I don't know. I think I might be starting to get the hang of this skunk thing. This summer, I caught one by accident. Needless to say, it was an education and I learned a lot... like dealing with skunks is an aerobic activity!!! This cracked me up. Last July, when I dealt with my first skunk, I had to laugh when I looked at my heart rate chart for the day. Can you tell when I was doing skunk removal!?! 

This time, experience made it a little less stressful. I must have caught the granddaddy (grandmammy?) of them all... this skunk was HUGE! Obviously, I don't know if it was male or female as I was NOT interested in encouraging it to show me its private parts. Ha! 

The skunks (please be the last one!!!) have been really rough on our yard every fall. They know those grubs are under there some​where! 

I went out first thing to check the trap this morning. That tuna fish is powerful stuff! First night with the trap out and I catch the rascal. 

The initial covering of the trap is the heart wrenching part. I use a large piece of black acrylic fabric. Last time I tried a piece of black plastic tarping first, but it was so noisy, that skunk was ready to let me have it! The black fabric works great. And you know what always happens next? The darn skunk curls up and goes to sleep. I kid you not! I tie the blanket on to be sure I don't have any uncomfortable surprises when I get to the drop off location, and load it up in my truck.

And away we go! I drive as far out in the woods away from other houses as I can and let them go. Not that I have a huge sampling to go by, but this skunk behaved exactly like the last one. I get there, open the cage, and nothing happens. I have to pull the blanket off and start making some noise to wake them up. You make them think they're in a burrow and - by golly - they curl right up and go to sleep!

Come on, skunky! Time to wake up and go! When I saw him/her starting to come to, I took the following video. What a big, fat, waddling bunch of fur! I hope it's my last skunk relocation, but if it's not, I guess I've got the hang of it now. Easy peasy... what could ever go wrong?

We woke up to snow this morning. It wasn't a surprise or anything as they've been forecasting it all week, but it still is a bit odd waking up the day before Halloween to measurable snow.

The first thing I had to do was go out and put some hay out for the yak. I've been wanting to get around to it for a few days, but it was quite cold and rainy the last few, so I figured I'd wait for the precipitation to turn to snow. I have no issues working in the snow!

The yak were pretty excited for the hay! I also turned the newly made two steers in with the herd. There was some tussling. Okay, there was a fair bit of tussling! Interestingly, a lot of it was between the steers and the cows! Multiple times I saw Mr. Bull come and break them up because he apparently thought it was getting too intense. Herd mechanics are fascinating!

In this video, you can see Mr. Bull breaking up the fight between 93 and 418, our golden bull... err, steer. It's interesting to me for two reasons: first, 93 and 418 were very close before I separated the herd upon the arrival of the new group, and second, it was 93 who seemed to be instigating and actively seeking battle. You can clearly see Mr. Bull separating the two and standing between them, keeping them from going at it again. 

Again, I find it interesting that 93 was so adamant about picking a fight with 418. They always hung out previously. In fact, I often wondered if 418 was her calf from a few years ago. Here they were the day 93 was in labor this June. It almost seemed like she was laying her head on his shoulder!

Anyway. Hard saying what all the fighting was about today, but Mr. Bull was having none of it! 

After I hayed the yak, I went to go check on the elk. They were all grouped up in the upper reaches of the pasture and seemed pretty happy to see me. 603 let me pet her multiple times and that included parts of her face, too! Previously, she only let me touch her nose, but I almost was able to touch all the way up to between her eyes! Of course, she was grinding her teeth at me the whole time, which is an aggressive gesture for elk, so I'll only be trusting her so far. I still never go in the pasture on foot when they are near.

I missed catching a video of it, but while I was there, 604 stood up to nibble on some tips of the hemlock trees and managed to dump a ton of snow on herself! She wears it well, wouldn't you say?

The wee ones are experiencing their first cold weather, but they have thick furry coats and didn't seem bothered at all! Just another day being an elk, I guess!

And, of course, Big Guy was there, watching with his deep, penetrating stare the whole time I was out there. Always watching. Man, I like that critter!

I try really hard not to name animals that are being raised for meat. I love my animals, I want to give them the best possible life they can have, but I can't get tooooooo attached or things become really difficult down the line. However, sometimes, a name gets attributed to an animal due to circumstance. Take Piggy, for instance. That food motivated creature was such a pig when it came to food, we couldn't not call him that! 

