Farm Life

[Spiritwind]

Greetings! Many people in the US will be celebrating Thanksgiving with their families today. I realize for many it is also a time of sorrow, as the holiday as presented to us is not truthful, and behind it is the genocide of much of the population that was here before the Pilgrims arrived on the scene (this has been done over and over, all over the world, so none of us are exempt). Having grown up as a Jehovah’s Witness I was taught a great deal about all our holidays, so learned early on the fabricated nature of most all of them. For me, though, I will take every opportunity to share food with friends and family, cultivate stronger bonds of caring with those in my life, and express gratitude for the many blessings I have received from nature and the spirit world. I can’t right the wrongs of the past, or even of the present, but I can interject a different presence, and a different energy. As much as there is the dark magic of hate, lies, and harm, there is also the energy of love, healing, gratitude, and forgiveness. White magic, if you will. It has everything to do with what you focus on. I’m sharing an old photo from the early 80’s of me and my sister and our 4 oldest children, my two boys, and her daughter and son, along with our grandmother. For about 20 years my sister was not in my life, due to her choice, but about three years ago she came back in to my life, and I feel immense gratitude and happiness about that. Patience is indeed a virtue.

My heart goes out to all who are suffering in these dark times. If you see someone in need, don’t walk on by. It’s up to each of us to create a different reality. It’s up to us to hold onto what makes humans worthy of saving, and embracing our more virtuous qualities. Giving thanks is something we can do every day. Much love to all....

[Spiritwind]

I’m sipping coffee, contemplating my next task today. My friend came out yesterday, and helped me finish cleaning most of the pen Bob and M&M were in. It was quite a mountain of poop/hay we got out of there, but it went so much more quickly with help. I’m probably going to go finish it here shortly, and at least get the fence put back together. The stuff is all there to build a shelter, but highly doubt I will get that done today. I already went down and mucked out the inside of the big barn this morning. I had to do it, because I am going to move Dotty in there for some extra care. She just this last week or so has been losing weight and not looking so hot. Her poop is fine (that is something you look at with goats), her energy and appetite is up, and I did worm them recently too. What I’ve found though, is that some goats just have greater nutritional requirements. Bob was one of those goats, and did start to look much better after getting more minerals, diatomaceous earth, grain, selenium, wormer, and copper, than I was giving everyone else. It did take a while, but his coat and weight did a major turn around. Unfortunately his front leg didn’t improve.

I’ve learned a ton this last few years, keeping goats, about what it really takes to raise healthy animals, and some of it has caused a great deal of anxiety and stress. Sometimes I feel the weight of my responsibility to these animals acutely. It’s very humbling too, especially acknowledging my errors in judgement, or lack of awareness and slow response time to completing certain tasks. It’s also humbling accepting my limitations, and sometimes my inability to see that I’ve taken on too much and feeling stuck. In those times, I have to wait until the conditions to accomplish what I know needs to be done are more favorable, which stretches my ability to be patient. To sit with discomfort, and making note to do certain things differently so as to not have a repeat. For when I repeat painful experiences that could be avoided, I admit I do feel kinda stupidio. I can handle it now though, for the most part, and just move on, but I try not to do it too often. I can make mistakes and still love and forgive myself. I’d rather be honest, than cling to the need to believe I am right, and project responsibility and blame somewhere else. There seems to be an epidemic of that lately. Yes, I have noticed....

It’s the next day now and I’m sipping my coffee (again) while waiting for it to get a little lighter out, before heading out to feed the critters. It snowed a bunch last night, and still is. This makes me quite happy I pushed myself yesterday to finish the pen I was working on. It was nice to have help from my husband, who would not have been home to help just a few weeks ago. Otherwise I would probably be even in worse shape physically than I am. My neck, shoulders, back and hands are still trying to tell me all about it, but at least he pounded all the fence posts in. And the shelter won’t be hard to put together since I have it all ready and covered the area with a tarp yesterday afternoon. Good thing, because I can’t put goats in a shelter full of snow! I did get Dotty moved into the barn, too, though her and her daughter, Dahlia, are not too happy about it. At least now I can give her more individualized attention. And as soon as I finish the shelter, I can move the younger two boys over there. Then, I can hopefully just take my time cleaning the pen they are currently in. It truly never ends.

As much as people aren’t fond of shoveling shit, and I can’t hardly even pay someone to help me with it, it is strangely gratifying to observe a job well done, and at least be able to focus my attention and do something productive. I can’t do anything, really, about the shit show going on in the outer world, but it’s strangely symbolic to take care of and clean up the shit in my own life. And turning it all in to immensely productive fertile soil for gardens is even more gratifying. Which is exactly what I’m going to dream, plan, and imagine into reality this next year. More gardens! I talked to my husband about digging out the area around the well head, since it’s already four feet deep, by about four feet square. If we dug it down a couple more feet, and extended it out on the sides, I could use that space as kind of a root cellar to preserve more produce in. It would be a lot better than having big crates at the end of my bed I have to crawl over.

It’s hard to believe we have been here on this property for five years now. I did give our four chickens away. I told a friend I was going to have another couple who raise rabbits and chickens (the same folks I got the chickens from) to lop their heads off and put them in the freezer, but she ended up taking them to some other folks with a bunch of chickens who were happy to have more. I don’t think I’m going to get more next year, either. I love the eggs but know quite a few people I can get eggs from. They did dig relentlessly, and I found even the space I created for them surrounding the garden areas I had in front of their shelter and coop area were getting dug in to. They dug so much it made it hard to walk in there, and not having to shovel a pathway through the snow, and change out their frozen waterer a couple times a day brings a slight bit of relief. With as much cleanup as I have to do already, I also won’t miss cleaning the coop. It was a seriously dusty job, that made my sinuses inflamed every time. I can’t believe my friend is even more of a bleeding heart than I am. And, as much as I considered getting four new ones in the spring, and trying to get them to be a little friendlier by getting them younger, and maybe even convince the dogs they don’t want to eat them, do I really want to put that much time and energy in to it? I definitely couldn’t ever have let these girls out to free range, which is really what they deserve. I guess we’ll see if the need in the future is big enough to reconsider. For now, I have enough on my plate.

