told her exactly what I thought. I went on to get another half gallon so figure I would have had 1.5 gals, 3.5 today. After I was through milking I took scissors and removed the remains of the bandage on her sewed up teat. the cut is not inflamed. She did not wince when I took a couple of squirts but I think milking normally might traumatize the injury. We'll see in the morning.

3/21 Tuesday Sally milked this morning normally. Helen didn't complain. OK again this evening, but we used the kicker both times. Sheforgot and left the kicker on when Helen left this evening and it took some galloping around to snatch it off again. Helen was right up again in production today, 3.75 gallons. What a fine cow. Hector, the 9 month old steer, is becoming a pest at milking time always trying to charge along in with Helen. Tonight at Sally's suggestion I created a tie-up for him in the beefer pen, their feeding area. I put out a bucket of grain and snapped the rope onto his collar ring. The day before yesterday the little hen in the grain room hatched out two chicks from her four eggs. To keep them safe I put them into one of the hen coops. One poor little chickie got out and was immediately eaten by a cat. So she has one left. I fed them chopped hard boiled egg the first day, then yogurt, wheat germ and layer pellets. Of course, too late, I fixed the coop so it is safe I think. Temp got above 40 today.

3/22 Wednesday The vet came today and dehorned Wilbur. He gave him an anesthetic. He was one sad looking calf afterwards but by chore time he was bouncing around and ate all his dinner. the vet also looked at Helen's teat and said it was unwise to be milking it. He said it could still easily split open and I should use the cannula. He also gave me more medication so I can continue the shots. This was a big disappointment to all of us, not least Helen, I am sure. The milk did not run out well from that quarter as it had been. This is not a good sign. We only got a little over 3 gals today. When I called the cows at noon so as to have them in for the vet all three were way down by the river. I was amazed that Helen came. I couldn't even see the others for about 15 minutes and was getting distinctly worried by the time they trailed up.

3/23 Thursday I got slowed down a bit today by falling down the ladder-like steps into the sheepfold this morning. Actually I fell only from two steps up with my head into their water bucket but I feel rather stiff. I was going down to take a picture of daughter Sally and grandsons Rafe and Gabe and his girlfriend Sara sheep shearing.(The camera got wet) Gabe and Sara had scissors and Sal had hand shears of the type in use since Roman times. Rafe sat on the sheep's head. The sheep was Dave, the big ram. They also sheared the young ram, Thistle. The fleece of each filled a trash bag. And Dave was sheared last fall too. Sally and Rafe worked on fencing today. Sal wants to make it possible for the sheep to use a larger area of pasture this year. Helen came down to stand by and inspect. Helen gave 3.5 gals today. I got five eggs. Two more bantams have gone broody so they don't lay. But I'm sure there are some nests I'm not finding.

3/24 Friday We're sweating out possible mastitis. The milk went through the filter rather slowly this morning. Helen is extremely irritable with me at present. No surprise as I keep having to give her a shot and stick that plastic drain up her teat at every milking. Then I stand by to help. I push the draining quarter over so it goes in the milk bucket and not on the floor. Tonight she whipped me in the face the whole time with her tail. She knows exactly where my face is whether I crouch or stand. We got only 3 gals and one quart today but I know we lost at least a pint onto the floor. Only six eggs. She spends a lot of time now out in the field even though there is no new grass. She wanders around finding things to nibble. The sheep are doing the same thing. They all are fed up with hay and long to graze. Sally and Rafe did a lot more fencing. 3/25 Saturday Now that Dave the ram has been sheared he has got his friskiness back. He has resumed his attacks on the foundation of the the buttery. You can hear him whamming away down there. The sheep all spent much of the day grazing in their paddock. There isn't any grass but they are trying anyway. Helen gave 3.75 gallons today and there is no trace of mastitis. the bantam I have caged up with her one chick had blood all over her head today. We have no idea how this can have happened. The chick is fine. I found only two eggs today.

3/26 Sunday Today was quite springlike but there is lots of mud everywhere. I stuck a rod down among my parsnips and it went in 5 and a half inches. I let the little bantam with one chick out to forage today. She was getting squirrely in her coop. She and her chick had lots of fun and in the evening settled down in a cozy spot in the milking area. Then after locking up the barn we got to worrying about the raccoon. Night before last something reached through into her coop and bloodied her comb. So I went back out and returned her to the coop for the night. I piled some screens on it. If she makes it through tonight I will add some more security to the coop tomorrow. I checked a bantam nest which I have been forgetting about and got six eggs out of it and two elsewhere. Helen gave 3.5 gals.

3/27 Monday It was so sunny and warm today that we carried some of the seedlings outside for awhile. I set tomato, calendula, marigold and Stuart's desert pea against the south wall and stood up a piece of plexiglas in front of them. It's amazing how much more green they are after a few hours of full light. One bantam hen with a nest in the hayloft may be hatching her brood tonight. I frequently check her eggs and I think one was pipping. The bantam with one chick took her baby into the layer's room to settle for the night. She should be safe in there. I lock that door. Helen gave 1 gal + 1 qt today. We're trying doing part of the milking without the drain in her mended quarter to see if the incision can stand the strain.

3/28 Tuesday Lots of rain today and the river has risen over its bank in one place. It has joined with a vernal pond that forms on the field. I think the ice must be coming out of the lake. I watched great floes go past. The river is flowing faster than I would be able to run. Now this evening the wind has come up and is howling in some of the windows. No new chicks today. And no lambs. But both ewes are bagging up a bit. It was so bleak today that the bantam with one chick barely moved out of her corner in the layer room. She just huddled in there keeping it warm. She was pleased when I put some feed down in front of her. She clucked for her chick to "come and get it". I ordered some new chicks today. The roof leaked in the feed room worse than I have seen before. Two bags of feed got quite wet. Helen is still touchy about her injured teat. She gave only 3 gals. 1 qt. They cattle couldn't go outside at all.

3/29 Wednesday We and the dogs walked down in the woods beyond the fields to see how much flooding there is. The brook and the river have merged to form a sheet of water among the trees. In many places near the fields the river is almost over its banks. The banks are about 10' high. Most of the fields are much higher than this and the farm buildings are higher still so the only actual flood damage will be to the banks themselves which are increasingly eroded. This is of course a result of heavy logging in the watershed area. Sally and I got the chick brooder down from the loft where it was stored so I can check it over. Some parts are missing so I will have to do some inventing. The parsnip patch is now thawed down 8". Helen gave almost 3.75 gals today. We decided to start milking normally and no more shots. I think she was grateful. Eight eggs.

3/30 Thursday The river is still high but not flooding. I listen every night for spring peepers but have not heard them yet. The ground in the parsnip patch is thawed down 9". It is gaining an inch a day it seems. Sally saw the ram, Dave, performing an antelope-like step which we have not witnessed before. He bounded forward with all four feet together like a pogo stick. It was intended aggressively toward the other ram. For the first time we tried putting the calf , Wilberforce, out with Helen and Hector. He has been spending all day with them but Sally has been bringing him in at night for fear he might wander off. Milking is once again a pleasant interlude with no doctoring to do. Helen gave 3.5 gals. I found 6 eggs.

3/31 Friday Sally and I both have colds so we didn't do a whole lot. However Sally found an ad for two pairs of geese in Uncle Henry's Swap It Guide. So we called and have made preliminary arrangements to buy them. Grandson Rafe will have to pick them up in Brooklin on his way down from school in Bar Harbor tomorrow. So then we had to go out and do some fencing for them. Sal strung one section of fence about 50' long to cut off a short spur of field. Then together we took the old chicken wire off of the chicken run and applied that to another part of the yard which had only boards. There are two pairs so they need plenty of room. We also did some brush removal in the area. Helen was a lovely cow today and gave 3.5 gals. I got 8 eggs, all bantam. Bantam hens are going broody all over the place. Usually they are wild as hawks but once they go broody you can pick them up and they just plop down wherever they land. Speaking of hawks reminds me, Sal saw a bald eagle circle the barnyard today. She thought he was looking at the chickens. I would even sacrifice a chicken for him if he wants one.

4/1 Saturday Both ewes lambed today. Bernadette, the one which scarcely even looked pregnant until last week, started first with a lamb about 9am. The rams were awful pesky and would not leave the ewes alone. they kept chasing them in circles and trying to mount. We succeeded in driving the rams out of the sheep fold and Sally stood guard while I went around in front of the ban and removed a 12’ metal gate and dragged it around. That just fitted nicely across the front of the sheep fold locked in place by two convenient trees. Pretty soon Bernadette produced a second lamb. Agnes decided that one must be hers and kept nudging it away to her own corner. Sally had to stand guard for a long time until Rafe finally arrived from college about noon. He helped devise a private area for Bernadette. By early afternoon Agnes had begun lambing herself and now has her own set of twins. Both ewes are excellent mothers and stood very quietly while Sally assisted the lambs to suck. The ewes are not shorn and there is a lot of wool in the way. It must be 6” deep with lots of tags. All four lambs seem frisky, three female, one male. Rafe would have arrived earlier but he stopped on the way to pick up four geese for which we had made arrangements. We spent part of the day fencing off a secure area for them. It includes a low wet area formed by melting snow. This is now a 6” deep puddle and quite large. They were very pleased with this.

