Hey!

What do you think of this guy?

Isn’t he so funny? We promised you that Stamp of the Month would be back in October & here it is, slightly different but just as good. These are the first of many fantastic images from our new artist, Kim Hughes.

The Stamp of the Month will now also be part of the Monthly Design Challenge on the CHF forum. You do not have to recreate Keri’s card but we want to see your creations!

What else is new? Have you created with our stamps and uploaded to an online gallery, album or blog in the past month? Did you include stamp credit info with a link to Cornish Heritage Farms? Well then you are eligible to be part of our new CHF Online Referral Program! Each time you upload a creation using stamps by Cornish Heritage Farms and include stamp credits with an active link to www.CornishHeritageFarms.com simply send a link to your creation to onlinereferralprogram@cornishheritagefarms.com to be entered in our monthly drawing for one of three FREE GIFT CERTIFICATES! Please read on for all the specifics.

Emails need to include a direct link to the project you have uploaded in the previous month. Emails with general links to galleries, albums or blogs will not qualify as our time is limited and we cannot search through pages of entries to see which upload uses CHF images.
Each email must include your name, your address, your phone number and your email address of where to send the gift certificate. We will keep this information in the strictest confidence.

There will be three (3) FREE GIFT CERTIFICATES in the comparative amounts of $25.00, $15.00 and $10.00 given away each month on the 1st business day of the month.

First giveaway will be November 1st, 2007.

Gift certificates will expire thirty days from date of issue.
Orders totaling less than $35.00 are still subject to S&H fees as outlined on the CHF website. Orders over $35.00 always ship free within the USA.

There is no limit of times you may enter the CHF Online Referral Program in any one month but each entry must be a separate gallery, album or blog upload and must include a live link to www.cornishheritagefarms.com.
Should you have any questions about the CHF Online Referral Program please email them to onlinereferralprogram@cornishheritagefarms.com and we will do our best to answer all of your questions in a timely manner.

Richard, little kids & I are headed out tomorrow to Idaho to pick up a new Jersey milk cow. Yes we are on the road again. We are going to take a short break & head into Yellowstone National Park so looking forward to that. I can’t wait to see Daniel’s face when he see Old Faithful “letting off steam.”

Lilly is not being very co-operative. She butted poor Bossy up the rear end tonight when I was bringing her in. She did take a treat from me though so that was the first time.

We are trying hard to get ready for winter here but it is slow progress. Richard picked up 5 large round bales of straw tonight so there is no excuses for an unclean cow barn now. Next week we need to get the hay in. Due to all the rain we have had the grass is actually greening up BUT that is not going to last long. Winter is on its way.

Have a great rest of the week & weekend & I’ll be back next week.

Liz

Hi folks,

Well our weekend didn’t go exactly as planned but we did get a cow. On Saturday we set off late but we were on our way & the weather was glorious. 20 miles into the journey, I heard “bmm,bmm,bmm,bmm!” One of the trailer tires had shredded! We were outside a little town that did have a tire place but alas being a Saturday they were not open so we had to drive 40 miles in the opposite direction to get the tire replaced - ended up needing 2 new ones. SO that was the end of getting the “wild” cows but we were not too worried.

Sunday morning we set off right on time - 10am. The weather was awful. I mean we really need the rain but it was not the ideal day for pulling a trailer as it was really windy also. We stopped in Great Falls & ate a good Chinese meal then headed on. Where these folks live is 10 miles down a gravel road. It reminded is of WV as the road twisted & turned. PLUS being so wet it was slippery so were crawling along at 20 mph. Finally got to our destination & met Lilly.

I think my guys thought I was getting us “into” some wussy cows but there is NOTHING wussy about Lilly. Those horns are pretty intimidating. (The mark on her side is the brand.) Irish Dexters are VERY beefy looking cattle. They may be shorter than most but have plenty of muscle. Don & Kathi also gave us Jasper, the duck. Jasper (I named him that) was given to them and they have a lake by their house which would be perfect for Jasper apart from the fact that he doesn’t like the water! SO We brought him home to live with our ducks.

