Too Cute!

Happy Spring everyone! I am sorry I have been gone for a while. None of you came looking for me...so I guess you didn't miss me much : )!

It has been a mild winter - Thanks God! Any day now, I am expecting a major snow storm. I guess I should temp fate by planting some radish, peas and lettuce.

Well, I am back with my shameless accounts of Spring lambs and Crocus. It never fails, does it ?

What can I say about the Crocus. They are amazing! The aroma of honey lingers on the whole patch. I read somewhere that Crocus stems make Safron. Maybe I should try it out this Spring. Safron is the most expensive ingredient I buy for cooking.

We had one pregnant ewe. Foolishly I sold most of my other ewes. But thats ok. Elizabeth gave birth to these 2 cuties Friday. A boy and a girl. The children named them Orio and Creme. Nothing like holding Spring lambs in your arms...the heat radiates from their lil bodies and goes to your heart and warms it up.

The only other produce right now, are eggs. Thanks God, I had introduced the white Leghorns last Spring. These are your factory breed that lays everyday. BUT they do not have any chicken instincts i.e. staying in a flock or roosting together. They are more like rebels. You give them a nesting box, they fly out of the coop and lay outside in the cat's bedding. I had to lock them up to bring back sanity to the coop. One positive is taht they do lay. We have all these large white eggs now. The browns are beginning to lay again. Without the Leghorns, I might have had to go to the store for eggs. What a scandal that would be : )!

The lambs are napping 80% of the time. I can tell they are feeding by the wiggling of their tails. Elizabeth gave me a hard time last year when she had twins. She ignored one of the babies. This year she seems to be intune with both of the babies. I saw the 2nd baby coming out and was wondering if Elizabeth will look behind. She was occupied cleaning up the birth matters from #1. I was worried that #2 might need human intervention. A miracle, Elizabeth noticed the lil bundle of joy and started the licking process. What a miracle it is to be a mother!

The Snowdrops have been covering the backyard for a while. I thought it was a fluke given the mild winter...but now, with the Crocus and Spring Lambs - safe to say HAPPY SPRING everyone : )!

Motion of life ...Is this 'slow' or 'normal'?

Wish I could leave town tomorrow and find a place like this. Maybe when the kids are all grown...Mrs. WF will join me to live in the woods like this. Gives me peace just looking at the 'slow' motion life.

COFFER from thismustbetheplace on Vimeo.

Orange says of winter......

Just landed in Denver Airport. The airport was shrouded in fog. The captain was trying to figure out if the airport was shut down or not. I pulled down my hoodie on my face and took a nap. After a long wait we were allowed to the terminal. I have not flown SouthWest in a very long time. I was actually happy to see a refreshed view of flying. No seat assignments, no TV, friendly stewards, funny staff, more leg room. It was fun. Remember having to analyze a SW business case in grad school where their 18 minutes to turn around a flight was the epitome of operational efficiency. On my way to a Hematology meeting in San Diego. Here comes my call for Group A i.e I get to pick my own seat : ).

That was last night. COLD winter morning in San Diego. Old man winter is following me : (

Our 'farm' life continues in its own pace and style. Not much activity now. Last night, we heard a door bell late in the evening. After running around trying to figure out who knocked, I opened the door. There waited a huge brown box, just delivered by the UPS man. I wasn't sure what it could be. Someones Christmas gift got dropped off at our place by mistake?

Opened the box and out came these amazing gifts of wool and blanket. Our kindest sheep mentor Kris told us about this company in Michigan who creates all kinds of stuff from your home grown wool. Simply Amazing! Kris was kind enough to take the wool up to Upstate New York. We failed to sell even a pound of it at the NJ fiber festival...very humbling : ). Now, we have 3 blankets and a huge bag of roved wool for Mrs. WF to spin with. This company is amazing...they even make socks out of your wool. The wool is stuffed into a blanket with cheese cloth on top. Very exciting!

Little princess turned 6 in Nov. She was treated with a HUGE bonfire for her birthday evening. Poor thing...she was so sick with a stomach flu yesterday. I felt bad leaving her...but the job calls.

Well, have to rush. Sat morning and I am already running to catch the 1st breakfast meeting of the day. Leave you with a picture of something so seasonal. The orange peel is such a natural Prozac in these cold, dark days. Does anything say Winter more than a well ripe persimmon? I had planted 2 trees on our land, but they are yet to give any fruits. They had fruits when I bought them at the nursery. I like the trees...reminds me of Japan, of simpler times. Its okay to wait for something good. One can hope and wait. Its life!

