Farm Life

[Spiritwind]

I have a serious case of brain fog and have for some time now. I'm guessing it has a lot to do with the amount of fine particles we are all breathing from the endless fires and the thick blanket of smoke that seems to be here to stay. Let's see if I can actually hold a thought long enough to write a bit more this morning. So the day before I took Romeo, Juliet, and Jasmine to their new home last week, I took Romeo and Cry Baby's two little boys to be banded. No baby making for them. But their chances of having a good long life are much better this way. It is unfortunate in the livestock world that animals are still looked at as just merely being a resource that exists for mankind's benefit. There are a few who determine to keep a few to the end of their life, regardless of their presumed value, but there are others who have no problem sending them off to be disposed of basically when they no longer "put out".

This does bother me, but I have long since realized that it's not my job, nor is it even realistic, to think I can change the world to be a more ethical and kind place. It is, after all, a predatory world we live in. But I can choose to live according to my own inner values as best I can. I guess if enough of us do that it might actually have a positive effect, at least on a few who we encounter in our everyday life. My two oldest does, Firefly and Cry Baby, I plan to keep their entire life. They are five and six years old now, and generally speaking, can be bred until about nine years old, depending on their overall health. Some people will keep breeding until they basically die birthing, which is not my idea of good management. I skipped one year with Cry Baby, and would have done so too with Firefly, except she somehow got over the fence to be with the buck that year and got pregnant anyway. But they are my friends and I am grateful everyday for our mutual exchange.

I cannot keep them all though, and so my next project is to try and get some good pictures of the two little wethers I want to sell as a pair for pets and weed eaters. They are on the move almost constantly, which makes getting a good picture actually rather hard to do, and nobody wants to see a picture of them laying down. I also want to sell one of Firefly's two girls and one of the bucks I have, Jupiter. Jupiter is a smaller buck with short legs and due to the rather rich third cutting hay I got last time got pretty rotund. I am trying to get him to loose a bit of weight before listing him, because right now he almost looks like one of those pot belly pigs. Both of the bucks, not counting the new one I got earlier this year, are related to everyone out there now, and they have both produced some outstanding offspring. So it's time to let at least one of them go to make some babies for someone else's herd. I hope I can pull this off in the next month or so, or I will end up feeding him all winter, and numbers do count when it comes to the feed bill.

And, well, as any goat owner knows, it's hard not to want to make occasional additions to your herd for no good reason at all. I actually do want another good milker like Firefly, so I made the mistake of looking at all this years mini Lamanchas when I went to have the boys banded. There were two I liked immediately, and the one was exceptionally friendly. That's what you look for because not all goats just jump on the milk stand and don't have a problem with you messing around with their udders. In fact, some really don't like it at all. And, since I don't have hobbles, it's not fun when you get a nice pail of milk and they stick their foot in it. She is going to let me make payments. My husband, being the impractical and indulgent husband he is, said "why don't you get two?". Uh, because I shouldn't really even be getting one.

And I can't say enough about the herbal dosage balls I make to worm the goats. Two of the little orphans got the runs at different times, which is common especially when getting formula. Even though I mixed it half and half with the milk I get from Firefly, they have a fairly delicate digestion system that can be easily upset. Coccidia is the most likely cause, and even goat owners who vaccinate yearly can have this occur, especially those who pull all the babies at birth. Both times I administered the wormwood for three days as directed and it cleared right up. All the babies that were left with their moms have done great this year, I am happy to say. Even Cry Baby's who had to be bottle fed for a few days. Now if I could just find a line on some affordable non GMO grain. It's unfortunate the one place I was getting it from, at least sporadically, went out of business. They don't make it easy on you.

Which brings me to a topic not really related to the farm, but on my mind nonetheless. I have mentioned before that my grandson has been diagnosed as ADHD and has been on medication for years now. Well, mom talked to the doctor about taking further action to modify his behavior to suit the needs of pretty much everyone besides himself. And now they have decided to add a blood pressure medication to potentiate the other medication. You know, we got to have a kid who doesn't have what someone else has determined is excess energy. And being able to sit for hours and stare ahead to listen to mind numbing useless information is considered a virtue in our society. And, of course, mom at home doesn't want to be bothered by his need for individual attention. Do I sound kind of upset? I guess I am. Seems to me this experimenting with our children this way is seriously messed up. The first thing I noticed last time I picked him up since they started this new regime, is that he didn't smile or laugh. He was very monotone, and had kind of a blank look in his eye that concerned me greatly.

