Our Last Farm Vlog of the Year ❄️ | Winter Chores & Our 9 Black Cats

Mark here, my wife Tara, and welcome to the Ten Acre Woods. It is December 28th, so the Christmas season is well underway between Christmas and New Year's. I hope you are enjoying your holidays. We've been, well we had Braxton. Big hugs from our family. Yeah, big hugs. Hope all's well. And Braxton and Brayden came out Christmas Day. Yeah, so they were out. They were going to come out on Saturday. The weather kind of changed a little bit. We've got like a yellow advisory. You wouldn't know it from what you're seeing here because we're into the treed area, but out in the prairies between Winnipeg and here, it's apparently pretty blustery, which is the big reason why we chose this property. We wanted trees, of course. We didn't want to be in the middle of a field. Right. And it's magical. Anyway, we are feeding the ponies. So a little update on the Little Springs watering system. So there is a heater inside here, of course, keeping things liquid. The one inside for the goats and sheep failed, so we had to order another one. So we actually ordered it on the web through Gallagher. We were looking at different water heaters. There's a ton of them out there, but we like this style just because it's safe. And we ended up purchasing it off Gallagher. There are a lot of websites out there that do sell the similar product, but none of them had them in stock. So I went to Gallagher. And if you don't know, we are affiliated with Gallagher. So from time to time, they'll send us some equipment. We'll make some videos on it. And we have a code. So if you're looking at any kind of farm-related animal management equipment, you can use the code 10ACREWOOD and you can get 10% off. So I was like, oh, is the code still? Can I use the code? So I plugged it in and sure enough, 10% off. But I don't think they're going to be shipping until the new year. So we've got another, I don't know, week to 10 days, two weeks. I don't know. Hopefully we'll see it sooner. We've been able to manage our watering system inside with the sheep and the goats. So that seems to be working well. We've got a rhythm going now. It's just a little bit of a pain, but we'll get there. Okay. So feeding the ponies, Levi and Meadow. And then we have, there's Astrid there. Now the miniature ponies. So what we did is this past week, we actually took them inside and it was shorty. That was the cold weather has just kind of gotten to them. And he was, he was moping around. He was in the little, uh, the little building, uh, sleeping and we were bringing them his breakfast in bed. So we decided that we were going to take them inside into the barn. Uh, so they are both in the barn, uh, both, uh, both miniature ponies are in the barn and, uh, we're going to head in and check on them right away. Tara corrected me. Sorry. They're dwarf ponies. Those are miniature. Are those miniature ponies? No, those are ponies. Well, what's a miniature pony then? What's the difference between a dwarf and a miniature? It's small. It's miniature. So it's size and pony is chunky. I'd be a pony. Yeah. Whereas my friend, Jerry is a horse cause she's thinner. I'm a pony cause I'm thick. Um, like broader. I know, but miniature versus dwarf. And there's miniature. You'll get the really small one. Yeah. Oh, these are miniature. These are miniature. Okay. So a miniature pony, you know, I'm a technical person. I'm a very technical person, but I guess maybe not in the animal world. Maybe I'm not tech. Yes. Well, I guess you can read online. You've got different heights. So between this and this, and I know, uh, a horse and a pony, there's a classification there, but my thought was what's a dwarf and what's a mini. I hear the kids. Oh, and I hear the dwarfs. Okay. Here we go. So we've got them back here in the back. How are you guys doing? Yeah. So we have to do a poop cleanup every morning, every morning, every morning as they poop. So, and what, um, what we're doing is we're putting, we've got a pond, uh, a little pond container, miniature pond, a dwarf container. Well, I'm seeing what the, what works because they were putting their hay all over the ground. Yeah. So instead of just putting the hay on the ground, uh, the decision was made. Oh, you pushed it. That's why. To put it in the, um, in the, in the pond, in the container. A feeding trough, I suppose. And then there's a little less to clean up because we were cleaning up more hay than poop. So it just seemed a little bit of a learning curve. What is going on? You're loud. These little, these little guys. You too. You're a loud one. Yeah. Well, good morning to you too. Yes. Oh, they're cute. Well, good morning kids. So we put this, this is a, uh, a stand we made. What was it last year or even the year before? Uh, so we wanted something that they could jump up on. And it seems like these two are the ones that are using it the most. Uh, so they enjoy it. All right. So our, uh, our cooling system for the barn, we'll call it a cooling system