Farm Life

[Naga_Fireball]

Dear Spiritwind,

I wish I could have gotten it together to come see your baby goats. That goddamned gambling mistake ruined my budget for months. I'm not sure why I thought my luck would be any different just because I drove the car and not some man.

I'm so sorry for the tough winter you guys are struggling through. It is so kind of you to take good care of the goats.

My grandfather did the same thing; he had two large juveniles and we experienced a terrible winter in Kentucky.

When he was done with their pen, it was pretty elaborate. .. like a shed with a horse run attached but more fencing.

It's hard work

[Spiritwind]

So, yesterday I went up the road to assess the situation and see if it was feasible to put the goaties, most of them anyway, in the big barn for the night. It was supposed to get down below zero again, and not really warm up much during the day today. Since even Misha, the female Great Pyrenees we have, was shivering when she came out in the weather yesterday morning from under the fifth wheel (we left a spot open for them to get under there) I knew it was too cold for any animal out there. These dogs have the most incredibly thick fur, so when they are cold, you know it's cold!

And, the barn is still there, LOL, but I forgot about the fact that we have over a foot and a half of accumulated snow that has somewhat frozen to the ground. I would have had to dig out the gate and the door to even put them in there. Plus it would have been a big hassle walking them all up there, locking them in for the night, and then walking them all back down here in the morning. I came up with another plan.

We still had to dig part of a cattle panel out of the ice, but we were able to extend two of the pens so that they were shared rather than separate, and then ran an extension cord out there and put in a heat lamp that we hung from the ceiling. Goats are curious creatures and will inspect anything new. I didn't want them to burn the barn down, just provide a little warmth to offset the extreme cold. Now, that is still no guarantee that they were smart enough to actually all go in there for the night. I can see some of them from the window, but won't know until I walk out there. Even when you are trying to help them, they sometimes don't get it.

And I had a horse blanket someone gave me that needed repair. I sewed some straps on that were missing and we put that on her. It was still missing some parts so hopefully it is still on her this morning. She did seem to realize we were trying to help her out. But she really doesn't like having them on unless it is super cold, which it is. I put a lightweight one on her last year, and as soon as it warmed up a bit, I came down in the morning and somehow she had got if off. And she tore that one up. I put some food grade diatomaceous earth on the little bit of grain I give her during the cold, and have noticed a distinct difference in her overall when I do that. She seems spunkier and not as stiff. We have found we have to keep her electric fence going almost all the time though. She figures out rather quickly when it's unplugged, and she knows that she can, in all actuality, just push the fence down. And, she knows where the hay is. I do not want to have that experience again, even if the look she gives me when caught is kind of priceless.

It's a very interesting exercise running everything on the 3200 to 4000 watt generator we have. Not been quite the right weather to finish hooking up the solar panels and the batteries don't charge up that well in this cold, so they only provide a tiny bit of relief from running the generator all the time. Not cost effective at all, I must say, but a big lesson learned none the less. At least Dick up the road hasn't threatened us about our dogs again, knock on wood, and every little thing we do will make a difference, even if a bit on the day late and dollar short side of things.

We are already daydreaming and planning about seeds to start, gardens to put in, a greenhouse we want to build, and all kinds of fun stuff like that. My husband and I have had great fun in the past on landscaping projects we did at the mobile home parks we used to manage. This time it will be for us. I'm looking forward to seeing what perennials have made it through the winter that I can dig up and move down here this spring. I've decided I want to grow my three favorite tea herbs in plentiful enough quantities that I don't have to buy them anymore, red raspberry, lemon balm, and peppermint. I don't want to buy the little boxes of tea bags anymore because I know too much now. They just have to ruin every damn thing, even things that should be good for you. Besides, why pay top dollar for organic bulk herbs when they are so easy to grow. And someone gave us an upright freezer so I should be able to freeze enough goats milk to make some goat cheese this year. Now I just have to figure out how to use the cheese press I got. It was a bargain deal, so it didn't come with instructions. I'll figure it out though, thanks to the Internet.

