Bye Bye Ponies

Alligator Valley Farm no longer has horses.  Both Summer and Stella went to my daughter's farm (they were her horses anyways).  I love horses but I'm getting too old for them.  lol  Oh my goodness, just realized I'll be 50 next year.  After Stella had her eye removal surgery she needed attention and with her being so skittish it made me nervous.  My daughter is the horse expert.  She is wonderful with horses and is so very knowledgeable.  I believe she now has 9 horses over there.  Better her than me!
I'll stick with my goats and my chickens.  They are smaller and I can handle them.  I also had a hernia operation last year.  After purchasing my grain for everyone, all the lifting, I had a bowel pinched from the hernia.  Emergency operation was performed and I'm not supposed to be lifting so much.  The horses go through a lot more grain than the goats do.  My husband is very helpful and I appreciate him so very much.

My pregnant does are looking VERY pregnant.

I showed photos to the previous owner and she thought they look very close and like they could be carrying triplets or even quads since they are so big.  I'm going to have my hands full with bouncing babies soon.  I can't wait!  It's going to be so hard to sell them.  lol  I can't keep them all!

The babies that were born January 17th are getting big!  Luna, black female, has a cute little white heart on her forehead. Her brother is the spitting image of Mamma.   Today I was able to catch Luna and hold her some more.  Only caught her because she got stuck and didn't see me coming.  The little guy is a bit harder to catch.  I will keep Luna but the little boy is already spoken for.

We have had some pretty nice weather here in New Hampshire the past few days.  So much so that I am getting spring fever.  I even pulled out my lawn chair and have been enjoying the sun.  There is less snow than that now, I am happy to report.  It feels so good to feel that sun shining on my face.  Even my garlic garden is starting to come through.

I can't wait to start seeing green shoots popping up through that mud and snow.  Unfortunately,  we have a possible big storm coming this week.  Just when you think the warmth is here to stay...boom, God dumps another round on us.  Gotta love the crazy weather if you live in New Hampshire!
Even the chickens are enjoying the snow melt.  They can now get into the manure piles that have thawed out.

They are delivering on the eggs like crazy right now.  Now getting a couple dozen eggs a day.  The ducks are laying much better now too.
I ordered parts for my incubator today.  I should have that fixed and full of eggs here soon.  Hoping to sell chicks this year.  I love hatching eggs.  It's like Christmas for me!  I get so eggcited and can't wait to see what the chick looks like and try to guess which rooster and which hen it came from.  I love the backyard mixes!

In the home:
I made up a batch of white chocolate covered pretzel sticks.  My husband doesn't like chocolate unless it's white chocolate.  I don't do a fancy job.  Just melt the chocolate and dump in the pretzels.  I did add a jar of peanuts too.

I have been trying to use more all natural products around the house.  Some things I will try to make on my own but some things I can't or haven't done yet.  In that case, I love the site www.grove.co  My order came today.  I love the smells of the hand soaps.

Check out their site.  It is .co and not .com  I don't think their prices are that bad either.

Not sure I'll be posting for a couple days.  I have to work on the taxes.  My husband is self-employed so there is a lot of paperwork to go through!  My least favorite time of the year.  It is also the end of another month so I have plow bills to write up.
I do have a few Facebook pages that you are welcome to check out if you are on Facebook
N.H. Backyard Chicken Habit ( you can't have too many)
N.H. Backyard Goat Farming
N.H. Backyard Bird Watching
N.H. Backyard Gardening Fun
N.H. Our Backyard Happenings
Yumminess and Happiness (recipes and things that make me smile)
Everything Scripture, Prayers, Studies, Songs and Quotes
Alligator Valley Farm

And on Twitter and Instagram it is under Alligator Valley Farm

I stay busy with all my pages and blog.

See you next month!  :-)

Oh my goodness!  Peeeeeuuuuuuu.  Skunk.  No idea what it sprayed out there but I sure do smell it!  Glad the dogs are all inside.

