OK, so I have been REALLY bad at updating lately, and it is not because I was short any exciting news or stories to share, just been too darn busy and worn out to sit down and type it all out...now mind you the only person who will be more sorry about all of this will be ME, as I tend to go back and re-read my posts after the fact to help me remember all that has happened, and now I have a HUGE void in my blogging...not sure honestly if it will get filled back in or not, but I thought I had better make an attempt of starting somewhere...so here goes...
I think Spring is starting to come to the farm as we have baby kittens everywhere (some that we have found and started to play with a spoil and some that are still hidden out in the barn and need to be discovered), the hatchery has been opened up and we are starting to see signs of life out of our turkey and chicken eggs, the temps are in the mid to high 60's and the fields are this brilliant bright green...life is perfect!
We are doing something different with the grazing of the cattle this year, we are organizing 5 different paddocks and have started rotational grazing, this will help us save food costs as well as satisfy our customers wants to get their milk from a herd of grass-fed cattle...of course it makes more work for us as we will have to make sure fences are set properly so that the fields are properly rotated and it will also be a learning process for the cows as they get used to being moved from one field to the next every 3 days or so...
We have started planting corn, and according to our records from last year this time we are actually 3 days early (which of course makes my Dad happy as he doesn't want to get behind on the field work)
At the creamery, we closed last week on the new loan with Hagerstown Trust Bank it has been a grueling almost 6 month process to interview banks and find one that will fit our needs and understands our business and more importantly BELIEVES in it and wants to see it prosper into the future (for an agricultural business this is not an easy task)...so I am now in the process of ordering all new checks and switching bank accounts and switching all the automatic payments and getting used to a new online banking set-up...I guess the one thing I have learned is the only constant in life is CHANGE, and we certainly are seeing alot of it!
We are updating the on-farm store to be more of an ice cream and sundae shop. Tony was able to get a refrigerated sundae bar and soda fountain from an equipment dealer and so we are in the process of re-vamping our current store into a new set-up and hope to improve traffic. We also have installed a "invisible attendant" for the store that basically alerts us up in the office when someone enters the store so that we don't have to pay additional help to stand in a store that does not do much business, so far it is working out great the 3 of us in the office take turns going down to help customers and the store stays very neat and organized now.
In our "free time" (yeah that is a joke) we have been keeping busy cutting wood for our wood stove, from what we figured it should pay for itself in about 2 years at the current cost of propane gas, but with that price on the rise it may not take as long, and so far Tony and I enjoy working on getting a load a couple nights per week...because we are new at this we are not sure how much wood we will need to heat our home next winter so we will keep cutting for as long as we can find a place to store and cover it.
Gabriel is almost done 1st grade, the year as flown by so fast, he has been busy enjoying Tiger Scouts and will have the "Arrow of Light Ceremony" this coming week to move up to the Wolf Cubs. I wish we were able to get him more involved on a soccer team but with Tony and I working Saturdays it is just not possible, he has been getting lots of practice as our one employee is from Mexico and apparently played pro soccer before coming to the US, and every night after work Gabe and Renee play together, even though they really can't communicate well, the game seems to bring them together on another level.
Sophia is enrolled in pre-school for the fall, and her tuition is already paid in full, and she could not be more excited about starting school. She will be attending with her cousin Sam and one of Gabe's good friends' sisters so she will already know 2 others in her class for the first day which should help make the transition go that much smoother. She is still taking gymnastics and still seems to enjoy it, I am not completely convinced it is for the long haul but for now it is what she wants to do.
