Pictures from a sunny afternoon

Almost set for winter.  These warm days have been such a blessing.

The hog pens are finally arranged the way I need them to be.  All the pigs seem a bit itchy, so the warm weather may have triggered an outbreak of mites...time to deworm them anyway, and the medication will take care of any external parasites as well.  

Pens are set up in a large "L"...20 feet square for each pen, adult boar Chips at one end of the L in his own pen (he needs a few barrow-buddies, but that will happen when I get to it), adult sows in adjacent pens to Chips' for now, for easier introduction at the right time(s)..  I'd like babies to be born starting in April, but...I need to be able to open gates and introduce sows to boars at the right time during the dead of winter, those sub-zero days in January. Ugh.  The planning is just about in place, open one gate, sow trots into the boar's pen, they co-habit for about 3 months...  Sounds easy.  

Along the "L" of pens...past the adult sows' area, we have the young gilts.  These are the females who were born this past season and haven't sold yet, or are being kept for evaluation as future breeders.  They are too young to be introduced to Chips, or to the boar at the far end, so...with a buffer of adult sows in between them, they are in a center pen where they can imagine shopping at the mall or trying on clothes at the boutique, chatting endlessly on their phones/Snapchat/or whatever else is the latest rage, or decorating their A-frame hut with pink and purple and sparkles...  Ahem.

Moving along, next up are the barrows or young boars.  The young boars can't be housed with the adult boars, so they get to spend the winter with the barrows (males who can no longer reproduce).  There is playful body slamming, ears flapping as these guys dash in circles like little puppies, once in a while there is a squabble.  For the most part, this is a happy group, lying in the sun, sleeping like warm sardines in their little A-frame hut, and just enjoying life.

And at the far end of the L, our other adult boar, Mitch.  He has two barrow buddies in with him, and it took a few days for me to be sure that he was not going to toss them right out and over his fence.  But they have happily settled in, and are set for the long cold winter

Besides the hogs, (Yes, there are a LOT of hogs left here after a slow season of almost non-existent sales), the sheep and goats are set for winter.  

In the photos, you'll see one breeding trio of our Southdown sheep.  Luther is set up in a roomy pen with April and Sunny, since mid-October.  I assume that both ewes are already bred.  Things happen within the first 21 days, usually, and Luther was quite serious about his task.  That puts lambing season at mid to late March, possibly early April, which is what I hoped for.

This year, we have two breeding groups of sheep, and Boy Blue is in a different pen at the south end of the barn, with May, Merry, and Easter.  Easter was just born this spring, so might not have lambs for another year.  We'll see.

The young ram lamb who we brought back from Minnesota will have to wait for next year, too.  I just didn't have enough fencing or shelters for him to be paired separately with any of the girls this time. He is with a buddy, a wether (neutered male), and they are hanging out with the young goat girls who need to be kept separate from the male goats...  

If your head is spinning by now...that is how I feel sometimes, when I think of all the arranging and rearranging we've done to make all of this possible!!!

That still leaves the goats.  Ready?  :)

Here is the force of the buck in rut....  I had two groups of goats, one in the pasture, the other in an adjacent grazing area, separated by typical field-fencing that is used for livestock.  One day, a doe was rubbing against the fencing that is between the two areas.  By the next morning, the wrong buck was in the pasture with her.  There is a hole in the fencing that is large enough for dogs and goats and even a large deer to push their way through.  Wires were simply snapped, or stretched to the breaking point, in the buck's advances towards the "lady".  Luckily, it is on an interior section, and none of our animals escaped into the fields around our place...  

Assuming that Zaney was bred that night, we'll need to do DNA testing to see "who's your daddy".  Sigh.  If she has bucklings, I may just sell them as unregistered.  Sigh, again.

So the goat groups....now the one group of 3 does and one buck is in with the sheep at the south end of the barn, co-existing nicely except for just a few odd days, when the females of either species think that they need to challenge each other.  

And the other buck who barged through fencing, and his two ladies, are in the old blue shed with a little pen set up outside.  He lost his grazing rights when he ruined my fence.  Baby goats are also due around the end of March, beginning of April.

We briefly entertained the thought of looking at a property that is for sale...  40 acres, mature 200+ year old oak trees, sedge meadow, artesian natural springs...  Adjacent to conservation areas that are already protected and maintained by the conservation district.  Two houses (duplexes), two summer cottages that are currently rented...  Existing trails through the property for ATV's, horses, hiking...  Plenty of potential.  

