Varvel Family: Cider Bend-June

Airbnb:

We finally opened up our Airbnb. It had definitely been put on the back burner while other projects were getting finished. We've had a blast with it so far. We filled up the June and July slots so fast!

Our favorite part is meeting the people who stay. We let them come down and have interactions with all of the animals, and that's been so fun. We've gotten awesome reviews, and really great feedback so far. Lots of our guests will be coming back for stays in the future.

The apartment:

I leave a little 'Idaho' welcome basket for everyone.

I also have a book swap in the apartment. People can take a book or leave a book. Nobody likes finishing a book mid-vacation. 😁

Here are the reviews from our first few guests. 👏

Hopefully July will go as good as June did!

Farm Stuff:

Our beautiful apple tree! 🍎

We had a great double rainbow one night during a storm.

The wild roses bloomed along the canal path, and they looked so pretty. I especially loved the cute photo bomber. 😁

Reeses had a great June! She still amazes everybody with her resilience.

😍😍😍

Our friends cut and baled a small section of our property. It was fun watching it, and we totally felt like real farmers. 😆

My friend Ashley brought her kids and her neighbors over to see the animals. We love when kids come to see the critters.

The cows were a big hit.

Even Tillie got lots of love.

I love when Ashley's girls come over, because they love the donkeys. The cows have been getting all the attention from everyone lately, and the donkeys have been a little jealous. Her girls love Clover and Willow, so they got most of the love and attention when they were visiting. 💖

Chickens:

The chickens have just been enjoying their spoiled lives.

Tillie and Fern were the first ones to figure out the chic-nic table.

Goats:

The goats make me laugh on a regular basis. They are the most easy going animals. I miss having baby goats around, but it's also fun seeing their personalities emerge as they get older.

Goat walks are always extra fun if the donkeys are int he pasture and want to join in.

I filled the ball with the grass we cut in our field, and the goats loved it.

Sometimes if I'm short on time, I take Reeses and the goats on their walks at the same time. They all seem to enjoy the extra company.

We've been having some pretty hot days. I found all the goats napping in their own little ways one day. 😆

This is Dolly. Don't worry, I checked and she wasn't dead, just having a snooze. 😅

Ginger is a busy body and likes to be up high so she always knows what's going on.

Roxie is just darling, and still thinks it's fun to try to fit in the bed. 😂

All the animals have been enjoying some pasture time each day. It's good for them to run around and get some energy out.

Donkeys:

I feel like the donkeys have really mellowed out in the past few months. Clover isn't as shy, and loves all the scratches and attention (even from visitors she doesn't know), and Willow is not as much in everyone's face. 😅 They have just grown up a lot and have been so good, especially with visitors.

That being said, on one particular day, I was cleaning out their stall, and they were being extra nosey. I was using the cart and not the wheel barrow, so that turned them into little trouble makers. I turned my back for literally 5 seconds, and Willow flipped the cart. 😡

Nosey girls!

She didn't even try to look innocent. She was beyond proud of herself.

Willow loves Mark so much! He was driving by, and she just wanted to stand there and have a chat with him. 😁

I love this picture, because it shows just how small Clover stayed. She is so tiny!

We stopped running the donkeys regularly, because of the baby and mama moose that were hanging around. Every once in a while, the donks want to do some running on their walks, and I'm happy to let them.

Willow getting scratches from her favorite guy!

Kittens:

The kitten saga continues! We were keeping them at the farm to fatten them up so they would weigh enough to get fixed and adopted out. They were starting to wander further and further away from the barn, and we were worried one of the hawks would snatch them up. Scott and Amber were visiting, and Amber found a little black kitten that the hawks had gotten and then dropped back out of their nest. Luckily it wasn't one of ours, but we knew the kittens had to go. We had planned to gather them up, and have them sleep in the barn for the night so we could take them in first thing in the morning. Well sure enough, two of the kittens turned up missing (one of them was the one we were planning on keeping). Mark had seen them the night before with the mom and dad, learning how to hunt on the bank of the canal. We figured they either fell in the canal, got snatched up by something, or followed the dad away, and ended up lost. They were gone the whole day, so that evening, we gathered up the four remaining kittens and put them in the barn. We were walking back to the house that evening, and we saw Stormy (the mama cat) coming across the orchard. Mark thought he saw a kitten with her, so we went to get a closer look. She had both, and was leading them back to the barn. We figured they followed the dad back to wherever he lives, and Stormy eventually went to find them and bring them back. We were so relieved! She has been such a good mama! We scooped the kittens right up and took them into the barn with the rest of them. I felt so bad for Stormy. People said she wouldn't even know the difference, but she 100% knew her kittens were gone, and she was so sad. I hated it! She meowed and cried every time I saw her. She would always leave them birds and mice to eat, and we ended up with 11 dead mice in a pile in the hay barn. I think she was just letting us know she could feed them and take care of them. It seriously broke my heart. The kittens were all fixed, chipped, given their shots, and adopted out. We kept two of them (Floof and Mischief).