As I keep saying, and reminding myself, we WILL be a lot more prepared this next winter. I'm not fond of that caught with your pants down feeling, LOL. But, thankfully, we learn from everything, and I am still immensely grateful to be where I am. If we keep going the direction we are in, the rude awakening that is coming, even though we can only see the edges of it now, will not be such a shocker for us. And people do seem ripe for what is shaping up. I started that little meet up group, kind of on a whim, for spiritual activism almost a month ago and already have 33 members. A lot of young people, too, which I find encouraging. And that is what I do best, encourage others, to believe in yourself, trust yourself, and know that together we can, will, and are making a positive difference, even if just little ripples at a time here and there. The Mama knows all and no good deed goes unnoticed, even if the world still doesn't fully appreciate what is happening yet. To all the brave warriors and warrioresses, the force has always been with us, it was never lost, just a bit dormant is all. Time to remember and be the magical beings we have always been.

Oh, and by the way Naga, I haven't even bred them this winter yet, so bahbies will probably be arriving late this year, around July even. You will get another chance. I plan on breeding 5 of the girls, so could end up with a bunch. I have to admit. I am in love with baby goats, especially miniature ones. It's a veritable cuteness overload. It's almost impossible not to feel happy around them.

[Spiritwind]

Yesterday gave me plenty to write about. If you have goats to enjoy fresh goats milk and other products such as homemade cheese and yogurt, and even goats milk soaps and lotions, then inevitably you have to breed them to continue enjoying those products. Since we just completed our move about 2 months ago, and then winter came in earnest, we were unable to set the individual areas for them up with easy to use gates. We were in a hurry, so we just used small portions of the cattle panels cut into sections, and used metal clips to hold them together, with a few fence posts for stability. They work great in a jiffy, but not so great if you are actually trying to move goats around. They all converge at the gate, and their combined weight, plus the fact they all want out, makes it a challenging experience. You have to get tricky, like having a second person entice them with grain away from the gate, so you can get in and out without being mobbed. Even then, things don't always go as planned.

We have four separate areas for our herd, with one for the 2 bucks, two that can be combined when needed for youngsters and new moms, and another one for the older does, who are notoriously more pushy than the rest. One of the bucks I wanted to breed to two of the girls, and the other three does I wanted with the other buck. Then we have two that are still nursing youngsters, and a couple of adolescents too young to breed yet. I had thought about this for weeks, about how best to maneuver them around. No matter how I thought about it, there was no easy way.

First thing I had to do though, is take a hatchet and chip out about a foot of compact snow and ice from the gates to even be able to open them. That was not fun. It probably wouldn't have been bad, but my poor right elbow was just starting to heal up from the last time I aggravated it from overuse. But when I went out to feed and realized that Firefly was in heat, and did the figuring about the window of time I wanted to have the babies born, I knew I could not wait or put if off any longer. As it was, we'd have kids in mid summer, which is a couple months later than I wanted as it is. Nigerian Dwarfs, besides being small and giving a lot of high butterfat milk for their size, also breed year around and tend to have a heat cycle every 18 - 21 days. Gestation is between 145 - 155 days, on average, with Nigerians often giving birth at 145 - 150 days. It is not uncommon for them to have even 4 - 5 kids, so they are pretty prolific overall.

Once I got the gates dug out I waited until my husband got home and he grudgingly agreed to help me move them around. Even though I explained that we were going to have to wing it, and that it may get get a little hairy, I know he always underestimates the challenge. If someone had a video camera handy, it would have been great for the show "Funniest Home Videos", because it did have a few hilarious moments for sure. I got drug around through the snow by Tinkerbell, and couldn't stop laughing, even though I knew I was going to regret it the next day. See, the smart thing to do is to just let go when they start to get away from you. But I wasn't chasing after her again if I could help it. Fortunately the neighbor showed up right as I was going by on the ground and gave me a helping hand.

Then as I was getting her in the pen with the buck I wanted her with, my husband was having a similar experience with Jupiter, the buck he was taking to the other pen. The boys necks are so thick, and their fur quite long, that the collars want to slide right off, which it did. I guess he grabbed him by the mane and somehow managed to slide the collar back on, and then I got there to help him get the leash clipped to the collar and quickly grabbed a cup of grain to get him to follow me. It went pretty well after that, except that somehow one of Cookies two little boys had somehow managed to squeeze back into the old pen he was in. They are creatures of habit and routine. I don't know how he even did it since he has grown so huge. That would have been another video moment we missed. Anyway, it took both of us to catch him again and get him out of the gate, and then into the other pen. Whew!

We will definitely be taking note and devising some modifications to make this process much less of a challenge for next time. While funny, there are just some things you don't want to repeat. But I am happy we accomplished our mission.

