Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Is my closet mine?
My closet has this funny tendancy of being full. Mostly of temporary items that need hid. With birthdays at the end of Feb (2), middle of may, end of June, middle of July, beginning of Aug (4) it seems like there's always birthday presents in it. If not birthday then there's Easter Baskets and Christmas present. So basically my closet is filled with gifts from beginning of Dec all the way through to Sept. Sometimes when I'm attempting to find my clothes I wish that my closet had a built in present hiding space. Anyone else have this problem?
Monday, March 25, 2013
The farm now
Ive decided that when I dont update for months my posts just run together as I try to tell everything and I dont end up telling much of anything. So...Im going to try and slow own and get more detailed.
Two subjects today.
First one is goats, all these years I have worried and worried about having an older, reliable goat in milk before the yearlings kidded. This last year I sold almost all my reliable ones and my most reliable goat had to be put down. I've never had an issue so I shrugged and let the buck do what he will. The joke is apparently on me because for the last week I have been scrambling to find milk and to keep babies fed.
Last year I purchased a doe out of Oregon sight unseen (always gets you in trouble) based on her mothers pictures and hers (I tried to pick good). This year, she kidded as a yearling with triplets. Normally when they kid as yearlings we get some milk and one kid. No problem. She has a beautiful udder that I'm sure will expand better with time and maturity. For now we are up to 3 cups/2 times a day. The kids (all three together) are eating 4 times a day and consuming 3-4 cups in a feeding. Hmmmm...
My dad was nice enough to run up from cheyenne with 4 gal of milk from an old friend down there. I also contacted the person who purchased most of my does last year and asked if she had any extra. She was nice enough to send a gallon and a half from her house. So the kids were born on tuesday and today is monday and we had 5 1/2 gallons. We are down to 3. Yesterday my other yearling kidded with a single and I grinned! I think its the only time I've ever been grateful for JUST a single. This yearling is the grandkid of my doe that gave 2 1/2 gal/day. I hope she climbs in production quickly! Last night she gave 4 cups of colostrum (which I will be feeding her doeling with today). This morning we got very little but this mom for some reason has anxiety issues being in the barn so that isnt surprising. That is also the reason behind me taking her doeling away so quickly. It's too cold for the baby outside (11 F) but mom is so stressed in the barn she wont produce. I'm hoping that her milk will come in and that she will be able to make up the difference in the milk needed. I'm also hoping that the last 3 gallons holds out long enough for that to happen.
Second subject for the day is bread! I started an amish friendship bread starter awhile ago and it was finally ready this last week. I found an old recipe I got from a friend and we tried it.
Amish friendship Bread
1 cup starter
2/3 cup coconut oil (I used Olive)
3 eggs
1 C rye flour
1 C buckwheat flour (this helped, I have tons of this from when I was eating more gluten free)
1/2 C maple syrup
1/4 C mild honey
1t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 t vanilla
Preheat to 350 Grease 2 pans , add flours last. Bake 45-50 min
I loved the recipe! It is super delicious. The loaves werent very think though and the next time I make it I am going to try making one loaf instead of two with the recipe. Hopefully it will come out. I also love that this has no processed sugars in it! Super good for you. I know though that this isn't the friendship bread recipe that I grew up with so it got me thinking. Anyone else out there want to share recipes that I could try with my starter?
Two subjects today.
First one is goats, all these years I have worried and worried about having an older, reliable goat in milk before the yearlings kidded. This last year I sold almost all my reliable ones and my most reliable goat had to be put down. I've never had an issue so I shrugged and let the buck do what he will. The joke is apparently on me because for the last week I have been scrambling to find milk and to keep babies fed.
Last year I purchased a doe out of Oregon sight unseen (always gets you in trouble) based on her mothers pictures and hers (I tried to pick good). This year, she kidded as a yearling with triplets. Normally when they kid as yearlings we get some milk and one kid. No problem. She has a beautiful udder that I'm sure will expand better with time and maturity. For now we are up to 3 cups/2 times a day. The kids (all three together) are eating 4 times a day and consuming 3-4 cups in a feeding. Hmmmm...
My dad was nice enough to run up from cheyenne with 4 gal of milk from an old friend down there. I also contacted the person who purchased most of my does last year and asked if she had any extra. She was nice enough to send a gallon and a half from her house. So the kids were born on tuesday and today is monday and we had 5 1/2 gallons. We are down to 3. Yesterday my other yearling kidded with a single and I grinned! I think its the only time I've ever been grateful for JUST a single. This yearling is the grandkid of my doe that gave 2 1/2 gal/day. I hope she climbs in production quickly! Last night she gave 4 cups of colostrum (which I will be feeding her doeling with today). This morning we got very little but this mom for some reason has anxiety issues being in the barn so that isnt surprising. That is also the reason behind me taking her doeling away so quickly. It's too cold for the baby outside (11 F) but mom is so stressed in the barn she wont produce. I'm hoping that her milk will come in and that she will be able to make up the difference in the milk needed. I'm also hoping that the last 3 gallons holds out long enough for that to happen.
Second subject for the day is bread! I started an amish friendship bread starter awhile ago and it was finally ready this last week. I found an old recipe I got from a friend and we tried it.
Amish friendship Bread
1 cup starter
2/3 cup coconut oil (I used Olive)
3 eggs
1 C rye flour
1 C buckwheat flour (this helped, I have tons of this from when I was eating more gluten free)
1/2 C maple syrup
1/4 C mild honey
1t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 t vanilla
Preheat to 350 Grease 2 pans , add flours last. Bake 45-50 min
I loved the recipe! It is super delicious. The loaves werent very think though and the next time I make it I am going to try making one loaf instead of two with the recipe. Hopefully it will come out. I also love that this has no processed sugars in it! Super good for you. I know though that this isn't the friendship bread recipe that I grew up with so it got me thinking. Anyone else out there want to share recipes that I could try with my starter?
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Time is fleeting!
Never enough time to do anything. I love writing here and love reading the comments and the updates that I have made throughout the time but it seems like I'm so short on time I don't have time to write here. A lot has happened in the last year. To make a long story short we found out that the county here lied unknowingly and we do need a USDA liscense to have a petting zoo. After looking into the strenuous requirements we decided that the petting zoo would not make enough money to pay back what would have to go into it in our area. We shut the zoo down. People are still welcome to come visit the animals by appointment but we no longer haul them to town or do official parties here so people seldom come. The loss of the petting zoo came at a time when some hard descisions were having to be made anyways. In june I took a tumble off my 18+ hand Belgian when he spooked. It resulted in most of the night in the hospital being treated for a concussion. To this day I remember making strawberry jam and then being in the hospital about 11 pm at night. Everything between there is missing. The good news was that since I didn't even remember being on my horse I was not afraid of him. The bad news is that it resulted in me being laid up for a few weeks while I recovered. In the light of the situation I was able to see that I had been running myself ragged trying to keep up with everything in my families life and still take care of the animals properly. Also, that I was doing a poor job of it. We also looked at the fact that Wyoming has had an exceptionally dry year and there is very little feed to be found for the animals and what there is is high cost. Some compromises had to be made. We sold or found homes for: all three rabbits, 3 guinea pigs, two of the four dogs at the time (they had other reasons for leaving though, mostly aggresion issues), the ferrets, chinchillas, dwarf hamsters, about 10 goats (reducing our herd down to bare minimum for milk production), all of the turkeys that weren't slated for the table, and 40+ chickens, and effectively cleaning house on the petting zoo and farm.
That left us with a grand total of: my horse, my daughters mini donkey, the standard donkey (the donkeys get super stressed if they are apart), our two older dogs, our three cats, my yearling doe and 3 doelings, two nigerian dwarf pet goats, one buck, two guinea pigs, 6 geese, 10 ducks, and 6 chickens. Still a handful all by themselves! Since then more decisions have been made. My horse was sold to a local gal here with visitation rights. Unfortunately as much as I adore him it came down to the fact that I can feed 6 full grown goats the same amount that he eats in a month. With hay running close to $280 a ton here and him working his way through a ton every 3 weeks it was unavoidable. 5 of the 10 ducks are slated to leave as well as 3 geese since we also had 3 new babies (bringing us up to 9). The standard donkey will be sold after the mini dies (the mini is 31 years old) since we dont seem to be using her much anymore and she would be heartbroken without a companion anyways. The goats kids this year will all be sold with the exception of 1-2 who promise to be great milkers. Unfortunately we aren't getting any snow this year and currently are looking at another severe drought year, we have to keep our numbers down. The nigerian dwarfs may not last long as they keep trying to bloat. I can feed them practically nothing and they blow up like balloons! I keep expecting to walk out one day and find them gone.
Provisions have been taken for the remaining animals. We have plenty of hay this year as we had purchased enough originally for my horse to eat a ton every month (with him consuming it in 3 weeks we would have ran out) until april. We suspect though that next year will be another story. Fortunately goats are browsers and there are some pest/weed brushes and trees needing taken down around the ranch. If it comes to it we can cut a days supply and haul it in to them to have them survive next year. We severely hope it doesn't come to that but as long as we keep our numbers down we should be able to have them survive till better times (there would be no babies next year in this case). Thankfully we finished the feed shed just in time. We bought several totes (almost a ton) of alfalfa pellets in may before prices jumped with the drought. The last tote is expected to run out in Feb. We are hoping to buy more at that time as we can put the pellets into a feeder and the goats take just what they need of the higher protein. When we were supplying alfalfa hay the goats were wasting 1/4th of it so in the long run this is cheaper. We also bought a tote of oats from the feed store on discount since it had sat there so long. I normally feed my goats Klassie goat mix. With the higher prices I will have to turn to mixing it with the oats and leftover horse feed.
The chickens we found a place in Casper that allowed us to purchase bulk chicken feed by the ton at just pennies per pound over cost. Unfortunately that place no longer sells feed now. We, however, have about a 2 year supply for our birds now if we keep the numbers down. We switched from khaki cambells to muscovies this year and the 5 leaving are the last of the khakis. We discovered that we don't use the duck eggs as much as we had thought we would. The muscovies are great foragers as are the geese and I've enjoyed watching them finding things to eat on their own.
The dogs and cats have been a slightly different story. My husbands dog is allergic that she has to be on an expensive food anyways. We really haven't noticed a difference in hers. The cats are another story. What used to cost us $7 is now costing $14! It's a good thing there aren't many cats to feed. We've also taken to feeding them in the morning just what they will eat by nightfall. We don't need to be feeding extra pests (skunks, coons).
mmm I really hadn't intended for this post to be so dreary but I guess it is what it is. The ranch sold all of the older cows this fall (about 30 head, they normally dont sell more than about 6) and if things dont improve will have to sell more this year. They have hay to reach until April, then there had better be grass...
