Minnesota Mini Pilgrimage is a Go!

Hope to see you there!

Welcome to the zoo…er, farm… :)

Our farm is perched atop one of the many bluffs above the Cannon River. The road leading to it is, at times, steep and winding, as befits a dead-end gravel road. The land is open and hilly - you would be hard pressed to find a level area of any great size. The horizon is a patchwork of fields and stands of trees. 

The farm itself is small, but sufficient. The eleven acres are divided between the house and backyard, a small kitchen garden with our roses, raspberries, and a few vegetables, a large lower garden with potatoes, beans, and the like, the buildings, an orchard, the pasture, and a hayfield. 

Our animals are many and varied. Presenting them largest to smallest we have:

Amy, before she was dehorned

Our Jersey milk cow, Amy. She is due to calve in April. Unfortunately, we dried her up this past spring in anticipation for a calve she never had. We all miss her milk terribly, though none so much as my youngest brother, who would probably drink a half gallon of milk a day if we let him. 

Next in the rank of size would be my puppy, Sophie. She is 17 months old, so about full grown. Good thing, because right now she's as tall as I am when she stands on her hind legs, and easily twice the size of my niece. Not bad for a female Newfoundland. :) 

Dutchess and Sophie

We also have a female Golden Retriever, Dutchess. She's my mom's dog, and I think she believes my mother is the only one above her in the pack. And she knows how to use "the force" to open doors.  I'm serious.  She stares at them until they open.  And with so many obliging humans about, they usually do eventually.

Then we have the turkeys. I think we are down to one big Tom strutting around. For a long time we always had three that would travel together. They were known as the godfathers, and were something like the farm mascots.  Our current Tom is a mere nephew. And there are two turkey hens running around. Finally, my second brother has a flock of 10 blue slate/ wild turkey crosses he hatched out this past spring.  Needless to say, we are set for Thanksgiving.

Next (by size) would be Max and Maxine, our two Peking Ducks.  You can see Maxine's story here. Max was picked up at the fair last month, since Maxine seemed a little lonely for one of her own kind.

Not that we don't have more ducks. We also have 2 Muscovies (I love Muscovy ducks) and 4 Runners.  All hens, so those flocks will gradually shrink away to nothing, I suppose.

Dutchess and Hawkeye

Now, I had a bit of a time getting a count on the chickens. One coop has 8 hens and 2 rooster - I think these are our  source of eggs.  Then there are the 19 Easter chickens.  We have incubators, so every year we time a hatch for Easter Sunday, or thereabouts.  It's always fun to have the cute little baby chicks!  

Finally is Hawkeye.  She is my brothers' pet bantam hen.  She flies!  Well, she flies really well for a chicken, anyhow.  She hatched out a nest full of eggs over the summer, too.  The estimate was that she had 20 chicks with her, but I don't know if they are all her own.  (And if you think that is a lot of chickens, you should see the 100 we butcher every summer for the freezers.  More on that here.)

Not quite finished!  We also have guineas.  If you are not familiar with guineas, they are funny looking birds that make a lot of noise and eat a lot of bugs.  I don't know how many of those there are, because we have two or three flocks that roam free.  I would guess 20+, though.  Some were hatched this year and actually survived.  Guineas tend to be very good nesters, but terrible parents.  

And there are 3 rabbits. Can't tell you a thing about them, except that they are very soft and don't like Sophie. 

And then there are the cats.  My brother says there are ten.  Who am I to argue? Actually, most of the above data came from my dear brothers.  

Oh yes, according to the youngest, my brothers also count as part of the menagerie.  

So between Amy and Sophie, add one brother, and between Sophie and Dutchess add three.

And that is the farm. 

Most of our meat is produced here.  

We had 2 pigs, until they became pork in late July.  

Most of our calves grow up to be steak.  Because this reality, we name them accordingly.  So far, we have eaten: 

Beefsteak 

Sir Loin

Chuck Roast

Porter 

and T-Bone.  

Rump(elstiltsken) Roast was spared from our freezer - he was sold into the neighbors beef herd.  There may have been others, but I don't remember.  The next one will probably be Flank......or Homeless (1000 bonus points if you know the source of that one!)  

Other animals that have come and gone over the years are geese, mules (borrowed mules,) horses, and two goats that made us certain we would never get goats again.  And I suppose you could also count the fish in the water tanks, and the turtle in the garden, and the hermit crab that boarded with us for a couple of weeks before we gave it as a birthday gift to my niece.  So basically, the only things we haven't tried are sheep, llamas, and alpacas.  Can you eat alpacas?  Alpaca sandwich for lunch... :) Oh, and we've never had ostriches.  Or peacocks.  Hmmm....I guess we have a few more animals to try out.  Homing pigeons always sounded like fun, too….then there are quail and pheasants that could be added….elk….donkeys….monkeys...

***Update 10/4/12***
Sadly, Sophie had to be returned to her breeder last week.  She was having a really hard time bonding with us, and I suspect she may have been abused by her previous owner, judging from some of her very unusual behavior over the past year.  Because I didn't realize this right away, I was not able to gain her trust, and probably did even more damage.  We'll miss her, but hopefully now she'll find a home she will be happy in.  