4/2 Sunday The lambs all look perky. With Rafe here to help, Sally decided we’d better shear the ewes. We were fearful of doing it before in case we disturbed them too much in late pregnancy. With all three of us clipping and Rafe also holding down their heads we managed to get both fleeces off. Agnes has a much bigger fleece. We still have the new families separated and the rams excluded. Rafe fixed the rams a cozy run-in in the front corner of the sheep fold but the last time I looked they were standing in the rain. This morning Helen’s recovering quarter produced some significant clots and the milk was slow to strain, a sign of mastitis. I worried all day but she was OK this evening. I was ready with a mixture of olive oil and tea tree oil with which I massaged her teat and quarter. That has worked for me before against mastitis and I hope will again. Right now when she is close to being dried off would be a bad time to get it. All three of the cattle went right out this morning while the weather was good without stopping for hay and spent most of the day trying to graze. Perhaps this is why she was way down tonight. Only 3 gals today. And 7 eggs.

4/3 Monday warm and drizzly today, turning to hard rain. Sally and I walked down to the brook and found the water has retreated somewhat since last week but the fiddlehead bog is still partly flooded. We opened up Pocket Field for the cattle in case they want to explore. Still no grass anywhere of course. All four lambs are apparently quite well but not all are equally bouncey. The two little families have been separated but today Sally let them mingle. One of the geese laid an egg today on the hay pile Rafe put in the old feeder which is in their pen. Rafe returned to school early this morning. Helen was touchy this evening and the filter showed renewed evidence of mastitis. Her bag does not seem inflamed. She gave only 3 gals today. I got five eggs.

4/4 Tuesday Rain rain all day but hurrah, the line to the spring sink thawed and once again the joyful noise of springwater running into the granite sink in the kitchen was heard. A goose laid another egg, this time right in the middle of their paddock. There is a vernal pond in that area which appears every year with snowmelt. I call it Lake Coburn. A mallard drake has joined the geese in their pond. He is a fine greenheaded fellow with an elegant curled tail. Sally saw a pair of bluebirds today. Helen gave 3.75 gals , probably up because the rain kept her in all day eating real hay instead of the slim pickings on the pasture. The tines of my spading fork now go all the way down in the parsnip patch but that is still insufficient for my parsnips I think. I dug a bunch of jerusalum artichokes. We have found a way to make these bland and tasteless vegetables edible (I feel badly saying this of them since they are the first free spring gift.) Saute them in plenty of butter and when they are golden pour on a generous amount of soy sauce. 5 eggs today.

4/5 Wednesday Neighbor Stewart who also has geese says we have one gander and three geese. There were no additional eggs from them today. It was cold, windy and generally bleak with intermittent rain. Nonetheless Helen spent all day on the pasture. Probably as a result, we got only 3 gals today. I dug my first parsnips and we had them for supper. Very nice. Stewart came over and admired all the animals.

4/6 Thursday A cold bleak day with drizzle and flurries. Helen gave 3 gals . The filter has been completely clear now for several days. The geese have decided the like cracked corn. They now come running to the fence when they see me. Five eggs today.

4/7 Friday We are starting to dry off Helen. We are going to once a day milking and skipped tonight. She is due to calve about June 25. I hope to give her two months off this year. Last year she only got about five weeks off because she insisted on keeping on producing!

4/8 Saturday Sally has been worrying about leaving me with Dave, the mean and ugly ram. She asked Stewart if he would shoot it so she could get him into the freezer. Stewart arrived with alacrity bringing his buddy Dwayne and a very small, almost toylike, .22. He gave Dave one shot in exactly the right spot. He and Dwayne continued to help. They got Dave's carcass hauled up using an improvised spreader and a comealong which Dwayne happened to have in the truck. They skinned him and saved the head. Dwayne is thinking of having the head mounted as it is so amazing looking with its array of four large horns, the top two sticking up like some antelope, the lower two curving down gracefully. We left the carcass hanging in the garage. It's the best we could so. It's plenty cold. We'll probably cut the meat tomorrow. It looks like excellent meat. We had Dave castrated six or more weeks ago and it is generally believed that the carcass will not be tainted by excessive masculinity. The cats may nibble the shanks a bit but appear more interested in the bucket of offal. I cleaned the chick brooder and got it set up for Monday. Some of the parts disappeared last year when Stewart lost everything in a fire. He had return it minus the feed trays. I have improvised replacements. So far, though, I cant get it to be as hot as I think it ought to be. Sal did some more fencing today. Helen gave close to 3 gals this morning. We skipped milking tonight. I got five eggs.

4/9 Sunday Between us, Sally and I got the sheep all cut and wrapped. There must have 150 lbs of meat, perhaps more. It looks to be very high quality. Because we don't have a bandsaw we had to forgo lambchops. I guess if we had a better handsaw we could have cut them. We made roasts, stew, and some ground meat. There was virtually no waste because I used the cleaver and chopping block to whack up the neck bones. My apparently authentic book of Indian curries calls for bones in nearly everything. Helen was down to 2.5 gals today. Drying off is going much faster this year because there is no green grass grazing to boost production. She grazes every day but it is mostly just pretending. She still eats her hay. I am using the poorer stuff until shes all dried off. The geese have decided they like cracked corn and layer pellets and clean them right up. The weather today is rotten. This evening it is blowing hard and the rain has turned to snow.

4/10 Monday We awoke to a snow covered world today. The post office called at 8am to tell me my chicks were there. The road had not been sanded so it was a sloshy drive. I had the brooder all warmed up and ready. Sally and I picked up chicks and put each one's beak in the water before releasing it. If this is not done some may collapse before they get the idea of how to drink. I had contrived a waterer for them by filling an ice cube tray with pebbles. Actually, it was Sally's idea. She has done this before. They like to stand on the pebbles to drink. Soon all were drinking and eating their chick starter mash. I topped the mash with clabbered milk as a source of lactobacillus. It has been found that colonizing the chick gut with lactobacillus is a successful way of preventing disease. The weather continued stormy and two hours later we lost power. So we put all the chicks back in their packing crate and set it on the Aga. They were comfy there for an hour until we got the power back. One chick was DOA and we lost two more. It's hard to believe the fixes they can get themselves into and if not saved at once, they die. This evening all seem well and happy. There are 35 chicks. One large spruce went down last night. It took out some fence and lay halfway across the dirt road that runs north.

4/11 Tuesday Today was an improvement on yesterday, weatherwise, but Spring still seems to have lost ground. I did get some more bags of sawdust off the foundation and onto the asparagus patch. And I discovered scilla blooming. The new chicks seems perfectly happy and are so very cute. They now race around in the brooder from food to water to warming light. But another inexplicably died. That's three that have died since arrival but the other two had good excuses. The vet came today and docked the tails on the lambs and gave them tetanus shots. They are growing amazingly, especially the little ram lamb. The vet stayed for lunch and I served some of my parsnips. Helen gave 2.5 gals this morning. I got 5 eggs.

4/12 Wednesday My goodness, the weather today was awful for April. Snowing this morning and a bitter wind all day. We went around doing encouraging things for all the animals including giving a bale of hay to the pigs to make a nest. The baby chicks brooder is covered with blankets and they have a microclimate that is perfect. They are totally frisky. One little setting bantam in the barn finally hatched one chick this morning. I saw the damp little thing. I tipped her up this evening enough to see its tiny feet hurrying out of sight under her fluff but no more had hatched. If by tomorrow morning there are no more Ill take the other three eggs away and install her in the nursery coop. Helen gave a little over 2.5 gallons this morning. I got five eggs.

4/13 Thursday Helen is most reluctant to dry off. She was up a quart this morning. She's determined to get at that green grass. I might have to keep her in a few days. Two bantams hatched chicks yesterday, the second one has two. Sal cleaned out Wilbur's pen and we have made it into a nursery. Later the chicks in the brooder are going in there. Only three eggs today.

4/14 Friday I think the bantam chicks are doing alright. Two were in the feed pan this morning. The other spends all its time under its mother and I haven't seen it since we moved her in there. I hope she brings it out once in awhile for a meal. Our trees came today. I bought three apple trees and two cherry trees. Sally bought all kinds of things including a lime (linden) tree, a black walnut, two elderberries and some black locust. Helen gave 2.5 gals this morning. She gets no grain now at night and was very cross when she smelled carrots on Sally's hands. So Sally went and got her some. We walked down to the brook this morning along the river. Everything is eroding badly. We took along willow cuttings and a shovel and stuck them in. Maybe they will grow and hold the bank and be beautiful.

4/15 Saturday This was the first true spring day. It got over 60. Tonight for the first time I hear the spring peepers. The two bantam mothers sat facing each other about a yard apart just like mothers in the park as all three chicks scratched around on the bare spot their mothers had cleared around their pie pan of feed. I let the geese out for the first time. They fooled around on the lawn looking pleased for an hour or so until we herded them home singing "Susie, little Susie". Sally has tied big bows of orange flagging tape on Helen's kicker so that it will be very noticeable. We rarely use it, but the great dread is forgetting to take it off when we let her out. She gave 2.75 gals this morning. She doesn't want to quit. I found 8 eggs.

