We have been blessed with cooler temps in Northeast Alabama lately!! It definitely makes some chores easier than when it’s 98 degrees with a heat index of 103! There are some chores that we just label “Fall work” or “Winter work”.
Fall brings our next piglet season! Pippen is due 1st and is on piglet watch right now. She is a 1st time mom so we excited to see her piglets! Miss Mark, our 1st cow is due again anytime. Fall is a perfect time for calving. Last year, our cows delivered in the heat of the summer and that is a “rookie'“ mistake. Flies deposit their eggs in the afterbirth of the new calf which results in maggots and the calf will die if not cared for. We had 2 calves that had to be washed immediately after birth to remove all afterbirth and maggots. It’s an awful thing. One of the calves had to be bottle fed b/c the mom refused to feed it after the bath. We figure it didn’t “smell” right to her after we washed it. The result is our bull calf, SALt and he is absolutely rotten! We prefer to keep the calves with their mom for the immunity and we all know “mother’s milk is best”.
We had a great weekend at the farm this past weekend! Our niece Savannah and her husband stayed over on their way to the beach and again on their way back. Parker was home and brought his friend Miranda too. We had a full-house and it was GREAT! Oliver and I made a large pot of homemade Jambalaya and griddle corn cakes for dinner. We all fed/visited with the farm animals, walked to the creek and played pool into the evening. We LOVE weekends like that and cannot wait to build our house on the farm! The new build has been postponed for a year while we get the Market open. We have too many projects on the ground right now and the house would push us over the edge. Next year will be better for that project and David will be home more to oversee the process.
The Market is coming along nicely. Plumbing is almost finished. New toilets are going in this afternoon. I did not realize how many toilet options there are today! Our older 2 toilets each used about 10 gallons (seriously) of water per flush. AND they were tiny. The old ones also looked like toddler toilets, like they belong in a day care. I met with our awesome electrician earlier this week and we put together the plan for the new wiring. He will start next week. David and I are picking the Vent hood and exhaust fan this weekend and it will be ready for wiring next week. We are purchasing several used (with warranty) products from The Liquidators in Birmingham. Jason, the owner, has been great to deal with on all equipment. We may need to purchase some equipment new, but used has been a great option for keeping our costs down and moving forward.
We have received so much positive feedback from our town about the new Market and Restaurant. We’ve met several of the neighbors on our street and they are encouraging. The only issue that seems to be a concern is parking. The smaller stores are concerned that another business will take up parking spots that their customers need to use. We have rectified that issue with adding extra lighting on the back of the building and using the back entrance as an additional entrance. Hopefully, this will help with maintaining a positive relationship with other downtown vendors.
I will try to update more but things are crazy busy right now! Until then, Happy Fall Y’all!!!