But...  No existing barn.  No fenced pastures.  It is within 5 minutes of our farm, but...having set everything up here for winter, put up enough hay to get us through to next summer, planned for all the breeding groups and the babies that will arrive in 5 months or less...we just can't pick up and move at the drop of a hat.  I love the idea of preserving oak savannas that have been in the area since before European settlers came in and divided the land into 40 acre sections.  The pigs and goats could be used for taking out the buckthorn, eating the invasive garlic mustard, gradually the land could be reclaimed from the invasive plant species that threaten to choke out the native plants and wildlife.  There would be areas that offer an abundance of acorns, hickory nuts, and walnuts every autumn.  A water supply even if everything else ran dry.  6 acres of tillable land, lots of wildlife.  But that will be put on the back-burner until spring, and maybe not even then.  

That's quite a whirlwind of a lot of thoughts going through my mind...  

Back to the photos.  That's handsome boy Luther, wearing the collar.  He gets a little bit fiesty, and I wanted a handle to grab him if he acts a little challenging sometimes.  He is gentle compared to Brock, the black ram who we were not able to keep.  

The white ewe with him is April, our first Southdown sheep who we purchased as a lamb back in 2013, I think.  And the black ewe is her daughter Sunny, from 2015.

Dogs of course, are Star and Remy.  Taffy had decided to perch on the back step and not be in the pasture with us by that point in the morning routine.  

Time to get out there and get some more work done, with the sun shining and the unseasonably warm weather on it's way out later this week!  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  

 

Laura

Too close for comfort

Coyotes. I'd never heard them so close, like they were right in our backyard...

Taffy was going crazy, the pups were barking with her inside the house. Puppies put safely away (first order of business!), I let our little blonde (and furious) whirlwind out and had planned to get Remy to help her...

Taffy was answered by a chorus of coyotes as she reached the fence at the far end of the pasture, and I saw the big hole that they had dug UNDER our fence in some soft soil... They were LITERALLY right in our backyard...!!!

Remy was clamoring to join in (from the barn where he'd been eating dinner), but...Taffy was still growling at something(s) just outside in the cover of the corn field, and I couldn't risk losing either of the dogs to a daring scramble under the fence and into the territory of the waiting pack...

A large old stump was hurriedly rolled into the hole, and as I turned around to go and get Remy, the pack started singing to Taffy who was still raging on our side of the fence... They had just been inside of our pasture for the first known time in 7 years, and they were daring Taffy to come out and fight them. Unbelievable.

Remy dashed to join her, and I went to get Jeff.

They were gone by the time we got back, Jeff had the gun, Jeremy and I had the shovels and flashlights.

I set up an electric net-type fence after we filled the hole, just to give them reason to pause when they come back later. The guys peed on it, for good measure.

The goats who were free-ranging in the pasture were put in with the breeding trio of sheep. Safer there than out in the open.

And now, to try to get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll add an electric line to the bottom of the fence, but if they're really determined, it will not stop them.

 

Laura

Puppies, puppies, all the time

Photos:  Gage, Maggie, Misty, Kitty, and an old but joyful picture of Remy with little Star

We're coming into the last 2 weeks of Puppies!  Puppies!  All!  The!  Time!  :)

Sprocket (Skip), Murphy (Captain), Sky (Goldie), Fenimoore (Morty), Wisp...  All of these have left for their new homes and we've been getting such nice feedback from happy families.  

Here just until the end of this week is Gage, whose placement fell into place as if it was simply meant to be.  He will be picked up this coming weekend, by a family who is DRIVING UP from North Carolina because they want this particular pup.  

Here until November 8 are Maggie and Misty.  These girls will have homes in New Hampshire (Maggie) and Vermont (Misty). Their ride leaves from a farm two doors south of us, on Nov 8, so they have two weeks more until their big adventure begins.  

Kitty has had some interest, and we are waiting to see which family or farm she will go to.  She is a sweet pup, a little overwhelmed by all the boisterous play of the other pups, I think.  She is happily asleep under my chair as I type, while the other pups are still running off some energy.  We started crate training, so...there are a couple of pups who spent the night in a crate by themselves, in the puppy play area, and they area bit wound up.  :)  No accidents in the crates, so that is a great achievement.

And then little Star, who gets to stay.  Her registered name will be "Evening Song Starry Night".  Jeff played a song for us on his phone, Starry Starry Night, which is about Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh.  When we chose Remy's name, we had Dutch artists in mind.  Remy is not named for "Remington", but for "Rembrandt".  Star's name will make reference to another Dutch artist, and one painting that Van Gogh is famous for.  

I was testing her a bit this morning.  With a handful of tiny cat treats, I walked around the kitchen island and she trotted eagerly behind me.  When I stopped, she immediately sat on the floor and looked up expectantly.  We didn't train her to do this, except in what we've done with all the puppies to stop the popcorn jumping when they want our attention.