We aren't the only ranch looking at that in this area and I think that if the cows have to leave it will flood the beef market and drive the prices down, creating more of a problem. I had problems selling the goats I did sell this summer and took big losses on all of them. My horse went for a $500 donation that the family was willing to volunteer to give us. Last year he was worth $3000, and this year it took me 9 months to "give" him away. I miss him terribly. I look out in his pasture and can see him running and kicking up his heels. He liked to play with sticks too, picking them up in his mouth and tossing them in the air. I didn't get to ride a lot but I spent lots of time out just talking to him and scratching him. I know he has a great home now too but it still makes me sad and I wish we could have given him what he needed here.
On the upside, the extra time that I was no longer having to spend with the extra cleaning duties has allowed me to spend improving conditions for the current animals. We completed our buck pen and two other pens as well. Our buck now lives in a spacious 32X16 foot run across from the barn and the does have a winter pen right next to him. They both have makeshift shelters that will work temporarily this year. The buck will get the roof on his next year but has a good windbreak and can go into the barn if it is too horrible. The girls I moved a portable 4X8 hut into their pen for the year. Next summer we will be completing the 3rd pen (the kidding pen/kid pen) and the houses for the does and it. They will share a solid middle wall for the houses to make construction easier and will each have a generous 8X8 hut with roof and 3 sides. For now there is a cattle panel against that side of the pen. This summer we will buy and install the gates as we finish the house. The horse pasture is receiving a much needed rest as the donkeys reside in the goats pasture for the winter.
I'm headed out now, hopefully my next post wont be so long and dull and I will tell you all the fun things I've been doing like applesauce and juicing and peeling four cases of lemons! lol
That left us with a grand total of: my horse, my daughters mini donkey, the standard donkey (the donkeys get super stressed if they are apart), our two older dogs, our three cats, my yearling doe and 3 doelings, two nigerian dwarf pet goats, one buck, two guinea pigs, 6 geese, 10 ducks, and 6 chickens. Still a handful all by themselves! Since then more decisions have been made. My horse was sold to a local gal here with visitation rights. Unfortunately as much as I adore him it came down to the fact that I can feed 6 full grown goats the same amount that he eats in a month. With hay running close to $280 a ton here and him working his way through a ton every 3 weeks it was unavoidable. 5 of the 10 ducks are slated to leave as well as 3 geese since we also had 3 new babies (bringing us up to 9). The standard donkey will be sold after the mini dies (the mini is 31 years old) since we dont seem to be using her much anymore and she would be heartbroken without a companion anyways. The goats kids this year will all be sold with the exception of 1-2 who promise to be great milkers. Unfortunately we aren't getting any snow this year and currently are looking at another severe drought year, we have to keep our numbers down. The nigerian dwarfs may not last long as they keep trying to bloat. I can feed them practically nothing and they blow up like balloons! I keep expecting to walk out one day and find them gone.
Provisions have been taken for the remaining animals. We have plenty of hay this year as we had purchased enough originally for my horse to eat a ton every month (with him consuming it in 3 weeks we would have ran out) until april. We suspect though that next year will be another story. Fortunately goats are browsers and there are some pest/weed brushes and trees needing taken down around the ranch. If it comes to it we can cut a days supply and haul it in to them to have them survive next year. We severely hope it doesn't come to that but as long as we keep our numbers down we should be able to have them survive till better times (there would be no babies next year in this case). Thankfully we finished the feed shed just in time. We bought several totes (almost a ton) of alfalfa pellets in may before prices jumped with the drought. The last tote is expected to run out in Feb. We are hoping to buy more at that time as we can put the pellets into a feeder and the goats take just what they need of the higher protein. When we were supplying alfalfa hay the goats were wasting 1/4th of it so in the long run this is cheaper. We also bought a tote of oats from the feed store on discount since it had sat there so long. I normally feed my goats Klassie goat mix. With the higher prices I will have to turn to mixing it with the oats and leftover horse feed.
The chickens we found a place in Casper that allowed us to purchase bulk chicken feed by the ton at just pennies per pound over cost. Unfortunately that place no longer sells feed now. We, however, have about a 2 year supply for our birds now if we keep the numbers down. We switched from khaki cambells to muscovies this year and the 5 leaving are the last of the khakis. We discovered that we don't use the duck eggs as much as we had thought we would. The muscovies are great foragers as are the geese and I've enjoyed watching them finding things to eat on their own.
The dogs and cats have been a slightly different story. My husbands dog is allergic that she has to be on an expensive food anyways. We really haven't noticed a difference in hers. The cats are another story. What used to cost us $7 is now costing $14! It's a good thing there aren't many cats to feed. We've also taken to feeding them in the morning just what they will eat by nightfall. We don't need to be feeding extra pests (skunks, coons).
mmm I really hadn't intended for this post to be so dreary but I guess it is what it is. The ranch sold all of the older cows this fall (about 30 head, they normally dont sell more than about 6) and if things dont improve will have to sell more this year. They have hay to reach until April, then there had better be grass...
We aren't the only ranch looking at that in this area and I think that if the cows have to leave it will flood the beef market and drive the prices down, creating more of a problem. I had problems selling the goats I did sell this summer and took big losses on all of them. My horse went for a $500 donation that the family was willing to volunteer to give us. Last year he was worth $3000, and this year it took me 9 months to "give" him away. I miss him terribly. I look out in his pasture and can see him running and kicking up his heels. He liked to play with sticks too, picking them up in his mouth and tossing them in the air. I didn't get to ride a lot but I spent lots of time out just talking to him and scratching him. I know he has a great home now too but it still makes me sad and I wish we could have given him what he needed here.
On the upside, the extra time that I was no longer having to spend with the extra cleaning duties has allowed me to spend improving conditions for the current animals. We completed our buck pen and two other pens as well. Our buck now lives in a spacious 32X16 foot run across from the barn and the does have a winter pen right next to him. They both have makeshift shelters that will work temporarily this year. The buck will get the roof on his next year but has a good windbreak and can go into the barn if it is too horrible. The girls I moved a portable 4X8 hut into their pen for the year. Next summer we will be completing the 3rd pen (the kidding pen/kid pen) and the houses for the does and it. They will share a solid middle wall for the houses to make construction easier and will each have a generous 8X8 hut with roof and 3 sides. For now there is a cattle panel against that side of the pen. This summer we will buy and install the gates as we finish the house. The horse pasture is receiving a much needed rest as the donkeys reside in the goats pasture for the winter.
I'm headed out now, hopefully my next post wont be so long and dull and I will tell you all the fun things I've been doing like applesauce and juicing and peeling four cases of lemons! lol
Monday, January 9, 2012
Petting zoo
In July we started our own petting zoo, it's been interesting to say the least. Things I never knew I was supposed to do with the farm I'm now finding I have to do with the zoo. For example: apparently I was supposed to be registered with the department of employment even though I have no employees...??? What sense does that make?
Anyways I found this out because we are hoping to take on volunteers through www.wwoof.org. We dont want to accept volunteers though if it would create legal hassles for us so we called our insurance company for the zoo and they told us to contact workers comp. After registering we have to wait now for them to send us a packet of information. I don't want to wait! :)I want to know NOW if we can have volunteers or not.
This last year has been amazing to say the least. Due to circumstances outside our control our income doubled for the year. Leaving us money to pay all our debts, buy some petting zoo equipment and start that up, and we also bought a greenhouse. I'm not talking a little greenhouse, I'm talking 50 feet by about 20, dream come true greenhouse!
I am hoping to take on volunteers to help with several things. Both of the girls are at an age now where they fight constantly, leading to mommy having to supervise more. I'm finding it harder and harder to find the time to get out and take care of all the animals the way they should be cared for. Lots of basic care things have started to get done when they have to be done not when they should be done. Vaccinations, wormings, hoof trimmings, barn cleanings etc. So we are hoping for volunteers who would want to do daily care with and for the animals. We also have some new animals that we purchased this last year that need some training, love, grooming, etc. Then of course there's the greenhouse, I'd love to find a volunteer that wanted to work with the plants and plant, weed, build some basic planting boxes, etc.
Most of this is stuff I adore doing and simply don't have time for anymore. I've been spending any free time I have promoting and starting the petting zoo, building better housing and conditions for the animals, and doing what I can when I can. And of course answering random business questions.
I just got a phone call from a gentleman that purchased rabbits from us last year and wanted to know if we had any cages for sale. Ummmmm...until this moment no...but....that one could go....that one could...and so on... lol
So it looks like I get to go dress my children and get them ready to go outside for a bit so that I can sell some cages. For the last few years I've been aquiring any cages from anywhere I can find. Often for little to no money. But now I have all these cages and no time to fix them. Might as well make a small profit on them and pass them onto someone who needs them. One less thing for me to clean up around here.
The new website for the zoo and farm is www.bakersacreswy.com and I'm hoping it will stay there. We are having problems editing it though so I'm looking for a new host.
Anyways I found this out because we are hoping to take on volunteers through www.wwoof.org. We dont want to accept volunteers though if it would create legal hassles for us so we called our insurance company for the zoo and they told us to contact workers comp. After registering we have to wait now for them to send us a packet of information. I don't want to wait! :)I want to know NOW if we can have volunteers or not.
This last year has been amazing to say the least. Due to circumstances outside our control our income doubled for the year. Leaving us money to pay all our debts, buy some petting zoo equipment and start that up, and we also bought a greenhouse. I'm not talking a little greenhouse, I'm talking 50 feet by about 20, dream come true greenhouse!
I am hoping to take on volunteers to help with several things. Both of the girls are at an age now where they fight constantly, leading to mommy having to supervise more. I'm finding it harder and harder to find the time to get out and take care of all the animals the way they should be cared for. Lots of basic care things have started to get done when they have to be done not when they should be done. Vaccinations, wormings, hoof trimmings, barn cleanings etc. So we are hoping for volunteers who would want to do daily care with and for the animals. We also have some new animals that we purchased this last year that need some training, love, grooming, etc. Then of course there's the greenhouse, I'd love to find a volunteer that wanted to work with the plants and plant, weed, build some basic planting boxes, etc.