Cookies, Birds and Mice Oh My!

Hubby wanted to play with some equipment so he borrowed a friend's little machine and moved around some snow and ice.  It's so funny to see him in something so small because he has backhoes, dozers and excavators, big machines. 
It was a beautiful day too.

Spring is so close!  It must be getting close, I received another seed catalog this week.  I love those catalogs.  Hubby and I were discussing where we are going to put the greenhouse we purchased.  It's 14 x 40 feet so we have to find a nice big open area.  We have yet to decide.

I have a roll top desk I purchased used a few years ago.  It has secret compartments in it so today I thought I would go through it and see how many of them I could find.  I found one that I had not know of.  I stuck my hand in hoping for something fun and what did I find???

Eeeewwww!  So NOT what I was expecting.  LOL

I made hubby some peanut butter cookies today.  This is the recipe I used but I would add more peanut butter and I'm not sure why they broke it up into 1-6 and then the last 2 ingredients.  I ended up getting a mouthful of the baking soda because it didn't get mixed in so well.  I would think you could add those two in with the other dry ingredients

Ingredients :

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups sifted flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375?. Mix first six ingredients. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Roll into balls and press down with a fork dipped in sugar or flour. Bake for 10-12 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet.

Had some visitors at the bird feeder today.  I love the Mourning Doves.  I love listening to their coos. 

One of these guys has some funky tail feathers.  Not sure they are supposed to look like that.  

I also found a bird nest out back.  It much easier to find the nests with no leaves on the trees.  Now I know where to look this spring.  I wonder what type of bird belongs to this nest.  

A Day of Fence Jumping And Fence Fixing

My husband and granddaughter usually feed the animals in the morning on their way to the bus stop.  That is a nice treat for me. 
Well, with new goats and a new horse on the property we are still figuring things out around here.  New additions can be stressful for a week or so till everyone is settled back in. 
My husband fed the new goats but when he did he went on top of the BIG snow bank, from the roof slide.  When he came back over he scared Stella, the new horse blind in one eye.  What does she do?  She decides to jump the fence!  Fortunately, jumping that fence put her into Summer's paddock so she didn't get out. She did scrape a large patch of fur off her leg though. 

Ugh. 

Then the two new pregnant does decided that they didn't like being in the back pen and wanted to be out with everyone else.  Over the fence they went, multiple times till I could get it fixed.  Because the snow is so high it makes the fence lower.  One doe would jump back in once we got them back over to the same spot they jumped out.  The other girl is so heavy but I had to lift her up and over.  Oh my goodness that was rough.  lol  A few more fence posts and another bunch of fencing above the other fence and I think that spot is patched.

Stella had her surgery to remove her eye that was full of cancer.  Poor girl.  She's had a rough life.  Hopefully now she can settle down and start to recoup. 
When she was at the vets they sedated her but when they started to shave around her eye, she woke up and panicked.  She surprised the vet and they ended up tearing her skin around her good eye.  Poor baby is a mess. 

When Stella came back from her surgery, my daughter changed the fencing all around so that the goats were all separated and Summer and Stella could be together.  Summer is Stella's support pony.  The new does are in one pen and the other 7 are in their own pen.  Well, my daughter left for her home and when I went down to feed I spent an hour and a half trying to fix fencing and throwing goats back in their right pen.  I smashed fingers with  a hammer, got poked with wire, cried and screamed my way through that hour and a half. I am still sore today. 
I believe the horses will be going to my daughter's farm in a few weeks once she can get fencing up for them.  She has 7 over there now and 4 goats.  Then I will have just my goats and chickens to worry about.