And I remember when I used to sort of complain about the neighbor’s dog barking hysterically at me every morning (and much of the day, and even into the night). I guess they are getting a dose of it right back, now that Nahla has grown enough to realize her job here, and is taking it quite serious. She is a barker. I think she will calm down over time, and honestly that IS her job. It doesn’t help when the neighbors, who party almost every weekend, actually stand out there and taunt her, like it’s funny or something. They like to start whooping it up in late evening and well into the night. They race around on their motorcycles, four wheeler, and snow mobiles, have big bon fires where they like to yell like they are berserkers or something, and have loud music. Don’t know if they are naked. I hope not. And, they like to fire their weapons off the porch at all odd hours. So I don’t feel too bad about our dog barking. A tree just happened to get blown over recently, almost right where the boarder is between our two properties, which actually helps muffle the sound, and provides a good visual that helps avoid boarder skirmishes. Their dog used to try and come over and actually try to get our dogs riled up, and now it’s just not so easy to do.

We were going to go to the Freedom Market today, but glad we decided not to. I don’t want to drive that far in the snow again, especially when it’s likely to be hardly anyone showing up. Everyone is very busy these days, and markets like these, unless there is a good space available, are pretty hard to keep going in the winter. Already working on plans for spring, starting in March though. And, much closer to home! I’m excited about what has been taking shape there. Not sure how the rest of life will unfold, especially with how desperate our would be controllers are to achieve their nefarious goals, or how much pushback there will actually be by those who see more clearly, or those now waking up, and whether it will be enough to stave off the worst case scenarios so many fear. I’m to the point, and have been for a long time now, where there are certain slogans and words I just don’t want to hear anymore, ever. I have my own agenda, dreams, goals, and plans to create that are most satisfying, and know where I will put my attention. I have everything I need right here to make it happen too. In my heart I know I have a great deal of unseen help, and something very wonderful has occurred in my life since being here on this land. Somehow I know, at least for me, everything is going to be ok. And now, it’s plenty light enough to get out there, even though I will have to shovel my way down there. Much love to all!

[Spiritwind]

We were supposed to be on our way out the door already, but we are waiting to run all the water out of the storage tank (for anyone who doesn’t know, yes, we still live in an RV). Long story, but briefly, we thought we needed a new water pump, but then I opened a bottom cupboard in the kitchen area yesterday evening, and found that water had sprayed all over some glassware I had down there. So my husband had me pull everything out, and discovered that the one of the hoses going to the hot water tank has a fitting leaking. He was about to take it off, and realized that it would create a siphoning effect, even with the pump turned off, and draw water from the tank. This would have obviously flooded that area, so here we sit. It seems like it’s taking forever.

It’s always something out here, it seems. Good thing we have both come a long way with handling these types of upsets with a good attitude, rather than moving into a stress and anxiety response, and more prone to anger. It doesn’t help, and I keep thinking that as we move into our continued state of instability and unpredictable change on the world stage, with unknown consequences for us all (though we can certainly speculate, which we have), being adaptable and solution oriented, as cheerfully as possible is an asset. One not many have mastered. Not that I’m fond of heating up water, and doing dishes in the tiny bathroom sink, as I had to do this morning, but what the hay. Life goes on. Aha! The water just ran out, so I guess I’ll continue this a little later. Fingers crossed that one of the few places in the small towns north of us have what we need.

Oh, and just to clarify, I have not reached some pinnacle of perfection. I’m just saying I see vast improvement as of late, in our ability to handle challenging situations. Things will still occasionally drive me to the brink, and my husband has his moments too. I never say, bring it on, I can handle anything! Life has a way of humbling, through chance or circumstance, even the most stalwart of egos, and since I still have one, I never want to get the big head, for that only invites disaster. And I do get a lot of help when I call on it, which I do very frequently. There’s a lot to clear, energy wise these days, my own, and that of the larger collective. I find some of the rhetoric I hear, from those who can’t just leave it alone, and have to blame those of us not drinking the koolaid for the sad state of affairs we find ourselves in, quite frightening. I’ve heard things like, line us up in front of a trench and firing squad, and just get rid of the lot of us. Glad I don’t feel that way about them, many of whom had their fear over health issues and need to conform heavily triggered, and complied. Some of those are not going to be quite so eager to jump in line for the endless boosters being rolled out.

Some of these people I care deeply about, and not into throwing those whose beliefs oppose mine under the bus. But then, I don’t even hate the elite bastards and the nameless one (who actually goes by many names) who stands behind them. I have so much energy to expend on a daily basis, and already have my work cut out for me. I need to focus and put my attention where it’s actually helping, rather than hurting. And some very good things are shaping up for this next year. I did go to the last members meeting at my nearby grange, and pitched the farmers market idea. They’ve had one there before, about 9 years ago, but it fizzled out. Things they are a changing, though.

It’s the next day now, and as usual, what should have been a fairly easy fix turned into anything but. The fitting my husband was trying to replace broke in half, with half of it still inside, and because it’s old and kind of brittle, was a bugger to get out. He spent, literally, all day and into the evening. He did get it out, but having to lay on the ground and work in such a tight space took a toll on his body. I swear he has the patience of Job. He will have to finish it today, and there’s probably some frozen water lines to contend with now too. And I can’t use the water in here until it’s fixed. Oh well. And....life goes on.

As I was saying about the market idea, what seemed to get everyone excited was when a young friend, who recently moved here and attended the meeting as well, piped up and talked about the Freedom Market, which he has also connected with, and how networking was just as important as whatever we each had to offer to trade, barter, and sell. And this group of people are more mainstream overall, but they noticeably perked up as you could see the lights coming on in their heads. We both talked about how important it is to get to know one another, and discover our strengths as a community. Every one has something to offer, even if they don’t know it, and, every one did seem to be aware of what is happening with the food chain as it currently exists, and the need to start filling in the gaps.

It will be interesting to see how it progresses in the coming months, as more of the shock and awe campaign gets rolled out. I definitely see more unpredictable weather and supply chain issues coming. I also see those who still, knowingly or unknowingly, are in support of the totalitarian acts of suppression and oppression going on. And this contrasts with what those who are compelled to pushback are doing, to raise awareness and stand up for those most vulnerable. I don’t live in the city, so I support what they are doing in other ways. Food and medicine, and access to health care are going to increasingly be on the hot seat, and that is where my passion and expertise lie. I feel helping to bridge the gaps between us is a good place to start. I’m not sure how mixing a Freedom Market with a traditional Farmers Market is going to work, but I’m about to find out. My husband is officially scheduled to do his solar presentation and I’m likewise scheduled to do a cheese making class at the Grange in the next couple months, so we’ll definitely be getting to know more local people.

