Hunting Season has Begun!!!

Today was opening day for Archery Season here in TN.

Jamie with his 1st TN buck, gotten with his bow

Jamie got up nice and early, 4AM to get ready and be in his tree stand before the sun comes up.  I was down at the barn doing chores when he comes walking up telling me he got a buck.  He said he saw which way it ran off but needed to give it some time to lay down somewhere and hopefully die.

We finished up chores and went to the house and called Bob.  Bob is Jamie's friend's father in law who is in town visiting for a few days.  Bob and his wife Eileen are RVing to Arizona. Jamie has been hunting with Bob for over 20 years now.  Bob came right over and all of us, including the kids went off to find the buck.

Thankfully the buck, which was a 4 point did not go far and left a pretty good trail of blood.  Bob spotted the buck after a few minutes of following the blood trail.  Bob was nice enough to help Jamie gut the deer.  

Bob & Jamie starting to gut the buck

After the deer was gutted we needed to pull it up out of the woods.  Jamie was able to bring the 4 wheeler down to get it out but we tied a rope onto the deer's rack and had the kids pull for a bit just to see what it was like.

Drew, Hailey & Jamie dragging the buck

Once Jamie got the buck up to the house, Bob continued to help Jamie hang it, skin it and quarter it up into pieces.

Buck hanging before skinning

All the deer meat is in the fridge for now and Jamie will go ahead and cut it up and package for freezing tomorrow.  Jamie and I appreciate all the help Bob gave us today with the deer.  I know that we all enjoyed experiencing this together and Bob's presence just made it all the better.

Bob & Jamie with Jamie's 1st TN buck

We've got Piggies!!!!!

Our original plan was to only do 2 types of animals our first year of living at our new home, Goats and Chickens.  Since everything is going so well and we feel we have the goats and chickens under control we have decided to go ahead and add the piglets now.

We thought it would be good to try to raise them over the winter to help cut down on the smell.  So I found someone on the Internet who was selling piglets.

We went Sunday and picked them up and brought them home.  The breed is half Duroc and then half Hampshire -Yorkshire cross. It is suppose to be a good cross for meat.

Porkers -boy (l) and Catherine -girl (r)

We were suppose to get 2 girls but when we got home and took them out of the crate one ended up being a boy.  It's okay though since we will not be keeping them for breeding.  We let them explore their new area and they are both doing very well.  They have found and have started drinking water and eating. Jamie fed them their grain this morning but we added some of Priscilla's milk to it and they loved it!! Besides their grain, we will be feeding them oats, goat's milk, fresh cooked eggs from our hens and any left over veggies we have or buy for them.  They love to sleep in the pile of hay and cover themselves up with it to keep warm.  They also only go to the bathroom in one area which will make clean up very easy.

Boy (l) and Girl (r)

As I have said before any animals we have here are for a purpose.  The piglets purpose are for meat and feeding our family.  It will take approximately 5 months to grow them to the ideal weight of 250lbs.  Once they reach the right weight they will be brought to the slaughter house and they will butcher them for us.  After dropping them off you go back in a week or two and pick up all your cuts of meat wrapped nicely like you see in the store.  If we grow them to 250lbs we will get approximately 175lbs of meat.  Since we only have a family of 4 and have 2 piglets we asked our friends the Campbell's in NH if they would like to go in with us and we would raise the other pig for them here.  Once the butchering is done half of all the meat will go to them for their family.

They are doing well so far and I'll be sure to update the blog with their progress in the future.

Love is in the Air

Well Love is in the Air here at Russell's Ridge.  With the cooler weather here now all the girls have gone into heat.  Priscilla is the only girl old enough to be bred this year. Female goats, does, are only in heat for 3 days.  Starting last Thursday we started putting Priscilla in with Brady to be bred.

Brady being the young buck he is, only 7 1/2 months old, was a little slow to figure out what he was suppose to do.  The first day, Thursday, I only had them together for a few hours.  I also had her sleep in the boys area for the night.  Friday I moved her back in with the girls after milking. I actually got a lot of milk from her since she was separated from her girls, who seem to still be nursing even at 4 1/2 months.

Brady & Priscilla together

Friday afternoon I put Priscilla back in with Brady.  Brady was now starting to figure things out just a bit.  He was smelling her and when a doe is in heat she gives off a scent.  The buck will curl his upper lip showing he likes her scent.  Brady was sniffing and curling his lip but Priscilla was teasing him.  Lifting her tail and wagging it but if Brady came close then she would run away.  I also left her in there Friday night overnight.

Saturday morning Jamie was home from being out of town for business and he knew right away that Brady was in rut.  He was now giving off a stinky smell.  After milking I put Priscilla back in with Brady and moved Bruschi in with the girls.  Brady was very happy and tended to Priscilla.  He was staying right by her side, smelling her.  I decided to go in and hold Priscilla for him since I was told that Brady may need a little help with him being inexperienced.  He was in his delight.  Started lip curling and making this clicking noise with his tongue.  Also would lick Priscilla on her sides and back and then let his tongue hang out.  It was actually quite comical.  Finally after all this courting the deed was done.  In fact quite a few times.

Brady & Priscilla together

I went ahead and left Priscilla in there with Brady for one last night just in case.  This morning I moved her out, milked her and now she is back in with the girls and Bruschi is back in with Brady.

