Since my precious herd seems to delight in wrecking all my feeding type devices I finally discovered one that works fantastic, doesn’t cost me a dime and they haven’t wrecked yet.  And feeds all number of critters easily and evenly.  I don’t have any kicking or squabbles.  It’s simply amazing.  It might not work in the dead of winter but I think it’s a good three season feeder easily.   And it prevents the pony from colic from eating off the dirt.  It’s a winner in my book!

And the good thing is that they take a lot longer to nibble up all the pellets so no one is hogging and speed eating through the bulk of the feed while the others go hungry.  And what ever little bit gets in the cracks the yard chickens come and finish up with gleeful abandon.  It’s simply wonderful and simple.  My kind of homesteading.  Nothing to build and nothing to break.

I’m actually thinking of building a skinny version of this in the paddock.  Hmmmm…..  A couple bags of quick-crete…  a little creative block use to rise it up a wee bit so it stays clean… hmmmmmm….

Harley is such a sweet boy.   He’s friendly, but not in your face at all.   I hope we’ve done a good job of raising him to be a good ram.  He likes to get chin rubs and pats on the shoulder.  He came over to Jessy and just plopped down to visit and chew his cud in her presence.  Had a little visit.

Beulah is doing much better now.  She rarely has a crybaby moment and she and Emma are back to being good buddies.  She has some very pretty fleece coming in.  Going to be interesting to see how all my babies grow!

All these photos are from Jessy’s Ipod…  she always has it with her so it’s a good way to get some fun candid shots.  Here’s Lilly stalking her pen…  it’s very hard to work with the kitties around.   Monday we will be taking the last three kittens in, sad, but we just can’t keep this many kitties.  They are starting to get very comfortable in the house and are just wrecking havoc.  They tore up our shower curtain while we were away…  they get stuff out of the trash and drag it all over the place, and they are tearing all the weaving off this stool in the kitchen.  One of them is very needy and whiny and very vocal… she’s adorable but slightly annoying.  Haha…  Oh yes and they think chewing on cords is fun.  Keep track of them all is just a chore!

But they are fun to watch for sure.

I like this shot of them all sitting in the dining room window…   so cute.

Lilly loves when Maggie is in the recliner.  It’s her favorite Maggie position.  Once Maggie gets in the chair, she usually attracts at least two or three kittens for a little Maggie-nap.  Maggie likes the company.

I’m so excited…  I actually bought the very first mechanical thing for the farm that was brand new.  Moving up in the world.  A gas powered weed whacker!  Oh my gosh, we so needed this.  With all the rain we’ve been getting, the place looks like a rainforest jungle than a little Ohio farm.  And with our extra chore schedule and all the rain, it’s been hard to get out and keep things under control.  I can’t believe that we hand weeded these three acres the last two years with just old serrated knives and the push mower.  Unbelievable.

I got it at Tractor Supply…  they had a 4th of July sale and had a great coupon in their flyer.  And then they had a section of clearance tools….  I ended up spending only $65 for it and I think it was a good deal.   I had been watching Craigslist and they were always around 50 to 75 dollars for a decent gas powered model and seemed to have lists of issues…  runs rough, hard to start, needs tuneup.  Since I am just not that talented when it comes to little engines, nor very knowledgeable, I decided that this would be a good thing to get new, with a warranty, so we know how to get it running right, and if it didn’t, we could seek professional help.

Read the instructions, mixed the gas and the oil as they said, threaded the little collar…  (I LOVE this one… instead of those awful spool things that never seem to work well, this one just has a metal end that has two little grooves that you feed a cut piece of line into.  Easy.  10 seconds. )  And within an hour I had whacked back the front of the house, around all the beds, done the courtyard, and along the salad bar fence and the garage…  and then did a fast whack back of the salad bar tall grasses, swinging that baby like some Medieval scythe through some wheat!  The herd doesn’t like the grass taller then they are.

It would have taken us hours to hand weed everything I did in about an hour.  Amazing.  I know that we would have such an easier job with a few more decent tools…  I know we need a chainsaw, and a riding mower would be such a help.  Nothing too fancy, but hey, they would be delightful.  One at a time…  We also are on the lookout for a new oven and a dishwasher.  Our oven works, but poorly…  the top heating element is dead and the stove is way too old to buy a new one for.  Just watching Craigslist for the right deal to come along.  Our dishwasher is dead, but hey, you can hand wash too, it’s not great, but a lot easier than not having an oven!  haha…  Still…  tools are helpful.  We’ll get there.  A few steps at a time.

My little helper Jessy, she got the salad bar pasture back secure again!  We got a couple extra posts and with some wire, she got the two new areas all patched up.  And she also took a while and whacked back a bunch of low branches that were enticing the goats to stand on the fences.  I seriously need to consider electric fencing in a few areas…  to teach the goats to stay off the fences.  I’ve been resisting because I’m worried what it might do to my electric bill and would rather stay away from things that require power all the time but they are so rough on fences without it.  My other alternative is to just build them a permanent paddock somewhere out of cattle panels and pretty much just leave them in there.  I don’t really like that idea, because I would rather they had the chance to be in pasture and with the flock and that we don’t have to feed them hay all year around.  It sort of wrecks the pasture model I have in mind.  Decisions…  always at your doorstep with a little homestead.

After we got done with all our work, we settled in for a little relaxation and cooked up some good chicken and noodles for dinner.  Jessy made one of her yummy butter pound cakes and we had that for desert…  (I had a spoon of my strawberry freezer topping on mine… delish!)  Spent the evening late working on computer stuff…  got a huge program to finish for a bluegrass festival next week.  It’s the culmination of a six month bunch of work including flyers, website, promotional help and now, the program. I’ll be happy to have it all done because I just have so much other work to get caught up on.  I haven’t had any time to play with my loom in weeks!  Partially because of the accident with Maggie and all, but just as well because of the increased work load and farm load.  But being busy is better than slacking…  we just keep at it…  things are getting a little easier overall.  I am thankful for all we have and the blessings that come to us, even in the form of a couponed, clearance weed whacker…   that little devil will make things so much easier and quicker for us.  I can see it now…  I can’t wait to get whacking in the garden where it’s looking like a tropical rainforest!!!!!

Happy 4th to all our American friends!!!!  Hope you had a good time!!!!

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