Deep In The Yuletide

The past six months have been a whirlwind of work on the Ranch. My hopes to keep up to date on the blog were dashed by an endless parade of jobs and tasks.  Outdoor work took priority in fine weather, which bumped indoor work days that weren't so very nice.

So instead, please enjoy the following photos to catch you up.

Cornhusker Games in late July resulted in 4 Gold and 2 Bronze Medals
for the household.

The garden produced a crazy amount of cucumbers, tomatoes, and
peppers.  The corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes were a bust, although
pretty while growing.

The first of the Alpacas arrive and join the pasture with the donkeys.
This is 10 year old Odin.

On a trip to the farm store for more feed....well, we heard peeping.
Yes, we remembered the feed.  We added 4 americanas all girls.
Or so we hoped. 

We had a large hay shed built and filled it with 75 bales of our own hay.

Gorgeous summer cicadas.

We added Angus Kissed by Starlight, a one year old True Black.

The chicks at two months old.  It was looking like one was
a boy.  He was huge, with feed to match.  SnowWhite, Cinderella,
Rapunzel, and Prince Charming.

Then came Sir William the Red, 5 year old Medium Brown.

The windmill purchased from a moving neighbor was fully restored.
I built a platform.  Doc helped me get the base up and I hired a tree guy with
a lift to get the blades on.  It looks great!

The ornaments for the Governor's
holiday tree at the Capitol Building were
designed, created, and delivered.

We sold Odin.  He didn't want to mix with the other animals.  He
had been kept inside so long at his other farm, he wanted nothing
to do with being OUTSIDE, but kept others from being inside.
  We added Nova, 7 year old Beige and rose. 

We added 3 year old Sterling.  Light Grey.

Here's Stormy, 1 year old fawn.

The snow storms began in the middle of October.

We sold the Donkeys as well.  They are missed, but they were making life
difficult with the alpacas.  They moved 8 miles straight down the road to a farm of 11 horses and one
very lonely Jack.  We can visit whenever we like.

The pasture is full of fluff. 

Prince Charming turned out to be a GIRL!
She's a large breed that got mixed in with the Americanas.
She is a Husky Red.  A dual breed meat or egg bird.
Meet Mirida.

It's been a good fall.  They boy is back in school.  Doc is back teaching at school.  I run the Ranch, tackling all the honey-do's, and the fix-its, project planning/execution, and errand running.  We had a bathroom pipe go, so I've been gutting and rebuilding a bathroom for what seems like forever instead of writing or painting like I had planned.  Christmas is upon us and I have managed some knitting, and to my credit the tree is UP. 

So there you have it.  Happy New Year!