Most of this is stuff I adore doing and simply don't have time for anymore. I've been spending any free time I have promoting and starting the petting zoo, building better housing and conditions for the animals, and doing what I can when I can. And of course answering random business questions.
I just got a phone call from a gentleman that purchased rabbits from us last year and wanted to know if we had any cages for sale. Ummmmm...until this moment no...but....that one could go....that one could...and so on... lol
So it looks like I get to go dress my children and get them ready to go outside for a bit so that I can sell some cages. For the last few years I've been aquiring any cages from anywhere I can find. Often for little to no money. But now I have all these cages and no time to fix them. Might as well make a small profit on them and pass them onto someone who needs them. One less thing for me to clean up around here.
The new website for the zoo and farm is www.bakersacreswy.com and I'm hoping it will stay there. We are having problems editing it though so I'm looking for a new host.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Todays plan
Okay, other than watching an extra child around here I've really been trying to get my life (and house) in order. Several months ago I made a decision that this house whould be a whole lot easier to clean if it didn't have so much &^%^ in it! Soooo....I started on one end of the house and started cleaning stuff out. I went through my pants first...I had pants in my closet from when I was pregnant with Lilly. Well that was the biggest I've ever been in my life and ever intend to be! I was 60 pounds lighter with Hannah even. Out they went! Then, reality check needed, I haven't been a size 14 or 16 since I was a teenager and probably never will be again, out they go! That leaves very few pants that fit and a few that fit if I jerk up my belt to make them stay on...and we'll keep the 18's, I haven't given up fitting into them again yet. LOL
I then abandoned the rest of the closet for another day. I moved into my room, hmm what trinkets do I have that I don't even look at?? I went through the entire house this way. I hauled boxes of stuff to donate and hauled bags of garbage off. Yes, I have those I'm going to fix that one of these days projects too. Now was the time, They're either fixed or they're trash!
When February came I had to be at the ranch too much and the house got into disarray again. I lost alot of that momentum I had going. Today I'm going to pick it up and start again. First thing I need to do is get the house back into somewhat livable condition. This mean I need to break down and clean my kitchen that I've been avoiding. My hubby typically does about 2 loads of dishes in 3 days. This always leaves at least one load every 3 days that needs doing. Then I need to put away all the boxes that I've gotten out in order to make meals that I haven't put back and ended up on my counters. Then I get to buck up, swallow deep, and tackle the kitchen floor with the broom and mop. I love you Hannah! I just wish you wouldn't feel the need to toss leftovers onto the floor!
I also need to catch up on the girls laundry today. :P yuck!
If I manage to get that done I should start one of my "decluttering" projects up again. I skipped most of our closet, all of the office, the girl's closet, the recipe cupboard, the videos, the craft boxes, and several other "little" hidden things. I still need to do them though so that I have room to put other stuff away. Off to work! It's supposed to rain here for the next three days so I should have lots of time to get a good start on it!
I then abandoned the rest of the closet for another day. I moved into my room, hmm what trinkets do I have that I don't even look at?? I went through the entire house this way. I hauled boxes of stuff to donate and hauled bags of garbage off. Yes, I have those I'm going to fix that one of these days projects too. Now was the time, They're either fixed or they're trash!
When February came I had to be at the ranch too much and the house got into disarray again. I lost alot of that momentum I had going. Today I'm going to pick it up and start again. First thing I need to do is get the house back into somewhat livable condition. This mean I need to break down and clean my kitchen that I've been avoiding. My hubby typically does about 2 loads of dishes in 3 days. This always leaves at least one load every 3 days that needs doing. Then I need to put away all the boxes that I've gotten out in order to make meals that I haven't put back and ended up on my counters. Then I get to buck up, swallow deep, and tackle the kitchen floor with the broom and mop. I love you Hannah! I just wish you wouldn't feel the need to toss leftovers onto the floor!
I also need to catch up on the girls laundry today. :P yuck!
If I manage to get that done I should start one of my "decluttering" projects up again. I skipped most of our closet, all of the office, the girl's closet, the recipe cupboard, the videos, the craft boxes, and several other "little" hidden things. I still need to do them though so that I have room to put other stuff away. Off to work! It's supposed to rain here for the next three days so I should have lots of time to get a good start on it!
Monday, May 16, 2011
may is here!
ahhh another may! The weather is warming up, the grass is getting green and most importantly...we are almost done with babies!!! I am so SICK of babies!! Baby ducks, baby goslings, baby chicks, baby turkeys, baby rabbits, baby goats, baby.....ugggg enough cuteness already! LOL okay so it really isn't that bad, I love the babies! Just not taking care of them. We're almost done incubating this year though. We have some chickens and a ton of turkeys left in the incubator and that's it! All of the baby rabbits went fast and we have one left that was born just a few days ago. All the ducklings are "sold" and just have to go home. There are but 4 goslings left.
The goat kids are settling into the feeding routine nicely. Get let out, run to the barn, run into the pen, devour grain, get milk, run back to pasture, get treats, try to maul lady giving us food, settle happily into sleep or play. Do this twice a day.
Josh is home now and has a new companion. Her name is Dolly and she's a mini-donkey. It gives him someone to hang out with but he is not "into" her like he is another horse and consequently pays great attention to us when we want to work with him. He went to the horse expo here and got a touch up on his training and doesn't seem to be as spooky anymore, but then things are always spookier in the winter :) We found a cheap round pen at a neighbors and will be working on some groundwork and on cart training this year.
I have an extra child I am "babysitting" this summer. She gets dropped off at random times and the mother doesn't bother to get me a schedule. If I point blank ask I will get told that she works 6-6 but she wont pick up the kid until 9:30 or 10! Also, there are lots of issues in the home and I never know what to expect. I can have her for a week solid and by the 3rd day she will be using the potty regularily without being told (she's 4) and will have great manners, but if she goes home for a few days in between my days the first day she's back with me she whines, cries, throws tantrums, wets her pants, etc...It's frusterating to say the least. Her mother seems to point fingers at everyone else and says her kids are the way they are because of their dad, her boyfriend, her sister, grandma, etc...but then when she's home with her kids she sticks a movie in and "hides" in her bedroom and the kids run wild. There's 3 kids total. The youngest and the one I tackle daily is a 4 year old girl. The others are boys, one is 7 and one is 10. I refuse to watch them. The eldest is out of control, destructive, a bully, and a troublemaker. The younger boy is still correctable and given the proper environment he settles down but greatly seems to resent it. The girls (hers and mine) were having breakfast this morning and S (her daughter) says something that I couldn't understand about a shotgun to L (my 3 year old daughter). L looks at me and asks if we have a shotgun. I flat out lied and told me child no, that we didn't have any guns. S then looks at me and says "I'm gonna shoot my mom". What the HECK!! A 4 year old!!! There's so many problems with that family and it seems like no one cares and no one will do anything. They talk to the other kids that live with them that are older (8,12,16) and "hear" from them that everythings "alright" and take it as such and no one investigates. Even when R (her 10 year old boy) got shot in the eye by the 8 year old with the air soft. Everyone took it as playing and no one did anything.
Grandma and grandpa are trying but there's only so much they can do. Grandma has called all the schools and told them what's going on but they talk to the kids and decide that there's nothing that needs to be done. *sigh* welcome to my life.
More another time, hopefully about improvements around our place not about the emotional problems that everyone on the ranch now has lol
The goat kids are settling into the feeding routine nicely. Get let out, run to the barn, run into the pen, devour grain, get milk, run back to pasture, get treats, try to maul lady giving us food, settle happily into sleep or play. Do this twice a day.
Josh is home now and has a new companion. Her name is Dolly and she's a mini-donkey. It gives him someone to hang out with but he is not "into" her like he is another horse and consequently pays great attention to us when we want to work with him. He went to the horse expo here and got a touch up on his training and doesn't seem to be as spooky anymore, but then things are always spookier in the winter :) We found a cheap round pen at a neighbors and will be working on some groundwork and on cart training this year.
I have an extra child I am "babysitting" this summer. She gets dropped off at random times and the mother doesn't bother to get me a schedule. If I point blank ask I will get told that she works 6-6 but she wont pick up the kid until 9:30 or 10! Also, there are lots of issues in the home and I never know what to expect. I can have her for a week solid and by the 3rd day she will be using the potty regularily without being told (she's 4) and will have great manners, but if she goes home for a few days in between my days the first day she's back with me she whines, cries, throws tantrums, wets her pants, etc...It's frusterating to say the least. Her mother seems to point fingers at everyone else and says her kids are the way they are because of their dad, her boyfriend, her sister, grandma, etc...but then when she's home with her kids she sticks a movie in and "hides" in her bedroom and the kids run wild. There's 3 kids total. The youngest and the one I tackle daily is a 4 year old girl. The others are boys, one is 7 and one is 10. I refuse to watch them. The eldest is out of control, destructive, a bully, and a troublemaker. The younger boy is still correctable and given the proper environment he settles down but greatly seems to resent it. The girls (hers and mine) were having breakfast this morning and S (her daughter) says something that I couldn't understand about a shotgun to L (my 3 year old daughter). L looks at me and asks if we have a shotgun. I flat out lied and told me child no, that we didn't have any guns. S then looks at me and says "I'm gonna shoot my mom". What the HECK!! A 4 year old!!! There's so many problems with that family and it seems like no one cares and no one will do anything. They talk to the other kids that live with them that are older (8,12,16) and "hear" from them that everythings "alright" and take it as such and no one investigates. Even when R (her 10 year old boy) got shot in the eye by the 8 year old with the air soft. Everyone took it as playing and no one did anything.
Grandma and grandpa are trying but there's only so much they can do. Grandma has called all the schools and told them what's going on but they talk to the kids and decide that there's nothing that needs to be done. *sigh* welcome to my life.
More another time, hopefully about improvements around our place not about the emotional problems that everyone on the ranch now has lol
Friday, April 8, 2011
everything and nothing!
The reason for the title is that EVERYTHING seems to go on at once and then NOTHING gets done!
The last two months have been spent down at my MILs house. We've been getting up at 6, taking care of our animals, then running down to her house by 8. Then we tag calves and kick them out of the corral. We do other chores like clean the barn, treat sick cows, feed cats, feed horses, etc. until lunch. Then we make and eat lunch. Then it's back to the corral every hour to kick up the hay and check on cows. My BIL is supposed to take over at 2-3 pm-ish. This year he has a new girlfriend and hasn't been showing up until 6-10ish soooo....we dont come home until 8 pm. Needless to say it's been exhausting!