We didn’t get home here until gone 8pm & on the way home we even saw flakes of snow mixed in with the rain so it tells you how cold it was. Michael has built Lilly her own pen so she can get acquainted with the other cows gradually. Because it was dark Jasper spent the first night with Lilly & then yesterday went to live with the other ducks. He seems to be doing fine.

We left Lilly shut in her pen yesterday but this morning I let her out into the small pasture beside the other cows. She didn’t really want her halter on & of course once she got into the pasture RAN so then we had to catch her to get her halter off.

Bossy is now giving about 1-2 qts of milk each milking. We are feeding it to Chuck. We bought her some molasases treats on Saturday. When I gave her the first one she couldn’t chew it properly & kept spitting it out BUT now she has learnt to beg! She LOVES her treats. Probably started her on a very bad habit. Here she is looking through at us while we were seeing to Lilly.

Hope your week has started well.

Liz

Chuck would not come in for Michael tonight so at about 9:30pm I headed out in the dark. The moon is out & the stars are gorgeous but that was all the light I had. At first I couldn’t find the halter but then I did so went into the pasture. Chuck walked away from me for a while but than I caught him & he came obediently with me to the barn.

As I walked in Bossy got up to greet us & what was the first thing I saw? A full udder! Yes I was shocked to say the least as the vet had told us she would not come back into milk. Poor thing, she went & stood over by Chuck’s stall waiting for him to drink but she is way too fragile for him right now.

Milking her was a challenge as her teats were all dried up & shriveled but although it took me longer than normal I did get her sorted & have now rubbed Udder Balm all over them to moisten them. As I was milking I just giving thanks as this was totally unexpected. Another great blessing Chuck quite happily drank the milk from the bucket when I was finished.

Bossy is still dangerously thin IMHO so tomorrow we are going to get her some molasses feed to encourage her to eat & build her energy back up. I don’t normally like to feed that kind of food to the animals but this is an exception & Bossy needs it for a short period of time.

We are still headed out to get the dexters as we do want to get some more cows here anyway.

So now back to what I was originally going to share with you tonight. I was originally going to call the post - Helping Mummy. As we are going to be on the road for the next two weekends I figured I had better pick all the tomatoes this afternoon & get them canned SO look who helped me:

This was Hannah’s first time in the garden. Normally there are too many mosquitoes but they have died down now. She kept picking up the green tomatoes, taking a bite & spitting it out.

THEN Roxy decided to join us.

I have canned another 13 pints tonight. The plants are dying back now but there are still alot of green ones on there. There isn’t a frost forecast so I will leave them out there for a few more days.

Here’s to custard, cream & so much more!

Liz

I have bagged nearly 550 backgrounders since 5pm! Before that I had to print all the cardstock. We keep between 10-20 of each UM backgrounder bagged & hung up at any one time so that is alot of backgrounders. The new ones aren’t even up there yet - that is tomorrow morning’s job.
No big deal you say! Well the cardstock has to be cut to fit into the bag & then the backgrounder goes in. Why so many you ask? Well we have been working on the new logo for a while & so hadn’t wanted to prebag the backgrounders with the old logo & then have to redo them SO they have just been piling up & we have pulled & bagged as needed - not very efficient on our time. (We had done a few of each at the weekend but then ran out of cardstock!) NOW the hangers are all full so when you place your order all we have to do is pull them. Being in the plastic bag also keeps the rubber nice & fresh.

Whilst doing this I have also been calling folks about cows. Finding a good cow in this area is no easy task but the more folks I call the more I learn & everyone is so helpful. I had a great conversation with a lady in Idaho this morning & I let her in on some of my butter making tips. Alas they didn’t have any cows for sale. I am not giving up & hopefully will have some more leads tomorrow.

I did find some “wild” ones tonight at a very reasonable price and Michael says he could “easily train them!” Are we up to the challenge I ask myself. Dexter cattle are apparently very amiable & easy to train so we might head out to see them. In fact if I hadn’t called someone in Nebraska, over 1000 miles from here (yes my family think I am nuts) I would never have found this guy who is only 4 hours away from us.

Still haven’t fully given up on the Jersey but the seller seems in no hurry to get the details from his vet & we only have this weekend & the following one free so time will tell on that one.

