Merry Christmas 2020 from the Windsor Zoo
As I sit and ponder how to start this Christmas letter, I am trying to find words to describe 2020. Amazing, absurd, crazy, overwhelming and peculiar. It has definitely been mind boggling, with so much information now to sift through it difficult to know what to believe, hopefully when the dust finally settles all our family and friends will still be here and healthy.
January – On the 1st our first bottle lamb arrived, “Copper” spent 3 months in the house because the barns were too full to move him outside. My first batch of wool came back from Carstairs, Alberta Custom Woolen Mill. We finally sold our home on Rainbow Road – woohoo, we are down to one mortgage. We have also left the dinosaur era behind and bought smartphones. We can text!!! Very slowly these old dogs are learning new tricks. Darryl finally had the time to rebuild my new truck, 2012 F350 crewcab 4x4 long box. My poor ¾ ton is creeping up on 400,000 km and the box is pretty well worn out. The new one is big enough for Munchies legs to fit in the backseat with her, which was great news to Auntie Britty.
February – The farm started to get busy, baby season started with Molly the pig having 9 piglets in the pig pen, 1 week early according to the calendar, after we had spent all day prepping a chicken coop for her. So by headlights of the truck, we plywooded her into the pig lean to. The pig pen is in its own micro climate thankfully so its a lot warmer down there then up by the house. Bertha the 2nd pig had her 13 piglets right on time (in the chicken coop!!) The first lambs arrived on the 21st and the goat kids on the 29th. This years name theme was cartoon characters. The little ram lamb we used carried the gene for entropions (flipped eyelids) so almost all the lambs had a trip to the vet.
We finally figured out our fertility problems with the cows – the bull “Aristotle” had a broken penis from jumping fences. I had never heard of such a thing but it bought Aristotle a one way ticket to the freezer - all 2100 lbs of him. Darryl spent time in Vancouver sea training on the Skeena after her mid life refit(crisis) while we were signing all the papers for the sale of the house, just to keep things extra interesting. Then we bought our new to us 2750 John Deere tractor (4x4) and a new woodstove, that doesn’t have any JB weld holding it together.
March – Matt started training for BC ferries. Britty turned 24 and Micheal turned 31. Lambing continues and we sent in 3 cows and 4 pigs to the butcher. To replace Aristotle we borrowed “Henry” from the Caldwell’s Oakspring Farm.
April – Our big boar (pig) Zeus grew a nasty temperament so we planted him and borrowed “Ralph” from the Fickle Fig Farm in Saanich. The sheep were sheared and the first batch of meat birds arrived as well as all the lockdowns and restrictions from covid. During a sunny break I moved all the wool I’d bought at a retirement sale, outside to the market tables and organized it by color and made 24 warps for blankets. We started planting the garden and gained a 40 acre grazing lease for the sheep, goats and cows. (Thanks Lexx and Marcus)
May – We returned Ralph to Saanich and picked up “Hagrid” our new boar – large black/Gloucestershire old spot/Berkshire. He’s orange, black and white polka dots so he should make some pretty piglets. Darryl finally found a gator (side by side) he liked and the animals moved to their new pasture. We brought “Gardenia” - one of our lambs we had sold as a lawnmower, home and Jane finally had her 2 lambs.
June – was the start of the market but with the whole covid buy local, we had already sold all of our meat, much to the disappointment of market buyers but Darryl was happy that we had unplugged six freezers. The aviary was finally built and I mailed the 2nd batch of wool to Carstairs, Alberta. Emily and Micheal’s 5th wheel trailer both moved to Texada to join Micheal. Hay season started and Darryl declared our old square baler beyond hope and bought a new to us inline square baler. Poor thing pumped out 636 bales on 4 different farms in 7 hours to beat the rain.
July – Matt started his career as a deckhand for bcferries and the month passed in a blur of hay, gardening and market.
August – Bertha had 14 piglets that she weaned at 2 weeks and Molly had 10 then had a massive stroke 3 weeks later which resulted in 18 orphaned piglets. Thankfully with it being a bumper year for growing hay and pastures the Jerseys were pumping out enough milk to replace the 2 sows. Although we learned quickly to skim off the cream so as not to upset all those little tummies.
