December 29, 2009

• Christmas at the Lazy C

  "Where life is anything but lazy".  The girls and I are farm sitting for the C family in Providence Forge, VA.  Chalk another up for our Collecting Farm Skilz folder.  Here we are on 10 acres , babysitting: 3 cows- Patty, her son- Sir Loin and newest heifer Caramel Apple;

  4 pigs- Pork Chop, Petunia, Harley and Kingsford; Border Collies: Bonnie with her 7 pups, whose eyes have just opened the past week or so

  , Boomer- who keeps herding our dog Baxter -I'm pretty sure he thinks that Bax is a large sheep (not too surprising actually), Lolly, Fanny, Sky, Flynn and Lucy aka Dizzy because of a bad habit of running in really tight circles to the right; and last but not least the few farm cats and the chicken/guinea/turkey population roaming around here and there.

  Life certainly is not lazy for the C. family who have 7 children- homeschool and run this exciting homestead. And we discovered, it's not lazy for us either. Chores take us around an hour- that's just feeding and watering...time varies depending on who may or may not escape-who may or may not challenge our authority and whether we can find our wellies....

  We've settled into a dandy routine, for the most part. Sunday we discovered on our way back to the Lazy C from church- about an hours drive give our take a few- that there was definitely something wrong with our truck. We've had a bit of a shimmy and a wobble had developed which looked suspiciously as though we had busted another tire, not unlike the one that developed a huge bubble a month or so ago. Sunday the shimmy turned into a shake and the wobble warped wildly so that we turned back quickly from our return trip to the lazy C and opted to stay at our city house in Npt. News to go to our awesome mechanic there. Mr. Moore took the truck for a spin and lo and behold, he returned with a "Wow, the back end was all over, and well, you need tires! " So, off we went to a tire shope that stocks our size of tire. 

  My dear Sis came and got me and the girls and allowed me to borrow her van for a hop up to the Lazy C to do the chores...we expected at the very least, dog issues from the few that are kept indoors, including the still being trained Lolly who hangs out in the laundry room.  We were gratified to discover that Lolly had crossed her legs, so we had no accidents to clean up, we did however, have the Great Swine Escape of '09.  We've now learned that when your late feeding the pigs, don't set the bucket down just outside the electric fence in order to situate yourself for feeding....no...diversionary tactics are quite necessary. Our darling oinkers took the shock and trotted out for a buffet. Rounding them up became quite an experience, but finally all were safely back inside their enclosure and much potato salad and spinach artichoke dip were hurled in at them to make their return to captivity a treat.

  Next we headed for the chicken area, armed with chicken sticks (longish bits of small tree limbs) to protect us from the two feisty roosters. One seems to just have an issue with my Lizzy, the other is Hot Head Harry- a silky- He's got a real problem with challenging my authority...it was quite the surprise to be rushed at when feeding the chickens by this mad wigged out haired rooster- I had to thump him with the feed scoop...after that, it's been pretty much defending myself with whatever is to hand whenever he accosts me...so far it's been a 2x4, a wagon, a metal strainer, the feed scoop, the water bucket and my chicken stick. Harry and I are down and out enemies now, and I admit, if anyone saw our bizarre dance I'd be hauled off in a white jacket...cause you know, when Harry puffs up and crows...I just have to do my war dance and crow back and when he takes a mad dash at me, I just got to meet him half way, chicken stick waving....I am determined that he is not going to win the great range war and well, unfortunately, he has the same idea....the good news is, I'm bigger than him. Though, you may notice I took these pictures from the safety of the other side of the fence...and look, there's the water bucket...Hi Harry!

  And for your enjoyment, one of the highlights of the Lazy C : Fabio- the prize turkey! I'm too sexy for this farm yard.... te-he...

  And I'll leave you with a few pictures of the girls and the puppies.

   

  

   I'll update later with pictures from our Christmas Taffy pull attempts and perhaps New Years Eve.  We'll be outta here and on to watch the Gowins Clan Farm in Ivor, Va on the 2nd- which is also my Lanie Pie's 11th birthday....where does the time go?! Hope ya'll are having a wonderful Christmas and looking forward to an awesome New Year full of rewarding work...hey why not learn a new skill this year? Blessings! ~Kate.

   

  • 8:21 pm
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