- by Joan -

I set out today to meet my daughter Patty and to find the beauty in a rainy day.
Patty with her cheery umbrella…
Chatting over tea and coffee …
All of a sudden we could see sunshine…
So out we went to walk around Lafayette Village for a bit…
On the way home the skies darkened…
By the time I got home it was doing this…
Since I didn’t want to get drenched I sat in the car and took some pictures …
Success… I found what I was looking for
- by Joan -
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Tagged churches, flowers, New Jersey, Photographs, weather
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Tagged Martha's Vineyard, Photographs, weather
Due to a 12 hour storm last week, the farm was without power from Tuesday night through Sunday morning. Going into the storm, I wasn’t overly worried. After all, it was going to be 60 degrees the day after the storm. How bad could one day of snow be?
Pretty bad as it turned out. It was wet, heavy snow. The kind of that they call “widow maker” snow in New England because so many people have heart attacks while trying to move it. That kind of snow doesn’t mix well with loblolly pines and power lines, as it turns out.
On Friday night, when I could no longer stand the freezing temperatures at night, the lack of hot water and internet and sleeping on my couch, I decided to treat myself to a hotel room for one night. For a mere $120, I would have hot water, high-speed internet access and cable tv for 12 whole hours. I don’t think I could have been more excited if I was heading for Disney World. Except that after I checked in, the desk clerk said (in a very off-handed way) “Oh, our cable and internet were knocked out in the storm. Have a good evening!” I was crushed.
Saturday was the worst. I returned home from a trunk show to find that I still had no power and I was so frustrated that I burst into tears. I was so tired and cold and achey! I was also starting to get worried about the animals. I had filled up extra stock tanks in anticipation of the storm, but it had already been four days and they had gone through nearly 800 gallons of water. (Cows drink a staggering amount of water.)
Finally, on Sunday, the power returned. I have never been so happy to see the flashing clock on the microwave.
I wish that I was the kind of person who could accept what I cannot change with grace and calm, but that’s not who I am. Being cut off from the world is incredibly frustrating for me. I really feel terrible that I wasn’t more empathetic to all those people who were without power for so long post-Hurricane Sandy!
I am digging my way out from under all the work that piled up while the lights were out. More interesting post tomorrow, I promise.
BIG THANKS to Lauria for holding down the online fort while I was offline.
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Tagged weather
In nw New Jersey we got about 10 inches of snow, a drop in the bucket compared to the 3 FEET plus in other states.
5pm Friday night - 7am Saturday morning
To the west - to the east
Breakfast of coffee and oatmeal pancakes with Cookie Butter (thanks Deb).
And then the sun came out.
I hope everyone affected by what has been an historic blizzard, with over 3 FEET of snow in some areas, are safe and sound.
(CLICK HERE if you’re curious as to what Cookie Butter is, besides being addictively delicious)
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Tagged food, New Jersey, Photographs, snow, weather
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Tagged New Jersey, Photographs, weather
Everyone is talking about how hot it is, but imagine spending all day in this heat outdoors with a fur coat on. Yup, it’s hard out there for a sheep.
So far, this summer has been pretty mild compared to the last two years. It really only just got hot last week, and so far, the evenings have been cool enough to give the flock time to recover.
But if and when it does become unbearable, we are prepared with all the ingredients we need to make a heat tonic.
This concoction was recommended to us by our friends at Eight Pond Farm a couple of years ago and I believe wholeheartedly in it’s efficacy. Obviously I would prefer a cold front, but heat tonic will do in a pinch.
1/4 cup liquid 100% concentrate Garlic Barrier(You MUST use the 100% concentrate.)
1/4 cup liquid vitamin E
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup molasses
1 cup Red Cell *
Mix all ingredients together in a large jar. Give via drench at 30-60cc for adult sheep and 10-30cc for lambs, depending on size. We give it to our goats too, and this year we will probably be dosing the cows with it as well.
Refrigerate leftovers for later use for up to a month.
For the non-shepherds, a drench is sort of a big, needless syringe that is used to give liquid medicine to livestock. It’s inserted in the animals mouth and the liquid is dispensed as far back in the mouth as possible. A drench gun looks like this:
We administer this in the early morning or late evening when the day is at it’s coolest, since chasing them down in the heat of the day would be counter productive.
On hot days we also add electrolytes directly to the stock tanks and change the water in the tanks frequently. Even when they are thirsty sheep and goats will avoid drinking hot water, just like we do.
We also make sure our hay bales are located in the shade in the summer so that the sheep won’t spend the hottest hours of the day grazing.
When we have an animal showing signs of heat stress we get them into the barn and in front of a fan immediately, administer ice packs under their legs and chest right away and keep them hydrated. Getting them cooled down as quickly as possible is the only way to save them.
If you’re a shepherd I’d love for you to share your summer tips with us. We will thank you and Feenat will thank you.
*If you have any questions about using Red Cell, talk to your vet.
Late last night our power was restored! Best news in the world. What a terrible day yesterday started out to be.
But you know what? We got through it. Charlotte worked her ass off with me to keep the animals hydrated. Paul saved our bacon with his magic generator. Zac and Caroline got home from vacation just in time to help with the animals and get much needed water to the garden. And Amy had us all over to her house to cool off and use the internet.
We brought over all the food that had thawed in the freezer and needed to be cooked and Zac made a feast of ribs, sausages and hotdogs. Oh, and a whole platter of tomatoes from our own garden that had to be eaten immediately. It was a lovely night.
And then, POWER! We were very, very lucky, indeed. Many homes will be without power for days in this wretched heat. Keep them in your thoughts…
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Tagged weather