A new dining adventure at Winterpast Farm is lunching on a motor boat in the back pasture…don’t worry, it’s not going anywhere except in your child’s imagination…kids are also welcome to play on the boat without dining.

Could you, would you with a goat?

Could you, would you in a boat?

The ultimate is lunching with a goat in a boat…Lizzie Lou is available although she likes to eat!

Visit Winterpast Farm soon and have a unique dining experience.

As much as we loved the trio of pink “Wilbur” pigs, they grew fast and started to knock over cages (I lost a dozen pheasants and my white bunnies are still running free after their cage was knocked over 3 times) and they began to get serious about “plowing” the front yard…Farmer Mary has lots of raking and replanting to do. They’ve moved down Hwy. 98 to another farm.

However, “Big Mama” the pot belly pig is still here and she has a new husband, another pot belly named “Harry”. At first Farmer Mary found him rather unattractive -sort of like a cross between a wildebeest and a rhinoceros, but his looks have grown on her and Big Mama is in love.  Pig gestation is, interestingly enough, 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days.  So, we will see if there are any honeymoon babies in December.  Might be Christmas day!  Farmer Mary is envisioning “pig parties” and pig cupcakes and pig races…hope to bottle feed one or two.

Farmer Mary has started to rent out bunnies (complete with food and cage and all supplies) to families who are considering a pet bunny. Borrow a bunny from Winterpast Farm and then you can return it, exchange it or buy it once your family has gained some experience.  $20 for a week is the current rate. A very successful short-term rental was to a Grandma who had visiting grandchildren for a week.

Visits to Winterpast Farm have been $5 (adopted kids always visit for free) for many years…January 1 the price will go to $10 in order for Farmer Mary to continue to provide a place for families and groups to meet animals. Feed and hay prices continue to go up and up.  Schedule a visit, or several visits, this year and take advantage of the old fee.  Bring your friends!

Farmer Mary realized that yesterday was the first anniversary of “Justin Beiber” the baby peacock’s hatching out of his egg at Winterpast Farm…he was the only one of 11 eggs to hatch so he has been hanging out with ducks ever since. Lately he’s been encouraging his sister duck who’s setting on eggs.  And, in the evening, he and his “brother” duck patrol the grounds for foxes and other varmints.  As tough as they like to act, when they see a fox they fly into a tree, however, but my female is hidden under a bench so hopefully she’ll not be noticed. Justin has developed into a beautiful bird with lots of colors on his feathers despite the fact he won’t be getting his really long, fancy feathers for at least another year.  That doesn’t keep him from flirting, feathers up, with every duck and chick around the farm…I even saw him flirting with one of my new pigs lately.  Or, maybe he was just practicing his technique.

Farmer Mary is still hopeful that Joseph, the beautiful big male peacock, and Rachel, his arranged wife, will have eggs and children this year…so far she’s not laid a single egg and she shows no interest in Joseph. However, she gazes longingly at Justin whenever he passes. Maybe she’s waiting til he grows up…maybe Farmer Mary needs to find Joseph a new wife!

The three pink pigs, all named “Wilbur” have been a huge hit at the Winterpast Farm. Farmer Mary found that they only needed a few days to figure out that meeting people at the gate and being willing to be petted means FOOD!  They have very wiry hairy bodies and rubbery snouts they like to use to plow up Farmer Mary’s front yard.  There’s a small, medium, and large Wilbur.  They love to get in the sled full of water that  Farmer Mary has out for the ducks.  They also love to knock over cages to get to chicken, bunny and duck food…Farmer Mary has had to put huge rocks on top of individual cages to keep them steady.

Another new pig, a potbellied female named “Big Mama”, is also living at the farm. She’s been bounced around from home to home and we hope she can settle in for a nice long stay. She’s a bit shy, but if you throw a bit of bread in a path from her to you, next thing you know she’s taking food from your hand. She’s not ready for petting yet, but I think she will be soon.  Big Mama’s favorite trick is to wait until the Wilburs have plowed a nice, soft, muddy spot in the yard, and then go push them out of the way and settle in right there for a nice long nap.

