The New Look!
Jen has my blog installed onto the site now and has been suffering through teaching lessons. Those of you who know me will understand what this means and your heart will go out to the girl. Poor thing. I doubt she'll ever utter the words, "Of course you can do that! I'll teach you." to anyone again. Can't say I blame her. What would take someone ten minutes to learn and then about a half hour to update takes me nearly a week's time. Well it's not all my fault. I'm pulled away to the kitchen, children, and animals so many times a day I wish "getting up and down from the computer chair" was an Olympic sport. I'd win the gold, hands down, every year. At any rate. I think the final practicing skill will be the soap page where I will upload pics into the catalog and then hook Mals up. If the lights go out tomorrow in your town, you'll know I've done something wrong. I do love the design of the site and am very pleased with Jen's work. My only complaint (and it has NOTHING to do with her) is that I've been quite spoiled by MT blogs and using blogger sometimes isn't fun. However, in the interest of fairplay to blogger I will learn as much as I can at the risk of annoying everyone I know and determine at a future date if I should keep using it. Jen did plug in blogrolling for me so I can 1-click add links, but here again, I'm so spoiled I'm used to having choices on that and many different sections in the sidebar for different subject. I want it all!
Today I spent the early afternoon building a nursery for the baby chicks in the coop. The stocktank we were using has always worked quite well for us until they sport their feathers and can roam the coop. But we've usually purchased just 15 or so chicks. Twenty-five of the little ones quickly becoming not-so-little-ones in that tank just wasn't going to cut it. Not having the energy or the knowledge or even the inclination to get out the man-tools, I simply used hay bales. Yup, stacked those little suckers two high, run a length of them in the draft-free zone corner of the big coop, installed their food and water, and set the little ones loose. I think it will work fine as the hay walls are too high for them to get over right now and that way the coop door can remain open during the day while the teenager hens are out impressing Rooster and cleaning up our weed patches.
Ed's working on a second stall area in the barn to separate out the goats. The meat goats just hog all the food (they are so rude about it!) from the little ones. As soon as that stall is done he'll run a new fence cutting the large pasture into two pens and they'll all be happier, I think. I know I'll be happier as the feeding chores won't be quite so dramatic.
I need to check the calendar because I marked Moo's season last time and I think she'll be coming in again next week. If that's the case, we need to get her over to the vet's for the insemination. This will be very interesting!
I'm going to practice with the site again tomorrow and as soon as I get the hang of that, I should have more free time to blog and get pics up. :)
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Slowing down...........................
Have you ever been involved in a project that simply consumed every minute of the day and every fiber of your being? Other than labor and my family life, which is just how one simply lives, I never have. Until last fall. Maybe I'm ready to talk about what all I've been through. Maybe it's finally coming out of me like a slowly errupting volcano. I'm not really sure but I do know I've spent an entire day reflecting....... and that is good. One needs to do that every now and then.
The days of working 18 hours, driving two hours, rushing through a salad for lunch and skipping my other meals, and then achingly wishing there were actually more hours in the day to get more accomplished are over. I will never give that up to someone, or something, else. When you believe you're doing the right thing and doing a good thing for your family you can push your body to it's absolute limit and manage to get amazing amounts of tasks completed. When you realize that a year has passed and you wake up from a nightmare, you spend several weeks decompressing. I really thought I was ok. I was handling it fine. I had a week of vacation and worked like I was used to working, never sitting down for nearly 12 hours each day. But that was farm work, good work. I told myself it felt good and was right. Today though, I broke down.
