Winter Update

Wow, it's been almost 4 months since my last post! Since farm activities slow down a little in the winter I did some interior remodeling. I removed the carpet in the house and installed laminate flooring in the living room, hallway, spare bedroom, and Macrae's bedroom. I like it so much better than carpeting! Also the hardwood appearance of it makes it seem a little more rustic here - more my style.

We had a scare with the last major snowstorm. It brought down the electric fencing and the horses wandered away. We tried tracking them for 2 1/2 hours but it was snowing so hard that the tracks were disappearing quickly. Luckily a neighbor at the bottom of the mountain told me that another neighbor found them running around on the lower road (at 5:30 in the morning!) and took them to her farm. I had to lead Ace back through the woods and deep snow with Ruby following on her own. Thank God they are good horses and we made it home safely. I put them in the other pasture and haven't fixed the downed fencing yet because it's still buried under the snow.

Last weekend we had another unfortunate and very sad day. When Tim went to feed the animals on Saturday morning he found that Violet, the white Angora goat, had given birth in the early hours of the morning, and it was too cold for the baby. She didn't survive the below-freezing temperature. I sat with Violet for hours, hoping for a twin which I would have brought into the house for warmth, but there wasn't one. I think she was bred too early in the season by the previous owners. I hope to breed both Angora does this year, but will plan for the kids to be born in April.

I will try to keep posting more often, as we tend to have more going on here in the warmer seasons. I hope the winter was kind to you all!