Well I have some work to do for Lisa (head designer) before heading to bed. Yes if I don’t get it done she will be holding the whip to me in the morning! LOL!

Sleep well.

Liz

Hey all!

Yes I’m still alive & kicking If I haven’t been busy working with stamps I have been looking for a new milk cow. I think we have found one in Idaho not far from Yellowstone. She has to be vet checked so we are waiting to hear back from the seller as to how long that takes & then we can make arrangements to go pick her up. Apparently she has large teats so excellent for hand milking. I will keep you posted.

What else is going on? Well I got 14 pts of tomatoes canned on Saturday. I know, not a huge amount but the plants are still loaded & thankfully we have not had another frost. I want to leave them on the vines as long as possible so that more ripen.

We have a backgrounder release happening here in a few hours. EIGHT new backgrounders are going to be hitting the store shortly so make sure you check them all out. They are:

• Cheesecloth
• Montana Cracked Earth
• Wood Grain
• Montana Tree Bark
• Petite Pattern
• Tulle
• Scalloped Lace
• Gingham

Then yesterday Jolene sent me this beautiful card using our Small Fairy & gave me permission to share it with you all. Thanks Jolene.

Hope you are all having a great week.

Talk with you again soon,

Liz

I had just gone to bed last night, Richard was still up when the phone rang. It was 11pm! It was Roger, the vet, who had just got home. SO up I got again & at 11:15 pm Richard & I were out in the cow barn. On a side note the stars last night were incredible - I don’t think I have ever seen so many.

Roger thinks Bossy has Ketosis. We drenched her with two different solutions plus he gave her a shot. Ketosis, in simple terms, means that she has not been eating enough for her milk output. We think it all started when we redid the barn - she got out of her routine & was upset so didn’t eat properly & then stopped eating altogether. We had to give her the drench again this morning & it does seem to have worked. She has started eating hay again.

The bad news is that her milk has dried up & the vet doesn’t think it will come back His advice was to get her rebred & just wait for next year. SO you’ve guessed it, we have to find a new milk cow. I am doing some research to see what I can find.

I had to get up early this morning to go to the grocery store & my heart sank. There was ice on the car windows. We didn’t have a frost two nights ago but we sure got one last night. It went down to 30F. I was thinking my tomatoes were “toast” but I went out this afternoon & they were fine. Yee Haa! I’ve picked a bucketful. Tomorrow I will have to can them as we have no more room in the freezers.

Hope your weekend is a fun one.

Liz

Hey folks!

Well I survived the shopping trip but not sure our bank account did Actually Michelle & I had a nice evening out together.

Tuesday the temps were up in the high 80’s. By last evening they had dropped into the 40’s - quite a difference. Richard told me about 6pm yesterday that it was supposed to freeze but we were too busy to go out picking tomatoes so we hoped for the best. It went to 33 last night so the tomatoes are all still in good shape. Phew!
The weather was glorious today, only in the 50’s but very sunny. I did get out on the trampoline with Daniel & Hannah for a few minutes this afternoon. Of course Hannah is still crawling so all the static made her hair stick up. It was quite hilarious. Then I cut her fringe (bangs) in the bath this evening & you have never heard such a fuss. She was not amused so we we will see tomorrow if I got them straight! It was her first haircut. I always like to keep the first cut locks.

Bossy is sick or we think she is. We called the vet out today but he has an awful memory & a very busy schedule so he didn’t get out here. She is not eating her grain & we have not had milk for two days. She doesn’t have any Not quite sure what is going on. She did come back in heat so maybe that has something to do with it. Time will tell.

T-Bone is beginning to look like a little devil. His horns are REALLY pointy & they don’t half hurt when he pokes you. He was happy this evening as Bossy didn’t eat all her grain so he was gladly helping (pigging) himself until I stopped him.

Our big rooster has lost ALL his tail feathers bar one. No idea what has been going on there. No chickens are missing but there was a small hole in the fence which I have now blocked up so he was the mighty defender of his harem?

Hope you week is going well.

Liz

Happy Monday to you all!

