Goats, Carnivores, and Greens

In early May, Peaches delivered two baby boys!  These kids are the third batch since she's been with us, and I'm pretty sure they just keep getting cuter.  

When they were a few weeks old, Brandon and I mustered our courage and cauterized their horn buds with a hot iron.  I almost couldn't bring myself to do it, because I knew they were going to cry. The book said that it would be more traumatic for us than for the goats, which was true.  They did cry for a moment, but then shook their heads and ran to their mother to nurse.  

Following a diagram in the goat book, Brandon built a little box of plywood to hold their bodies with only their little head poking out of a hole.  He let the iron heat up, then held their muzzle with his left hand and applied the iron for five seconds.  Once the iron was heated again, he did the other bud.  They cried.  It smelled like burnt hair and meat.  I closed my eyes and held the box steady.  The horn buds are supposed to fall off and they haven't yet, so I worry that we didn't do it long enough, and they will still get their heads stuck in the fence.  Maybe next time we'll be able to hold it on there for a longer five seconds.  

We built a small fence down by the tree line.  It encompasses a thicket of honeysuckle vines and blackberries.  We don't have a shelter there yet, so I've been leading Little Buck, Donnie, and the River brothers to this area in the evenings, when its dry, so they can browse.  They love the forage, but they don't like the biting deer flies that live in this shady moist area, or the ticks they are picking up on their ears and heads.  I take them back to the barn before dark, and they are always excited to see me coming so they can run back to their cozy barn, where they lounge around and enjoy the hay I dole out.  Why bother to pick your own leaves when Rain will bring them to you, right?  

 

We had another first experience - we butchered one of the goats.  Noobi, Peaches first kid.  She was the scrawniest of the whole herd, and never recovered her good condition following the birth of her set of kids.  It's not possible to keep every goat, I know, and the recommendation is to keep the best and eat the rest.  She wasn't the best.  

We watched many YouTube videos and re-read the butchering chapter in the goat book before we attempted it.  I put a halter on her and lead her to a bowl of treats and retreated with Wendigo.  Brandon did the deed (pow!), and we hoisted her up by her back legs and stripped off the skin and pulled out the guts.  Then we got busy with the bone saw and knives.  I felt like a carnivore, for sure.

The fella whose video instructions we followed was butchering a young boar meat goat, and he made beautiful little steaks and chops.  Our scrawny little Nubian goat didn't really look like the same animal.  We mostly left the meat on the bone in big roasts, and ground up the small bits.  We smoked a leg, shoulder, and a rack of ribs in our backyard smoker, and the meat was tasty but super chewy.  At that point we were doubtful that we were goat meat enthusiasts.  But, I cut the smoked meat off the bones and into chunks, then cooked it with some beans and cabbage in the instapot pressure cooker.  It was really good!  Wendigo got a fair share, and I made some smoked bone stock too.  We haven't tried the ground meat that we made yet.  Since Peaches gave us two more boys this spring, I think we will get even more practice making and eating goat meat in the future.

 

The greens in the greenhouse did wonderfully, and the lettuce that I kept harvesting returned over and over, but now is going bitter and bolting.  We had several batches of cooked radish greens too.  I have baby cabbages in the greenhouse, plus green beans, squash, cucumbers, turnips, and onions in the summer garden.  The rabbits enjoyed the peas and lettuce I planted in the summer garden.  I'm dreaming up a new rabbit proof garden fence.  It's not uncommon to see three or four rabbits in the garden at a time!  

Sewing and Mowing

Have you tried wearing a mask to the grocery store yet?  I did it, even though I felt silly going shopping like a bank robber.  It helped that there were lots of other silly looking folks wearing their masks too.  Some people had home-made masks like me - one lady even had a white tube sock pinned to her face!  

Brandon and I spent nearly all day on Saturday sewing face masks.  We cut up vacuum cleaner bags and sandwiched them between cloth, with the hope that the vacuum bags would filter better than just cloth.  These masks can't be washed, but we figure as long as they are only used once, then left in the sun on the dash of the car for three days before being used again, they will be virus free.  

