September 2, Sunday: There was a skunk around last night and the scent lingered all day. But, all three sets of mother hens survived. Of course one mama is up in the rafters now. I had granddaughter Hailey here at milking time, but Leah came in nicely and Helen let down pretty well. Hailey had her notebook and took farm notes. 1.75 gals of milk today, and 14 eggs.

September 3, Monday: The bantam hen I mentioned that hatched her chicks August 20 began trying to get them up the ladder tonight so they would be safer. The two black chicks are smaller but got up the ladder OK. The yellow one just could not make up its mind to do it. So, she gave up and settled back downstairs again with all three. Leah showed right up this evening with Helen and followed her right in and stood in the next tie up the whole time I milked. I played with her collar to see what she would do. She ignored me. I have not tied her yet. Helen gave barely 2.5 gals today. I got 12 eggs.

September 6, Thursday: Yesterday, September 5, was the day marked on my calendar for Leah to be in heat. I watched her quite carefully until I had to leave for the airport at 3 o'clock. I was picking up guests from California and had to be gone nearly six hours, what with lost baggage and other factors. It was the longest I ever had to leave Bagel on his chain and I was worried about him. But, when I finally got home he was fine. What a good boy. I had to skip milking Helen of course. This morning I began about 6:30 AM to watch Leah for symptoms of heat. That was the earliest I could manage to get up. No jumping today that I could see. I went out to look every chance I got. All I saw was a bit of sniffing, extra alertness and her ears back. Helen made up slightly for yesterday. I got about 3 gals. of milk. and picked up 3 eggs. But, yesterday when I collected eggs about 9 PM I got only nine and some were sticky with egg yolk. That tends to happen when they are left too long in the nest. I had planned to have my first pole beans today. There was a nice crop almost ready when I checked yesterday morning. Today they were all gone. Deer got in and ate them. They also ate the tops off all my bell peppers, reducing my crop to just one pepper. I suppose they will be back tonight for the cabbages. This is the first time I have had deer damage. I think I will have to have some organic venison in November.

September 7, Friday: My neighbor with a nice Kubota tractor showed up today and spent six hours mucking out the cow's run-in that I call the Beefer Pen. It has not been used all summer. I have been allowing it to dry out. It had a two-year layer of manure and hay. I only had to pay for four hours of work. He finished off the cleaning by making two dump truck loads, one for his garden and one for his father-in-law. The manure is of top quality, well rotted, just right. Helen was clearly pleased to once again be permitted access to the cleaned area. But, what with the tractor noise and her missed milking on Wednesday she gave scarcely over 2 gals today. The hens too were disturbed and I got only seven eggs. The bantam who hatched her chicks on August 20 has been trying for three or four nights now to get her family to roost up higher. Last night she got them up about four feet. This evening she got them all the way up the ladder. The deer were in my garden again last night and finished off my pole beans and began on the cabbages. My tractor man said they ate his sister-in-law's entire garden.

September 8, Saturday: Another hot one today. I think it got to 90 F and the humidity is wicked. Leah, the 14 month old Jersey heifer, has been coming in with Helen at milking time for a couple of weeks now. I have not tied her as I did not want to frighten her before she was bred. I was afraid she might become shy of coming in. This morning I hitched her up and she seemed to pay no attention at all. This evening she got her leg wrapped in the rope, but I was able to untangle her before she got very frantic. Tomorrow we will see how it affected her. I have shortened the rope. The deer came back last night and ate more stuff. I have out of town guests which makes it hard to put in time on deer defense. But, I have in mind to put up electric fencing. Today I got so far as laying out my extension cords to see how many more I need. Helen's production is not recovering. Today I got barely over 2 gals. I got 1 dozen eggs.

September 9, Sunday: All last night I kept hearing the steer, Wilbur's bell and was pretty sure he was in the garden or on the lawn. As a result I got very little sleep. When I went out at 6 AM, yes, there he was waiting for me by the barn saying, "Will breakfast be pretty soon?" After morning chores I repaired a section of fence which he had breached. He won't get through that spot again in a hurry. But, when I went out for evening chores he had gotten out again and was standing in my rhubarb patch. He had not eaten any but had pretty well trampled it. He is perfectly tame, the meathead, thus easy to move around. But, what a nuisance he is. After evening chores I repaired another place among some brambles where I knew the fence was weak, but thought he would not notice. Leah broke her tie-up this morning, but continued to stand in place. This evening I used a heifer-proof rope. She struggled some, which disturbed her mother, Helen, who kicked the bucket to get my attention. I think she was saying, "Can't you see Leah is in trouble?" But, they both settled right down and I saved the bucket. It was again 90 F today and all of us suffered. Helen gave only two gallons. I got 12 eggs.

September 10, Monday: Very hot again today, suffocating humidity and temperatures close to 90 F . I have never know weather like this in Maine. You break a sweat at the least exertion. My cousins assisted by our friends gave me 80 bales of hay today and stacked it in the barn. It is not high quality this late in the season. It is first cut so is stemmy and there are many weeds. But, it was well made, no rain while it was being made, and need I say it smells good. It is a very welcome gift. I have also ordered 50 bales of top quality hay which I will give Helen to eat during milking. For this I will have to pay $2.85. Helen gave slightly over 2 gals today. Only 9 eggs. I was frantically busy all day because of the hay delivery, house guests and errands in town, so did not get the eggs picked up. There was the usual attrition.

September 11, Tuesday: Today the World Center building was destroyed and the Pentagon also attacked. Little work was done by me or most other people I think. I got up at 4:30AM to take my house guests to their bus, so milked Helen in the early dark. When I got home I heard the terrible news. Helen's production is edging back up I think. Something about the dreadful attack has caused me, like many others I am sure, to feel like retreating into a saving mode. I went out and picked apples and tomatoes to can. Helen gave 2.25 gals. Only nine eggs due to egg eating by one or more birds.

September 12, Wednesday: More terrible news all day. But, Helen's production was back up to 2.5 gals today. Nine eggs. The weather was absolutely beautiful today, clear and not too hot.

September 13, Thursday: It was a beautiful day in Maine, bright but for a few clouds and not too hot. It is still very hard to focus on creative tasks because of national shock, but I have gotten a lot of things done in the garden including watering, fertilizing and harvesting. I canned more applesauce and made sauce with my yellow tomatoes. Also, I picked the few but lovely apples from a young tree I have. The birds have started to peck them. Another year I must hang bird scarers in the tree. Helen's production plunged inexplicably today to only 1.75 gals. After milking I watched her take a 30 second drink so there is nothing wrong with their water. Wilbur the steer came to drink and she shouldered him out of the way just to be sure he doesn't forget who is boss. He came back later and had a 15 second drink. Yesterday I caught sight of a small black kitten in the barn. Tonight I put out warm milk by his hole. I hope to teach him not to be afraid. Nine eggs again today.

September 14, Friday: Another fine day, but scattered frost is predicted.. I have covered some plants. This morning when I fed my barn cat, Connie, she had a kitten with her. This evening there were three, one short haired black who let me stroke him, a long haired black and a black and white one that I could not see very well. They seemed a little bit friendly until I knocked over some boards and frightened them badly. They did not emerge later for the fresh warm milk I poured out, but Connie was waiting for it. 10 eggs today and 2 gals milk.

September 15, Saturday: I had to say goodbye to my tender plants this morning. We had a frost last night. I had covered some flowers near the house, but it got the dahlias and zucchini and most of the foliage on the tomatoes. Mostly, the tomatoes were protected by foliage and I picked everything I could today. Only two gallons of milk today and I had to work for it. Eight eggs. The eggs now are mostly very large. Connie was waiting for her warm milk and one kitten almost came to join her at the dish. I am pretty sure there are actually four kittens. No wonder Connie is so skinny. I have given her cat food twice a day for months, but I only put out what she can eat in a few minutes or the chickens get it. The weather warmed up today and I don't think it will freeze tonight.

September 16, Sunday: Son Martin came last night and today he repaired two ramps which the cows have been negotiating with difficulty. Both had holes rotted through. Martin used boards that his plant produces from sawdust and acrylic. He also put the tractor in the barn. The cows will have to share space with it in the beefer pen where they eat their hay. Martin also helped me get more apples from my wild tree that produces very tasty ones. I was able to stroke two of the kittens this evening. They come out for warm milk I did not listen to my radio today or watch tv, just kept my candle burning. Helen gave 2 gallons. I got a dozen eggs.

September 17, Monday: Such beautiful weather right now. It is hard to believe there is so much pain in the country and in the world. Also, one must not forget that Maine is having a serious drought. I have never seen Lake Webb as low as I saw it yesterday nor the Webb River which runs by the farm so low. My granddaughter Hailey was here today and we walked along a considerable stretch on sand where ordinarily it would be at least up to our knees. I picked up many pieces of broken glass exposed by the low water. There are many tires, which a stronger person could pull out. Hailey patiently sat by the hole where the kittens come out, tempting them with a dish of milk, and counted six! There are two mothers. One mother I call Little Ruby is terribly timid and as a result very small. I think three kittens are hers and three are Connie's. She is more tame. Tomorrow I will buy canned cat food and then all that are brave enough to come out will get a treat. Since the kittens are already somewhat tame I plan to leave them with their mothers a bit longer. Helen gave slightly over 2 gals today. There were 9 eggs.

September 18, Tuesday: I opened a can of cat food for my cat and kitten families and spread out dabs of it on a plastic dustbin lid that I always use for their food. They were just lining up for their new treat when a darned rooster bombed down from a rafter and right into the middle of the tray. Connie laid open my hand as she sprang to safety. I would have killed the rooster had I caught it. I was so mad. I hope by tomorrow the cats will have forgotten. I moved the lid away to a dark corner and left it so they can eat in peace after their courage returns. I was away most of the day so did not collect eggs until evening. There were only six. Today makes three weeks since Helen was bred. I did not see any signs of heat but may have missed something being away. She gave 2 gals. milk.

