Going to Try- It Again... Ducks!

Good morning there friend, I wish we had time to sit down and have a cup of tea and catch-up with what is going on in your neck of the woods. However, today is one of those days I really have to be productive and get a bunch of things done! Do you ave those days where you are a little overwhelmed and you have not even gotten out of bed? Well that is how I have been feeling lately so today I really need to get some strawberry Rhubarb jam done, some onion jam, some sewing ( for work) and I really want to do some FUN sewing- I have some projects I want to start and some I should have done already! Never enough time to get things done! What are you working on? Are you sewing anything fun? How about canning things- any yummy recipes you want to pass on? Let me know.

So if you have read the log for awhile I try to do something on Try-It Tuesday. I got the idea from Jo over at Jo's Country Junction. So today I am going to share my new thing we are trying... again. Ducks!!! We had some runner ducks last year and they ran away- we lived by open water and well ducks like water! Lets just say I was heart broken!

So I found a lady  on Craigslist that was moving and she had a pair of Muscovies and they had 4 babies. So we went and got them a week ago.....

This is Daddy Duckie- he came with his mate and four babies.

The one duckling by mom should be white (?) as he has no markings. Maybe a beige- I am not sure if yellow means white feathers for ducks as it does for chickens.

The babies love their daddy! I am so surprised that he is so into them following him around.

Mama duckie! We still have not named her! She is a good protective mom.

On Sunday we figured they would know home being they had been in the barn for almost a week so we put some pallets together and took them outside for some fresh air.

Taking a nap and yawning! LOL This yellow guy has a blueish colored bill!

Daddy is on babysitting duty! They are all sleeping by his tail! LOL

Do you think the second one is comfortable? He is laying on his side and had his head propped up on his dad! =)

Here they are this morning. Having some outside time. I need to make a fenced in area for them to run around in. That way they can be pasture fed but safe from all the other animals- wild and domestic!

Here are the babies. The Two have blueish bills! The good thing is mama is starting to lay again so I am hoping for another batch before fall! I also hope Rebel- the chicken hatches out some babies as she is sitting on a nest with 13 eggs! Keep praying for babies! 

 Hope you enjoyed seeing some of what we are doing here at the farm. Now on to some of the other tasks on my list! Have a great day. Come back soon.

Sawyer County Dairy Breakfast - June 23,2012

Good morning friends- It is a bright and sunny day here in the north country! The sun is shining,  can here the grass growing after last nights rain, the birds are singing and flying around, maybe feeding little ones. Oh course the geese are happy, they have headed out to the pasture to have some breakfast- talking amongst themselves all the way! What is going on in your neck of the woods? I sure am praying for those folks in CO with the fires and Duluth, MN with the flooding. I know even here in our state of WI we have certain areas that have not had rain, or have had very little. We have been very blessed to have had rain, at times a lot of it. Everything has really been growing, the crops are looking great.

Mikhaila and I went to the Sawyer County Dairy Breakfast yesterday and wow what a turnout! We did have to stand in line- that is because one 15 year old wanted to sleep in! LOL The food was wonderful as usual - and we were very impressed with the fair grounds as we had not been there before. Thanks so much to all the hard workers and all the people that donated money, time or anything else. You all did a wonderful job and we appreciate you!

This is Kevin from the Ag Station. Need to know what bug is killing something in your garden?  Would you like to be a Master Gardener? He is the one you talk too.

One of the cut signs that they had up.

A very cool sign when you enter the building. The trees and things are actually wood cut outs so it has dimension to it!

This is Otto from the Ag Station. If you need help with animals or a grazing plan- he s the one that will help you! Mikhaila has the same cow shirt and she almost wore it that morning! LOL

Some of the line. There was probably 1,000 people that went through!

Volunteers hard at work!

This was a very cool cooker- the top went around as the pancakes cooked on it! Very cool! Never seen one of these before!

Mikhaila thinks we need one of these squirters! LOL Really?? How many pancakes do I need to make at one time?

Royalty was there as well!

Springbrook Organic Dairy was there with their awesome milk. Wow they now have their drinkable yogurt! Way to go!

Yes we had ice cream and strawberries on our pancakes and free cones as well!

Mikhaila loves her naked neck chicken!! This one was pretty fancy!

Wanted to take this little one home!

What a cutie! What is dairy month without the cows??

