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Just what the internet needs...another blogger!
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Howdy Everyone,
I have decided that perhaps it might be fun to blog. I'm not entirely sure why as my life is not exactly exciting. I try my best to live an uneventful life, with varying degrees of success. So this blog is for those of you either interested in a small hobby farm in Vermont and want to know what it is like and for those lucky enough to know and want to keep tabs on Lucas...time will tell if I am going to find things worth blogging about!
Vermont has been home my entire life and frankly I cannot imagine living anywhere else. Its a very special state that has figured out how to blend a rural agrarian life with all of the culture and amenities of the rest of the world. I work full time as a private duty caregiver (which for now pays for the livestock) and have aspirations to continue on in the medical world with some sort of an advanced degree. The farm itself is just livestock, no crops, and is all run on leased land which is not my ideal, but works for the time being. But enough about me, now on to the blog....
So far this has been a pretty good year, except for the heat wave that has gripped the northeast. Last summer we were blessed (at least in my opinion) with a cool and rainy summer and a mild fall that kept the grass growing well into October, this year I'll be lucky to keep the animals grazing through September. Such is life I suppose. Thankfully my first cutting of hay has already been delivered and with any luck my second cutting will follow along quickly.
My second season of lambing out the Columbia's was a great success. They have truly been a pleasure to raise. The ewes are excellent mothers who lamb out quickly and easily without any help from me and the lambs grow incredibly well on milk and pasture alone, no grain supplements at all. I sold my lambs pretty quickly but I retained two beautiful ewes for myself. I also added a stunning new yearling ram (see the photo below) from my friends Gene and Mary Langhus in Montana (many thanks go to Richard and Mary Ann Johnson for transporting him from North Dakota). I'll be breeding him to 8 ewes this fall and I am terribly excited to see what he produces for lambs next spring.
Hopefully I also have 5 llamas are bred for 2011. HRR Cimmarron arrived from Washington state this spring as a junior herdsire prospect to be used next year but showed a great aptitude for breeding so he was given the chance to prove his stuff. After I ultrasound the girls we will know if he was successful in his attempts :-)
Thats pretty much all that is coming to mind for now. My various other horses, rabbits, parrots, dogs, and whatever else will also appear on the blog roll as time goes on, so stay tuned. The website is a work in progress so please bear with me as you browse around. I love hearing from friends, new and old, so never hesitate to email or phone. I hope everyone is having a great summer...have fun, Lucas
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11 Comments
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Lonnie Rankin
5:39 PM on July 27, 2010
This is great, Lucas. We'll try to check in on your periodically. Love that you're doing a blog! Beautiful ram.
Big hugs to you!
Big hugs to you!
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ChelleC
11:48 PM on July 27, 2010
Found your blog mentioned over on the parrot forum on Rav. I find it very interesting so far -keep up the good work!
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Cheryl Frey
12:38 AM on July 28, 2010
Looking forward to your blogs Lucas. You always have something interesting to say -though you are an interesting guy! C
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Meg
4:35 AM on July 28, 2010
Just read your blog. Fine - interesting - I do not blog or know what to do. I am a writer; however, published as a llama farmer in ICQ and used to do so as a chemist/IT person before I retired. I am in OH (suri and silky llamas, Jacob sheep, and now. some Bolivian suri alpacas and a few others. Most of the Bolivian's are older and we (Brad H and I are trying to get some young seedstock out of these animals and hopefully seed some other farms here. Brad is a mover and shaker in Peruvians (both) and his wife is a superb camelid vet.
One of his sons will likely grow up to be a farmer and the other, an athlete. His farmer son is 5 and went with me to the fair Mon to help feed sheep (2nd year in a row).
Columbians - my friend Jeannie has some as pets along with her Jacobs - uses a Jacob ram on them and gets black lambs as jacobs ar really ' black sheep' w/white overlay (according to color genetics people.
One of his sons will likely grow up to be a farmer and the other, an athlete. His farmer son is 5 and went with me to the fair Mon to help feed sheep (2nd year in a row).
Columbians - my friend Jeannie has some as pets along with her Jacobs - uses a Jacob ram on them and gets black lambs as jacobs ar really ' black sheep' w/white overlay (according to color genetics people.
Reply
Kait
3:39 PM on July 28, 2010
Go Lucas! Nice blog! Now all we need to do is post map and tag you with a GPS tracker, so we can see where you go Indiana Jones-style.
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Ryan
7:11 PM on July 28, 2010
Just popping on over from Ravelry to say "howdy" and add to your comment queue.
Congratulations on the new blog! I've had a blog for seven years and have loved every minute of it. I hope you enjoy yours just as much. My one piece of advice: If you think of something to blog about, or if something happens that might be good "blog fodder," make a note of it for later. It's always easy for those things to get away from you! And then all you can do is stand there and say, "Dang!"
Congratulations on the new blog! I've had a blog for seven years and have loved every minute of it. I hope you enjoy yours just as much. My one piece of advice: If you think of something to blog about, or if something happens that might be good "blog fodder," make a note of it for later. It's always easy for those things to get away from you! And then all you can do is stand there and say, "Dang!"
Reply
Ken
11:18 PM on August 1, 2010
Hi Lucas,
I stopped in to check your blog. I learned a few things in the process. I live in Randolph, MA, but
lived briefly in Randolph, VT years ago. Love your state and have driven through it often on the way
to Montreal. Hope your farm does well.
Regards,
Ken
I stopped in to check your blog. I learned a few things in the process. I live in Randolph, MA, but
lived briefly in Randolph, VT years ago. Love your state and have driven through it often on the way
to Montreal. Hope your farm does well.
Regards,
Ken
I am looking forward to reading of your adventures here and learning from you. I hope to start out as a hobby in a few years so I have alot to learn.
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