The little time that I do have at home has been spent doing laundry and taking care of our animals. Our goats kidded in March. I hauled them down to the ranch barn to have them so that I could keep an eye on them. They lived down there for about a month. In the meantime every time we're home for a few minutes we were picking up eggs to incubate. Then I was having to record everything and rotate the eggs in the incubator and hatcher every week. I also managed to get my bunnies all bred and kindled. Some are reserved already, some aren't.
I'm thankful it's finally slowing down! Now I get to find time to get to Casper and look at some goats I want to purchase, get to Torrington and pick up some chickens, Build a buck pen for the buck we're keeping now (stinky!), along with getting my general life and the girls back in order. Wish me luck!
The last two months have been spent down at my MILs house. We've been getting up at 6, taking care of our animals, then running down to her house by 8. Then we tag calves and kick them out of the corral. We do other chores like clean the barn, treat sick cows, feed cats, feed horses, etc. until lunch. Then we make and eat lunch. Then it's back to the corral every hour to kick up the hay and check on cows. My BIL is supposed to take over at 2-3 pm-ish. This year he has a new girlfriend and hasn't been showing up until 6-10ish soooo....we dont come home until 8 pm. Needless to say it's been exhausting!
The little time that I do have at home has been spent doing laundry and taking care of our animals. Our goats kidded in March. I hauled them down to the ranch barn to have them so that I could keep an eye on them. They lived down there for about a month. In the meantime every time we're home for a few minutes we were picking up eggs to incubate. Then I was having to record everything and rotate the eggs in the incubator and hatcher every week. I also managed to get my bunnies all bred and kindled. Some are reserved already, some aren't.
I'm thankful it's finally slowing down! Now I get to find time to get to Casper and look at some goats I want to purchase, get to Torrington and pick up some chickens, Build a buck pen for the buck we're keeping now (stinky!), along with getting my general life and the girls back in order. Wish me luck!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
horse riding part 2
Ride 8: a month later; mount up, ride around the house and down to the road. I decide that I'm still not up for another terrorizing country ride just yet. We plod down the county rd. A vehicle comes up behind us and we step off the side of the road. I allow him to turn and watch as the vehicle goes by. He steps back onto the road willingly and trys to break into a run after the vehicle. Crazy horse! We go up to the culvert and he sees the shining pipe sticking out at each side of the road. He won't go over it but we manage to go off the road and around the pipe. Back on the road we ride up the hill. I have the idea that maybe he'd like to meet Jericho since he'll have to meet her eventually anyways. I call up my MIL and she says Yes I can ride to her house. We ride down the road. We get to the bottom without much ado other than him calling wildly to the other horses that live right there. I dismount and lead him through the gate, off of our pasture land and into the alley way by the county road. I figure out that if I stand him next to the county road in the bar ditch and I stand on the road's surface I can just manage to climb back on. I do so. We walk a couple steps. Prancing the entire way because all he wants to do is go play with the horses. I sigh and dismount again. I lead him past them and mount again. We ride a few more steps. The next house has a huge dog that runs out barking. Thankfully he doesn't spook but absolutely refuses to go any further. I dismount. It takes me 20 minutes to coax him past the dog. I mount again as hubby drives up in car (he's supposed to pick me up at MIL's so Josh can stay a bit). He opens gate into pasture by MIL's and I turn thankfully off the road into it. We ride up the road, Jumping slightly when a bird flies but otherwise not reacting. We get to where the tractor is parked along the road and he balks at that. You dingy horse you've been walking past that at our place. Suddenly he catches the sound and smell of Jericho. Tractor is forgotten as he whinies joyfully! Forward. I manage to slow him from his trot back to a fast walk. He's paying so much attention to Jericho that he isn't paying attention to where we are going. He steps into some mud and spooks. I manage to hang on as he leaps about 5 feet forward before walking again like nothing happened. I was very relieved to be there finally. The intro went well and he spent the weekend.
Ride 9: I decide I'll ride him home instead of trailering. I must be an idiot! We plod down the road (we took the driveway instead of the pasture road so that we'd go by more houses on the county road since I know he needs to get over the previous problems). We stop every 10 feet and whinny madly. When we finally get out of ear shot of Jericho he walks willingly to the road. Hubby drives ahead slowly and parks by gates to let us out. Shys slightly at hubby...what's up with that??! We walk past the first house and their dogs rush out suddenly barking. We're off to the races! Stop you nutso horse it's okay! I'm still alive and alright...good. Shaky but determined I ride past the other dog's house, he's not out today. I ride past the horses' pasture, they're too far away to care. I ride up the road towards our house. Hubby drives past and goes home since there's no more gates. We get 3/4 of the way up the hill and suddenly Josh realizes he's not out just a pleasure ride, he's going home. Feet planted. I prod and coax and kick determined not to give in ad not to get off. We make it to the top of the hill. No further. I dismount and start to lead him. I have never had a problem leading him as he's been cooperative to that since I got him. I take the lead rope and start walking. I come up short. I read somewhere that if a horse refuses to move you just keep walking in place and don't look back. This has always worked before when he's slightly balked at something. Not moving though today. Knowing I don't have a shot at overpowering him I nonetheless try...I pull and I tug...we go backward two steps. I sigh. I stop. We stand at the top of the hill and I scratch and talk for 10 min. I try leading again. Nothing. Now I'm frustrated and lost. I take him back even a little ways and he wins but the only place I could get Tim to bring the trailer is at the bottom of the hill. Otherwise he'd have to go past me with it, turn around and then go past us again. I talk and scratch some more. Lead...nothing. I try pulling again...nothing. We stand there. I decide there's only one thing to do and hope I won't regret it. I take the end of the lead rope and whack his butt with it...Hard. He jumps about 2 ft forward. Gives me an awful look and starts walking again. At the bottom of the hill I mount again and we ride the rest of the way home.
He stood out in the pasture for a week barely eating and staring towards MIL's before I gave in and hauled him back (in the trailer). I've ridden 2-3 times since then but not more than about 300-500 feet. He shys away from having the saddle put on and the longer he's at MIL's the "spookier" he gets. He jumps at everything now. I need to get him back here where he's closer to work with and less spooky but we don't have a companion here and he's obviously miserable without one. Lose lose situation. I think I'm going to go back to the basics and start lungeing exercises with him. *sigh* I'm also going to hire a different trainer when we can spare the money and have them put 60 rides on him.
Ride 9: I decide I'll ride him home instead of trailering. I must be an idiot! We plod down the road (we took the driveway instead of the pasture road so that we'd go by more houses on the county road since I know he needs to get over the previous problems). We stop every 10 feet and whinny madly. When we finally get out of ear shot of Jericho he walks willingly to the road. Hubby drives ahead slowly and parks by gates to let us out. Shys slightly at hubby...what's up with that??! We walk past the first house and their dogs rush out suddenly barking. We're off to the races! Stop you nutso horse it's okay! I'm still alive and alright...good. Shaky but determined I ride past the other dog's house, he's not out today. I ride past the horses' pasture, they're too far away to care. I ride up the road towards our house. Hubby drives past and goes home since there's no more gates. We get 3/4 of the way up the hill and suddenly Josh realizes he's not out just a pleasure ride, he's going home. Feet planted. I prod and coax and kick determined not to give in ad not to get off. We make it to the top of the hill. No further. I dismount and start to lead him. I have never had a problem leading him as he's been cooperative to that since I got him. I take the lead rope and start walking. I come up short. I read somewhere that if a horse refuses to move you just keep walking in place and don't look back. This has always worked before when he's slightly balked at something. Not moving though today. Knowing I don't have a shot at overpowering him I nonetheless try...I pull and I tug...we go backward two steps. I sigh. I stop. We stand at the top of the hill and I scratch and talk for 10 min. I try leading again. Nothing. Now I'm frustrated and lost. I take him back even a little ways and he wins but the only place I could get Tim to bring the trailer is at the bottom of the hill. Otherwise he'd have to go past me with it, turn around and then go past us again. I talk and scratch some more. Lead...nothing. I try pulling again...nothing. We stand there. I decide there's only one thing to do and hope I won't regret it. I take the end of the lead rope and whack his butt with it...Hard. He jumps about 2 ft forward. Gives me an awful look and starts walking again. At the bottom of the hill I mount again and we ride the rest of the way home.
He stood out in the pasture for a week barely eating and staring towards MIL's before I gave in and hauled him back (in the trailer). I've ridden 2-3 times since then but not more than about 300-500 feet. He shys away from having the saddle put on and the longer he's at MIL's the "spookier" he gets. He jumps at everything now. I need to get him back here where he's closer to work with and less spooky but we don't have a companion here and he's obviously miserable without one. Lose lose situation. I think I'm going to go back to the basics and start lungeing exercises with him. *sigh* I'm also going to hire a different trainer when we can spare the money and have them put 60 rides on him.
Sheesh!
I am really slacking here...I just realized that I NEVER posted that we got a horse! After wanting one my entire life we purchased a Belgian Purebred stallion in April.
He wasn't very happy with his new home at first. The week after he came home he made a trip to the vet to fix the stallion part. No way was I going to have a stallion here with two little girls. Then a few weeks after that he got sent to training.
The trainer we hired it took me almost the entire time to figure out that I should have chosen someone else. She did teach him and he has a whole lot better manners than he did when he left but she put only half the time into him that the other trainer we were considering would have and she didn't put the 60 rides on him. She left that for me to do! HA! That would be part of why I hired a trainer! I don't like green horses taking me for "rides" and there's a BIG difference between 60 rides and 5. Also even though she had agreed to train him to drive as well her version of it was throwing the harness on him and hooking him up. Consequently he barely accepts the harness and now spooks when anything is hooked up behind him.
This is where I mention that while not a beginner I'm far from being a confident BALANCED rider. I'm used to riding the ranch horses. Jericho will balk and refuse to move and play dumb games like that but I can deal with that. She even reared once with me. Conveniently I was trying a new saddle when she did it and the seat was too small for my rear and I was stuck in it! LOL She's never tried that with me since. My new horse is not only green but he's young. He's only a two year old (almost three now). I named him Josh. I couldn't think of anything else that fit him and I was also being cute. "Joshua" fought the battle of "Jericho"
My first few rides on him go something like this....