April 17 Monday Sally has completed a big segment of fencing so that one large field is ready for the sheep. Yesterday and today she let them out for awhile and they had a great time exploring. Because of all the lambs, the ewes prefer not to move very far or fast so this makes it easier to keep and eye on them. I've been letting the geese out about 3pm and today when I didn't I could tell they were very disappointed. I picked up a 50' roll of chicken wire to string from the corner of the house to the front fence so that they don't jump in my goldfish pond. Yesterday they went marching in that direction. I think they smelled the water. I know they would love it but one hour of geese and that little pool would be a mess for the rest of the season. Plus they might eat the goldfish. After dark tonight I went out and caught my biggest rooster for Cousin Susan. She lost hers. This boy has a bloody comb. Fighting, not doubt. One cat, Fraidy Cat, has had kittens in a nearly inaccessible spot. She won't leave them. They are at least three days old. I can see down in the hole. One was dead. I took her a bowl of chopped meat swimming in cream and reached down with a goldfish net and removed the dead baby. Fraidy hissed madly but didn't scratch. She knows I am her friend. She just can't overcome her fear.

APRIL 19 Wednesday. Yesterday I put up the temporary fence to prevent the geese from heading for my goldfish pond. But they didn't even bother. Instead when I let them out they figured out how to get around behind the barn where they found the stock tank and had a lovely swim. Of course they got it all muddy so Helen wouldn't touch it . Sal and I dumped it out and I rinsed it out and ran it full again. Later they took a long hike down the pasture. They may have been heading for the river. Sal rounded them up and drove them home but they were afraid to go past the cows in the barnyard. Nor would the cows get out of their way. They associate Sally with supper or at least carrots and all ran over to see her. She came in later and made herself a cup of tea. She said unraveling the animals took her twenty minutes. Helen's production on once a day milking won't seem to fall below 2.5 gallons and this morning was closer to three. Tonight I left her with access only to the barnyard; that means hay and water, no nibbles of grass. We'll see if that does the trick. I did the chores alone tonight. Sal has gone to the airport for husband Tom.

April 21 Friday For the third day I left open the stall where two bantam hens have been staying with their chicks. Today they finally decided to bring out the chicks for a slightly expanded horizon. The chicks now mind very well and run to their mothers at her cluck or run after her like fluffy wind-up toys. The geese come and go to their pen without getting away into the field. I did the feeding alone this evening because Sally and Tom went shopping for a new water pump for their house. Tom was seriously bummed out about having to replace it, poor guy. Keeping Helen confined to the barnyard at night with just hay and water has not so far depressed her production very much. She still gives over 2.5 gallons in the morning.

April 22 Saturday Last night it started to snow and slushy snow kept falling until about 2 pm when it turned to rain. It is still raining now at 10:30pm. I have never know snow this late. Once on April 15, 1976, we had about 6" of light fluffy snow but it melted right off. The poor little spring peepers have had to go back to sleep. This morning I discovered that three setting bantams in the hayloft were gone as well as all the eggs from one nest. It has to be a raccoon. One nest had three cold eggs but the hen was gone. Later she returned and sat down but she is wasting her time of course, poor little thing. I borrowed a Havahart trap and baited it with peanut butter, a raccoon favorite. I doubt I catch it. Usually I either catch a cat or the trap closes by itself. The setting is very sensitive and my old post and beam barn is shaky. The geese seemed to like the weather. All the low spots in the front lawn have become lakes again. I brought in a couple more goose eggs leaving four in the nest. Helen didn't choose to go out at all. I think she is as disgusted with the weather as I am. The sheep minded it less. Their wool is plenty warm despite shearing. Even the lambs are warm enough, it would appear.

April 23 Easter Sunday Cold rain continued all day. None of us went to church because of many problems with the McGuire's water system. The Havahart trap contained an embarrassed and disgruntled tom cat this morning. I set it again tonight. Helen gave a little over 2.5 gallons. The chicks in the brooder are getting long legged. We will have to move them soon to larger quarters. There is a dog in the neighborhood which runs loose and has killed some small animals. Its owners have been reluctant to tie it up. We have been worried about what would happen if it got in with the sheep. Today we heard that it had tangled with a porcupine and had to have stitches removed by the vet to the tune of $160. Now they tie him. Rough justice, but perhaps better than being shot which is what we would have done if he killed sheep.

April 24 Monday Sally worked a long time today on the room in the barn where we will put the chicks. This is the same room where Wilber used to live. Now it is used by the two bantam mothers with three chicks between them. She is making it so chicks can't escape. This morning when I went in the barn the three chicks had squeezed out a crack and were hopping around in the milking area. Their mothers were frantic because they couldn't get out. The chicks heard them calling but couldn't remember how to get back in. When I opened their door those mothers simply flew around the corner to their babies. It was rather funny, actually. But it's amazing no cats noticed their chance. Helen gave a little over 2.5 gals this morning. I'm not getting many eggs as the raccoon has cleaned out all the nests she can find and eaten some of the hens. The remaining hens have found new nests and I don't yet know where they are. The trap was sprung this morning but nothing was in it.

April 25 Tuesday Helen at last shows signs of dropping off in production. Three days of cold rain and second rate hay might have something to do with it. We moved the brooder and chicks out to the barn. Sally worked on the stall some more and has made it proof against most anything but a weasel. We put the two hens with their three chicks into the layer room where they are safe. We set up the brooder with the food out on the floor and four hours later they hadn't stirred outside to get it. Some chicks were beginning to look wobbly. So we put the food back inside where it is warm and put an old quilt over everything. Then they went right to eating and drinking. It was sunny all day today but not warm, maybe 40f. Only three eggs. I released another cat this morning from the trap and have set it again.

April 26 Wednesday The chicks in the brooder got through the night just fine. So did the two mamas in the layer room. But later in the morning when I looked in on them I saw that the bantam with only one chick no longer had her tail fanned out. I couldn't find her chick for several minutes until I saw its little wing floating in the water basin. I felt terrible. But I had put out a pie pan for chick water and a big tool in the older bird's water so that a chick could climb out. But the poor little thing was just too small I guess and got waterlogged. This evening the bereft mother was once again snuggled up with the other mother helping keep the two chicks warm. Sal and I took a late afternoon walk down to the brook and found our first fiddleheads. I gave two eggs to a hen that has been sitting on a shelf in the pig pen. She has been faithfully sitting even with no eggs.

April 27 Thursday The sheep got into the veg garden area today. We found where they squeezed under the fence. Now we have more fencing to do before Sally leaves. Agnes, the larger ewe, gave us a scare. She wouldn't touch her grain this evening, wouldn't let her lamb nurse, and had foam around her mouth. We walked all around and could find no evidence of wild cherry that she might have got at. This was my first thought as it is toxic. The only other thing I can imagine is a mild case of bloat due to too much fresh grass. The grass is very short but of course sheep can graze very close. Helen was back up this morning to nearly 3 gals. What a cow.

April 28 Friday Despite a gloomy weather report, we did get a bit of sun today although I don't think the temp got above 45f. Helen gave 2.5 gallons. I'm not getting many eggs, what with the raccoon, also lots of bantams setting. The geese are laying. There were seven eggs in their nest today and I took three. In case the goose sets, I don't want her to have more than four. Sally spent hours working on the veg garden fence to make it sheep proof.

April 29 Saturday ‘Twas a very fine day, against all predictions. I dug up part of one of my flower borders. I am removing the brick edging. At one point I hit rock and dug up a large piece of flagging about six inches down. Tom lifted it out for me. I have started digging a good spot for it where it will be part of some stone steps. All animals are perfectly happy I think. The bantam with two chicks insists on putting them to bed out in the milking room but I am able to pick her up carefully with the chicks under her wings and but her in with the layers where she is safe. Each day I let the geese out for a few hours and each evening I heard them back into their pen. Tonight as soon as they saw me thy started dutifully marching home. Tom and Sally spent all day getting ready to leave early tomorrow for Haines Alaska. It will seem pretty quiet.

April 30 Sunday Sally and Tom got off before 8am. The sun was bright all day and my first daffodils were open. They took their three dogs but left me their blind cat, Lemur. She finds here away around here pretty well and it seemed a shame to move her again. She was born blind and has extraordinarily large unseeing eyes. She also seems deaf and retarded but she knew they were gone. She kept fumbling around to find me and show affection. She doesn’t ordinarily do that. Doing all the chores alone took me a long time. I skipped milking this morning but milked this evening, making a 36 hour interval. Helen was bellowing steadily. I can’t say if it was because she wanted to be milked or because she was cross about being confined to the barnyard on hay and water. SHe stood like a perfect lade for milking but was resistant to letting down. She gave 2.5 gals. There were flecks on the filter and it looked coated. I hope this was just an artifact of delayed milking.

May 1 Monday The barn swallows were back today. I love seeing them. There was frost on the grass this morning so I fed the sheep hay as a preventive against bloat before letting them out in the big pasture. The sheep and geese have both learned their noon routine. The sheep come back to their fold and the geese expect to be let out for the afternoon. Then around five I drive them home. Today when they saw me they began walking back. At evening feeding Helen crowded past me to go to her stanchion. When she found no grain waiting for her she came back out by herself. She had not made much milk today. Her bag was quite soft. A couple of more days of this hated regimen and perhaps I can safely allow her to graze.

May 2 Tuesday Helen was very filled up with milk tonight. I’m not much encouraged this evening with her drying off. I didn’t milk her. I hope she isn’t suffering too badly.

May 3 Wednesday Helen was miserable this morning. I brought her in and milked her. She gave a good 3 gallons. The bucket won’t hold that much so rather than go back to the house I finished milking in a feed bucket. I then gave this half gallon to Wilber who was glad for it. I took it to him out in the Beefer Pen where Hector was also. Pretty soon Hector pushed Wilber away and finished it off. I was surprised. Hector hasn’t had any milk for months. Helen was clearly a lot happier after being milked. Her bag felt fine and the milk strained perfectly. I drank a glass just to see how it would taste after two days inside a cow. The only difference was it seemed salty. My young friend Kelly visited with her baby girls this afternoon. The older girl is 22 months, articulate and fearless. She had to see and try to feed every single animal. All the animals were surprisingly cooperative except I was little worried about the geese. The gander has not so far bitten anybody but he runs at people with his head down. Kelly darted ahead and stood him off just in case. I got my peas planted today.