The most time consuming part was cutting, ironing, and sewing the straps needed to tie it to your head.  Now that I've used the mask, I think shorter straps would have been fine.  The worst part about wearing a mask, other than pulling my hair when I tied the straps, was having my glasses fog up when I exhaled, especially if my head was tilted down.  I tried really hard not to touch my mask, face, or glasses while I shopped and I couldn't wait to get out of the store and take it off so I could breath freely without foggy lenses.  Turns out, if you try to stop breathing so your glasses don't fog while you pay at the register, you start to pass out.  Now I know!  

I ran the sewing machine and Brandon cut and assembled all the parts, and we managed to make a mask for everyone in our close family.  Despite all the warnings about avoiding travel, we make a big circuit on Sunday and delivered masks and eggs to our family.  It was nice to see folks, even if we did have to say hi from the driveway and couldn't stay for a visit. 

Brandon managed to squeeze in some mowing between bouts of sewing.  The newly mowed grass smelled wonderful, and Wendigo and I wandered all over enjoying the tidy green carpet. 

The sidewalk project isn't complete yet, but already think it's really going to tie the lawn together!  

Office Window and Goats

Check out the view from my new office window.  The office that's now crammed into my bedroom!  I like it though, even if setting up a home office in the bedroom preceded weird dreams where my boss set up a bizarre command center in my room.  My work life has invaded my subconscious private life!  

Here's a close up through the window screen right behind my laptop.  The donkeys entertain me by rolling in the dust while I wait for my slow internet connection.  All that brown area in the fence in the middle ground is the summer garden covered in old hay from the animal bedding.  See those white shapes in the garden?  Those are chickens digging in the garden beds behind the supposedly chicken proof fencing.  This is a problem.  

Donnie, our newest goat herd member and hope for future kids with nice udders, has stopped being such a cry baby.  I think he's finally accepted that his new life doesn't involve animal crackers.  Poor guy.  If I could have animal crackers without eating them myself, I would give him some. 

Little Lips, Peaches granddaughter is a scrawny little goat.  She's spry though, and the only goat that likes to play with Donnie.  

Here's Peaches daughter from last spring.  She's a hardy goat like her mother, but has horns and likes to jab me with them.  There's a chance she's pregnant from Donnie, although I don't see any evidence.  Peaches had a date with Little Buck back in December, so she's due to deliver in May.  She looks like she's got twins to me.  

When Newnoo jabs me with her horns I can imagine how tasty goat burgers would be! 

I don't let Little Buck and the River brothers out to graze with the rest of the goats.  Mostly because they are hard to separate back into their own pasture, but also because the River brothers get riled up around Wendigo and have been known to ram her with their heads.  With her creaky knees, she can't get away quickly.   The girl goats don't pay any attention to her as long as she's laying down.  

Donkey Manners, Sidewalk, Goat Routines, and Spring Weeding

Yesterday Brandon and I took both donkeys on a walk around the little farm.  Ernest patiently let me put a halter on his face, and walked behind Brandon like he's had some practice using his walking manners.  Rufus was his same old silly self - balking at new objects, bumping into me, pulling ahead, kicking up his heels when asked to walk through a puddle.  Everyone had a good time.  Once the donkeys were back in their little pasture, we handed out some treats and Rufus put his ears back with jealousy and bit Ernest on the side.  This caused Ernest to run and kick up his back legs, which flipped manure onto Brandon's face, and nearly sent him tumbling backward over the water trough.  Ack!  Rufus!   

Check out our new sidewalk project!  One of the things we miss from our old house is the very civilized sidewalk from the driveway to the front door.  Now that we live in the land of clay soil, we understand mud in a whole new way.  

We've been tip-toeing from paving stone to paving stone for several years now, trying to keep our work shoes clean during the mud seasons.  In the summer months the clay soil is so firm setting stones is extra hard work, so Brandon is taking advantage of the soft spring soil and the extend days at home to create a continuous pathway.  Our own little piece of suburban comfort!  

The red bud tree I planted when we first moved to the farm is putting on quite a show this year. 