I was outside and the feelings came on so strong I thought I was going to have a panic attack right there next to the chicken coop. My breathing went crazy, I was dizzy, and the overwelming guilt! I realized I hadn't done anything today. No, I mean I really hadn't done anything. It was nearly 6:00pm and I was still in my nightgown for pity's sake! I started shaking and literally began compiling mental lists of things I could get done before midnight tonight in order to not waste this beautiful day. And then it hit me. I took in a deep breath and hollered out. OK, that really freaked the goats out and even the dog took off. But I just let it all come out and released the guilt, anger, frustration, stress, and all the other emotions. And I let them go. I calmed my breathing down and I began going over my day. You know what? I made more money today in less time than I do in five at Wal-Mart. I made a huge batch of pancakes for the kids, made the roast for tomorrow, made lunch and dinner for my family, cleaned the kitchen twice, answered emails from several friends, figured the checkbook, bathed filthy children, and did laundry. I also napped. Most importantly, I taught Vincent where a weed grows that the goats love and will be his best friend if he brings it to them. I held each one of the new chicks and looked them over, letting them peck at my palm. I watched the cow have an argument with the rooster over her watering tank (Moo won, although the rooster maintained his dignity by crowing repeatedly as he slowly walked away). I listened to the boys squeal when they discovered hidden chocolate chips in their pancakes. And I was home.
Have you ever been involved in a project that simply consumed every minute of the day and every fiber of your being? Other than labor and my family life, which is just how one simply lives, I never have. Until last fall. Maybe I'm ready to talk about what all I've been through. Maybe it's finally coming out of me like a slowly errupting volcano. I'm not really sure but I do know I've spent an entire day reflecting....... and that is good. One needs to do that every now and then.
The days of working 18 hours, driving two hours, rushing through a salad for lunch and skipping my other meals, and then achingly wishing there were actually more hours in the day to get more accomplished are over. I will never give that up to someone, or something, else. When you believe you're doing the right thing and doing a good thing for your family you can push your body to it's absolute limit and manage to get amazing amounts of tasks completed. When you realize that a year has passed and you wake up from a nightmare, you spend several weeks decompressing. I really thought I was ok. I was handling it fine. I had a week of vacation and worked like I was used to working, never sitting down for nearly 12 hours each day. But that was farm work, good work. I told myself it felt good and was right. Today though, I broke down.
I was outside and the feelings came on so strong I thought I was going to have a panic attack right there next to the chicken coop. My breathing went crazy, I was dizzy, and the overwelming guilt! I realized I hadn't done anything today. No, I mean I really hadn't done anything. It was nearly 6:00pm and I was still in my nightgown for pity's sake! I started shaking and literally began compiling mental lists of things I could get done before midnight tonight in order to not waste this beautiful day. And then it hit me. I took in a deep breath and hollered out. OK, that really freaked the goats out and even the dog took off. But I just let it all come out and released the guilt, anger, frustration, stress, and all the other emotions. And I let them go. I calmed my breathing down and I began going over my day. You know what? I made more money today in less time than I do in five at Wal-Mart. I made a huge batch of pancakes for the kids, made the roast for tomorrow, made lunch and dinner for my family, cleaned the kitchen twice, answered emails from several friends, figured the checkbook, bathed filthy children, and did laundry. I also napped. Most importantly, I taught Vincent where a weed grows that the goats love and will be his best friend if he brings it to them. I held each one of the new chicks and looked them over, letting them peck at my palm. I watched the cow have an argument with the rooster over her watering tank (Moo won, although the rooster maintained his dignity by crowing repeatedly as he slowly walked away). I listened to the boys squeal when they discovered hidden chocolate chips in their pancakes. And I was home.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Nothing like mothering 25 new little babies!
Our chicks arrived from the Hatchery and are doing well. We always put the babies in a large stock tank covered with a screen to keep the cats out until they're old enough to go in the big coop. The people at the post office said they'd been chirping all morning and were just dying to finally get a good look at them so I opened the box for them. Then the customers all came around the corner and the kids outside. It was just too funny!
I'm going to try and take some pictures today of the farm, I need them for the new site anyway but it's been so long since I've gotten the camera out that I'm not even sure I remember how to work the thing and I'm quite confident I don't remember how to insert pics into this blog! LOL I'll be asking for help I'm sure.
I have the weekend off at work but will need to get the new phone installed to start my other job. I've become an agent for LiveOps and will be answering the phone calls on infommercials! How funny is that?
Our chicks arrived from the Hatchery and are doing well. We always put the babies in a large stock tank covered with a screen to keep the cats out until they're old enough to go in the big coop. The people at the post office said they'd been chirping all morning and were just dying to finally get a good look at them so I opened the box for them. Then the customers all came around the corner and the kids outside. It was just too funny!