May 4 Thursday Helen’s bag was encouragingly soft all day. She sure is fed up with staying in the barnyard and eating hay. Everytime I walk by she moos to ask me why I don’t let her out. This morning I got in a row of carrots.

May 5 Friday Helen’s bag was quite full this evening. I fear that in the morning it may be back in trouble. She sure doesn’t want to dry off. I think one of the geese may be setting. All four spent most of the last two days huddled around the nest. Today was quite warm. It got up to 70 in some sunny corners but a strong wind made me reluctant to set out plants.

May 7 Sunday Naughty Helen mashed down part of the barnyard fence and joined the sheep in in their pasture. When I found her she was looking rather sheepish. She wasn't sure she liked being in the pasture no matter how good it was without Hector and Wilber. There was clearly no way I could get her back so I thought 'what the heck' and let the others out with her. She gobbled grass all day. By evening she had made a lot of milk of course, but I didn't milk her. Most likely I will have to by morning. I don't know how long she might have stayed out had it not been for a fairly violent thunderstorm starting at about 4:30. That brought everybody in. One of the geese is setting. When she got up to take a drink I checked the eggs. There were five plus a broken one. I can't imagine how it could have gotten broken. They are very hard. I did an hour and a half of digging today partly in the perennial border, partly in the veg garden. I found my first asparagus spear. No doubt the inch of rain we had with the electrical storm softened up the ground and I'll be having asparagus every day.

May 8 Monday Helen was out grazing in the North Field this morning, this time my fault for not shutting the gate. Very possibly I should have milked her this morning but decided to let her go until this evening. Now she won't come in. It's so warm today and the bugs aren't bad yet. She might even stay up in the field. I got 9 eggs today. That's better than I've been getting. I bought some wooden eggs and put them everywhere that I know they lay so they have resumed using the nests. I had to stop leaving real eggs in the nests for decoys because it was just drawing the raccoon. But I know he is still around because when he comes in the barn at night to steal eggs he (or she) throws the fake eggs out of the nests and I find them on the floor. I got in about another hour today of digging and set out some herbs. I made an astonishing discovery. Out front where last year I had morning glories climbing all over the lilies and dahlias there are dozens of self seeded ones coming up. I have never before seen this happen in Maine. Snow was piled up there by the plow to a depth of about 6'. Maybe that had something to do with it.

May 9 Tuesday Helen did indeed stay out all night and this morning she ignored my calling. So I got my boots on and walked to where they all were, still nearly out of sight in the North Field. She let me feel her bag. Three of the quarters were softening up satisfactorily. The right rear was pretty tight with milk. It rained all day and around 1 o'clock they all came in and wanted hay which I gave them. Later they went back out to graze and did not return this evening so I hope she is OK. I removed the plastic from the window in the chick's stall. They are growing fast. They stand about 8" tall and flutter all around, hop up on things, play and have little bird fights. Altogether different from the Cornish X I raised last year which spend all day sitting by the feed trough like loaves of bread rising. I removed the plastic from their window so they would have more air circulation. Also added a lot more nails to the chickenwire on their window so the raccoon can't get in. It's still raining tonight! Three days ago I planted peas and today they are sprouting. But they are rolling out of their row and into the aisle. I made holes with my finger and put them back.

May 10 Wednesday Another sodden day. First thing in the morning I took some apples and went down in the pasture and got Helen to stand still long enough so I could feel her bag. It's coming along OK. She came in and asked for hay and grain about 5 o'clock. Had enough of wet grass. An electrician came and installed motion sensitive outdoor lights. That should slow down any future hay theives. The temperature today didn't get above 42F. Combined with the rain it felt pretty cold.

May 11 Thursday Rain continued all day. The river is high but I didn't have time to walk down there. The pastures are now all green like one giant lawn. The sun came out for about 10 minutes just before sinking and I took a picture to show how green it is. The leaves are still tiny. Helen scarcely came near the barn. I put out some hay in case she got tired of grass but she never did. The geese don't come out of their enclosure much now even when I leave their gate open for them. They like to stay clustered around the one who is setting. I don't think a fox of raccoon could get near her.

May 12 Friday A fine sunny day all day. I did some ferocious digging in the veg garden for about an hour and a half until the bugs got to me. They aren't yet out in full force but there are plenty of black flies. I found self seeded kale in last year's kale bed and transplanted a few to another bed. I t looks like I won't have to plant kale. Another bed is covered with what looks like baby lettuce. I picked my first serving of asparagus this evening. Like yesterday , Helen did not eat any of her hay. She seemed to be asking for some so I threw it down but she just sniffed at it. All three come inside the Beefer Pen to chew their cuds as there are fewer bugs. With all the lush grass they are a bit messy. The sheep are getting more confident around me. The wether, Thistle, walked very stiff legged and was a little threatening at first when I took over from Sally. They come very well when called and all stay together in quite a compact flock. Part of the time Helen and the boys are in with them and then the two groups usually stay together. 

May 13 Saturday Helen gave me a surprise today. I went down the ladder to where the sheep live and there was Helen lying in the middle of the room. Hector and Wilber were there too of course. I was bringing the sheep their grain which she noticed in my hand so rather than risk having her damage their manger reaching for it I gave it to her. It was chilly today with some rain.

May 14 Sunday All the animals had a lovely day in sunny pastures. Martin took lots of pictures with his new digital camera.

May 15 Monday The flock of chicks is growing so big I must start calling them pullets and cockerels. They flutter all around in their room and seem to have a good time. There is quite a lot to do in there with various things to perch on. I still keep two lights on partly for heat. I tried it with one light. I don't believe they were cold but they didn't seem to eat as much in the dim light. The hummingbirds are back. I just wonder what the poor things find to eat. There are hardly any flowers now except dandelions. I wonder if there is nectar in the maple tree blooms. My bird feeder is full of bluejays, often six or seven.

May 16 Tuesday After Sally left I decided to make life easier by feeding pig pellets rather than cooking cracked corn for the pigs. I could tell right away they didn't really like this change. A few times I cooked corn and they would get all excited about their meal. Either way, I always add other stuff, milk if I have it. My perception is that pig preferences apart, the cooked corn goes farther than the pellets. Today I bought a bag of each and am going to keep a careful record by weight of how long each bag lasts. I am feeding 12 lb/day to two pigs about 5 months old. I'd guess they each weigh not less than 100 lbs. Today there was a dead chicken in the layer room. She was a 1 year old bird with nothing wrong with her that I could see apart from a somewhat dirty back end. Among the pullets and cockerels I found one bird today that doesn't walk properly. It goes backwards in a huddled posture. I got it to drink water by holding its head. The sheep are getting a lot friendlier. The wether doesn't seem wary of me now. He stops to sniff my hand and lets me pat his head. I've kept the geese in the last two days because of needing to leave the front gate open. They make it very plain they want to come out. I took pity and let them out for a while this evening and they had a good sozzle in the big puddle. Then they waddled home to attend the nest.

May 17 Wednesday I spent a good deal of time today getting the lawn mower to work. And a lot of time mowing the lawn which has gotten almost out of hand. Two weeks of rainy weather gave it a headstart. The lawn mower keeps on choking. I didn't get even half done today so I hope we don't get more rain tonight. I took some grass clipping to the pullets and cockerels for a change of diet. The crippled pullet is still alive but can only walk backwards. She eats and drinks a little when I hold her head.

May 19 Friday There has been a little hen sitting on two eggs in a crevice in the outside of the barn wall 4' above the ground. Today I found her with one chick under her around the other side of the barn. I don't know what happened to the other chick. There is no unhatched egg in the nest. Maybe a cat got it during her negotiation to get it out of the nest and down to the ground. The chick she has is very beautiful with stripes like a partridge chick. I would have caught them and put them in a safe cage for the night but she was too wild to catch during daylight and at evening I could not find her. Wilber came up to the barn all by himself while the others were way down in the field. He took a big drink and asked for some grain. I gave him a large serving. The pullet that is bent out of shape and travels backwards still lives. Occasionally it seems able to relax enough to manage a little food. I push its beak in the water a few times a day too. The bantam with two chicks tried roosting in the rafters tonight. They can fly short distances. Somehow she persuaded one of them all the way up there, using the ladder part way no doubt. The other could not figure out how to get to the rafter so finally she gave up and they went back in the layer room to bed. I mowed the lawn for almost two hours today. I quit with about an hour's worth left to do. Then I heard my neighbor on his big riding Craftsman finishing it up. That was a treat. The part that was unfinished is a noticeable part of the lawn surrounded by pool and garden so it is nice to have it looking professional. I had to set my small mower very high to prevent stalling and my results look like a bad haircut. Some of the grass was over a foot long. I look at Helen many times each day in case she gets bloat on the lush grass. So far she has not shown any signs of it. Tomorrow morning will be the test. Frost is predicted.

