Just a few shots from this week…

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This flower blooms in our yard in a few places and I’m pretty sure it’s considered a weed, but I like it just the same!  I’ve tried to discover just what it is, but I haven’t had a lot of good luck.  I just love the look and the coloring of it…  Purple is my favorite color!

 

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I have never seen a more bonded pair of farm animals before.  Buttercup and Daisy are just the best little buddies around.

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Isn’t this the cutest shot?  The were looking at Duke kitty as he strolled along the top of the fence.  I just love their little expressions and the beautiful green grass….

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Miss Daisy is FINALLY getting big enough to not fit so easily through the field fence!  When I was letting everyone in tonight from the big pasture out back, like normal, everyone rushed in to go see if there was anything good to snack on in the paddock and I was strolling after them.  But then all the sudden Buttercup rushes past me in the wrong direction!  I turn to see why and she is dashing to the side of her little pal, Daisy, who has gotten stuck in the gate!  Apparently, I didn’t see her lollygagging behind like she does and when I shut the gate on her, she decided to try and squeeze through and got stuck.  Buttercup was bleating and running to me and back to Daisy in a panic!  I undid the little girl and then they both trotted off to their stall together, all the time with Buttercup checking Daisy all over as if to assess if any damage was done by this mishap!  Happily… nothing wrong, just a goat stuck in a fence.

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Some of the last pictures of our 2013 full crop of lambs and ewes…  I will admit, I miss the six that have gone on to their next life experience. I hope that it is a good one and filled with green pastures and a kind life.  I’m sure that they are doing fine.

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I will admit, I really expected that the ewes would be so much more upset by the mysterious disappearance of their babies.  And yes, a few of them wandered about the yard a little upset, but really for less than five minutes… maybe only three minutes.  Then, they just said, oh well, and started grazing.  That was that.  Harley, our ram to be, he was more upset and ran about bleating and searching for his little childhood gang.  Finally he gave up and hung out with his sister Emma and little Travis, whom had suddenly realized was now an equal with big brother Harley.  At least, in Travis’s reckoning.  Harley just ignored him for the most part.

I suppose to farm animals, all departures are pretty much mysterious.  Humans in trucks grab you and you are gone.  Not a lot of farewell hugs and long goodbyes.  Heck, even the lambs in the truck were calm and fine with it, because the truck was parked under one of our honey locust trees and they could reach the branches.  I guess it’s all in perspective when you are a sheep.  Or any sort of farm animal.

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This is the Windhaven patented special hillbilly fence patching job when you are pretty much low on funds and high on firewood.  This section of fence was particularly a problem.  Several of the naughty sheep and goats figured out that they could push through the weak and rusting fence.  So we tacked up some chicken wire and patched a few of the big holes with wire we had on hand.  And then we wired a couple logs to either side of the fence to stop Fergus and Bridget from pushing under!  Naughty sheep.  It worked!

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This section is scheduled for a total renovation as soon as we can find a suitable gate.  That post on the left hand side is strong and solid, sunk in concrete 4 feet down.  We want to get about a 12 foot gate to put on that post, swinging inward to the left into the pasture.  This is our vehicle access to the back of the homestead.  It’s why this part of the fence is so weak…  it’s been opened and closed too many times and is just not strong.  On the right hand side we want to sink another strong post and then much more permanent fence for the remaining 15 or so feet to the garage.    A brand new gate would set up back about a hundred bucks.  I’m watching Craigslist for one and keep getting close but then it sells out under me!  Darn…  It’s one of those middle priorities here on the farm.  Sure would be nice, but then we only really need a truck back there now and then.  I think we’ve opened it about 5 or 6 times in 3 years.  I just think it would look nice too, since it’s right in our front yard/garage area.  All in good time.

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I just love how the sunsets look in the western pasture we call the salad bar.  It’s not a huge pasture, but it’s a nice lush one without hardly any weeds.  The animals ADORE it…  they line up at the gate waiting, hoping to be let in to graze it.  Like patrons at a big salad bar with their trays and eager desire to fill up.  It’s about 75% secure.  We had a wonderful gift of all the fencing in this pasture but it’s older fence and rusty, so we’ve had to do a lot of mending.  The two sides are bordered with a lovely slab wood fence and that helps a ton to add structure to the fence when sheep push on it to try and graze the other side.  Another priority is to add a new roll of fence to the inside of this pasture to make it 100% secure.

Okay, 90% secure.  Haha…  I’ve learned, ain’t no fence 100% when you have goats!   A friend told me that if your fence can hold water, then it can hold goats.

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Made our first meal of our 2013 chickens and it was sure tasty.  I popped that bird into the crock pot with some spices and slow roasted him with onions and carrots all day long.  Then boned it for three big piles of tender chicken and made a big quart of golden broth…  made chicken and dumplins for the first meal…   and then we just had a good chicken and rice dish tonight!  Still got another meal out of this bird…  I’m thinking BBQ chicken sandwiches!!!

 

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Little Tiger Lily is settling in to the big house so nicely!   She’s so adorable…  and she is brightening our days for sure with her kitten antics.  She really likes Maggie, of course, but I think it’s primarily since she’s horizontal a lot and provides an awesome petting and napping opportunity.  I just love her markings…  like a grey tiger but with the golden stripes in and about.  Just so pretty!   And her personality is just adorable.  Very friendly and she gets along well with the dogs and our two grumpy old lady kitties, Dixie and Luna.  

