Little Fall Update!

Lots of things going on here at the Backwards Homestead! I am so ashamed that I have not posted in SO long! Boo me! Summer is always pretty busy, and this one was no different. I thought I would post. even if it is not anything specifically cool! So, here is a montage of a few of the animals enjoying the morning!

Heavenly little cabin!

But first! A picture of the cabin where Roger and I took out little mini VACATION! It was the most amazing time. Only two days, and it was cold, but I swear it was heaven. I absolutely adore this cabin and I wish we had one of our very own. I really had to have been born in the wrong era..Can we say pioneer life with internet?

Little piggies! Ok...Not so little piggies! LOL!

 These are two of the "little" piggies that were born during the ice storm last winter. They are some fat little sausages!!

Flossie!

Flossie and Elmer..Yep..he is nursing..Has he no shame! Then Ellie getting lovies. Yea, we hug our cows! :)

Ellie getting Trina hugs!

Morning kisses!

 Here are Renee and Sweet Pea. two of the new girls here on the farm. They are just adorable! Renee, the brown girl, is due to calve any day now and we are so excited!

Now THAT is a fine bull!

Here is Taz strolling on by to go out to pasture. Is he handsome or what?! We are also happy to announce that he is now a part of the Backwards Homestead clan. Yay! Thanks Sara and Earl for giving us the opportunity to try before we buy so to speak while he was visiting the girls. We promise he will have a great home here as we already love him!

HAY!!

Elmer, Porter and ClaraBelle  checking out the leftover hay after we moved the ring to add a new roll! Of course they had to flick it around a bit. Aerating I imagine...LOL!

Baelfire and his morning drink, lol

 Bae getting a cool drink after breakfast. He sure has grown into a beautiful young man!

Get to work Pud'nin!

Pud'nin moving one of the troughs over to the other side of the pen. They eat over here so we figured might as well set their table over there!

Charlotte pigging out!

Charlotte eating her corn. Beside the giant wallow they made with their water! Pigs...

"What are you looking at"

 Wilbur laying by the remains of his hut that he destroyed...What a silly piggy! Does he think winter is never going to come?!

We wanna eat HERE!

 The reason we moved the trough! These guys are determined to eat right here..So, we moved the trough so they are not eating off the ground.

Boo and her babies!

 See those little peeps peeking out? They are so adorable. Boo is a good Mama, but sadly she is slowly losing these guys to a hawk. She started out with 16 and is down to only 9... :(  Makes me sad! Hopefully he will move on and she can raise these babies without worry!

Squirt!

 Here is Squirt having her breakfast. She comes in every morning and every night to eat here in this stall. She is so smart and is now able to go out in the big pasture with everyone else during the day. Sweet Pea is her Mama, so it is cool to see them together. Although, she spends most of her time with Renee or Taz. She is just beautiful and such a sweetheart!

Here is Elmer and Squirt! He is a hoss! Hard to believe that he is just a month and a half older than Squirt! But, girls are supposed to be dainty! I guess we can say Flossie has power milk as we have shamefully never managed to get him weaned..Yea, as proven by the earlier picture, he is STILL on the teat!

Got hay?

 Pud'nins trusty tractor waiting to get to to work put out a roll of hay! Such a good tractor, I think it is Pud'nins favorite.

More fatty pigs!

Well, there you go! Not much of a post, but I hope you enjoyed the small update. Leave a comment if you have a minute, it makes me smile, lol  I will go with a picture of a flock of geese that I snapped a picture of as they were coming over the barn. I am not ready for winter, but fall is just dandy!

Meet Taz!

The Moo girls here on the Backwards Homestead are very happy these days! They are entertaining a handsome bull and they are all trying to catch his eye!. We were a bit nervous about having a bull here on the farm after the craziness that was MooGurgles! He kept us all wondering when he was going to break out and chase us across the farm! Buckets died, and fences suffered under his tyranny! He made beautiful babies, but he was ruthless!
But when we went to pick up Renee and SweetPea we talked to Sara and Earl about their bull Taz. He is beautiful, and seemed to be much calmer than our last experience. I was still nervous..But, we have several girls, who need a man..
So, what do we do? We borrowed them a man. Meet Taz!

Sara and Earl delivered him yesterday, and the girls were so excited. Especially Ellie, although I am not sure how it went since she was actually AI'd on Wednesday. but, then came in full bellowing, standing heat on Friday morning. So, we shall see! Either way, Flossie, and SweetPea are still open and he looks like he is just the bull to do the job! WooHoo! Let there be calves!