She is eager to please, attentive, and should train very easily.  Her sparkly little eyes looked up at me each time I stopped, and when she was rewarded, she wiggled with glee.  This is going to be a good pup to have in the mix, here at the farm.  She is now working the system, sitting quickly and looking up expectantly whenever she has the chance, to see if she will be rewarded.  What a good girl!

So...two weeks to go until Maggie and Misty leave.  One week for Gage.  Kitty should have a home lined up soon.  Training with Star will begin in earnest then, with her getting used to the crate in the house, and no brothers or sisters to romp with.  

This time period is bittersweet, and yet...  It has obvioiusly become time to let them go, so that they will bond with their new owners and learn their jobs on THEIR new farms, or in their new homes.  

The timing is right for little pups to venture out into the big wide world and to start their lives in earnest.

 

Laura

Almost "Good-bye" for the remaining few

So many weeks with these beautiful, loving pups.  They are 11 weeks old already!

We're getting down to the final few weeks, with the final few pups.  It is definitely bittersweet. 

Wisp left this morning, and you can tell that there is a difference in the litter without her joyful presence. She is already settling in and meeting new creatures at her new home this afternoon.

In the first photo:  Here are Misty and Maggie, not even aware of the tears that welled up in my eyes as I saw the perfect "It's almost time to say goodbye" photo.  Misty and Maggie will travel together to Vermont, where Misty's new home is and where Maggie's owners will pick her up for her new home in New Hampshire.

 

Then there are the cheerful photos that show just how much promise is in each of these young pups.  

Gage sitting very unconcerned, in (not just the GOAT pen, but the BUCK pen!), Misty showing her joy and spunk.  Morty already at his new farm in Tennessee, meeting a cow for the first time.  

And Wisp, the picture that I think I will always see in my mind when I think of her.  An all-around, quality pup with a great personality to go with her beautiful looks.  :)

Laura

Puppy roll call

So...of the 10 puppies that were born at the end of July, four have left for their new homes, and three of the remaining six are spoken for.  And then we added a pet-store English Shepherd who will travel to Nashville with us this week (a rescue, of sorts), and our daughter's ES has been with us for 4 days...  It is a little bit crazy.

The puppies.  

Morty...his new mama flew in from Tennessee.  I met her at the end of the train shuttle in RE-mote PARK-ing, on a little island of dried up grass and bird droppings.  Morty snuggled right in under her, as we sat on the crunchy cement curb and met/talked/shared info.  She flew back home with him that day and was back at their farm in time for evening milking.  He is adored.  Truly a great and welcome presence on his new farm.  

Skip, now named Sprocket.  His family bought Pippin (Bailey) from last year's litter, so they have a mini-me of their one year old full brother.  Skip was the most blonde of the pups, same as Pippin was last year.  They love him.  Pippin had moved out with their adult daughter, so Skip/Sprocket is filling a void and also making a place of his own in their hearts.  Their Woodstock house recently sold, so...they may be bound for Colorado, which has been their dream for a few years now.  Sprocket may be hiking those mile-high peaks in the Rocky Mountains soon!

Captain is now Murphy.  He is in a suburban setting, loved and adored in a family with a corgi, a German Shepherd, and two kids.  They have taken him to corn mazes and other outings, and he is friendly and outgoing with everyone he meets.

Goldie is home on a farm in Iowa, in a family with two young children.  She sank right into the man's arms as they met her, just a perfect, beautiful fit.  The photo they sent after returning home was of their son, with Goldie on a leash, off on an adventure to explore the farm.  Rave reviews for that beautiful girl.

And the ones that are still here:

Gage is the infamous "Pick of the Litter".  He truly is gorgeous.  We thought that the breeder was going to place him in Michigan, but that situation did not fit his personality and abilities.  Then he might have gone to Atlanta with us to another fabulous English Shepherd owner, but that has not been the right timing, either.  He is still here with us, winning people over every time we have visitors.  The right home will come along for him, but we are waiting on the breeder of Smoke to tell us where that will be.

Misty will be going to Vermont.  A ride is all set up for her to get at far as New York, with none other than the neighbor who owns Smoke (the daddy).  And Maggie will go on that same trip to our neighbor's sister-in-law, in New Hampshire!  Two sweet girls, here for just a few more weeks before joining their new families.

Star has won a place in our hearts (well, they all have...but somehow she is the one who fits our little operation and is under our chairs, sleeping under the table, spunky but affectionate. and...bonus...she does not rile up the husky like the other pups seem to do.  :)  She is a bouncy joyful presence.