His mother knows we object to giving him medication when he is with us, and quit giving it to us a long time ago. So when she insisted he needed to keep this regime up even on the weekends I didn't want to launch into a tirade in front of him on all the reasons I still disagree, now more so than ever. But I did actually forget to give him the nightly portion of the blood pressure medication (he does NOT have high blood pressure!) both nights he was here and noticed a return to his normal self by the next day. He has a great sense of humor, and is one of the things I love about him. It was nice to see him laugh and smile again. I could go on a long tirade about this, but I really need to get outside and get my stuff done for the morning so have to go. Until next time, have a great day everyone! It is still good to be here, living out my portion of the story of us.

[Spiritwind]

I have tried to add this last bit here about a half dozen times and I keep getting logged out. It does this sometimes, and I have no idea why. So I'm going to see if it works if I just make it another post.

There is one other thing I forgot to mention. Two days ago we woke up to see that it had rained earlier that morning, which surprised us because there hadn't been any rain in the forecast and we hadn't had any in a long time. Turns out it only rained right where we are and in a small surrounding area. When I asked others the next day they looked at me funny, like they thought I was making it up. I wonder if it had anything to do with the cloud buster?

[Spiritwind]

Just got done with my morning chores and have much to write about. Yesterday I sold Cry Baby's two little wethers and their sister and mom have been crying ever since. I am very happy because they went home with a young couple with three kids who live on ten acres and are very excited to have them. I am also sad because I still worry about how they will adjust and feel bad for mom. Goats do form strong bonds with one another, and their people too. I guess that is one of the reasons I like to leave the babies with their mom as long as possible, and even try to sell mom and daughter pairs if I can.

I have been working with Jinjer who has been skittish even before giving birth. She has come around a lot but gets pushed around by the two older does. I did have her with Mamas Girl which was a much better pairing but then she died and I don't have any other two year olds to put her with. I am still going to do a switcheroo here soon and put her with Cry Baby's other daughter who is a year old, and then maybe she will quit being so herky jerky. Speaking of which, I am finally getting her to where she will let me trim her hooves without being such a butthead, but then I got quite the ride when I tried to put her back in the pen this morning. Like, I got drug around on the ground for about 4-5 feet. She is strong, like her mother was. My husband, had he been there, would have told me to let go, which probably would have been the smart thing to do, but I didn't want to let that goat get my goat!

This last weekend, while we still had the tractor here, we cleaned out the bucks pen. I would have almost crippled myself had I done it all by hand, so I was pretty happy about that too. Even though it was quite stressful because we took the pen down and they just ran around for about four hours with my grandson chasing them around. They got quite a workout! And so did I! I lost my brother in my adopted family due to a farm accident where my dad backed over him with some heavy equipment because he didn't know he was there. So I was quite hyper vigilant about knowing where my grandson and the two bucks were at all times. Think I will do things differently next time. But we got it done and added another fence panel to give them more room. Jupiter is finally slimming down some so maybe I can get him sold before winter sets in, and I'm putting Raven over the with them this weekend. And Jupiter even let me and my husband trim his hooves without being on the stanchion (he doesn't like his head being held stationary), which was a minor miracle in itself.

We also started putting the big barn back together and my husband is adding a porch and a partial wood floor in there, which will be another great improvement, and then I can move my funky stanchion cover over to the boys area and use it to cover the other stanchion. That way I might even be able to keep up on the boys hooves better this winter. I couldn't even get in the gate for a couple months last year due to all the snow and the gate being frozen to the ground. And, I managed to dig out along one of the other pens so I can enlarge that area too. Since I have a bit of arthritis in my hands and wrists, as well as a bit of bursitis in my right elbow, I get rewarded with pain for my efforts, but it is still worth it. Every little thing we got done will make it easier in the future to maintain what we have according to at least my own standards.

