2016 a New Year full of things

Fighting against Time

First Happy New Year from all of us at Cranberry Acre!

Last year was a great learning experience, with any business and farm, there is a lot to learn. One of my hardest things to learn has been how to truly weigh out the time for family, business, farm and me. I think this is probably the struggle of most people. 

 At the end of 2015 we had decided that we needed to redesign the barn we have,( actually a 120 year old shed), into something that works better for all the animals and us. We have been using lumber from an old barn to build it, which has proven at times problematic, but has saved us money on lumber. It just takes a lot of time to clean up to use.

My husband on his days off, has been working on it. We had hoped it would go faster, but with any type of build, you run into things.

( 1st stall in our new edition)

( front of barn)

We all have gone out to try and help but we can really only do so much to help.

My son Wyatt has been learning about tools and how to square things up on a build. 

Slows down the build, but this is a great learning experience for him.

This is where the barn sits at the moment. We have one side done and a door put up.

The goats are not yet being able to use this but the birds love it!

They have a place to play when it rains.

We still have so much to do on this but with the time that we have had I think we have come a long way on this.

We are actually using the Utility shed part for the mowers. We had to get them out of the wood shed so we could start filling it, but they have a roof over their heads so we are good.

I think Winter has finally caught up with us here in Virginia. Dingo is not to happy with the idea of it being cold so spends his days in my sewing room warming his feet. 

Over Christmas and New Year's one of my little girls had become very ill. 

Short Stuff was lethargic and was just very depressed. I decided that she needed to come into the Laundry room, took her 3 weeks but she has finally pulled out of whatever she had. We ended up treating her with some Vit B in her water and gave here some de-wormer, along with some Vet Rex. Not sure which one helped but they all seemed to make her feel like her bossy self.

Lovey duck has a new friend her name is Hershey. She is a Muscovy Duck and of course is chocolate brown. I haven't been able to get a picture of her, but will soon. She doesn't quite trust us, but is learning we are the bringers of food, so we can't be to bad.

(Sunning on the barn)

Mr. Luther has been a pain in the butt the past few days. Been pushing the girls around just because, so I've been going out and correcting him on who is boss. Needless to say he hasn't been happy with me in the past few weeks but since I bring food, he forgives me.

Mrs. JoJo......I have had goats most of my life, but this one tries me every chance she gets and just plan eats everything in sight! You throw chickens some pork chops and who is eating it? Well of course JOJO! Nothing like pulling a pork chop out of a goats mouth.

Cranberry Acre's Chickens

These guys are the funniest group of birds I've had yet. Snowball, ( Picture up top), is very Bipolar, but we love her.

Her half sister Coal even gives her a dirty look time to time, but also goes off the deep end once or twice a month.

Our oldest hen, Mrs. Silver is still kicking and acts like a young bird. She tends to put all the birds in check and will break up a fight if there happens to be one started. She will be 7 this year.

Lady Hawk, looking her best as always.

Chocolate and Beauty helping Wayne with the building of the barn.

Now that the Holidays are over I have been busy in the sewing room with getting Inventory up for the upcoming shows this year. I also have been working on some custom orders for 2016. Time has already gotten away from me.

I seem to have a plan and it all blows up in my face after a cup of coffee. This year the only resolution I have made, is to try to keep to my lists and make time for loved ones. 2015 flew by so fast and I do not want to look on my year of 2016,wishing I had done it differently. 2016 for Cranberry Acre has a set of new lists and I hope to share them with you all better this year. The garden is taking on a new look this year and of course the barn build. 

Mr. Bayne says have a Happy 2016! We all here at Cranberry Acre hope that everyone's 2016 has started on a good note. Check back with us to see how everything is going here on our one acre farm. Thank you everyone for the love and support last year. Here is to an amazing start to 2016.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving is Here.

It's so hard to believe that we are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving in one more week! It seems just like yesterday we were worrying about costumes for Halloween. The older I get the faster it seems, the year goes. 

Inside and out of our home is decorated for the upcoming Holiday. Our tradition is, letting each Holiday have it's day in the sun. They are here for a reason, so let's enjoy them. The world seems to focus on a few and not the many and gets caught up in the rush of it all; forgetting the enjoyment they each bring. We here at Cranberry Acre, try not to rush a thing if we don't have to.