I did move Dotty to the barn, and have been giving her extra care. She has responded very well, thankfully. I was really worried about her, but she has filled back out. I’m going to give her one more dose of selenium before putting her back with the others, and then just watch her closely. I’ve been keeping up with it all a bit better, since my husband is home more to help. My friend who I’m keeping two goats for probably won’t make it out here until spring, so I doubt I’ll get much help from her until then. Keeping up with hoof trimming, worming, and supplements is kind of a big deal, and these bigger goats do require a bit more effort I’ve noticed, and they definitely eat more. Some of the younger ones won’t take the herbal wormer medicine balls I make, so I have to kind of trick them by giving them grain with it mixed in until they get used to the taste. It’s important, because they all need extra copper, but I’ve found the only effective way to give it to them is to mix it in with the worm balls I make. I’m gaining on it though. They do ALL love grain! It just takes time and effort.

Since time seems to keep flying by, I hope I am ready for birthing to start here in March. I’m hoping that Dotty actually did not get pregnant, as I would like to give her a break, and continue to build back her core health first. Rhiannon, Branwyn, and Jewel, along with my friends goat, Aurora, are definitely pregnant, so that’s plenty anyway. And, I will definitely be moving on these extra bucks. Some of them are the ones that don’t want to take the worm medicine, and they are definitely in need of copper, so I’ve got my work cut out for me. I want them looking good. They stink really bad too, which doesn’t get anyone excited to work with them. I’m just going to put on a big garbage bag and go for it, because they need a hoof trimming and selenium as well as copper and worming.

It was quite epic going to this last Freedom Market last Saturday. I went with this same friend I mentioned, that recently moved out this way. I really wanted to go, as we were supposed to have a potluck as well, with several different but interrelated groups invited. It just so happened that we had a major snow storm happening, and I was driving our little car (Ford Focus), which I hadn’t driven in the snow in years. It’s light weight and low to the ground, so even though it’s front wheel drive and it has studded tires on, it was a hairy ride. There was about 6 inches of new snow, and no plowing was done on any of the roads, so I was literally pushing snow. Then I tried to knock the ice off of one of windshield wiper blades, and it fell off! After spending about 10 minutes trying to put it back on, I just drove the rest of the way to my friends place to see if he could put it back on for me. It turned out that he had put studded tires on his big newer pickup, and offered to drive instead. Since he’s over 6 feet tall, and his knees were in the dashboard in my little car, I readily took him up on the offer (by the way, he just slipped that wiper blade right back on there!). It took us forever to get there it seemed, and then, we were the ONLY ones who showed up! No one had the gumption to even try to drive there in that storm, even the city dwellers! It was alright, though, as I got to know my fairly new neighbor (15 minutes away on a good day is close out here), as well as the couple who roast their own organic coffee beans, who are staying with our mutual friend and organizer of the various groups. Since I can’t hear well, that was actually quite nice for me. It was great company and conversation, and I got a pound of coffee beans, some of his most awesome homemade sourdough bread, and left some of my cheese for him to sell for me. Plus, I finally got back some of my milk containers. All in all, I’m glad I went. The meeting of like minds always lifts me up and inspires me.

I now need to get busy, so will read back over this to try and catch my inevitable mistakes in grammar and spelling, and call it a wrap. See ya all next year! Oh, one last thing. My friend, and organizer of the second local freedom cell, has quite a few videos he has made, covering especially this last year of our totalitarian tiptoe (run I mean), and goes by the name of Questionable Authority. I know he posts some on YouTube, if you are at all interested in our local efforts at pushing back. Most videos just don’t want to play well, or at all, for me, so I’ve only seen a few. He’s a way shower, for sure.

[Spiritwind]

I’m doing my usual morning routine, and drinking my coffee while I try to pull it together so as to get something productive done for the day. I woke up to Tiny Dancer being in heat, and crying up a storm down in the barn. And for some reason my right shoulder hurts, though I don’t remember doing anything that should have irritated it. I guess it doesn’t take much these days. I’ve been wanting to find time to write about the last several weeks, from a farm perspective, but haven’t been able to squeeze it out. I feel tired just thinking about the work ahead, as the new season gets in to the swing of things.

We are currently still at 15 goats. It seems every time I talk about downsizing, the opposite happens. I worked at trying to get the two boys in with Rollo, Finn and M&M, to take the herbal worm medicine balls, so I could also get them copper, which I mix in with them. I was half way successful, as Finn took them readily enough, and I got both him and Rollo to take them for the three days in a row, as well as getting them up on the stanchion to trim hooves and administer selenium. They both got a good amount of the thick orange gel in their mouth this time (not that easy to do!). M&M, on the other hand, is still too slow to cooperate, as the other two gobbled their medicine balls, then tried to crowd him out, plus he still tries to get away from me when I try to pet him. I can hold my hand out, and he will come up and sniff, and maybe even nibble my hand, but he’s a wily one. And he’s a slow eater, so mixing it with his grain has been a challenge too, because the other two gobble their’s down, then want to eat his too. I’ll figure it out though. I always do.

Rollo I’m still having issues with, as his fur should be looking good, having dosed him twice now with copper in the worm medicine balls, and I know he got plenty of selenium this time. He may be another special needs goat, who just requires more care to get him in top shape. I’ve pretty much decided to sell him, but want to get him looking good first. I’ll be trying to move Finn on too, and he is looking pretty good. Maybe now there won’t be so many other bucks that look just like him for sale. He is good natured and friendly, at least. But I definitely need to get down to preferably two, but certainly no more than three bucks!

Dotty has been the other special needs case, having lost a lot of weight a while back. Thankfully, it appears she did not get pregnant, and she is actually looking pretty good, but I’m still not happy with her overall weight. I tried putting her back over with the others she had been with, but Jewel, who is very pregnant and weighty, is now pushing her around. It used to be the opposite. So, I put Dotty back in the barn and put her daughter in with her. She at least seems happier. I’ve also been putting a good amount of colloidal silver in their water for the last few days, too, hoping if there is any kind of internal infection I’m not aware of, it will help. And, I’ve noticed Jewel, who lost 3 of her 4 kids last year, is carrying them very different this time, so hoping all goes well for her. Last time, she didn’t even look pregnant really, and I couldn’t believe she had 4 in there!

Then there is Phoenix, the one I’ve been milking all winter. She had a weird thing with her udder going on, but it seems to have ran its course and cleared up. I’m not even sure what it was, as there were several possibilities, but before I could figure out how to treat it, she got better. But, in the meantime, she developed a rather severe phobia of our dog, Nahla. Nahla is still technically a puppy, being only 9 months old, but she’s almost as big as Ranger. Phoenix had a bad experience before she came here with a big white dog, so was already afraid of her. Then, I couldn’t seem to get Nahla not to come sniff around her back legs every time I went to milk her, even though I would sternly tell her to back off, and push her back out of the way. Then one morning, out of the blue, Phoenix, who usually ran right out of her pen when I opened the gate, and jumped right up on the stanchion, made me go in a grab her, and I had to drag her up there. Then she stood there and shook like a leaf the whole time, and wouldn’t eat her grain. Since my husband is now home all the time, we started locking Nahla up every day, and my husband helped me drag Phoenix up on the stanchion. We had to do this for over a week! Now, she is finally coming around.