May 20 Saturday The hen with one new chick was right out there this morning. But later I did find her other chick dead near the wall. It must have gotten separated and chilled during the time she was moving away from the nest. We had quite a frost last night. I didn’t lose much because I put garden cloth over the morning glory seedlings. I thought the becopa was a goner but now I think it will recover. In late afternoon Helen came up to the barn asking for grain. Soon I will need to start building up her feed in preparation for starting to milk again. But she should not get any fatter so this is a quandary. The pigs would eat more if I gave them more but they are not seriously dissatisfied as judged by their dispositions. They fight less than any pigs I have had. This afternoon I added a salad course to their dinner, a 5 gal. bucket of weeds I dug. It was mostly dandelion and comfrey.

May 21Sunday The little hen with one chick is still with us. They are such a cute pair. The pullets and cockerels began to look bored so I opened up their door and set up a screen door to give them a view. The crippled bird is occasionally able to relax enough to un roll its head and eat. But of course the other ones aren’t very nice to it so it only gets a few pecks. Mostly it hides in a corner. I hauled a big cartload of chicken litter down to the veg garden today and spread part of it. The lilacs are starting to open. The scent is wonderful.

May 22 Monday This morning when I opened the gate to the barnyard with the pig food I left it ajar. I didn’t notice little Wilber, the calf, around the corner. He walked right out the gate and before I could reach him ate one of the flowers of my black tulip Queen of the Night. Fortunately he is totally tame and friendly so I had no trouble catching him. We had a little bit of sunshine today but mostly it was overcast and threatening rain. My row of peas is all up and I don’t believe the birds noticed them. When they were sprouting I went by every day and pushed down any pea seed that was showing. The carrots are up too.

May 24 Wednesday Rain part of yesterday and all day today. I planted some nasturtium seeds in a planter and put wire around some vulnerable little trees but that was the extent of my gardening. The apples trees are blooming but it has rained so much and been so cold when not raining that I doubt the bees were able to pollinate. Two years ago this happened and we got no apples. A bantam in the hayloft to which I gave one egg when she got broody has hatched out her one chick. I have been checking under her every day lately and this morning there was her chick. I fixed up a cat carrier cage with food and water and put her and her baby in it. The chicks are at risk upstairs. They have to flop all the way down to the main floor and may die in the attempt.

May 25 Thursday More rain today, some of it quite hard. But we did get a little beautiful sunshine just before sunset. Helen had figured out that I give the sheep a little grain at noon to reward them for coming in. Now she and the guys come running up to the barn to get some. I bring Wilber in for his and give Helen and Hector a little to share out in the beefer pen. The bantam with a new chick which I put in a cat carrier last night preferred to remain inside it all day. I opened the door for her but the main thing that happened was that the other birds came in and ate her food. Another bantam that has partly grown chicks, the one I have insisted sleep in the layer room for safety, has been trying to get her children to fly up into the rafters to roost. Every few days she tries but one always falls back so she gives up and takes them in with the hens. Tonight they made it up into the rafters and are lined up looking very clever. Three more bantams are setting. I gave one an egg today and took away the wooden egg she was sitting on. Another one is sitting on a light bulb. I always ask her if it has lit up yet.

May 26 Friday Just a sprinkle of rain today a few times, mostly sunny and a great deal of wind. I did an hour of digging in the garden and and hour of running the weed trimmer, later more digging. I also planted cabbage plants and onions. The bantam with one new chick which spent a second night in the cat carrier finally took her chick out today. I did not see them all day. After dark this evening I went out to close up the chickens and discovered something astonishing. She had found where I put that cat carrier and taken her chick back in there for the night. Fortunately I had left the door ajar. I rounded up water and food and put it in there with her so when daylight arrives she won’t have to wait for me to let her out before they can have breakfast. I did not see the five day old chick and its mother anywhere today. I hope something didn’t get her chick. There was a distracted looking hen around this morning but so many of them look alike that I could not be sure. When I went out this evening I also discovered that the three ganders were shut out of the goose pen. I had propped their gate open but the wind today was quite violent and had swept the gate shut despite the prop which was driven well into the ground. Thank goodness the sitting goose was not out taking her break or she would not have been able to get back to her nest.

May 27 Saturday Our little hen with one new chick settled down for the night in the cat carrier again. Again I put in food and water and shut the door. This morning before I let her out at 6am I carried it out on the grass. She ran right out, circled the box a couple of times flapping her wings to stretch, then darted back in with her chick. Later they spent the day scratching around. She prefers to be inside the barn where there are many more hazards than outdoors. At noon when I went to the barn I could hear desperate peeping from some distance away. The chick had somehow gotten inside an old cage made of chicken wire which is meant to be chick proof. I guess it’s not. I reunited it with its frantic mother. I dug, fertilized, and planted more seeds today: spinach, coriander and fenugreek.

May 28 Sunday When I let the little hen out this morning she raced around the carrier as before, then dove back in with her chick. She returned to it several times today to rest but settled down for the night somewhere else. The geese were hanging around at her early bedtime. Probably she didn’t want to take her chick anywhere near them. I could not find her. One of the cats had three kittens six weeks ago. One died right away. She moved the others where I couldn’t find them until today. I caught one little cutie. It was very strong and I nearly got bitten. I brought it in the house and gave it a dish of irresistible canned cat food. I shoved the dish under the magazine stand where it is holed up and it ate it all, and a second dish later. Its mother is worried and wouldn’t join the other cats for their supper. I tried to explain to her that I could not find a good home unless I could get it friendly. The cows and sheep look happier every day. They have more beautiful grass than they can eat. Nonetheless they come pleading for grain when they catch my eye. The lilacs are in full bloom for Memorial Day, and the lawn is mowed.

May 29 Monday Memorial Day Most of today was sunny. It got up to about 60F. I finished the lawn mowing that Stewart didn’t get done. Both my little hens and their chicks were out scratching this morning. At bedtime the cat carrier hen took her chick back in and I locked them in with food and water as before. At lunch time when I visited the barn a found one of the half grown pair of chicks struggling with its head stuck in a crevice. It was on the wall outside of Helen’s stanchion and some grain had dribbled out. I had to force up a board to free him. He ran off with no damage but ruffled feathers. Within five minutes he was back at the same crack looking for grain but managed not to get himself stuck again. The mother of those two chicks no longer spends the day with them. But I notice she cuddles up with them at night high in the rafters.

May 30 Tuesday The kitten I brought into the house day before yesterday has gotten very friendly. It no longer cries unless it sees me and wants food or cuddling. It plays by itself. I can’t find its brother. I think the mother has moved it somewhere. I’ve gone back entirely to feeding the pigs cooked cracked corn. I’ve worked it out that it costs just half as much as the ready to eat pellets. I am cooking 6lb a day of it in a big pot which I steam in the Aga. I add some powdered milk to the water and anything else I have. They much prefer it to the pellets too. Helen now acts as though she hardly knows me. But we’ll get reacquainted before long. This morning the sheep forced a hole in the page wire fence and got from their field into the barnyard. Then they didn’t know what to do with themselves and stood there saying baaa until I ushered them back into their field. I saw only one hen and chick today, the one that goes into the cat cage. She did not go in this evening because I had left it outside. But I saw where she settled down and after dark I put her and the chick into it. I’ve used up the last of the milk I had frozen in pint jars and today bought a gallon of commercial milk. Not being used to it, the flavor of plastic and cooked milk was disgusting. It is like the difference between fresh country air and the air in an underground parking garage. Our country air right now is especially nice because the lilacs are in full bloom.

May 31 Wednesday. The other little hen and chick were out this morning happy as ever. They do seem very happy. The mother hens cluck and the chicks hop and run after them bouncing over the tall grass. The confined pullets and cockerels have been hoping very much to get out and run around. Today I opened their door and let them out. Mostly they stood around in small groups like people waiting for the bus. But then the little cockerels started to fight. They all wanted to fight the one “rare breed” cockerel which McMurray added to the order as a freebie. He can’t weigh above 10 oz and the other birds maybe 12 oz. But he is a little feisty. He lowered his head and flared his hackles like an Elizabethan ruff and took on the others one after another. I watched through three fights. I don’t know his breed but he has black and white checkers over most of him, white hackles and a bright red comb. These birds are too young to have spurs. They leap in the air at each other coming down facing each other from the opposite position. Then they push their chests together while flapping. They muscle each other around in a circle. At bedtime I had to shoo the whole crowd back into their room. They didn’t seem to think of returning on their own even though I turned on their light. Cousin Steve came today and tilled a patch of turf 30’x30’ for me for additional garden space. What a treat. He has a big Ariens lawn tractor that carries a 6’ tiller. I hilled up two 30’ rows and dug in chicken dressing. Tomorrow I will plant sweet corn. This new plot will enable me to plant a lot of squash and cucumbers which formerly I did not have room for.

June 1 Thursday Both the little hens were on the job this morning. I guess I’ll stop worrying about the outdoor one. The cat cage one goes in every night so long as I don’t put her cage in a new place. We had a marvelous sunset this evening. The entire sky was filled with small fluffy apricot colored clouds while the sky itself was turquoise. I sat outside and listened to cowbells and spring peepers until the light faded.

June 2 Friday Now that the pullets and cockerels are loose they are hard to get to bed. They aren’t clear about what to do when everybody else is going to roost. I walk forward holding a feed bag in front of me and sweep them ahead of me. It took me about 10 minutes tonight and some I had to catch and carry to their room. The chicken that was crippled got well again. I can’t even tell which one it was. Helen is looking large these days. She seems aloof. The air is still scented all day with lilac. But I still have not seen any honey bees.