because that's what it actually does. Ventilation system, I guess. So I did talk about this. This is a controller that turns on the fan at the back. So we've got it set at three degrees Celsius and it maintains that. Once it comes up to 3.4 degrees, it kicks back on and brings it back down to three degrees. Okay. There's the hay. There we go. The feed draw off. So that controller, uh, is wired up here. So as I mentioned in a previous video, I've got a control wire here that, um, it's got just a regular 12 volt plug, uh, runs into a relay. One wire goes out to that controller and then comes back and completes the connection, activates this, uh, this power here, which then runs over to the fan. So we've got a low selector, an off and then a high selector. So, uh, it's not running now of course, because it is at temperature. I know they are like, they're talking back and forth. I don't know. Good morning to you too. Yes. Our little Q-tip tops. It's this one up top. I think that's the instigator. Yeah. They're all kind of, they're all kind of going. All right. What do we have? What do we have? Okay. We've got a couple of broody girls here. What's that? Yeah. So which one are they both sitting? Yeah. Okay. A bunch of eggs. No, uh, no babies. What about you? Yeah. Hi. Okay. The far one. Okay. Just let them hatch out. All right. You guys waiting for something? Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, we'll get it to you right away. They want some, they want some brains and treats. I've never heard them like this. No, they're, they're really loud. Yeah. They're just happy. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So the kids, uh, he's got their grain and apples with Sriracha is in here. He's, uh, taking a break from Barry. Morning Barry. I guess we need to get, uh, get your, he's, uh, working on his pumpkin down here. So you got his there you go. He'll work on that. Oh, there you go. Reposition it. That'll be half gone. Next time we check in on him. All right. Pumpkins, pumpkins for the crew. So we've talked about this before. It's a natural dewormer and, um, we get the pumpkins donated to us, uh, right after Halloween. So there's a particular garden center that we go to collect all of their unsold pumpkins. And they've never been outside. Yeah. So they haven't been frozen. Uh, cause it's, uh, actually this year wasn't too bad. It wasn't too, too cold. Uh, although it was in around the freezing mark, and then because it doesn't freeze in the barn here, then, uh, they, yeah, it's just a cold what's that tank. Sounds like a big one. Oh, I didn't tell you the other day, I was changing waters and I opened up the chicken door and he ran right in at tank. Oh, I think you did mention that. Yes. And I was like, what are you doing? And he's standing there but he's like, he's fearless, fearless, uh, Napoleon syndrome. Yeah. So, um, so Penny passed this week. Penny passed, but really old girl. So she just didn't come out of that. She was our, she was our broody, our broody, um, uh, hen. So yeah, she wasn't doing too good. She was slowing down. That's normal. Like that's a normal thing. Like, you know, as they regrow or whatever, but she just didn't pull out of it this winter, but we've had her six years, I want to say. Yeah. And, uh, she came in as an adult that was very emaciated, but we figured it out that she needed to have babies because that's the only time she would really eat. Yeah. Was when she was taking care of somebody. Yeah. So we always gave her a nest. When we gave her, we, she was a surrogate for a couple, I believe. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, but she just got to that age. There we go. No, no, no, no. Only take her. What? Will you not eat what I put on the ground? Wants it out of the bucket. I know you want hay. Yeah. Yeah. The sheep, uh, sheep like the hay. Although these sheep prefer the, uh, the pumpkin. All right. So water. So we've got to do the water again. You can see it. So we've gotten it down a little better. The first time was, um, it was almost full. So that one there. And then we've got, hi Tucker. And this one here, they actually drank it, drank it all. Okay. What? Hi. You're waiting for your hay. I know. And of course this is our, uh, our frozen, frozen water. Oh man. What's going on here? Somebody's digging stuff up. We'll definitely have to clean that out once we, uh, once we get it up and running again. And so what are you getting into? Look at this. Well, it's a Billie Jean. That's a, I don't know. Yeah. Well she's doing, she's doing that snort like a male will do. Like a stud coat will do. Well, mind you. Yeah. They would be going into a heat. Yeah. You got no intake. Yeah. See, you got no intact boys. So one of them has to, has to take over. I don't know. See, look at that. What are you two girls doing? Morning Bronwyn. Hi Coco. What? What is it with you? What is it with you? You're silly. Hey. All right. We got waters. Okay. Tinker is back out. And how's Barry doing? Oh, where's Barry? Oh, he's up. He's up