The guy who comes and trims our POA, Freckles, hooves every spring/summer, has messaged me about her recently. His wife is a trainer, and their POA is getting to retirement age, so they are interested in maybe getting Freckles to replace her in their training program. I would be quite ecstatic if she did go to them, as she is very bored, though not unhappy. I most likely will never have the time to focus my attention on her as I should and would like to. She has been an easy keeper, and I know they would give her excellent care. She has responded very well to him these last several years since he has been trimming her hooves, so that’s a bonus as well. We were going to have to rebuild her shelter this year, as the cover over the top is shot from the cats insisting on getting up there, plus it has bowed out on the sides. The replacement top we thought we were getting ended up being the sides, so we had just put a tarp over it, to get us through the winter.

If that does come to pass, we can turn much of her area into more gardening spaces. It’s already well fertilized! Otherwise, we’ll probably just keep her, as I worry too much about letting her go to someone I don’t know. Too many horses get older, then just end up being tossed away, and go to some horrible auction. Horses develop very strong bonds, are extremely intelligent, and most certainly do have feelings. To me, they are almost like a member of the family, if they’ve been with you many years. I’ve personally seen a horse who clearly was depressed after his owner of many years sold him because he was getting too old to use in the rodeos. I don’t think he ever got over it.

A few more days have passed, and I’m going to try like heck to finish this. We finally had a sunny day yesterday, after what seemed like forever of gray cloudy days of cold, dark, and gloomy. And, it’s peaking over the horizon this morning. Lots on my mind, and it’s hard to stay focused. The big trucker convoy is happening in Canada, and it’s BIG! So glad to see people finally standing up, I can’t even tell you. In the midst of all, there are highs and lows. I fear both of my grandsons, ages 7 and 14, are going to be forced in to taking the jabs. The worst part is, they are likely being asked to lie to me about it too. I know of someone else this happened to. The parents can’t take the grandparents unleashing some truth upon them, for then they might actually feel bad. Not as bad as they are going to feel if they suddenly realize they did something to their own children that they can never take back, and they later come to regret. I can’t believe so many people just HAVE to conform, for no other reason than not being seen as different. Not because they did a lick of research into what a good number of very well credentialed doctors, specialists, scientists, and others are saying about the potential downside, but simply because the media, schools, friends, and other family members are applying pressure to do so.

I did let the goats out yesterday, but had to keep them off our access road, as it is a sheet of several inches thick of ice, all the way up and down the road. I gave it a quick try, and they were sliding all over the place. They were quite happy to get out, though. The snow is so deep off the paths, that it comes up to their bellies when they try to walk, or I should say, hop, in it. My day is filled with funny things all these animals do out here. I moved on the four chickens months ago, and am quite happy not to have to also shovel a path to their coop, and change frozen water out a couple times a day. Instead, we’ve had a flock of about 6-9 turkeys hanging out behind our hay barn and the neighbors property, and sleeping up high in the trees at night. The dogs, and the cats, have figured out that as interesting as they are, they are not ever going to actually get a meal out of them, so pretty much just leave them alone. Several times I thought there was a bunch of people talking outside, and it was the turkeys! Plus, not only do they sometimes sound like a bunch of people all talking at once, they even kind of bark. Sounds pretty close to a dog’s bark, too. And, contrary to popular opinion, they actually can fly quite well too. Not really high, or too long of distances, but higher and farther than most believe. We’ve seen them do it.

The two dogs drug home what looks like an almost complete, or used to be, hide of a coyote. Not positive, but judging from the size and fur left on it. Kind of gruesome looking, but currently it’s their favorite toy. We have a lot of hunters out here, plus a whole lot goes on out in the woods with all the predators competing for the ample wildlife in our area, that would probably bring us sleepless nights if we knew about. We have a growing boneyard out there too, much of it buried partially in the ice and snow. Can’t really clean it up yet, but I’m sure it will present quite a sight once the snow and ice finally melt.

So much on the horizon looking towards spring. I will keep my focus on what I can do, and continue building our alternative to the ensuing madness. Even though we’re two full years in to this, it’s a long way to the other side, where some semblance of balance hopefully gets restored. In the meantime, my family of choice will grow, as there are many of us hidden amongst the prevailing herd mentality playing out on the current reality channel. And we are kind of driven to seek each other out. It really does help to know I am not alone.

I’m also very thankful my husband and I are on the same page. Having him home has been quite a change. It’s harder to find time to write, especially living in such a small space. I never turn the television on during the day, and actually don’t watch it at all, except to watch an episode or two of some series we have on DVD, or perhaps a movie in the evening. He actually likes to have the noise I think, so even though we only get a hand full of channels with the antenna, he will turn it on in the afternoons sometimes. He also feels compelled to watch a bit of mainstream news. I rather despise commercials, but thankfully I can just take my hearing aids out and not look at any of it. On the other hand, it’s really awesome to have him come out and help with feeding and watering, as well as keeping us in firewood and thawing frozen everything. We do enjoy each other’s company, and help keep each other inspired and our focus on solutions.

We can also commiserate about the various tidbits of information we each pick up in our online time. We both research different things, and often come to the same conclusion, even though we arrive there by different paths. Life has actually been very kind to me, in innumerable ways, these last few years. Some of us are busy creating new pathways, that lead to a different future than the one “they” have planned for us. The more I pull my energy away from the consensus reality, and put it towards this new paradigm of living here, in a way that to me has honor, integrity, and respect for all life, as well as being based on honesty, and the ability to retain personal choice over our own bodies and health choices, the happier I am. In the end, that’s all I really have control over, is myself, and who and what I choose to be around. It’s a continuous exercise in letting go. Now out into the sunshine I go.

[Spiritwind]

A beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor, could you be mine, would you be mine?

Ah, yes, Mr. Rogers. I remember my two grown sons watching him when they were little, that, and the big purple dinosaur. He Man and Skeletor was also one of their favorites. Those were the days....

