No More Farm for Now

Well, hubby has been out of work for 3 months and no signs of anything coming in.. So he is going to go back to school to become an aviation mechanic.. But for him to do that, we are going to need some major help from his parents.. But since their money is tied up in our house, we have to sell the house and move into something probably in a mobile home park.. So I'm not going to be able to keep my animals.. Except for the dogs and cats.. But they're all little..

The only bright part of this is once hubby gets done with school and gets a job (which is supposed to be in desperate need of new mechanics, a minimum of $50,000/year in the field, and the school helps with job placement) we'll be able to get an even bigger place and I'll be able to start my farm anew.. Almost 2 yrs for the school though.. But it's all for the best I guess..

Shelter Done, And Other Stuff

Ok, shelter is done.. Here's the pic..


And these are my supervisors for the project.. The big one is Prima, the spotted one is Moira, and the other black one is Gavin..


Oh, and I also found a pic of shelter Mack-1.. This was before I put the wire on the sides though.. I also only used 10ft long pipes for the top and the shelter was only 4X8..


I thought I would also give the supply list and cost of making this shelter in case somebody would like to make their own.. Most of my supplies I get at Lowe's since its the closest to me.. The tarp is from U-Haul..

U-posts(6)- $4.45each
4X8 plywood(2)- $13.77each
1 1/2 two hole strap- package of two(9)- $.89each
12X3/4 wood screw- package of eight(5)- $1.18each
3/4in of 20ft long pvc pipe(3)- $3.38each
3/4in of 10ft long pvc pipe(1)- $1.72each
12X16 tarp(1)- $18.50each
size 4 sledge hammer to pound in the U-posts(1)- already had
foot long piece of 2X4 wood to hold over the top of the U-post so you don't bend the metal while pounding it in(1)- already had

And I think that's it.. Other than the drill used to screw in the screws.. The structure is 8ftX8ft and I'm not sure how tall.. Plenty of head room though.. I'll be doing this also for my hay and feed storage area..

Another project I'm slowly working on is getting paving stones for the back yard.. This is the area that I'm wanting to pave.. From the back of the house to the beginning of the goat yard.. All the way across from one end of the house to the other..


And this is the pattern I'm going to do.. There will be a set of these, then a wood border around them, then another set like those, and a wood border around it, etc.. I had the idea for the wood and pavers, but my brilliant husband had the idea to use the alternating colors..


And last, but not least, my beautiful blue orpington hens are finally laying on a regular basis.. We get two almost every day.. They seem to like to lay them just in a shallow depression on the ground..


And of course my super handsome blue orpington rooster watching over his hens as they eat.. I'll get pics of everybody else for another post..

New Goat Shelter

Ok, I've tried this one before with light duty U-posts and wire for the sides.. Didn't work well because the goats bent the wire and posts.. So now I've done it with heavy duty U-posts and plywood sides.. We shall see if it can withstand the goats.. I thought I had pics of shelter Mark-1.. But apparently they were on our old camera that has disappeared.. So here is Mark-2..

This is the shelter with just the U-posts and pvc pipes.. The older female is me and I'm 5'9" for height reference.. The pvc pipes are 20ft long(technically 19ft and some odd inches..)


A close up of how the pipes fit into the posts..


After the boards were screwed in place..


The metal straps hold the board to the posts and the pvc pipe is kept in between..


Close up of the straps.. Don't know if you can tell, but I've stripped most of the poor screws.. Don't know if it's because I'm inept or because my drill is really old.. It doesn't even have a reverse..


I will also be adding a 10ft (technically 9ft and some odd inches) to the top to work as a backbone and then a large tarp over that.. Not sure about a door yet.. But I'll want to be able to close it when I need to..

Recent Happenings

Actually, not much happening right now.. But couldn't think of a better title.. So there you have it.. But I do have a couple of pics to post and a possible happening..

The other day I was doing some things to the boys shelter.. Gavin, being a bottle baby, just had to be near me.. I sat down for a minute to rest and Gavin came up for some attention.. I had my cell phone with me and snapped this picture..



He was chewing his cud at the time and I caught him mid chew.. Unfortunately, cud stinks and he likes to have his face close to mine so I can kiss him on the nose and scratch his face.. Won't be able to kiss him on the nose much longer though when its breeding season and he becomes a stinky buck.. To get that lovely stinky smell, male goats pee on their faces.. Of course they also get it all over their front legs and anything else that happens to be near by.. I almost got peed on by a young buckling once because he liked to mark people.. As if they were his property.. Obstinate little pissant..

And speaking of stinky bucks, I may have found a registered pygmy buck for my kinder project.. His name is Gambler and he's 6 yrs old.. He's older than either of my girls but I think his "experience" will help with getting the girls bred.. The girls, after all, are probably taller than he is..





Isn't he a cutie? And the lady said he's a sweetie too.. Need to talk to hubby and pick a day to go see him.. I told our youngest, Kaitlyn, that we might get him and now she keeps asking when are we getting him.. I guess to her its already a done deal..

Anyway, that's pretty much it for now.. Chickens are huge.. No eggs yet but should be any day now.. Rabbits still haven't done the naughty.. Figures that I would end up with celibate rabbits..

My newest crochet projects

Not much going on here.. Sold two of my older goat does.. Still have Prima, my milker.. Still have all the babies.. Hard to sell them right now with the economy the way it is..

Still no baby bunnies.. Nobody seems to be in the "mood".. I've been told that giving the girls wheat germ oil helps.. Will have to get some from the store tomorrow and try it out..

Chickens are getting bigger.. One of them crowed this morning.. If you want to call it a crow.. When I first heard it, I rushed to the back door because it sounded like a person trying to attract the chickens attention to nab them or something.. There are two that I'm sure are roos, and two I'm sure are hens.. The fifth one I'm still up in the air about.. Definitely more comb development then the two hens, but not as much as the two roos.. But I'm afraid that one is a roo because later I saw it and the two roos challenging each other.. The black roo is definitely the boss already.. The blue roo is the one that crowed.. The chicken in question is black also.. Then there is the blue hen and the splash hen.. The splash hen is definitely more curious then the others and seems to be at the bottom of the pecking order.. I really hope that one isn't a roo.. It'll through off my ratio so much..

Anyway, my crochet stuff..
First one is an amirugumi crochet mouse.. Like all my crochet things so far, I got it off of youtube..


My adorable husband sporting his new beanie.. It says #1 Dad.. Our 5 yr old, of course, had to be in the pic.. The beanie itself is the same pattern I've used for the other beanies which I got off youtube.. The lettering I also learned from a youtube video.. I definitely made the letters too big.. Will have to work on my lettering..


I learn all my crochet stuff from a woman who has tons of very informative videos on youtube.. She also has a blog.. http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/

My next project I will sort of be designing on my own.. A doggie bed.. Part of it will be a tube which I learned how to make from one of her videos..

I made goat cheese!!!

I finally took some of the extra milk I'm getting and made some cheese from it.. Haven't tasted it yet.. Its supposed to sit in the fridge a couple of days before you eat it.. This is the recipe I used.. I hope I did it right because it didn't have any measurements for the vinegar or the salt, and I only had regular iodized salt.. I really hope it turns out ok.. If anybody has any other thoughts or suggestions or different recipes, I'm all ears..

Another video of the chicks

You can hear the goats in the background screaming to be fed.. Prima is the loudest one.. She's letting me know that she wants to be milked because she knows that food comes right afterwards.. Anyway, enjoy the chicks..