Gratitude....

Check out this video. It is amazing.

Simple Gratitude#.Ttjf427Ctp4.facebook

Back "Home"....

We have been on the road for a while. Mrs and I went for a pilgrimage. The concept of "home" has been blurry for the last few days. We made it a home wherever we went. Five star hotels in Mecca, road side tents in Mina, sleeping under an overpass in Mujdalifah, peaceful nap in a Bedouin tent on the way to Medina, family home in Dhaka....now back to freezing Jersey which we call home.

I read somewhere many years ago...the story of an African nomadic tribe who carries their 'home' with them. The world is their living room. Interesting concept.

Winter is here. We missed the ice-storm where we were on our way to the Arabian dessert. The land is barren again and ready for the well deserved rest. Our neighbor's farmhand helped us out. The animals seem well fed. The 2 cats went missing. Manuel saw one next to the neighbor's garage. I am not sure where the other one travelled to. Home they come back home. I wonder if they got too lonely (?).

I am yet to dig out our potatoes and the Jerusalem Artichokes. The white leg horns need to cooped up. They like to roost on the high beams of the barn and made the whole barn into a chicken coop. The snowstorm dismantled the peacock pen again. More work there. Not sure if I am ready for winter already. I just have to keep thinking of those sunflowers this summer. Wildside - I am getting to those pictures...can't find my camera cable to download the pictures. All I have now is the i-phone to take pictures : ).

Well, back to unpacking and laundry. Its 2:30 in the morning and I have to get to work in a few hours : ). Talk to you over the weekend again.

Wordless Monday...

On the wings of a butterfly...

Summer is quickly migrating away .... on the wings of the butterflies. The ambassadors came all the way from the town of Angangueo in Michoacán in Central Mexcico. Not sure if this little visitor is a Monarch, but reminded me of the long journey of the Monarch.

I have been very busy at work. The 'farm' tended themselves with the kind help of Mrs. WF. It is sometimes hard to keep up with all the happenings. I made sure everyone is fed on time and sheltered, but beyond that it has been hard to keep with planning and arranging things so its a 'profitable' establishment. Time seems to be a rare ingredient that I don't have enough of. Hopefully, before fall, the barn will be cleaned, white leghorns secured, sheep pastures fenced in and the garden harvested.

The animals didn't feel that I have been away. They have gone on with their lives. The barn is a huge maternity ward with several characters deciding to sit on eggs. The brown Muscovy has been sitting for a month now it seems, the Barred Rock hatched ONE chick and several others are just sitting away, listening to their hormones. I am not going to be the one between a hormonal hen and her eggs.

It is also the 1st week of Ramadan. With temperatures rising in the 100s and a 16 hour fast...I will be happy if I can finish the month well. I am glad I am not in Alaska...their sunset is at 11:20 or so.



Princess stuffing grape leaves with minced meat and rice. Also there were peppers stuffed with the same. I had to teach the kids cigar wrapping without mentioning anything about a cigar. I have seen a Cuban artist in Dubai demo-ing on how to roll a cigar. It seemed to me the same concept.

Mrs. WF and the kids made stuffed grape leaves for a Ramadan meal. We also ate some tomatoes and basil from the garden (with Mozzarella and olive oil of course). It was phenomenal...not sure if anyone used that adjective for tomatoes before. A lot of the tomatoes have the bottom rotting disorder...however it does not get in the way of the taste.

It has been so hot...that the bees couldn't take it anymore. They came out in hundreds to hang out on the balcony of their high rise : ). The upstairs apartment is not doing so well. They have not really done a lot of building  and I am getting nervous. If they don't have the 2nd super full before the 1st frost...this colony will not make it.

I took a walk this morning with the camera and these are some of the sights and 'sounds' around the land. If you hold still, you will hear the sound of the morning glories, the pigeons, the dragon flies over the Lilly pads, the frogs and the crickets, the neighbors corn field, the sound of the millets for the pigeons, the shifting sound of the tree house. The universe is speaking.  

Home made pigeon loft. I am so proud of this loft. I couldn't sleep as Albert the pigeon needed a home and I worked on it in the middle of several nights to finish. It comes with its flower pot ...but the pigeons ate the plants and the flowers : ).