Munchie turned 6 and finally decided that eating make you grow, so she is not so much of a shrimp anymore. Hay season was very interesting this year, with the sale of the house we were able to buy all the expensive parts for the hay equipment that we had been nursing along for “one more season”. We lost a few fields but picked up a few really nice ones to make up for them. So even though Darryl vowed we would do less hay, final tally was about 360 round bales and 3500 squares off 18 different farms.
September – our first cow Thelma had a stroke, close as we can tell she was about 20 years old and had given us 9 calves and feeding a few that were not hers to boot. The aviary was finally finished and all the tropical birds except Sebastion the cockatoo moved outside. It is so much quieter in the house now (and cleaner!!) We borrowed the ram from our neighbor the Farrow’s. I bought a new to me loom from Margaret Thomson that we figure is about 30 years newer that the one I have been using and a wool picker from Susan Astill. Hay season finally finished on the 14th (in the rain) and we made a quick trip to Martin and Donna Boehm’s farm to pickup our new bull Dartanyan and his two friends Michelango and Donatello. Kayla and Matt both turned 26 this year and both are getting lots of work on the ferries.
October – we had the lambs sheared and started moving animals through the abattoir before winter. My 2nd batch of wool came back from the mill, so now I have cream, light gray(silver), dark grey sheeps wool and tan alpaca to weave with. I have also been experimenting with Maiwa acid dyes and making lots of vibrant colors with my wool. Who knew yellow dye with grey wool makes green?? I was able to send a lot of my weaving and sheep skins through the spinner and weavers guild sale, that was highly successful.
November – Britty, Munchie and I sped up to Cedar to attend Emily’s baby shower!! Morgan Cordelia Windsor is due to arrive Feb. 6, 2021.
I once again would like to thank everyone for supporting us this year. It has been an amazing year to be a food producer. December is always the month of reflection, how well did the animals do, what worked, what did not. Seed catalogues are slowly arriving and out come the highlighter markers to pick and choose what to grown next year. The poultry orders are almost finalized and hopefully I can grow enough eggs to get ahead of the 3 day wait list. Baby season is starting early next year with the 2 new gilts (first time momma pigs) due the first week of January and the beef cows due the second but hopefully I have the timing organized that everyone should birth in a warm barn this year. Fingers crossed. Some years I threaten to hang to the calendar in the barn so the girls can see when they are due!!
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2021.
All the best Windsor Farm
As I sit and ponder how to start this Christmas letter, I am trying to find words to describe 2020. Amazing, absurd, crazy, overwhelming and peculiar. It has definitely been mind boggling, with so much information now to sift through it difficult to know what to believe, hopefully when the dust finally settles all our family and friends will still be here and healthy.
January – On the 1st our first bottle lamb arrived, “Copper” spent 3 months in the house because the barns were too full to move him outside. My first batch of wool came back from Carstairs, Alberta Custom Woolen Mill. We finally sold our home on Rainbow Road – woohoo, we are down to one mortgage. We have also left the dinosaur era behind and bought smartphones. We can text!!! Very slowly these old dogs are learning new tricks. Darryl finally had the time to rebuild my new truck, 2012 F350 crewcab 4x4 long box. My poor ¾ ton is creeping up on 400,000 km and the box is pretty well worn out. The new one is big enough for Munchies legs to fit in the backseat with her, which was great news to Auntie Britty.
February – The farm started to get busy, baby season started with Molly the pig having 9 piglets in the pig pen, 1 week early according to the calendar, after we had spent all day prepping a chicken coop for her. So by headlights of the truck, we plywooded her into the pig lean to. The pig pen is in its own micro climate thankfully so its a lot warmer down there then up by the house. Bertha the 2nd pig had her 13 piglets right on time (in the chicken coop!!) The first lambs arrived on the 21st and the goat kids on the 29th. This years name theme was cartoon characters. The little ram lamb we used carried the gene for entropions (flipped eyelids) so almost all the lambs had a trip to the vet.
We finally figured out our fertility problems with the cows – the bull “Aristotle” had a broken penis from jumping fences. I had never heard of such a thing but it bought Aristotle a one way ticket to the freezer - all 2100 lbs of him. Darryl spent time in Vancouver sea training on the Skeena after her mid life refit(crisis) while we were signing all the papers for the sale of the house, just to keep things extra interesting. Then we bought our new to us 2750 John Deere tractor (4x4) and a new woodstove, that doesn’t have any JB weld holding it together.