Taz and Ellie

 Here is is with Ellie, they  seemed to hit it off, even if they did have to engage in a bit of head butting at first!
Of course, as calm as he seems, we must remember, as we do with ALL livestock, to be very careful. Always respect the fact that they can change in an instant, and are very large! Luckily, Taz is very calm tempered, and has been a wonderful guest! We are really enjoying having him here on the Backwards Homestead.

Taz Keeping watch over the girls

He sure looks smug here in this picture! Even though he is usually with way more girls, he seemed really happy to be here!







Bae was a bit unsure about the new visitor, lol At first he was trying to run him off, but Taz was unfazed..He was like what'ev!

Bae says "WHAT?!?!"

" HELLO!!! We have ENOUGH cows!!"







 But since he actually likes the cows, it wasn't long before they were all grazing together. I guess he thought he had to check him out, and Taz wanted no part of the whole deal! He had a job to do!

Pigs...are unconcerned

Wilbur and Charlotte were not the least bit impressed. Wilbur was too busy trying to get through the fence to visit with Charlotte..She was busy laying by the fence to give him inspiration. Ugh..Pigs!
As an ending note, here is a video of Sweet Pea and Renee running to supper. Not the best, and ignore the constant clanging of the gate, lol I initially made the video to show Sweet Peas LONG moo that she belts out when you call her to supper!

So, there you go, that was my yesterday. Today...I have 10 dozen ears of corn I need to do, plus grapes to pick! So I better get busy! Leave a comment to let me know you were here if you like! :)
**Again, Shout out to Sara and Earl for loaning us their amazing bull! You guys are the best!**

Farm Living Is The Life For Me!

Spring has finally sprung here on the backwards Homestead! Goodness know we are SO ready to put all the winter garb away and have a little green instead of snowy white! Even the animals are Happy Happy Happy!

YIPEEE!

Sun!!

Miley says spring calls for belly rubs!

Brandy must be thinking about something serious!

Loving this warmer weather!

Kitty darts out the door every chance she gets to come out with me and lay in the grass, lol She absolutely loves the outdoors. I think I am the same way! Doing my inside chores is way more boring than being outside any day!  I mean, dishes....or go plant something?!?!  We all know what is going to win, right?

King Blu!

Blu thinks sun is just the bestest! This was before his spring trim, and he was looking pretty shaggy!

What is going ON over there!?

 Clara Belle is such a pretty girl! Her ears say something has her interest, and I bet she goes to check it out! I figure she is looking for Flossie! She has NOT been happy that her friend has been on maternity leave!

This water really hits the spot!

Baelfire is growing So much! Here he is taking his long peaceful drink after his breakfast. He REALLY savors his water, lol We are all making bets about the color that is hiding under all that baby fuzz! Any guesses?

Hey! Mom! Mom! What are you eating over there?

Here is ELMER! He is so cute! I love this picture, even if there is a poo pile in the back there, but you know, such is the farm life! This little guy, is a fireball! He is never still, and has an attitude way bigger than he needs! I mean, look! Can you see all that majesty and self confidence stuffed into one little calf body!

YUMMY!

Here chicky chicky! This is part of our clean up crew. They go behind all the messy eaters and cut down on the waste ratio, LOL!

Hey! Scoot OVER!!

Here is Charlotte and her latest crew! These guys are just adorable! They are also quite piggy! They are 8 weeks old and ready to be weaned and move on to a pig pen of their very own!
The trees and flowers are also blooming and it smells so nice! I LOVE the smell of an apple tree in full bloom! Amazing! Here is one of our trees that is loaded with blossoms. I sure how we do NOT have a late freeze! The last two years we have not had any apples as the blooms were killed by freezy weather!

Lets hope we have a great apple year!

Wisteria

My wisteria is starting to reach for the sky! These are one of my favorite flowers and I am hoping it will travel along this fence and cover it with beautiful cascades of flowers! This is the third year it has been here on the farm, so hopefully this will be a big growth year!

Yep! Spring is HERE!

Grape Hyacinths! They are the sure sign that spring has finally arrived! So pretty! And LOOK! The lilacs are blooming too! Oh me! I LOVE LOVE LOVE lilacs!

You see it? Up there, in the top of the bush! Blooms!

I swear I absolutely love my life here in the boonies. It is just the perfect place for me. I love the lifestyle, as frustrating as it can be to maintain. I cannot imagine my life being any different than what I have right now. We still have some hard decisions to make, and some serious changes will have to happen so we can return our farm to the contributing asset that it is meant to be! We have let things get away from us, and it is time to buckle down and make our original vision a reality! 