The most exciting thing of all, though, is we should be receiving the correct starter for our tractor today. We found a place that actually builds them for old tractors like this and even though we paid more than we wanted it will at least give us the opportunity to get it going again and sell it to someone who wants to constantly tinker and find parts for such an antique. And, when we finally get another one in a year or two we won't be letting out neighbor borrow it. My husband might do a job he wants done for him, but no more handing over the key. The whole idea with getting that tractor was so I wouldn't have to work so physically hard and be able to keep up on things. I can't even tell you have grateful I am to have met someone who has one that we could use for this year.

We still have wood to cut for the winter, and the wood stove to install, but at least it is all looking within the realm of possible accomplishment. I keep hearing people talk about having another hard winter. I don't think it ever possible to be totally prepared for anything. You just do the best you can. But we should be in a lot better shape than last year, at the very least. And, we might even get a snow blower that someone is talking about just giving to us. Wouldn't that be something! Not counting my chickens before they hatch though, or any more spending the money in my head before the goats sell. I think I learned my lesson this year. Although, the ad for the two little boys I just sold had only been up for four days, so ya just never know. The fickle fate of farmers, LOL.

[Spiritwind]

Taking stock of the past week since I last posted here, as I sip my morning coffee and keep swatting at the fly that is determined to camp out on my head (that fly is going to die!). It's a smokey morning again, which I have no doubt is partially behind my constantly plugged sinuses and runny nose. I have killed massive numbers of flies here lately, and no matter how many I kill, there seem to be two more to take each ones place. We really didn't have a problem with them until recently. And next year I am determined to try out using fly predators to keep the population down. I'm not fond of flies.

We turned our 5th wheel around and now I have a view of Mt. Spokane right out the front window. But it's funny how disorienting such a change can be. It makes me realize how much we often do on auto pilot. Now we have to change our routine a bit, and I'm having to retrain myself. We run off the solar for about 6 hours a day, and then just run off the batteries at night to save money on operating the generator all the time. Eventually we hope to enlarge our system so we don't have to use the generator hardly at all, except to run the well pump. In the meantime, we have a switch my husband installed to turn the 5th wheel's inverter off when the solar inverter is on. For some reason, since it is now facing a different direction, I find myself forgetting about this switch all the time. All of this is a little more work than just being hooked up to the local power company, but worth it in the long run.

It is interesting to see how all these seeming conveniences have shaped our lives. They are always promoted as improvements, but in the end they are all about profit, for someone at least. They are all designed to make you dependent on the system. Out here, they even charge a monthly fee just to be hooked up to the power company, whether you use any power or not. And, that cost just keeps going up. When the neighbor's bought the property right next door, the power company came out and put in a transformer and ran the wire, to the tune of about 10 grand. And they ran enough wire to hook us up too, in anticipation of us doing the same. And I'm sure they would have charged us the same, even though most of the wire to hook us up was already there. Sorry to disappoint them. Not.

I have been going out to just sit in the goat pen with the moms and kids lately, and a couple days ago was rewarded with a big dose of goat sweetness. We have four kids left, all doelings. Two of Firefly's, Josephine and Bella, then Cry Baby's daughter, Bambi, and Miracle, Jinjer's daughter. Bella had already warmed up to me big time, but the other three were still acting kind of spooky around me. On this day, though, Bella climbed right up in my lap, chewed on my hair and clothes a bit, then her sister was all over me too. Bambi came over to check things out, then crawled up in my lap too, after Bella got down. Then finally even Miracle came over and had to get in on the action. It was like all of the sudden they must have figured I was one of the herd. And I was in heaven, for just a bit.

Jupiter, one of our two adult bucks, is finally slimming down enough to put up for sale. Even though he is stinky, and related to most everyone now and I know I have to move him on, it sort of makes me sad, because he is actually very sweet in temperament too. Even though he wouldn't get up on the milk stanchion, he let me trim his hooves with just some grain and my husband holding onto him. Not nearly as bad as we had feared. Even though these are miniature goats, the boys are very strong from all the head butting they do when the girls come into heat. My husband has been taken for a ride before. And little Mr. Raven will be joining them in the next day or two. He is big enough now, and is starting to act more like a buck all the time. Then I can do the big switcheroo and move all the girls around into a better configuration. I'll probably be bringing home our new addition in about three weeks and need to make sure she can be with the younger ones so she doesn't get beat up. And then I can separate Jinjer from the two older girls too. Once winter hits, I won't be able to move things around easily, so already looking ahead. Last winter, with frozen gates etc., will not be repeated.