Ride 1: Use cable spools to climb on. I can't mount him on my own as he's over 16 hands tall. Ride around to the front of the house, dance sideways at fowl, stop and stare at car, back away from house. Okay...not bad but not pleasant. That's enough for today now...how do I get down?? Guide horse towards back of house and cable spools. Horse balks at propane tank and wont ride by it again. Try higher up on the hill, horse balks at rabbit hutches. Hubby asleep in house and doesn't know I'm stuck. Hmmm...look around what can I use...Guide horse up to trailer, dismount onto trailer right as horse jumps sideways away from it.
Rides 2-4: Cable spool climb on, ride around front, ride around house area for several minutes, ride reluctantly back to the back and dismount on cable spools.
Rides 5-6: Climb on on cable spool, ride around front and out into pasture across rode. Open area now. He's reluctant to move back to the house as he isn't tired yet but does so with coaxing. Ride progressively further out.
Ride 7: Mount, ride around front, down the rode and out into pasture. He's been doing so well that I decide to take him even further out. He's done good going to the stream so I have him walk along it and look for a place to cross. Find a place to cross. Steps willingly into stream and paws water onto tummy a bit then moves calmly up other side. the crossing leads out onto an area surrounded by gullys. We ride up one hill away from the stream only to be stuck on a plateau. Checking out the terrain I spy a gently sloping hill with a small 4" step down at the bottom. The area then crosses a small branch of water. It then goes up a slow slope back to the top of the open area. This looks like our best bet. We start slowly down the hill. Halfway down the hill we suddenly break into a gallop and go tearing down the hill followed by a mighty leap over the 4" step landing and then jumping over the creek. We then dash up the other side before I can bring him to a stop. Oh geez!! Okay....I'm alright....then my stomach sinks as I realize that to go home I have to go back through that. I feel sick. He's standing there acting as if nothing happened. I manage my first dismount without an aid and drop thankfully the last inches to the ground. I didn't sign up for this....shouldn't this have been covered by a trainer in his first 60 rides??!!! Scratching his neck (I really do adore the horse) I lead him back down the gully and across the ditch and stream and walk the rest of the way home. I don't see anything I can use as a mounting aid and that's just fine with me!
(more on Josh another day...
Day 3 and probably 4 of the challenge...sick sick sick...get better!, keep up water intake)
He wasn't very happy with his new home at first. The week after he came home he made a trip to the vet to fix the stallion part. No way was I going to have a stallion here with two little girls. Then a few weeks after that he got sent to training.
The trainer we hired it took me almost the entire time to figure out that I should have chosen someone else. She did teach him and he has a whole lot better manners than he did when he left but she put only half the time into him that the other trainer we were considering would have and she didn't put the 60 rides on him. She left that for me to do! HA! That would be part of why I hired a trainer! I don't like green horses taking me for "rides" and there's a BIG difference between 60 rides and 5. Also even though she had agreed to train him to drive as well her version of it was throwing the harness on him and hooking him up. Consequently he barely accepts the harness and now spooks when anything is hooked up behind him.
This is where I mention that while not a beginner I'm far from being a confident BALANCED rider. I'm used to riding the ranch horses. Jericho will balk and refuse to move and play dumb games like that but I can deal with that. She even reared once with me. Conveniently I was trying a new saddle when she did it and the seat was too small for my rear and I was stuck in it! LOL She's never tried that with me since. My new horse is not only green but he's young. He's only a two year old (almost three now). I named him Josh. I couldn't think of anything else that fit him and I was also being cute. "Joshua" fought the battle of "Jericho"
My first few rides on him go something like this....
Ride 1: Use cable spools to climb on. I can't mount him on my own as he's over 16 hands tall. Ride around to the front of the house, dance sideways at fowl, stop and stare at car, back away from house. Okay...not bad but not pleasant. That's enough for today now...how do I get down?? Guide horse towards back of house and cable spools. Horse balks at propane tank and wont ride by it again. Try higher up on the hill, horse balks at rabbit hutches. Hubby asleep in house and doesn't know I'm stuck. Hmmm...look around what can I use...Guide horse up to trailer, dismount onto trailer right as horse jumps sideways away from it.
Rides 2-4: Cable spool climb on, ride around front, ride around house area for several minutes, ride reluctantly back to the back and dismount on cable spools.
Rides 5-6: Climb on on cable spool, ride around front and out into pasture across rode. Open area now. He's reluctant to move back to the house as he isn't tired yet but does so with coaxing. Ride progressively further out.
Ride 7: Mount, ride around front, down the rode and out into pasture. He's been doing so well that I decide to take him even further out. He's done good going to the stream so I have him walk along it and look for a place to cross. Find a place to cross. Steps willingly into stream and paws water onto tummy a bit then moves calmly up other side. the crossing leads out onto an area surrounded by gullys. We ride up one hill away from the stream only to be stuck on a plateau. Checking out the terrain I spy a gently sloping hill with a small 4" step down at the bottom. The area then crosses a small branch of water. It then goes up a slow slope back to the top of the open area. This looks like our best bet. We start slowly down the hill. Halfway down the hill we suddenly break into a gallop and go tearing down the hill followed by a mighty leap over the 4" step landing and then jumping over the creek. We then dash up the other side before I can bring him to a stop. Oh geez!! Okay....I'm alright....then my stomach sinks as I realize that to go home I have to go back through that. I feel sick. He's standing there acting as if nothing happened. I manage my first dismount without an aid and drop thankfully the last inches to the ground. I didn't sign up for this....shouldn't this have been covered by a trainer in his first 60 rides??!!! Scratching his neck (I really do adore the horse) I lead him back down the gully and across the ditch and stream and walk the rest of the way home. I don't see anything I can use as a mounting aid and that's just fine with me!
(more on Josh another day...
Day 3 and probably 4 of the challenge...sick sick sick...get better!, keep up water intake)
Cat target
Tim got up yesterday and the new dog we're trying out was barking. He woke me up and told me that he's barking at something out in the field and it looks like a coon or a skunk and has a big fluffy tail. Normally I would jump at the chance to exterminate some predator this close to the house but yesterday I just laid there thinking yeah right. For starters the new dog barks at EVERYTHING! The other two weren't barking. Living out in the country this hasn't had a factor in if we will keep him or not, it's just somehting we'll need to train him in. Second thought was that if it was a skunk or coon that the dog barking was going to scare it off. Probably a cat, I decided, laying there. Tim comes back in and grins sheepishly at me, " hunting a Butch we go" he says. I laughed...a cat.
So far the new pup had several great points going for him...
1. Adult - not puppy
2. Rides great in car, gets in willingly and waits for an Ok before getting out
3. Plays fetch with anything. High point for me since I adore watching a dog run full out to retrieve something
4. Even better...runs around kids while fetching instead of running them over (downfall that my old pup has)
5. Smart and eager to please, seems to want to do what's right
6. Very loving, thinks he's velcro for your lap or leg.
7. not sure how he is with cattle but he's smart enough to avoid the goats.
Negative points:
1. Both times I've had him out of the yard he has gone after birds, first time a goose, (thankfully the goose I don't care much for, wacked him with the empty plastic garbage can I was carrying to make him let go) second time one of my chickens and I managed to yell no at him before he got a bite. This was one of the high points on one of the first dogs we tried to adopt and what sent her back to the pound. This dog however I really feel a connection with and would like to believe that since he's willing to stop when I yell no at him that I might be able to correct it or at the very least chicken proof the yard and have a happy medium.
2. Supposedly is only "partially" housebroken. Another big point. I've watched him mark everything under the sun outside and have been cleaning my house up so there are less marking temptations inside. We are going to try bringing him inside and seeing how he does. This one is a big issue because I do want a companion animal. If he can only be in the yard or kennel we should probably take him back since with the girls this young I spend a fair amount of time indoors (esp. in the winter) and he would be alone far too much.
A combination of both negatives just isn't good for us. If he wasn't housebroke but was good with birds then I could work on housebreaking later or even not housebreak him and spend a fair amount of time with him outside while I do my chores and farm cleanup everyday. Conversely being stuck in the yard limits my time with him outside so he really needs to be able to come inside to be with us.
On other pages: I completed Day 2 of the challenge with 12 glasses of water and an hour workout on the wii fit. This consisted of about 10 min yoga, 6 min strength training (I wussed out), about 15 min of balance games, and a half hour cardio workout. The cardio workout involved a little hula hoop, some step areobics, and me gasping my way "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it" little engine that could style through ten minutes of freestyle-Jogging.
Today's tasks:
8 glasses of water
Start pancreas flush (morning for 5 days)
afternoon nap
Watch food intake
No exercise (This is the day of REST after all)
So far the new pup had several great points going for him...
1. Adult - not puppy
2. Rides great in car, gets in willingly and waits for an Ok before getting out
3. Plays fetch with anything. High point for me since I adore watching a dog run full out to retrieve something
4. Even better...runs around kids while fetching instead of running them over (downfall that my old pup has)
5. Smart and eager to please, seems to want to do what's right
6. Very loving, thinks he's velcro for your lap or leg.
7. not sure how he is with cattle but he's smart enough to avoid the goats.
Negative points:
1. Both times I've had him out of the yard he has gone after birds, first time a goose, (thankfully the goose I don't care much for, wacked him with the empty plastic garbage can I was carrying to make him let go) second time one of my chickens and I managed to yell no at him before he got a bite. This was one of the high points on one of the first dogs we tried to adopt and what sent her back to the pound. This dog however I really feel a connection with and would like to believe that since he's willing to stop when I yell no at him that I might be able to correct it or at the very least chicken proof the yard and have a happy medium.
2. Supposedly is only "partially" housebroken. Another big point. I've watched him mark everything under the sun outside and have been cleaning my house up so there are less marking temptations inside. We are going to try bringing him inside and seeing how he does. This one is a big issue because I do want a companion animal. If he can only be in the yard or kennel we should probably take him back since with the girls this young I spend a fair amount of time indoors (esp. in the winter) and he would be alone far too much.
A combination of both negatives just isn't good for us. If he wasn't housebroke but was good with birds then I could work on housebreaking later or even not housebreak him and spend a fair amount of time with him outside while I do my chores and farm cleanup everyday. Conversely being stuck in the yard limits my time with him outside so he really needs to be able to come inside to be with us.
On other pages: I completed Day 2 of the challenge with 12 glasses of water and an hour workout on the wii fit. This consisted of about 10 min yoga, 6 min strength training (I wussed out), about 15 min of balance games, and a half hour cardio workout. The cardio workout involved a little hula hoop, some step areobics, and me gasping my way "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it" little engine that could style through ten minutes of freestyle-Jogging.