I'm going to try and take some pictures today of the farm, I need them for the new site anyway but it's been so long since I've gotten the camera out that I'm not even sure I remember how to work the thing and I'm quite confident I don't remember how to insert pics into this blog! LOL I'll be asking for help I'm sure.
I have the weekend off at work but will need to get the new phone installed to start my other job. I've become an agent for LiveOps and will be answering the phone calls on infommercials! How funny is that?
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Hard day's work
Well there's a hard day's work finished on the farm! Lessee..... my chores for the day --
Made breakfast for the kids and cleaned up the kitchen. Started pasta salad for dinner tonight.
Fed and played with all the critters.
Cleaned out the van from hauling goats (yes, you read that right)
Ran into town for milk and sugar, dropped kids at swim lessons on the way back.
Arranged a delivery of hay. Unloaded said hay.
Set up the chick nursery for when the chicks arrive this week from the Hatchery.
Made a chocolate cream pie for dessert.
Figured the checkbook and bills.
Worked with the site designer on the new site for a while.
Cleaned the bathroom and swept the upstairs.
Whew! I'm done! And I still have to work tonight from 5-11pm. I think I'll take a nap for a while and enjoy the air conditioning.
Oh, the goats! Yes, I have learned that you can fit three full-sized meat goats in our van when you remove the last seat and, as I expected and tried to convince the seller, they do just fine. As soon as the van starts moving they just lay down. They traveled this way with Vincent and I for over an hour back to the farm without incident other than trying to nibble on Vincent's head which he, in fact, seemed to enjoy. The buck even squeezed his way up between the middle seat and driver's seat and I petted him most of the way. So the problem isn't the transporting of the goats. No, not at all. The problem is this. Upon arrival back at the farm I realized Ed would be home from work in about 15 minutes - just enough time for me to wash a sinkful of dishes and straighten the kitchen. I parked the van in the shade, made sure they had a nice breeze coming through the van, and instructed the goats to behave during this short time. Apparently goats do not listen to instructions well. I did not know this.
In less than 15 minutes time they had climbed all over all the seats of the van and pooped. Yes, neatly on the little rubber mat in the back, but also, well, EVERYWHERE. It was all over the dashboard, carpet, seats, everywhere and of course they were walking through it smashing it in. Oh no, it was so not pretty.
What did I learn from all this? Well, vinegar cuts the smell of goat poop pretty well. Hotshot carpet cleaner works very well on van seats. Unload all animals immediately upon arrival at the barn. Goats don't listen well. Very educational if I do say so myself!
Well there's a hard day's work finished on the farm! Lessee..... my chores for the day --
Made breakfast for the kids and cleaned up the kitchen. Started pasta salad for dinner tonight.
Fed and played with all the critters.
Cleaned out the van from hauling goats (yes, you read that right)
Ran into town for milk and sugar, dropped kids at swim lessons on the way back.
Arranged a delivery of hay. Unloaded said hay.
Set up the chick nursery for when the chicks arrive this week from the Hatchery.
Made a chocolate cream pie for dessert.
Figured the checkbook and bills.
Worked with the site designer on the new site for a while.
Cleaned the bathroom and swept the upstairs.
Whew! I'm done! And I still have to work tonight from 5-11pm. I think I'll take a nap for a while and enjoy the air conditioning.
Oh, the goats! Yes, I have learned that you can fit three full-sized meat goats in our van when you remove the last seat and, as I expected and tried to convince the seller, they do just fine. As soon as the van starts moving they just lay down. They traveled this way with Vincent and I for over an hour back to the farm without incident other than trying to nibble on Vincent's head which he, in fact, seemed to enjoy. The buck even squeezed his way up between the middle seat and driver's seat and I petted him most of the way. So the problem isn't the transporting of the goats. No, not at all. The problem is this. Upon arrival back at the farm I realized Ed would be home from work in about 15 minutes - just enough time for me to wash a sinkful of dishes and straighten the kitchen. I parked the van in the shade, made sure they had a nice breeze coming through the van, and instructed the goats to behave during this short time. Apparently goats do not listen to instructions well. I did not know this.
