As usual.. life here keeps rolling along.   The past few weeks have been very eventful.. and busy.  Andy lost his job which while scary is just a blessing in disguise.  Things here were getting unmanageable for me alone with the kids all day.  Milk orders were getting confused, I was exhausted.. and the house just beyond help.  Since Andy has been home we have put the garden in, did some gardening around the house, worked on fences, fixed up the store, CLEANED HOUSE, baked bread, made cheese, and the list goes on and on!   Things around here are looking quite spruced up!  Mom was here for a visit last week, she was TREMENDOUSLY helpful!  Thanks Mom!  

Hopefully we will get all the backlogged stuff completed soon and begin to enjoy each other a bit more.  It would be wonderful to have time as a family to do the normal stuff families do.   The budget is going to be a stretch at best.... Andy's income was a huge help around here... but that too I am sure will work itself out in the end.  We have meat in the freezer, I still have some veggies in the freezer from last year and the garden will be producing before too much longer.. in fact the lettuce looks pretty darned close!  Thank goodness I have bought in bulk for years;  things like oats, rice, corn, and wheat we have plenty on hand to last a while.  

Our first cheese is ageing.  I worked last week and got our cheese labels done.. they should arrive next week.  Its looking like I will be at Village Point Farmers Market in Omaha on Saturdays starting in July.  We will have pasteurized cheese to sell there.. we will be doing a fresh Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack,  Fresh Cheddar Bites and Pepper Cheddar Bites for sale.  Deciding to produce cheese that would require us to pasteurize our milk was a tough choice but it allows us to be at the market in July, bringing in much needed revenue, and I can talk to people about the value of pasture based farming.  Its a good opener.  By late summer we will have a supply of raw cheeses to offer and things will be different.  Our raw cheeses will be English Cheddar and Aged Monterey Jack. We may also venture into Colby...  I want to keep it simple and wanted to provide cheeses that families can use in their everyday meals.  

Did you see our new webpage header photo? This is Mouse.. one of  the original four cows purchased here in Nebraska.  The shot was taken by our friend Dianne Merrill. She is just starting out a photography business... and she sure does great work! 

The calves are doing a great job of keeping the lawn mowed! Its fun having them right here next to the house.. .they are so darn cute!  We had another little guy born yesterday... Daisy.. she has had three bull calves in a row... whats up with that?

Last week's cold snap really stalled the growth of our grass...  its getting tight out in the pasture.  Hopefully things will stay warm now and that grass can grow grow grow!  All this rain has to help.. right????

Our pigs are back out to pasture!  They are digging up our winter area... one bit at a time.  As you can see in this photo taken by Mom they enjoy their work!  

We have piglets due in July.... looking forward to that!  

While Mom was here we took the kids bowling.  Found a great website... www.kidsbowlfree.com.   You can totally sign your kids up for two free games every weekday all summer long!  Totally awesome!  You can even purchase an adult family pass for up to four adults to play along with the kids all summer for $24 total.  Awesome deal.   We enjoyed our game...  Micheal was so very cute...( his ball rolled so slow he would just crouch and wait)  and Alex has quite the style!   Its was great fun to get away for a few hours and just goof off. 

Well I reckon I should head off to bed.  It's been a long day.  I revamped the webpage, added galleries with slide shows.... still much to do... will keep working tomorrow.    I hit the sheets exhausted.. but as always --  thankful. 

Boy, am I ready for March!  This past month has felt like a rollercoaster ride.  We have had some exciting moments and some tragic ones as well.


We have some new piggies!  We have added some Hereford pigs to our family.  Hereford pigs are a heritage breed that believe it or not originated right here in Nebraska.  They are known for their gentle disposition and are excellent grazers.  IF you are curious you can check out more on the breed by clicking HERE.

They are really fun little pigs... curious and very friendly.  They love a good nose scratch so feel free to greet them when you are here... (mind the white fence - it bites).


These guys will be here close to the house for a few more weeks... we will be moving them out to pasture once we have grass.    So, say hi while you can!  

