Been Run over by the Crazy Train

Had a lovely day Saturday at the Globe-Miami Farmers Market. 

Market is about 6 miles from my house. In the last 2 miles the temperature dropped from 89°F to 73°F as a large storm came through. 

Got home to find the creek running. 

And that the cattle panels over Posie’s pen had collapsed again. 

Because I got almost an inch of rain. Which is wonderful. 

So this morning I cleared some weeds and brush out of here and took down the roof frame off this old chicken pen. That part wasn’t too bad. 

Then I took the tarps off Posie’s pen and cut all the wire ties holding the two cattle panels. As I was feeding one panel over the fence part of it whacked me on top of the head. 

Then I was on the step ladder outside the pen pulling the second panel over and managed to fall off the stool.  Didn’t hit my head but gonna have some bruises on my hip tomorrow. Then I got the roof frame set up and a new tarp zip tied in place. Just forgot to take a picture of it. 

Posie was checking out her new roof after milking. Goats notice everything!

In the meantime Gazelle also came into heat. To spread out the love I took her over to visit with Bentley for awhile. 

Bentley is a fine looking fellow. 

Now remember Gazelle was one of the “Wild Girls” I bought last year and she hadn’t been for a car ride since I brought her home. While she was a bit hesitant she wasn’t as hard to walk down to the van and load up as I anticipated. Here she’s checking things out. 

And here she’s meeting Bentley. I think there will be some pretty babies coming up in December!

And of course all the usual feeding and watering, dishes and laundry to do. Then off to bed! 

Farmer Friday

Who says dam raised kids aren’t friendly?  Mine are all very friendly although not as pushy as bottle babies. This is one of Midnight’s boys. 

Argh! Digger! Can’t let you out of my sight! Played in the chard bed again!

Well. It looks like Chocolate wasn’t pregnant after all. She came into heat this week and spent a couple of days keeping Bashful company. If I don’t see another heat cycle in a couple weeks then I’ll expect kids in December. 

Esmarelda what are you doing? Digging for China?  There was no hole there and now it’s a foot deep. 

Didn’t get rain the other day but got a rainbow 

Trying to turn this packing crate into a hay feeder. Besides being in the way the goats kept trying to eat the screws. 

I added some pallet wood to help stiffen the sides and some 2x6 legs

Does it pass inspection girls?

Probably the only time they’ve eaten out of it like this. Gazelle and Chocolate usually stand it it. 

And in the meantime Esmarelda broke the hay feeder in her pen. Fortunately it was a pretty easy fix. 

Poor Digger   Got a wasp or bee sting. Didn’t stop him from trying to chew on everything in sight. He was fine and almost no swelling in a couple hours. 

I was a bit concerned that maybe he tried to play with this little king snake but there weren’t any puncture wounds. 

Mmmm. Gazelle objected to Chocolate being on the other side of the fence with Bashful and beat up my new cattle panel. 

Ugh.  At least 5 tries to upload now….

To Market to Market

Woke up at 3:45 to major thunder with a little rain but it cleared off quickly. Other areas got .5”   I haven’t checked but doubt i got more than .1”. Had a lovely time at the Globe-Miami Farmers Market this morning. 

Did the usual chores. Discovered Midnight’s pen has managed to rip down their mineral feeder. Sigh. Not much new or exciting today. 

It was still about 100° this afternoon but much cooler than earlier in the week. Well tomorrow is another day.  

Security Improvements

Just as I was starting chores this morning I hear a goat kid hollaring in distress. And find Midnight and Chocolate have hopped the fence again. One of Midnight’s boys was hollaring because he couldn’t find mom. 

Got them back in and worked on changing out the pintles for the gate so it won’t fall off every time I open it. 

Then things began to get complicated. It looked like Chocolate was coming into heat. She was even trying to ride the little bucklings.  So I slipped her into Bashful’s pen and yep she’s in heat. So likely December babies to come. But in this pic you can see what happened later. Gazelle and Chocolate began fighting through the fence. They bent up a brand new cattle panel. Mostly dented from Gazelle’s side. 

So I found a metal beam from an old shed we tore down and wired it right across where they were butting heads. That seemed to put a stop to it. 

Stopped to unload the car and clean up the driveway to get ready for hay delivery. I scored this cool packing crate yesterday. With some legs and some beefing up will make a great hay feeder It’s about 6.5’ long and about 2’ wide. 

But it’s longer than this little roof so started to add on. I got the T post set and another pallet put in place and was scrounging around for some long enough 2x4s to make the roof wider when Gazelle started pounding the fence so had to stop and fix that like I explained before. 

Puppies are like toddlers. When it gets too quiet you better go check. In this case Digger was just napping in his mud hole. 

I did work over here where they are hopping the fence. 

I found a long board to add in. I meant to cut some weed trees to put in the gaps but by then it was getting really hot.  It was 81°F at 5:00 am and by 10 it was miserable. 