March – Matt started training for BC ferries. Britty turned 24 and Micheal turned 31. Lambing continues and we sent in 3 cows and 4 pigs to the butcher. To replace Aristotle we borrowed “Henry” from the Caldwell’s Oakspring Farm.
April – Our big boar (pig) Zeus grew a nasty temperament so we planted him and borrowed “Ralph” from the Fickle Fig Farm in Saanich. The sheep were sheared and the first batch of meat birds arrived as well as all the lockdowns and restrictions from covid. During a sunny break I moved all the wool I’d bought at a retirement sale, outside to the market tables and organized it by color and made 24 warps for blankets. We started planting the garden and gained a 40 acre grazing lease for the sheep, goats and cows. (Thanks Lexx and Marcus)
May – We returned Ralph to Saanich and picked up “Hagrid” our new boar – large black/Gloucestershire old spot/Berkshire. He’s orange, black and white polka dots so he should make some pretty piglets. Darryl finally found a gator (side by side) he liked and the animals moved to their new pasture. We brought “Gardenia” - one of our lambs we had sold as a lawnmower, home and Jane finally had her 2 lambs.
June – was the start of the market but with the whole covid buy local, we had already sold all of our meat, much to the disappointment of market buyers but Darryl was happy that we had unplugged six freezers. The aviary was finally built and I mailed the 2nd batch of wool to Carstairs, Alberta. Emily and Micheal’s 5th wheel trailer both moved to Texada to join Micheal. Hay season started and Darryl declared our old square baler beyond hope and bought a new to us inline square baler. Poor thing pumped out 636 bales on 4 different farms in 7 hours to beat the rain.
July – Matt started his career as a deckhand for bcferries and the month passed in a blur of hay, gardening and market.
August – Bertha had 14 piglets that she weaned at 2 weeks and Molly had 10 then had a massive stroke 3 weeks later which resulted in 18 orphaned piglets. Thankfully with it being a bumper year for growing hay and pastures the Jerseys were pumping out enough milk to replace the 2 sows. Although we learned quickly to skim off the cream so as not to upset all those little tummies.
Munchie turned 6 and finally decided that eating make you grow, so she is not so much of a shrimp anymore. Hay season was very interesting this year, with the sale of the house we were able to buy all the expensive parts for the hay equipment that we had been nursing along for “one more season”. We lost a few fields but picked up a few really nice ones to make up for them. So even though Darryl vowed we would do less hay, final tally was about 360 round bales and 3500 squares off 18 different farms.
September – our first cow Thelma had a stroke, close as we can tell she was about 20 years old and had given us 9 calves and feeding a few that were not hers to boot. The aviary was finally finished and all the tropical birds except Sebastion the cockatoo moved outside. It is so much quieter in the house now (and cleaner!!) We borrowed the ram from our neighbor the Farrow’s. I bought a new to me loom from Margaret Thomson that we figure is about 30 years newer that the one I have been using and a wool picker from Susan Astill. Hay season finally finished on the 14th (in the rain) and we made a quick trip to Martin and Donna Boehm’s farm to pickup our new bull Dartanyan and his two friends Michelango and Donatello. Kayla and Matt both turned 26 this year and both are getting lots of work on the ferries.
October – we had the lambs sheared and started moving animals through the abattoir before winter. My 2nd batch of wool came back from the mill, so now I have cream, light gray(silver), dark grey sheeps wool and tan alpaca to weave with. I have also been experimenting with Maiwa acid dyes and making lots of vibrant colors with my wool. Who knew yellow dye with grey wool makes green?? I was able to send a lot of my weaving and sheep skins through the spinner and weavers guild sale, that was highly successful.
November – Britty, Munchie and I sped up to Cedar to attend Emily’s baby shower!! Morgan Cordelia Windsor is due to arrive Feb. 6, 2021.
I once again would like to thank everyone for supporting us this year. It has been an amazing year to be a food producer. December is always the month of reflection, how well did the animals do, what worked, what did not. Seed catalogues are slowly arriving and out come the highlighter markers to pick and choose what to grown next year. The poultry orders are almost finalized and hopefully I can grow enough eggs to get ahead of the 3 day wait list. Baby season is starting early next year with the 2 new gilts (first time momma pigs) due the first week of January and the beef cows due the second but hopefully I have the timing organized that everyone should birth in a warm barn this year. Fingers crossed. Some years I threaten to hang to the calendar in the barn so the girls can see when they are due!!
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2021.
All the best Windsor Farm