 

Does anyone know what kind of bird it is? Jr WF is looking through a 600 page book to find out the name of this visitor. We are guessing a Robin??

If it is hot in the kitchen.....

This is not in the kitchen folks...this was in the car as I left the office last night! Yikes. I barely fed the chickens and came inside to pass out until dinner. After devouring the cold cucumber soup and omelet Mrs. WF made, I passed out again with the kids at 8:24. It is brutal. I don't want to be a sheep in this weather. Louis the ram has declined to leave the barn. Even in the heat of the day..he prefers a roof over his head. That roof is tin and HOT!

The heat added with my swollen bicep (No...no Gold's Gym for me - it was a bee that stung me while I was feeding them. Not sure why they always go for my upper arms) is making me miserable.

Stay indoors and away from the hives when its so hot. The bees are cranky too : ). Today the "feels like" index is 110 Degrees. Nice to know my aussie and kiwi friends are in mid winter. There was 8 feet of snow in Chile today. I am praying for some rain!

26th day of summer 2011

It has been hot for the last few days. There has been no rain....and I am getting nervous that it will be a drought inflicted year again like last year. Hope we don't have to revisit that again. I love the Spanish barren country side...but I don't want it in my veggie garden and pasture.


The 1st Sunflowers of the year. Mrs. WF did an amazing job with them. Behind is my $10 Martin house. A Sparrow mom is nesting in one of the back 'apartments'. So, I can't get up there to fix it up.  

I have been drooling over grass for a while now. Highway, neighbor's pasture, road dividers, movies, TV ...wherever there has been grass...I secretly wished my small flock of sheep could have access to it. Thanks to God, we have 'grass' this year. Not really grass - grass, but a lot of different kind of weeds mixed with some grass, clover...the sheep seem to like it.

Elizabeth's twins (girls) went to uncle Joe's farm yesterday. So, I am left with Louis and Elizabeth and 2 rams. The rams don't have names, they are dinner - ssshhhhhh! I found a local butcher, who will allow me to do the Halal way of processing an animal and then he will give me all the fancy cuts , you get at the super market.

The bees seem to be ok so far. Please, please, please lets not there be a colony collapse. I have been feeding them syrup and giving them fresh water. Hope they like our pasture. The white leghorns and the rest of the flock are together. There are 2 broody fowl in the barn. A Barred Rock and a Muscovy duck. Too late in the year, I would think. The peachicks are in the garage..securely far away from the rats in the barn. From a few cute little mice, to a whole 'herd' of rats...I need some serious intervention. They actually attacked and got some chicks that I had left in the barn. Mimi and Gigi (the barn cats) are still small. I hope they get their act together soon. I trapped a big one last week...but I am sure he left his cousins behind. WF - 1; Rats - ah well?


A boi and his horse - Jr. Weekendfarmer with Poncho

The children are enjoying the summer...swimming, horse husbandry, riding etc. Today the owner of the horse farm gave us a ride on the back of her farm utility vehicle and gave us a ride of her trails, hay pasture, creeks, old bridges. We stopped on the way to load up on blackberries, raspberries and aged horse manure. The kids had so much fun on the back of the ATV. What a generous person she is. I love the well water she has there. I loaded up 4 containers of cool, refreshing well water for the week. That was a nice experience -alhamduli Allah.


The Princess with Poncho




Our Summer 2011 Intern, tending to the Elephant Ear plants. The stalks can be cooked in a stew.



Spinach, Cucumbers and a lonely Tomato



The Turkey that visits us and shows off at the horse farm.



My little princess with the Cucumber harvest



Mrs. WF harvested this beautiful load of lavendar. The kitchen smells amazing.

The new veggie garden is doing well. We used the sheep bedding and cucumbers plants exploded into action. We had close to 30 pounds of cucumbers so far. Other harvests: Lavender, Tomatoes, Snake beans, Amarnath, Lambs Quart, Celery, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Basil, Bengali leaves (Jute), Peas, Thai peppers etc. I am really praying for the 2nd wave of sunflowers to do well. I planted a good 25 feet row of sun flowers in the new garden. Will post for you when they bloom inshAllah.

Now, how about a quiz - Where do you think we took this picture?

 

"The truth has many enemies...."

Came across this clip on Cold Antler Farm. Its amazing that warehouse meat production is legal in this day and age!

On the 3rd day of Summer!

