Tuesday, September 9, 2008

On A Happier Note

Meet "Smores". Luke named him before we loaded him in the truck.
He is 3 months old.


Initially Annabelle was not impressed but I think he's grown on her.

John is getting good use of his tractor.
I thought there was lots of work before but now is the rush to get stuff taken care of before the frost, this is Maine so it could be any day.

Yeah, the pigs are out of the barn! John and the neighbor bought a bunch of fencing from a local animal shelter that relocated. They sold most of it, both making a little cash and they made enough to feed their pigs until slaughter.
Between the pigs and the chickens our waste here is minimal and I love it. The chickens enjoy overgrown zucchini and cukes sliced in half and the pigs like rotten tomatoes and whatever scraps we may have from the house. It is a great cycle I feed you, you feed me.
The neighbors girl named them Obama & McCain. Can't tell she comes from a family that is right into politics.


Life has been busy with the kids starting school, work, preserving. I am looking forward to the cold days of cuddling up on the couch with a good book. I am excited that going into the winter we will be able to enjoy some of our summer's bounty. This is really the first year I have ever put up any amount of food. We are getting well over 2 dozen eggs a day and tonight I just made another batch of pickled eggs. They are so easy to make and they are a yummy, nutritious, filling snack.

On a final note we went to the local fair and Luke entered a hubbard squash and a pumpkin and received two 2nd place ribbons and a check for $1.50 and Leah entered a big pumpkin and won 1st place and a check for $25.00 for the biggest squash weighing in at 80lbs.
We can't wait for next years fair! :)

Check out the TRIPLE yoker!


16 comments:

Mandie said...

How cool is that, a triple yoker!! The pumpkins look so pretty.

Mandie said...

I love smores, very cute.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the new little guy, he's quite handsome and pretty coloring!

goatgirl said...

Who doesn't love a Smore. He is darling. A time for healing:)

Jodi said...

Cute new guy!

I hear you on looking forward to cold weather reading. And we don't have any animals to tend to!

As for the frost - forecast shows Northern Maine is in for a cold night tonight. Brrr!!

Anonymous said...

Holy moley those are some serious squash...tree trunks for stems!

There is nothing better than a few bucks from winning at the fair. I used to enter bee stuff in the cty fair when we live in TN. It was the funnest money I ever earned!

YD, sometimes with ♥June and ♥Angel Samantha said...

A triple yolker? That's too cool!

Congrats to Luke and Leah!

Smores is very cute.

Speaking of frost...it's gonna be cold tonight. Frost advisories and freeze warnings in the North Country. It will be near 40 in the NY Capital region where I am.

Linda said...

wow!! I've never seen a triple yoker. Yup..the frost will be here soon. It is pretty cool out there. Gotta love Maine :) Awesome about the ribbons at the fair. :) Smore is pretty cute may I add. :)

Don said...

Way to go! You have had a very successful, and eventful year. Lots of home grown food and memories. I tried pickling some quail eggs and we didn't like them much. Maybe we need a better recipe?

Country Girl said...

Thanks Mandie & Pine Pod, we think he is cute too.
Jodi, the nights have been cold. I will clean out the garden today before a frost does.
Warren, it is fun $ and we are psyched to enter more items next year.
YD, it was down to 40 last night here in Maine...to close to frost I need to get a move on in the garden.
Linda, we have had lots of double yokers but this was a first for a triple yoker.
Don, we have had a great, eventful year. Pickled quail eggs sounds like a lot of work, their eggs are so tiny.

Anonymous said...

Three yokes! Awesome!

I love that you got the fencing from a local shelter. Excellent find!

I like the new fellow. He looks like he'll have lots of personality!

As always, I love the pictures! I know I haven't been visiting like I should but I haven't forgotten you!

Blessings!
Lacy

RazorFamilyFarms.com

Erica said...

Look at all those squash!! I love squash and can't wait for ours to be ready in the garden.

The new goat is adorable also. And the pigs, the names are very fitting. Do you feed them much else besides scrapes?

citygirl said...

Welcome to Achorn Farm Smores! A time to heal indeed! What a cutie!

On a side note...those squash are as tasty as they are beautiful! I had my favorite vegetarian dish last night...Roasted Winter Squash over Garlicky Pasta. Thanks Country Girl!

Don said...

The quail eggs were so much work I gave the quails to a nice family!

I got a chicken egg today that was a "No yolker." It was pure white and slightly larger than a quail egg. What's up with that!!

Amy said...

Awesome egg! Wow! I also love the "I feed you, you feed me" principle. It's the way it should be. Those winter squashes look fantastic. You're giving me more and more reasons to start a garden next year. Ugh! My back aches already.

CONGRATULATIONS on that beautiful baby goat! I bet the kids are thrilled! He looks so sweet and so cute. I love velvety goatie noses. I am in the planning stages of getting a dairy goat next year.

And even more CONGRATULATIONS to Luke and Leah on their winnings. It's good to see them learning the values that country life is instilling in them. They will certainly turn out to be fine people!

GreyWolf said...

Congrats on a bountiful harvest and your new goat. Very resourceful husband and a great looking pig pen.
I think I am going to try your pickled egg recipe just to find out how they taste (never had one before) and we have a surplus of eggs from our hens.