It was a crazy one here but we got through it. The workmen came & finished up the cow barn - put the sides back on etc BUT now we have to have it reroofed! Yes I know - incredible. Richard & Michael reroofed the section that has just been concreted this past winter & spring but this weekend we had ALOT of rain & Richard discovered that the other side is now letting the rain pour under the new stuff so it will rot if we don’t fix it. The old bit is a much bigger job as that has all the old wood shingles on it. They have to be pulled off & then a new metal roof put on. The quote wasn’t as bad as we were expecting so hopefully we can get it done soon.

Now back to apples! Michelle & I worked all day on Saturday processing apples. For those of you who have never made your own apple sauce this is one of the easiest fruits to preserve. Now note I didn’t say it was quick! BUT you just chop the apple into rough quarters, cook in a pot with some water for about 20 minutes & then put through a juicer. Out one end comes the applesauce & out the other comes all the skins & pips etc. We have a really old hand cranked apple sauce maker that is very simple to use & does a great job.

Pack into jars with lids & boil in a water bath for 15 mins (pint jars). Voila! You have a finished jar of apple sauce!
As you can see from the top pic we made ALOT - 121 pints & 20 qts to be precise which is 20 gallons and we still had a box left over. We are well stocked. The chickens & pigs were delighted with all the scraps.

Look who came visiting today!

Bella’s “checking” them out!The latch on the pig pen has come loose so has to be fixed. They are all back in their home tonight.

You won’t hear from me tomorrow as Michelle & I have to go shopping tomorrow night. Poor Hannah has no winter clothes & now that the temps are changing we need to get her some. I really do not like to go shopping. I know, some of you are going to gasp in horror and if you are one of those who loves to spend hours in the mall then I am glad for you but I don’t. HOWEVER it will be fun to go out to dinner with Michelle & stock up on some stuff that we need.

Have a great evening,

Liz

Oh my! A friend called me yesterday afternoon to see if I wanted to go apple picking in an hour. Well at such short notice it wasn’t possible but I volunteered Michael’s help so off they went.

I am not kidding you - they came back 4 hours later with the back of their truck LOADED. Apparently the kids had picked really fast & well. Here’s a pic of them all.

We now have 200-300lbs of apples sat in the hall & our friends took home just as many if not more.

Guess what Michelle & I will be doing tomorrow? Yes you guessed - making apple sauce. Although it will be hard work it will certainly be worth it.

In actual fact the apples were picked right on time. Last night we saw rain for the first time in many many weeks & today the temps were only in the 50’s so picking apples in this weather would not have been much fun as it rained really hard tonight PLUS storing wet apples would have made them rot quickly so the timing was PERFECT.
Have a great weekend.

Liz

there’s a way!

Since all this upheaval with the cow barn we have been a little worried because Bossy’s milk quantity has dropped. WELL cow’s are not dumb. We caught her the other day stood outside the gate of Chuck’s pasture patiently standing there whilst he put his head through & drank!

Today the guys came & concreted the cow barn. They made it look SO easy. It looks WONDERFUL! They will be back tomorrow to put all the siding etc back on & then Saturday will be a big day here as we rebuild the inside. Have to find some straw somewhere too as we have run out.

Here’s the picture of the new entrance. Obviously the wire is just temporary to keep Bossy out.

Now you can see the inside. Doesn’t it look great?

Our black broilers that the hatchery sent us by mistake are cannibals! This afternoon I went out to feed & water them only to discover that they had killed my very friendly Buff Orpington rooster. Most times when a chicken dies the other chickens just trample it & ignore it. Not these - they had cleaned him out - all that was left were the skin & bones and of course the feathers!

Oops forgot to tell you about last night. I was just dropping off to sleep when Bella woke me up with a start barking like crazy. AND THEN the lovely aroma of skunk flowed through the bedroom. What a lovely smell to go to sleep on! Funny think is that it wasn’t Bella who got sprayed but Roxy sure smelt sweet today
Hope your week is going well. I never did get around to posting on here about the 10 new Fresh Face Designers but I’m sure once they start getting some of the CHF stamps you will get to enjoy their creations. We are very glad that they have come on board. A very talented group.

Liz