Lehman’s Country Life

It took 36 hours. That’s an eternity for a child. Or for a hatchling. And that’s the reason the new member of our family got her special name. Our new duckling is called “Milagro”-the Spanish word for “miracle”-because she had a lot of trouble making her entrance into the world. She didn’t give up, even though we almost gave up on her.

Milagro’s story begins, as all births do, with her mother. The mallard sat on a nest of nine eggs for two weeks. She only came off her bed of straw for brief moments to eat and drink. And the whole time she was away she called out loudly, “Leave me alone you ducks, chickens and humans! Can’t you see I’m in a hurry?” And looking back toward the nest she would cry out, “Don’t worry babies. I’m coming right back.”

But then one day she left the nest without any conversation. Two hours later she was still quietly foraging for food. It appeared to the children, who were eager for any excuse to claim the eggs, that the momma duck had abandoned them.
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Without a doubt, the summer heat can be hard on humans. But remember, livestock and animals can become sick in the summer heat just like we can.
It can be a time consuming chore to care for your livestock and animals in the heat. For those who have livestock in different locations, a great part of the day can be spent making sure they are ok. Here are a few quick reminders for anyone who keeps animals outside (this goes for dogs, too!):

WATER!

There is not anything more vital than a fresh water source for livestock and animals in the summer’s heat. Fresh, cool running streams are ideal for cattle, horses and many other livestock. Water containers should be kept clean and full of cool fresh water for animals without access to streams or creeks. Dumping and washing them out can be a hard chore but it can easily make the difference between life and death for your animals. Animals that depend on water bottles such as rabbits and chickens need to have their water filled and refreshed at least twice daily.

SHELTER and SHADE!

Animals and livestock need a place to get out of the sun’s intensity. This can be provided by sheds, barns or even a large grove of leafy trees. Rabbits need a shade hutch or cover to escape the sun.

AIR MOVEMENT!
The movement of the hot summer air can be blessing to your animals. Those kept up in barns or closed in houses need fans to move the air about. Failure to provide this can easily result in suffocation and heat exhaustion.

Take care of your animals in the hot summerʼs heat. Take care of your and your family.

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Someone recently asked ; although I can’t remember who as forgetting names is one of the quirks of aging ; should they buy a beautiful doe eyed Jersey whose only obvious flaw is she had a leaky teat ?

They also wanted to know why teats leak and is it harmful to the cow?

The answer to the first question is a resounding NO! Never buy a cow , goat or any livestock which has anything that is apparently wrong unless you just want to feed one for a pet and not breed and milk her.
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Enjoy the beauty of the Kidron area landscape thru the eyes of local artist Dennis Lipp. On July 12th, during Lehman’s Local Artisan Festival, Dennis can be found in the cafe and book area painting a scene from this area. So grab some lunch, coffee or ice cream and have a seat to enjoy seeing the creative process at work! Dennis, along with 13 other local artists will be participating in live demonstrations and offering their artwork for sale. Make a day of it and enjoy! Stop by www.kidronarts.com to read artists profiles and see a preview of artwork and demonstrations.

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On July 12 th you will get a chance to meet the folks from Longhedges Fiber Studio. Angela Seymour-Boss will be across from the customer service desk at the store in Kidron displaying and selling her fiber and fiber art during Lehman’s Local Artisan Festival. Angela, along with her husband Warren, own and operate a retail fiber shop as well as an alpaca and fiber animal farm. In the photo above you can see a sampling of some of her hand dyed and spun angora yarn. She offers knitting and spinning classes as well as a wide assortment of fiber from cleaned raw fiber from a wide variety of animals, to rovings, to yarn to finished products that make beautiful gifts. You can read about Angela and the other artists at www.kidronarts.com To learn more about Longhedges Fiber Studio go to www.longhedges.com