June 4 Sunday I inquired of the lady from whom we bought the geese what to feed the gosling. She suggested bread and milk. What I did was mix dry powdered milk into the laying mash which I have been putting out. The free range chickens and the big geese of course ate most of it but I’m sure the gosling ate some as he was standing in the middle of the dish when I went back. I also fixed up a different water container for them as the one they had was empty so very often I thought maybe it had a leak. I put it right next to the mash for the convenience of the gosling. It is a low flat thing as was the other one. I don’t want him to drown. Apart from such a mishap, I don’t think much but a mountain lion could get past his honor guard. It is highly entertaining to see how the goose and all three ganders position themselves around him. He stands in the center looking quite important although only about 5” high. At midmorning I discovered a very sick looking raccoon behind the barn. I called for Rafe who shot it with his .22 I called our animal control officer several times but never got a response so the corpse is still there. Dear Rafe has repaired the springline so once again we have our lovely water. It runs better than ever.

June 5 Monday Early this morning I took Rafe to the airport for his flight to Alaska. Later I dug over one of the perennial borders. At chore time I found a small lonely black kitten behind a feed bag. I expect it belongs to Little Ruby, A very shy female who probably never gets enough to eat because she won’t push in among the others. She came out and looked at me when she heard te kitten crying. I had put it in a bucket to wait while I finished the chores. I brought the kitten in the house and tried to teach it how to drink warm milk. It drank some. When I was feeding the pigs a left the gate open. A bit later when I went out to bring in the laundry I heard a big mooo much too close. All three were standing in the garage. It took me about 20 minutes to herd them back. Hector, the yearling steer, knew exactly where he didn’t want to go and had a good time racing around and snapping the tops off plants. Helen also ate a big share. I never could herd Wilber along with the others. He is so people oriented that I had to come back and give him a special escort leading him by the collar. He wanted to be led at the run so I got hot and tired and out of temper. But it serves no purpose to get mad at cows. It only frightens them and then they act worse. So I didn’t tell them what I thought. Of course it was all my fault anyway.

June 6 Tuesday I found two more kittens down inside a wall in the barn. I was peering in there for eggs. They are almost certainly part of the same litter as the little one I found yesterday. I could barely reach them. So now there are four in the kitchen. They aren’t ready to eat from a dish so I suppose I must try the eye dropper for them. The one I brought in yesterday got pretty hungry until I fed it with the eye dropper this morning. It then fell asleep instantly and slept for two hours. If I get a chance to catch them at this age, probably six weeks, I grab them. Another week or two and the chance of catching them drops to nearly zero and they grow up wild and can’t be given away to good homes.

Thursday June 8 It’s past time for another round of lawn mowing. During recent rain the lawn jumped up in some places to 10” . I decided to start today by going around the periphery to outline the job. I ran out of gas before I got all the way around. It is a big area. Before I could get back to the job it bagen to rain again. I now go out about 7pm to close up the chickens but am finding that is too early. The older birds are all on their roosts but the pullets and cockerels don’t want to go to bed. I have to wait until it is pitch dark. Lately I have been getting 10 eggs a day. I guess I’ll have to find some more customers.

Friday June 9 One of the ewe lambs isn’t doing as well as the others. She is the only one who doesn’t crowd in for grain when I serve out their small feed. She hangs way back. I prepared another 30’ row in my veg garden including spreading down black plastic garden fabric. I hope to warm the soil enough for cucumbers and squash. They will be going in nearly two weeks later than I would have liked but it has been too wet and cold. The corn has not sprouted. The peas look good. I did another hour and a half of lawn mowing today. It looks very nice where it is mowed. So far this year I have not seen one single honey bee and only one bumble bee. This is scary. There used to be hundreds.

June 10 Saturday I did not make any progress today on the lawn. The humidity was so high the dew never dried and the mosquitoes were ferocious. Instead I hauled more manure to the veg garden. A bantam with two eggs that I have been looking under daily had one chick under her at noon. Later the second one hatched. I made repairs to a coop and will move them into it after dark. It is all set up with food and water. I will also put in yogurt as it protects chicks against salmonella. About mid morning I spied little black and white objects out in the north field where nothing black and white should be. The sheep had bent an opening in the page wire fence and all crawled thorough. All I did was open some gates so that they could come in safely at noon as they always do in expectation of their grain snack. And they did. Another thing I did today is finally bury that raccoon Rafe shot a week ago. The animal control officer never called back or came over. It certainly behaved as though rabid. Yesterday Helen was hanging around in the barn yard which she rarely does and I noticed a dark splotch on one teat. As well as I could tell while she kept moving away, it appeared to be a splash of mud. Once again today she was standing there and I got a better look. To my dismay and chagrin it was a new tear on her teat and what I has seen was blood. I got her right in for some grain and applied a mixture of olive oil, vitamin E and tea tree oil, my sovereign remedy. In the evening I brought her in again. She came when I called. I put the same sauce on and also a slurry of ground up comfrey leaves. The cut is not as severe as last time. I sure hope it heals well enough to grasp before she calves. Her due date is June 25, only two weeks away. Sally went over every part of her pasture a number of times removing everything that might injure a cow. But she has at least 15 acres. Something is out there. Just before evening chores I heard one of the sheep blatting persistently. It didn’t sound like the usual bleet. I went down to inspect and found that Thistle, the yearling wether, had tangled his horn in a loop of romex electrical wire . The earth shelves up at the back of their run-in and by climbing all the way back he was able to get his head near enough to the underside of the barn floor to hook into this wire. He has double horns that form a pincer shape like a crab claw at their tip. The wire was wedged into this, then wrapped about ten times into something resembling a hangman’s knot as a result of his spinning around. He had also got his chin over the wire which interfered with his breathing. This accounted for the odd sounding bleet. I crawled up in there with him and talked to him quietly and he became very cooperative. Remarkably so, really. I persuaded him to stop fighting and lower his head so I could get at the wire. Freeing him took all my strength and a little more that I didn’t know I had.. I hope this is the end of the excitement for today. The sand I was sitting on is much frequented by cats. The boards overhead are spider city. I have made myself some very elegant cookies for fun. They are like toll house cookies, only with chopped Belgian chocolate and dried sour cherries.

June 11 Sunday It rained all last night and most of today making outdoor work impossible. I had a fire in the kitchen fireplace and practiced making Middle Eastern flatbread using my sourdough starter and whole wheat flour. The Aga cooking plates make perfect griddles for this purpose. I made several different types using the same basic dough. It was easy and the breads looked authentic. Helen came in for her grain this morning and I medicated her teat. She was quite cooperative. This evening she ignored my calls so got no treatment. I found the gosling dead this evening. I can only assume one of the geese killed it. It was eating and drinking this morning and was perky but lay dead at 5pm. They had all seemed so attentive. The only other possibility is if the mother wasn’t brooding it and it got too wet and cold. This is upsetting.

June 12 Monday This morning I let out the caged bantam and her two day old chicks. I was acting on the advice of people who say I am doing too much fiddling around with bantams. There was a crack in the barn floor which I noticed just too late and before my eyes one chick fell through. It hopped in the air several times in an attempt to get back up but was too small. I was able to pry the boards apart by hand far enough to get my fingers down and caught the little thing between two fingers. It was hardly bigger than a moth. Then I put loose boards over all the cracks I could see. This evening I could not find the little family at all. I hope she is safe somewhere. Despite two days of rain my corn has not sprouted. But the black plastic is warming the soil. If I hold a hand over the slits I made I can feel little fumeroles of warm air. When driving around town I can see some gardeners have put in their tomatoes but I have not. I got Helen in today for a look at her torn teat and an application of my oil and comfrey remedy. It looks better. She let me put the stuff on without kicking.

June 14 Wednesday The roses are starting to bloom, the little pink ones that run riot in the stone wall. When I went to feed the pigs tonight I was greeted by two heads peaking through the wire of their door. They had made matching holes in the chickenwire that covers the upper part of the door and looked about to follow with their entire bodies had I not poured their dinner into their trough. I have now made a low rent repair, another door fastened over the damaged door. I then wrapped chain across the whole thing. But when a pig wants to get out it is hard to stop. Pigs are immensely strong. They may decide to bash out their side wall. I did a lot more mowing today but did not finish. Neighbor Stewart came by and completed the job with his big riding mower. I gave him some asparagus.

June 15 Thursday It was another cold overcast day. I did some errands and everywhere people were deploring the fact that it wasn’t warm enough to plant tomatoes. I did put mine in Tuesday and Wednesday despite unpromising weather. It appeared to me that they were getting smaller in their pots. Speaking of getting smaller, I have been fostering four kittens in the house. They are not all from the same litter. The largest one is doing fine but the other three have been in a holding pattern. They have sore eyes and modest appetite. The smallest one yesterday seemed hardly hungry at all, had a stuffy nose and did begin to look smaller. This is the first time I recall ever noting ‘failure to thrive syndrome’ among any of my fostered kittens of any age. It is also the first time I have not had raw milk to give them, Helen being dry now. Last night I defrosted some liver and for breakfast I gave them all the juice that seeped out of the liver. There was a noticeable difference in their appetite and friskiness within hours. The smallest one is once again a constant pest trying to climb up my leg. His appetite came roaring back. He attacks me for food because I feed him with a bottle. I gave him the liver juice with a medicine dropper. He was crazy for it. I have been getting Helen in every day for a grain feed and treatment of her cut teat. The teat is healing as well as can be expected. The cool weather means flies are not as bad as they might be. With her grain I have been including the anionic salts designed to ward off milk fever. If I give her as much of the salts as she ought to have she refuses the grain. Next time I will cut way back on the salts.