And that leaves two special pups.  Wisp and Kitty.  Both are wonderful.  Both are spunky and ready for their own families.  Wisp has been the first to put her little paws on my leg when I'm holding Lily, our granddaughter.  Wisp has a cheerful presence, adventurous spirit, and cuddly, inquisitive look about her.  Kitty has beautiful markings, the classic Irish collie look in a dark colored dog.  Kitty plays hard, stands up for "her" toy/dirt hill/hole-in-the-ground, has been one to disappear for a nap in the barn, a little more independent, but very alert and ready to enforce the rules (a definite English Shepherd trait).  

Wisp and Kitty both should be great family dogs, wonderful for farms, which is what the dogs have been bred for, even before this litter came along.  

The pups play hard all morning.  Crash for a nap wherever in the barn they decide to settle in...wake up for round two...  And by night, they are tuckered out and mellow.  It's nice in a way, that they have left gradually.  But it is time for the rest to move on and bond with new families and learn their future farm jobs...  We need to be working on training for Star, without the other pups being the comfortable little play-group.  While the rest are here, though, we'll start with leash training, one-on-one farm time, working past the fun run-as-long-as-you-can sessions and towards being productive farm dogs for their new owners.  

Wisp (with pumpkin) and Kitty (on top of the puppy-pile with dark face and white blaze) are the ones who still need to be spoken for.  Sweeties, both of them!)

More about the pet store pup when I have time to tell THAT story!  :)

 

Laura

Guest Writer! "The Rogue Goat from Wonder Lake"

The Rogue Goat from Wonder Lake--An Adventure from the Dykstra Farm

By Tracy Laws

(The story is set in July, at the farm)

This story starts with a wonderful person asking a favor of me.  You see, it has always been a dream of mine to have a small farm.  My good friend, Laura, knew this about me and decided she would ask me to watch her lovely farm for a week, so that she could attend her daughter's wedding with her family in Michigan.  My son, who had worked on Laura's farm as help in the past, and I, decided happily that we would live vicariously on the far for this week.  Laura, not wanting to ask too much, arranged for a young man, Zack, to partner with us.  

Zack would handle morning and night time feedings and my son and I would handle anything else the farm needed.  The "anything else" would turn out to be a very entertaining story.

Taffy, their devoted farm dog, was pregnant,  Now, I was reassured that she was not due until late that month, but on the first night at the farm, something didn't seem right with this normally easy going, expectant dog.  She started to moan and whimper at the foot of my bed.  This continued for hours.  Nothing I did seemed to comfort her.  

She had water and food, but she refused to go outside to relieve herself.  Consequently, I stayed up most of the night worrying that Taffy was in labor with the puppies.  

What was I supposed to do?  I had never been around a dog in labor.  Do I call Laura in the middle of the night?  What could she really do from Michigan?  I decided I would put on my big girl panties and stick it out until the morning.  Just as the decision was made, Taffy settled in and all was well.  Sweet sleep for all was accomplished, until....

Knock, knock...  I was awakened by Zack, tapping at the back door.  Apparently, when he arrived to do the morning feeding, he found one of the goats had escaped.  Zack wanted Taffy to come help him round up the goat.  I explained to Zack what had happened during the night.  

On a side note...in the past, Taffy had amazed me when I watched her perform on the farm.  It would be an understatement to say that Taffy loves her job.  Zack and myself tried to convince Taffy to do her chore, but just as I predicted, Taffy was not having any of it.  Zack was baffled and told me how Taffy, after giving birth to her last litter of puppies, was back to work an hour later.  

We decided that after we got the goat into the pen, I needed to call Laura about Taffy.  BUT, first things first....the goat.

I promptly woke up Kreed, my son.  Without Taffy, we needed all hands on deck.  Zack and Kreed showed me how to round up a goat.  We made a human line and slowly cornered him until we could direct him into the open gate of the goats' pen.  After some failed attempts, we managed to get the goat into the pen with the other goats...success, or so we thought.

Zack went off to his day job, I called Laura about Taffy, and then Kreed and I decided to try to get some sleep while morning was still upon us.  

I had maybe slept for half an hour when the phone woke me up.  It was Zack, telling me how Laura had called him about Taffy and the goat that had gotten loose.  She realized that there had been a report of a rogue goat from Wonder Lake, traveling from farm to farm looking for goat "company".  Zack instructed me that I needed to separate the rogue goat from Laura's purebred fainting goats ASAP and call animal control to get ahold of the missing goat's farmer/owner.  Kreed and I were faced with the task of putting Laura's goats back inside the goat house while keeping the rogue goat enclosed in the pen...until the farmer could arrive to round him up.  I thought..."Here goes nothing!"  