September 19, Wednesday: A very busy day getting ready for company. This impaired my ability to observe Helen. But I very much fear she was in heat again and I missed it. Right toward evening I saw all three of them running, not something Helen does under normal circumstances. After that she was quiet. She gave 2 gals of milk. I got only six eggs. I am getting fewer eggs, but the ones I get are huge.

September 20, Thursday: Rain at last! It started about supper time and has kept up for several hours now. The Black Australorp hen with one chick has moved back in with the layers. She and her chick are right up on the roost every night. He peeks out next to her feet. No other hens dare come near her or they get a sharp peck. It is quite funny to see this. Often the other hen is just ambling by with no idea of causing offense. Helen gave two gallons again today. She lets down grudgingly so I have to work for the milk. Seven eggs today.

September 21, Friday: The rain continued off and on all last night and today every living thing is grateful. Many people in this area have had their wells run dry. I am terribly busy with all my fixed responsibilities, plus daughter Marcia and her husband visiting from Virginia. So, I have skimped on time spent taming kittens. However, one is very tame, another actually seems about ready to be handled and a third got up its courage to come out at the last minute for canned cat food this evening. Three more to go. The mother of theses is highly furtive, so that will take some time. Helen gave about 2 gals today and I got 6 eggs.

September 22, Saturday: Today went by in a whirl with son Martin helping with farm chores and most especially putting up a new mailbox to replace mine which was vandalized. I had to say goodbye to my daughter and her husband from Virginia, then Martin and I went to camp and pulled the sailboat out of the water for the winter. And, of course I got Helen milked. Two gallons again, but only three eggs. I did not get a chance to pick up eggs until evening, which always means I get fewer, but seldom this few. It rained or drizzled most of the day, but was warm nonetheless.

September 23, Sunday: A very fine fall day. I canned six pints of applesauce and got tomato sauce ready to can tomorrow. Also, I made bread. I should have spent more time outdoors. It is sad with all the family away and all the sadness in the world. All the animals seem cheerful and look extremely well. They have plenty to eat and there are fewer flies. Fall is bringing crickets and spiders into the house, which I don't much like. Two gallons of milk again today. Eleven eggs.

September 24, Monday: Light drizzle most of today, occasional watery sun, but warm. The mosquitoes are having another go at us. I canned my tomato sauce and picked more tomatoes. There are a few late roses, a white climber, a pink mini and a dark pink hardy, which I think is John Franklin. I brought the blooms in to set in a vase by my spring sink. Helen gave only 1.75 gal. today and there were five eggs. I hear a lot of bell ringing in the dark. According to the calendar, Leah should be in heat tomorrow. I hope I am not missing it.

September 25, Tuesday: It has rained most of the day. Neighbor Stewart brought a horse trailer over and parked it against the big front door of the barn. The doors are all open so that Wilbur can go into it to eat his grain, maybe. Tomorrow he is leaving in the trailer and it would be awfully nice if he would just hop into that trailer and save us all a big hassle. Last time I sent an animal for slaughter I had the trailer thus parked for several days and my steer had time to get used to eating in there. I guess I will be lucky in this case if Wilbur is even in the barn tomorrow morning. This evening when I went out to milk he was standing on the lawn by the barn door, having jumped the fence somewhere. He is very tame and I marched him right back where he belongs. I also hope to catch and load one of the ram lambs. They are bigger now than the ewes. Helen gave a bit less than two gals. today. I got five eggs.

September 26, Wednesday: It was still dark when I got up this morning. I had a migraine and did not feel a bit like starting the day. Fortunately I made careful plans yesterday so did not have to apply my brain very much. After I got Helen and Leah into their stanchions I took a pan of grain to Wilbur and shoved it to the far end of one side of the horse trailer so he had to step in to get it. This he did and I closed the door, which fortunately I had practiced with yesterday. All horse trailer doors are different so far as I can tell. I then went to feed the sheep. I hoped to be able to tempt them into the barn where I could catch Herbert, the young ram I wanted. This proved impossible. After Wilbur finished his grain he began pounding around in the trailer making a big racket. The sheep did not like the sound of this and refused to be rounded up. So, I had to give up on sending any sheep. I noticed Herbert was hanging back and panting and eating little so maybe he is unwell. When Stewart arrived he snubbed Wilbur up close with a rope and I was worried that if he fell he might strangle. I asked St Francis to look out for him. What happened was the collar broke so he was free again in the trailer and traveled fine. It is sad to say goodbye to a friendly meek animal like Wilbur, even though he was an inveterate destroyer of fences. But, for a number of excellent reasons I do not endorse vegetarianism. I do believe in locally grown food. This means facing up to the inevitable. Goodbye Wilbur. He had a very good life. I would prefer home butchering. It is the only way to prevent separation anxiety, which is the real trauma cattle face when hauled away to slaughter.

September 27, Thursday: I went down into the old pig pen area today to see if by any chance the baby apple tree which various ruminants have been mutilating had been able to muster its forces to put out a new leaf. There down near the ground were three leaves. It seems unlikely that it can have gained sufficient strength to make it through the winter but I cleared away the weeds and grass which have been hiding it from the marauders but also suffocating it. Also I put a piece of fencing around it. Then, I repaired the fence, which is supposed to prevent animals getting into that section. I also got the apple picker and picked the last few Macintosh apples from the tree, which overhangs the pigpen. They are fine apples. I hope next year I can find time to take some care of the tree. It is one I planted myself 23 years ago. A little over 2 gals of milk today and six eggs.

September 28, Friday: I'm a bit down this morning because one of the sheep died, a young ram which was the one I meant to send to the butcher, but could not catch on Wed. when I had a trailer here for Wilbur. He had been moving rather slowly. This morning when I went looking for him he was scarcely cold. It was raining and I found him all sodden in a puddle. I was not up to dressing him out. I can't imagine what killed him. He looked perfectly healthy except for being dead. I hate losing all that meat. I was in despair about what to do about him at all. The transfer station will not accept dead animals. The animal control officer here runs a trap line. I don't like leg hold traps. He would take the carcass but would use it as bait. Then my cousin Steve offered to pick it up and dispose of it. I am very grateful to him. This is all such a disappointment. I am having good luck taming kittens with food. All eight kittens joined me on the floor tonight when I passed out canned cat food. The tamest mother, Connie, was right in among them. A very timid mother I call Little Ruby came close enough tonight to stick out a paw and snatch a morsel I held out on a knife. The third mother is so timid that she does not even have a name. I could see her in the shadows about 5' away. Helen gave only 1.75 gals today and I got only three eggs. Most of the hens are in a moult, but the feathers are coming in now.

September 29, Saturday: I saw my cousins today who graciously took away the remains of Herbert, the ram that died. They told me they drove him a few miles back into the hills and left him in a nice patch of ferns. They gave him a nice goodbye. We all feel pretty bad about the loss of Herbert. It is so baffling what could have killed him. Son Mark, granddaughter Hailey and I took a fine walk today all around the fields and down to the river. The day was perfect. The leaves are turning and the recent two inches of rain have freshened everything and raised the river. Helen gave 1.75 gals. again today. There were five eggs.

October 1, Monday: Today, other farm concerns are taking a back seat to my worry about the other ram, the last one we have. He is nine months old and well grown. This afternoon I discovered he was panting in the manner that Herbert did on the day before he died. This time I called the vet but he cannot come until tomorrow. I am beginning to suspect some kind of toxicity, perhaps copper toxicity. 

Here is what Bret says: 

Panting is caused by stimulus to the respiratory center in the brain stem. Input is from blood pH and temperature. The pH bit has to do with CO2 build up, that is, if the animal is short of oxygen or high in CO2, the animal will pant. Getting too hot also causes panting as a means of dumping heat. If the blood goes acidic, say from imbalance in the rumen, panting off CO2 will help drop the acidity, CO2 forms carbonic acid in the blood, a weak acid, causing a lowered pH (higher acid = lower pH). As you know, very high milk production can lead to metabolic acidosis, much like starving. I'm sure many other things bring about panting, but what does one do about them? What makes you think of copper? I suppose its very high toxicity might be killing rumen flora/fauna causing upset. Knocking out the rumen is about the same as starvation. According to Peter Cheeke's book, copper toxicity in sheep is easy to get, even from pasture fertilized with swine or poultry manure and results in red urine because of hemolysis. Death in 2-4 days. Copper builds up in the liver, then, when the level gets high enough, breaks down the liver, spills copper into the blood, which kills the red blood cells, whose color appears in the urine. If red blood cells are dying then the sheep will pant for oxygen, I suspect. 

I would give a drench of bicarbonate of soda if I had somebody to help me. The moon is full and I am sure I could find the sheep. I went out to look and listen for them, but they are being very quiet. I could hear a coyote yapping in the hills. Yesterday Helen gave 1.75 gals of milk, today 2 gals. Five eggs yesterday, four today. I have opened the chicken run so they have access to the field and lawn. Perhaps that will perk them up. There is not much damage they can to now to the flowerbeds.

October 2, Tuesday: Dr. Cooper came by about noon to treat our ram. It was on the high ground under the buttery where the dirt floor slopes up to the underside of the house above. I crept up to it and slipped a noose over its horns and we led it down to a post where we snubbed it up close. Then, the vet took its temperature, listened to its heart, examined its mouth and eyes and gave it an antibiotic shot. I think he was as puzzled as I was. He made up a drench of electrolytes and activated charcoal. And, at my suggestion, he included bicarbonate of soda. He did not think copper toxicity was too likely because he would expect to see yellow sclera (white of the eye) and this was absent. The drench went down easily. He said it was unlikely I would notice any improvement before tomorrow, if improvement there was to be. At chore time around 5pm the ram was on his feet and among the ewes. He was taking a few dainty nibbles of grass. He was still breathing too fast, but not actually panting. His mother, old Agnes, was standing right up beside him with her face against his. He seemed to find this annoying and pushed her away a couple of times. If he recovers I am going to give him a name. Helen gave slightly under 2 gals today. Only four eggs. I caught three more kittens this evening, so now have five in the kitchen. There is still one more in the barn, but it did not come out.