With the dirt that Brandon excavates for the sidewalk pavers, I'm filling in the herb spiral and re-arranging stones.  There's a few sage and oregano plants still living from last year, but most of the spiral is ready to be planted.  I have dreams of basil pesto.  

I'm making a habit of letting the goats out to graze each evening.  They are funny with their strict routine of where to eat.  They come out of the gate and head for the lush grass behind the tractor barn, then spend some time in the honeysuckle vines on the property boundary before wandering through the front yard to eat the rose bushes and pear tree, then to the bush honeysuckle near the hammock woods, then back to grass where they started.  After an hour of this, they are ready to follow me back to their pasture in exchange for a few treats.  Their chins are green right now from the new grass.  

I'm off to a good start with pulling weeds in the greenhouse.  I have only the center bed planted, and I meticulously pulled every tiny weed from the whole bed, and then transplanted some of the extra lettuce seedlings.  If only I would keep up with the weeding all spring.  Come on Rain, you can do it!  

Greens!  

Peas and onions, too!  

Ernest and Other Big Things

After weeks of phone calls and paperwork, our new adopted mini-donkey, Ernest, is finally here!  Ashley told me that she saw a mini-donkey listed on the Kentucky Equine Adoption website, and when I called to inquire, the only thing they could tell me about him was that he was about eleven years old and fat.  He belonged to someone who let him graze a huge pasture, and obviously made sure he was well fed.  The trainer he went to live with after he was put up for adoption said that she's seen over two hundred obese horses and donkeys, and Ernest took the prize.  She was periodically measuring him with a tape while she put him on the diet, and he's already down two hundred pounds!  

He's got some jiggle in his walk!  He's a sweet guy, and still very shy.   

Despite Rufus interest in getting close, Ernest keeps his distance.  When Rufus sniffs him, he kicks up both back legs and makes a funny snort.  He doesnt't get much ground clearance with his kicks, and makes us laugh. 

Here's a little clip from his first day.  Rufus is the gray donkey, and Ernest is the brown shaggy one.

Brandon and I rescheduled our flights for our big trip for later in the summer.  I don't know if we will be able to take our trip later either, but by rescheduling the flights we didn't loose our expensive tickets when international travel was advised against.  We're glad we didn't go when we said we would - we might of been trapped in a foreign country in quarantine! 

I'm working from home now instead of going to the office, which I find challenging.  It's hard for me to focus on report composition when the spring time bird song and garden chores are calling to me through the open windows.  Brandon and I took a trip to visit our blue bus in the woods.  Small wildflowers were blooming, and the trees were starting to open their buds.

Everything was as it should be there  - quite and peaceful under the trees and above the river.  

The seeds I planted in the greenhouse have germinated, and my plan is to thin the small rows and transplant the extra's to other beds.  I want to focus on greens in the greenhouse, beans and sweet potatoes in the summer garden, and rutabagas and spaghetti squash too.  We're eating a lot of these lately as we focus on our healthy diet.  Since I know I'll be working from home for the next two weeks, at least, I'm encouraging myself to take advantage of this opportunity to control my own schedule.  I'm trapped in self-imposed health camp!  Exercise, sunshine, vegetables!  

I think I can stay home for two weeks no problem, but I bet Brandon has a hard time.  He likes to get out in the world.  He's already planned a full schedule of chores, including working on our paved pathways while the soil is soft, and changing all the fluids in the tractors.  I can tell he's looking forward to mowing season!

Rufus is looking forward to lunch!  

Preparing for Onions and Travel

This is the bag of onions from our last harvest.  They were grown in my plastic green house and then allow to dry out under a piece of burlap.  They have been patiently waiting in the pantry ever since.  It's past time to plant them so they can provide a new crop of onions. 