Today's tasks:
8 glasses of water
Start pancreas flush (morning for 5 days)
afternoon nap
Watch food intake
No exercise (This is the day of REST after all)
Friday, January 7, 2011
biggest loser!
Happy New year everyone!
I made absolutely no new year's resolutions this year...after all, I never keep them anyways! That being said...some girls in a moms group I attend decided that they were going to do a biggest loser competition. $30 to get in on it and whoever loses the highest percentage of weight wins the whole pot. The pot is currently close to $700. hmmm talk about incentive to lose weight...think of all I could do with that.
I don't honestly believe I stand a chance against all the skinny gals that have entered. After all, they lose one pound for their 160lbs and they've got a higher percentage than my 2 lbs for my 285ish pounds. I'm darn well going to try though! I've got lots to lose and since I had Hannah I just seem to keep creeping up.
Sooooo....I got up this morning, said my prayers, took a shower and started by loading the girls in the car. We drove into the gym in town and I paid $4.50 to have the girls babysat for an hour (ridiculous!). I turned in my free month membership though that I'd won in a raffle so didn't have to pay for the membership at least.
I take the girls into the "daycare" I'm greeted by a short woman that probably weighs 200 pounds and NONE of it is fat! Her skimpy shorts show off bulging calves and upper legs. Short sleeved shirt shows off bulging muscular arms. Stomach?? Flat and hard as a brick....
Silly me....I thought that the daycare at the GYM might be ran by someone who actually looked like a mom!! I've got a long way to go to look anywhere close to that! I'm not sure I'll ever have a tummy that doesn't look like it's bore children.
I wander around the gym vaguely looking for a bike....hmm I don't see any bikes but there's one of those nice treadmill things that tells me how many calories I burned during the workout. Jump on that and start it up....enter weight.....Realize I should have brought a book or something...look around...a couple of machines down is a gal that looks like she has headphones on that the cord is coming from the machine. Reach down and pull emergency switch button...my bad...um....restart machine....realize that the gal has an MP3 player in the cupholder. Okay...that's do-able, wonder where hubbys MP3 player is, remember that it's on the desk...wonder where the cord to load it with music and charge it is? Think of huge milk crate in closet filled with cords...*sigh* Decide I need to think about something else, glance around again. Okay they have TV....hmmm political stuff...okay...throw that out...look around some more....
Why is it that everyone that belongs to a gym is skinny as a rail already and has muscles the size of basketballs?? Notice the bank of mirrors facing me on my left side. Is that really me???!!! Oh I feel SOOOO much better now.....
Keep walking...don't look at mirrors....glance at clock on treadmill....5 minutes...this is going to be a LONG workout!!!
Finish workout. Machine flashes mileage and time...no calories...I forgot to set my weight the second time....drat!!! Collect girls. Get paperwork that says I need to get their shot records...another errand....
On the way out run into one of the gals "hosting" the competition. I really like her, she's very nice but she's one of those gals that doesn't have much to lose...hmmm great...She tells me "good job" for coming to the gym. I grin stupidly and think that she's probably there all the time. I guess I should have told her good job back but was trying to think positive and think about how I was going to lose all my extra weight. Chalk up one for insensitivity on my part...
Goals for day one:
Increase Water intake from nonexsistant to 12 cups per day.
Pamper self in morning to make it through day.
Weight check
Go to gym and start excersise program
Eat NO processed sugar!
Results:
Drank 8 cups throughout morning and before writing this (also have visited the bathroom at least 10 times! ugg)
Weight check: (reluctantly hopped on my wii this morning and checked...hmm up 2 lbs in 40 days....about right)
Pampering...ignore stirring children and take warm shower....rub lotion EVERYWHERE! AAAHHHHH
Gym: Grit teeth and make plans to attend next week as well, workout on Wii in between...
Food: Modify breakfast to include one apple and one orange instead of a big bowl of honey nut chex. So far no sugar....
Plan for remaining day...clean away temptations....dump cheescake leftovers to chickens, hide candy, etc...
I made absolutely no new year's resolutions this year...after all, I never keep them anyways! That being said...some girls in a moms group I attend decided that they were going to do a biggest loser competition. $30 to get in on it and whoever loses the highest percentage of weight wins the whole pot. The pot is currently close to $700. hmmm talk about incentive to lose weight...think of all I could do with that.
I don't honestly believe I stand a chance against all the skinny gals that have entered. After all, they lose one pound for their 160lbs and they've got a higher percentage than my 2 lbs for my 285ish pounds. I'm darn well going to try though! I've got lots to lose and since I had Hannah I just seem to keep creeping up.
Sooooo....I got up this morning, said my prayers, took a shower and started by loading the girls in the car. We drove into the gym in town and I paid $4.50 to have the girls babysat for an hour (ridiculous!). I turned in my free month membership though that I'd won in a raffle so didn't have to pay for the membership at least.
I take the girls into the "daycare" I'm greeted by a short woman that probably weighs 200 pounds and NONE of it is fat! Her skimpy shorts show off bulging calves and upper legs. Short sleeved shirt shows off bulging muscular arms. Stomach?? Flat and hard as a brick....
Silly me....I thought that the daycare at the GYM might be ran by someone who actually looked like a mom!! I've got a long way to go to look anywhere close to that! I'm not sure I'll ever have a tummy that doesn't look like it's bore children.
I wander around the gym vaguely looking for a bike....hmm I don't see any bikes but there's one of those nice treadmill things that tells me how many calories I burned during the workout. Jump on that and start it up....enter weight.....Realize I should have brought a book or something...look around...a couple of machines down is a gal that looks like she has headphones on that the cord is coming from the machine. Reach down and pull emergency switch button...my bad...um....restart machine....realize that the gal has an MP3 player in the cupholder. Okay...that's do-able, wonder where hubbys MP3 player is, remember that it's on the desk...wonder where the cord to load it with music and charge it is? Think of huge milk crate in closet filled with cords...*sigh* Decide I need to think about something else, glance around again. Okay they have TV....hmmm political stuff...okay...throw that out...look around some more....
Why is it that everyone that belongs to a gym is skinny as a rail already and has muscles the size of basketballs?? Notice the bank of mirrors facing me on my left side. Is that really me???!!! Oh I feel SOOOO much better now.....
Keep walking...don't look at mirrors....glance at clock on treadmill....5 minutes...this is going to be a LONG workout!!!
Finish workout. Machine flashes mileage and time...no calories...I forgot to set my weight the second time....drat!!! Collect girls. Get paperwork that says I need to get their shot records...another errand....
On the way out run into one of the gals "hosting" the competition. I really like her, she's very nice but she's one of those gals that doesn't have much to lose...hmmm great...She tells me "good job" for coming to the gym. I grin stupidly and think that she's probably there all the time. I guess I should have told her good job back but was trying to think positive and think about how I was going to lose all my extra weight. Chalk up one for insensitivity on my part...
Goals for day one:
Increase Water intake from nonexsistant to 12 cups per day.
Pamper self in morning to make it through day.
Weight check
Go to gym and start excersise program
Eat NO processed sugar!
Results:
Drank 8 cups throughout morning and before writing this (also have visited the bathroom at least 10 times! ugg)
Weight check: (reluctantly hopped on my wii this morning and checked...hmm up 2 lbs in 40 days....about right)
Pampering...ignore stirring children and take warm shower....rub lotion EVERYWHERE! AAAHHHHH
Gym: Grit teeth and make plans to attend next week as well, workout on Wii in between...
Food: Modify breakfast to include one apple and one orange instead of a big bowl of honey nut chex. So far no sugar....
Plan for remaining day...clean away temptations....dump cheescake leftovers to chickens, hide candy, etc...
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
quick update!
We have of course been very busy here. I've been building new coop, new pens, fighting off predators, puzzling over other predators, switching dogs, and baking and making. I will try and expand more on that soon. This upcoming weekend is the senior centers craft fair and I have a table there. For a few more details you can look me up on facebook under Jennifer Baker or the business under Bakers Acres! You'll know it's the right one if it has a pup wearing a chef's hat for a pic. Working on expanding the business and getting everything set up right now then will update more here and post the new website addy.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Nora Maes reply
Hello, Blogger says I cant see your profile and therefore wont let let me respond to you. My suggestion would be to take a horse hoof rasp and rasp it every few weeks until normal. :) One of my goats was never trimmed before I got her and I've been fighting ever since to get her feet right. Finally getting there by rasping them. I'll rasp until I start getting to the pink then I let her rest a week or two and I rasp some more off. Makes it very easy to get both sides level as well.
Something to be wary of in the angoras is that angoras have a breed specific lice that attacks them. Be very alert when buying your stock as it can be spendy to treat :) Good luck! Thanks for commenting and for following. Hopefully when the farmers market here is done I'll write more.
Something to be wary of in the angoras is that angoras have a breed specific lice that attacks them. Be very alert when buying your stock as it can be spendy to treat :) Good luck! Thanks for commenting and for following. Hopefully when the farmers market here is done I'll write more.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Baking
Well, of course I've been busy again! lol Two weeks ago I spent friday baking my heart out on cookies, brownies, toffee bars and other various desserts. Saturday morning I rose bright and early and hauled it all into my first farmers market that I've participated in. The general goal was actually to pass out the nifty business cards that I'd printed out. I did a great job passing those out but when the day ended I'd sold a grand total of nothing...
Listening throughout the day to the other vendors though I discovered that breads apparently sell better than sweets (just wrong in my opinion ;) ) sooooo....friday of last week was spent baking some basic breads. White, Wheat, banana, a few gluten-free selections. I sold out in two hours and also got requests for sourdough and more gluten-free.
Fast forward to this week. Thursday - get up, not feeling horrible but just generally tired. I spend all day thursday baking gluten-free bread and quick breads.
Friday - I crawl out of bed, look at the kitchen in disgust and decide that I'm definetely under the weather and baking stinks! I also decide that I'm not going to waste all of yesterdays baking by not finishing it today. My husband calls me a stubborn wench... I smile weakly and bake bread till 8 at night on friday. Then milk the goats, put the girls to bed, and unload the feed I bought on wed.
Saturday - I crawl out of bed, wrap the now cool loaves, print labels for my farm fresh eggs and load the car. At 8 (we're supposed to be there at 8:30) I wake the girls and fly through dressing and loading, throwing portable breakfasts in the car. We sold, we sold, we sold.
