Blessings Abound!

Many wonderful things have been happening and are continuing to happen at Udder Joy Farms! We were recently asked to put our Raw Blessings line in "Arts Effects Gallery & Boutique in Morro Bay! I was and am soooo excited! I have prayed so long for this exact day! :) Thank you Kathleen McCarthy for having such faith in our product and farm!

I have been super busy filling Christmas orders, going to shows and working on everything for the store....but....I have had to take a break as we prepare for PIGLETS once again! :) Ellie is due to deliver anywhere between tomorrow and Friday. She is large and in charge as of this moment. Joshua and I have been steadily preparing for this day since last August! So keep an eye on our blog as we will update it with news, pics and even a video (if I can talk my sweet son in law into compressing it for me!) We are hoping and praying for Thanksgiving day as we will all be there together...even Ash & Serg! What better day than that to come in to the world! :) There will be love magnified by 7! :)


Suzanne

A Great Day in the Neighborhood!

We were invited to the Christmas Boutique at Easterby Church in Fresno last weekend. Gary went and set up all our stuff and worked Friday and then I got to go on Saturday. We did very well in sales, but the real blessing was all the amazing people we got to meet! Honestly I couid have stayed there all week talking with those ladies and men (Norma's husband was pretty great too!). It is so wonderful to be able to spend time in the company of those so talented! :)

Like I said we did very well in sales, even clearing out our Raw Soap Collection. I haave been working pretty hard the last couple days to rebuild inventory. Tonight I made a Christmas Swirl that should be ready by Thanksgiving! It is so pretty! :) It is a combination of Goat's Milk, Shea Butter and bath salts....simply wonderful! I also put out a batch of our new Raw Soap...Buttermilk Carrot. These bars are all natural and perfect for those with sensetive skin and for babies! Both of these soaps will be available come Thanksgiving weekend...just in time for Christmas Baskets for your loved ones. If your planning on ordering Christmas baskets, please do so no later than December 5th, 2011. Thank you to all who support our Family Farm! :)

A Small Hiccup :)

To all of our loyal followers....our website will be down for a bit while we argue with Just Host as to why we shouldn't have to pay for our domain name twice. I apologize for any inconviences this may cause. Our blog however will continue and I will do my very best to keep it updated! Sorry friends...this won't take long. :)

Fresno Fair 2011

Josh and Mamba in Market

Mamba and Hamlet as babes!  They are so loved!

Well, I can't believe it but fair is over already! It was a great week...long and exhausting but great! FFA and 4H are an amazing family and we feel extremely blessed to be a part of it! We took our 1st homegrown hogs from Eleanor and were very proud of them both. They each took a position in the top 3 in their market classes and performed fairly well in showmanship. There is great pride and accomplishment in taking homegrowns. :)  I love fair time because of all the "hangtime" that we get with friends. In our lives it seems like we are always running and during fair time, we are running, but fair also forces us to just "hang out" ...that's the part I love.  Kickin' it in the barn" ...that's where relationships and memories happen and we love it! We are blessed with amazing friends and are so thankful! :)  Love you all! :)  Thank you to our friends for helping to make our lives joyful and full! :)

Joshua with his 1st place ceramics project

Justin & Hamlet in FFA market

Josh and his Mamba. She is waiting for a belly rub!

My sweet babies turned markets! So proud!

My great looking FFA swine boy! So clean and crisp!

Our family

You will never be forgotten! 