We are finally getting the edition to the barn done. That old barn we took down to reuse, is finally being put to use.

Since the wood set for a year unprotected we needed to separate it for what we could use for the barn and what might be useful in making things to sell. Took a couple of days but we got it done.

The roofing we also separated so we could figure out what we had and what needed to be repaired before we used it as a roof.

It is now coming along very nicely. I will say we are going to use almost all the wood from the old barn. Been nice to know that we could reuse that lumber for this new barn edition. Recycling the old to make it new!

There are going to be 6 stalls for the goats now. No more worrying about everyone getting the right amount of hay or grain. No more bullies pushing someone out of the barn during the rain and snow!

We now have an equipment shed, that will be attached to the barn. For years we have been moving stuff from the garage, to the wood shed, and back to the garage. Been a pain, it will be so nice to have a permanent place for everything. 

Each stall will have a nice metal gate! Can't wait to use these stalls.

For the time being, we had to take our barn quilt down while we remodeled the barn. Gives me time to clean it up and retouch the paint a little before it goes back up on the barn.

This will probably be the last flower to bloom here on the farm. They are calling for temps in the 20's at night for the next few days. I will miss my roses.

My two crazy girls. Larry and Curly are still hanging out with the blind duck, Ms. Lovey, and still are the comedians on Cranberry Acre. You want to laugh just try to watch these two navigate the farm. 

Hopefully next Spring we will be breeding Ms. Griffon. We are planning on breeding her and her mother. 

It is always a game of hide and seek with chickens, on where the nest will be. I found it today while Ms. Sunshine was laying her egg. Gotcha you silly bird!

My Rat killer, Mr. Bayne took a break today to just sit and sleep inside. He had no real urgency about going outside today. I think it was the gloomy morning we had with the rain.

A Big Kiss From Ms. Sparkles.

We hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. 

Best wishes from 

Cranberry Acre.

Fall is at Cranberry Acre!

Seems like this year has flown by. Here we are only a couple days from our first frost and a couple of weeks for Halloween.

Fall happens to be my favorite time of year, with all the smells and colors, it's just beautiful. Been pretty busy here on Cranberry Acre, with fixing fences and trying to get the addition up on the barn. Not to mention craft shows and canning. Things are slowing down for us and I now have time to go out and enjoy our little farm.

This year at Farmer's Market I bought some plants from Grayson LandCare and they are now blooming. 

Love this little guy. 

All of the rain fro the past few weeks has caused our little Spring to become a little creek. Everyone is enjoying the fresh water and Lovey duck is back to taking her morning baths.

Ms. Lovey

Our Maple tree is so pretty this time of year. Never seems to last as long as I woulf like it but I'll take it.

The view from the side of our little farm house.

Ms. Snowball has fit right in and I have found out really like to have her picture taken. She almost posses for each picture.

Ms. Jojo ( aka. Ms. Trouble) Will eat and has eaten things I never thought a goat would eat. 

She is a real mess at times, but I love her.

One of our stepping stones.

Sparkles and Mr. Luther have been fighting for a couple of days so I couldn't resist getting a picture of them being peaceful with each other.

Poor Ms. Silver, she is molting and very mad at the world right now. I don't think she has had a nice thing to say to me at all in the morning.

Last night after dinner all the rest of the goats went to graze, but Sparkles fell asleep while the flock ate around her. Was to funny when she woke she was all confused and seemed to be embarrassed about it.

The ever so pretty Ms. Beauty

Ms Bella

Oh yo be a cat. Look how relaxed he is.

Ms. Short stuff trucking along. Love this little bird. Such a small package for such a large attitude.

Sn ever so rare picture of Ms. Curly. She never seems to sit still long enough to get a picture, I think she was sleepy.

So this is the Farm in the Fall. We have been very busy this year and are proud to announce that we now have a booth in one of our local store "Briar Patch Mountain Marketplace, in Galax, VA. We are trying to improve our Etsy store and are learning so much. We do hope soon to have the addition done to the barn before the first snow, but we will see. Finding time is a hard thing to do. 

With things slowing down I do hope to have more time to dedicate to the Blog. There is so much to share. Until then Everyone have a safe Halloween!!!