These are Mule footed Hogs! They are on the endangered list. They are awesome and I want one! Wilbur needs a girlfriend!

Strawberries anyone

Yes these are tulips and they are carved! Amazing or what??? He had all kinds of toys and things he had carved out of wood.

These should be in my yard! They are the cutest thing!!! Whoever planted them did an awesome job!!

Yup there are cow ones too on the picnic tables!

These were hung from the rafters in the building. Mikhaila wants a bunch of these to hang in her room! Yes she is a cow freak!

These signs are just too cute! Can you tell we had a rainy Saturday?

Once again thanks to all the hard working folks! You did a fabulous job! We look forward to seeing all of you at next years Dairy Breakfasts! Please remember to thank a Farmer for all they do!

Spooner Advocate Column- June 21,2012

Hello there neighbors. I hope this finds each of you doing good. How are your gardens growing?

I would love to hear from you folks out. I have ran into some lovely people that have been reading the column- thank you! I would love to hear from you folks out there that know of news and events that will be coming up. Being I have no news from really local... I am going to highlight other events that you might want to put on your calendar to attend.

Being June is dairy month I hope you went to the wonderful breakfast at the Spooner Fair grounds. We went and I have to say they did a wonderful job putting it all together!! The food was fabulous that's for sure! If you are looking to go to another dairy breakfast- hey we go to at least two a year, then you  may want to go to the Sawyer County Dairy Breakfast this weekend. The breakfast will be held June 23rd, 6:30-11 am at the Sawyer County Fairgrounds, cost $6 for adults, $4 ages 3-12, under 3 are free. They will have live entertainment- Larry and the Drifters, farm animals, farm equipment, antique tractor display, antique farm machine display, pedal tractor display, local power sports display. Sounds like it will be fun and of course the food will be awesome! If you have questions contact Jim Henchel-715-462-4608 Thanks to all the dairy farmers out there- you make Wisconsin a great state!

Wisconsin State Fair is right around the corner! Doesn't it seem that summer is going quickly? Wisconsin State Fair is August 2-12. All the information ccan be found on thir website www.wistatefair.com The Brewers  have $13  Fair Fridays at Miller Park, you get  a Terrace Reserved ticket to any Friday Brewers game during the 2012 season and one general admission ticket to the Wi State Fair. For tickets you can call 414-902-4000 or go to www.brewers.com/statefair. What a great way to support the the Breweres and the State Fair!

Are you into Daylilies? Are you looking for a certain color, size or ust want to make sure it will survive the winter in WI? THeen maybe you need to make a trip over to Spirit Lake Daylilies. They are having  their open house on Saturday 28 from 8:00am- 5:00 pm. Kris will have refrshments as well as door prizes. Kris has over 270 cultivars to choose from, you can call to order as she does do mail order or come to the open house and the daylilies will be dug up right there for you! Spirit Lake Daylilies is located at 22163 Spirit Lake Road E, Frederic, 715-689-2333. She also has a blog www.spiritlakedaylilies.blogspot.com. I have to say I look forward to going to th opn house and am hoping to get a couple beauties to put in the yard.

If you would like me to know something  going on n the community give me a call 715-766-2221 or drop me an e-mail twogirlsandagarden@hotmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you! Have an awesome week!

Yes...A farm with kittens....

When they were smaller, they are bigger now. This was their first visit out in the bg world. Mikhaila had them all out and read to them of course! Mom had to come out and see where they were.

Peony the mama. She is all Mikhaila's cat!

The male geese think they are the protectors of the kittens! Gino is in the back and the main one here who goes after folks is Angelo.Yes he has an angel wing, h is the dominant guy!

You talkin' ta me?

Mama and her babies outside for the day - this last week. They are getting so big and are fuzzy!

Their eyes are still all so blue!

Poor stripped one can't even get up! They sleep in such a pile

.

Must be hard to sleep while trying to hold your head up!

Amazing the one can breathe with his face buried in all that fur!

his is angel - she is named that as she had to have a guardian angel. Mikhaila found her over in the barn, right in the way of the path , where we walk and lead the animals in and out of the barn- lucky she was making some noise or she would have been stepped on! All the others (4) were born under the deck- she is tiny. Mikhaila warmed her up with a sock filled with beans and put in the microwave and then I got home and curled up with her in my shirt

Ok what is a farm without kittens right. And before someone goes off about fixing the cat, we are going too. Peony is a wonderful part of my daughter and my life and we want her around for a long time- minus kittens for everyone of those years! However kittens are here, they are "barn" kittens that are well loved on and well looked after as you can see. We will find homes for those we can otherwise they will get fixed and live their life on the farm. I just had to share as I think they are so precious!