[Spiritwind]

All this also makes me think of our ancestors (again), and how much they had to arrange their lives around the seasons. Back in the day, poor preparation could mean death. On the other hand, people were much more adaptable, resilient, and able to think for themselves. What constitutes progress for some, seems like a step backwards for others. I don't like giving my power away to the god want to be's of today. It may feel like swimming upstream when everyone else is happily flowing downstream, but I just know I feel much more confident in my ability to pay attention to the signs of the times and act accordingly than I did when I was still trying to fit into society's expectations of me. This is my life, dammit, not yours!

And that is really what it all comes down to. My whole life is a statement to those want to be's who imagine themselves somehow rightly in control of humanity on such a large scale. It has only happened because we have allowed it. And they are all inbred psychopaths, which I have seen repeatedly throughout my life. I am not a lemming, and I won't happily follow the pied piper off the proverbial cliff.

That is why both my husband and I have striven to create the life we want, even if the road to create that is full of detours and booby traps. Even they are probably a necessary part of the journey to experience the fruits of what we have created, not just in the now, but in the whole of possibilities we imaged into being, which can span multiple reality constructs and time coordinates. And, as LostNFound so aptly said about his own life in a different thread today, I have immense gratitude for currently having someone so in synch with myself to share the journey with. I have no doubt that we have shared much that goes far beyond this current lifetime, and we don't often get to have such good old friends in our lives. Most of the time, that feeling of recognition we get with certain people is due to the unfinished business from other experiences that held a great deal of trauma. I don't want to re-experience all of them is this lifetime to heal them, so I have opted for a better way.

It's like I can suspend my immersion in this reality, to consider and experience multiple realities at the same time. So I'm getting better at seeing how everything we experience is related to everything else, and that its ramifications are not bound in this reality construct and time period. If that makes any sense. Even my choice to raise goats in this lifetime is tied to multiple other experiences in my memory bank, not from this lifetime alone. As different memories surface, regardless of any provable reality, I find I can follow the threads that have woven us into the patterns we current exist in. And I can pull on those threads, and reuse that energy that was tied up into holding that pattern into place, and create something more in line with who I have become, rather than a regurgitation of who I have been. Again, I hope that makes sense to someone besides myself.

I have to admit, being alone so much of the time has given me a lot of opportunities to reflect. Being reflective in nature, it is a good fit for me, even though I occasionally miss a more socially active lifestyle. I did actually meet some really good people during my short time of having meetings with my online local meet-up group I had for awhile. In fact, a wonderful relationship is growing from that, in which the spirit of working in a way that mutually benefits the community is becoming something of beauty to behold. It makes me think of the community barn raising events that the Amish people engage in. So, this young couple will probably come help us get wood in this fall, in exchange for getting some firewood for themselves for the winter. I love that they think in such a progressive way, and it does give me hope for the future, as it will be the young people who lead the way, as they are already doing.

I say this due to the interest I have seen when looking in multiple directions. There are many who see that the answer to our dilemma in the now is to move back into a more self reliant lifestyle, regardless of the many ways in which this can be accomplished. In other words, each individual who has retained or regained their ability to problem solve rather than relying on an outside source to come and save them, is creating a different future than what they, the powers that be, have in mind for us. And the realization that we have to learn to work together, which goes in the opposite direction of the ridiculous and ego serving concept of looking out only for the self.

It makes me think of train tracks, for some reason, and how when a train continuously uses the same track, the levers that allow you to change the track you are on becomes rusty and hard to turn. So if you don't take some time to lube it up and get it loosened up, you'll miss those opportunities when they do arise, because your lever to change tracks doesn't work anymore. I think that's why I see so many people stuck in a rut. These are the people I see who talk a lot about the things they are going to do to change their life, and then never follow through on the action required in the real world to make that happen. As I heard, recently, in a recording I listened to, you have to sometimes allow and even put yourself into a situation of discomfort, to change the course you are on. If the path you want to take has become overgrown and difficult, you may have to hack a lot of brush down to clear it for travel (or get goats, LOL). And that is the path that leads to our own inner knowing. It's like this reality has been telling everyone to forget how to fish, so they can rely on an outside source to provide that fish, rather than realizing that they have been tricked and say "screw off, I don't want your fish". Of course, since the fish sellers continue to get rich from this approach, they are not going to welcome those of us who not only continue to fish for ourselves, but are willing to teach others how to fish.