Sometimes life happens. Sometimes we have a moment where we lose sight of what is important. Emotionally things have been tough, and I have been tested. My faith, my strength and my courage have all taken a beating. Between the farm, the kids moving, and the decline of my Mom with Alzheimers, the year has been a rough one. But with all of that, I choose to try and look upward, and forward. Many many blessings have been given to me and my family as well! So many things that I look to God with sincere thanks!  I pray that I can look to the positive, and pull myself out of this funk! As they say, it is all in the perspective! 

With that said, I promise that big things are going to happen here on the Backwards Homestead! Just wait and see! 

Of course I will be putting it all on here so you guys can take the journey with us! So keep checking back, and leave a comment or two so I know you have stopped by!

What A Winter!

Hey! I haven't forgotten the blog! I know I have been slacking, and part of my 101 list is to blog consistently, and I am already failing! Boo! But, in my defense, things have been so crazy around here and with our oldest son Joshua moving to Virginia, 12 hours away, with two of the grandbabies I am having a hard time finding my emotional center. We do wish them well, but here on the Backwards Homestead we are feeling the loss to the core.
Also, I am afraid that there may be huge changes here on the backwards Homestead this summer.  Hard decisions are never fun, but things are getting to be more than we can handle. As much as I love all that this farm has to offer, letting go of some of the animals may be in the cards. I cannot keep on letting my passion make things harder on those who are in this with me. This last winter was exhausting both emotionally and financially. We are in this to live simpler and it has become a much different venture than our original plans. Do not get me wrong, I love every part of this farm. Every animal is loved and it will break my heart if it comes to that at some point. But numbers do not lie, and no matter what, it has to be fulfilling for everyone for this lifestyle to work!
On a positive note, we have had some awesome things happen in spite of a brutal winter. Flossie had her calf, and Charlotte also blessed us with six little oinkers! Although, getting to this point was rough, the weather was not kind, and milk fever reared its ugly head here on the homestead for the very first time. Many days we were unsure if we were going to make it to the end of winter with all the animal residents still here and healthy.
First off I will give a short update here, and later I will go more in detail later in separate posts.  Here we go!
Flossie had a little bull on February 3, 2015. He is quite the fireball! We named him Elmer, Awwww!

Such a good Mama!

Slurp Slurp!

Missed a spot!

Elmer now!

Here he is now, at a mere 7 weeks old. Yea, he's got a little something dangling for the nose area...darn straw!
Flossie had a very hard time after the birth. She had milk fever, (low calcium) and we thought we might lose her. We had to raise her up with a hip lift several times a day as she was just DONE. Even though she SHOULD get up, she was tired, felt bad, and was just a bit depressed. That lift, was awful. But she would have died if we had not forced her to stand. Sometimes we do what we have to do here on the farm, but Lord knows I cried many tears here in the barn over this cow. We prayed so hard, and thankfully the prayers were answered and Flossie did stand, and she is doing much better. yay!

Poor Mama!

Shout out to Mineral Wells Animal Clinic AGAIN for being the best as usual. Dr. Chad and Cody were awesome and went above and beyond. I am not sure what we would do if we did not have such a close relationship with everyone in the practice. They are always willing to answer questions, and do what it takes to make sure our animals get the best care possible.More on the exciting birth and Flossies struggle in another post. Stay tuned!
Ok, Charlotte. Where do I start?! She decided to have her babies the night of the worst snowstorm with subzero temps that we have had in years. Her pen is too far from the barn to even have a light for warmth. With a lot of hard work, and Gods grace, we managed to get her hut covered with anything and everything we could find to hold heat. We filled it with straw, and prayed for the best. She initially had 10 babies, then we counted 8, then 6...Then For days, we had no clue as the temps were still bitterly cold. THEN we had yet another snow storm. Finally, we get a peek and we still have SIX little wiggly piglets. Whew!!

Cuteness!

Charlottes little fortress, lol

Peeking out for some supper!

Aren't they tiny! I tell you, Charlotte is an amazing Mommy! Stuck in her hut, with her babies, and she was still so very careful not to squish them even in total darkness. Go Charlotte!

Out and about!

Charlotte!

So Cute!

Here is one of the last litter! WOW! So big!

Last but not least. Thanks and much love to my Pud'nin. He has never failed to be by my side through all our animal/personal drama. Letting me cry, kick, flail and flap like the emotional mess that I am. Without all his support, I would surely be wearing a straight jacket by now singing Ladybug Picnic at the top of my lungs...I love you Pud'nin! You are indeed a strong man..
 Well, that is a quick peek, a sort of overview. More later, I promise. I just need to get myself together and focus, focus focus! Feel free to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by! I love reading comments! Ok, Till next time, may you be blessed in all that you do. :)