A dairy goat doe's heat cycle runs every 21 days.  I have marked on the calendar when her heat cycle started last week and we will watch to see if she goes back into heat in 21 days.  If she doesn't go back into heat that means she is pregnant and we will have babies in 5 months.  If she does go back into heat it means that the breeding didn't take and she will go on more "dates" with Brady at that time.

I'm really hoping for babies to be born here.  I think it will be a great experience for the kids to witness.

Football

Drew is playing football here for Jackson County.  He has made lots of friends on his team.  Practice is only 2 nights a week and then games on Saturday's. 

The Demon's, name of the team, have already attended a scrimmage against Livingston. 

Drew, #85 playing at Livingston

 Then the team hosted this years Tri-County Jamboree.  This jamboree was bigger than any I've ever attended. I believe it was 8 different town's/county's that attended and participated.  Our team did 3 separate scrimmages on Jamboree day.  Hailey and I got to work the concession stand for a couple of hours.  It was very busy but we ended up making lots of money to go directly to our own football teams and cheerleaders.

Drew ready at the beginning of one of the scrimmages at the Jamboree

The Demon's have also played 2 games.  First was against Baxter, with a win going to us, 20 to 6.  The next game was against Cannon County, with another win going to us, 40 to 0.

Drew coming off field as selected captain against Cannon County.

Drew is currently playing defense and kicking teams for all of the game and partial play time for offense.

The best part beside Drew playing and enjoying the season so far is Jamie coaching Drew and his team.

Jamie, left coaching at Livingston Scrimmage

Hopefully the Demon's will continue on their winning path and we will have a great season.

Soccer

Hailey is playing soccer again this fall season.  We have had a little trouble here finding the right team for her.  She is a little advanced for her age and when we lived in MA, her last team she played on was a U10 girls travel team.  She was 7 yrs old and was playing with 8 and 9 year olds.

This spring when we first moved to TN, we signed her up for the Jackson County Soccer League.  We did have her playing with the older teams but still it was not up to her skill level.  We of course had her finish the season and would look for a new team for the fall season.

We have found the USCSC, which is a soccer complex here over in Cookeville which is the closest city.  Not too far, about 25 minutes away.  She is now on a team there that is a U10 team and is playing with kids her age.  Unfortunately her skills are still above her team mates.  The coaches are also made up of parent volunteers and sometimes that doesn't include a coach that knows too much about soccer.

Hailey ready for her 1st game at USCSC

Thankfully one of Drew's football coaches also coaches a U12 soccer team for the Y over in Cookeville.  His son plays on the team and suggested we bring Hailey over to see and participate in a practice. We went ahead and tried a practice with them last Friday and it worked out perfect. All the kids are older than her.  Most are 10 & 11, but match her speed and skill level.  She will be playing co-ed with 3 girls and 9 boys.

Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of learning for Hailey to do with her favorite sport.  We are just happy we have found a team that will challenge her and be able to teach her new skills as she develops within the sport.  Also I love that this team is competitive.  Yes, sports are about having fun and learning but I also believe sports are about winning if your on a team sport.  Nobody wants to lose all the time.

Hailey has told us she would like to try to play for both teams.  We are going to try but may have to cut out the U10 team if the schedules don't work out. Hopefully she will stick with this team for a few years.  Now we just need to find out if this team also plays in the spring.

Making Homemade Goat's milk Sherbert

I finally went ahead and purchased an electric ice cream maker.  I don't know what I was thinking waiting so long.

Cuisinart Electric Ice cream Maker

My first step was to pasteurize my goat's milk, which I do the day before.  I have been doing 3 quarts at a time, that way I can make 3 different batches of ice cream.  Once the milk has been pasteurized I put it in quart glass jars and keep it in the fridge until I'm ready to make the ice cream.

Today I made Triple Melon Sherbet.

The first part of the recipe is to boil 1 cup of water and then dissolve 1 3oz package of jello, any flavor you want your sherbet to be.  You need to whisk it very well to get it to completely dissolve. Then you need to add 1 cup of sugar and whisk again.  Finally add in 1/8 cup lemon juice.  Mix all the ingredients real well and make sure dissolved.  Now this mixture needs to sit in the fridge to cool down.  You also can put it in the freezer to shorten the cooling period.

After about 10 minutes in the freezer it should be ready.

Water, Jello, sugar and lemon juice mixture

Once it is completely cooled, I whisk it up one more time.  Now its time to add the milk.

Jello Mixture and 1 Quart Goat's Milk

I then whisked in the whole quart of goat's milk into the jello mixture.

Jello and Goat's Milk mixture

All I had left to do is to turn on the ice cream maker and pour it in.

Triple Melon sherbet almost done

Once in the ice cream maker it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to be done.

Triple Melon Sherbet

This sherbet came out delicious and it will be gone probably in 2 days.  I'm sure the kids will have some as soon as they get home from school.

The types of ice cream I can make are endless.  I have already made Cherry Sherbet, Strawberry, Vanilla and Chocolate Ice cream.  I've made all of this ice cream only in the last 2 weeks.  I'm so glad I got the ice cream maker.  Most of our goat's milk is going to ice cream now.