Yesterday I went up to Pine City to spend the day with my friend Jennifer Peterson on her homestead
Duskwind Farm. She and her husband, Chuck, and their daughter Ilana have been living on their new homestead since the end of May. They are in a trailer right now but are building a small house due to be built by November.
Everything has been late this year including the lambs. I was hoping that I'd get to seeing a birth while I was there because two of the sheep were in labor.
Jen and Chuck have a
Scottish Highlander cow who calved in early summer. She's quite an impressive cow! She kind of pushes the other cows around, no one wants to be at the other end of those horns. When she wants something (from the other cows) she gets it!
Jennifer and I visited with the sheep and enjoyed watching the lambs. Here Jen is giving a massage to one of the mothers in labor. Jen carries Ilana around in a front carrier.
Lulu is a Jersey mix heifer and is the future family milk cow. She is grass fed and her milk will be consumed raw!
I LOVE bufferfly weed! I look out across the back yard and I can see 4 or 5 splashes of orange. For the butterfly our suburban lawns are like deserts so I feel really happy to offer this little respite in a sea of scarcity. I tried to smell them but couldn't catch even a tiny scent out of them.
Everything is running late this year. I remember that last 4th of July we already had blooms from the butterfly weed. 
Milkweed is very common and will come uninvited. I have a huge stand of it in the back of the yard. I saw 4 chunky Monarch caterpillars a couple days ago but they have already left for the next stage. My photos aren't that great, but, here you have it!
