Early Morning Fog

Oh My!

A storm is coming and it's supposed to get cold, so I moved the goats back into their regular pen where Tom and I had renewed their bedding, nice thick and cozy.

I had to move their water bucket and food dish before I moved them, so I first picked up their food dish and flung it over the fence to be cleaned. It landed upside down and I noticed that the rim on the bottom was stuffed with hay, as usual. I thought I had flung it hard enough so that the hay would fall out, but it stuck there like glue. I pulled out a tuft of hay and what lurked under there? What is it that was holding that hay in there? Ack! A big fat BLACK WIDOW SPIDER had made a web and stuck hay to it. And I had put my ungloved fingers in there!

I am so lucky that black widows are not aggressive. Otherwise, I surely would have been bit. That is so scary. I must remember to where gloves when I'm sticking my hands in dark scary places.

First Fall Harvest

I picked my first zucchini yesterday. They're little, so I probably picked them a bit too early, but Howard Garrett says they are very good and tender when picked small. The peas are making lots of peas, but I'm not sure when to pick them. I remember shelling purple hull peas when I was a kid, but these peas don't look like those. Should I wait until they are dry and purple? Will they even get dry and purple?

We also need to get the summer garden section ready for planting Hairy Vetch. To do that, I need to get the tomato vines out of there so Tom can mow and plow. But the tomatoes are still making like crazy. I think it's too cool for them because they aren't ripening well, but I still feel bad about cutting them down.

Trash

Why do people do this? This is the eighth old tire we've found out in the field.

Deep Dark Forest

Here are some pics of our little forest.

Kitten Pics

We finally took the plunge and brought my desktop to the farm and it works great! So far.

So, here are the kittens. That's Jasper with Pearlie. S/he just wants to rub up against Pearlie the way cats do, but it freaks Pearlie out. Then there's picture of Jasper's skunk stripe. Last one is Alice.

No Pics

I haven't been blogging much recently because my internet connection at the farm is so terrible. And I can't post pics because I've moved my camera out to the farm, but not my computer so I can't download (upload?) them.

I got my barn cats...kittens...last week. They're so cute; black and white. One looks kind of like a skunk. Meagan named them Alice and Jasper (with a nod to the Twilight series that she's reading). I took lots of pics, but alas...

Anyway, the kittens are supposed to be living in the barn, but I'm afraid that snakes will eat them since they're so little. I've been keeping them in the breezeway of the house. It's fairly animal proof and I can close it off to the rest of the house. I think Pearlie would die of frustration if the kittens had free access to the house. She seems to think they are toys. They look like her toys, feel like her toys, squeak like her toys, and play the same games that her toys play, but they move on their own and I don't allow her to bite them. She is a very confused dog. She'll probably be relieved when I move them into the barn in a week or so.

Henry has grown into the halter, so it's on him full time. He still resists being led, so that's something I'll have to work on. I tried encouraging him to walk along beside me by offering him a sugar cube, but he wouldn't have it. I even put it in his mouth and he spit it out. Maybe sugar is an acquired taste for baby equines. The grown-ups sure liked them. I also bought some apple flavored equine treats to bribe the donkeys with. I'm not sure that was a good idea. When they got a taste of those, I thought they were going to run me over trying to get more. I had to keep pushing them away so that I could lead (drag) Henry around.

Donkey Training

My neighbor told me that now is the time to start halter training Henry and she loaned me her training halter. I carried it out there with me for a couple of days to let him get used to just having it around. Then I put it on him and left it on for just a few minutes. He did resist a bit, but it was easier that I thought. I expected him to be far stronger than me and be able to pull away, but surprisingly, he wasn't and I was able to hold him still long enough to get the halter buckled.

Since the halter is made for a horse, it is too big for a baby donkey, so I didn't want to leave it on him for very long when I'm not around. Today I left it on for about four hours, but had to take it off before we left the farm.

My fall garden is starting to produce. I thought at first that hardly anything was going to grow because it took several veggies a long time to sprout. But things are looking good now. I've got several baby winter squashes and lots of Southern Pea pods. The bush beans, cucumbers and zucchini plants are getting pretty big. I had about decided that the carrots weren't going to come up at all, but I noticed today that there are a few tiny sprouts that look like carrot leaves. The corn still looks very pitiful. I doubt I'll be getting any fall corn.

Moving Slowly...or, Slowly Moving

We've been moving our belongings out to the farm bit by bit. The first major thing to go was the washer and dryer. When that was moved, it pretty much meant that we were living out there. Last weekend we got the beds, sofa, and a few other things moved. This weekend's goal is to get the dining room furniture moved.

Almost all of the baseboards are installed. I've been filling the nail holes, then I have to do some touchup and clear coat on them. After that, we can call it done.

Up there is a picture of my (much smaller than I'm used to) closet. I tore out all the original bars and shelves and put in a closet organizer to make the most use out of the small space.