there. But he's halfway done his apple. He's saving the, saving the rest for this afternoon. All right. Even Sriracha is having some, yep. Having some breakfast. Getting in there. And the kids. So this is the last time you'll see everybody this year. Because this is the, uh, the last vlog of, uh, 2025. Right? Yes. It's the last one. It is. Yeah. So we are back in the house and all of our kitties. Yep. They're all hanging out. Uh, Nara and, uh, Ria are always there. What is that? Who's that? He's good with them. Sometimes he gets smacked with, uh, by Lucifer. And then the other two here. Yep. Tier and Nix. So Tier is on the left and Nix is on the right. Tier. Hey, he doesn't even know I'm right. Hi, Tier. Hi. Hi. How's Tier? Oh, now they're all gonna wish out Zoria. Yeah. Hi, Ria. Yeah, Ria's gonna do her meows. And then, uh, oh, Lucifer's down here. Right. Are you at the bottom of the pecking order? Oh, the girls rule. Hey, who's that? Yeah. Hi, Ria. And then Koda. Oh, God, I gotta clean underneath it. Yeah, all the hair. Koda. Yeah, there he goes. He's like, hi, what am I, are we gonna get pets? Koda. Oh, Koda. Hey, belly rub. He's always wanting the attention. I'm sorry, Toby, do you want some too? Look at this Koda. Look at all this hair. You know, mommy's allergic to you. You have to contain this. Yeah, it's the long hair that gets Tara. So our bedroom door is closed. It's a no cat zone. And then the other two were in Tiana's room. Aurora and, uh, Eros. And here they come. Speak to the cats. This is Eros. He just loves to rub on things. Hi. Hi, Eros. Eros. Hey. They're the shy ones. Oh, yes, meow. They're our newest ones. Right behind Zoria, which she kind of hangs out with everybody. So there's the nine. We get to see all nine of them. Is it snack time? It's talking time, like always, right? Are you a talker? We've got this, uh, Tara picked up these collars. This is a calming collar. I don't know if it calmed her much. She likes it though. I took it off. Yeah. Yeah. She liked it. Took it off and just put it back on her. It's cute, right? It's cute. We don't need to know which one she is. Yeah. She knows. We know. Yeah. We know who you are. She's the one we need to brush fairly regularly because of her, of her matty hair. So here is Tara's knitting station. So she sits here. She's got everything all set up and she's got some snacks, some little chips up there, her phone, remote, and she's been knitting over the holidays. Everybody got socks this Christmas and hats. Socks and hats. She knitted. They got their hats. But socks, you gotta see the socks. So there's the box. Socks, which can be... So this is what she's knitted over the holidays. Oh, and there's a box underneath. This, this is just over the holidays. Look at this. She's a workhorse. Oh, they're so, oh, they're so cozy. You can just feel the heat difference. Oh, wool socks. Oh, they're so cozy. So yeah, they all got socks. And one lady on Facebook, she was like, they were, her daughter or their family is, uh, they're coming in and she skates. So she posted on Facebook about wanting, uh, leg warmers. You know, the good old-fashioned leg warmers from the, from the eighties. So I'm like, well, it's a pair of socks just without the end. So they came and picked up a pair of, uh, so socks can be either. Yeah. Leg warmers. You just don't close the ends. Yeah. Or if you get socks, you just snip the string at the end. Well, it's kind of like the hats and the neck warmer. Yeah. It's just, yeah. Yeah. Not closing off the top. Yeah. So, oh, so cozy. Yeah. So I'm making every color, every size so that we'll have them for people that come. And of course the boys, they're all extra large. Yeah. So now I have to make the biggest ones all over again, but yeah. So socks and yeah, those are all hats. Yeah. Yeah. So all the hats in there and all the different color blends. All right. So that's what Tara does over the holidays. That's what I do in the winter when I keep my brain going. Cause I'm not outside doing everything else. You just inside staying warm. All Coda wants when he meows is just to be held. Don't we all, so that is it for this video. Um, we've reached a 56,000, uh, followers on our channel now, and we love to hear from you. So, uh, put a comment down in the comment section. Uh, Tara goes, yeah, I love, love reading the stories about your animals and your situations, hugs to those that have gone through tough times. And I like, you know, I try to get every respond to everyone. So, uh, if I didn't, sorry, um, I try. Uh, so this is the last, uh, last blog of 2025. Uh, so the next one will be a new year and we're going to be, well, Tara is definitely going to be waiting for spring as the days start to get longer now. Are you want down Coda? All right. You're not allowed on the counter. Right. So, uh, until next video until next year, uh, we hope you enjoyed this video and we hope to see you again in the new year. So all the best to all of you from us here at the 10 acre woods and hope to see you next time. Take care. Bye.