~Starting the day...........

Another frosty start to the day. Sub zero temps are here to stay for awhile. The sky seemed at war - reds, yellows, pinks and blues. A sign of weather to come. They are predicting -20 by friday morning. Needless to say, we hustled through chores and everyone was grateful for their grub.

Gus and Gert were waiting for breakfast with their usual eagerness. They are both getting a full bottle of warm milk and they waste no time in emptying it, letting you know they would really like more. They wear the cutest little milk mustache when they are finished. They both continue to put on weight and are thriving.

The sheep were all huddled around the feeder, happily munching their hay. They seem to have enough wool where they don't mind the cold.

This is Henry - he is one of our resident barn cats. He's the friendliest one of the bunch. He's been spending his nights in the barn, sleeping in the cows manger to stay warm but he takes his breakfast at my Mom's house. She will let him in and feed him where it's warm :)

Have a great day and stay warm!

~New moon, new camera

The new moon was gorgeous. I really wanted to photograph it while it was rising but that was during choretime and I couldn't take the time. So, this is what I ended up with using the "night" setting on the new camera. I could not shoot directly at the moon or I had a streak of what looked like lightening to the moon (below)

I have much to learn but I was so happy to get photos of the moon that really look like the moon :)

Have a great day!

Grocery store challenge...........

I like to think that we are slowly accomplishing our dream of becoming fairly self sufficient here. We raise a good supply of vegetables that we can, freeze and pickle. We raise pork, beef and lamb. We have chickens for eggs and a dairy cow for milk, butter and soft cheese. My freezers are always full and my pantry looks pretty stocked as well as vegetables in the cellar.

So could someone PLEASE tell me why my grocery bill is at least $125.00 weekly at our local Hannaford Supermarket?!!! Does anyone else deal with this dilemma? I am not a "spender" so to speak and do not spend on wasteful products. I buy what we cannot raise such as paper products, coffee, sugar, etc.

The one thing I do not do at this point is buy in bulk and hopefully next week that is going to change. I have recently found a local food coop and will be going to the store next week to see what it's all about. I talked with the women who runs it on thursday. They have spices, teas and most anything else you would need. They run regular monthly specials in the store and they have a catalog for things that you may need that aren't in the store. For example, last months special was cinnamon $4.00 lb!

I would love to hear what you all do to keep your grocery bill to a minumum or how to keep from going to the grocery store at all!

~ A Working winter day...........

It's snowing again this afternoon and the wind has picked up. A light, fluffy snow. This morning we hauled 11 ton of round bales for the cows and we were fortunate to have sunny weather and 35 degrees. That should hold those hayburners for a month or so :) It's such a sense of security seeing all that hay stacked up. There is plenty more where that came from. Before we know it we will have green grass again :)

The birds were busy at the feeders and also on the bird tree. We have an abundance of bluejays! They have been eating the home made baked ornaments and running all the little birds off. The woodpeckers pay them no mind and love the suet blocks and the peanuts. I just love watching the birds.

~Have a warm and comfy evening ~

~ Wordless Wednesday ~

~ A little time away......

Over New Year weekend, Hubby and I had the chance to scoot out for a couple of hours. We grabbed the new camera and headed for one of our favorite places. The Atlantic Ocean. We live about 45 minutes from the coast. It's one of the many wonderful benefits of living in Maine. We absolutely love the water and we rarely have the time or I should say make the time to visit. It was a beautiful sunny day with gorgeous blue sky. It was also cold........very cold. The wind was whipping and the wind chills were well below zero. But.....when you can have the entire stretch of beach for as far as you can see to yourself, we can stand a little wind and cold!

This is the sandy beach at Pine Point in Scarborough. There are miles of gorgeous sand beaches from the NH border north to Portland. Most of the coastline past Portland is rocky coastline. Some of the most beautiful coastal scenery imaginable. Below are a few rocky coast photos taken at Two Lights State park in Cape Elizabeth.

The water was as clear as the sky. It was low tide and we could walk out on the rocks for quite a ways. Steve is actually standing on a huge piece of rock that's quite high up over the ocean floor. We had to be careful of ice as the spray was freezing instantly.

Time went by quickly and before we knew it, it was time to head home. We had a wonderful couple of hours, just the two of us. Who knew holding hands, walking on the beach in January could be so much fun :)

New Year writers block.........

I seem to have writers block or somethings blocked :) I truly enjoy blogging and I read my blog friends with my first cup of coffee in the morning. I have had many things in mind to blog about and have had several opportunities to use the new camera but I can't seem to get it out of my head and onto my blog. The days have been long....early starts and late nights. When I sit down to post, I just stare at the screen.

Anyhow.....it's been really busy on the farm the last few days. That and trying to get my house back in order from the holidays. I really dislike it when my house is cluttered and out of order. Mom and I undecorated our tree yesterday and tossed it to the goats. Ran the vac and removed some of the dust. It made a big difference. I like being able to see out my picture window again. Love the tree but was happy to see it go.

This is what 7 goats can do to a fir tree in just a few minutes. They were so happy to get it - it's a real treat for them.

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. One of the nicest we have had in quite some time. Blue sky and high 30's. We dismantled our sheep breeding groups this morning and delivered our visiting ewes back to their home. Checked feet and overall condition on everyone and moved them all to their permanent winter housing. Our girls were happy to be back in their regular group.

The rams are back in the ram house with their rubber tire floor. It takes them a few days to get reacquainted. You would think they had never been together. The tires on the floor prevents them from running into each other with enough force to really hurt each other. In a week or so I can let them out again. Boys!!

Today was weaning day for Jan and Squirt McGert. Squirt never bellowed and Jan never stopped. Squirt met Gus today for the first time. They are now sharing a space and seem quite content together.

Tonight will be Squirt's first time on a bottle. That should be fun! I let them both out back of the barn today for a little while. The south side is always warm on a sunny day. They had such fun romping and exploring.

"Gus""Squirt McGert"

Banjo wanted to play too :)

This is Froto. He is one of our bottle baby wethers. He's very friendly and would have loved to be in the backyard with us watching the calves play.

All in all a productive day and I got through a blog! Hope everyone had a nice weekend :)