(Laura's note:  From the Michigan side of things...The news of Taffy was upsetting, but we suggested putting her on a leash and taking her outside.  That seemed to help.  Tracy had told me the night before about a goat that seemed to be outside of the goat fence, but when Zack came back to check, everything was as it should be.  He had closed up the goats earlier in the evening and all were accounted for.  This clue would prove to be invaluable when Tracy's message reached me the next morning.

Tracy told me that they had needed to round up one of our goats that was on the driveway, and that seemed odd.  Zack knows my animals, and I was sure he would not have missed one the night before.  But...something usually happens when we are away, so it didn't seem terribly wrong to me at first.  And it was taken care of by the time I got the phone call.  

All the way in Michigan, I was thinking this through...and then mentioned it to Jeff.  He said "Is it possible that it's the SAME goat that animal control was trying to round up the week before vacation?"  I dismissed the thought, but suddenly realized...if it WAS the same goat...and he was supposedly an intact male/buck...he had been put into my pen of my waiting-to-be-bred purebred female goats.

I called Zack, who confirmed that the goat did not seem to be the same type as one of mine, I told him the animal control story, and things were quickly set into motion.)

Back to Tracy:  

Now let me tell you.  Fainting goats are exactly as described.  This is not just some cute name given to them because they are dramatic.  They really do faint.  Kreed started chasing the goats around the pen, thus causing them to faint.  Kreed would then promptly pick the goat up and put them in the goat house.  This was fine for the most part, except if the transport was not fast enough.  The goat would then wake up, kicking Kreed in terror.  It really was a comedy of errors.  

I was able to herd a few of the bigger goats into the house until the rogue goat realized we were taking his companions away from him.  We continued to chase the fainting goats around the pen while the rogue goat was chasing US!  Finally, we wrangled the last fainting goat successfully without the angry buck getting out of the fence or into the goat house.  

Kreed and I looked at each other in pure exhaustion and disbelief, and started laughing hysterically.  It was over.  Or was it...?

An hour later, the Wonder Lake farmer showed up with five men and a dog crate in his pick-up truck, to round up their goat.  Kreed and I thought we would sit back and enjoy the show, while we observed the men try to catch this crazy animal.  After watching what I can only describe as the Goat Indy 500, Kreed and I realized that this would NOT be a spectator sport.  

We taught the men how to make a human line to corner the goat.  Unlike before, we had to catch the goat and not just direct him into a gate.  After a few tries,we had him cornered.  

At this time, the goat decided he was going to Red Rover the line...aiming between one of the men and myself.  I told myself to be strong...don't break formation!!!  The goat reared up and jumped in the air.  I hit the ground in fear.  

The man next to me bravely jumped up and grabbed the goat by the horns.  Quickly, the men tied him by his hind legs and clumsily put him into a large dog crate.  Finally, it was truly over.  

As I watched the pick-up truck take the goat away, I thought to myself..."I have never had so much excitement in my life!"  And it wasn't even noon.

I'm happy to report that Taffy is just fine.  It turns out that she just really missed Laura.  She gave birth to beautiful, healthy puppies at the expected time, about 10 days later.  

The news on the street is that the rogue goat is happy to be back at his own farm in Wonder Lake.  He *might* be a father in December, five months after his unintended visit with the ladies.  We will have to check back wtih Laura on that one.  

As for Kreed and myself, although astonished and exhausted by the day's/week's events, we are completely willing to come back to the farm for a second round of adventure.  

BRING IT ON....

(Laura again...just to express my heartfelt gratitude to Tracy, Kreed, and Zack.  All of my female goats could have been pregnant by the time we got home.  Disease could have been brought into my flock.  A year's worth of babies would have been unregisterable, which would mean that the money I might get for selling them would not cover the expense of keeping my goats for the previous year...and babies would be born in the dead of winter.  

I can't think of a more competent team of farm-sitters.  And Tracy tells a good story, too, doesn't she?  Yes, it really happened the way she says.  I didn't even know all of the details until recently, when I was first horrified, and then burst into laughter like Tracy describes.  Because...what else can you do when something this bizarre happens.)

Thanks for reading!  :)

Remy's not-so-fabulous Monday

Remy is in the vet ER for the night. 

No worries, he should be fine, but it's been quite the day. 