I have discovered that I can fit 27 chicken eggs in my jacket pocket.  lol  I am so glad I did not slip on the ice out back.  That's one of my biggest fears is slipping on the ice with a pocket full of eggs and breaking an arm.  The girls are really starting to produce again. 
I am happy to say that I have picked up a couple more customers in the neighborhood too.  I would much rather sell to neighbors than the store a few towns over but I'm happy just to sell them!  One lady was paying 5.00 a dozen at a farm about 30 minutes away.  I live about 5 minutes down the road from her and only charge 2.00 a dozen. 
Boy does the chicken coop need to be shoveled out.  It freezes in the winter months so you can't shovel it out, come warmer weather everything starts to thaw and yesterday was in the 70*s.  Today it was in the 30*s and snowing.  Gotta love New Hampshire!   

Egg Nightmare!

Oh my goodness!  Let me just say...if you do not own your own chickens and have FRESH eggs, you have NO idea the struggle to peel a FRESH egg.  You just want to throw them in the trash.  They look awful but do taste so good. 
That means store bought eggs are so old that they become very easy to peel.  Fresher the egg, harder to peel. 

New Goats. Fox At The Coop.

Welcome back.  Sorry I was gone for a few days.  It has been busy around here and I have to admit, I had a couple lazy days too.

Today, Saturday, I had 2 new goats arrive on the farm.  Meet Penny (black) and Hope.  They are both 5 year old pregnant does due end of March.  I couldn't resist.  They are so friendly and sweet. 

Hard to sell baby goats if you don't have babies!  Now I'll have babies.  Plus I have the two that my first doe had a month or so ago.  I really need to look back through FB and write down the date the babies were born so I can keep better track of all the goat details.  I'm learning as I go.

Along with these two ladies, my daughter purchased a mini for her son's first pony.  Meet Bonny.  She is at my daughter's farm.  I hauled my goats from my daughter's house in the back of my Caravan.  Not the first animals to ride back there and I'm sure it won't be the last.  lol

Bonny is also 5 years old.  My granddaughter hopes her Aunty will let her ride it for a while. 

The other morning I heard the chickens squawking so I looked out my bedroom window just in time to see a fox jumping into the air and grabbing one of my chickens. I flung open the window and started yelling at it, ran down the hall, grabbed the dogs and headed outside. The dogs finally got scent of it and took off through the woods. The fox dropped my hen and I see her headed back home. I'm out there in my jammies calling my hen...come on girl you can make it! Come on chicky chicky! All the while the fox is trying to circle back to get his breakfast he dropped but the dogs keep chasing him away. 3 times that fox tried to come back for that hen. I finally saw the dogs chasing the fox across the side road and up through the woods. Neighbors had cleared their land so I could watch all that was going on. Trying to do a head count and I realize 4 specific birds are missing that I know of. :-( The hen the fox got was one of the ones that refused to go in the shed at night. They all get thrown in now except for the few on top of the shed I can't reach.
Unfortunately, I went out back of the coop to just double and there was a pile of feathers back there.  That stinkin' fox came back and got that hen.  I took for granted that she was safe because she made it back.  Poor girl.  
This morning I found a dead hen in the driveway.  No obvious marks or cuts on her.  No idea. 

The last snow storm we had we got about a foot of snow.  I went out and locked up the chickens as usual.  This time for some crazy reason, one of my bantams flew up and was on the roof of the coop.  It was still snowing and I could not reach her so I had to leave her out.  Come morning I went out and all I could see of that hen was her head and her tail!  The poor thing was frozen into the snow on top of the shed!  What is it with these crazy chickens lately?  
I had to take a shovel and dig her out.  She was fine.  I caught her and held her for a little bit to help warm her up.  

In the photo you can see where I had to dig her out.  

On a good note, the chickens are laying pretty well again.  I got 17 today and 25 yesterday.  I picked up another customer today.  I delivered 2 dozen to a neighbor and they want at least a dozen a week, maybe 2 dozen.  I was able to bring 7 dozen to the store the other day.

I got a little bit of baking done this week.  I finally got doughnuts made for my husband.  He loves my donuts and we haven't had them in quite a while.  I make doughnut holes.  It's easier and faster than rolling and cutting.