Speaking of neighbors, I’m getting to know my surrounding community a little more all the time. Something big is shifting as the outer world grows dark. People are beginning to look more and more for the light within them, and realizing something pretty amazing has been waiting there, hidden all along, just waiting for the invitation to come out and join the party. I’m also talking about grace. For as I feel the momentum building, and see something akin to what I call “the Holy Spirit” moving through people on a larger scale, and see their happy, shining, inspired demeanors when coming together in a good way, you can feel the radiance. You can feel the positive potential growing and expanding, and it can become catching. It’s such a stark contrast to the energy that ripples through the collective when faced with the manufactured fear of disease, war, and starvation.

Especially after the last two years of misery heaped on the populace. I can’t help but wonder if it all has to happen, just the way it is. In the meantime, I’ll keep making cheese. And speaking of cheese, I did the cheese making class at the local Grange on Wednesday night, and got quite a shock. I figured maybe a dozen people, gaging from the solar presentation I went to (that my friend Cagney did), which had about that many. I also went to the first Ham Radio Club meeting at the Grange the previous week, and there were 25 attendees, which was pretty good. Especially surprising to see at that was the guy who drilled our well and lives on our road, and his wife. And Dick, I mean Duane, my neighbor up the road I had all the trouble with over the dogs a few years back was there too! I wonder if he’ll keep going, now that he knows I joined. But when I did the cheese class, about a dozen people were already there when I arrived early to set up, and then I figured around 25 when I got started, though I did note that people seemed to keep arriving. I found out later the count was closer to 50! Seriously? That many people interested in making cheese?!

I know as I looked out at the crowd and gave my pitch about the virtues of cheese, commenting that when you are down to what you grew in the garden, and your stash of beans, rice, and pasta are about all you have left, the eggs from your chickens, and your milk and cheese from the goats are going to be a great addition indeed, I saw a lot of nods of agreement. I also did a plug for our Freedom Market, and the Farmers Market that starts at the Grange in April, adding that the cheese has made a great bartering item, and that what we are used to paying for food at our local grocery stores does not really reflect the value of many items we eat on a regular basis, especially when the shelves become empty. Everyone has something they either already do, or something they’ve always wanted to do, that is of value, and everyone has something to offer I declared, as I shared how I traded my cheese for loaves of homemade sourdough bread, herbal tinctures, jam, organic roasted coffee beans, and more.

Several who attended our market last summer went home and began producing other items they realized might be good to share, such as fermented products and pickles, as well as soap and candles, which were an instant hit. I could see, again, many nods of agreement, and a realization that maybe we can each identify our individual strengths, to the benefit of everyone in the community. I heard people commenting, with smiles on their faces as they began to file out after the class was over, that they were so happy to see things picking up at our local Grange, and how much something like this is needed. I can’t help but think that the underlying motivation, far beyond my cheese, has to do with our current, and increasingly concerning, situation on the world front.

I did get a good laugh from everyone when, after being asked how many goats I had, I responded 15, and 5 of them are bucks! Too many, I said, and I had some for sale too! And lastly, I made mention of the fact that even if someone didn’t want to raise goats, I knew personally of several fine goat folks who were throwing their extra milk out everyday that I could hook them up with. The one complaint I did hear, and I have heard it before, is some are repelled by the taste of goats milk. They did note that the cheese did not have that same goaty taste, happily.

And, honestly, goats milk does taste different than cows, and some goats milk has more of that taste than that of others. I’m used to it, plus it makes a big difference depending on how quick it is refrigerated, how cold it is kept, and how clean you keep everything. But, also, the type of goat, and what they eat, matters too. The little Nigerian Dwarfs I used to raise has milk that tastes like half and half, very sweet and creamy, and quite high butterfat. The full size goats do not have that same creamy taste. It is one of the numerous reasons I’m going to stick with the mid size mini lamancha’s, because that way I get the best of both. Greater production, easier to milk than the Nigerians, and generally sweeter than a full size goat. Also easier to transport than full size goats, and they eat a bit less. Now I just gotta get busy and sell some of those excess bucks!

This next couple months are going to be a whirlwind of activity, here on the farm, as I move some goats around, clean pens, and birthing starts mid March. Too much do do there, even though I make a list of things I want to get done every day. I’m going to do some blood tests on a few that I want to sell, so people who are increasingly wanting to know that can be reassured that my animals do not have CAE or several other goat illnesses. This plandemic has made people almost neurotic. But I don’t want them not to sell, because of it, so I will test at least the ones I might be moving on. And, I still need to get good photos of the ones I want to register. The MDGA is on super slow, so the whole registration process is not going to happen quickly, but I do need to get moving on it. And now I’m not so sure that Dotty isn’t pregnant. She acted like she was in heat a couple times, but she is also putting on weight, so I’m shaking my head on that one. She looks great, though.

I have noticed that both animals and humans seemed to have increased mineral needs to stay healthy these days. If I don’t keep up on the selenium, copper, and the loose minerals with kelp in it, certain members of the herd start looking like crap pretty quick. I’m personally taking iodine, selenium, and magnesium every day. I know that our soils are all depleted, but it seems like there are other forces at play here as well. I wonder about the increased electromagnetic soup we’re all in, if it has an impact on our nutritional needs. I’ve heard so much about fertilizer shortages and what’s on the horizon with the world wide agriculture scene, that it’s looking pretty grim. It’s one thing to have access to food that is low on meeting nutritional needs, and another to not have any at all. Which is why I will keep expanding the gardens, and building soil with the ample supply of goat poop hay we have here in ready supply. We are still eating potatoes from last years garden, and I have one buttercup squash left from last fall too. Plus, the left over potatoes will provide this years potato crop.

We have so much more going for us than our predecessors did, several generations back, that I know we can do this. The system that is currently in place, is going to collapse, as it is in the process of doing so now, and I don’t think there is any stopping it. There will be a period where we are going to be on our own. But, it’s doable, if we come together in recognition that we do, in actuality, need each other. I have gotten to know so many people this last couple years that it makes me shake my head in wonderment. As much as I am happy to have helped a few folks who were previously feeling very much on their own, to get connected with others of like mind, I also worry about the many, mostly older women, who I have gotten to know in other areas of our country, and even farther away in other countries, that are completely alone. Their families may not be on the same page, and there may not be any groups that I’m aware of for them to plug in to. The Freedom Cells (www.freedomcells.org) website is a great tool to find others of like mind, but what I’ve seen is there are many areas that still do not have people getting together to create supportive networks of people to get connected with. And not everyone is into starting one themselves. Definitely, what is to come is not going to be the same experience for every one.