June 16 Friday Helen wants to come in for her grain now. She eats it right up if I don’t put on too much of the anionic salts. She is beginning to look very pregnant and walks wobbley. Two of her quarters are swelling including the one with the injured teat. This morning within minutes after I let the sheep out of their paddock into the big field they had breached the fence and were standing in the barnyard. They were bunched up by the gate looking confused. I have been getting nervous about putting myself in a vulnerable position with the wether, Thistle. He has been giving me the wall-eye. My saving his life from twisted wire did not improve his attitude. I went in among them anyway because I didn’t want to spook them away from the gate. I got the gate open for them and was rewarded by Thistle ramming me in the thigh. He was only three or four feet away so I only have a bruise. But I have definitely begun to picture him in the freezer.

June 17 Saturday Yesterday Helen's torn teat looked pretty good and I was able to handle it wihout her kicking. This morning it was red and puffy. Clearly my treatment is not adequate to the situation. I called the vet but unless I declare an emergency, he will not come before next Tuesday. I have mixed up a stronger solution of tea tree oil for tomorrow morning. She is eating her grain enthusiastically.

June 18 Sunday Helen's teat definitely looked better today but still feels hot. She did not want it touched. I used a much stronger mixture of tea tree oil on it to day, cut about 2 to 1 with olive oil, and put it in a little bottle which I can use for a total teat dip. There is no way the injury will be healed enough for normal milking by the time she calves.

June 19 Monday I didn't even mention yesterday that one of the kittens I have been fostering was gone Sunday morning. It was the one I was feeding by bottle, the smallest one. It had rained during the night. I looked and called and when it was still missing by evening I felt sure it was dead. Then today at 5pm the animal control officer showed up with it in a little cage. A fisherman had found it under the bridge about 500 yards down the road from the house. It was in great shape but plenty hungry. It still will not eat from a dish, only from a bottle. Shortly thereafter I got a call from Martin, who does this web site, from the hospital. He had had a serious accident to his foot and ankle caused by catching his foot in an auger at his extruded wood products plant. His foot and ankle are broken and he is lucky it was not a lot worse.

Thursday 22 Martin is out of the hospital and doing well considering his injuries. He couldn't stand being away from his plant so rented a wheelchair and went in for a while. Here at the farm, Helen is looking close to calving. She is starting to show mucous and moves slowly. Her torn teat looks about the same today as yesterday but she allowed me to handle it with almost no flinching. My kitten that was lost still won't eat from a dish. He has chewed the end off the nipple on his little bottle so can't suck any more, just slurp. But he is sticking with his principles, no lapping from a dish. I got my pole beans in today about three weeks late. It got up to 80F today so maybe the beans will catch up. I also worked on my water system and have a sprinkler going on some of the flowers. In this heat with our sandy soil the beds dry out in a day.

Friday 23 June Such a beautiful day here. I finally got my potatoes planted. It is not straightforward planting. The newly tilled turf they went into requires a lot of preparation. It is only a 20' row. They are very crowded because i didn't feel like doing anymore digging. The cucumbers and squash are up. I transplanted my two gooseberry bushes to a sunnier place. They were being swallowed up in my windbreak row which has filled in since we set them out there. I also transplanted a rhubarb plant which was unhappy in its site. I long to have a big stand of rhubarb one day. Helen appears to be i n early labor. She spent the day lying down in the beefer pen not chewing her cud. I threw down a lot of hay sweepings from the hay mow and forked it all over the floor to make a clean surface. I also shut the two steers out in the pasture but when I went back an hour later the bad things had pushed down the fence to get back in. They hate being separated from Helen. While observing Helen today I saw her struggle to her feet after she had been lying down for a couple of hours. It is clear that she could indeed have cut her teat with her hoof while rising. It is a common occurrence in cattle with large udders. I have shut her inside the beefer pen with the steers outside. They get too excited. No further signs of calving at 9:30pm except a mucous string which might mean nothing.

June 30 Friday As soon as I approached the barn this morning at a quarter to six I knew from the rapid steady ringing of Helen’s bell that she was licking her calf. There they were with Hector and Wilber close by sniffing and admiring the new member of the family. I could tell that the calf had just hit the ground not more than five minutes earlier. A warm wet grope and I was pleased to discover we have a heifer. Last night Helen seemed almost to be staggering she was so heavy. This was partly because her hooves are overgrown but mostly because of the calf. Then we had a major electrical storm starting about 10pm which seemed capable of shaking a calf loose. To get the steers away from the scene I put out a pan of grain and Hector ran right outside. Wilber was unwilling to leave Helen and the calf and I had to drag him out. The calf is strong and well coordinated as a June calf should be and was ready to suck within 10 minutes. I pushed her head down and got her started several time but Helen kept circling as cows will. So I put her in her stanchion. I baited it with a lot of grain, then picked up the calf which I would guess weighs 50 lbs and raced ahead of her down the aisle to her stanchion. She ate with good appetite while I put the calf on successive teats. Happily, she is willing to allow the calf to suck the cut teat. The cut is on the front side therefore the calf’s razor sharp incisors do not touch it, only its toothless upper gums. Nevertheless, she was not anxious to have me touch that teat. After the calf could drink no more I went for the bucket and milked out a gallon of colostrum. I put a little collar on the calf and tied her near Helen’s head while i milked. The calf certainly had more than half a gallon, then sucked some more after I milked. I then set Helen up with hay and water in the central aisle of the barn. Daughter Sally was to have the calf if it proved to be a heifer so I have put in a radio call for her in Alaska so she can name it. I have checked Helen every hour for incipient milk fever. So far so good. Mostly she and the calf were napping. About 2 pm I milked out another gallon of colostrum out. The calf had sucked again. The calf has a classic Jersey appearance including a black nose. 5pm Her ears are still warm.. I’m going out to dinner.

July 1 Saturday At 10pm last night Helen’s ears were warm and she was snuggled up with her calf in some hay I had put down to stop draughts. They appeared relaxed and comfortable. I set the alarm for 3am and returned to the barn at that time and found no signs of milk. At 6:30am I got Helen into her stanchion and gave her three scoops of grain, an increase from her former two. I put the calf on the cut teat and another quarter which was tight and she had a good feed. I then put the kicker on Helen and got about 2 gallons of colostrum. She might have behaved without it, she is being very good, but it does increase peace of mind to use it right now while she is still nervous. I am grateful for the flags Sally tied on it. It is remarkably hard to remember to remove it although Helen reminds me by standing and staring after I open her stanchion. I was late feeding the pigs this morning and in their impatience they had bashed out their top fence board. I have nailed it back but don’t trust it. Later: So far no signs of milk fever in Helen. It has hit my cows so often in the past that I hardly dare trust this good fortune. My hay man called about noon and wanted to know if I could accept delivery today on 200 bales. Son Mark was on the way so I said yes. It is nice hay and with the help of his hay elevator and with the man’s wife, me and Mark and little Hailey all helping we got it unloaded and stacked in less than an hour. At 4:00 I milk Helen for a second time today and got a gallon and a half. I did not use the kicker. One front quarter hasn’t been touched by the calf. She is already so skittish I could scarcely catch her to put her on the teat. She ran round and round her mother and then would not suck. I was unable to milk that quarter out very well.

July 2 Sunday Helen continues healthy and happy. I milked her about 6:30am. The calf was already full and didn’t want any more. I tied the calf by her head during milking but it would not settle down, just stood there sagging back on its collar. Hector was bawling outside the window. All this made Helen jumpy so I used the kicker. The calf has now made a little cut on one back teat. It is not bothering Helen so far but appears to be a little infected and I soaked it in tea tree oil after milking. I got two gallons and was able to get the quarter which was blocky last night to soften a bit. Helen has been eating hay well and chewing her cud, a good sign. She wanted to go out to graze after milking and when I opened the door she called her calf to come along. I kept it tied but it did not bawl and after brief hesitation she marched on out and is grazing with the boys. I released the calf to run around inside and Helen has not called again now three hours later. She is a far more relaxed mother this time and trusts me. Last night I made “beestings” (colostrum pudding) from some of the second colostrum milking. This pudding sets up without eggs. Just add sugar, vanilla, and a sprinkling of nutmeg and bake like a custard. Do not add salt. I took several ramikins of it to camp last night where daughter Marcia was having a party. I don’t believe anybody ate any. Too bad, as I think these were the best I ever made. There was a lot of other food including a fancy bakery decorated cake. Helen stayed out grazing not much over three hours. I offered her the option of returning to her calf and she came right in. Later I looked at her and she was lying down looking ill. It is a very hot day and she had her mouth open panting like a dog and breathing fast. I was alarmed and much puzzled about what to do. Then I thought of the water hose and gave her a light sprinkling. This brought her to her feet and I put her out again. At milking time I let the calf go first. She did not seem terribly hungry but sucked awhile. I got only 1.5 gals. There was a lot she did not let down. I have been straining through a fine nylon mesh strainer because colostrum goes only reluctantly through the paper dairy filter, if at all. Tonight I used a filter and it strained perfectly. The one miserable looking black kitten I have been feeding with a bottle finally drank from a dish today. I got it lapping the tip of a spoon a few times, then slowly lowered the spoon into a bowl of milk. I had to leave the spoon in the bowl or it would quit. This morning I made queso blanco and made butter from the cream off of the colostrum. It is dayglo yellow. From setting up to finishing washing up the farm chores took me exactly two hours. I hope to get more efficient.