My paper calendar at work has all kinds of printed reminders. One of those was that Tues was the 1st day of summer. Really? We have had 100 degree weather for a few weeks now. It has been quite hectic lately. We are drowning in all kinds of busy-ness.

Junior weekendfarmer turned 8!

The new bees arrived. They needed to be taken care of. Even after watching our bee-keeper friend for so many months/years, I am terrified when it comes to handling them. I managed to get the sugar syrup as their start up feed twice so far. Hope they survive!

The peacocks (actually the peahen) hatched 4 chicks. They needed to be separated. Last year we lost all the babies, as they had ventured too far from mom.

The new veggie garden has fencing and a door thanks to Naoki, my brother-in-law and mother-in-law.

Currently harvesting - Radish, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Eggplant (single), Green Peas, Lettuce, Lambs Quart, Cilantro. Work in progress : Cabbage, Grapes, Cucumbers, Sunflowers, tomatoes, potatoes, Jute, several kinds of Bengali gourds, Snake Beans, Celery, Basil, Thai Basil, Sweet Potatoes, Cantaloupe. Still to plant (late I know) - Loofa, more Sunflowers, Amarnath, Watercress, Elephant ears, Carrots, Rasberry etc

Muscovy duck sat for 2 months and hatched one cute little duckling.

One of the Barred Rocked hatched out 4 chics.

We had a full service maternity ward as 3 hens went broody at once .

The sheep has pasture now. At last I have some grass.

Naoki and I built a shelter for the sheep by the creek. It will also be a cabin for humans in the future.

Reduced sheep flock by 2. Nargis and Holly found new homes.

Built a pigeon loft. Now Albert the pigeon has a home.

Roosters processed. Sunday rooster curry. It was delicious!

Moved compost from the 3 year old compost pile into he new garden. Its like black gold.

Spent hundreds of dollars at Lowes and HomeDepot. Its scary when the cashier knows your name : ). This better be stimulating the economy.

I was wondering why we were so busy...now it all makes sense : ). And yes...if we didn't have enough to do - we went and rescued two barn kittens from a horse farm. Now, Gigi and Mimi are part of the weekendfarmer 'circus'.

Here is a photo journal of all the craziness.

Still to do:

Barn needs cleaning. All the animal bedding needs to be in the compost pile.

Kittens need spaying.

Need to pick up the swarm of bees Uncle Frank has promised.

Order bees for next Spring (yeah...I know ..thats crazy)

Wash sheep wool -> send for processing.

Plant more Sunflowers.

Finish the sheep pastures. Needs gates.

Finish the tree house.

Give White Leghorns access to grass.

Find new homes for the 2 rams.

Worm the sheep.

Plant fruit trees.

Set up 'pond' for Watercress.

Start the kids training with horses.

Spray the fruit trees. (Neem oil)

Pick up the wild berries from the woods.

Plant more Sunflowers : )

All the mornings of the world...

Saturday Morning. Way before the sun rises and just a little after the morning prayers. Its 47 degrees. I ventured out to the front steps. The neighbor has 'harvested' his organic timothy hay. It is such a peaceful sight. He raises black Angus cows and this is their feed in winter months. As I stepped out, I got ambushed by a paparazzi of birds. Their morning songs, the roosters crowing in the barn...I had to pause. I could see the shade of crimson in the Eastern sky. The universe is in transition, however it is a peaceful integration of darkness to light. Do the birds know any secrets to this miracle? What are they signing? What a beautiful morning! Are all the mornings of the world so humbling?

There is a lot going on! I am suffering from allergies, an ulcer and a long commute to work. Its adding up to 2 hours and 30 minutes each day. Bit much?

Its the usual Spring activities here back at the weekend farm. Seedlings, Magnolias, new chicks, garden being tilled, spring lambs, Daffodils, Tulips, sheep shearing, fresh asparagus in the garden, broody ducks, hens, peacocks (peahens to be exact), 70 degrees weather followed by sudden frost at night. Enough to give anyone ADD : ). This year we are opting to create a new veggie garden closer to the barn. It has been hectic to get it started. I tried to recruit someone with an auger to do the fence posts for me. Everything is so expensive here! One gentleman wanted $600 and then changed his mind and asked for $900 for tilling the soil and fencing the garden and additional sheep pastures. No..he didn't get the job. Fortunately, one of my sheep customer has a bobcat and he came and helped me out for a fraction of the cost. My brother-in-law is in town from Japan and he helped finish the project. I am so glad to have him and my mother-in-law in town. The house is full of good spirits, laughter, good food and warm energy. My MIL has taken over the animal husbandry. Last night as I pulled into the driveway, I found her to be nervous, sad and upset. I got concerned as she always carries herself with zen like calmness. After a few seconds I realized she is perturbed over a dead hen. It had died in the barn. I have seen her the day before. Seemed like she was suffering from egg-binding. After all these years, I haven't been successful is helping a hen with this issue. Sometimes, one has to accept death with livestock and move on. Its not easy.

