tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84647371052751308662011-07-07T19:49:15.203-05:00Living on 200 golden acres beneath the mostly sunny skies of western Nebraska, where the possibilities are as limited as your imagination. Life with our horses, cows, dairy goats, turkeys, chickens, honeybees, and of course, dogs and cats, in the rolling mixed fields and pasture land approx. twenty miles north of the Republican River. We think life's pretty good.Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.comBlogger191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-55792074279406209442009-10-12T19:28:00.003-05:002010-01-02T12:45:44.272-06:00

After a busy and successful summer, fall has slid into winter almost without warning. Snow and below freezing temps the past few nights have given us due warning that summer days are gone! We had a lovely long summer though, so we can't complain. With all the unusually plentiful moisture all season the grass was green right up to the end here, and that was great! Better pasture and better growing

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-77998695028825129902009-07-13T11:51:00.007-05:002009-07-13T12:29:32.366-05:00

July is upon us already, and it's almost as quickly slipping into the past. True Summer's noontime heat, and beautiful evenings, and drop-dead-gorgeous nights, are so easy to get lost in, to where you don't even notice that the calendar days are surging on like the click-clack of a railroad car.(As I imagine a railroad car would, at least. I wouldn't actually know. [I like 'railroad car', it

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-90232440879538212042009-07-13T11:02:00.004-05:002009-07-13T11:55:09.308-05:00

Of course it's always gardening time, and there is always so much to be done! From the big vegetable garden, to the flower beds, to the smaller raised beds around the house, there is always something that could use the attention.And a long balmy evening is always the perfect time to do it.

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-65650643350001318152009-07-13T10:55:00.006-05:002009-07-13T11:51:04.426-05:00

In the latter part of June haying began, and with the intermittent rains and slow-drying muggy days, it covered a good two weeks of mowing, raking, (often re-raking after a rain,) and baling. Once these were accomplished, by bits and pieces as the fields dictated, the bales needed to be hauled off.Mom got this shot of the summertime sky on one of her trips to and from the field. Rather iconic...

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-81204738922912712692009-07-13T10:46:00.004-05:002009-07-13T10:59:51.800-05:00

All spring we have been getting a lovely profusion of scattered small storms and rain showers, and after one of them we noticed this. Isn't it gorgeous?Of course, when hay needs to be mowed the moisture is harder to appreciate... but ignoring beauty in the sky won't change the weather. Make the best of it, and glean a lovely memory... at the very least.

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-32173459154484261582009-07-13T10:10:00.013-05:002009-07-13T12:38:22.364-05:00

The turkey chicks grow so fast! Here is a photo I got of one hiding in the greenery, probably looking for a bit of peace and quiet to catch a few winks...

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-78968642123229514382009-06-03T21:12:00.005-05:002009-06-03T21:16:43.138-05:00

Seeing as it is that time of year again, I wanted to share this... one definition of happiness for any shepherdess, shepherd, or animal lover. When the grass is green, the herd is healthy, the year is young and the world is crowned by a big blue sky... that's what happiness is.

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-35853683771294879422009-06-03T20:29:00.008-05:002009-06-03T21:12:03.250-05:00

Well, we almost have the garden in. Just a few more days of planting to get done, but we keep getting delayed with rain.Not that anybody objects! After the bad drought recently I for one will not take rain lightly. It can come on down about any time it likes, we will simply work around it. No problem!But it does make our garden planting a bit strung out. Which is actually all right, seeing as we

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-64671124283244283682009-05-12T14:02:00.004-05:002009-05-12T14:14:09.444-05:00

Don't have much time today, but I did want to get up a baby goat photo, so I'm putting this one up. Just got ahold of my camera again, and so new ones should be forthcoming, but for now we'll have to get by with this shot of Aries, Argentina's buckling, helping out with the flower bed upkeep early last week.Nice flat topline on this fellow! And that side spot... does it look like a wispy ghost?