It is interested having a panoramic view of the mountains in the distance and all the animals spread out where we can see them easily. We must have a moose grazing around on the property right below and next to ours. We had put the horse blanket back on Freckles, came in to warm up and noticed her running around like a crazy horse. She was running through the deep snow like it was nothing and bucking and rearing and waving her head around. She kept looking down the hill so we went out to see what was up. The dogs weren't looking too concerned, so we didn't think it was a predator out there, but then my husband heard that familiar snort. Even though they are awesome to see, I'm kind of glad it stayed a safe distance away. But it sure made Freckles go bonkers. Fortunately we figured out how to put the horse blanket on right, so other than being slightly askew, it stayed on her really well.

And now it's time to get busy hauling out some warm water for everyone. My favorite chore, not! LOL. I know it's really good for me though, and actually enjoy my time out doors once I'm out there. But in all honesty, if I didn't have them to take care of I'd be curling up in a ball with a good book or movie. Duty calls though.

Oh yeah, and my first meeting with the meet-up group I started is tomorrow. I get to get away from the farm, Yippie! I'm kind of excited to get out and spend a bit of time with some folks who may be feeling that same sense of big change in the air that I do. It's exciting to be part of that change. For the first time, really, the timing feels right. It might get a little bumpy, but I can feel something very beneficial for all life getting ready to break through the surface. It feels like springtime, in a way. Seeds starting to grow, efforts starting to bear fruit. A great time to be alive!

[Naga_Fireball]

Reading this story is almost better than Tom Sawyer etc.
You guys are so courageous. It's like the more you give, the more people want.

That's a good thing, but gosh this weather.
Is it possible to put a blanket over the gates to prevent ice building up directly? Some smart Mexican dude down our street put a huge one on his car and it apparently cuts down his work hugely.

Also i was curious, would the goats tolerate a circular pen ?

I was thinking, babies in the center pen, moms on one side of donut and boys on the other? You could make a walkway up the middle and then transfer would be easier and gates sheltered by theoretical roof. Horse could run around that thing and not be lonely but also not inside their enclosure.

Maybe it would be rough but strong structure if it worked.

Circle is sort of self supporting if the horse tries her butt test again.


Hug @@

Good luck tomorrow

[Naga_Fireball]

I thought you'd chuckle at DND, the dick next door;
Unfortunately my new neighbor doesn't like hippies or their confounded cooking based on my eavesdropping today.

I hope your guy has stopped collecting dog poop to give you. How outre.

Walla2 needs a guy like that actually to give love to our sidewalks. The stuff left in snow fell thru as ice thawed and now it's a Cambodia of sidewalk dodging the lil land mines.

I hope you guys got a tiny bit of thaw up there at least.
Caseworker claims my son does play in yard, it must be so snowy!!

Hoping for the best for you all.

[Spiritwind]

I look out the window to see tiny snowflakes gently falling from the sky. It is supposed to warm up a bit today, and I am hoping this will be a continuing trend. Haven't felt inclined to write much as of late. I don't want to sound repetitive, and, let's face it, some things about farm life are very much the same every day. Plus, I don't want to sound like I am complaining, even though I sometimes do to myself as I am pulling buckets of ice over the fence to replace with fresh drinkable water in four different places. The raw beauty of being here helps. But it has been a long cold winter and I sense that all my furry friends and I are very much ready for the big melt down. Although, then I will probably be complaining about all the mud.

Because that 8 inches or so of compact snow and ice are going to turn into one big soupy mess when it thaws out. I have left the girls I wanted to breed with the bucks for a full 22 days and it is time to separate them again to their respective areas. The girls will be happy, and boys will be sad. Oh well. It is also time to try and get some good pictures of those who will be going to new homes this spring. That is always a hard time for me, because I know I can't keep them all, and I want them all to go to good homes that will at least receive the level of care I have provided for them. So far I have felt pretty good about all that have moved on since I started all this. Except for one, but that is another story. Don't ever buy a buck that supposedly can be registered without having the paperwork in hand. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I went out to feed everyone, and walk up the road to haul back some water in the sled. It works great because the return trip is all downhill and the sled goes all by itself. And the gently falling snow has turned into a blizzard of sorts. The wind is blowing pretty good and the snow has picked up in velocity by a considerable degree. And only the die-hards are still out eating hay. The rest are peaking out their shelters with wistful looks in their eyes. Probably won't be moving any goats around today.