Picture is of him, resting like usual, when I'm busy working on something. He has just a sweet, quiet presence.
He tore his shoulder this morning, playing with Taffy the same way that they always do. Which means....crashing through the bushes, body slamming each other at full speed, flashes of teeth and a false show of ferocity. They love eachother, and take great delight in running full-out and practicing their pretty amazing maneuvers.
I took him to our vet's office as soon as I knew he was hurt, and a substitute vet worked on him right away. Remy got internal and external stitches, with some loose-ness included so that the wound could drain. Seems like all of his fur covered up how bad it really was. His stitches cover a tear that was 4 or 5 inches long.
We put him in a crate, inside the house, as instructed. He was calm. By evening, after dinner, the other dogs and pups were put away for the night and I took Remy out on his leash. He had somehow managed to open the wound in the center again, and it was looking bad. 
Thinking all he needed was a fitting for a cone and a new dressing, I took him to the emergency after-hours vet in a different suburb... They confirmed that it looked bad, and it wasn't just me imagining the worst. 
He will be getting the surgery for a second time, probably under anesthesia right now. With the way the raw edges were exposed, we couldn't leave it until morning when our vet's office opens again.

The vet just called.  It is almost midnight, and our sweet little Remy is out of surgery and just a little groggy.  He had managed to dislodge all of the internal stitches as well as remove at least the center stitch on the outside.  They were glad that I had agreed to let them work on him, and not wait until morning when our own vet's office would have been open.  It will be a hefty bill.  Sigh.
I knew I loved this dog, but didn't realize how much. He should be fine... But it is no good telling myself that I should get some rest tonight...he has worked his way into my heart.  Things will feel right when he is home tomorrow.

 

Laura

New babies, at Fertility Central

My friend Fran likes to joke about all the babies born here, something about "Fertility Acres"...  :)

So here are the newest addition to our little farm, two baby goats born in the past week.  

They are both handsome, gorgeous, spunky... 

 

The little gray and white boy is from Ivey, who was one of our first babies born here, and the only goat kid that I kept from that first round of fertility...I mean...babies.  We bred Ivey to handsome boy Turbinado, who is black with a white stripe around his middle, like Bessie our Dutch Belted cow was.  Sometimes, out of the corner of our eye, we catch a glimpse of Turbinado and think one of the steers is still out in the pasture.  Sigh, wishful thinking.

The black and white boy is from one of Turbinado's daughters.  I bought Pixie from the friend who also owned Turbinado, because I liked her Dutch Belted look so much.  The black and white buckling is our last baby from bad boy Moose Tracks, who thought he needed to challenge us and was rather delicious...as a Crock Pot dish or as goat sausage.  Not what we intended for that handsome buck, but safety had to come first.  

So here we have..."Evening Song Grayson" (Ivey x Turbinado) and "Evening Song Peter Pan" (Pixie x Moose Tracks).  

"Peter Pan" is a nickname that a friend has used for me...it seemed suitable to this little buckling whose mother is named for the pixie dust used by Peter Pan in Neverland.  

As I type, I imagine that they are either dancing their way through the more placid group of fainting goat females, or snoozing in preparation for the next jumping, kicking, and leaping session.   

As far as babies go...there is one more litter of piglets due in October, and then we're on a winter break until baby season gets under way in March again.  It's going to be a loooooong winter.  :)

 

Laura

Puppy kisses for a friend

Once or twice, maybe, in a lifetime, you might be blessed to have a friend who does "life" with you.  (No, it's not a puppy, and this is NOT a sales-pitch...unless you want one of these cuties...)  Ahem.  

I visited one of my friends today.  She has played the role of Life Coach, Counselor, Ministry Partner, Encourager, The Voice of Reason...  Her life has been one of example, in how to live, how to treat a husband with love, how to stand firm when something that is "not quite right" threatens the balance of things, or when some situation threatens to unsettle the presence of Christ in our lives.  

That's all pretty serious stuff.  

This friend also....planned and hosted my 40th birthday party and kept it a complete surprise. 

Talked sense into me when (on more than one occasion) I had some flighty notion that made no sense to anyone else.

She also encouraged me to follow dreams, one of which was this farm idea that took me away from the lunches that we enjoyed together or the times that we could go to a craft class in each other's company.  That's a lot of self-sacrifice, to encourage someone to move away from the times that are spent together.  

She was at the last party that we hosted in our suburban house, before making the actual move to the farm that we had owned for almost a year by then.  One of our mutual friends confided in me at that point "She's really going to miss you, you know that, don't you?" 

This is my friend Jane.  From the time that my oldest son and her youngest son were in grade school together, we knew of each other and got to know each other better.  The boys were grade-school friends, and then Jane's husband started the Boy Scout troop that they were in together.   

Jane and I started talking more on the phone and the friendship deepened as the boys got into junior high....

When the boys went to the same high school, we would call to compare notes about how things were going, and at some point in that 9th grade year, we started making a real effort to keep in touch, because we no longer just "saw" each-other at junior high band concerts or other events.  