54 Day Rosary Novena for the Elections

The following was copied from the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/180105288791729/ 

I thought it was important enough to share with my readers. 

Benedictine Daughters of Divine Will 

54-Day Rosary Novena 

To Our Lady, The Immaculate Conception, Patroness of our Country 

for the Election of November 6, 2012

Beginning September 13 (Our Lady of Fatima) ending November 5 the day before the election.

The most powerful novena is the 54-Day Rosary Novena, a series of six consecutive nine-day novenas.

Pray 3 nine day rosary novenas - 27 days of petition; Pray 3 nine day rosary novenas - 27 days of thanksgiving.

The first three novenas are offered for the intention of a pro-life president, senate and congress

while the last three are offered in thanksgiving to God in anticipation of granting the favor.

During your rosaries, please pray for the conversion and sanctification of the United States of America. 

You may also offer these intentions at daily Mass, making it a 54-day Eucharistic Rosary Novena.

Join at Any Time

If you're reading this after the novena has started, feel free to "begin at any time" and finish with us. 

"...It is about the ideals our nation was founded upon: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. You can’t do much better than the First Amendment to the Constitution. The founding fathers got it right. ...We are fighting to correct that wrong, in order to make sure that religious freedom continues for the generations to come after us." - His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan Archbishop of New York

If we wish America to be blessed again by Almighty God, 

let us give The Immaculate Conception a chance to perform a first class miracle through her son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The holiness and the favors already granted should impregnate our supplications with unquenchable confidence. 

It is certainly permissible to pray the 54-Day Rosary Novena for our daily needs, 

but let us not be afraid to implore real miracles from this 54-Day Rosary Novena. 

Let us invoke The Immaculate Conception, Patroness of our Country who will be able to display the prodigious power of Her intercession!

Our Lady, The Immaculate Conception - pray for us

Our Lady of Guadalupe - pray for us

Our Lady of Good Help - pray for us

Our Lady of America - pray for us

To Thine Own Self Be True

It’s been awhile since I’ve had that strong urge to blog something worthwhile.  But this article by Simcha Fisher on The National Catholic Register rather inspired me this morning:This Isn't Who I Really Am! 

Now this is something that I’ve wanted to blog about for awhile - being yourself.  I’ve started a few posts, but never really finished.  Probably because I never really felt that I know who I am.  Every time I think I know, something happens and I realize “you know, that x isn’t as important to me as I thought.”  Then something else happens and I start thinking “wow, I’m glad y happened or z happened, because now I realize that x is really important to me!”  HA! 

Now there are some things that I DO NOT compromise on.  Truth, for example.  I am Catholic.  That is what I am, and who I am.  Not always the best Catholic, grant you, but I try. I’m going to stop there, because the last time I tried to write on this topic, I rather got lost in the whole purpose of life thing - to know, love, and serve God.  Long story short, the question is HOW?

Reading “This isn’t Who I really Am!” made me realize that this IS who I really am.  Adaptable, people pleasing, ever changing, whatever you want to call it.  There are things I enjoy.  Lots of things.  There are things I love to do.  Some of these things I know will likely be forever out of my reach here on earth.  Other things seem fairly possible.  I am shy - can’t really do anything about that.  I am outspoken and stubborn in certain situations.  I really like talking and sharing with people.  I really do feel more comfortable being uncomfortable than making someone else uncomfortable.  With a few exceptions, of course.  Injustice makes me angry.  Low blood sugar makes me impatient.  

Where does God want me?  Well, whether I like it or not, right where I am.  And chances are, circumstances won’t change me much.  For example, I probably always will put off doing dishes almost as much as I do now, even if I find a job where I’m not washing dishes for 60+ people a day.  Although there was that couple of weeks where I was really good at getting ALL the dishes done after every meal....so maybe there is hope for me yet! I do well in streaks.  But you know what?  There are things in life more important than dishes.  Like rocking a baby, or making a pan of bars for the neighbors.  PEOPLE, I hope, will always be more important to be than the dishes.  Oh, and I do tend to digress often, and I ramble.  Would I be me if I didn’t?  Nope.  I also wouldn’t be me if I didn’t apologize.  So sorry. 

Until we are in a situation, we don’t know how we will react.  And sometimes we aren’t true to ourselves, or to others.  We may say things we don’t mean to impress someone.  Or we may say things we don’t mean to make them more comfortable.  Sometimes it is much better if we AREN’T ourselves.  Being polite often means biting your tongue.  And there is nothing wrong with living up to someone else’s standards, like when you are visiting Great Aunt Catherine, who insists that young ladies should not run around or speak loudly, or tease their brothers.  When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  Of course, if the Romans are behaving below your own standards, just be yourself.  It is never good to lower your standards (providing you know your standards are at a good hight, of course, and as long as you are charitable, ALWAYS charitable, towards those with lower standards.) 

So, that turned into a ramble, as usual.  Ah well.  That’s just who I am.  Someday I will write a well-thought-out and coherent article, like the one linked above.  But don’t expect it to show up here.  I am, after all, The Rambling Amateur! God Bless!