There were millions of twigs all over the yard. We made a huge bonn-fire when a dear friend visited from North Carolina and burnt it all : ). It was a huge success...sitting by the fire, catching up on life, cups and cups of tea and the warmth of family. We should do this more often. The ashes were good fertilizers.

I have started to reduce the sheep flock. I sold Nargis and Holly. Holly is a sweet ewe, so it was sad to see her go. But she got a great home with a loving person. Given last year was an official drought for us, I have no grass. Its all weeds. I tried frost seeding pasture mix and clover. Nothing is coming out yet. The hay farmer friend dropped by to investigate and said my pH might be off...so I did the lime as well. Now, I am waiting and praying. The season is 2-3 weeks behind. Hope I get some grass. Right now, the dandelion is much welcome. They can be a nice source of nutrition, I would think. The sheep are on the sacrificial land....where they are on nice hay. I have to give the land some rest. I am down to 2 adults and 4 lambs. After I sold their mothers, I was worried the lambs will be upset. Not even a baaaa !!! Elizabeth the other ewe seemed more upset. She bleated through the night. I think she missed Elizabeth or Holly. Didn't realize she was so close to them. Elizabeth's twins are growing fine. One is doing better than the other. Such complex dynamics of nature. She nurses one better than the other. I am glad human mothers are not like that. That would be a disaster!Well, I can see the sun is out. The rays are hitting the neighbor's bales of hay. The plastic covered bundles are looking like some alien droppings. I better stop being a virtual farmer and go tend to the animals and the land. Thanks for spending the morning with me. There is fresh baklava on the kitchen counter. Should have offered you some coffee or tea. Next time : ).

Wordless Wednesday...

11th day of Spring...Who is counting : ) ?

3S Update: Simply Sunny Sunday....

Aren't Sundays magical? I am jealous of some of you who have left the corporate prison and have become your own bosses. For us weekendfarmers and corporate rats who have sold their soul to the cubicle witch...Sundays are holy days.

Sunday called the Iris to bloom and it came with its friends the little blue flowers. Does anyone know the name?

We spent a lot of time outdoors. I started the fire outside in a old drum. I think I burned down 5-6 wheel barrow full of twigs, branches. I will use the ashes in the chicken coop as a sanitary agent on their poop pile. It will all end up in the compost pile later.

Mrs has this week off and she has been cooking up a storm. Empanada like patties stuffed with ground meat, homemade crescent rolls etc etc.

She made this amazing bread all from scratch.....stuffed with dates, molasses and chocolate.

I had some the next day toasted with a semi boiled duck egg. Delicious. When you all come to visit ... we will have it on the breakfast menu : ). For Sunday lunch, she cooked up a great meal of stir fired tofu and veggies, green beans. I grilled some salmon and we all sat out enjoyed a great Sunday lunch. We were all fighting over the grilled salmon skin : ). What was dessert you ask? Marshmallows roasted on fire made in an old drum. Then came the necessary siesta...... while mama weekendfarmer CLEANED out the veggie garden. She did an amazing job!

Then came the hawk looking for some organic hens.... The kids have been well trained to spot hawks.

I found my inner voice that my cavemen forefathers used to survive and scared the day light out of him/her.

I spent the afternoon cleaning twigs, collecting fallen branches, millions of dried out black walnut shells, cleaning out fallen hay for the sheep, collecting eggs, fixing fences (seems like that's what I do 90% of my time).....

Look at these eggs. Is it my eyes...or there are some pink eggs as well as blue ones and your basic boring brown : )?.

Nothing like ending the day watching the lambs. I wish they stayed so tiny and cute....but alas they have to grow up .......

Sweet dream little girls as you think of mother's milk ...the wild daffodil raises its head in the woods. Thanks God for such a blessed day!

Warm regards,

The weekendfarmers