The last nice day of Fall…

DSC_0380

Saturday was just the most perfect fall day.  It just got to 60 degrees, but it was sunshine galore…  a little windy, so you had a bit of a chill in the air that let you know this was still Fall… but yet, it was just so nice out.

We went to our favorite orchard around the corner and so, hoping to score a last minute grab of fallen apples.   We did, we got two bushels of the beautiful things, but it was hard picking.  Most of the ones left were frost damaged and getting a little mushy.   It took us a while to get the four buckets full so I guess that means we’re done for now!  We’ll ration these out a little more for everyone, perhaps they will last a good month or so as treats, not feed.

DSC_0381

Cody Pony is doing very well, his eye seems to be healing up nicely.  He’s starting to be a little more like his normal old self.  Including helping himself into the mudroom when the wind blew open the door!   Silly boy…   He’s just cleaning up a little of the fallen hay!

DSC_0382

Our friends Justin and Steve brought us a special treat!  ABout 30 good sized pumpkins!   They got a whole trailer full of freebie pumpkins and brought some over to share!   Our gang LOVES pumpkins…  the chickens, ponies, goats, sheep, hogs… they all love them.   I think these will last us a few weeks for sure!

DSC_0383

This is Mischief and Trouble… hahaha… our two pony boys with hijinks in mind.   They are such a good little pair of ponies though…  but ornery at times, just being little snirts.   They LOVE to try and get the apples in the mudroom.  They linger like thugs at the corner bar, just waiting for a chance to nudge open the door and steal apples.  As if we haven’t caught on….  haha….

DSC_0384

We love our leaf blower!  Best $20 bucks spent at a garage sale lately!   It was fun to blow a whole bunch up against the chicken yard fence!   It was making a sort of wind block for them.   Of course, the free range hens were digging in them afterwards so I guess we’ll just have to rake them all up and put them in the compost pile.   Shesh.   No fun.

DSC_0388

Cody photobombing my picture I was setting up of the leaf blower…. haha…. like I said, he’s getting his pony moxy back for sure.

DSC_0392

Some of the peeps playing in the leaves.  They are just like kids really, have to fool around and play in the piles of leaves.

DSC_0406

Rana and Rafeka enjoying a apple!   See the orange on their noses?  They have pumpkin face….

DSC_0419

Gee, my goaties love me.  They are always cuddling and rubbing and hugging and pestering me.  I believe they like me.  A lot.  Which is okay, because I like them.   A lot.  Buttercup is my little darling for sure.  Daisy just enjoys a cuddle as well, but Buttercup is like just my little goat shadow.   She loves to eat my coat buttons and chew on my zippers and such.  Silly girl.  I can’t wait till they are little goat mommies…  I believe they will be very good moms.  Especially Buttercup.  She’s going to be such a sweet mommie.  She’s such a sweet girl anyway…  I can’t imagine how she’ll be when she has her own little bambino to love and smoother.

DSC_0424

 

Duke Kitty apparently has lost the use of his legs and must be carried about all over the farm by Maggie, his faithful kitty transport.  He can usually be found in her coat, or in her hoodie or just pretty much in her arms whenever possible.   He knows who to single out as a weak willed kitty lover.

Ah… we really enjoyed the day, had a nice trip to the orchard and got a gallon of cider and all our livestock apples… of course, picking out a nice bunch for us…  and we stopped at Blaze and Babes pizza and got our new absolutely favorite lunch…  a footlong ham and cheese grinder sub that we cut in threes and enjoy!  It’s so good…  and a third is a meal, let me tell you!    And then we stopped and bought a rake… because our old rake we’ve had for years and years finally gave up the ghost.  Maggie tried to fix it but the part that attaches to the handle is cracked and well, it’s just a plastic cheapy…  Then we spent most of the afternoon just hanging out with all the critters, raking and blowing leaves and just enjoying the sunshine!  It was beautiful out.   And looking at the next ten days, I do believe it was the last really nice day of Fall….  so long fair weather!  Hello 20 degree cold front next week????  Ugh!

Thank goodness we have all the animal barns ready and plasticed up…  much more warmer and less drafty.  It’s amazing what a good sheet of heavy plastic will do!  Combine with lots of deep bedding and the bodies of a bunch of warm hoofies and you have some pretty darn tolerable temperatures in the barns!   It amazes me how it can be 20 degrees or more warmer in the buildings.  They hover around 35-40 degrees easily, even in the coldest temps around here.  Take away the wind, and you have a pretty darn nice place to spend the evening, if you ask me.

 

 

Pin It

The Man Shack – Phase One is Done!

DSC_0352

Had a little nice weather this week and it was time to finish up the man shack…  our little shed that we built for our ram boys.  (Oh, yes and our buck!  Sorry Dreamy!)  It was fairly finished, but the back sides were still unpainted and looking a little rough.  We reused a bunch of boards and pieces of plywood and OSB from around the farm which obviously saved a ton of money, but they all looked a little, well, homemade…  I wanted them to be painted, at the very least for this phase one of our build.