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-67499676728612647002009-05-08T10:44:00.004-05:002009-05-09T18:16:34.228-05:00

Well, wha'd'ya'know... in the last two days we've had ten kids. Yes, that's right. Ten.Egypt kidded out first on Wednesday morning with a tiny single buckling, a little chamoise with a star. Then Tigir went into action and produced triplets, two sundgau bucks and a little coal black doeling. All three were pretty small, (which is good, and understandable with triplets!) and the one little guy is

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-50770411308606463362009-05-04T10:50:00.003-05:002009-05-04T11:08:21.879-05:00

Well, Signet Dairy Goat's first kid of the season has hit the ground! He's a perky little sundgau with white splashes, out of Signet Argentina and by Signet Sir Jocelyn. And he's got a perfectly healthy appetite! [He actually hit the ground quite a few days ago, but this blogger-thing has been giving me trouble with signing in. And with things being busy, I've not had a bunch of time to devote to

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-46191833236830545122009-04-26T12:39:00.005-05:002009-04-26T13:12:00.174-05:00

It's a cool and misty day today, and we hope to get some rain out of it before this front is over. The oats are all in and just waiting for some moisture to get started growing. One of the prettiest things I can think of is a field all green and growing.We planted some peas in the garden, and I put in two short rows of red potatoes. That should ensure that we get some fresh vegatables as soon as

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-45363569302559338272009-04-24T13:51:00.005-05:002009-04-26T13:11:29.475-05:00

Well, this waiting dragging on and on was getting to my nerves. So yesterday Abigail and I got out the breeding book and re-calculated all the due dates, just to make sure we had them correct.And we didn't. In a big way! Argentina was off by almost two weeks... which would make sense because that's how much overdue we had her figured. Turns out she was actually due on the 24th. So giving her the

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-8677478460002341982009-04-09T18:01:00.006-05:002009-04-09T18:33:27.009-05:00

Well, we're getting the tail end of a storm it looks like, a drop in temperatures and no drop in wind! But it isn't as bad as they were calling for, and is now expected to be in the 50's somewhere. I don't know if it's supposed to last a while or not, I guess I'll find out!I ordered a Pelouze Dairy scale from Hoegger's yesterday. Our old one was pretty worn out it seemed. (Had a nice talk with a

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-47792152222392083482009-04-07T11:23:00.005-05:002009-04-09T18:34:21.754-05:00

Well, here it is April already. And it seems we are just flying through it.I can almost hear the whistle blow, Too-woot! "Next stop... May!"I am anxious for our first kids to arrive. We usually have already had some by now, but this year we bred the does too kid out pretty late.It sort of just worked out that way, and I thought it might turn out to be a nice break, certainly save us from the, '

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-10991571015230933172009-03-17T12:15:00.011-05:002009-04-26T13:10:47.824-05:00

I have always liked quilts. Probably because of Mom, who introduced me to them because she has always loved quilts.When I was seven Mom and my (then teen-age,) older sister went to a series of quilting classes that were being offered in our little town. They met some really sweet ladies there, who became friends long after the classes were over.So every week they would come home with a new

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-17822834308884937782009-03-01T12:06:00.005-06:002009-03-01T12:48:01.436-06:00

So, to catch up on a few things.We have had our goats since the fall before Abigail was born, (when I was six-turning-seven,) so we have done a lot of things with our goats, as you can imagine. Going with the herd up into the forest-covered mountain for most of the day, picking service berries that grew along the railroad tracks, holding baby goat races. All of which taught us another aspect of

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-55724550435681689512009-02-25T15:52:00.003-06:002009-02-25T17:23:44.470-06:00

Abigail and I checked on the bees yesterday afternoon. It was very warm and sunny, and we thought it would be a good idea to take a look at them and see how they were getting along. We checked Vivian first, and she was looking a little low on honey supplies. She had also suffered the most death loss of the three, but she still had enough to get a start on the flowers when spring gets here. But

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8464737105275130866.post-22352130945896877852009-02-25T14:21:00.004-06:002009-02-25T17:40:17.162-06:00

Hello!This is my first post, so I'll just give myself a little intro. This blog will be about whatever happens to catch my fancy long enough to make it to the net, mainly, most likely, things that go on around the farm here and in my 'rural living' life. Since this has been the way I grew up, (for which I am thankful!) I'll probably mostly jot down things that are out of the ordinary, or

Prairie Shepherdesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17817765541424711988noreply@blogger.com1