Wow, I went a long ways off track there! Train tracks and fishing, where do I get this stuff! I do laugh at myself frequently, I truly do. By the way, ever since Fukushima, I have kind of sworn off of fish. If you research this at all, you will totally get where I'm coming from. Maybe glowing in the dark would reduce our need for outside light, but that's not the kind of glowing I want to do. Can you say "frankenfish?"

[Spiritwind]

A current picture of Raven at about 6 months old. He's looking good.




And a early morning picture of the sun this morning too.

[Sandy Clark]

Oh boy he is so shiney and looking handsome and healthy...he will be popular with the girls. and maybe the boys too as I hear goats can be pretty ranchy in getting their needs met... LOL

Love your off track stories as it is like sitting in the kitchen at the table over a coffee and sharing chit chat that leads to understanding and learning in such an easy and entertaining way....I think you should be blogging Dear Sister as you really do have a talent in your sharing and putting it on paper. Definitely grounds me and brings the real meaning of life back into play if I am out of sorts.

Love the pics and patiently waiting to see that mountain that you now look at outside your window .....Blessings abound from walking the path of inner yearning and joy is your reward for all your hard work me thinks. I agree, You and Hubby create it all including the blessings and joy and oh Yah some S**T too.... but then just think how puny and ugly roses would be without manure to make them grow beautiful and strong.

A current picture of Raven at about 6 months old. He's looking good.




And a early morning picture of the sun this morning too.

[Spiritwind]

I don't have much time this morning as I have a busy day ahead. There won't be any pictures of Mt. Spokane in the distance any time soon. We had maybe a week of clearer skies, and now back to so much smoke in the air you can't even see the mountain. I swear, they are either trying to burn them out in one part of the country, and trying to flood them out in the other. And, I spent a few days cleaning up a pen getting ready to move goats around, and must have breathed in a heavy dose of mold. Between that and the smoke I have been feeling a bit out of it lately. I need to wear a face mask, but they are uncomfortable to wear. On the other hand, I'm not particularly enjoying the headache and tiredness from not getting enough oxygen to my brain.

The one thing I am enjoying immensely is our new little kitten. She is 3 months old, and a Manx. My husband had one many years ago and told this little story to our daughter, who is likewise very sentimental. I had happened to mention I saw a couple kittens on Craigslist, and then next thing you know, we're on our way to pick her up. I didn't even know how much I would fall in love with this little girl. Oh my!



It actually really helps my moral, as some days it's hard to want to even engage the world here these days. I won't go on a rant (don't have time anyway) about why I feel that way, but most anyone posting here on EE knows exactly what I am talking about. Strange strange world we live in, with common sense having flown the coop for the most part. Every single person I talk to here, without exception, agrees that it is not the same as it used to be. And when I mention the fact that no matter which side of the political fence you are on (or maybe no political fence at all), it's shaping up in a most bizarro fashion, I get a most emphatic response of agreement. Had to renew auto insurance and had fun talking to the agent in there. And the horse farrier, a guy who is probably in his 80's just shook his head. They don't say much, because they don't even want to get started on what they really think. Interesting observation though.

I'm planning to take my grandson to the Spokane Indian Pow Wow this weekend. I'm excited because I haven't been able to go in about 15 years, and he's never been to one. That should help bring my psyche back into balance. Drumming always does. Wish I could write more, but gotta go. Hope everyone has a good weekend, and "may the force be with us all!".

[Sandy Clark]

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[Sandy Clark]

I'm sending a part of me to go to the Pow Wow too. It has been a long time for me attending one as well and I could use the grounding these days and feel that sense of rejuvenation a Pow Wow emits. The Jingle Dancers are my favorite, simple, clean and very much connected to the drum beat.

Have an okay busy week and hope you are feeling the energy come back soon with that smoke/mold angst abating.