Jeremy was just under a year old when I decided that Thursday would be my day to have lunch with friends, because I was feeling all alone in my prolonged stay-at-home years with a young child again, as my friends were moving on to their own children's high school activities.  Jane was my more-often-than-not "Thursday friend".  

We would take the dogs for walks in the forest preserves.  We would chat about anything and everything.  

One example:  The high school boys came home with blue flecks of melted foam on their shoes...  Flaming Nerf Ball...  I laughed about it, Jane was a little more upset (and rightfully so...these still-Boy-Scouts soaked a Nerf soccer ball with gas, set it on fire, and kicked it around in the darkness with some other friends).  

Or...we compared notes on teenagers in general.  Jane's kids are older than mine, and she was not at all wishy-washy, like I was, about the teens being kept to the rules.  I tend to be more worried about hurting someone's feelings...Jane would point out that it isn't about hurting feelings, but teaching how to live.

We went to Stampin' Up classes together and made lots of cards....spent lots of money...dreamed of lots of cards that may or may not have been created later and actually sent.  

This is one of those rare friendships-of-a-lifetime.  At least for me.  I don't tend to have a lot of friends in general, but the ones that I DO have, are the down-to-earth, genuine women who hold me accountable and can laugh with me just as easily as they cry with me when I am crying.  

Jane is the one who took me to the hospital when I had a women's-health type of outpatient surgery.  It was a big deal to me, the end of having children (although...at age 42, and with 4 children already, that point had logistically been reached...just not the *actual* physical end of the possibility).  She drove me in, waited with me, and then during the procedure waited some more, and was there when I needed a ride home.  I needed a common-sense, strong friend at that point.  She was perfect in that role.

Jane has been one of my biggest cheerleaders when I didn't have the confidence to do something without wringing my hands and wondering if it was the "right" thing.  

I (Yes, *I*, Laura Dykstra!) led a hiking retreat in Shenandoah National Forest.  I was the *actual* leader of something that I had trained to do with another friend, but which I had to do on my own when it came right down to it.  One whole week, which would have been for a group of women, but God changed that plan to be Jane and her husband, my husband, and me.  We hiked together, shared devotions, sang praise songs.  Everything that I had prepared for a group of women was instead tailored for two couples instead, who treasure those memories even now, more than 10 years later.  Jane was the voice of encouragement, as I thought the plan which I *knew* God had planted in my heart was going to crumble.  And it happened.

She cheered me on when we started talking this crazy talk of moving out of suburbia and having a little farm.  This is where this whole epistle fits into the farm blog.  Without Jane, and Gene Marzelli, and a few other people who could see the life come back into my eyes and the excitement building in my voice, this farm would have never happened.  God placed those cheerleaders in my life at such a time as He wanted to move us out of Palatine and into something that would have never been considered, even 5 years earlier.  It was a crazy and wonderful thought, and somehow farm life is a perfect fit for who God made me to be.  

For one of a few "best friends", in the whole 50 years that I've been here on this earth, I couldn't ask for anyone better.  

Jane is opinionated, sometimes bossy, and very sure of herself.  She will smile (I hope) when she reads that.  

Jane is also tender-hearted, encouraging, and has shown me so much about what life should be like when God is at the center of it.  She is a strong woman, who has been through so many health crises (not just struggles, but real, scary CRISES!) and still has shown me and so many others how to keep her focus on Christ, who gives us life.  

I am blessed to know her.  My life would have been very different without her strong friendship and Christian advice.  

My farm blog hasn't been filled with as many funny stories this year, things have gotten busy and the newness has worn off a bit, although the joy in what I'm doing is still very much alive.  

I'll tell you something, though...Jane is one of the people who I typed all of the previous stories for.  I imagine her laughing, or maybe shaking her head at my silliness.  When the brand-new 1000 pound cow ripped the stanchion off the wall and stepped on my foot, and all I wanted to do was sit in the manure and cry at my own stupidity...I could type out the story with a funny twist because I knew someone like Jane was going to read it and I wanted to make it an interesting read.  

Sometimes she will send me an e-mail in response to some story I typed out (did you know that typing this blog is really good therapy when I can't make sense of things sometimes?)...and we'll talk about it a little.  

The blog is really just stories that I type out, to share my farm adventures with friends and family who somehow keep me going, by their encouragement and love.

I brought the three pups in the pictures to Jane's house today.  She wasn't feeling well enough for them to rush up to her and give her kisses, but one little pup was brought in by Jane's daughter so that she could see what has kept us busy on the farm these past seven weeks.  

The farm with it's puppies and goats and piglets and everything else is, in a way, the product of the encouragement that I've received...