My very first batch of keifer ever! My friend Cindi has shown me how to harvest grains and create my own probiotic keifer smoothies...they are so yummy and so so so good for you. I have our whole family drinking them. They were made with grains from Wellsofhealth, our raw goat's milk, frozen strawberries and Rich and Tracey Vandernacks raw honey!    So yummy! :)  We will have grains available for others soon. :)

Autumn Update

     So I haven't written for almost a month!?! Sad but true. Football season mixed with breeding season sort of swept me away, But....I'm back and am so excited to share with everyone all the exciting things in store for Udder Joy Farms! We have been making some hard decisions over the last part of summer concerning some of our Breeding Bucks. The reluctant decision to sell both HR Freedom and HR That Kidd Morgan were tough, but both boys went to excellent families. These two bucks have been instrumental parts of this farm and it's stock! Our love and gratitude goes with them both. Stepping into their shoes are Udderly Just Tobias and Josh's Senor Diego. It has taken awhile for certain young men (Tobias) to discover their "manhood", but he is in total control of his herd now! Both boys are great bucks and will produce beautiful, productive dairy stock. We also are considering keeping one of Morgan's young bucks...he is super nice looking...We'll see! :)

     The rest of the herd is doing wonderful. We have been doing alot of separating for breeding, so moving around has become common practice around here. Our milk does (Flower, Luna and Skye) will continue to be in production through January and then will receive a nice needed vacation until breeding next fall. There are 8 goats being bred this year, including Ethyl who is exposed and available for purchase. Praise God we have had a relatively healthy summer with the only issue being Meghan's chewed up tail (self inflicted I might add)! 

Our spring does are as wild and crazy as ever with you know who as the ring leader....JOY!  Their last adventure included the ripping apart of my 12 year old scarecrow, Charlie. Gotta confess....it was the funniest thing ever...but can't let them know that! :)

     Josh's sow Ellie is bred and should deliver right around Thanksgiving Day. Josh and I have a massive plan in effect to maximize Ellie's comfort, safety of the babies and our peace of mind! We are excited and love seeing Ellie pregnant...she is so cute.  Right now she is the happiest girl ever due to her personal mud pit that Gary made for her....they've bonded! :)   She spends her days laying in her mud, growing babies and waiting for her apples...spoiled?...maybe a little!  Her last kids, which are now Justin and Joshua's FF Market Hogs aren't babies anymore. At last weight we were right under 200 lbs each. Both of these will be available for purchase in mid October for $2.00 per lb.  They are very loved and have brought our farm much joy! 

    On the product side of things: We have changed the name of our skin care line, it is now called Raw Blessings. Our Etsy store is almost open, our milk and classroom is half done and we are working into converting our garage into a store. Some of the new products out for Fall include a new Avocado Sea Clay Facial Bar, Football Soaps and the fantastic smelling Pumpkin Bran Muffin Soaps....also coming is a half raw honey/half goat milk body bar...workin' on that one now! Our good ole regulars are still available in soaps, lotions and lip balms.  If only I could stay home and play alllllll day! :)

    Soon to be available will be fresh eggs, fresh fall and winter veggies and something super exciting....Keifer Grains! Yes you heard me, we are currently growing keifer grains as we speak. I am so excited about this and can't wait to share.  I have been busy busy playing in the kitchen learning to make keifer, makin' yummy yogurt and homemade sour cream and many other creations! Our garden has been full which in turn has filled our tummies...livin' off the land is so amazing!  Another new "to come" is the pumpkin patch we are putting in which will be available next fall for community pumpkin patch pickin'! As you can see, God has given us amazing plans for this place! :)  It is wonderful!

     On the human side of things, Gary and I love spending time dreaming and creating together, Kyle is beginning his new career with Savemart, Ashley will graduate FPU in December and Josh/Justin are playing and loving Football! Our family is enjoying life to it's fullest!  So keep and ear to the ground to stay filled in on Udder Joy Farm! Love to all of our friends and family! 

Coming this Fall: Autumn Blessing Open House...last week in October! Food, friends, tours, dairy samples and shopping! Watch the blog and website for dates and times! :)

HR Freedom

HR That Kidd Morgan

New Fall Garden Starts

New Soaps

Homemade Sour Cream in the makin'

Farm Fresh Eggs

Morgan's Spring Boy

Trouble!   J/K....Sweet Ivy's Joy!

The New Man on Campus...Udderly Just Tobias

Preggers!

