Tuesday Afternoon…

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We found this perfectly good umbrella in the trash!  About a month or so ago.  It was just laying there.  Maybe it’s the wrong color or something, or they were moving and couldn’t take it with them?  Whatever the reason, it looks awesome in our spool table.   We had one before, but it just got all old and fell apart finally.  Now we have a new one!   We gave it a test run and it’s going to be nice when we do fire pit lunches!

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We took a little time to get the weed patch pasture checked out and ready for everyone to come out and graze.  There was a low spot in the fence that we had to put in a few post and give it a good stretch, but other than that, the fence line in there was pretty good.  This hard winter has done a number on some of the fencing, but overall, it’s not too bad.  We’ve been just going in and doing a good check over, fixing a bit or adding a post and then letting the flock in to enjoy the new spring grasses.

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This pastures is not lush, yet… but it’s not too bad.   We will probably let them in for a day and then give it a day or two rest, that sort of cycle for awhile.  We’re trying hard this year to really rotate and keep the pastures good and growing.  If that means a day or three in the paddock with hay, we will.  Because we’ve found that if they burn out a pasture, it takes weeks to recover.  So, we are trying to avoid that.  They have several big areas available and we will also rotate the ponies through the places as well.  I believe we can do it easily without over-grazing any area too badly.  And thankfully, hay is really getting to be cheap now, too, so a day or two in the paddock’s won’t break the bank!

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We opened up a spot in the sheep and goat paddock for a new gate.   This gate will be great because it gives them access to the weed patch, which is now the dedicated sheep and goat pasture.  We had an extra gate on the feed room door, so we moved it here and it’s a way better fit!  Just love when we can move and repurpose things without just buying, buying, buying all the time!  Finally, we are able to do things from our stash of materials and such!

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Jelly Bean is our little buddy!  He loves people and likes to hang out with us Food Ladies…  we are the cuddlers and he likes that a lot!   He’s so adorable…   we sure hope he has some little friends soon!   Come on sheepies!!!!

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Maggie is our power tool pro…   she got this awesome powerful drill from her Dad for Christmas and man, that thing is sure amazing.   Sometimes, it’s too powerful, so you have to really watch that you don’t just strip screws and such!  We had a little cordless drill, which was nice, but just didn’t have a lot of “oomph” and would run out of steam halfway into a project all the time.   This new one is corded, so we have to drag extension cords about, but thankfully, we have power just about every where we would need it, so it’s a great trade off.   Good power tools are essential on a small homestead.  They make projects sooooo much more enjoyable.

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The chickens are sure enjoying this lovely weather, finally!   The roosters take their ladies all over the place, searching out food everywhere they do.   Our feed bill is finally coming down LOW!   The chickens don’t really want their old scratch or grains much anymore!   They are full on bugs and worms!

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Success!  Everyone is out in the weed patch, grazing and enjoying a fresh grass buffet!  Of course, there are a good supply of weeds for everyone to enjoy!!!!  They are happy campers for sure…

 

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And last but not least…  we had to put on more post in for the boy pasture up front.   Howdy has discovered that if he climbs on the fence at a certain point, it gives enough for him to jump!   Bad Goat!    So we put a stop to that…  Harley and Dreamy are inspecting Jessy’s work…

 

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Our Easter Sunday…

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Awwwwwww…. Isn’t that just the cutest little thing you’ve ever seen?  Little Jelly Bean with his mommie, Daisy, sitting in the Easter Sunday sunshine!    We let them out into the paddock for a little sunshine and fresh air since it seemed like they were doing pretty good at the bonding thing.

All the other hoofed creatures were so interested in the new little prince.   He trotted around with his mom, looking here and there and pretty much getting tuckered out pretty quickly.  It’s a lot of work to run along with the big moms on your second day of life!

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We let the main gang out in the middle yard for a wee bit of grazing.  The grass is a little on the sparse side at the moment still.  Last year, the gang overgrazed the area just a wee too big because of the weed patch being unfenced.  But this year, it’s all set, so we can let them out there soon…  but it’s under water still!

Anyway…  they sure enjoyed a chance to run around and graze on some nice tender young green grass!   Happy Days!!!

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We had a nice day at home, just laid back and with a nice ham and fixings.  Ham courtesy of our hog Oscar…  smoked by our Amish butcher.   Pretty darn good, let me tell you.  We spent the rest of the day just taking it easy, picking up the yard a bit and having a nice bonfire.

And of course, playing with this super cute little goatling!!!!

Oh my gosh, he is sooo adorable!!!   Just what I hoped for.

Part of our mad plan with getting a pair of dairy goats was that I wanted their babies to be very salable as pets.  And as fiber animals.  Rather than just leftovers for the stock barn and the processors.    If you’re breeding fancy purebred milking goats, then, you have a bit of a market for the doelings for sure, but still, most of the bucks end up in freezer camp…   and that would make me sad.

So, my breeding my two milk does to a pygora and angora buck…   we get these adorable half breeds that hopefully will take after their sires!   And so far, so good….  Jelly Bean is covered in beautiful little pygora curls!!!  Yeah!!!  And he’s so stinking cute… oh my gosh.   Already, half a dozen people want him and we have to check visitor’s coats to make sure they are not smuggling him out!

 

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So, all in all, it was a beautiful day and everyone was enjoying the nice sunshine and slightly warm weather!   Overall, it’s been a rather cold spring, but after that 150 year record breaking winter, I’m not surprised that we would have a rather unpleasant spring!!!    So we will take any nice days that come along….

Harley, the ram and Dreamy, the buck are becoming odd fellows in a bromance of late.   They really just have bonded and you can see them hanging out and doing things together.  It’s kind of fun to see evolve.    Everyone needs a friend, don’t you think?

 

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Prince Jelly Bean is Born!

If you are a Facebook follower of the homestead, then you are already hip to our first little princeling born here at Windhaven…

However, if not…  please let us introduce the first goat born here at our homestead!  Little Jelly Bean!  Born the day before Easter to Miss Daisy and Mr. Dreamweaver. Jelly Bean is just the cutest little thing around!    We all love him.

He is so darn cute with his little pygora goat curls all over him.   We hope he matures to a beautiful fiber animal and that we can keep him here forever!   He was certainly won the hearts of many…

Enjoy the pictures of his birth and his first day!

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