In less than 15 minutes time they had climbed all over all the seats of the van and pooped. Yes, neatly on the little rubber mat in the back, but also, well, EVERYWHERE. It was all over the dashboard, carpet, seats, everywhere and of course they were walking through it smashing it in. Oh no, it was so not pretty.
What did I learn from all this? Well, vinegar cuts the smell of goat poop pretty well. Hotshot carpet cleaner works very well on van seats. Unload all animals immediately upon arrival at the barn. Goats don't listen well. Very educational if I do say so myself!
Monday, July 17, 2006
Here Goes
Well I'm able to spend more time online now that I've stepped down as a Manager and am part-time only. Now that I'm home during the day I've taken charge of feeding all the animals and seeing to their daily needs. Our goat herd is growing and the little pygmy ones are so cute to watch! Carmel is the dainty little doe and she's really warming up to me, crawling all over me just like Spot. We have nubians, pygmys, and the meat goats so far. I believe the meat goat does are pregnant and will kid sometime in late fall so it's a good thing we decided to turn the barn into Goat Central rather than save it for cattle or horses. That way, the ladies will have their own stalls to birth in. We will have some excitement in the next few weeks when we take the cow down for her A.I. session. I wonder if she'll care that we didn't splurge on the $150/semen straw bull but instead went with the stock $16.00 stuff.
We ordered 25 more chickens from McMurray Hatchery last week and they're being shipped today - should arrive by the end of the week. My friend Phoebe at www.goturgoat.com ordered the same mix as we did (brown layers) and we're both excited to get them. Phoebe is the lady we purchased our pygmy's from and she's just the most helpful person ever! Anyway, the chicken coop will need to be expanded soon to accomodate nearly 40 hens - although I think we have a rooster or two in the mist now - and I'll need to make several more laying nests. So by Christmas we should be inundated with eggs, soaps, kids (of the goat persuasion), horses boarded in the pasture, and I'm sure another round of kittens. Isn't it some kind of law that you must have kittens on farms? Obviously it is and we're obeying it tenfold.
Tonight's my first night back at work after vacationing last week so I must go get the house and dinner in order and get ready. Looking forward to getting our site up in the next few weeks. We're using Jen at www.fourlittleducks.com and she seems fabulous! Thanks Rhonda. :)
Well I'm able to spend more time online now that I've stepped down as a Manager and am part-time only. Now that I'm home during the day I've taken charge of feeding all the animals and seeing to their daily needs. Our goat herd is growing and the little pygmy ones are so cute to watch! Carmel is the dainty little doe and she's really warming up to me, crawling all over me just like Spot. We have nubians, pygmys, and the meat goats so far. I believe the meat goat does are pregnant and will kid sometime in late fall so it's a good thing we decided to turn the barn into Goat Central rather than save it for cattle or horses. That way, the ladies will have their own stalls to birth in. We will have some excitement in the next few weeks when we take the cow down for her A.I. session. I wonder if she'll care that we didn't splurge on the $150/semen straw bull but instead went with the stock $16.00 stuff.
We ordered 25 more chickens from McMurray Hatchery last week and they're being shipped today - should arrive by the end of the week. My friend Phoebe at www.goturgoat.com ordered the same mix as we did (brown layers) and we're both excited to get them. Phoebe is the lady we purchased our pygmy's from and she's just the most helpful person ever! Anyway, the chicken coop will need to be expanded soon to accomodate nearly 40 hens - although I think we have a rooster or two in the mist now - and I'll need to make several more laying nests. So by Christmas we should be inundated with eggs, soaps, kids (of the goat persuasion), horses boarded in the pasture, and I'm sure another round of kittens. Isn't it some kind of law that you must have kittens on farms? Obviously it is and we're obeying it tenfold.
Tonight's my first night back at work after vacationing last week so I must go get the house and dinner in order and get ready. Looking forward to getting our site up in the next few weeks. We're using Jen at www.fourlittleducks.com and she seems fabulous! Thanks Rhonda. :)
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