I did manage to change out the biggest pad on my cooler. That by the way is a blue pad.  It was so clogged up with lime no air was getting through. Hopefully I’ll get the other 2 sides done tomorrow. But changing out just one side made a big difference in air flow in the house. 

Went to feed the bottle baby at noon and Digger decided he needed to cool off in the goats water. Of course I had to clean and refill buckets after that. 

And at milking time the storm rolled in. I got Posie milked ok and then Mocha and I got soaked   I didn’t even strip her out like I usually do. But that’s ok since she’s still nursing Latte. 

Then I put stuff in the shed and ran to the house sopping wet. Dried off and changed my shirt. Waited for the storm to pass and finished up milking. Fed Digger and the bottle baby. Trying to decide what to have for dinner. Something simple.  I’m too tired to think. Good night. 

More Heat and Humidity

Got outside before daylight to move some more chickens around. 

Worked in a garden spot pulling out Bermuda grass and some weeds. Planted a fig tree from my friends. Forgot to take a picture but also planted out a row of chives. This area is fruit trees, flowers and herbs. It’s been a bit neglected and areas that didn’t have permanent plantings were super dry. So I made some furrows and watered heavily. Have some more plants and seeds to put in once the ground is actually wet. 

I have NO idea how the tarantula got in the bathtub. Caught it in a jar and put it back outside. 

Digger is growing!  

Ever feel like you’re being watched 

Did all the usual chores and ran some errands. Found a new pair of pants in my size (30x30s are really hard to come by) and scored a cool packing crate that will make a nice hay feeder. 

And in other news Chocolate *may* not be pregnant after all. Because today it looked like maybe she was coming into heat. Bashful certainly thought so!  He was talking to her all afternoon. 

While not quite as hot as a few days ago it was just as humid and miserable and still no rain. 

And good night 

Hot and Humid

The weather has been miserable this week, 105°+ and very humid with almost no rain. The heat has been giving me a headache in the afternoon. Today I even took a nap with an ice pack on my neck. However that has not stopped the goats. This morning when I moved Posie and Mocha to the hill pen I heard a noise as I was latching the gate and turned around to see Midnight hop the fence at that short spot. And Chocolate had followed her by the time I got down the steps. Put Chocolate back in just to have her do it again before I could get to Midnight. So quick I grabbed my loppers and cut some burro brush and stuffed it in the fence. Got the girls put back and was about on time for work.  

How I left them. 

They were still in when I got home. When I got up from my nap I cut and stuffed in some weed trees. Hopefully that will help. 

Got everyone fed, watered, milked. And that’s about all for today. 

Damage Control and more

First up feed little goat 

And admire his brother and give all the goats some hay.  Now time to get busy taking care of things torn up by the storm last night. 

Oops tarp came loose and mineral feeder is full of water

Put a sliver of wood in the hole for the gate hinge. Hopefully it will quit twisting around and letting the gate fall. 

Digger was on a roll this morning, went deliberately over to the roll of irrigation hoses to chew on them 3 times so he’s on a short leash for chore time. 

Had a chopper flying crazy low zigzagging back and forth. Then they started following the power line on the ridge. Not sure what they were doing. 

Baled water off Posie’s pen. 

This area was the first to get perimeter fence and is where Giotto grew up. I was 4’ short of fence so used the pallet. It has stood there almost 9 years. I was very fortunate that Giotto was never a fence climber. 

Fixing tarps over chickens 

Mmmm. Itty Bitty Baby Greenhouse has some issues from yesterday’s wind. 

Fixed up as good as I could get it. I noticed later in the day some other areas that need attention. Will try and get to those tomorrow. 

Little chickens seem ok after being soaked last night when their tin blew off. 

Digger is still on a short leash. Trying to chase chickens. 

Poor little birds back door blew open in the storm Apparently this coop is beginning to come apart.  I couldn’t get the door all the way back like it belongs. Will have to try and figure out what’s going on. 

Working in the old chicken pens in the front yard. I watered this some yesterday plus I got .2” of rain. And look how only the top 1 1/2 - 2” is actually wet. Duh it up and watered some more. 

Continuing to put Midnight’s twins in with Bashful for a couple hours before milking and she has gone from 1/4 cup to 1 1/2. Separating does not take milk from the babies. Milk is supply and demand. The more demand the more the doe’s body will increase supply up to the limits of her genetics, diet and environment.  I will gradually increase separation time until we are at 8-10 hours a day. This will not hurt the kids growth, they are eating plenty of hay now and they will still be able to nurse the rest of the time. 

Did all the usual things like laundry and dishes. Still need to take out some trash. Watered plants.  Thinking about what I’m going to plant in the new spaces out front. Probably greens as it’s partly shaded- kale, collards, mustard, Swiss chard. Chinese greens like pak choy will have to wait for cooler weather. 

#appreciation

Today I appreciate the rain I got and that the wind damage was limited here.