Cider Bend: January

 January has been weird on the farm. It's been such a strange winter, that has felt more like spring. We've only got a couple dustings of snow, and only a handful of days in the single digits or negative 'feels like' temps. I've been a big fan, but I know we need the snow, especially in the mountains.

We completed a fun wheelbarrow restoration project! Mark's Dad bought this wheelbarrow new in 1970 for his firewood business. It was purchased before Mark was even born. He remembers getting rides in it as a kid. It served his dad well through a lot of years of his firewood business in Lakeside. Grammy and Papa brought it to Idaho with them when they moved here many years ago. When they sold their Idaho house and moved to Arizona full time, they passed the wheelbarrow on to us. We have used the heck out of it on the farm. The tire went flat and needed to be replaced. We noticed how old and worn the wheelbarrow was getting and wondered if we should just take it to the dump and get a new one. We decided that even though it's 56 years old, they just don't make them like they used to, so a restoration project was in order. We breathed some new life into the old thing, and it looks amazing! We hope to get another 50 years of use out of it now.

We've also been working hard on our compost piles. We have a 3 stage rotation process going. I collect the poop and old bedding from the corrals twice a day and dump it in the poop pile. Once the poop pile gets too full, Mark uses the tractor to bring it to the big compost pile that is breaking down. He uses the tractor to turn it often, and it's fun to see how hot it gets. Once it's all done breaking down, it gets moved to the 'ready to use' pile, and it awaits spring to be used on the garden and fruit trees. It's actually such a cool process.

Since it hasn't been very cold this winter, we haven't had many trumpeter swans hanging around our property. It's been nice when we do have a flock fly by. I miss them being in the snowy fields all winter.

I swore I would never own a pair of crocks. I think they are so ugly. 😅 I started seeing on social media how all the farmers wear them to work on their farms, so I decided to see what the fuss was all about. I'm now a huge fan, and I hardly wear anything else on the farm, including in winter. I officially wore out my first pair, and bought a second pair. Bailey thinks it's so funny that I wear them, so she got me some fun chicken bling for them. 😂 Now they are even uglier, and I couldn't love them more.

Perfect!

It's starting to get light earlier, but I've still been able to catch some good sunrises when I go out to do chores in the mornings.

We've known the Temples since their kids were babies. Kassie called me and asked if Landon could bring his girlfriend to the farm to see the animals. First off, Landon shouldn't have a girlfriend, because isn't he three? Okay, maybe he's a senior, but still! Brynlee was darling, and all the animals loved her!

Holding Tillie

Freda stole the show. She loved Landon, and his arm was the one she wanted to perch on whether he wanted her to or not. 😂

Ace was the usual attention hog. 😆

Donkeys:

2026 started out a little rough. There is so much crap going on in the world, plus I'm injured, so that doesn't help my mood. So this is where I find my peace, and my laughter.

I have a goal in 2026 to get the goats moving more. That means lots more walks for them. I was taking the goats a lot in January, and not the donkeys. Willow got very jealous and had plenty to say about it. She's definitely not afraid to share her opinion. 😅

Willow is the prettiest girl! 😍

I love how fuzzy they get in the winter!

Cute little fuzzy Clover!

Willow still helps me add new bedding to their stall. She takes her job very seriously!

Cows:

Bailey wanted to get the cows running, so she ran around the outside of the pasture with them. It didn't take much to get them all riled up. Nora's giggles in this video are the cutest.

Ace is the biggest, smelliest, attention hog around! 😆

My favorite thing is to watch the cows run in for dinner. They are the cutest! I see some funny jumps and bucks of excitement, but it's hit or miss if I happen to be filming. I've missed capturing some good ones. Here's a few I got this month. 

Goats:

We're working on the goat's figures, so they have been going on lots of walks. Come along on some walks with us.

Chickens:

We got our first sponsor! Roostys contacted us and said they would send us free product if we'd make a reel with it. Sure thing, because our chickens love the Roostys Nesting Herbs. I made a reel and it did pretty good. I can't post it on my blog because I used a voiceover, so I can't download the audio.

We got another sponsor too, but I still need to make that reel, so stay tuned.

Cats:

Stormy likes to sit on the tractor right after Mark uses it because it's nice and warm.

Cute little Stormy!

Just Mark and his bff sitting at the bar. 😂

Floof makes himself comfy in whatever room I happen to be in.

We got the cats a new feeder. This one automatically weighs out the food and distributes it as often as we want. Michem was getting huge, so we thought this might help. We are going through a lot less cat food, and in the first month Michem lost 1.2 pounds. Yay, it's working! She has about another pound to go, but she's looking so much better.

Cutest little besties!

I spy a Floof!

That's about it for January. I'm curious to see what the weather does in February.