This is an old recipe from our town cook book sold years and years ago.  It's the one I've always used.

I also made molasses spice cookies.  My granddaughter ate most of those.  lol  My husband wanted some tonight but they were all gone.  He had to settle for popcorn.  lol  

Well, the battery is low on my computer and the pesky dogs want out.   

Snow Day

It started snowing around noon today.  Now about 6 PM.  If we don't have a foot of snow out there, it is pretty darn close!  It is supposed to snow for a few more hours.

There were over 800 closing today in the state.  Not sure any schools were opened.  So my granddaughter got to play outside.  Part of her playing outside was for school work.  The school has what they call Blizzard Bags.  It's a folder full of home work to do on some of the days off so they can count it as a school day and not get out of school so late in June.  This was their 5th BB day, the last one in the folder for this year.  They had 2 other days off also.

We had great little visitor at the bird feeders today.  The red Cardinal was here. His bright red feathers are such a welcome site against the white drab winter colors.

I've seen the female a couple of times this year.
My granddaughter and I were sure to fill the feeders so the birds would have plenty to eat during this storm.

Stella, the new horse, is still pretty panicky when she can't see Summer.  She was alone for so long that now she has a buddy, she does not want to be with out one again!  Stella hasn't quite warmed up to the goats yet like Sonny had.  Sonny loved her goats.
Oh, update on the sale of Sonny.  She is at her new home and doing well.  She is now known as Midnight and is living with goats again.  lol  She didn't get along with the new horses, she is such a diva.

Unfortunately, my son, 28, has come down with the flu I think.  I have seen him for a total of maybe 10 minutes in the past 24 hours.  That's OK, he can stay in his room and keep his germs with him!  Lysol has been my friend today.  If he comes out of his room I am following close behind with the Lysol spraying anything he touches!

I was able to get the plow bills all written up yesterday.  That may not sound like much to you but my husband has over 40 driveways that he plows and or sands and I hand write all the bills.  Tonight my time will be spent stuffing all the envelopes and adding address labels and return address labels.
I most likely won't see my husband until tomorrow some time.  It can take him over 12 hours to plow his route and with about a foot of snow and still falling....

Cold winter's night, I'm thinking maybe a simple grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner.  Just my granddaughter and I.

It has gotten dark I had best go lock up the chickens for the night.

A couple nights ago I was woken up by coy dogs or coyotes howling outside my window.  It is such a creepy sound.  There was a pack of them howling away.  I ran outside and started yelling and screaming at them to go away.  I didn't want them anywhere near my chickens or goats.  I have a few chickens that sleep outside but all were accounted for.  Not sure what they had but man I hate that noise. 

Mouse At The House

As I was walking outside to throw bird seed out on the ground for the Mourning Doves, I came across this little mouse.  He was just sitting in the driveway.  At first I wasn't sure he was even alive since he was sitting so still.  I had time to run back in side and grab my cell phone so I could take his picture.  I was wondering if it was because he was near the bird feeders and he was afraid to move.  This was actually the 3rd mouse I saw in the past few days running around the drive way. 

I don't mind the mice, as long as they are outside.

I took that left over beef brisket I made last night for dinner and made it into a stew.  I was trying to figure out the best way to thicken it up.  I used the left over mashed potato (instant) and it came out really nice.  I was able to use a jar of our home canned potatoes.  Yum! 
I haven't made a stew in quite a while. 

The goats are getting big.  They are able to get up high on the hay bales, the top of their hay "igloo".  Mamma, has no more safe place.  :-)

Thought I Was Out of Thyme

Bye bye Sonny.  My morning started bright and early with my daughter coming to pick up Sonny and bring her to her new home up in Vermont.  I got to watch my grandson for the day.

We had a great morning playing and he took a nap.  When they got back from hauling Sonny, they grabbed the other trailer and headed out to pick up round bales.  Two for me and the rest for her.