All I can do is what I have in front of me every day, which is plenty. After that, I have to let the rest go. I’ve realized, more and more, how the forces at work in our time are just so big, both for us, and against us. I do not know how it’s all going to play out, but my main goals are the same as they’ve been for a long time now. Let go of what I do not have control over, focus on what I can do, produce more food and medicine, and do my best to empower others whose path crosses mine, and stay out of fear, and anger. The grief, over the suffering I know many will experience, simply has to be felt from time to time. I cannot help it. If you are an empathic person, you cannot help but feel it, and trying to stuff it down will not help. Some days, I just have to cry it out, and then pull myself together again. Never thought I would be living through these times, at least in this lifetime. Even though, I have seen this train wreck approaching way off in the distance my entire life. So here we are...



I’m posting a picture of myself in a rabbit fur hat my friend made me. It fits perfect, and it so soft and warm. I love it! I have no desire to raise rabbits, unless I have to start doing so to feed the dogs, but my friend raises them and makes all kinds of things out of the fur. She is one of the many awesome people I have met since entering the world of raising goats. They are so much easier to deal with than having cows, and go way back in time in their relationship with humans. I could easily live without actually eating any meat, but regardless of whether one is a meat eater or not, I do know that I’m definitely not interested in eating fake or lab grown meat. My mind is blown over what passes as food these days.

Such bizarre times we live in. Never did I think I would see the day when men have a sex change, and then join women’s sports to compete as a woman, and beat someone who is a biological female at birth. It seems to me, if you have a sex change (which, really, how CAN you really do that?) that they should be creating a category for those who have done this, rather than allowing them to compete with those biologically born as that gender. But, anyway, I could go on and on with how bizarre I think this reality has become. Which is why I am so grateful to be out here amongst the trees, and all the wildlife and farm animals. It is my sanctuary, my oasis, my place where I still feel I know who I am, and feel solid on my feet. Life is good.

[Spiritwind]

I have an actual post coming here soon, but as the saying goes, I’ve been balls to the walls busy, and see no end in sight. Taking a bit of a break after yesterday’s marathon, but wanted to show off our latest two additions to the farm. Aurora, one of my friend’s goat she is keeping here, gave birth to two beautiful girls yesterday, and did remarkably well. I went out to feed and checked her then, and though she had a slight bit of mucus showing, I really didn’t think she was imminent. Went back out about an hour later, to work on finishing her area in the barn, which we had mucked out, as we still needed to replace a sheet of plywood on one side. She had already popped them both out, and they were up standing and nursing! Wish they were all this smooth. Not bad for a first timer!

[Spiritwind]

It got a little colder last night than it has for a while, but the pay off is a beautiful sunrise, and bright morning to walk out in and check on all the pregnant girls in the barn. Fortunately they were all laying down in the straw, looking like porpoises, and not wanting to exactly jump up. It’s going to be soon, maybe even today, we’ll have more babies! Usually I get up in the night to go check on them when they are this close, but last night I had the best nights sleep I’ve had in quite some time, which I sorely needed. I needed to recuperate from this last week’s labor intensive, panic driven, last minute get er done mode. My body has been telling me all about it, and my husband helped immensely, or it would have been even worse. I hate to see him push himself to help me, since he has 12 years on me, and really should not be engaging in such physical work.

Which makes me even more committed to downsizing, to make it more manageable. I thought my oldest son would be out of the slammer already, since his release date was mid December, but I’ve given up for the moment. It’s one of the harder things about being here, is seeing how every thing is done, at the so called management level of our society, and it goes way beyond the prison system. It’s like they go out of their way to fill these positions with the worst people possible, and the logic fails me completely. But I know what it’s really driven by. The whole game is rigged, and those magic greenbacks are the bait. I could go on and on there, but another time, in another thread.

Even I have yet to fully disengage myself from the monster. Two days ago one of the hardest experiences of my life occurred. First off, I don’t eat my goats. I have been off and on vegetarian throughout my adult life, and for me, it’s a good fit, and I do noticeably feel better when I have done that. For some long time now, I do eat chicken and fish, partly out of deference to my husband, who used to be a heavy meat eater. We sort of compromised, and he gave up steak, and pork, etc. and I fix about half of our meals with the above mentioned poultry or fish. I do support freedom of choice, though, and do not believe everyone benefits from exactly the same diet. I also know of friends who raise meat rabbits, chickens, and some even butcher their own goats.

It’s primarily the wethers, the bucks that are born and banded by two months of age. When I was raising the Nigerians, even the boys are so cute and small, that I was generally able to move them on as pets and weed eaters. But when you move to raising bigger goats, only an occasional buck is usually kept to make babies, and most end up being eaten. I knew I was going to bump into this, and have to deal with it sooner or later. As anyone who reads here knows, I ended up with too many bucks over the winter, because I didn’t want to take them to the local lady who takes animals regularly to auction, and bucks just weren’t selling very well otherwise, unless they were outstanding.

Getting to the punchline here, I had the three boys up for sale, and a guy did come and buy all three. I didn’t ask too many questions, because in the pit of my stomach I knew that for the good of the herd as a whole, and my ability to keep up with it all, financially and physically, I had to let them go. I couldn’t sit on them anymore. He did mention liking Finn, as a herd sire, because he has a touch of Saanen in him. Not so sure about the fate of the other two. There was even more to the story, having to do with what his country of origin likely was, and my observations about the way he handled them. I know that is just his way, and the way of many other people. It’s just not my way.

He was a nice enough guy, but don’t think I’ll be contacting him when I get ready to sell a couple of does later on, even though he emphasized his interest in getting a milk goat, and bought a gallon from me. There are some folks among our various groups who expressed interest, and won’t try to talk me down in price. I know there are no guarantees, when any of them leave the farm, but I go with the best feel I get from prospective buyers. No matter what, I can’t keep them all. Which is why I’m glad I might have a few that will just milk through, and I won’t have to breed any of them as often. Those are the ones I want to keep, as well as those easiest to milk.

I did back myself into that situation, and I guess my resolve is greater than its ever been to think things through. Everyone thought Elvin was so cute, so I didn’t band him (which, if I had he probably would have went as a pet), and Dash is polled and wouldn’t have been a bad herd sire, but my indecision kind of sealed their likely fate. The way the world is now, so unpredictable, I can’t afford to leave myself hanging out anymore. I have friends who influenced me too (even my husband, actually), to keep them until they sold to the “right” person. I kept them all winter, because of this. In all this, my inner voice was telling me a different story, and I didn’t listen. I know it’s not that hard for most people, but I have pretty clear memories of being in a body, in a different time, and it wasn’t how it is now. And I can’t help caring a bit too much. To be honest, I also feel a little relief at not having too much to handle. And feed. And so on.

