Autumn is back
Well, after having 3 nights of single digit temps, we are now back where we should be for this time of year. All the trees were still green, so now they all have frozen brown leaves. No fall color this year, except in the Tamaracks. The cold didn’t seem to affect them too much.
All the critters survived just fine. Even the baby turkeys. They just stayed under the mama turkey and stuck thier little heads out once in a while.
The garden is now all cleaned up and ready for winter. John is working on his greenhouse. The door and one window are in now.
Today I went and picked up my “boomerang” goats from up by Whitefish. I sold them, and now they are back here, this time for good. They were at a pretty fancy house, but now they are back here. But, they have more company around here, so they will be fine.
Tomorrow we start doing in the turkeys. At least one will go in the freezer, maybe more, depending on the weather. They are really starting to get annoying. Plus, they are eating the chicken eggs! Time for them to go bye-bye.
After the 3rd, I will only have 23 cashmere does and 9 wethers! I think I might have sold too many goats this year. Actually, since half the does are getting bred this fall, there will be plenty of goats again next year. I’ll just have a smaller fleece harvest this spring than I have had for a few years.
We started tearing down the old dairy shed, so now Dottie and Belle will have to sleep in the new barn. Speckles has been in there all by herself this summer, but now they will all be back together. I think Dottie is bred now, so that should make her a little easier to deal with this winter. She was just way too cantankerous this last year. Now it is Belle’s turn to be the one that gets “run through” this year. She should give a bit more milk than Dottie has, so that will be good, since I haven’t froze any milk for us yet this year!
Next week-end I get to take a break from this place for a couple of days! I’m heading for Spokane for the week-end. John is going to take care of things while I’m gone. I am really looking forward to the break. I haven’t been away for more than a few hours in over three years! That is too long without a break. The change in scenery will be good.
The final Farmers’ Market of the year is this Saturday. It’s indoors at the fairgrounds in Kalispell from 9am to 3pm. One more day of getting up at 5am in the total darkness and trying to feed everyone with just a little spotlight. Kind of hard to do. Hopefully a lot of people will be there and buying things.
Well, that’s all for now.