October 3, Wednesday: About 12:30 last night it entered my dreams that cows were too close. The moon was full and I crept to the window in time to see Helen and Leah passing beneath. I had omitted to close the front gate in the obviously unfounded belief that with Wilbur gone the weak fences would hold. So, I put on my bathrobe and went out and closed the gate leaving the cows to roam the lawn and garden. I got up again about 5am. The sick ram was walking around drinking water. Helen, thanks to her night of carousing had very little milk, only about 2/3 of a gallon. I then raced off to take my car to its appointment. When I got home around 1 o'clock I went at once to check on the sheep and the news is not good. The six ewes were clustered not far from the barn and Topknot, the mother of Herbert, who died last Friday, was panting. It took me a lot of walking and nearly an hour to find the sick ram. He was down in a gully and I only found him because he bleated to me when he heard me pass. He was lying in a little stream and got to his feet but refused to move further even with the dogs barking at him. I had to leave him there. I went back to the house and called the vet. He got here very soon because he was already on his way. He drove his truck down to the bottom of the field. The ram had moved a little but was grinding his teeth, which Dr. Cooper said was a sign of impending death. I made the decision for euthanasia, so he gave the ram a shot and I stroked his ears and wool until he died, which was very soon. Then, we put a rope around his horns and with the other end tied to the truck we dragged him up to level ground. We hoisted him up on top of the truck, which took both of us as the ram weighed nearly 100 lbs. I spread out a tarp in the garage and Dr. Cooper opened up the ram and took tissue samples of liver, kidney and pancreas and he took the heart and one lung. As with the previous ram, everything looked perfectly healthy. But, we did not see the organs of the first one. This one's lungs looked all wrong. The blood was dark and the tissue dense. The vet then left. He is very much leaning towards copper poisoning now. After milking I went out and clipped off as much fleece as I could. We had tried to avoid getting it bloody and had largely succeeded, but the underside was wet from the streambed. I fear I did but a poor job of shearing. I am very tired. I did not play with my kittens today at all.

October 4, Thursday: The ewe, Topknot, who was panting yesterday, was frisky this morning. But, by this evening she was dull, lying down and panting. Helen came over and tried to butt her. She has refused to get up for me, but when Helen did this she ran off with the others. Later, I watched her moving along with the others and I saw her repeatedly kick at her armpit as though something were itching or hurting. She did this on both sides and made some unhappy noises. I also heard her cough several times. At this morning's milking Helen got all annoyed because Leah was stretching over and licking her udder. She did not let down well. Then, this evening she was just beginning to let down nicely when an unsteady stack of hay bales in the main hall of the barn toppled. She about jumped out of her skin when this happened, so again let down poorly. I ended with a little less than two gals. for the day. I also had to re-stack about 20 bales of hay before I could turn them out as the passageway was completely blocked. My vet called this morning to check on my flock. He told me he had sent off the tissue samples for laboratory analysis. I also got a call from a feed company nutritionist who had been alerted to my problem by my feed dealer. I sent her a pound of feed, but as I told her, I can't be sure it is the suspect feed as the old bags are identical to the new. Five eggs today.

October 5, Friday: No bad news to report today except one of the half grown chickens apparently got hit on the road. It was one of the black ones. Topknot, the ewe that was panting yesterday, seemed perfectly frisky and normal today. It was a superb fall day. I took a walk around the fields with Bagel. There will not be many more days like this. Helen's production continues to be very poor. 1.75 gals today and five eggs.

October 6, Saturday: A stormy day with high winds and rain. Just a sample of things to come do doubt. I picked up the beef from the Jersey steer I sent 10 days ago to be butchered. The butcher estimated his weight at 1100 lbs. The carcass was 504 lbs hanging weight. Some of that is bone that gets boned out and there was a lot of fat too. His charges were $35 for slaughter and $201.60 to cut and wrap. Helen gave not much over 1.5 gals today. There were five eggs. I have a grow light on a timer now for the hens.

October 7, Sunday: It is now very fall-like. There were blustery winds off and on all day with spates of rain and periods of brilliant sun. The dogs and I went up to camp for a while to see how much the lake has risen. Two weeks ago when I was there it was the lowest I had ever seen it. It has come up about 6". There were no bugs. Back at the farm I picked a few late daisies and chrysanthemums. The morning glories are still struggling along although much bashed by rain. All animals are well. Leah, the 16 month old heifer, is becoming very well trained and easily handled now that I bring her in every time with Helen. Helen gave about 1.75 gals today. Five eggs. They are very large.

October 8, Monday: Columbus Day today, did not get very warm but the sun came out and I crossed the river to the Oxbow Field and picked about six quarts of highbush cranberries. It was very beautiful on the field with the long row of fiery maples. The dogs flushed a partridge. The deer have been keeping the lower branches of everything trimmed back. There must be lots of them. Later, I picked my cabbages and a few more tomatoes. It did not freeze last night as predicted but tonight is supposed to get really cold. I have found somebody who will sell me a Border Leicester ram lamb weighing about 100 lbs. He will cost a dollar a pound. He is black. I have to go fetch him tomorrow.

October 9, Tuesday: Cousin Marcia and I took the old van down to Turner to convene with the man with the sheep. We had a nice place to wait for him, Nezinscott Farm shop, a comprehensive whole foods shop. But he kept us waiting for two hours. He helped me to put a collar on the black ram and hitch him to a strut. The ram thrashed around quite a bit but did himself no harm. Once home, I drove the van into the field before unhitching the ram, which I named Wesley. He was very frightened because he has spent his life on a sheep island 15 miles out to sea and has had no handling. I made to release him where he could see the ewes, but Helen took one look at him and began to chase him. Wesley had never seen a cow either. He shot off towards the woods and I wondered if I would ever see him again. But I trotted out to try to cut them off, talking all the while to Helen and telling her to calm down and forget chasing and pretty soon she minded me. I then herded Wesley back towards the ewes but he shot off towards the fence near the gate and hurled himself at it. Once again I thought he might be gone forever but fortunately he got caught in the wires and I was able to dislodge him and head him toward the ewes. He mingled with them for awhile but when last I saw him he was about 50 yards away from them grazing near the woods and it looks to me as though he stayed there for the night when the ewes came in. Morning will tell if Wesley is still on the farm. To keep Helen from being a nuisance I put her in the barn early and she ended up waiting for me in her stanchion for a half hour. When I finally arrived with my bucket she refused to let down. I got about two cups of milk. Today was also the day I marked down to check her for heat but I was away so many hours that I was unable to make a good observation. I think I may have to start keeping a bull. The hens were unsupervised all day too and I got only three eggs..

October 10, Wednesday: To my immense relief, Wesley showed up this morning. He slept in a far corner of the field by himself and I saw him trotting towards the ewes. As soon as he got close Agnes again chased him a long way off. I hope he does not lose heart. This evening I could not see him at all. Helen made up pretty well for not letting down last night. She gave 2.25 gals today. There were six eggs. I did not see any signs of heat in Helen so am not sure what to think. Soon she will be far enough along for a vet check so I can know one way or the other.

October 11, Thursday: It was another beautiful day but I saw nothing of Wesley. I looked for him for a long time with the dogs after morning chores. Our neighbor said he had been there yesterday. He also said he had seen a bear crossing from my field into his woods both yesterday morning and this morning and that a neighbor dog has been plaguing the deer in a part of my woods adjacent to him. Later today a motorist reported seeing a dog chasing Wesley into the woods up towards the cemetery. I went up there with the dogs after evening chores and found where his tracks entered the woods obviously running. We spent about an hour searching. I found one bare sandy place with a lot of tracks where he had merely been milling around but these may have been made earlier. I practiced loading my 20 gauge and will take a shot at that dog if I catch him after my sheep. But I would rather have Wesley back. Helen gave 1.75 gals today and there were only four eggs. All of a sudden I have more people wanting milk and eggs just when the supply is dwindling.

October ,12 Friday: Another fine day but scarcely even a rumor of Wesley. I am so sad. I put up signs at the store and elsewhere and drove around the neighborhood asking people and all said they would let me know if they saw him. Then the dogs and I spent an hour walking through the woods looking for any sign of Wesley. Muffin is old and stiff. She lay down about half way and rejoined Bagel and me on the way home. All week I have been looking for heat in Helen or Leah but saw nothing. So I have no idea if Helen is bred and have not been able to breed Leah either. Helen was restless this evening and did not let down well. She gave 1.5 gals today. But I got 8 eggs.

October 13, Saturday: The dogs and I made one last search for evidence of Wesley. There have been no reports of him since Wednesday. In response to my signs, the school bus driver stopped in to say that she nearly bumped into him Wednesday. I overcame my depression by keeping busy. I did a couple of hours of editing, made a blueberry cake, butter and sour dough bread. I have been working to perfect San Francisco style sour dough bread for several years and have a starter that I keep going. I believe what I made today is about as good as it gets. It has a perfect crust and large elastic holes and excellent flavor. I started it last night, so it had 24 hours to develop. I kneaded it in my KitchenAid rather than my bread machine. I cooked it in the floor of the Aga's hotest oven and periodically threw ice cubes in with it to create humidity. Helen gave very slightly under 2 gals today and there were 6 eggs.

October 14, Sunday: We had warm, drizzley rain all day. The dogs and I did no more looking for Wesley. We went up to the lake. I walked on the little beach while the dogs scouted around. Helen gave a gallon this morning, but very little this evening. Only 1.25 gals today. Six eggs again. Many of the chickens are regaining their feathers. My one Buff Orpington hen was practically naked last month but has new fluffy feathers. Not that she ever deigns to lay an egg. I had been worried that I might have to knit her a jacket.

October 15, Monday: More rain and drizzle until noon, then bright cool October sun. The leaf color is very high. These six kittens in the house are getting rowdy. One somehow got up into my hanging basket of spider plant and jumped around in it while others batted the dangling offshoots. It looks a bit tattered. It is hard to keep them off this keyboard. No further reports of Wesley sightings. The dogs are so fond of all the woods walks I have been taking that they get excited every time I go out the door. I will have to keep up our walks. It really is fine fall weather. Helen gave 1.75 gals. today and there were 8 eggs.