July 3 Monday As soon as I realized today was not a holiday I went out for feed, especially cat food. I can’t stand fifteen cats all staring at me. The greatest invention of the new decade would be would be a blow dart that sterilizes cats. Some of these cats cannot be caught. At least I don’t have any rodents and even the skunks have called it quits. Helen was cooperative today as well as could be expected with two sore teats, she is so much better than last year. I did have trouble getting her to go out and graze and leave the calf. I had to push and cajole for ten minutes. Once out she grazed and chewed her cud happily for four hours. I brought in 2 gals. this morning and 1.5 this evening. The calf is ad lib except while Helen is grazing. Helen is still engorged but today she let down a great deal better. She and the calf spend the night together. It surely takes more than a gallon.

July 4 Tuesday Helen had a fairly good day. I put her out after morning milking. She bellowed for a few minutes but then grazed and chewed her cud the rest of the day until 4:00 o’clock when she began bellowing for her calf. I let her in and milked at about 5:00. It was suffering hot in the barn, there were flies, and the young poultry were pesky. She was very restless during milking. I did not get quite 1.5 gals., 3.5 +/- today. The calf is to be named Leah. The sheep showed up in the wrong field today. I just opened all gates and they found their way back where they belong and I don’t even know how they got out. I have a huge beautiful crop of mesclun and nobody but me to eat it. I must find somebody to give it to.

July 5 Wednesday Today dawned very fine and I decided to try letting the calf, now named Leah, out with Helen. Today is day four for the calf and Helen already had accepted the idea of going out without her. She marched right out after milking. Then I pushed Leah after her, the boys joined her and they set off into the pasture. I watched them often through the binoculars as they moved around. Leah was just a tiny brown scrap trotting right along with her ears back. Hector, Helen’s yearling calf of last year, is friendly and loving. He knows only one way of expressing his affection, to mount. Poor Leah must have gotten knocked down a number of times but she is athletic. Getting them back in at milking time was tricky. Helen was not at all sure this was a good idea. She would not come when I called and I had to go fetch her. Once up to the barn I could tell she was considering whirling away. But I am sly and had brought a hay string to put on Leah’s collar to force her along with me inside the barn. Of course she set her heels and I had to almost carry her. But I got them all in at last. It took me 25 minutes and I was covered in sweat. Helen let down better and I got almost two gallons tonight, close to four today total. Helen and Leah are staying in tonight. I don’t care to have to drag the calf in the morning. Once a day is enough.

July 6 Thursday Another fine bright morning, not too hot. I had to fight for my two gallons this morning because Helen wasn’t letting down in the near front quarter where the cut is not quite healed. The calf seems to prefer the back teats but all three other teats are milking out well. After milking I slathered the quarter, not the teat, with salve similar to Bag Balm. I put wheat germ oil (blend) on the teat. I no longer put tea tree oil on it because I don’t want to discourage the calf from sucking that teat. Leah no longer fights being tied up during milking. She lies down quietly . Helen walked straight out after I turned her loose and I pushed Leah along. I then closed the barn door and observed her through the window for several minutes. She took a long drink. I timed this at 43 seconds during which I interrupted the count twice while she turned to make sure where Leah was. She then turned and waited for Hector to show up. She is never mean to Wilber but it is Hector with whom she has the close relationship, he being her calf. While waiting she watched Leah licking the mud. She licked mud for more than two minutes. Then Hector showed up and began greeting Leah by sniffing and poising himself to jump her. Helen made a slight gesture with her head telling him not to do that and touched Leah’s butt to move her along. She then made a gesture toward Hector to move aside. He minds her perfectly. Wilber then arrived and they moved off slowly in a tight bunch surrounding Leah who trotted at Helen’s shoulder with her ears back. At evening milking Helen was not at the barn. I called to her and she came right away but along the way she stashed Leah and came up to the barn with just the steers. After about 10 minutes of me wheedling and cajoling she walked in and stuck her head in the stanchion. But she seemed to regret not having brought Leah and was agitated. I finally put the kicker on her. She let down well in her hind teats but poorly in front. I can tell the calf is only sucking the rear teats. Both front quarters were quite hard and blocky. I got only1.5 gals tonight, 2 gals this morning. That is down a half gallon from yesterday and that milk is still inside her. I sent her out with tea tree oil on the rear teats in hopes that will make Leah prefer the front ones. They will all be spending the night outside. Maybe now I can get the main hall dry and clean again. I pulled my first lovely beet greens today.

July 7 Friday Another bright Maine day. Helen and the group were down by the river at milking time this morning. I called and she brought them all up and Leah was first into the beefer pen (holding area) and first through into the barn. Of course this made Helen come right along and she was relaxed and let down well. So will that the bucket was so full I had to stop or go get another bucket. I sprayed the rear teats with my citronella fly spray to discourage Leah sucking. This evening all the group was waiting in the beefer pen and Helen marched right in. Leah was lying down and did not move. After she was in her stanchion and had grabbed a few bites of grain Helen became agitated and bellowed, peed and dropped a big plop. By then the boys had taken off for the pasture with Leah following or I would have brought her in. I had to put the kicker on and fought for every drop of milk after that. I didn’t get much over 5 quarts but it is still nearly 4 gallons for the day. I had to send her out with front quarters still full. I put citronella on the hind teats again as it did appear to have caused Leah to suck the front today. This morning I churned a gallon of cream in my Cuisinart and made 2.5 lb of butter.

July 8 Saturday Milking time this morning was a day’s work. At 5:30 am when I let out the chickens Helen and the crew were inside the barn. I should have locked them in. A bit later when I went out with my bucket they had gone into the north field to graze and no amount of calling would budge them. Finally I walked up there and drove them home while trying to think nice thoughts about the dewy wild flowers. Getting them started and moving in the right direction is complicated because Leah keeps racing off and causing Helen to go her way. When I finally got them to the barn Helen would not go in without Leah, no doubt remembering how much she didn’t like it last night being in there without her. I coaxed and wheedled for ever so long. Leah kept hopping inside but just as Helen would start to come in with her, Leah would dart outside and run 40 yards. Then Helen decided to skip milking and turned the whole group back toward the pasture. I got in front of her just in time to close the barnyard gate. I went and got a rope, cornered Leah, and dragged her inside. She set her weight against this the whole way. I could not get behind her and nudge, which works far better to move a calf along, for fear of the crowd of big cattle behind me, especially Hector. The last 30 yards of this operation Leah flopped down and I had to literally skid her along. When I dragged her like bait along the passageway to the big barn floor Helen followed and so did Hector and Wilber. I had to push them backwards to get them back where they belong. All this took over half an hour. Once in her stanchion, Helen let down well except in the off front quarter. I ended up with 2 gallons and a quart. I managed to get through all this without letting on to the cow population that I was angry but when later I ran my shin into the dishwasher door I had a few things to say. As it happened, two tomcats were persistently carrying on outside the kitchen. I dashed outside snatching up a couple of unbreakable objects as I passed through the buttery. My aim today was good. I got them each in the butt, one with a paint scraper, one with a yogurt container. This evening’s drama was mostly just long and boring. Helen finally responded to my calling after 15 minutes. But when she reached the barn instead of coming in the whole group peeled off and went way down in the field in the other direction. I think Leah was the cause of it by not knowing here to to turn so Helen had to follow her. Further calling by me was unfruitful but a sudden storm came up and Helen showed good sense by heading for the barn. I shut gates to trap the lot and milked 45 minutes late with Leah tied at Helen’s head. The calf had sucked the front quarters and Helen let down fairly well. I got over 1.5 gallons. There were some flecks on the filter no doubt from the unblocking of the two front quarters. I made three pounds of butter today.

July 9 Sunday The cows were down by the river this morning but came when I called them. I put down feed for Hector inside the beefer pen to keep him busy. Helen came in with Leah and I raced around shutting the door behind her, then led Leah in to Helen’s stanchion and she followed her calf. I got over 2 gallons of milk. Later I remembered an advantage I have been overlooking. Daughter Sally trained Hector to accept being tied up for his feed. This evening I was able to call the cows to the barnyard and shut all gates behind them. Then I took advantage of Hector always being first into the beefer pen. I had his pan ready and clipped him to a rope. I then faded back and the others came on in. I shut the door behind them. Helen of course went straight over and swiped the rest of Hector’s grain but then she and Leah marched straight in to the milking area, Leah going first. This was a smooth operation. Leah now lies down quietly during milking. Now if I can just think of something to do about the muck Helen has to walk through to get in. She comes in perfectly clean except for her feet. So I am in constant dread of her kicking for fear she will throw muck into the milk. If she does I will carry the bucket right around to the pigpen. As I have mentioned before, there is one lamb which has steadfastly refused to join the others for ther grain. They troop in and she peels off and lies down in a corner. Lately she has been approaching the feed trough and tonight she came up to the far end and took a nibble.

July 10 Monday This morning I overslept. It was 7:30 before I was ready for Helen. My ploy to forestall Hector with grain proved unnecessary. Helen had stashed Leah somewhere and walked right in like the old pre-calf days. She had clearly just fed Leah. She didn’t feel like letting down what was left. I had to fight for my 1 gallon + 1 quart. Nor did she feel any need to go wake up Leah after milking wherever she was. She lay down in the beefer pen with Hector and Wilber and chewed her cud. And chewed. And chewed. It started to rain quite hard. One part of me was sure she knew what she was doing leaving Leah. It was warm r