For me, I really have come to love each and every one of these animals. I even gave the chickens away, and recently met the people who ended up with them. I guess they are doing great, and it was a good move on my part. We all live our lives according to our own inner compass. I have went through many evolving stages of understanding throughout my life, and would hate to be judged by who I was, and thinking back, it makes me want to just let everyone be who they are, where they are, as we move through this strange collective experience we are all having. If I focus on my own inner terrain, and move into that space of grace that wants only to participate in bringing out the best each of us has to offer, I also lose that sneaky charge of judgement that tries to creep up on me. It’s not that I don’t experience it, I just won’t feed it, at all. It will not help in creating the reality I want to see and experience.

So, Dotty is definitely pregnant, changing gears here, and I did get everyone moved around. I’m not cleaning any more anything for a few days, since I’m still in recovery, but did get everyone their supplements in a timely fashion this year too. And once they all give birth here in the next few days, except Dotty who isn’t due for a few more weeks, I’ll now have the room to make everyone comfortable, I hope. I want to keep those I milk close to the stanchion, and make sure no one is getting unduly beat up. Which means Jewel may stay in the side pen attached to the barn for awhile. And Shady will be with Dahlia, Dotty’s daughter, since all the bigger girls want to be mean to her, and I sold Tiny, who was in the pen with her. And this is probably boring as hell, to anyone reading this. So, moving on....

Nahla was in heat earlier this month, and eventually we had to lock her up for the last couple weeks of it. She didn’t like it (but yet she did, to get away from him!) but she is definitely too young to be bred yet. Poor Ranger was beside himself, and repeatedly tore what he could away from her enclosure, trying to get to her, as well as trying to dig in, and shredded the side of the tarp we put up there to keep her dry. He didn’t want to eat, and just flipped his dish full of food over, as if in disgust. He also growled at her, as if it was her fault she was in there, but finally towards the end, when she became more receptive, they were nose to nose. It was a long couple weeks for all of us, but they are both back to their normal selves, until next time.

I have been asked to teach another cheese making class, to a different group more north and west of us, here in a little over a week. I’m happy to share what I know, as there are growing numbers of people who do see what is on the horizon, food wise, and want to get up to speed in adapting and being able to still eat. The more we create these networks of community sharing, the better off we will all be. The first market out here is coming up in less than three weeks. I did get the salve made for our second time, and just have to combine the separate herb oils I made, and put them together in one ounce dropper bottles for the ear ache remedy. I’m also going to offer mini loaves of homemade carrot cake. The plan is to have samples, along with small sample cups of my fellow freedom exchanger’s coffee, and they will sell themselves. They go exceptionally well together. Plus, it’s a great way to make people feel at ease, and welcome.

I just want to mention, also, that the milk I have been getting from Phoenix all winter, has went through a change. I thought that the reason her milk didn’t stretch when I made cheese, was because she is half Guernsey. Well, low and behold, the week after that cheese class, where it did not stretch, it now suddenly stretches, every time I make it. I haven’t changed the way I do anything. So, maybe it changes in the winter? And now that Spring is coming on, it changes again? I really don’t know, but same thing is happening for the other two people who have been making cheese with her milk all winter. Plus, her milk production has increased as of late.

Back to the market. Part of the goal with the market is not just products, but getting to know one another, forming better ties with our community. It’s pretty funny, because when Corey, who puts out the flyer for the exchange that has been at his home through the winter added pancake social to it, suddenly many new people showed up. Granted, the roads and weather are getting better, but I think people have really suffered this last couple years, and are also realizing how much we do need each other. It all feels very proactive, and juicy creative energy gets stimulated with these kinds of occasions. Humans, every day people, at least the ones I want to know, are incredibly creative, and we are at our best when we approach life from this solution oriented mindset. It can be contagious too, if the time is right. And I do think the time IS right.

I have no doubt there is more I could mention, like the mess our driveway is now in as the ground is finally thawing out. It doesn’t help that our illustrious neighbors up the road, due to them just being who they are, have made zero accommodation for the UPS truck to deliver packages and be able to turn around up there. So, he stopped and turned around in our driveway, and tore it UP! The gravel we had brought in helped immensely, overall, but we need at least one more load to make it so this doesn’t happen every year. And the whole area looks like a boneyard, from what the dogs drug home all winter. It looks to be mostly deer that didn’t make it, or perhaps left by hunters, but it still looks pretty gruesome. And, as much of it was hidden in the snow and ice we couldn’t even see it until now. A trip to the dump is coming right up!

Ok, time to clean up my cheese making mess, go check on the goats, and finish getting the batter together for more carrot cake, our new favorite. I’ll have more baby goat pictures by next time!

[Spiritwind]

I doubt I’ll finish this today, but might as well get it started, since yesterday’s birthing experiences left me in a strange state of exhaustion, and excitement at the same time. I’m tired, but can’t sleep anymore. I just went down and checked on the two girls that gave birth yesterday, and everyone looks to be doing ok. Dotty isn’t due for at least a couple more weeks, and Jewel can go at anytime. So glad she didn’t go in the middle of the night, as I’m not sure I would have been up for it.

My friend who is keeping her two, plus two babies now, came out and spent the night in the other RV, and was here to help. She wanted to be here to experience “it”, and boy, did she ever! I truly thought Rhiannon would give birth first, but her daughter popped out 4 kids in short order, just before noon. One of them would not have made it, were it not for my husband’s diligent efforts, and unwillingness to give up. The little guy (there are 3 boys and one girl) was very weak, and considerably smaller than the rest. Actually, all four are Nigerian sized babies. We have him in the RV, in a crate, to keep him warm, and bottle fed regularly. Branwyn did not have her milk in all the way yet, which is not unusual for a first timer, so I got colostrum from her mother. And this little guy is a squeaker!

I will be banding every buck this time around, unless my one friend who is breeding mini-Lamancha’s wants one. I’m not going to end up with bucks I can’t sell, and I’m going to move them all on while they are young. And I seriously question whether I even want to keep doing this, every year, due to how heart wrenching it can be. When Branwyn’s mom went into labor just after her daughter, I was so hoping it would go smooth. It did not. She progressed along pretty good, but towards the end she was bawling up a storm with each contraction, and I was worried something was terribly wrong. Optimally, you will see two legs, then the head, start to come out, and this guy had one leg bent back, plus he was quite large. I had to pull really hard, while she pushed, to get him out (and they are slippery!). Then she had another one, almost just as big, right after that. A buck and a doe, and both are very strong and healthy.