October, 16 Tuesday: Helen gave only a little over 1.5 gals today. I got eight eggs.

October 17, Wednesday: Intermittent rain last night and today, but the temperature hung between 50 and 60 F. Helen asked for hay this morning and this evening. Also, this morning the sheep came into the beefer pen to check the hay feeder, but I don't think they got any before Helen saw them. I guess if they want to eat hay, then they will have to learn to come in when the cows are away grazing. There is actually plenty of grass for the sheep as they can graze much shorter pasture than cows. Still nobody reports anything of Wesley. It is a week today that he was last seen. A few days ago I found instructions in an old recipe book for a sourdough starter using new milk. That is, milk that is still warm from the cow. I decided to try it on Monday. I put one cup of milk in a very clean pitcher with about a half cup of flour and stirred it up with a chopstick. It is always best not to allow metal in contact with starter. I covered it with a dairy filter and put it on a shelf above the Aga. By Tuesday there were bubbles, which I stirred down. Today, I stirred it down twice and added some more milk and flour. I used this to start a loaf of bread using no commercial yeast. It took about three hours to rise, which is twice as long as commercial yeast. But, it rose in a totally satisfactory way and made a fine loaf. I used milk for the liquid in the dough since obviously this yeast is adapted to milk. This morning there were some clots in the milk from Helen's near front quarter, so I rubbed the quarter with a thick layer of Thuja zinc udder cream. This evening there were no clots. But, still only 1.5 gals today. And six eggs.

October 18, Thursday: Today was a clear day with steady cold wind. I thought it might be my last chance to safely lift the dahlias and glads, so now that is done. I am keeping most of the kittens out in the buttery now during the day. They are very bouncy. Helen gave a bit over 1.5 gals. There were 7 eggs.

October 19, Friday: Sunny today, but blowy. I don't believe it got above 45 F. I put out more than a bale of hay for Helen and Leah. I missed a call from the vet today while out doing errands. He had lab results from the tissue samples he sent over a week ago collected from the ram that died. It had some type of pneumonia. He said it was a type he was not familiar with and seemed to have some trouble pronouncing it himself. When he stops in I will get a copy of the report and put it in the diary. He said he guessed it was another example of the four S's of sheep doctoring that he learned in college: Sick Sheep Seldom Survive. Helen gave a scant 1.5 gals today. There were 11 eggs.

October 20, Saturday: The big news today was that Leah came in heat and left me with no need for guesswork about it. This was her first breeding. She is almost 16 months old. I would have bred her sooner but did not catch her in heat. I kept her in and the AI technician arrived about 12:30. I was much gratified that it was not the new guy. He was on holiday and the one from former times was filling in. He is highly experienced which was a good thing because Leah was hard to breed. He said her cervix was crimped over. I'd say it took him eight minutes of groping to find the opening. He used Deerview Chiller semen. Let's hope she settled. Son Martin was here today. He came last night and spent all day today making repairs around the farm. He put some studs on the cow's ramp so they won't slip and he brought a hammer drill and set new bolts for the basement bulkhead, among other things. In late afternoon cousin Steve brought two gunny sacks full of over 100 lbs of apples. These were picked in an orchard not far away, which for some reason was not harvested this year. They were mostly falls but of high quality and all MacIntosh. The old fashioned, deep red variety. They are extremely tasty. Steve said that the ground under all of the hundreds of trees was deeply carpeted in red. Several of his family and friends went along and brought home a pickup load of apples, so at least some were not wasted. Helen gave a little over 1.5 gals today and there were five eggs.

October 21, Sunday: Leah was back to normal today. There were occasional periods of sun, but much of the day seemed bleak and the thermometer barely reached fifty. For a couple of weeks I have been picking the small fruits on my quince Japonica as they were revealed by the falling foliage. I finally got about a quart and a half of them, some wizened, and boiled them all up for about a half hour. I pressed out the juice in a strainer with a weight on it and got two cups of juice. This I made into jelly by boiling it up with an equal amount of sugar. I used no commercial pectin. It made two little jars of extremely nice jelly, about 1 3/4 cup. Not a bad yield from a small amount of fruit. Helen gave a little over 1.5 gals today. There were 10 eggs.

October 22, Monday: I Finally I got around to doing some veg garden cleanup. Son Martin plans to till for me. In some places the weeds are so dense I fear it would gag the tiller. The comfrey is spreading as usual. It is such a pest. I have to dig it up with a garden fork. Tilling breaks up its roots and every morsel then sprouts. I milked an hour early so that I could attend a planning meeting. Helen likes coming in earlier. I got a little over 1.5 gals and five eggs.

October 23, Tuesday: The weather today was bleak and at midday it started to rain. However, I did get in some more digging. Also, today a load of wood was delivered. It looks good but needs splitting. I am feeding over a bale of hay per day now. Helen gave somewhat over 1.5 gals. I got seven eggs.

October 24, Wednesday: When I opened the door this morning to let Helen and Leah in to the milking area I saw a new big hole in the ramp. Helen was already on the move and obviously saw the hole but she was not agile enough to avoid it. One foot went right down causing her to be flat on her belly like a frog. She struggled and floundered to her feet, but was all upset. Leah leapt gracefully over the hole. When Helen was in her stanchion and I saw her kicking at her side it was evident that more than her dignity was injured. She was bleeding from a cut on her right front teat. I put the kicker on her, but even so did not try to milk that quarter. She let down only about one cup from each of the other three quarters. I applied pure vitamin E followed by tea tree oil to the cut, which is not nearly as bad as the last one she got. I did not call the vet. This evening I found that by using my right hand on the teat, which I ordinarily would milk with my left, it positioned the cut against the palm of my hand. This was much easier on her and aided by the kicker I was able to milk. I ended up with a little over 1.5 gallons for the day. There were 10 eggs. As I was bringing in the milk a man arrived at the farm. He had heard that I had milk to sell. He is very committed to drinking raw milk and finds it hard to get. He said that he regularly works out and since starting on raw milk his muscle tone has dramatically improved. He formerly relied on various costly potions from health food stores but they did not do for him what raw milk does.

October 25, Thursday: This morning I milked without the kicker until towards the end of milking. This evening Helen barely showed signs of kicking, but she was pretty edgy towards the end. I milked mostly with my right hand holding my left ready to fend off her foot if necessary. The cut is healing uneventfully so far. Helen gave about 1.5 gallons plus a pint. There were nine eggs.

October 26, Friday: Weather bleak today. Temp about 50F, damp, but there was sun for a little while. The animals seemed grumpy. Helen stood pretty well for milking so long as I used my right hand. I gave her some apples to cheer her up. She and Leah both remain suspicious of the ramp despite my repair. They skirt around where the hole was and Helen has gone back to waiting at the gate which avoids use of the ramp. Funny old cow. She gave 1.5 gals today. There were six eggs. I made bread again using the sourdough starter I made with new milk and flour. It is a very active starter. This time I made whole wheat. I think it is good.

October 27, Saturday: The dogs and I accompanied by granddaughter Hailey and son Mark took a sunny afternoon walk around the fields. The river is up some. It is interesting to me to see how the sheep stay in among the cows all day. It reminds me of pictures of animals on the African savannah where the species intermingle as they graze. The cows dislike the sheep and Helen butts them if they get in her way but they clearly feel more secure among the cows. I finally got my highbush cranberry catsup made. I have had the puree in the frig for several weeks. It turned out very well. That recipe is a keeper. I made five and a half pints. Helen gave barely 1.5 gals today. There were ten eggs.

October 28, Sunday: Mark finished mowing the lawn this morning, very much appreciated. It was looking very scruffy. Also he split a lot of wood and stacked it in the garage. I made outstandingly good pancakes for breakfast using the new fresh milk starter. Also made a tasty sandwich spread by mincing last night's leftover steak in the Cuisinart. The weather today was fine but every day is colder. Helen gave exactly 1.5 gals. and I got 11 eggs.

October 29, Monday: It was chilly this morning, about 22F. Ice on some of the buckets was a half inch thick. I ran out of chicken feed yesterday, so being as it was Sunday and nothing around here was open, I cooked up a lot of rice and when it was cool, mixed in powdered milk. The chickens did not much care for it even though I mixed in cracked corn, their favorite. However, the geese thought it was pretty good. Deer season has started. I heard a good deal of shooting but not close by. Bagel has exactly the coloring of a deer and when he runs he holds his tail high exposing the white underside. This makes him look a lot like a deer. He is long legged and even bounds in a deerlike manner. I tied yellow streamers onto his collar. Helen got up her courage today to try the ramp again. But, she made Leah go first. Helen gave a scant 1.5 gals today. I got eight eggs.

October 30, Tuesday: Bright, cold, late October weather today. I am keeping the fireplace in the kitchen going. Last evening I rubbed Helen's bag with heat raising udder cream to see if it would stimulate milk production. She gave 1.75 gals today, a marked increase, so maybe it worked. But the udder cream is expensive, so I did not put it on tonight. I was able to milk almost entirely without favoring her cut teat. It is nearly healed. 11 eggs today.

October 31, Halloween and a Blue Moon The hens made it to a full dozen today and Helen again gave 1.75 gals, quite encouraging. It was chilly today, but bright.

November 1, Thursday: All the world was white this morning, covered with rather slushy snow. I suppose the hunters were glad to see it but surely nobody else. All the animals seemed disgruntled except Bagel. Helen's production dropped today to 1.5 gals and I only got five eggs. I am happy to say the snow all melted away by late afternoon. Coming cheerfully through the snow was my Sheffield chrysanthemum. This is the last flower in the garden. It is a lovely scented thing, a strong pink with a yellow center. It is leggy and should be supported. I highly recommend it. For the first time I can remember I completely sold out of milk today.

November 2, Thursday: The weather today was warm and balmy, a late fall gift. I got 10 eggs. Helen gave something over 1.5 gals. People now want my eggs so badly they are glad to buy just half a dozen.

