That's how long I've been blogging. Actually, May 8th is Holes In My Jean's anniversary but I may not blog that day so I thought I'd mention it now, just in case the date passed me by.
I saved the pages in a Word document, that's how I know how many pages and words I've typed. As I was saving it I saw so many things I'd written and forgotten about. Some of it I'm proud of and some of it I wonder what I was drinking when I wrote it. Just kidding, most of it still sounded like something I'd write today. I guess we don't change much, do we? I may not have changed but the farm sure has in 5 years and it's kind of fun reading about the new additions and how I look at things.
I still spend lots of time doing things that accomplish very little. I moved the chickens back from the big field closer to the house and they're back to pooping all over the goat barn. I discovered some of them were laying their eggs under the barn so today I spent a good 2 hours removing siding (waste of time) and then a floor board to get the chickens and the eggs one of them was sitting on out from under there. Next I blocked all their doorways to get under the barn. At least I hope I did. Because chickens don't frustrate me enough, I have 9 eggs in the incubator right now.
It seems like there's so much going on right now. I'm anxiously awaiting Mickey to have her piglets, though I have no idea when she's due. The goat kids are old enough to go to their new homes. It's been an interesting kid year. It seems the moms are sharing kids more this year. In this picture the kid on the right doesn't belong to the mom it's cuddled up with.
Last night when I checked on the goats before bed I saw kids nursing off moms who don't usually allow strange kids to nurse from them. I guess they're indifferent at this point. This morning I had a hard time getting milk from one of Tila's teats. I felt a small stone in it and it was blocking the flow of the milk. I saw the kids weren't nursing that side either. Later in the day I took a little dental floss stick and stuck it into the end of her teat and moved it around. I removed it then squeezed and a large white lump came out and the milk flowed freely. That was very satisfying.
I've learned that it's important to milk Raisa all the way out if I want to get all her cream. I'd read that the cream is the last thing you get when milking. Kind of like the way cream rises to the top of a milk bottle, it must also stay up top in the udder so it's the last to let down. I saw proof of this yesterday. I got almost 4 gallons of milk from Raisa and the last gallon was way yellower than the first 3. The gallon on the left is the first one from Raisa, the middle one is the last, and the 1/2 gallon on the right is goat milk.
Raisa's cream makes very yellow butter. It also makes very yummy ice cream, which we enjoyed again tonight.
Kevin Bacon still hasn't bonded with the other pigs, though he hangs out closer and closer to them. I'm pretty sure he, Cooper and Cato (the bucks) are good friends though. It's kind of cute the way the 3 of them are always together.
Baxter continues to escape the fence when he sees me in the field. I got a phone call from someone telling me they had him in their car. They were right out front of our house and he jumped in her car when she opened her door. She said, "he's the sweetest little guy". Yes, he is. He's also a very active little guy. She returned him to our driveway. Today as I cut the grass he ran along side me for the longest time. Then he did sprints around the yard, tumbling now and then, I guess because the grass felt really good on his back. This was followed up by a dip in the creek. He's the happiest pooch I've ever met. I wish he'd stay in our yard though. I think he and Kevin Bacon have also become good buddies.
The big donkeys are shedding like crazy and Raisa's calf, Windsor, stays an arms length away from me. I don't know why I make him nervous.
All is well at Elk Cliff Farm and I look forward to 5 more years of blogging. I wonder what I'll be writing about then.
I saved the pages in a Word document, that's how I know how many pages and words I've typed. As I was saving it I saw so many things I'd written and forgotten about. Some of it I'm proud of and some of it I wonder what I was drinking when I wrote it. Just kidding, most of it still sounded like something I'd write today. I guess we don't change much, do we? I may not have changed but the farm sure has in 5 years and it's kind of fun reading about the new additions and how I look at things.
I still spend lots of time doing things that accomplish very little. I moved the chickens back from the big field closer to the house and they're back to pooping all over the goat barn. I discovered some of them were laying their eggs under the barn so today I spent a good 2 hours removing siding (waste of time) and then a floor board to get the chickens and the eggs one of them was sitting on out from under there. Next I blocked all their doorways to get under the barn. At least I hope I did. Because chickens don't frustrate me enough, I have 9 eggs in the incubator right now.
It seems like there's so much going on right now. I'm anxiously awaiting Mickey to have her piglets, though I have no idea when she's due. The goat kids are old enough to go to their new homes. It's been an interesting kid year. It seems the moms are sharing kids more this year. In this picture the kid on the right doesn't belong to the mom it's cuddled up with.
I've learned that it's important to milk Raisa all the way out if I want to get all her cream. I'd read that the cream is the last thing you get when milking. Kind of like the way cream rises to the top of a milk bottle, it must also stay up top in the udder so it's the last to let down. I saw proof of this yesterday. I got almost 4 gallons of milk from Raisa and the last gallon was way yellower than the first 3. The gallon on the left is the first one from Raisa, the middle one is the last, and the 1/2 gallon on the right is goat milk.
Kevin Bacon still hasn't bonded with the other pigs, though he hangs out closer and closer to them. I'm pretty sure he, Cooper and Cato (the bucks) are good friends though. It's kind of cute the way the 3 of them are always together.
Baxter continues to escape the fence when he sees me in the field. I got a phone call from someone telling me they had him in their car. They were right out front of our house and he jumped in her car when she opened her door. She said, "he's the sweetest little guy". Yes, he is. He's also a very active little guy. She returned him to our driveway. Today as I cut the grass he ran along side me for the longest time. Then he did sprints around the yard, tumbling now and then, I guess because the grass felt really good on his back. This was followed up by a dip in the creek. He's the happiest pooch I've ever met. I wish he'd stay in our yard though. I think he and Kevin Bacon have also become good buddies.
The big donkeys are shedding like crazy and Raisa's calf, Windsor, stays an arms length away from me. I don't know why I make him nervous.
All is well at Elk Cliff Farm and I look forward to 5 more years of blogging. I wonder what I'll be writing about then.
Wow, congrats. Whatever you end up writing, I'll read.
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