This is my 9th kidding season, and every year is different. I think the only time it went smooth, without any major trauma and stress, was the very first year. Beginners luck, I guess. And now, I need to recover myself, so I can keep going on all the many projects I have in the works. I need to make more herbal wormer today, as well as cheese. Everywhere I look, I see more things that need to get done, and wonder how we are going to make it all happen. My strategy is to just pick one job, and do it, then move on to the next. Maybe I’ll just post this for now, and pick it up later when I have more time, and have more to write about. The world “out there” was strange to begin with, and now I don’t even know. When you delete FB, it gives you 30 days to change your mind. As it turns out, I don’t even miss it. I can’t even keep up with the onslaught of videos, and news on my telegram chats and groups. In a way, it doesn’t matter, as my real life on the farm keeps me plenty busy, and as stressful as it can be sometimes, is the only thing that keeps me sane.

[Spiritwind]

Life is speeding along in the fast lane here on the farm. It’s weird how farm life can seem so slow to city folks, when in reality I’ve experienced some very exciting moments that beat anything but crazy neighbors. And we have the crazy neighbors covered out here too!

Seriously, I find television boring beyond belief, and cherish the lack of traffic noises and bright city lights. I don’t miss fast food, lattes, and even being able to run to the grocery store for every little thing. Never been in to going to the gym everyday either. I’ve been working on changing the way we eat to match what we can actually produce here by way of food. I predict that growing all that squash like I did last year, and couldn’t even give away, is going to change. And carrots, which are easy to grow and store, are becoming quite a commodity with my new adapted carrot cake recipe I’ve come up with. Not only does my husband love it, but it’s fairly healthy and nutritious too. I sold all the little mini loaves I made of it at our first Farmers Market we had yesterday, and could have sold more. Free samples helped, too.

Ok, well, I just got done with our last goat to give birth, Dotty. There is nothing, that I know of, that beats the excitement, sometime worry and stress, and relief when all goes well, of participating in bringing new life into the world. She had two beautiful girls, and they are already nursing fine. Sometimes they are a little slow at finding the teat and latching on, as well as getting their legs. But these two are ready to go! And she did so very well. After having her get so thin all the sudden last fall, I am beyond relieved that they are all doing well. She sucked down the hot water with molasses like it was going out of style. I am firmly convinced that most of the problems I’ve had in the past have been due to nutritional deficiencies, and possible heavy parasite load.

And, I think some of the folks who seem to keep loosing kids and moms every year aren’t supplementing them enough, although I know that isn’t always the case. Sometimes you can do everything right, and it still goes bad, just like with people. But I’ve always looked at the whole birthing experience as very spiritual, and awe inspiring too. The books all caution against giving them too much copper or selenium, but apparently it’s the opposite up here, and their needs are pretty great. Can’t always go with what the “books” say, but instead go with your actual experience. And some still don’t even consider that the commercial dairy feed available could be behind some of their animals health problems. All I know is since I switched, my girls haven’t had serious infections following birthing.

Back to the Farmers Market. It was a pretty wild two hours at the Grange yesterday, even though we just had basically 6 vendors. There were the three of us who regularly participate in the Freedom Market, as well as two younger women who had some great items, such as seeds, plants, homemade bread, eggs, soap and a few other things. I sold all my cheese and could have sold more. I also had a number of folks who expressed interest in another class, as well as getting their own goats milk. One couple did try the recipe with pasteurized cows milk and it didn’t turn out, to their disappointment. All of us commented that we should have brought more to sell, and for me, it was like cramming several weeks of socializing into two hours! Very exhausting, in a good sort of way.

It’s been almost a week since I started this, and finally have time to maybe finish it. Little Pocket is outside, running amok. Better outside than inside. He would have already been permanently moved outdoors, but we’ve regressed back into winter this last week or so, and he’s not acclimated enough to be out there overnight. Maybe tonight, or tomorrow night for sure. I have someone coming next week to look at Jewel and may take her and her two doelings. I will be keeping her boy and hopefully he’ll take to the bottle ok and I’ll put him in with Pocket. I did manage to get Jewel up on the milk stand, and plan to do so every day before she goes. She didn’t mind me helping her with kidding, but then acted like she was completely wild again. And I’m not having it!

I haven’t felt well all this last week, either, which definitely puts a damper on getting things done. I ate a Papa Murphy’s pizza for the first time in a long while, and fairly certain it will be my last time. My delicate balance in my digestive system was thrown completely off, and I’ve been struggling ever since to get it right again. I don’t remember the sauce being quite that rich, and pretty much every thing about it was what I shouldn’t be doing. I’ll be making my own pizzas from here on out. Too bad, because I used to love them. They just don’t love me.

Mention must be made of our chicken fiasco out here over the last few weeks. The neighbors are big partiers and whoop it up most weekends. Sometimes they go elsewhere, and just lately, last two weekends in a row, decided to leave and left their chicken coop wide open. Their chickens thought our property had better pickins, so ended up over here, which was fine until the dogs saw them. Even though they are very protective of all the animals here, I never got to acclimate them to our chickens, so they didn’t want to eat them. The chickens I had were not tame, and they kind of have to be for me to show the dogs they are supposed to be here. I never let them out of the area I had made for them around the garden and their coop.

So, the first weekend this happened, I locked our dogs up as soon as I saw them on our property. I figured since someone came home in the night, surely they put the chickens away. They did not. Ranger bagged one and killed it that next day. I took it away from him and scolded him strongly and locked the dogs back up again. A week goes by, and they leave again, leaving the coop wide open. Who does that, after missing a chicken the first time around? Anyway, this time Ranger didn’t kill it, only injured it. He knew he was in trouble. I took the injured chicken and put her in our coop, where at least she is safe and maybe she will recover. She is still alive, though traumatized. The neighbors had 6 chickens to begin with, and now they have four. If it happens again, I’m going to lock the dogs up, and entice the remaining chickens into the coop. Where they will at least be safe. Then the neighbors can come talk to me if they want. Or not.

I’m figuring the real solution will be to put a fence up all along the border between our property and theirs down to the road. Though the neighbor offered to help us with that when they moved in, I don’t see that happening. I’ll have to get some help for that job. My next focus is on cleaning up the garden areas. Always so much to do. It never ends. I could write more, but my stomach is rumbling, and I want to get this posted. World is crazy as ever but I’m just not paying attention anymore. I have enough right in front of me. And watching little Pocket and the other baby goats interact with the dogs, cats, and each other is highly entertaining, to me anyway. Funny moments every day.

[Spiritwind]

Here is a short video made by our one and only, Corey, with Questionable Authority. And, featuring my good friend, Carol, who has been a part of what our little group has been trying to do over this last year.

The Counter Economy Show Featuring Carol's Creations and Everyday Items You Have to Barter With

[youtube]https://youtu.be/jYjVczBHC6Q[/youtube]