November 3, Saturday: Another softly balmy day. I made time to take the dogs for a walk along the river, which we all enjoyed. The river remains extremely low. Maine is having a drought. But, it does make for lovely sandbars in the river and room to walk along the edge of the water. I found wild mint growing along the water line. It was real mint, not brooklime. Perhaps the birds planted it from my patch near the kitchen. Up above on the bank I found witch hazel in bloom and brought home some small branches. I did some digging in the vegetable garden. It remains far from properly cleaned up. However, I stacked the tomato stakes and put the dead plants on the compost pile and dug an area about 3'x4'. This was rather hard going because it is infested with comfrey, a garden thug if there ever was one. Don't ever let comfrey get started, or at least think twice. You can't get rid of it. The roots go down a good two feet and they break on purpose (I think!) when dug. Each bit makes a new plant. Persuaded as I am of the special value of milk still warm from the cow, I picked up a package of little plastic cups to keep in the barn so I can milk directly into a cup and try that. A couple of hundred years ago this was considered a great remedy "for whatever ails you". I will report back in a few months.

November 4, Sunday: This morning while I was milking, a bantam rooster chased and overtook a hen and began treading her right underneath Helen's belly. There was lots of squawking and flapping, but Helen stood like a rock and did not even stop letting down. This evening for no reason I could tell, she did stop letting down when I was only half done, also lifted her tail and made a big cow flop. I ended up today with less than 1.5 gals. There were ten eggs. Cousin Susan brought me six hens, which she finds herself too busy to keep. She says they are not laying much, but perhaps will soon start and add to my total. Three are Barred Rock, two are white with some Auracana in them and one looks like a Black Australorp. Susan also took one kitten for a friend leaving me with five.

November 5, Guy Fawkes Day: It was raining when I got up and rained quite steadily all day. We were told to expect snow, but I am glad to report it has not done so. But, it is cold and Novembery. Things remain very unsettled in the hen house. The new birds are not integrated and nobody laid many eggs. Just six today. The two geese do a great job of reminding me to feed them. It is always dark now by the time I leave the barn and their pen is the other side of the lawn. If they see me walk away they set up a fine cackling until I turn back. I am not sure how to winter them over. First I will try a little hay bale cave. I have made a start on it. My previous geese would never go inside anything. Helen gave something over 1.5 gals today.

November 6, Tuesday Election Day: All morning I kept hearing Helen's bell and thinking it did not sound quite right. But, each time I peered around I saw nothing amiss so forgot about it. At noon when I went out to collect eggs I noticed the geese out of their pen and standing in the cow pasture. And who was in the goose pen but Helen and Leah. At first I could hardly make them out. There is the giant rock in there moved in by the road crew last summer and big overhanging trees. But there they were eating up the hay bale structure I was building for the geese. Bagel came right over to help out with his emerging herding skills. But Helen would not move until I gave her the apple I was eating. Then, we herded them back through their own gate. Herding geese is no trick at all. You just hold your arms out pretending to be a fence and they move wherever you want. Helen gave a stingy 1.5 gals. today and there were eight eggs. All the chickens spent yesterday and today bickering. The new birds have taken over one low roost and were cuddled up together at lights out.

November 7, Wednesday: All day a cold wind blew hard. Helen and Leah ate a lot of hay, but I was surprised also at how long they grazed. There must be a little bit of new growth following the last rain. The sheep are not bothering much with hay. There is plenty of grazing for them as they are able to graze much closer. To my dismay I spotted several more tiny kittens in the wall of the garage today. They have a slightly stunted look but seem lively and healthy. I easily caught one but let it go again. I suppose they belong to Fraidycat. She has been acting very hungry lately and even allowing herself to be petted. Sigh. What will I do? I will put out some milk for them tonight after the dogs have been out for the last time. Helen gave 1.5 gals today and I got eight eggs.

November 8, Thursday: Today my vet finally dropped off the lab report on my rams that died. It was pseudomas aeruginosa, a form of pneumonia. My vet remains very puzzled. The histological results showed involvement of other organs and quite serious lung damage, yet symptoms only lasted a couple of days and they were both in good condition, the best in the flock. While he was here, he gave my five unwanted kittens each a shot. They are well behaved kittens and fond of going outside in good weather. Soon they will be so big nobody will want them. As usual my poor vet was running a couple of hours late so I did not have the heart to ask him to do a pregnancy check on Helen. If she really did settle this would only make two months anyway and his findings might be ambiguous. I managed to get 1.5 gals of milk today but it is taking a lot of squeezing. There were nine eggs. The new hens are beginning to make friends with the others. Of the six, three roosted tonight among the old timers.

November 9, Friday: Today there was no electricity in the barn and I spent a lot of time sleuthing out the problem. I finally worked it out that a union in the barn that is covered with a metal junction box is the problem. I fixed it by jamming on the incoming and outgoing wires which made a contact and lights went on but obviously it is not really fixed. I think the building moves so much in high wind that they have come apart inside the box, and, no doubt will again. The barn is post and beam construction and is 160 years old. The wind today was high. I was hungry today for chicken and found one last rooster in the freezer from the ones daughter Sally and grandson Rafe dressed off many months ago. It has been simmering all day but has proved highly resistant to becoming tender. This is a problem with roosters. The broth has fantastic flavor. I guess I will fry a frozen fish fillet and leave it to simmer all night. It will have to give in eventually. Helen and Leah have now thoroughly mashed the fence that separates their pasture from the goose pen. They think they are clever getting in there, really getting away with mischief which of course they are. There is no point in rebuilding the goose shelter made of hay bales. They will just eat it again. Now the geese have to be herded home each evening. They are too silly to find their way back unassisted. Nine eggs today and 1.5 gals of milk.

November 10, Saturday: A cold sleety rain is falling this evening. This was foretold, but this morning was pretty good weather. I took advantage of it to do some last minute outdoor jobs. I tied down a tarp over the bushhog, which must spend the winter outdoors. After watching Victory Garden I was reminded of chicory still in the ground. It self seeds every year and I allow a few to stand partly for its beautiful blue flowers, but also for the roots. I filled a bucket with them along with some dirt. If left in a dark place they form new tops, which are a pale delicious addition to winter salads. Now that the leaves are off the trees and bushes all the bird's nests are revealed. Every one is made of wool from the Jacob sheep. All the birds nests are black and white wool balls. It is a charming sight. Helen gave a little less than 1.5 gals today and there were only five eggs.

November 11, Veteran's Day: More winterization tasks today. I put white paint on two more windowsills, one on the east and one on the southern exposure. The Spirea bush is so dense I could barely push through it to reach the windowsill. I hate that bush so much. It blooms for three days in June making everybody sneeze and spends the rest of its life taking over the world. It is enough to make a person dream of buying Roundup or whatever exists. I called my hay man this evening to see if and when he will bring me 50 bales of better hay. I attribute at least part of Helen's declining production to mediocre hay. He did not answer so I left a message. She gave only 1.25 gals today. There were 5 eggs. Tonight I put out one of my few remaining good bales from last year. I got several windows covered with plastic today as winterization. It makes an immediate difference. Also refreshed the chicken's nesting materials in hopes of improving their attitude. Their timer light has quit and I can't figure out what is wrong with it.

November 12, Monday: Helen responded promptly to better hay. I would have gotten more than 1.5 gals today but this evening for some reason she resisted letting down. Total for today, a tad under 1.5 gals. Only four eggs. It was cold all day. Water buckets on the north side of the barn froze nearly solid. Now this evening it is starting to snow, so that means it is warming a little. Two of the sheep have never gotten names. I asked son John in Australia for suggestions. Now we have Wombat and Numbat. Both are real animals I am told. November 10 was 21 days since heifer Leah was bred and there were no signs of heat. I am quite confident she is bred!

November 13, Tuesday: No word from my hay man. Off I went and bought 50 pounds of alfalfa cubes for Helen to see if perking up her diet will help production. There is not much grass for grazing, but they keep at it anyway. She and Leah together also eat pretty close to two bales a day of hay. But, the quality is poor, which means it slows digestion and ultimately goes disproportionately to the dung. I knew this would happen when I bought the hay, but the low price enticed me. Plus, I did not anticipate how disappointed I would be were she to insist on drying off. She gave the same today as yesterday, a bit under 1.5 gals. I gave her about 2 pounds of the alfalfa cubes She loved them. There were six eggs.

November 14, Wednesday: Helen's production crept a little higher today. Too soon to tell if this is a response to the alfalfa. There were no eggs. I devised another system of lighting in the chicken room. Not on a timer, just a drop-light. They have been without their extended daylight program now for two weeks and production has steadily slumped. My experience is that it takes longer to regain production following a reversal than it took to cause it. Their natural tendency is to pick up after the Winter Solstice. I hope they get back in business before that, as they seem to eat more than ever. I let the geese out on the lawn today, as there remains some pretty good grass. Being friendly, of course they headed straight for the house. I shut the big front gate to discourage their going in the road but they really could squeeze through. But, I think Bagel is going to help to keep them up at their own end. I showed him how to herd them back to their end of the lawn and he was delighted to join in. He spent the next hour sitting on guard. He was very cute. But, finally he got bored. I think the geese settled down for a nap.

November 15, Thursday: Alfalfa does not seem to be making much difference to Helen's production. I guess the combination of poor hay, poor grazing and prolonged lactation is just making her dry off. Only one gallon plus a quart today. She has been lactating for 17 months. I ran her through last year as an experiment since I have had others tell me they have had good success with every other year breeding. I like to try everything at least once. The milk continues to taste great. There were two eggs. The hens seem a lot more cheerful now.

November 16, Friday: Helen and Leah got through the fence today into the veg garden. There aren't any more vegetables, but the area is surrounded by a wide lawn of pretty nice green grass. They had a great time eating this until I discovered them. I would gladly have let them stay but for their habit of munching the tops of baby apple trees, several of which are spotted around this lawn. This taste of grass or something caused Helen's production to rise a bit today. She gave a bit over 1.5 gals. But, not a single egg did I find. It was unseasonably warm today, about 55f.