I discovered several things:
1: You can make ALOT of money at farmers markets
2: The money may not be worth it when you're sick
3: If you take your extra rabbits and put free signs on them they leave quickly
4: I enjoy baking more than I thought I did and will have to continue after the markets over (not when I'm sick)
5: Husbands don't volunteer to go to the market with you to help sell
6: The other kids help wear your children out
7: Baking for two days straight is very tiring but nessacary to keep up with the demand here
8: I stink at making sourdough bread...everyone wants to buy it...
This weeks plan: Change menu slightly (less white bread more specialty breads), restart starter for sourdough (one cheat one like this weeks and one good one to keep going), GET BETTER, Bake thursday and friday again, saturday make enough to pay for all the extra bread pans I've bought.
Listening throughout the day to the other vendors though I discovered that breads apparently sell better than sweets (just wrong in my opinion ;) ) sooooo....friday of last week was spent baking some basic breads. White, Wheat, banana, a few gluten-free selections. I sold out in two hours and also got requests for sourdough and more gluten-free.
Fast forward to this week. Thursday - get up, not feeling horrible but just generally tired. I spend all day thursday baking gluten-free bread and quick breads.
Friday - I crawl out of bed, look at the kitchen in disgust and decide that I'm definetely under the weather and baking stinks! I also decide that I'm not going to waste all of yesterdays baking by not finishing it today. My husband calls me a stubborn wench... I smile weakly and bake bread till 8 at night on friday. Then milk the goats, put the girls to bed, and unload the feed I bought on wed.
Saturday - I crawl out of bed, wrap the now cool loaves, print labels for my farm fresh eggs and load the car. At 8 (we're supposed to be there at 8:30) I wake the girls and fly through dressing and loading, throwing portable breakfasts in the car. We sold, we sold, we sold.
I discovered several things:
1: You can make ALOT of money at farmers markets
2: The money may not be worth it when you're sick
3: If you take your extra rabbits and put free signs on them they leave quickly
4: I enjoy baking more than I thought I did and will have to continue after the markets over (not when I'm sick)
5: Husbands don't volunteer to go to the market with you to help sell
6: The other kids help wear your children out
7: Baking for two days straight is very tiring but nessacary to keep up with the demand here
8: I stink at making sourdough bread...everyone wants to buy it...
This weeks plan: Change menu slightly (less white bread more specialty breads), restart starter for sourdough (one cheat one like this weeks and one good one to keep going), GET BETTER, Bake thursday and friday again, saturday make enough to pay for all the extra bread pans I've bought.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
chore time!
Well the next coulple of days are hoping to be filled with cleaning, sorting, and getting rid of! I've been following a blog. 5 Weeks to a clean and organized home. I haven't started yet though. The problem with the blog is you have to be able to find your home first!
Soooo....on Tuesday I spent some time with my girls cleaning the living room and staring the kitchen. The living room is now officially ready to start the indepth cleaning. Now if I can just keep it that way while the other rooms get there. The girls were amazingly helpful. Hannah played in her exersaucer that I brought in that day and was a rather happy baby all day. Lilly helped pick up and also helped by feeding baby Hannah.
Hoping today goes as smootly. Kitchen clean up, laundry folding, and general bedroom tidy up today.
My husband acquired a fish tank (25 gal) last summer at a garage sale and has had fish in it ever since. Well a few weeks ago we decided to downgrade to make it easier to take care of for awhile. Most of the freebie fish went down the road and the left over fish went in a ten gal tank. The problem is that now the rocks, filter, heater, tank, and lid are all sitting scattered around my bathroom waiting for a good scrubbing! That is NOT on the list of things to do today! It does however interfere with the deep cleaning of the bathroom so will have to be done eventually.
In the process of reading the blog though I have been walking through my house ever since saying "that can leave...so can that" I think a major garage sale is in order if I can ever get to the spring cleaning, finish it, and get rid of stuff...
Soooo....on Tuesday I spent some time with my girls cleaning the living room and staring the kitchen. The living room is now officially ready to start the indepth cleaning. Now if I can just keep it that way while the other rooms get there. The girls were amazingly helpful. Hannah played in her exersaucer that I brought in that day and was a rather happy baby all day. Lilly helped pick up and also helped by feeding baby Hannah.
Hoping today goes as smootly. Kitchen clean up, laundry folding, and general bedroom tidy up today.
My husband acquired a fish tank (25 gal) last summer at a garage sale and has had fish in it ever since. Well a few weeks ago we decided to downgrade to make it easier to take care of for awhile. Most of the freebie fish went down the road and the left over fish went in a ten gal tank. The problem is that now the rocks, filter, heater, tank, and lid are all sitting scattered around my bathroom waiting for a good scrubbing! That is NOT on the list of things to do today! It does however interfere with the deep cleaning of the bathroom so will have to be done eventually.
In the process of reading the blog though I have been walking through my house ever since saying "that can leave...so can that" I think a major garage sale is in order if I can ever get to the spring cleaning, finish it, and get rid of stuff...
Monday, April 19, 2010
Clifford
Took the girls to meet Clifford yesterday at the Library. Lilly adored it! They had all the kids sit in a semi circle then clifford and his buddy came in. His buddy (a gal from PBS) read a clifford story and then we got time to meet clifford individually and take pics if we wanted.
Then to top it off our local theater put on a clifford showing right afterwards. Snacks costed but the movie was free.
After Clifford we came home and had lunch and naps (all of us) and somehow the rest of the day just drifted away.
Today has been a cleaning day so far. I managed to get the living room cleaned up some and a bit of the kitchen. Now I'm exhausted and headed for a nap ;)
Then to top it off our local theater put on a clifford showing right afterwards. Snacks costed but the movie was free.
After Clifford we came home and had lunch and naps (all of us) and somehow the rest of the day just drifted away.
Today has been a cleaning day so far. I managed to get the living room cleaned up some and a bit of the kitchen. Now I'm exhausted and headed for a nap ;)
New life
So in case you didn't figure it out from my last post we have new animals and a new baby!
Hannah Rose was born 2/23. She's a wonderful beautiful little girl and we all adore her...nuff said ;)
We also have goat kids, Ellie had triplets on 3/22 and Sue had twins on 3/23. The doelings have all been sold and are doing wonderful in their new homes. The bucklings (one ellies, one sues) and still hanging around desperately hoping they get a home.
After many months of trying to get lop bunny babies our male has finally figured it out and the two females each had a litter of 5 (less than a day apart) on Saturday. And our Californian should be pregnant as well and due the end of this month.
We also have a variety of chicks (about 27ish?), baby turkeys (17)(turks?), ducklings (6), and two goslings.
We are overran with new life! In a few months several of the above will need new homes if anyone is interested. :)
Hannah Rose was born 2/23. She's a wonderful beautiful little girl and we all adore her...nuff said ;)
We also have goat kids, Ellie had triplets on 3/22 and Sue had twins on 3/23. The doelings have all been sold and are doing wonderful in their new homes. The bucklings (one ellies, one sues) and still hanging around desperately hoping they get a home.
After many months of trying to get lop bunny babies our male has finally figured it out and the two females each had a litter of 5 (less than a day apart) on Saturday. And our Californian should be pregnant as well and due the end of this month.
We also have a variety of chicks (about 27ish?), baby turkeys (17)(turks?), ducklings (6), and two goslings.
We are overran with new life! In a few months several of the above will need new homes if anyone is interested. :)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
New attitude
It's amazing what you can discover in a few short hours...I had a wonderful oppurtunity to be away from my two girls (Hannah Rose was born 2/23) and my husband this weekend and learned that somewhere between getting married, getting a new house set up, getting the farm built, and having two children I'd lost me...
All weekend long I've been struggling between getting things done (items built, items repaired, house cleaned, etc) and just relaxing. I feel such a need to push and get stuff done. I look around and see the dirty dishes all over the kitchen, see the laundry piled high unfolded in baskets and overflowing the dirty clothes basket, see hay left all over the living room having fallen out of the rabbit cage and drug here and there. Every time I get a few hours away from my older girl (very rarely) I've used it to finish tasks that are almost impossible to complete while she's here. Or...I escape to the computer and stare at a screen playing some addicting facebook game to be able to forget about all the work and dredgery of daily life. And yet I am critical of my husband's lack of taking time off and relaxing a bit. He works himself to death between driving concrete truck to support us, working on the ranch, and working here at the house. He never takes a day off and rarely sits down to do anything relaxing. What a hypocrite! Am I any different?
Today I got up and started my usual animal chores...get the bottle warmed for the kid (goat), get the milk bucket out of the dishwasher, milk and grain the goats, make sure there is hay and water in the pastures (although everything is getting greener now), then after collecting eggs and turning the chickens out I checked on the chicks in the brooder. I opened the door to be met with a blast of heat, humidity, and stench. *sigh* Another chore to do, the brooder needs cleaned. Then it occured to me that the fowl is two weeks old this week and it's a beautiful day! Looking around I find feeders and waterers and set them up with feed and water in the A frame huts I built last year (or was that two years ago?). Finding a carrier I haul the ducks and goslings to one of the huts and the turkeys to the other, the chicks are still in the brooder (light unplugged). On the spur of the moment I flop down on the grass to watch and make sure they'll be okay.
Laying still has a was of making the mind work instead of the body and pretty soon it hit me that I hated the farm, resented doing the chores, hated the house, disliked taking care of my children and husband, and at some point had lost everything I ever loved about me. When I was a teenager I thought I'd be a writer. I love writing and it was one of my biggest passions...I've since lost my inspiration. I haven't been able to put a word to paper about much of anything for years. I've adored animals all my life...When did it become a bothersome waste of time to take care of them? I love my children and my husband very very much and would never want to be without them...why do I feel the need to escape and just run away from everything? When did dishes, and laundry, and a clean kitchen, and a clean office, and etc...become more important then watching my daughter play at the park?
I realized that I had really lost sight of what was important to say the least. I lay on the green grass, breathed the fresh air, heard the rooster crow and the turkeys peep, watched the ducklings fight over who was going to get a bath in the water dish first, looked at my cat laying in front of me purring and begging to be petted and realized that I was wrong. Everything about me is wrong. Yes, all those chores in the house may need to be done but they aren't important. The world will not end if we have to use paper plates because I didn't get the dishes done. The world won't end if the living room has toys all over it and various trash items. The world will not end if supper is not a big meal and is something simple like disgusting hot dogs. Are my chicldren happy? Is my husband? Am I? These are the things that are important...what is wrong in my life that I can't seem to keep them in sight?