One of this year's calves has a really fluffy tushie. All elk have longer hair on their rumps. When they are agitated and their hackles are raised, the hair stands up a bit and makes them look bigger, I guess. It makes them look something, anyway! 604 tends to raise her hackles a lot and her rump gets fluffy plump, but she's got nothing on this wee one!

All the calves have fairly long hair on their butts right now, but this one is exceptional. When the light hits it juuuuussst right... well... it practically glows in its fluffiness. 

You can see in this photo, that number 001 (a little bull calf) definitely has more fluff going on. He's the youngest of the bunch, but he's also the most nervous. I suppose it makes sense then, that he would put his hackles up a lot - but what a coiffure!

Now, listen, 001, there's no reason to get testy about my calling you "Fluffy Butt," it's all in good fun. ;-)

I mean, really, when you think about it, it's rather spectacular!! Thanks for putting a smile on my face, 001, every time I go out and see you're fluffy tushie glowing in the sun!!

I picked up our four new yak yesterday. They appear to be settling in well, although they seemed a bit surprised to see more yak when they arrived. They've been on a farm with beef cattle and a water buffalo, so they looked a bit surprised to be greeted by a small herd of critters that looked and talked like them! 

I went out this morning to check on them and since the previous owners told me they enjoy a few slices of bread as a treat, I figured I'd give it a try. This girl, the "mother" of the bunch, is quite friendly and was very interested in eating out of my hand. The others are a bit more shy. The little golden cow, well... I'm going to have to watch her. She's charged at me a few times through the fence already, so I'm really going to have to be careful around her for now.

While I was out there, I suddenly heard a bunch of noisy slurping and turned to see what the heck was going on and was greeted with this sight: 

Ummm. OK. So, mama has not weaned her "little" bull calf yet? Goodness! When he bunted while nursing, that poor cow's hind end was lifted a foot off the ground! Needless to say, after their quarantine/get used to the new place time is over, they will be separated. Sheesh!

I was initially told that the herd was a mama cow and three of her calves, but I'm actually starting to think that isn't quite the case. When I picked them up, I noticed this little golden cow has a bag on her (is "in" milk) but she is supposed to only be a two year old. When I ran them through the squeeze yesterday and weighed them, she is a full sized cow (weighs as much as the two cows I already have) and she is very tight with this little heifer calf. I'm starting to think that maybe this is her calf! I'll have to watch them. Maybe I'll see her nurse and can confirm. 

In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter, but inquiring minds like to know!!

As I was out there, suddenly, I realized that there was another yak in with the newbies - that little baby just walks right under the gates, the little stinker! So much for a quarantine!!

I had to remove her TWICE! I finally decided to rearrange some gates as I was concerned about her getting in with them and not figuring out how to get back to her mama. I'm going to give the newbies a few days to get used to the place and used to saying "hi" to the other yak through the fence before introducing them into the herd, but it should be interesting to see. Never a dull moment on the farm!! 

This morning, the very first thing I did was go out to look at the baby. She was curled up in the grass sound asleep, but eventually mama convinced her to wake up and come over to the fence where I could get a better look at her.

She's still a bit wobbly on her feet, but she gets around pretty well. In this video, you can see her walking and talking. Oh, my goodness! Such funny little noises. Turn your volume up and listen for the little frog like sounds between mama's grunting. That's her! 

And you're going to have to forgive me for this one, but did you know that Star Wars apparently modeled the AT-AT on baby yak? Don't believe me? Well, see for yourself!

All joking aside, though, she has to be one of the cutest things I've ever seen. 

She looks so soft and fuzzy, it's all I can do not to go in there and snuggle with the little thing, but I'm pretty sure mama would have something to say about that. 

She's a good mama. Even when she walks away a bit to graze, she's keeping a close eye on her little.

Pretty sure I'm not going to get much work done today. I think there may be a fair amount of baby watching in my schedule. Oh, darn. ;-)

If the poor girl hadn't been waddling around for weeks now looking like she had a beach ball between her legs, I'd have about given up on her ever calving! Her udder was all over the place... one day I'd go out and it'd be pretty swollen up and the next it would be a wrinkly old deflated bag. But lo and behold! Apparently, she calved this late afternoon. I'd looked out and seen her all day long and had not seen anything unusual until I went out to check the water around dusk and there she was, a cute little black and white speckled fuzz ball.