November 17, Saturday: For weeks now I have had a group of kittens in the house. I have them nicely socialized and healthy and even got their shots, but still no takers. Then last week what did I spot but more kittens in the garage. These were very tiny, really runty. They were obviously the family of Fraidy Cat. She has been asking for food at all hours of the day and I knew she had kittens. But, with the cold weather and probably no voles to be found I guess she could not keep up with their demands. I caught two quite easily. Then, two days later a third. Its eyes were pasted shut making it functionally blind so all I had to do was pick it up and swab its eyes. These three have now learned to drink from a saucer. I had to spoon feed that smallest blind one for a couple of days. They spend most of their time cuddled up to the Aga, but today I saw two of them playing. A fourth member of the litter then had Fraidy all to himself and I was afraid I would never catch him. But, tonight he came into the buttery (summer kitchen). I shut the door and had him trapped. I finally managed to catch him by the fur and dropped him squirming and writhing among his siblings. He is plenty wild and went straight behind the cupboard. Like all my cats he is black and white. He is now bigger and stronger than the others. The tiniest one's eyes were stuck shut again this evening. Even after a face washing with warm water he was too timid to eat with the others which includes the "teenage" lot, so I fixed him a special dish of warm cream. Up on a shelf by himself he ate every bit. This place is really hopping with kittens. When it gets too wild I put all the older ones outside in the buttery for awhile. This morning I blocked off the veg garden area with a makeshift gate so Helen and Leah could graze the lawn but they never noticed they had access. They spent the day down in he field instead. It was fine and sunny. Helen gave a bit under 1.5 gals today. Only two eggs.

November 18, Sunday: Another fine mild day, quite surprising for the time of year. After milking this morning I noticed one goose was gone, the gander. I had left their gate open so they could graze the lawn. I strongly suspected Bagel of chasing it. The first place I searched was the fish pond, but did not see it. Another 15 minutes of searching and there it was in the pond but way under the overhanging shrubbery. A number of feathers told the story on Bagel but at least he didn't hurt it. By then it was having a good time so I left it there. In the evening I had to assist it out of the pond by lifting under it with the potato rake. It is pretty fat. The other goose spent the day being worried. She never did figure out where he was. Helen and Leah grazed the lawn today without getting into trouble. I got 1.5 gals today. Just one egg.

November 20, Tuesday: Both yesterday and today Helen gave a scant 1.5 gals. Monday, I did not let either the cows or the geese out onto the lawn because I had to go for feed. I don't like them wandering loose while I am away in case somebody, maybe the propane truck, opens the gate. It was a wasted trip for feed because the mom and pop feed store was locked up for some reason. The chickens were totally out of feed and so were the cats. That is the only feed store nearby. I stopped at another place and bought overpriced feed that the cats don't even like. It has corn as the first ingredient, one of the most egregiously wasteful practices which can be imagined. Cats have zero ability to digest corn. It goes right through and ends up in the litter box. The manufacturers add it because it is cheap and bulks up the food so owners can feel generous serving it out. From the standpoint of the cat, they might as well bulk up the feed with sawdust. When I got home I cooked up a large pan of brown rice that had got bugs in it and stirred in some buttermilk. The chickens and geese all loved this. No eggs yesterday, two today.

November 22 Thanksgiving Day and St. Cecilia's Day: Yesterday one egg, today one egg again. But, tonight son Martin milked Helen with help from granddaughter Hailey, his niece. This was the first milking I have missed in a very long time. I did skip one time last summer when I went out to dinner. He reported that Helen was reluctant to let down but stood like a perfect lady. Martin is an experienced milker and Helen is fond of him. He ended up with as much milk as I have been getting, making the day's total a bit shy of 1.5 gals. Martin put the geese in the barn, not knowing just what to do with them. This made them happy I am sure. They usually spend the night in their paddock. Earlier sons, Martin and Mark split a lot more wood and with help from Hailey and stacked it in the back of the garage. For dinner we had a goose we dressed off one year ago. I thought it might be tough and dry, but it was pretty good. I used Julia Child's method which calls for a couple of hours of steaming followed by a couple hours of braising breast side down. Then you turn it breast side up to get crispy skin.

November 23, Friday: Helen and Leah were out on the lawn last night. The goose gate was left open. I heard them under my window at 2:30 am. So I put on my bathrobe and slippers and went out to make sure the front gate was closed. It was. First thing this morning I was greeted by Helen sticking her head into the garage to see if I wasn't about ready to come to the barn. She looked pretty cute. But Martin had quite a bit of lawn clean-up to do following a night with two cows making free with the lawn. They also pruned my mock orange bush down to about 14" so I am hoping not to see them on the lawn again ever. Martin, Hailey and I had a day away from the farm at Sugarloaf USA, Martin snow boarding. Hailey and I window shopping and people watching. Back home, Martin and Hailey again did evening chores, giving me a chance to exercise my cooking skills without interruption. I made Steak au Poivre Vert using chuck steak from the new beef. I sawed the steaks in half crosswise to make them of manageable size. Son Mark, Hailey's father, returned from his day of work at the hospital in time for my spectacular flambe of the steak. Helen again gave less than 1.5 gals but there were three eggs.

November 24 Saturday Somehow I forgot to mention that on Thanksgiving I cut into the first one of the cheddar cheeses I made last May. We all agreed it was very good. I am very pleased. The boys did some more wood chopping and repairs this morning before leaving. Maine is having such a drought. A neighbor whose well ran dry called to see if she could fill her five gallon cans at my place. Of course I said yes. As far as I know my drilled well is OK. The geese were on the lawn today so had to be herded back into their pen in which the cows had again gotten themselves. Making the transfer was tricky and Bagel totally blew it as an assistant. He chased the geese in a great flapping circle greatly alarming Helen and Leah who also began running around. Heading them off before they totally left the scene caused me to have to run in circles too, an activity which I no longer enjoy. I was so mad at Bagel I felt like strangling him. He knew I was mad and disappeared for an hour. When he finally came back trying to make amends I refused to look at him so he knows he is still in the dog house. It took Helen quite awhile to let down. She did not give much. Total for the day not much over 1.25 gals. Just one egg.

November 25 Sunday Another mild day. I even dug in the garden for a while which was fun. I prepared another windowsill for painting, then could not find where I put the white paint so that will have to wait. All quiet this evening while herding the animals. Bagel behaved in a very reserved manner, still contrite. Helen gave nearly 1.5 gals and I got five eggs. The hens are acting happier and the six hens given me about three weeks ago are finally merging in although they remain diffident.

November 26 Monday Our unseasonable temperature reached 60F today. Some rain, mostly sun. The yellow violas think it is spring and several have bloomed. I saw little yellow dots under the rhododendron. I had some barn wiring done today. They did not finish it all but I now have better lighting in the main hall and the lights in with the hens and where I milk operates with a switch rather than drop lights on extension cords. Helen gave a bit under 1.5 gals. I got four eggs.

November 27 Tuesday The barn wiring is completed now and they also put in a new light over the kitchen sink where I have been making do for months with a table lamp on the counter. Now the light is so bright I had to scrub everything. The barn also begs for some tidying for the same reason. There is a large white hen among the recent additions to the flock. This morning for the first time I found her in a nest box. She sat there most of the day before bringing forth an enormous blue egg. It could have been taken for a duck egg. She has feather puffs on each cheek indicating Auracana blood which accounts for the pretty color of her egg. There was a total of seven eggs today. I am leaving a 60 watt bulb on 24 hours a day and bringing them cooked brown rice with powdered milk added. I don't know which thing is encouraging them the most. Also the weather is warm which always helps. Helen was very funny this evening. She is goofy about apples. When I released her from her stanchion instead of going out to wait for her hay she stuck her head into a trash bin that she passes. I kept shoving her and ordering her to keep moving and finally she shot off down her corridor carrying a plastic grocery bag in her mouth by the handle. I still did not figure out what was up until she reached her destination in the beefer pen and gave the bag a toss, strewing apples everywhere. I had forgotten that I had brought a bag of bruised apples to the barn for the cows and set them on the trash. Disappearing down the corridor with that bag swinging she looked just like a lady hurrying away with a bargain. She gave something less than 1.5 gals. today.

November 28 Wednesday The hens are finally starting to lay again, to the joy of my customers and I. Eleven eggs today. Helen and Leah seem in good spirits but Helen only gave a bit over 1.25 gals. today. The weather is turning colder. I still have not had anybody wanting kittens. One looked quite unwell yesterday with sunken eyes but I gave it cod liver oil and today it is all perked up again. The animal shelter wants $15

apiece to accept them. This becomes an expensive proposition with nine. They are cute and friendly but getting too lively.

November 29 Thursday Snow began falling at 6AM and continued until around 4PM. It is wet slushy snow which packed down to about 3" deep but has formed a crust. I used three bales of hay today. The sheep came in to nibble around the edges with the cows I hope they are getting enough to eat. If I put hay in another place for them the cows immediately go there and eat it up before they return to their manger. The sheep did quite a lot of standing around in the snow which does not seem to bother them. Helen gave barely 1.25 gals today. I suppose she hated her water. The tub had a thick layer of slush floating in it. I got 9 eggs. I gave the hens a bale of hay too. They love to work it over.

November 30 Friday Most of today a cold rain fell but it has not removed the snow. The air is filled with freezing mist. More of the sheep are getting up their nerve to eat hay with the cows. I think in a couple more days the ones standing along the wall will all join in. The bad weather did not seem to bother the cows or sheep much. It was not really cold, only about 32F. It felt nasty to me and the chickens. Few went out doors. Helen gave a bit over 1.25 gals today. I got nine eggs. They are very beautiful, being all different colors.

December 1, Saturday: The hens did well today. I got thirteen eggs and there was at least one more which must have been broken, judging from egg all over one shell. More and more hens are starting to lay. Helen did not do so well. She gave less than 1.25 gals. The weather was very mild. In fact it was a record high temperature in Portland for the date, 64F.