As I walk to the greenhouse door with my bag of onions, the whole flock of chickens and guineas follows me.  The flock was recently attacked by a couple of dogs.  Over a three day period the dogs killed four hens and mauled Turkey and a couple others before I was able to get my hands on one of them and give him over to animal control.  The owners found their dog at the animal shelter and called to offer payment for our lost birds.  We didn't ask for money, but warned them that our neighbor is a good shot and is on the look out as he lost some birds to the dogs too.   The lady at the animal shelter said that it's common that once a dog learns where to go to chase livestock they will keep coming back, and end up being shot by a farmer.    

Poor Turkey was badly bruised after the dog attack, so Brandon and I butchered her and made over fifteen pounds of turkey sausage and six quarts of stock! 

February is the month I like to plant seeds in the greenhouse, and start some plants to later be transplanted to the summer garden.  I'm having some trouble getting started this year - I'm feeling behind on the garden already!  The time and energy that could be directed toward the garden is probably being used up planning for our upcoming international travel.  Exciting!  After much consideration we've finally committed to a Big Trip, purchased our non-refundable tickets and hotel, and are preparing to travel for over thirty hours to the Republic of Georgia - way over in the Caucasus mountains, on the edge of the Black Sea, right between Russia and Turkey.  Whoa.  

In terms of miles, Japan is the farthest I've been from home, but that was over thirty years ago, when I was nine years old.  This trip will be the farthest from home I've ever been as an adult.  Brandon and I will have five days in Tbilisi, the capital city, and we're looking forward to this new adventure.  We've readied our carry on bags and neck pillows, and are considering the weather and our wardrobe.  We also have to plan for someone else to keep all our critters in food and water while we are away.   

After tidying the greenhouse, I decided to put the flock to work preparing a seed bed before I plant.  I propped the door open and coaxed the flock inside by sprinkling sunflower seeds in the straw.  They worked diligently for the rest of the day, and did a wonderful job spreading the straw and scratching up weeds.  No more excuses Rain, get out there and plant those onions!  

Fireside Cats Induce Writers Block and Winter Lethargy

I'm sure I haven't been settled in by the fire, with the cats and a hot cup of tea, ever since Thanksgiving and my last post.  I've done other thing too, but it's not obvious from my recent photos.  So many pictures of cats by the fire!

I admit that I have been quite distracted by re-reading all the books on my Kindle.  Also, I had the cold that's been going around, so I indulged in fire side reading in every spare moment for weeks while I recovered.  I overheard Brandon refer to me as a "snot fountain" on several occasions!  

I would say that my fingers feel rusty because I'm out of blog writing practice, but the problem isn't in my fingers, it's my mushy brain! What is this blank nothing that has replaced the words that used to flow forth?  I must have winter-comfort induced writers block.  

I blame the lazy cats and their completely unmotivated attitude to life.  Rufus the donkey is as adorable as ever, and the goats just as crazy.  Wendigo has creaky knees, but she hasn't let it get her down.  The Turkey survived the holiday season, and keeps company with her flock of chickens, just like always.  There are home repairs, sewing projects, family gatherings, and all the usual makings for Rain to ramble.  

Hopefully these fireside cat photos and this awkward post will kick-start my brain and my rusty fingers will follow.   

Brandon and I have re-committed ourselves to healthy eating, which will help re-charge my energy, I know.  After a few months of too much food and alcohol, I'm happy to feel some of my enthusiasm for healthy eating return.  I'm re-reading my old book on the Candida cleanse, which has inspired me to cut the booze, caffeine, sugar, starchy foods, and try to make at least sixty percent of what I eat be organic vegetables.   I've only been strict for a few days, and already my face looks less puffy, and I feel like I'm waking up after a long winters nap.  Heck, I'm even boring you with silly pictures of my cats, so it must be working!  

I've been sticking with Adriene and her free yoga videos every day that I can.  I've also been doing ten minute meditation practice with the free sessions on the Headspace app.  My farm chores force me to get some fresh air and movement every day too.  When life allows, I have no trouble sleeping for eight hours or more a night.  I'm not sure who I'm trying to reassure with this update, but I am making an effort toward physical and mental health.  Let's hope this leads to an abundance of spring time energy and blogging zest!   

Thankfully winter isn't over yet, so the cats and I can enjoy the fire for weeks to come!