The full circle of life here on the farm today...

   This morning I started the day mentally preparing myself to send the last of our pigs to the butcher. All the other times that we've sent pigs to be processed, I haven't really thought too much about it because the intended purpose for raising those pigs was for meat. This time, we are sending two sows that we kept for the purpose of raising babies. The thought of eating them never crossed my mind until recently when our financial situation, unexpectedly, changed. Red is three years old and Peaches (out of Red's first litter) is one and a half years old. They were both really good moms and had big litters (13 to 16 piglets each), so my heart is heavy today as I prepared to send them off to be processed. Once they are loaded onto the trailer and off the property, I will be okay. I will enjoy the meat just as much as I have any other pigs we've raised.

Peaches sharing her last meal with the ducks and chickens.

   Soon after starting my morning chores my heart lightened a little because I realized that Shay (one of *Z*'s goats) was definitely in labor and we would have new babies in a few hours. 

Shay cleaning her new babies.

Shay cleaning her babies.

   Actually it didn't even take two hours. Within an hour of me noticing that she was in labor she delivered a set of twins. A buck and a doe.

   When it came time to load the pigs, Red decided she really didn't want to go for a ride. She squeezed through between the barn door and the trailer and went for a walk about!

Red on her last walk around the farm.

Yep there she goes back the other way!! I was half expecting to see *T* following along behind her with a bucket of feed...

   I was not helping but was told that Red did NOT want to get in that trailer, and it took quite a lot of convincing before she finally did get in.

 

Red finally on the trailer.

I guess Peaches wasn't nearly as hard to load.

Peaches on the trailer.

So, with the pigs on their way down the road, it is time to focus on the new additions. Meet Sage and Sarah!

Sage and Sarah - Shay's twins.

High: 28*

Low: 21*

Cloudy and Dreary all day



Little Mr. ~Z~ is 13 months old today! And to celebrate his big day he started walking. Remember, yesterday I did ask "what will he find amusing tomorrow?" Well this is what it was. He has been cruising for a while now and I really thought that he was going to take off and walk by his 1st Birthday but that didn't happen, because he started to actually crawl on his hands and knees that week instead of just dragging himself around on his elbows. Once he started crawling he figured out he could move faster that way then he could by trying to walk hanging onto something.
When I got home from work last night ~T~ said that ~Z~ had walked about 10 feet on his own once but wouldn't do it again. Late this afternoon ~Z~ started walking with a toy in his hand and he went about 15ft. After that he kept doing it and by bedtime he was walking around without even carrying anything in his hand. I think when he was first carrying something around with him it gave him a sense he was hanging on. I am so glad I was home today and he didn't do this at the sitter's house, I would have had such guilt about missing such a big thing.

One Year Ago Today