If you visit Winterpast Farm in the rain you’ll see the pigs dancing around. They, and the ducks, have loved every rainy day this Spring.  They run, wallow, and play while the other animals all run for the shelter of the barn or garage or any covered spot.

Well, a while ago, Nelson the Pony snuck out of the pasture into the front yard at Winterpast farm and knocked over the bunny hutch to eat the bedding hay….this meant Bologna the multi-color bunny dropped (literally!) into the loving embrace of Ralph the amorous Angora bunny.  The result, reports Farmer Mary, a several week honeymoon and two beautiful babies.

We are all thankful for twins rather than the usual much larger litter!  Brown, gray, white and sort of light orange stripes…with the Angora heritage they look a bit more like a guinea pig than a bunny, but with bunny ears.

Bologna was entrusted to the farm last year when a family moved to Florida. I’ve been in touch with them to share the big news and the children are working on names for the babies…I think we have a male and female.

This has been an exceedingly snowy year and the animals (and Farmer Mary) are all ready for Spring!! Farmer Mary’s children are loving it since we have the best sliding hill in the back pasture.  Barnabas and the other animals look pretty funny covered in snow.

Winterpast Farm was pleased to be invited back again for the live Nativity at Crossroads Fellowship church in Raleigh on the night (December 22) of their Christmas Program entitled “Christmas Unwrapped” which is a city-wide event attracting thousands of people.  See the official photos of the event at http://crossroadsphoto.smugmug.com/Events/2010-Christmas-Unwrapped/15172446_i8uSq#1135965386_Mfgre -bet you’ll see some familiar faces…  The live Nativity is featured on pages 8,9,77,78,155 (great photo),157,161,162,169,170,173,174 abd 187 of the close to 200 pages of photos.

People had been asking Farmer Mary at church for weeks whether they’d get to see Barnabas again.  He’s a darling and very friendly mini donkey  who was just 6 months old at the Nativity last year.  Barnabas was back, along with Daisy Dandelion the goat (who we truly thought might go into labor that night), and new sheep Thomas Tuesday, aged one week, and Sally, three months.

Farmer Mary (in a royal red robe mostly hiding insulated coveralls) and her children and friends staffed the animal portion of the Nativity which was held outside this year.  Brrrrrrrr Photo top left is Farmer Mary’s son, Thomas, holding Thomas Tuesday the week old lamb.

Living in the country, even as the only farm in the neighborhood, has many benefits and a few disadvantages regarding technology…Farmer Mary’s internet and phone are both a bit shall we say unreliable.  Will let you know if the number changes-hopefully to be resolved this week!

UPDATE: Farmer Mary’s cel rarely takes messages (or if it takes them rarely bothers to pass them along to Farmer Mary!) so she is using her kids’ cel phone 919 244-1800 for now.  Apologies to all the middle school girls who love to text her son Alex.  Email is marymomfarmer@hotmail.com

While buying fencing for a friend I was offered the opportunity to adopt two former show geese because their owner was moving to Florida.  Doris is a Toulouse  and Chester is an African Brown. Both are 11 years old and very friendly. They eat dry dog food and Chester enjoys announcing the arrival of anyone in the driveway.  Come see them soon!

In the photo, thanks to my neighbor, Anna Martin, for the photograph while my camera is lost, Doris is to the left.

Daisy, a mix of Saanan and Alpine goat breeds, loves to be walked on a leash, hand fed, loves to nurse from her foster mom, Hannah Montana, and generally thinks she’s another dog at the farm…she almost jumped into a birthday cake lately so she may be heading to housing at the barn with the other livestock soon.  She has a cute new little  house she sleeps in.  In this photo she is wearing a bandana left over from a birthday party at the farm.