She must have been fairly new as she was wobbly and unsure of her feet, but she was dry and fluffy and mom was fussing all about her. Interestingly, Mr. Bull was a bit more assertive than usual as I approached the fence to get a peek. I think he might have been feeling a bit like a proud papa. ;-) 

Baby was up and sucking for all she was worth. She was hungry; that being born is hard work! 

She nursed and nursed! 

As I walked down to fill the trough, they thought I was bringing them some grain, so they started coming across the pasture. That little baby was all wobbly but, just like the grown ups when they get excited, she was working her tail as she moved along. And her little hump. And her fuzz. My husband was right, at first glance, she looks like a little lamb, she's so fuzzy. Have I mentioned lately how much I love these guys?

While they were hanging around waiting for me to decide to get them some grain (clearly they never doubted that I would), mama and the young bull had a few "words." He's been a bit full of himself lately and she has not been bashful about telling him to stuff it. You go, girl! 

Being dusk, getting good photos was a bit tricky and as soon as I turned around, baby was curled up sound asleep, so I'm really excited to go out tomorrow morning and say hello and get some new pictures of her. Rest up, little one! Welcome to the world!

I just love these guys. They are such funny little creatures and so fun to watch. Most of the time they are just so stinking lazy that I can't hardly get them to move twenty feet from where I left them, but when they get the bug to move, they are really exuberant!!

A few days ago, I moved them out to one of the "back forty" pastures to work on some grass that has grown with the little bit of rain we've gotten lately. It took me almost an hour of pied pipering to get them out there, leading them along with a bucket of grain. We got about two thirds of the way and they had to have a little rest. Sheesh!

​Of course, the day after I moved them out there, #100 started to show a bag finally (meaning her udder is filling and she's finally getting close to calving)! Well, especially after my recent experience with yak calving, I wanted her close to the barn in case I need to assist, so I brought them home.

That, of course, meant that I had to pied piper them all the way back! Good grief! Well, I forgot to close the gate to keep them up by the barn  and to my surprise, those yak decided to walk all the way back out to the other end of the pasture on their own! I was shocked!! So, I had to do it all over again today. They were pretty excited about their grain and when they got close, their excitement kind of got the best of them.

#93 is the younger cow that lost her calf a few months ago. She was looking a little rough for a while, but she is really looking healthy now. She's kind of on the low end of the totem pole, so she wanted to get to the feed trough first so she could get a few bites in before everyone else got there. She's so cute!! 

Toward the end of the video, you can see #100 coming in to eat. She's trying her best to keep up with everyone, but she's tired and her tongue is sticking out! These guys do that all the time when they move too much too long (which is like anything more than 20 seconds of activity - honest - they are clearly not the most athletic of beasts). But she wasn't gonna let a little fatigue keep her from her grain!!

I have been watching this video non-stop today. I just love these guys. They're so much fun, and I'm so glad I took the plunge into yak! I'm looking forward to getting those four new ones here soon! I hope you enjoy this video as much as I have!

It's kind of taken me by surprise just how much fun I've been having making these simple syrups lately. What started as a plan to get ginger syrup reviewed (the state requires certain shelf stable foods to undergo scientific review to be sure they are safe) so that I can use it in some of my jams, has exploded into a rainbow of deliciousness! 

When my lavender was blooming last month, I decided on a whim to try and make some lavender syrup. It turned out so well, that I started looking around to see what else I had to try. I planted five different types of basil this year with the intent of crystallizing the leaves. This is something I fiddled with a little last year, but I only had sweet and cinnamon basil. I wanted to broaden the flavor options this year. I haven't gotten around to making any of those crystallized leaves, but every time I'm in the garden, one of those types of basil I planted stands out from all the others in the aroma category - lime basil. I expected the lemon basil to be the best, but the lime basil blows them all away. 

I decided to try making a batch of lime basil syrup. Now, note - there is no citrus in there; it is simply flavored with one herb, lime basil. Wow! It was amazing! Since then, I have been going crazy. In the picture above, from left to right is ginger syrup, lavender syrup, lime basil syrup, chocolate mint syrup, and French tarragon syrup. The colors are so pretty and they taste really quite good. I can imagine using them for all kinds of accent flavors in the kitchen and bar.

