What a week! I sat down to write this update on Sunday after chores and lunch, but I went to check on Bitsy who we knew was close to having puppies any day now…

…and there were three little puppies already born! Needless to say the rest of the day (and all night!) was dedicated to whelping and helping Bitsy learn to be a mom to TEN adorable puppies!

Here’s a photo of the first 8. Sadly, the 10th little girl was born with some of the internal organs on the outside of her tummy and didn’t make it. But the other 9 (7 girls and 2 boys!) are doing great and Bitsy is a good momma. Lots of video in my stories and more to come!

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Welcome, Crusier!

But the other big news this week, was we got a new horse at Five Marys! CRUSIER is literally a dream horse and we feel so lucky to have him. He’s a 6 year old quarterhorse. His color is registered as a Palamino, but he’s so beautifully creamy he may be called a Cremello.

He came to us from a very sweet IG follower who just knew he’d love ranch life and being loved on by the four little Marys. But she’s encouraging me to ride and “get back on the horse” so I’m excited to start riding more often and Cruiser is the perfect horse!

He arrived on Friday afternoon and stepped out of the trailer like a handsome prince. His mane and tail are SO gorgeous and he’s a really tall horse, 16’2′ hands – the tallest in our string! He is our 11th horse here on the ranch and we are making sure his transition is smooth by keeping him separate from the others while they get to know each other and establish a pecking order.

He came “body clipped” which means his coat is short (and so beautiful!) while our other ranch horses naturally grow in a thick winter coat in this climate. Cruiser came from a little warmer weather too, so we are keeping a blanket on him at night and he has his own little “stall” we rigged up to allow him to be on his own.

The girls especially loved seeing some of Cruiser’s “baby album” photos – he was such a beautiful, long-legged, little colt!

And this was his sire… what a looker, he’s gorgeous too! Cruiser turns 7 on April 27 so he still has some growing to do and will fill out even more. We can’t wait to watch him grow at Five Marys!

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What I’ve Been Cooking

I’ve been making some cozy dinners as we get through the last few weeks of cold winter weather around here….. this Braised Short Ribs recipe from my Five Marys Ranch Raised Cookbook was a hit all around! I made it with a simple polenta recipe and it was soooo good.

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Five Marys Burgerhouse

California dining regulations eased up this week and we are allowed to seat indoors again at limited capacity – we’ll take it! Our local customers and M5 friends who’ve come to Five Marys Burgerhouse over the past long months have been so kind to continue to support our restaurant and eaten out on the patio or gotten take-out. We installed some serious radiant heaters to make it comfortable outside, but there’s nothing like being able to serve our guests inside for the full Five Marys experience. Thanks to our staff and everyone who dines with us for their patience!

And the girls got to visit with one of their role-models, Alia, who helped us with our pig program last summer and is continuing her education at UC Davis now to become an Ag teacher! Tessa especially LOVES Alia and keeps in touch with her via letters and lots of texts. It was great to see her in person.

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Five Marys Custom Meat Co

We’ve made some progress this week! After waiting for the ground to dry out, we took advantage of the sunny weather to dig the footings and utility lines (wow this one is a COMPLICATED build!) and the concrete truck came in to start pouring. Not much to see yet but a big step towards seeing something start to happen here – and that much closer to opening our dream BUTCHERY facility! Hoping for a timeline of about 6 months to completion but we’ll see how things go.

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Around the Ranch

We are all anxious for spring…. for the grass to start growing well and warmer days for us all. But still appreciating this transition time when we are feeding our cattle and sheep twice a day and get to drive that feed truck and see them all come running. Soon we will transition to irrigation as the priority as we grow that grass to let the pastures feed our livestock for us.

We are also working on a project to improve our irrigation pivots and installing “LEPA drops” so that we have less evaporation and more saturation to save water and grow pasture grasses more efficiently. It’s always nice to find ways to use technology to improve what we do… and usually worth the investment!

And speaking of technology 🙂 Brian has been working for years on a gate design that will allow our big irrigation pivot towers (those double wheels you see in the background) to travel through fences that we use to rotationally graze our cattle and sheep, without letting the livestock out! It’s been a CHALLENGE – but this design is working so well!

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Family Fun

The girls had some friends over this weekend to ride in the arena – it’s fun to have a place for kids to come learn “the ropes” and ride together outside. We enjoyed some sunny weather Friday and Saturday before another storm blew in Sunday afternoon.

And ALL of the girls tried on my wedding dress!! Oh my goodness, it was so fun to see them in it. Francie asked on Friday night if she could try it on and my first response was “someday” – but then I thought twice and knew what MY MOM would have said, “go for it!” so I let them haul it out and try it on. It was a hoot for Brian and I to see. They are certainly growing up fast!

The girls have also been starting to sleep OUTSIDE despite the freezing cold temps overnight. They love sleeping outside in spring and summer and have an on-going competition with the neighbor kids about who sleeps more sleeps outside. They ALL slept outside in the baby barn last night to keep Bitsy company and take turns checking on her, but they claim that doesn’t count since it was “inside” a barn 🙂

JJ has been target practicing…. on her math fractions homework page 🙂

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Thanks for checking in with us on the Weekly Update – we appreciate your support and for being a part of our Five Marys family!