I must peel a bunch of apples to make more applesauce, a favorite of mine as of late. I eat copious amounts of it with plain yogurt and it is so yummy and good for you. No sweeteners of any kind added, just plain ole cooked apples with a good dash of cinnamon. I have had to get more mindful of what I eat these days. I know how to eat for health, but sometimes lack the necessary discipline to practice what I preach. I know I'm not alone in this. And, of course, I often feel as though I am swimming against the tide as the programming since birth is all about eating for taste, and getting it quick and easy, and already prepared. Even if you grew up on a farm, as I did, there was a big helping of meat with every meal. I'm not putting anyone down for the way they eat, for there is no one right way, and everyone has somewhat different needs. Plus, I know it's not just what you eat, but how you eat it as well. An often totally missed part of the whole picture.

But, for me, it's an everyday planning event so that I have more control over what I put into my body, and don't fall down on the job. Which happens when the budget is lean, but especially when I have a full day of activities away from home. Trying to get a good meal at any local eating establishment where we live, if you're trying to carefully pick and choose what you eat, is not an easy undertaking. It didn't used to be that way. I don't know what happened, but back in the late 70's and early 80's there were a lot of little mom and pop cafes with really good offerings. Back then there were a lot of Food Co-ops to choose from too. They have pretty much disappeared, although just lately making a slow comeback. Not so much Food Co-ops, but at least a better selection of bulk foods and such. Even Winco has bulk organic raw honey, which makes me very happy. I'm not happy to have found out that most brands of so-called pure olive oil are anything but. Makes me want to renew my Costco card, but only for one item? I don't know.

Anyway, I'm gonna get to work, but when I come back I'll write a bit of an update about our neighbor, Dick, who has focused his unhappy gaze our way again. Yes, even in the country there can be little mini dramas and a soap opera like atmosphere. Ah, the spice of life.....

[Naga_Fireball]

Dearest Laurie, Extremely anxious ofc to hear wtf that guy is up to up the road. Offers of ass kicking are still open, lol.



The water situation sounds so rough. You guys are such dedicated people, those goats looked very happy and content, almost like a petting zoo level of cuteness haha.

Thank you for writing your farm experience, it's Not boring, it's like Jack London or,something very good reading, don't knock yourself! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also sorry to be bossy but don't feel bad telling the story of "Dick", as his behavior has become criminal

[Spiritwind]

It's funny as I sit here thinking about what to write in regards to our current dilemma with our neighbor, Dick, up the road. This is one of those situations that shows me, personally, what I still need to work on, because in all honestly it depends on which me you talk to as to how I would describe the situation. The bigger me, that always strives to see the bigger picture, of course, asks what does this situation have to teach me, and why am I creating this for myself. How can I move myself back to a place of neutrality, where I do not feel such a strong urge to react?

And the other part of me gleefully commiserates with my husband and neighbor about all we could do to make this guy psychologically go over the edge for causing us such grief. And how can we do it without getting ourselves in trouble. The cattle guards and gates are discussed again.

In truth though, there is a Dick in everyone's life, sometimes more than one. I'm not particularly religious, but I do remember reading in the bible about Jesus talking about how easy it is to love those who are family members and/or are easy to love. How easy it is to love those who love you back. And I'm not talking about mushy human conditional love. I'm talking more about love as a way of life, as a way of being. You see, that is what I strive for, even though it isn't always easy, and sometimes it's downright hard. I don't have to like Dick, but it would be helpful to move out of a reactive angry I hate living down the road from you state.

I mean, this is the kind of guy who would get a sick smile on his face as he was sending someone to the gallows. Well, he crossed the border, or, such and such behavior will not be permitted. Who died and made him king of the hill?!

That is not to say I can't see where he is coming from, at least to a very small extent. He doesn't want to walk outside in the morning and see a big old pile of dog poop, or urine stained snow right in his line of sight when he doesn't have a dog. The problem is, he verbally agreed to give us until this spring, since he knew we were moving, to get a fence up down the road on the property we had purchased. He is also fully aware that the ground is frozen solid and it would be next to impossible to pound in fence posts right now. He has 50 mostly unfenced acres that kind of winds slightly around our neighbor and friends property, who doesn't mind the dogs at all, and his property also connects to ours on one side. I guess bear, coyote, moose, deer, cougar, turkey, and whatever other animals travel through there are okay to poop and pee on his property. Just not our dogs. It's actually only one of ours, the big male, that feels the need to go up there a couple times a week to mark territory. I'm sure our dog Ranger feels he is doing just what he is supposed to do to keep the predators away.