So to make a long story short (too late) I've decided that I need to start writing again (hopefully I can find the time), I need to take my kids to something fun at least once a week (park, library etc), I need to spend some time with my husband at least two hours every week (good luck!), and I need to take some time to watch the animals at play (the kids playing king of the hill, the ducklings taking a bath, the cats jumping and running) and remember that these things are what's important.
And I pray to God that I can remember this lesson this time and hold it in my heart as I go about my daily life. And for crying out loud...if someone sees me playing those stupid facebook games yell at me to go play with my dog!
All weekend long I've been struggling between getting things done (items built, items repaired, house cleaned, etc) and just relaxing. I feel such a need to push and get stuff done. I look around and see the dirty dishes all over the kitchen, see the laundry piled high unfolded in baskets and overflowing the dirty clothes basket, see hay left all over the living room having fallen out of the rabbit cage and drug here and there. Every time I get a few hours away from my older girl (very rarely) I've used it to finish tasks that are almost impossible to complete while she's here. Or...I escape to the computer and stare at a screen playing some addicting facebook game to be able to forget about all the work and dredgery of daily life. And yet I am critical of my husband's lack of taking time off and relaxing a bit. He works himself to death between driving concrete truck to support us, working on the ranch, and working here at the house. He never takes a day off and rarely sits down to do anything relaxing. What a hypocrite! Am I any different?
Today I got up and started my usual animal chores...get the bottle warmed for the kid (goat), get the milk bucket out of the dishwasher, milk and grain the goats, make sure there is hay and water in the pastures (although everything is getting greener now), then after collecting eggs and turning the chickens out I checked on the chicks in the brooder. I opened the door to be met with a blast of heat, humidity, and stench. *sigh* Another chore to do, the brooder needs cleaned. Then it occured to me that the fowl is two weeks old this week and it's a beautiful day! Looking around I find feeders and waterers and set them up with feed and water in the A frame huts I built last year (or was that two years ago?). Finding a carrier I haul the ducks and goslings to one of the huts and the turkeys to the other, the chicks are still in the brooder (light unplugged). On the spur of the moment I flop down on the grass to watch and make sure they'll be okay.
Laying still has a was of making the mind work instead of the body and pretty soon it hit me that I hated the farm, resented doing the chores, hated the house, disliked taking care of my children and husband, and at some point had lost everything I ever loved about me. When I was a teenager I thought I'd be a writer. I love writing and it was one of my biggest passions...I've since lost my inspiration. I haven't been able to put a word to paper about much of anything for years. I've adored animals all my life...When did it become a bothersome waste of time to take care of them? I love my children and my husband very very much and would never want to be without them...why do I feel the need to escape and just run away from everything? When did dishes, and laundry, and a clean kitchen, and a clean office, and etc...become more important then watching my daughter play at the park?
I realized that I had really lost sight of what was important to say the least. I lay on the green grass, breathed the fresh air, heard the rooster crow and the turkeys peep, watched the ducklings fight over who was going to get a bath in the water dish first, looked at my cat laying in front of me purring and begging to be petted and realized that I was wrong. Everything about me is wrong. Yes, all those chores in the house may need to be done but they aren't important. The world will not end if we have to use paper plates because I didn't get the dishes done. The world won't end if the living room has toys all over it and various trash items. The world will not end if supper is not a big meal and is something simple like disgusting hot dogs. Are my chicldren happy? Is my husband? Am I? These are the things that are important...what is wrong in my life that I can't seem to keep them in sight?
So to make a long story short (too late) I've decided that I need to start writing again (hopefully I can find the time), I need to take my kids to something fun at least once a week (park, library etc), I need to spend some time with my husband at least two hours every week (good luck!), and I need to take some time to watch the animals at play (the kids playing king of the hill, the ducklings taking a bath, the cats jumping and running) and remember that these things are what's important.
And I pray to God that I can remember this lesson this time and hold it in my heart as I go about my daily life. And for crying out loud...if someone sees me playing those stupid facebook games yell at me to go play with my dog!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Blessing and nesting
Blessing the goat had two kids on saturday. Very cute little Boer crosses. They're all white but have floppy ears and lots of muscling. One doe, one buck. The buck may be going tommorrow as a bottle baby to a college kid in Casper. There is also a buyer for a combo Blessing and Doeling kid pending viewing on Sat. and the buck kid leaving. Blessing just isn't producing enough milk to make it worth my time to teach her to milk. Wonderful personality though, I will miss her very much.
In more exciting news...I'm now officially 38 weeks and the Dr. says I can go anytime. Then of course he adds that Wed is not a good day since he has meetings all day and Fri, Sat, and sun he's going out of town so I can't have the baby those days either.
Tonight...I got up and started doing dishes, putting away groceries bought today, washing eggs, picking up Lilly's toys...and about that time it hits me...I'm NESTING!!! The dr. may get a wed. baby wether he likes it or not. Hopefully I can make it till thurs or this is a false alarm...
Lilly: I got up one morning and cleaned all that day, went to bed that night and got up the next morning and my water broke.
I know labor is supposed to be faster on the second...does anyone know if we nest sooner or closer to the baby time? Hmmmm......
Will I wake Lilly up if I go vaccuum?
In more exciting news...I'm now officially 38 weeks and the Dr. says I can go anytime. Then of course he adds that Wed is not a good day since he has meetings all day and Fri, Sat, and sun he's going out of town so I can't have the baby those days either.
Tonight...I got up and started doing dishes, putting away groceries bought today, washing eggs, picking up Lilly's toys...and about that time it hits me...I'm NESTING!!! The dr. may get a wed. baby wether he likes it or not. Hopefully I can make it till thurs or this is a false alarm...
Lilly: I got up one morning and cleaned all that day, went to bed that night and got up the next morning and my water broke.
I know labor is supposed to be faster on the second...does anyone know if we nest sooner or closer to the baby time? Hmmmm......
Will I wake Lilly up if I go vaccuum?
Saturday, January 30, 2010
update
Two weeks and counting till my baby arrives. I haven't had much energy lately and it seems like I constantly have something hurting. The baby is now head down but the position isn't "fixed" yet. The back of the baby is towards my right side and all her feet and arms are too the left. It seems like everytime she moves now she's punching my guts, stomach, lungs, ribs or some other painful part.
Lilly was such a wonderful pregnancy, I was morning sick for the first three months and rather comfortable after that. This child makes me think that I am definetely done and this will be the last one I want. I hope the child is as wonderfully behaved as Lilly is (yes I know they will have different personalities) and not the monster it's made me feel like it is. I can't wait to hold it in my arms and cuddle it.
My wonderful hubby has been helping around the house quite a bit and I'm afraid to say I'm starting to feel a bit guilty that he's doing so much and I can't seem to hardly find the energy to make meals, let alone anything else.
Things around the farm are at a standstill. I stagger out every morning and feed and water the rabbits, collect the eggs, throw scratch to the chickens, feed the ducks, scoop out from under the roosts every couple of days, grain the goats, feed the dogs and cats, and finally stagger back in. My dear hubby goes out every morning (while I'm still sleeping most mornings) and waters the goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats, and hays the goats. Then he comes in and does a load of dishes, gets our daughter up and dressed and fed, and then looks after her until I manage to drag myself out of bed. On the occasional day that work needs him he gets all the animals taken care of before he leaves at 6:30. Most days after I get up he works on something around here or at his moms.
The other day he crawled under the house to get the jacks out so he could put more blocks under the barn and discovered a broken pipe. He spent the entire day trying to find parts to fix that and getting that fixed. He also has managed to get our new back door in and to get 4 or 5 windows put in in the last week or two.
His wife on the other hand has cleaned the office and moved the plants out of the way of the last three windows and hasn't done much else. I've been to the church twice this week (with him along helping) to catalog the books in the church library and work on that. Most days anymore I just end up sitting around and watching Lilly or a movie and crocheting.
The last few nights Blessing has slept in the barn and gone out with the others during the day. This morning she was acting very restless and kept looking over her shoulder. I'm leaving her in today and we'll see if we have kids. Yeah, more newborns around here, I must be crazy. Speaking of newborns...all three of my female rabbits should be bred as well so that we can have bunnies by easter. One of them is due on my due date. I'm also getting ready to place a bird order for march since I want to have turkeys available for sale this year. Ellie and Sue are both due for their kids the end of March as well... I AM CRAZY....
Lilly was such a wonderful pregnancy, I was morning sick for the first three months and rather comfortable after that. This child makes me think that I am definetely done and this will be the last one I want. I hope the child is as wonderfully behaved as Lilly is (yes I know they will have different personalities) and not the monster it's made me feel like it is. I can't wait to hold it in my arms and cuddle it.
My wonderful hubby has been helping around the house quite a bit and I'm afraid to say I'm starting to feel a bit guilty that he's doing so much and I can't seem to hardly find the energy to make meals, let alone anything else.
Things around the farm are at a standstill. I stagger out every morning and feed and water the rabbits, collect the eggs, throw scratch to the chickens, feed the ducks, scoop out from under the roosts every couple of days, grain the goats, feed the dogs and cats, and finally stagger back in. My dear hubby goes out every morning (while I'm still sleeping most mornings) and waters the goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats, and hays the goats. Then he comes in and does a load of dishes, gets our daughter up and dressed and fed, and then looks after her until I manage to drag myself out of bed. On the occasional day that work needs him he gets all the animals taken care of before he leaves at 6:30. Most days after I get up he works on something around here or at his moms.
The other day he crawled under the house to get the jacks out so he could put more blocks under the barn and discovered a broken pipe. He spent the entire day trying to find parts to fix that and getting that fixed. He also has managed to get our new back door in and to get 4 or 5 windows put in in the last week or two.
His wife on the other hand has cleaned the office and moved the plants out of the way of the last three windows and hasn't done much else. I've been to the church twice this week (with him along helping) to catalog the books in the church library and work on that. Most days anymore I just end up sitting around and watching Lilly or a movie and crocheting.
The last few nights Blessing has slept in the barn and gone out with the others during the day. This morning she was acting very restless and kept looking over her shoulder. I'm leaving her in today and we'll see if we have kids. Yeah, more newborns around here, I must be crazy. Speaking of newborns...all three of my female rabbits should be bred as well so that we can have bunnies by easter. One of them is due on my due date. I'm also getting ready to place a bird order for march since I want to have turkeys available for sale this year. Ellie and Sue are both due for their kids the end of March as well... I AM CRAZY....
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