Don't underestimate the value and power of a genuine friend like Jane.  She adds such sparkle and joy just by being a friend to me.

Puppy kisses to all the friends out there.  

And love to you, Jane, so much love that there is no way I could put it into words.

 

Laura

Cuteness and Joy, special delivery

A very dear friend is in the hospital again.  

I sent a heartfelt e-mail because my heart was so full of the good times that we've shared over the years...it just isn't enough.  You have no idea how many wordless prayers have crossed my mind as I think about her these last few weeks.  

So here is what I would share with her, if she was able to visit right now.  

Cuteness.  Kisses from puppies.  

And puppies playing joyfully.

The pictures are not even the tip of the iceberg, of the joy that puppies seem to bring to any given day.  :)

Special delivery, for my friend.

 

Laura

Pup-date

End of summer...First day of school.  

I've been neglecting to share the puppy pictures!!!

The litter is growing nicely.  Taffy is an even better mother to this year's pups than her first time at it last year.  They whimper, she is there.  Rocky ventures too close, she is there.  They relieve themselves, she is there.  They leave food behind, she is there.  But she is quite ready to leave them behind for a while when nursing is done, as she steps through the doorway of the puppy playpen to freedom.  :)

They are starting to play-ambush each other, tails wagging high in the air as their little behinds wag with glee...

And the little growls, meant to be fierce!  Too cute!  

We've had some visitors, and some that definitely want a pup.  Not enough takers, yet, but the pups aren't even 4 weeks old.  It will fall into place!

We have had fun giving them their temporary litter names:  Misty, Gage, Wisp, Morty, Maggie, Goldie, Captain and Skip(per), Star (who actually has a blaze) and Kitty (as in "Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty")  :)

Enjoy the pictures!  

 

Laura

A Pearl-y Eclipse

Something very exciting happened at the zoo, during the eclipse yesterday... 
Dykstra's Black Pearl, co-owned by us and Vikki Vyvyan-Kunz, gave birth to 6 American Guinea Hog piglets at Lincoln Park Farm-In-The-Zoo. Miss Pearl is a Bea-baby, from the Stanfield Batman litter last June...

Pearl was bred to Old Beach Setty Michigan (Mitch) and delivered right on schedule. This is his (and Pearl's) first litter. :)

I am itching to get to Chicago to check out the babies, but for now, the zoo is planning to castrate all but one of the five males tomorrow at 36 hours old. 'Hard to let someone else make the decision on the "chosen male"... But it will all work out. There appears to be one gilt in the litter.

Pictured is Pearl, visited by the Viets family last weekend, and I'll post piglet photos as soon as I receive some.

 

Laura

Two weeks old

They are 2 weeks old, as of yesterday.  What a difference!  

Eyes are opening, bellies are full and pups are looking quite different.  

There is one little girl that is so much smaller than the rest, still half the size of some of the brothers.  We are starting to give her and one or two of the sisters a head start on the nursing sessions.  Big bruiser brothers and any others who feel hefty are left napping in the dry pool...while Misty, Wisp, and at least one other sister get first crack at the milk supply, several times a day.  

It was obvious that Misty was not getting enough when she stayed latched on to Taffy, out of the pool, and halfway down the hall.  And then she was frantically sucking on our fingers as we held her and carried her back.  

Fingers crossed that we noticed it in time.  Poor little thing.  And of course, this puts Misty firmly in my "Favorites" column...  

You can see just how much the litter has grown in these two pictures!  :)

 

Laura

Captain and Skip

Introducing "Captain" and "Skipper" (Skip). These two males are hard to tell apart, when they're in the mix with the 8 other pups. But Captain is the larger, slightly darker tan one. And Skip is the lightest colored pup in the bunch, as light blonde as Bailey/Pippin was in the 2016 litter.
Today is the day that their eyes started to open.

 

Laura

Gage

This is "Gage". He is the second born pup, indistinguishable from a couple of his brothers except for the slightly darker ear...which I noticed immediately as he was being born. :) 
He is one of the larger males, at 10 days old.  And if one of the pups is "singing", it is probably him.  He was vocal from the moment he took his first breath.
The meaning of his name is just about perfect for any English Shepherd: "Incredibly sweet, sensitive, and understanding. A gentleman. Classy, and trustworthy. The best friend anyone could ask for, and entirely irreplaceable. Loyal to the core. Very attractive with an athletic build. Logical-minded, ridiculously intelligent, and will let anyone know his opinion if they ask for it. Has a tendency to sometimes be introverted, but once you get to know him he is crazy, hilarious, lovable, and tons of fun."

 

Laura