I had some very alarming blue paint that I was told never to use again when I tried to paint a gate…  and this gallon of dark charcoal color…  which painted looks black to me!    With the red of the pallets…  I thought, hey, perfect boy hut!  Sure has a sort of masculine theme going on, eh?

It was very funny to paint it.  All the boys were standing in a line, just watching me in amazement.  They didn’t want to come too close because each took a whiff of the paint and deemed it nasty.  So they stood about 6 feet away, watching every stroke I took with the roller.  I guess when you are a sheep or a goat, watching paint dry is sort of fun.

Every so often they would look at each other and make a little grunt or noise and I swear, I was starting to get a little nervous.  Like they were judging my work.  Ah, such tough critics!

At one point, Travis went inside the fort and was watching me paint from inside!  I almost laughed my rear off.  It was just funny.  I guess you would have had to been there.

DSC_0371

Phase Two will be adding slab wood to the sides to make it look like a little log cabin!  And a tin roof.  Right now there is a heavy sheet plastic down and then a couple large OSB boards to keep it in place and protect the plastic.  But it would be adorable with a nice tin roof.  And the log siding.

DSC_0450

 

 

We just loved the two upright posts and have been talking about adding some flags to those posts… just for fun, for a little whimsy!    So we ordered a pirate flag, because it’s just fun and a Scottish flag, because they are Shetlands from the far north Scottish Islands!   Perfect for a man fort, eh?  Arrrrrrr…..   all fear the lothesome Shetland Pirate Sheepies!!!

Well, it must be nice and cosy in there because on of our free range hens, Miss Peggy, has been laying eggs in the straw.  And every morning, the three boys are in there all snuggled in their straw beds munching their cud and waiting for it to warm up a bit.  At first, it was raining out, they would go and set underneath the three maple trees by the northern fenceline and look fairly miserable.  I guess because they just were sort of afraid by the man shack… it being new and all.

But one afternoon, it was POURING rain…  still fairly warm, but just buckets and Harley, the oldest ram, he just got up and walked over and went in the shack and sat down.  Pretty soon, Otis and Travis followed and now they always use it!  I guess they just had to have a good reason to and then they decided they like it!

If it gets really cold we will stack some straw bales around the outside on the weather edge and inside a bit to really make a cozy little snow cave for them!   I do want to put some lights up around it as well for the holidays!  hahah….  I’m sure they will appreciate it.

Still just glad to get this all finished up for the boys and to make it a little more, well finished for all the neighbors to see!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pin It

Essential Oils…

 

DSC_0378

 

I’ve begun to learn all about essential oils and how to use them in our homestead.  Of course, they are beautiful to smell and the scents take me back to different memories and that is very pleasant.  But mainly, I’ve been trying to learn how to use them in place of harsh commercial cleaners as well as natural pest repellants and other healthy alternatives to the chemicals we use for day to day things.

This being said, I’m very very conservative and careful, like when concerned with animals and our own health, so don’t worry…  it’s all good.

Some of the things so far that we like…    adding a few drops of ANY beautiful oil to our white vinegar and water glass and counter spray is a nice touch.

A drop or three on a cotton ball will scent a stinky trash basket for a long time!

10 to 15 drops of a citrus oil into a small squirt bottle of water makes a very effective flea and tick spray for bedding and even pets.   Just avoid their face and areas they lick a great deal…  just a light spritz seems to really help and makes them smell so nice!

Peppermint oil on a cotton ball keeps mice away from under cabinets or in drawers!  It works!  Apparently it repels spiders as well, but since we’ve never had spider trouble, I can’t say for sure that it works for us…  but, hey, we’ve got no spiders, so maybe!!!

A drop of lavender on your sheets up near your pillow gives you sweet dreams and relaxation!

A few drops of cinnamon bark in a bag of pine cones infuses them so beautifully.  Then you can set the pine cones out as decorations around the holidays and get that sweet Christmas scent when you walk into a room.

They say that cinnamon also has great medicinal benefits towards diabetics, and I’ll be honest, I started to use a drop on my stomach to smooth in and around the area.  Just started, so I can’t say that it helps or not, but hey, if nicotine patches work and other skin absorbed things… I’m willing to give it a try!  I’d like to make some skin lotions and add the cinnamon bark oil to it and see how that works, too!

Of course, you can add them to candles when you create your own… soaps….  I even place a few drops of lavender in with my stinky raw wool that I store before cleaning and sorting!

I’m curious to try making my own perfume blends…   apparently, you use a decent quality vodka, non-flavored.  And to one ounce in a small glass bottle, you add drops of your scents into the vodka and let infuse for a week or so.  About 25 drops per ounce is a good suggestion.  That would be neat to play around and blend your own signature scent!!!  There was a perfume from my younger days that I adored and can no longer find…  it had a base of musk and vanilla with a touch of lavender.  I remember people saying it really suited me.  Haha… animals, cookies and my favorite flowers!  Yep, I guess that is me.

 

So…  any other suggestions of what we can use our lovely oils with?  How do you use them?  Please share… I’d love to have a good reason to get more!

Related Posts with ThumbnailsPin It