They won’t admit it just yet, but I think they even kind of like the pipsqueek.  We noticed that Dixie was in the kitten corral with all four, playing in a paper bag with them.  Of course, the minute she noticed we were watching, she suddenly decided she hated them and ran off!   But we know better.  Dixie used to mother Duke and Baron when they were kittens.  She likes kittens.  

Luna, well, she would rather not have a kitten, but she’s even getting much more relaxed about the idea and just pretty much ignores Lilly.  Which makes Lilly want to fool with her even more!!!  

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I suppose it’s slightly in response to our slightly stressful last two weeks, but about half way through, I just got hit with this desire to clean and organize, to strip away papers and junk and sort through my office.   Now, it wasn’t that bad before and I guess I wish I had taken a before shot, but I did remove 2 HUGE garbage bags of papers and boxes and such.  Since it’s not really that big of a space, it was pretty substantial.  I sorted out several boxes of papers and just stuff that I know I really didn’t need but still was hanging on to for some dumb reason.  Like operator manuals for things we don’t have.  Yeah.  Sad but true.  And just lots of paper junk.  As a graphic artist, I just sort of collect and create stuff… it can sure get out of hand.  I went and got four neat plastic totes, with the green handles seen in the picture below…  and those are my “action” boxes.  Current papers and such that I want to keep handy and sorted.   Everything else was heavily scrutinized and most rejected!!!  

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I like my credenza shelf behind my desk to be pretty clean and empty.  A sort of staging area for the day.  I have a few things like my new-old radio/CD player that I like and a big basket to handle anything incoming, but really, I’d like it to stay pretty empty.  And underneath, that needs to be tidy as well.  My banjo fits nicely on the one side, out of the way but handy when I need to play.  And on the other side is the whole of my scrapbooking collection.  Which has also been quite reduced and hand selected.

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I would like to move it to the studio, since that is really where I would be more likely to use it, but right now, the studio is a bit of a mess…  just overstuffed for sure and next on my cleaning binge I’m sure!

But for the time being, it’s nice enough to fit in the four boxes and tucks easily out of the way.  I think I can deal with it for a bit longer…

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Last but not least…  I’ve really been considering my book collection.  If you knew me well, you would know, I love to read.  I love books.  But lately, I will admit, I’m growing tired of “keeping” all these books.  With the internet, I’m more likely to look something up online anymore.  And I really do not re-read fiction, only a few choice books…   (Can you say Lord of the Rings?  Arabian Nights?  Farmer Memoirs?  Yes, I knew you could…)  However, I do want to keep a good solid library of how to, farming, animal and craft books.  Just in case you know.  Zombie apocolypse?  No internet?  That kind of thing.  So I decided that I would try and keep my library down to my most favorite books that all fit in these two nice shelves.  And I did it!  In fact, three of the shelves have work papers and office supplies so they technically could be moved elsewhere so I have a wee bit of expansion room!    I like it.  It’s a good plan.  I have a reading book or two in my room, but other than that, everything is in here.  And I even sorted it all out by crafts or farming or business or bluegrass….  (You have a bluegrass library don’t you?  Doesn’t everyone???)

And recently, I made my first purchase of a Kindle book!  Honestly!  I did.   I will review it and the whole process of electronic books vs. real books and all, but I will say, I was pleasantly surprised at how I enjoyed the read.  And I enjoyed the cost as well!  It was a farm memoir… which I enjoy, but tend to not reread too often…  and the price was only $6 as opposed to the printed version which was $19…  and it read so nice and easily on my iPad.  In fact, I read the dang thing in one whole afternoon!

Sure, you miss the whole handling of the book, the extra graphics and the whole book thing, but, I got it moments after I learned I wanted to read it.  No fuels were used in shipping the thing, papers, packing, nothing.  And then, after I read it, it’s mine still, I can download it again any time I want. I don’t have to store it or anything.  Not too shabby….  still… I do love books…

Well…  just a little wrap up and some photos…  I am feeling a lot better today, chores went quickly, and everyone seems to be handling the new changes well.  Garden is growing like nuts with all this rain and hot humidity!  Maggie is totally off her pain medicines and feels pretty good overall.  She’s getting a little bored, but we’re trying to think of things for her to do.  Jessy and I are getting very comfortable with the farm chores and they are back to taking a whole lot less time than that first few awkward days.  We’ve got a good routine finally.   I’m pretty sure that the next couple days will see a good refinement of the new shift in our lives and we’ll be a lot more content and confident in what we’re doing and where we want to be in a week and a month and the year!   Thanks to everyone for hanging in here with us and all the wonderful good wishes, prayers and just happy comments!   They mean a lot to us all!!!

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About Mobymom

the banjo player for Deepwater Bluegrass, and the editor of BuckeyeBluegrass.com as well as the main graphic designer of the Westvon Publishing empire. She is a renaissance woman of many talents and has two lovely daughters and a rehab mobile home homestead to raise.

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Just a few shots from this week… — 1 Comment