The Herd! or at least some of them :)

Flower....Fall Milker

Ellie's Spring Kids...Black Mamba and Hamlet...avail. 10/11

Summer Harvest!

Sierra Chieftain and Warrior Football!

Blessings to you and Yours,

Suzanne

All Fresh!

Yummy!!!! For dinner we had Spinach Greek Pie with Feta Cheese and Fresh Salsa from the garden! :)

All Fresh!

Yummy!!!! For dinner we had Spinach Greek Pie with Feta Cheese and Fresh Salsa from the garden! :)

Farm News

Well I have to say it has been a pretty great week so far. There has been a great sense of peace and joy all around this place. We have been very blessed and can feel The Lord's presence strongly within our midst. Last week, Gary and I ran into town to get some supplies for the center. On our way, he wanted to stop in at the Restore (Habitat for Humanities Store). I really didn't want too, but relented nevertheless. Well....while we were there we found this amazing antique stove that we are going to put in the soap room. I mean is that great or what? I was on cloud nine for at least 3 days! :) I absolutely love it...and bonus...all the money goes back into Ministry! :)

I also found out this week that my sweet friend Mary is now working right across the lawn from me and we are having lunch together every day...I cannot even tell you what blessing that was. I have been struggling at work a bit and Mary's presence just fills me with unending joy!

Along that line we also made a decision to go ahead and get Kyle set up for school in Arizona where he can be near Megan. I know this is going to be a great 3 months as we prepare for his new place.

It's almost time for Chieftain football, which I absolutely cannot wait for....just love being a football Mommie! And this year it is even better because we have such wonderful friends that we are sharing it with. :) Lori and I have waited a long time to be Varsity Mom's together! :) Plus my bubby is playing Pop Warner Football...even better!! Also looking forward to getting to know our new friends Monica and Marc better.

As you can read and see, there has been a sense of joy here. Last night I felt like sharing that, so I went out to give Ellie some pampering! She has been kinda depressed lately with the heat and all. She received a wonderful bath complete with belly rub, we washed out her entire pen and put down some cushy fresh bedding. She was a super happy sow!

All girls need pampering! :)

I love living in a place of great joy...don't you? :)

I absolutely adore this woman! When I grow up, I want to be just like her! :)

Miss Piggy's Remodel!

Sometimes girls decide they need a new look, something fresh and new. Well today was that day for Ellie! Feeling that her house needed a bit more ventilation, she ripped off the sides and back! Wanting to increase her sun exposure for increased vegetation growth, she relocated her entire piggy pad 4 ft to the north!

Sometimes I wanna slap that pig...but frankly, I'm afraid of her! :)

But...to cheer us up from Miss Piggy's Remodel...we played in the garden!

In the wise words of Joshua Harper, "When you have something big in size, don't try and ruin it's fun by trying to stop what it is doing because it will get mad and go beserk on you"!

I went out to pick squash and every one had like 2 bites! I am so dang mad!!!! So tonight I break out my secret weapon...BLUEBERRY! Just wait till little hoppie comes around the corner tonight! Blue is faster than any rabbit...and she has already caught 2 out on the property. Tonight is her night to shine!

On a happier note....Our dairy/soap/classroom is coming right along...I'm excited. Friday we get to get windows and our giant sink came last Thursday....

I soooooo can't wait! :)

Bunny Wars!

So I went outside today before going to get tires to see if I had any harvest. As I walked out the door, I gasped at the sight of the OPEN gate leading into my beautiful wonderful place of harvest & blessing! My first thought was....the bunny! Now of course he didn't open the gate....that was teenage offspring, I'm sure ( or at least I hope it wasn't the bunny). I began checking out each plant starting with my beautful bellpeppers which I am still waiting on. They were fine...thank goodness! But.....then I saw it....my squash! How dare he!! Now we are at war! I'm tellin' you, it is going to be bunnygedon up over here! And I WILL WIN!!! :0) I'm even going to recruit Blueberry onto my team...that's how desperate I am!