From the sewing room..

Hello there friends! How are you doing today in your neck of the woods? It is raining here again today- at least we are not in a drought as some part of the country are. I figured while I am waiting for dinner too cook  I am going to post somethings I have going on in the sewing room. Lately I sure have not been able to sew like  want to, or knit either- or anything else really fun. Seems all I ever get around to doing is working- so what I did was pull out some fabric that I bought as a kit, I wanted to see what it all will look like together.

This is the the little kit that I bought at Thimbles Quilt shop awhile back. Its been sitting in a bag and waiting to be created into something beautiful. The pattern that came with it is for a braided table runner. Of course I did not take a picture of that... it will be a surprise later on.

This is the back and of course it is mingled with the other colorful patterns for the braided front.

Sorry about the pictures- they rally do not show the rich colors.

I really like the raspberry looking little flowers.

For some reason I really was drawn to the sample of this table runner. Its not usually the colors I am drawn too but I am glad I am getting out of my "normal". I am getting excited to get my iron hot and get cutting!

The other thing that I did was a gift for my Foster Mom... I wanted to do a little project that I could use my felting needle and loose wool. So I grabbed a silk scarf and some dyed curls from my friend Shelley's Lincoln sheep. You can go to her store here Shelley's, she really has fabulous stuff! Whatever you are looking for she either has or can get it for you. I really have been fighting to not get some more Noro Yarn!! I really want the book that Noro has put out too, a ton of beautiful things to knit!!! Anyway this is how it turned out.

Its a scarf to wear or it can be used on a dresser too.

A close up of the colors! I love the colors and the texture of the wool and silk.

Here is another close-up.

So that is what is going on here. What have you been working on? Are you doing the 1st ever Wi Quilt Shop Hop? Let me know what is on your sticks or the sewing table. Have a great Saturday!

Spooner Advocate Column- June 14, 2012

Hello there neighbors. Hope this finds you enjoying the warmer weather and getting things done outside. There sure are a lot of things to go to and be apart of.

Have you signed up for the reading program at the library? They have reading clubs for the kids as well as the adults!  I think this is a great idea! It is a great idea to get the kids signed up, set goals and read! A book can take you on a trip, make you feel excitement, danger, sadness, live history, learn something or just escape your "normal" life. You and your family will read some awesome books and will be excited as you achieve the goals you set. There s nothing like reading a great book while sitting under a tree in the lawn. Go sign up at the Spooner Library and let me know if you read a good book.

The First ever Wisconsin Quilt Shop Hop is going on right now- June 8-24, 2012. For our area ( section 4) there are 13 quilt shops to go check out. I am so excited about the shop hop and have gone to two of the shops so far- Thimbles in Trego as well as Busy Bobbin in Rice Lake. Each store has fabric that was created just for the Shop Hop and each store has a different block that they designed using the the fabrics- very inexpensive $1.95 each!! At each place there are drawings for various prizes to throw your name into, there are really a ton of prizes to win on the local as well as state level. When you go to the shop ask for a passport and every shop you visit will stamp the passport, when you are done visiting the shops you plan on visiting turn, the passport in for the drawings!!  What a great way to not only support local business but to also go see some of the local towns! Wisconsin really is a beautiful state with each area a little different than the other, enjoy and take someone along to share the experience. More information can be seen on the website www.wisconsinquiltshophop.com or call up to Thimbles in Trego- they can help you out too.

While out and about check out the local museums. Some areas have really great historical buildings as well as pictures and facts to tie it all together. We went down to the Barron County Museum this last weekend for a quilt show. Wow- talk about a great place and a whole lot of information and displays! Their information can be found at www.barroncountymuseum.com. Another place that is on my to do list for the summer is very local- The Washburn County Historical Museum in Sringbrook- there contact info is715-468-2982 or email- wchs54871@gmail.com and I am planning on going to the Shell Lake Museum as well- their contact is the same as the Springbrook Museum. Take a youngster with and show them that history can be fun!!!

Ok that is about all I have for you this week. If you have info please let me know- I would love to talk to you.  Until next week.. find time to curl up with a good book!