December 2, Sunday: Another very mild day. The snow is all gone and the chickens are ranging very widely into the pasture. Sometimes I take the field glasses to be sure if I am seeing a hen. There were 10 eggs today. Helen did somewhat better. She gave almost 1.5 gals. The cows and sheep all spent most of the day in Pocket Field, the farthest pasture. It is their favorite. In order to get outside for a while I washed the outsides of the kitchen windows. The dogs were disappointed that we did not do more. I have moved all but the very smallest kittens out of the house.

December 4, Tuesday: Last night I went to a local planning meeting which is why I did not write. It was a late, slow meeting. Helen gave 1.25 gals and I got one dozen eggs. Today she gave somewhat more than that and I got 13 eggs. Both days were unseasonably warm, in the high fifties. The cows and sheep are spending their days sunning in the pasture as though it were spring. The chickens range far and wide in their search for bugs, a difficult task this late in the year. The heavy birds stay much closer to home. They all seem contented. Because of Helen's low production I now seldom have extra milk to make into clabber for them. I am augmenting their pellets with a top dressing of old powdered milk. They are eating a commercial grain ration. These rations are formulated to have just enough protein to support egg laying under ideal circumstances. Adding some additional protein nearly always improves laying. In this case my chickens quit laying a couple of weeks ago due to short day length. After their light on a timer quit their little clocks told them it was winter. I now have a light in there. If really cold weather hits it may take more than light to keep them laying.

December 5, Wednesday: We just had another balmy day, kind of watery sunshine, but so mild. I took the dogs for a walk along the river so they would not think I am an everlasting dud. There is scarcely any grass left in the field long enough for a cow to eat. But, there is plenty of short grass under the dead grass that keeps the sheep busy. It was very pleasant and I did not hear any shooting. Tomorrow also is expected to be as warm as today with more sun, it may even reach 65F. Everywhere I goes and everyone one I see, which in my case is practically no one, are unanimous in the Maine way, "We'll have to pay for it later..." As for me, I already expect winter to be four months of misery and so every day of good weather is a small victory bringing me closer to the end of March. Although heaven knows, April can also be miserable. As of now, I am still able to keep the stock tank filled via an unfrozen hose. And the cows spend the majority of their time outside, so it takes only ten or so fork loads to clean up the beefer pen where their manger is. While passing through the veg garden I was amazed to find an overlooked pumpkin in the dead weeds. I had planted an heirloom variety of excellent quality that in appearance closely resembles a zucchini. They don't show up like the Halloween type. I thought I had scoured the area of pumpkins. Partly due to the weather, but mostly because of my attention to management details, I have gotten the egg production back up to a dozen or more a day. This is important because I am able to sell all I have. A dozen a day makes the hens self-supporting. Otherwise, they eat just as much but I support them. Helen gave 1.25 gals today. There were a dozen eggs.

December 6, Thursday: Every day I think I won't let those geese out of their pen, but then they talk me into letting them out. They are so friendly. They graze for about 20 minutes, then want to come into the barn or up to the kitchen door. Bagel tries to help me with herding them back but ends up getting them all in a flap. Then they race off in the wrong direction like white helicopters not quite taking off. Of course wherever they have been is messy. But they are kind of cute. Another cute one is Leah. She always tries to be good. She does exactly what Helen does, imitating her carefully. She has some trick of twisting her rope in her tie-up so she gets unsnapped. But then she usually stands right there until it is time to leave. Leah has a very pretty face with black lines around her eyes and a white ring around her black nose. Helen gave something above 1.25 gals today. I got fifteen eggs. I usually sell them for $1.25 a dozen but today when I took four dozen to the gourmet shop she insisted on giving me $1.50 a dozen. She says everyone else gets that much.

December 7, Friday: For some reason Helen's production was up a bit today. She gave close to 1.5 gals. I got eleven eggs. The sheep are getting braver all the time about coming inside the beefer pen and eating hay. One of the young ewes born last April has a very deep fleece. One of the rams that died was her twin. He too had a promising fleece. So far I am keeping up with the mucking out. It will be harder when the weather is bad and they go out scarcely at all. A snow storm is predicted for tomorrow night.

December 8 Saturday: Today was cold. I don't believe it got above freezing except in a few corners where the sun was trapped.. I walked around my vegetable garden area and found a few little green things to put in my bean soup, some new leaves on the kale stump left by the deer and cows and some small mustard leaves. I was grateful for these because I passed up some costly mesclun today in the store. Helen gave about the least milk in history today. She gave her customary 3/4 gallon this morning but tonight she wouldn't let down. It was like stripping the whole time and I got barely a quart. I could tell the usual amount of milk was there, I just could not get it. All the while she kept up a soft mooing. I sure hope this is not some aberrant expression of heat. I have no actual proof that she is bred. If bred, she is three months along so the vet should be able to get reliable findings by now. I got one dozen eggs.

December 9 Sunday: This morning Helen gave back the milk she would not let down last night, mostly. Total for today, 1.25 gals. Her behavior was back to normal. We woke up to snow. It accumulated about 2". Although the day was cold and dark and did not get above freezing most of the snow was gone by evening. I don't miss it. I did not see any other people today, only animals. I got 11 eggs.

December 10 Monday: Cold this morning, down to 17F, and Oh despair, my spring line was frozen. It does that at some point every winter. There is a faucet to control the flow so that my spring is not bled dry. Despite no water coming out, I turned it on full blast and left it for the day while I went shopping. Mirabile dictu, when I came home it was running again. Today stayed cold but there was plenty of sun. I expect it froze where the black polythene pipe is exposed and there was just enough sun to thaw it. It is always a sad day when I lose the lovely spring water. It is so much better than my tap water which is artesian and has never failed me but has a flat dreary flavor. Helen's production was way down this morning and worse this evening. Her total for the day was under a gallon. I think she hates drinking from her stock tank now that it has big ice floes floating in it. I got a dozen eggs. One of the smallest kittens is dying I think. It is lying next to the Aga and is too weak to move. It won't eat but swallows when I spoon water into its mouth.

December11 Tuesday: Down to 18F this morning, but it warmed up to a balmy 50F before the sun sank over the mountains. The cows and sheep spent a pleasant day down in Pocket Field basking in the sun and searching for random blades of grass. Helen's production was back up today to something a bit over 1.25 gals. I got 11 eggs. Instead of getting out of doors, I spent the day in the kitchen doing holiday baking. The sick kitten died during the night and so did a second one I had been keeping in the kitchen, It was perky yesterday and eating nicely, then this morning it sank down next to the Aga and by mid afternoon had breathed its last. I was in a quandary as to what to do with the tiny bodies. I feared Bagel would dig up any grave I could dig. What I ended up doing was making a hot fire in the fireplace and cremating them. I rolled them up thickly in newspaper so that I would not be able to see, and I didn't look. But an hour later nothing but glowing coals remained. December 12 Wednesday 17F again this morning. Yet every day it feels colder to me. The flying insects are long gone but the chickens continue to range far and wide in their search. The sun shone all day. The cows and sheep kept up their nibbling and the sheep are doing fine on their findings. While they are having their morning grain snack I sink my fingers into their fleece to see if I can feel a sharp spine but all seem quite meaty and fat. So are Helen and Leah, but that is because they each eat a bale of hay a day. Helen gave 1.25 gals and I got 10 eggs. I bought Helen a bag of alfalfa cubes to augment her diet. I add some to her grain at milking time but she does not like them nearly as well as apples. Often she leaves some.

December 13, Thursday: First thing this morning there was a thin layer of ice on everything making walking to the barn a bit difficult and sleet was falling from the sky. Later it turned to rain and the air was very nice. At midday when I went to put out fresh hay I found all the sheep in the beefer pen eating hay. Helen and Leah were lying down chewing their cuds and paid no attention to them. Usually they seem to feel obligated to butt the sheep. The sheep's wool was encrusted with sleet. Helen gave 1.25 gals. I got only eight eggs. I forgot and left them in the barn so went out about 8PM with a flashlight. The geese stood up and murmured a question. I think they were saying "Is that you?" When they hear my voice they settle down at once unless it is feeding time. They have many different vocalizations and head positions and communicate a great deal. Unlike Muffin and Bagel, they never sleep through anything.

December 14, Friday: While milking rather later than usual this morning, I noticed a small hen which I probably would never have noticed had I been on time. Hens are regular in their habits. She hopped up onto the window ledge and disappeared into the wall. "Aha!" I thought. "She is laying in there."  I went back later to see what I could find. I brought along a small garden tool and by reaching my arm into the spidery space all the way to my armpit while standing on a stool I was able to hoe out eight intact eggs. Some broke. Of course I kept them separate from the regular eggs as some may be old. Afterwards I rolled up feed bags and stuffed the crevice. Hopefully she can no longer get in there and will find a more accessible place to lay. If she had hatched out chicks in there most would probably have fallen way into the bottom of the wall and been stuck unless I dismantled the wall. Which, knowing me I probably would have done. Helen was her usual friendly self today and gave 1.25 gals. I got a dozen eggs from the regular producers.

December 16, Sunday: Saturday morning snow was falling at dawn. About 4" accumulated and it was a classically beautiful sight. The early morning temperature was 20F. Later in the day the sun came out brilliantly and a cold wind came out of the northwest. This knocked all the snow off the dainty branches, but the sun was strong enough on the roofs to melt it off despite the cold wind. Helen gave 1.25 gals and there were eight eggs. Today was down to 18F and the whole day was clear. Amazingly, the barn water is still running and so is my spring line. Each day is a gift when I don't have to carry water and wrestle with frozen hoses. The sheep have started sleeping in with the cows now and don't flee when I walk in. Son Martin was here from yesterday and left this evening. Together we moved out my old wood heating stove and moved in another much larger one he bought from one of his employees. This was a huge job. We dragged the stoves across the floor on a length of old carpet so there was no damage to the floor. He also got started on another wiring project and repairs to the winter stock watering system. None of this could be completed because it turned out the hardware store was closed. However, he was able to set up the cast iron heating stove and I now have a fire going in it. We also went down in the woods and cut a Christmas tree, which is now set up awaiting my attentions. It is a fir balsam, consequently rather sparse, but smells lovely. Martin did the evening barn chores. Helen likes him and cooperated perfectly. He got the (now) usual amount of milk, total 1.25 gals for the day. Ten eggs.