And the funniest thing of all is, I just found out Dick's nephew who has been staying up there to take care of his handicapped mother has been peeing a lot outside, in the snow. So, some of the urine he is complaining about probably isn't even our dog doing it. If that isn't hilarious, I don't know what is. And we've just had a major snow storm so it's going to be at least another day or two before we can put up the cattle panels to try and keep Ranger home until we can get a real fence up.

And I'll keep working on finding that place in between. In between getting even, and doing nothing. That place of neutrality so the decisions I make are done with a cool head and understanding heart. I did write him a Dear Dick letter. So he at least can't claim he doesn't know how I feel. It felt good to speak my truth, even if it didn't exactly smooth things over this time. Sometimes, you just gotta let the chips fall where they may. As always, a work in progress.

[Spiritwind]

There are many days that go by on the farm where there isn't much going on, other than the daily routine. An interesting day for me is often when one of our furry friends makes a break for it. Like a few days ago, when I got up to look out the window to see where Freckles the POA was and what she was doing. My husband had taken her fresh water before leaving for work but did not throw her any hay. Big mistake. So, I'm looking out the window and don't see her. I open the curtain on the other window and she not on the other side either. Groan. I suit up and go outside, and there she is hanging by the goats. It's not hard to get her back in. A little grain takes you just about anywhere you want to go.

The fence charger doesn't work when the snow builds up so high it's hitting the lower wire, so we had to disconnect it. But, she likes to test it now and then, and as soon as she knows it's not working she gets uppity. And then, later in the day, when we're out there working on the electric fence, we see Cry Baby, one of the goats, running around pretty as you please. We put her back in wondering how she could have got out. We turn our backs for a few minutes and she is out again. So we decided to make sure we paid attention this time. Turns out the snow and hay has built up so high in front of their feeder she can jump up on top of it and then over the fence she goes. You could tell she was quite pleased with herself. Fixed that route of escape.

And now I'm watching our dog Ranger run frantically around trying to figure out how to get out of the fence panels we put up for him, to keep him from going up to Dicks and pooping by his shop. We can't put up the other fencing we have until the ground thaws and don't want to push our luck. We had a visit by the county sheriff on Sunday, and were given one more chance to do something. Next time will be a ticket for sure. It makes me very sad though, because Ranger just thinks he's doing his job and he is clearly confused about why he can't do it. He's never even had a collar on. He is out there tearing up the tarp we left for him to lay on. At least we were able to put the fence panels up in such a way that he can sleep in part of the hay shelter we made, and his partner, Misha, can lay next to him on the other side of the fence. The neighbor got a game watching camera just so he could prove it was our dog that was going up there, and I guess Misha is not going with him, so at least she gets to remain free. I just hope it thaws out soon, so we can get the other fencing up. And, I got the ad in to sell a few of the goaties. Always hard to do, but it will be a relief to get the numbers down again. You wouldn't think it would make that much difference, but it does.

And the best thing that has happened in the last few days is that my husband finally got a good day to build the frame to hold the solar panels we have had since last fall, and complete all the wiring into the battery bank we had. And we have a nice sunny day to charge them. Can't wait to see what a difference this will make. We only have 4 panels and four batteries so far, but made enough room to add two more of each. Then we will work on getting a wind turbine going and hooked into the system. Well, and get the well plumbed in too. A lot of work ahead for us indeed. At least I'm not sitting here watching it snow more and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Yippie!

[Naga_Fireball]

Dearest Spiritwind, Freckles and Cry Baby are awesome.

So sad and angry about the neighbor and his disgusting behavior. I wonder why the dog bothers him so much. It's good to keep the predators away from your animals and you have the right to do so.

I wish something would happen to Dick so you guys could have peace in your lives at home on your property. He must have really nasty karma to be so concerned and distracted by every little thing.

A fist fight can solve a lot of problems actually, my great grandfather had to put a neighbor on his back once wjen he caught him moving the fence line.

Super happy that husband was able to put up those panels, he is amazing

I hope it's awesome. I wish we could do a GoFundMe to build cool stuff for you guys. I am always impressed, and my gramps would be utterly fascinated by new technology in a rustic setting.