Ashley is home!  She decided that she wants to attend college here at home rather than in Georgia so she came home this month.   It was a difficult decision for her but she seems very settled and centered and at peace with her decision.  Ashe is back at Lincoln High and will graduate from there this May.  She only needed 17 credits to graduate so she only has to attend a half day at school.  

I cannot begin to tell you all how absolutely wonderful it is to have her home.   She is such an incredible, bright, alive, young woman... her spirit and exuberance fills our home!  We are all so thrilled to have her back!  

We added four new cows to our herd this month.  Welcome Milly, Molly, Mandy, and Candy.  Four beautiful jersey girls!  


They are doing great.. they have adapted to our laid back milking style and are getting along with the other ladies just fine.  We couldn't be happier with them. 

We had a tragic accident this month. Weirdly enough it was actually the night that Milly, Molly, Mandy, and Candy arrived.  The power lines on the road came apart at the insulator and fell on our fences.  This caused quite the fireworks show which scared the cows and calves here next to the house.  They ran.  One hit the fence and was electrocuted and three others ran into her and were lost as well.   The whole experience was horrific...  we waited an hour for the power company to come shut down the lines and make our farm safe again... very nerve wracking.   All in all... we are lucky... we could have lost many more cows than four, as bad as loosing four is. 

We are blessed beyond words that this accident happened at night, that Andy did not touch the fences when he went out to check on everyone, and that our children slept through the whole event.  We were able to tell them what happened in as gentle a manner as possible, they were spared from witnessing any of it.  

The next week was one of waiting. Waiting on OPPD, waiting on the insurance folks, waiting to bury our four lost cows.  The children mourned and the other cows mourned.. it was heartbreaking to watch.  The children laid roses on the cows and we covered them with a tarp and waited.  One of the adult cows lost her calf eight weeks early and we waiting and watched to see how many more would suffer the same fate.  Electricity is such a funny thing.... one moment it's a necessity and the next it is devastatingly dangerous.


Miraculously we had a beautiful calf born last week!  Her Mom is Tippy and one of our best cows.  They were in the area with the accident so we did not expect the calf to survive.   We named the little girl Tiffany and I have some incredible shots of her birth.   Tiffany's birth leaves us with hope that maybe we have turned the corner and the rest of our cows will be well.  btw... she is named after a friend of ours.. Tiffany Baker.  This may seem a strange way to pay tribute to someone but she just reminded me to Tiffany... long, leggy and gorgeous!   

All is well with Tiffany.. she is a gorgeous calf.. very tall and leggy and full of beans!
She is in the barn keeping warm right now but will join the other calves soon.

All of these new additions means one thing - MORE MILK!  Our milk shortage is now a thing of the past!  The past two weeks have been a blur of farm tours as we have opened up our waiting list and have been able to accept new customers.  It also means the return of one of everyone's favorite things - CREAM!   

Our cream separator has been chugging away and so has my food processor with butter!  LOVE butter!  LOVE CREAM!

We are bottling over 36 gallons of milk a day right now.  Our family has been enjoying treats such as homemade raw cream top yogurt again!  Last week I made flavors such as honey, maple syrup,  and succanat vanilla which were all huge hits. I also tried molasses yogurt....( that one needs work). 

Our new baby arrived today!  His name is Shep.  He is a Great Pyrenees puppy.  He is such a big boy.. only eight weeks old but HUGE!  

Shep will be a working dog... his job will be to guard the sheep.  In  a few weeks he will go to live with them and learn their ways.  They will be his pack... not us.  This is kind of sad since he is such a love... but our sheep need him.  

Even though there is snow on the ground and it's 23 degrees outside.... spring is on it's way!  The eggs are a sure sign!   Look at what Hannah gathered tonight!  

It's almost here... it's almost here!  Before we know it we will have cows out on pasture, sheep shearing, and flowers everywhere... and milk will go back down in price!  I could not be more excited!  


Ya'll stay warm out tonight... its a cold one!  I am off to make more yogurt.