Baby Yak

Newest addition to the farm. Born August 30th. Pin It Now!

Backyard Visitor

This summer we have seen a lot of different critters and insects. I keep taking pictures thinking I'll post them on the blog, but life happens and the blog gets neglected.  Of course, I'm always being told that this is supposed to be about the yaks, but there's not any yak news right now. So, here are a couple of pictures of the latest animal to wander close to the house. Seems like he/she likes the peaches that have fallen from our tree.

Our cat, Amber, seems to enjoy watching the fox as much as we do.

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Treehog?

A few days ago Rachel was walking back to the house after giving the yaks water, thinking that the black walnut tree was growing into a good climbing tree. Apparently someone else thought that, too. Rachel was able to get these great photos of the tree's occupant.

Until last week we didn't realize that groundhogs climbed trees. Apparently, groundhogs are good climbers. They usually climb to escape a predator or to enjoy ripe fruits or berries. We're guessing that one of the cats chased it up the tree.


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Yak Watching

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Tractor Kitty

A few years ago this very sweet kitty showed up on our farm, one of the many stray cats that have found us over the years. Kitty will follow us wherever we go, loves to walk with us to the back field to see the yaks. She also enjoys making herself comfortable on any farm equipment. I've been trying to get a video of her jumping onto the hammock and swinging herself, very amusing. Of course, when I have the camera with me there is no way to entice her to perform. For those of you that know Snoopy, this calm, loving, gentle cat is his mother. Total opposites.

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Finished and Thriving, Greenhouse part 4

Finished and lots of plants growing inside.

Kenny made a nice walkway down the center of the greenhouse.

He also built cedar shelves. Love the way it smells.

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Raising the Roof, Greenhouse Part 3

Finally time for the roof, we needed more help at that stage. It was a challenge to get the roof to line up with the wall posts. After the roof was secured it was time for the doors to be hung. Almost finished, just the little things left, like weather stripping, the door latches, but we felt like we accomplished a lot in a day.

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Hail Storm

The next post was supposed to be the completion of the greenhouse. The roof is on, lots of plants already started, and pictures will soon follow, but yesterday we experienced a first on the farm and just have to post it. We had been hearing that there was bad weather on the way. With tornadic activity not far from us, the sky looked a little strange and it seemed like the clouds were not moving in their typical direction. I looked out the window to the back field and the yaks were running around. Wishing I had my camera to catch their activity I noticed it was hailing! It started slowly and then just really came down, eventually turning to pouring rain. I'm sure the yaks had no idea what was happening. We had never seen hail like this before. All the animals are fine, including the yaks. And now the greenhouse, only assembled a couple of weeks, has been hail tested, and to our relief, passed.

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Foundation and Walls, Greenhouse Part 2

Assembly required......no kidding. But, with everyone's help it didn't take that long to build. We could have purchased a base when we bought the greenhouse, but since we have our own sawmill and plenty of cedar, Kenny built a very sturdy base and saved us some money. The greenhouse is supposed to withstand 80 MPH wind gusts. Of course, the second night after it was completed we had a terrible storm, lots of wind. Neither of us slept too well, I could just imagine the greenhouse in pieces all over the farm. First thing the next morning I looked out the window, happy to see the greenhouse was still standing.

Foundation finished, ready for the walls.

Getting the walls up.

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Addition to the Farm, Greenhouse Part 1

We talked for years about having a greenhouse and finally decided to build one, well, to buy a kit and put it together. Kenny built a sturdy foundation..... then the boxes arrived and the fun began.

Three boxes, lots of pieces!

Putting the roof together before the walls go up.

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Tamp the Timber

Ok, so this could be called "Men and their tools, boys and their toys". This is the way a country man tamps a cedar timber into the hard rocky soil to make it level. After lots of discussion and shopping we finally purchased a greenhouse for the farm. (pictures to follow soon). Anyway, before putting the greenhouse together Kenny built a solid base for it. Here's the video on how he makes use of the backhoe, kind of like using a sledgehammer to drive a nail.
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