Now, the trick is to see if the state will let me make them to sell! In the meantime, if you want to try making your own, it's really simple. Make sure you use an edible herb or flower that has not been sprayed with any herbicides or pesticides. Make a strong tea out of the herb using hot but not boiling water. Strain out the herb and reheat adding twice the amount of sugar as liquid you have (i.e. if you have one cup of syrup, add 2 cups of sugar). This ratio will get you in the shelf stable zone. If you don't want it so sweet, add less sugar and simply refrigerate it instead. 

And if you don't feel like making your own, well, hopefully I can make them for you very soon!

Yes, I can! Peekaboo! These little elk babies are growing so fast! They wander out and about quite a bit these days, but when they're not actively on the move, they still like to "hide" in the grass. They're not quite as good at it as they used to be! 

I mean, don't get me wrong, if you don't know they're there, they would still be easy to miss, but I see one... two... three babies hiding in the grass. 

Honestly, if it's weren't for the flies, it might be harder to find them, but those darn pests have been horrific this year! The babies put their heads down and disappear and then have to bring them up again a moment later to shake the flies off. I've been trying all kinds of crazy things trying to control the biting fly population. Nothing has put a dent in the population yet. Poor things!

The babies are so fun to watch. Sometimes, they make it a bit hard to get my work done because I just like to sit out there and talk to them. At them? :-) 

But, I mean, really! Can you blame me? Who wouldn't want to hang out with a cutie like this?

It's official. We are now officially in a drought. It's been obvious for some time now. Except for a few teasers... you know where it starts to rain and you get all excited and then you turn around and it's done, I cannot remember the last time it rained. We had 1 minute and 47 seconds of rain today - not even enough to hardly wet the driveway, let alone moisten the parched ground. Look at the grass in Big Guy's pasture! Crispy fried, like it's late August or something. The only good news is that I haven't had to mow in almost two weeks (but it's on my agenda for tomorrow).

But look at him!!! We're nearing the end of antler growth. Another month and a half and they'll be hardening up in preparation for the rut. I love how symmetrical Big Guy's antlers are. They are just so impressive. I hadn't seen him in about four days, so I was glad he decided to say "hi" today.

And this girl? Well, she's still trying to recover from her ordeal. Now she's fighting a bit of infection, so the vet wants me to medicate her every day for a week. The first two days were a bit awkward, but I think we've finally figured it out. My chute is an elk chute... not quite made for such diminutive creatures. 

Our first issue was that yak have some of the thickest, toughest hide I have ever tried to put a needle through! Wowza! At first I was trying to give her the injection in the muscle of her hip because I simply couldn't immobilize her head enough to allow me to do it under the skin behind her shoulder, but it was so dang hard to get the needle in, it was a huge ordeal every time I had to inject her... and, of course, the dose is big enough it has to go in two separate jabs. I finally realized if I raise the chute up a bit and then close it all the way, I can pretty much completely envelope her and safely get her doctored up. A little grain helps too. Here she's asking me, "You sure you don't want to jab me again? I could use a bit more of that grain." 

I am just astounded at how quickly these babies grow! And they are so much more willing to come out than Little Girl was last year. She was a bit of a scaredy cat - still is, truth be told, but not these two. They listen if mama says they should move away from me, but it doesn't seem like they're really scared of me.

But that doesn't mean I'm getting up right next to them or anything. If I zoom in on my camera, I can see quite a bit, but it's still tricky to determine gender at this point, at least it is for me. I think we might have a boy and a girl for the first two. I've still only seen 602's baby from way far off, but I did see it this morning at least.

Not sure if 603 will grace me with fourth baby, but I can't say for sure she won't! Fingers crossed. And 100, my other yak cow, looks like she might be starting to bag up. Her udder seemed just a bit less floppy today. ;-) 

As you might imagine, things are crazy busy for me. There is always ten times more to do than I have time for, but I just keep plodding along! I picked these roses tonight to crystallize tomorrow since I expect my dehydrator to finally be empty in the morning. That thing runs 24-7 this time of year. I've got strawberries to process, cheese presses to make, and plants to water. So. Many. Plants. To. Water. Boy, do we need some rain. I sure would like this drought to end. Officially.