During the winter months I like having a round bale so the horses and goats can eat all night long to help keep themselves warm.  I sleep better at night too.  :-)

While they were out hauling, my grandson was bouncing and bouncing in his bouncer.  He LOVES that thing.  One minute he's bouncing away and the next minute....he wasn't....

Sound asleep.  No, I didn't leave him in there.  I took him out and cuddled with him.  These are the best kind of days on the farm!

I was putting dinner in the crock pot this morning and I thought I was going to be out of thyme.  :-)  It's nice when you think you don't have enough thyme then find 3 bottles in the spice cupboard.
I have a beef brisket cooking.  I've never cooked one before but it came in all the beef that my husband bartered with a customer.  Those are the kind of customers I like!  My meat never seems to get as tender as the photos or the recipes say it will.  I hate that. 

And then there is dessert.  This is my all time favorite ice cream flavor.  Oh yum!

Animals all fed.  Hubby out plowing, we got a few inches last night.  Bird feeders are filled. Sun is shining.  Water cup full of ice water.  Then to head to my daughter's to watch my grandson while she is outside with the farrier getting her horses (6) feet done. Two are border's horses.

He is just the cutest and happiest little boy.  Such a hard job to do...watching him.  :-)
Oops, typical me, I just got side tracked taking photos of the birds at the feeders for about 30 minutes.  Hey, at least I got some nice pictures! 

 Dark Eyed Junco with Blue Jay in the back ground.

 Blue Jay

 Chickadee

I enjoy watching birds at the feeders.  Some of my favorites I've had here are the Cardinal and the Eastern Blue Bird.  The humming birds are great fun to watch!

Before I went to my daughter's this morning I had to grab some sand out of my husband's sand shed so they could put sand down in their horses' paddocks where needed.  It's pretty icy over there. 

We just filled some 5 gallon pails to haul over there.
I did get one photo of the farrier working on one of the horses.  My daughter lives at the end of a pond so the wind whips through there all the time.  The thermometer was reading 20*, not including the wind chill.
Excuse the picture, I took it through the screen. 

I took a picture of Keila, the old lady pup at my daughter's.  She's getting old and has seizures now and then.  She's actually the only one of her siblings still alive.  They all had health issues and she's got to be pushing 10 years old now. 

I wrapped her up in her daddy's jacket.  She loves to snuggle up.

When I returned home I stopped at the barn to clean Summer's stall and check on the baby goats. 
This is what I see when I pull into the barn yard. 

She's standing on the hay bales looking out the window.  Mamma, Lou Lou. 

Still haven't gotten good pictures of the babies again.  I'll have to bring my regular camera down instead of my cell. 

The new horse is here on the property now.  I always find it so stressful when new horses come on the farm.  They take a good 2 weeks to adjust and get all the fighting with each other out of their system. 
She is a rescue my daughter picked up.  The guy didn't want her any more.  Was going to do "away with" her if no one took her.  She needs eye surgery to remove an eye due to cancer.  We will let her settle in a little bit before she has surgery.
Stella is a Thoroughbred, about 16.2 Hands and around 13 years old. 

Summer, with the blanket on, with her new buddy, Stella.  The pony, Sonny, did not get along with her.  Sonny is happy being with just the goats.  Good news though!  Sonny is leaving early tomorrow morning to her new home!  Just when I thought I was going to be down to one horse....another shows up.  LOL

Some time last night my oldest rooster died.  He had to be close to 8 years old.  He was one of the oldest chickens I have.  The younger ones were starting to pick on him.  They must have known his time was close.  Oh my goodness!  I just realized my other rooster, Gilligan is missing!  I haven't seen him in a while.  Gilligan was a little bantam rooster.  He was everyone's favorite.  Actually, Gilligan may have been older than the other rooster that died.  That's the problem with having so many birds you can't keep track of well.

Gee, tomorrow I get to watch my grandson again while my daughter and son-in-law deliver Sonny to her new home.   And a bonus, my daughter is going to feed all the horses and goats when she arrives early morning!