Floof FaceTiming Nora Rae! 😄

Sawyer and Amanda come over every Sunday, and they always go out to the hay barn to hold the kittens. This little one got the royal treatment, and was the most relaxed I've ever seen a kitten get. 😆

Their last night on the farm.

Floof and Mischief are loving their lives as house cats. They adjusted very well!

Floof is quite a character!

They instantly made themselves right at home.

Sometimes Sawyer and Amanda bring Bean over on Sunday. He isn't a big fan of the kittens. 😅 He was wandering around checking stuff out, and had no idea Mischief was right above him. 😂

Little cuties!

If anything new is put down, they claim it as their own.

As you can see, they are very content in their new lives.

😊😊😊

We got Nora a Cozy Coop car for when she visits. Mischief had to check it out and make sure it was in good working order before Nora came.

She approves!

When Sawyer and Amanda left one Sunday, the kittens were sad. They watched them pack up and drive away, wondering where their fun friends were going.

We were definitely not planning on kittens in the house, but they have been pretty fun to have around.

Cows:

The highlight of the month on the farm was bringing Opal and Ace home. We have had so much fun with them. They are the sweetest, most darling cows. Get ready for video overload. I may be slightly obsessed with them, so my camera roll has a ridiculous amount of videos and pictures! 😅

The first thing we needed to do was get their stall ready for them. We had to shift some things around in the barn, put the rubber mats in, shop for all their supplies, etc. Scott and Amber happened to be visiting the farm when we got the cows, and they were a huge help in getting everything ready. It was so fun having them here to see the farm, and to go to Logan to get the cows with us.

Getting the stall leveled out for the mats.

Mark and Scott cutting the stall mats.

Almost done!

Amber helped me clear out a section of the barn, and shift Reeses over to a different area.

On our way to Logan to get Opal and Ace!

I was giddy, and a little nervous! I don't know much about cows, so I had a lot of research to do. I was just praying that the trailer ride home was smooth, and that they adjusted well to their new home.

The donkeys were a little put off by them, but soon their curiosity got the better of them, so they came over to get acquainted with them. I hope they will all be good friends.

Ace is the sweetest boy! He freely dishes out his hugs and kisses to whoever wants them, and whoever doesn't. 😂 He adjusted so fast and so great. It took him a matter of minutes to capture everyone's heart. He is the most outgoing cow I've ever met!

Opal is a little bit shy and timid, but she is slowly coming out of her shell. Ace is a great comfort to her, and with him on the farm, she'll open up in no time. Oh, and did I mention she is GORGEOUS?!?

They love the toys and especially the scratching post Mark made when we got the donkeys.

We let them mingle with the goats right away. The first meeting was hilarious. Ginger and Ace both tried to act tough, but they were both scared of each other. It didn't take long until they were all buddies, and now they all hang out in the same stall together to nap and share snacks. 😄

One of the best parts about having them is bottle feeding them. It's so fun! We have had a lot of friends come over to feed them. It's been a huge hit with the Airbnb guests as well.

Sawyer and Amanda fed them the second day they were here.

Sawyer and Opal
I seriously love this picture so much!

Amanda and Ace

Opal chased Sawyer around the corral when her bottle was empty. I only got my phone out to film the tail end of it, but this reel has over 10,000 views on TikTok so far. They were a big social media hit. 😀

If you ever need someone to make you feel loved, just come on over; Ace will have you covered.

The first time we let them loose in the pasture, they had a blast running around. The raised tails, and little moos are my favorite!

We've been working on halter training them, and it's about the cutest thing. We found out pretty quick that they like water, and they think the sprinklers are loads of fun.

Mark is going to need to make a few more of these scratching posts. They love it!

Amanda is good at pampering my animals on Sundays when she visits. This time it was Ace's turn.

😂😂😂

My cute little neighbor came over to feed the cows.

💖💖💖

My women's running group had a run up in Kelly Canyon, and stopped by to meet the cows afterwards. As you can see from the following pictures, Ace was put out by all the attention, and doesn't care much for visitors. KIDDING! I've never seen a cow quite as social as him. He put on quite a show showering everyone with love. He handed out plenty of kisses, and was happy to cheese for all the selfies. 😆

Ace has really helped Opal be more comfortable around people. She's good at following his lead, and now also enjoys attention from everyone that visits.