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I met today with Peter Heath of Amish Country TV to talk about our upcoming Art Festival at Lehman’s on July 12th. Peter makes videos of events of special interest in Amish Country and then shows them on his web site as well as in hotels as a courtesy to people coming into the area. I talked to him about the wide variety of local artists who will be at Lehman’s Local Artisan Festival doing demonstrations in the store. We are fortunate to have a wealth of talented, accomplished artists from the Kidron area who are looking forward to sharing with the people at Lehman’s how they take their raw materials to create their own unique finished product. In this high tech world the value of using your hands to create and the satisfaction of the creative process is to be appreciated more than ever. Many of these crafts and skills have a long rich history which we want to preserve and share. I think you will find this event to be fun, educational and inspiring for all ages. To add to the festive atmosphere there will be special music, food and hands on activities for kids.

To read Artists Profiles of artists participating in this event go to www.kidronarts.com Stop by soon to see the video made from this interview. We will post it on Lehman’s Youtube station as it becomes available!

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As part of Lehman’s Local Artisan Festival on July 12th, Sue Steiner will be at the store doing a painting demonstration and offering artwork for sale. Sue’s farm animal murals can be seen at Lehman’s in the Buggy Barn as well as in the outside eating area of the cafe. You can have your picture taken by Sue’s most recent mural, Rex and Roy, the life sized team of Amish work horses that was painted this winter. She’ll also have on hand more ‘Rex and Roy’ equine art as well as an assortment of Amish, farm and farm animal art. For more information on Sue go to www.suesteiner.com as well as www.kidronarts.com to read about the other local artists who will be participating in the art festival.

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People! Are your goats healthy? Your sheep? No arthritis? No hard udders that are a mystery? Are they eating well? Not just peanut butter in celery sticks; as I tell husband Norm, goats do NOT live on peanut butter alone (man does not live on peanut butter alone either, but that’s another story). Or could some of your animals have CAE? Do you even know what CAE is? Sadly, many do not; but don’t feel badly if you are one who does not. Just read on.

CAE (not pronounced ‘kay’ but ‘C - A - E’) is the acronym for CAPRINE ARTHRITIS ENCEPHALITIS. This is a disease that is transferred by milk or by fluids. This means that if your doe has CAE, you cannot allow her kids to be nursed by her or even allow her to lick and clean the kids. Even sneezing can transfer the infection.

Now, I don’t want to put fear in your hearts, but CAE is really a disease to be aware of and avoid if at all possible. Not every animal that has CAE will show signs, but one could be a carrier for youngsters to develop it. Both goats and sheep can carry and suffer from CAE, even though it’s predominant in goats. So I will not keep saying “goats or sheep” but let you change “goat” to “sheep” in your head if you wish.

CAE can have two different signs - a neurological disease in the spinal cord and brain of young kids and a joint infection of older goats resulting in arthritis.
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I hate it when that happens. Usually it’s a song. It’ll be something you’ll remember from way-back-when that ends up getting stuck between the ears and then spends the rest of the day irritating the surrounding brain cells. Singing Shari Lewis’ “The Song That Doesn’t End” with the kids, during the drive into school in the morning, requires nothing less than a marketing meeting to be rid of. Terrible stuff!

Worse still is some single strange thought like: where did pockets come from? Think about that for a minute. If most of the really good ideas come from nature, and if pockets are a really good idea, then there’s an undiscovered species of dinosaur out there that evolved the Cretaceous equivalent of the fanny pack.

It’s worth mentioning that the two legged kids didn’t curse me with the “pockets” question. No- Boomer did this to me.
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I am making some progress on the hitching post mural.  As you can see there is an actual hitching post in the mural!  Tomorrow I better paint a lead rope tied TO the hitching post so Rex and Roy stay put!

 I am enjoying the visitors in the Buggy Barn at the store.  I’ve already taken several people’s photos in front of the mural.  Today I photographed families visiting from Sweden and Switzerland as well as several states in the US.    So if you’re in the store stop in the Buggy Barn and say hi! 

To see previous blog enteries of mural work in progress pics click here       

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