December 17, Monday: My vet stopped in today and did a pregnancy check on Helen. Good news. She is definitely in calf. I did not ask him to check Leah because I am confident that she settled. Helen was bred August 28 so that will bring her in at the end of May. Leah is due about July 20. It was down to 10F this morning but my water system made it through the night again. Helen gave 1.25 gals. I got 10 eggs. This afternoon it started to snow and is still snowing now, six hours later.

December 18, Tuesday: It was snowing at dawn and continued much of the day. There is more than 6" accumulation and it is perfectly beautiful. It is just over 30F. My neighbor came and plowed me out. Now the bantams can no longer forage and must be fed. They do hop around on the hay bales and in with the cattle and find some tidbits to their fancy. Helen gave almost 1.5 gals today and there were nine eggs.

December 19, Wednesday: Most of the sheep now come up to the manger with the cows and the cows don't object. A couple of the younger ewes hang back but they probably grab their chance when the cows step outside or lie down to chew their cuds which they do for hours at a time. I have been waiting for a small hay delivery, fifty bales of high grade hay to augment what they are getting. Tonight I called my hay man for the third time. Last time was three weeks ago and he promised to fit me in soon. This time he admitted he had totally forgotten. Now he says he will come Saturday or Sunday. Helen was back down to 1.25 gals today. I got seven eggs.

December 20, Thursday: Sloppy weather today, but it did not stop the sheep. I saw them down in their snow-covered paddock chewing on a big dead log of Balm of Gilead. Others were nosing along the fence line where tufts of grass are always longer and stick up through the snow. Later I found Topknot, a two year old ewe, right inside the hay feeder. She did not want to get out even when I pushed her. She is the most assertive and enterprising of the ewes and no doubt will be the next leader. The cows still go into the goose pen every day even though they have to wade through snow to get there. Today they pushed on the goose yard gate and frightened the geese through so they escaped. I ran them into the barn and put them in an empty stall. Now they make a lot of indignant cackling whenever they see me, but they will have to stay there. I was very late getting to the barn this evening, 5:30, because I was waiting for things to come out of the oven. Helen was cross and let down poorly. Total for today, a bit less than 1.25 gals. I got nine eggs.

December 21, Friday: I have known for over a week that one of my best hens had hidden a nest somewhere and today I caught her sneaking into it. She is through laying and is setting. I brought in one egg to open to see if it is viable. Helen gave less than a gallon today. I am about to try out a different feed and some better hay is supposed to be coming this weekend. I will feed it once a day and see if it makes any difference. Perhaps she is just determined to dry off.. I got nine eggs.

December 22, Saturday: A fine brilliant day but cold. I broke up the ice in the stock tank three times. However, the hose that feeds it is still dribbling. I will be very surprised if it is still running in the morning. There is a cold north wind and the stars are out. I took all the eggs from the nest I found on Friday. They were cold. But, the one I opened was perfectly fresh. There were nine, but some had been broken. Helen was back up to 1.25 gals today. I got a dozen eggs not counting the nest I found. A Brown Thrasher has been visiting my feeder. The bird book says this is their summer range. He is eating suet.

December 23, Sunday: The thermometer said 5F this morning, but my spring is still running. However, the stock tank was frozen up with no water entering and about 2 inches of ice. I whacked it open again. The sun today was brilliant and it warmed up to 32F and the tank began to refill. My hay man and his wife came and brought fifty bales of hay called Reed Canary. I have not seen it before. The cows lit right into it, so I guess they like it. I certainly will be interested to see if Helen's production rises. She gave only 1 gal today, but she had not drunk all night due to her water being frozen over. They did not finish off their hay last night. I expect they ran out of spit. Ten eggs today.

December 24, Christmas Eve: Helen had no more milk than usual this morning, but I did notice something different. Since September I have been making a practice of drinking a couple of ounces of milk at the beginning of milking and a couple of more ounces at the end. The hind milk (last milk) always has a much superior flavor, very sweet and creamy (cream always comes out last). The first milk is salty. But, this morning it was not salty. It must be the change in feed. It has warmed up. Instead of snowing today it rained. The cows did not mind. They walked across the flattened snow to stand under the pine trees at the far side of the pasture. Helen likes her new hay a lot. Son Martin is here and he milked this evening. He said that Helen did not want the sheep to have any of the new hay and kept chasing them round and round the feeder. But, it is hopeless. They return like seagulls. Helen's production was up from yesterday. She gave a bit over 1.25 gals. The hens laid a dozen eggs.

December 25, Christmas: Such a perfect sunny day about 32F, all the animals and people are happy. The boys chopped lots more wood to work up an appetite for dinner. Also, we went up to camp and took a walk. The lake was like glass. Until we skipped some stones it was hard to tell there was ice forming on it. But, starting about 30 feet out from shore there was a thin film. There was also ice this morning on the back ramp where Helen comes into the barn. First she went around front and asked to come in the front gate. But, that is impossible. When my neighbor plowed the snow from the driveway he blocked that gate and it will not be opened again this winter. I walked around the barn and moved her back to the ramp while I went for salt. While I was gone she came in and must have frightened herself because this evening Martin had great difficulty getting her to walk up it. He had cleared all the ice off it and salted it, but she remained suspicious. It took him about ten minutes and a lot of apples to persuade her to risk it. She gave the same amount today, 1.25 gals. We got 8 eggs.

December 26, Boxing Day: All on my own again with leftovers to last past New Year's Day. The weather continues unseasonably warm. There is still fairly complete snow cover. There are icicles on the roof in places. Most of today it was about 32F. The geese are back out in their paddock and Helen and Leah were back in with them today eating up their grain. There is no way to repair the fence now that the ground is frozen. The geese will just have to put up with company. The cows have mashed all the metal posts and wire down flat. It will have to be completely replaced. But, the geese are much happier now that they are back outside. While locked in the barn stall I could hear them complaining all the time that they were unjustly confined and wanted to see their lawyer. They do not appear to mind the cold. Helen gave about the same amount today, 1.25 gals. The hens laid 13 eggs.

December 27, Thursday: I am trying a different feed. It is from Lessard in Canada. It is somewhat cheaper and Helen and Leah like it. But of course they liked Nutrena (Cargill) too. They love the new hay. It is getting colder and we are told to expect a colder trend. It was in the low twenties this evening. While I was milking the power went out and I finished up by flashlight. The cows seemed scarcely to notice until walking back to the beefer pen in the dark a displaced rooster scared Helen witless. She plunged all around for a minute until my voice calmed her down. The power was out for 45 minutes. Helen's morning production remains steady at 3/4 gal, but her evening production was up a bit yesterday and up 8 oz tonight. I can not be sure yet if this is due to the new hay or not. Nine eggs today.

December 28, Friday: Down to 7F this morning, the coldest day to date. The spring water is still running in the kitchen, but the stock tank at the barn is no longer filling. I broke the ice and poured in a bucket of hot water. But, so far as I could tell, by this evening no water had been drunk. It was probably frozen over again when they came to drink, or else they just hate drinking through ice floes. If I am right that Helen drank nothing, then she has had no water since yesterday. She barely made 1.25 gals today which is not surprising. I plugged in the submersible water heater in the tub under the garage that Martin set up. There is a light down there to help them find it. If they do not find it in the night, tomorrow I will lead Helen over with apples. The sheep know it is there. They watched me. But they scarcely ever drink. After I threw hay down this evening I watched through the hay drop as Leah chased the sheep three times around the feeder. Every time a sheep would pop its head into a slot to eat she would move it along. It really was a funny scene. Only seven eggs today.

December 29, Saturday: Cold again today, 10F this morning. There was no open water in the stock tank. I broke the ice on the bit that remained and somebody drank that. Around noon I went to the barn with apples and tempted Helen and Leah around to the tub set up under the buttery and garage. I gave them each an apple and left one floating in the tub. Leah drank some water but Helen disdained it. I checked down there several times later in the day but no water was gone. Nonetheless Helen's milk production was up this evening to almost 1.5 gals. I guess I must attribute this to the new hay. Eight eggs today. All the animals seem happy. The poultry seemed querulous. I brought them a big pan of weavil infested brown rice cooked in skim milk and they loved this. Also gave them a bale of hay and spread it around. This ought to cheer them up. For my supper I had a salad of pale green chicory leaves which grew in the dark in the bucket of roots I dug in October and put in the cellar. It is amazing how much they produce. These tops are straggly, not neat chicons such as one sees in the market, but they are equally tasty (Of course I think they are better).

December 30, Sunday: Today was difficult. Due to freezing, I was unable to get the new system to refill the water tub. I worked on it for about an hour. Helen and Leah stood around for a while asking for a drink but finally gave up and left. I too was forced to give up. I went to the barn to contemplate the stock tank and make a plan. The stock tank was frozen into a couple of inches of mud and surrounded with ice from overflow in days past. I threw out as much as possible of the chunks of ice from the tub, then carried four buckets of boiling water out and put into it. After that with the tip of a spade chipping around it I was able to lift it loose. I dumped out the water, now cold, and dragged it into the beefer pen. Some weeks ago hay had been piled in the area where I would need to lead a hose to it from the barn faucet. The faucet itself is not frozen as it has a heat tape on it and frost has not yet entered the ground far enough to freeze the water pipe. That may come later. I re-stacked about 20 bales of the hay to create access for the hose and was able to refill the stock tank. The cows showed no reluctance to drink this water. They are used to that tank and its algae stains. I also rigged up the submersible water heater so it should not freeze over too badly. The heater is much too small for a tank of that size. My back is feeling a bit the worse for wear. Helen gave about the same as yesterday and the hens again laid eight eggs. I know two birds that are loose in the barn have hidden nests but I can't find them.