Mountain Sunday * 27 December 2015

27 December 2015
South of the barn. 

27 December 2015
East over the barn.

27 December 2015
North of the barn.

Merry Christmas 2015

Every year we participate in the Alpine Living Nativity. It's a wonderful time for us to share with others our belief in the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.

As the last visitors come through the little town of Bethlehem all the shopkeepers close up shop and follow them along the path to find the babe lying in a manger.

We have the privilege of watching as the wise men present their gifts to the Babe.

I don't know how I managed to get such a beautiful photo with my cell phone. I count it as a gift from Heavenly Father this year.

Yet I know that the greatest gift is the baby lying in the manger, His life, His sacrifice, His love for us all.

Mountain Sunday * 20 December 2015

20 December 2015
South of the barn.

20 December 2015
East over the barn.

20 December 2015
North of the barn.

Mountain Sunday * 13 December 2015

South of the barn.
13 December 2015

East over the barn.
13 December 2015

North of the barn.
13 December 2015

New Cow Shelter

Welcome back!

Wow! That was a big wind storm we had last night! I hope everything is okay at your house and school. We didn't have any problems here because we have already prepared for winter.

This is the new cow shelter!
It faces south because during the winter the wind blows snow and cold from the north.
The door faces south so that wind and snow don't blow inside their shelter.
We're so excited that Echo has a nice place to have her baby in March.

*     *     *     *     *     *

Last week I promised to show you how we keep the water from freezing so the animals can drink it all winter.

We use electric water heaters and electric buckets for the water.

Do you see the round piece of metal at the bottom of the bucket?
That is a heater that keeps the water warm enough that it doesn't freeze.
The animals are a little sloppy and they've dropped hay into their water.

This bucket has an electrical chord that plugs in.
The bucket has a heater inside the bottom, you can't see it
because it's enclosed inside the plastic.

This is a special hose.
The hose has a heater in it!
It keeps the water from freezing inside the hose.
That's important because if there is ice in the hose we can't use it.
If we can't use the hose then we have to carry buckets of water to fill all the barrels.
That's a lot of work! We would have to carry 14 or more buckets of water every day
to fill up all the barrels. 

Water is important for healthy animals. If they have enough clean food and water they can stay warm and healthy during the winter, even when they live in a barn with no heaters.

There is also a heater in the water that the chickens drink, but the chickens don't mind eating snow if they aren't in the pen. The cows, sheep, and goats don't like to eat snow or peck at ice to get their water so we make sure they always have water, not ice, in their barrels and buckets.

Heating water takes a lot of electricity so this year we put solar panels on
the roof of the barn. That should help keep our costs down.
We have a great place for the solar panels.
Not everyone has as nice a place for the solar panels as we do!

*     *     *     *     *     *

Look how the chicks are growing! They are only a little
bit smaller than their mama hens.

*     *     *     *     *     *

Many of you have asked if we have horses. No, we don't have horses. The neighbors have horses, and I thought you would like some pictures of them.

Here is a photo of a horse that lives next door to us.

Here is a photo of the other horse that lives next door to us.

*     *     *     *     *     *

Last week someone asked your teacher for another video.
I hope this one is fun to watch. It's the cows eating their breakfast.
Who else is eating with the cows?

I know that you are going to have a fun party next week so you won't have Farm Friday at school. I'll post something anyway so if you want to see the farm while you are having Christmas Break you can show your parents.

I'll show you some of the other things I do when I'm not out working with the animals.

Have a wonderful Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate the next few weeks!

Mountain Sunday * 6 December 2015

South of the barn.
6 December 2015

East over the barn.
6 December 2015

North of the barn.
6 December 2015

Animal Feeders

Welcome back! 

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! We did. 

Just in case you are wondering, we did not eat our turkeys. They are all still living on the farm.

We also have a crazy chicken living on our farm!
She likes to sleep by the back door every night.
She doesn't like to sleep in the coop where it's warm.
Sometimes she pecks on the back door
because she wants us to let her sleep in the house!

Did you look at the different types of dishes and bowls your family used for Thanksgiving dinner? This week I want to show you what we use to hold the animal feed.

The first thing I do when I get out to the barn is let the chickens out of their coop. Then I fill their feeders.

This hanging feeder is for the mama turkey and her babies, and some of the chickens that like to hang out in front of the barn. It is protected from the weather because the snow or rain will ruin their food.

You've seen this hanging feeder in other pictures. It hangs from the ceiling in the chicken pen on the north side of the barn.

Next I get the food ready for the goats and the cows.

Each goat has her own bucket for grain.
The bucket on the left is for the cows. I dump that food in a bigger feeder outside.
The purple bucket is Clover's bucket.
The white bucket behind the purple bucket is Misty's bucket.
The blue bucket is Annie's bucket.
The green bucket is Sandy's bucket.

I fill everyone's bucket, then I put the buckets in the right spot. Do you have a spot at your kitchen counter? Does each person in your family have their own spot at the table for dinner? Do you have your own desk in the classroom?

The goats each have their own special spot, too!

After I put their buckets in the right spot, I open the stall door and the goats run in right to their special spot!

Do you get upset if someone sits in your spot?

The goats aren't happy when someone else starts to eat their food. They use their head to push the other goat out of the way. Do you get upset if someone starts eating your breakfast or your lunch?

This is where each of the goats eats their breakfast.
The brown one on the left is Clover.
Behind Clover's head is Annie. Annie is on a milk stand.
Sandy is standing to the right of Annie. She is on a milk stand, too.
Misty is the goat near the blue garbage pail.

After all the goats are in their places I take the other bucket of food out to the cows. Stew eats hay in the stall.

The cows line up for breakfast just like this every morning!
They each have their favorite spot at the feeder, too.

After I feed the cows I come back into the barn and milk the goats.

Sometimes I have helpers with me in the morning.
Do they look happy to be in the barn today?

I also fill up the bird feeders every day.
This is what I see from my back door.
Do you see that pretty red bird on the feeder?
I have a good friend who knows a lot about birds,
I'm going to ask him what kind of bird that is.
*     *     *     *     *

This is the new cow shed.
Cows make a mess so I don't want them in the barn. They are hard to clean up after!
They will have their own spot out of the weather where they can't bother the goats.

*     *     *     *     *

Next week I'll show you what we do to keep the animal's water from freezing. Animals need water to drink every day, just like you do. When the temperature drops below 32˚ F we have to do something to keep their water from turning to ice.