And Then There Were Twenty-Three

Yesterday, Tom hit a chicken with the golf cart and killed it.

And you think *I* drive wild.

Cowboy Liam

...or Superman.

We Forgot...Goats Like To Climb

Tom finished the new fence, with two lovely gates, so the whole eastern side of our property with the main hayfield and small woodland is fenced with goat fence.  Goat proof...or so we thought.  But, we forgot about this.

This is a small nook between our nearly chicken-proofed back yard and the vegetable garden pasture; the place that the chickens have almost completely dug up because of the bugs that are attracted to the night light; the place where the woodshed and the well house are, along with stacks of wood that won't fit in the woodshed.

I let the Nubians out in the new field this morning.  Rather, I forced them into the new field.  They didn't want to go.  They like their routine and their little fenced pasture even though they've nearly eaten it bare.  The new pasture is, well...new.  Nubians don't do "new" very well. 

Anyway, I thought they'd either hang around the gate where I put them in or make a beeline for the woodland where all those juicy trees, shrubs, and woody weeds are.  I mean, what goat wouldn't want to be out there with such a smorgasbord of goodies?

But, no, the neighbor's dogs barked and the goats ran directly for the little nook with the bare ground (because the chickens have dug everything up).  The nook that is right next to the very places I do not want the goats to be...my landscaped back yard and my vegetable garden.

And what did they do when they got there?  They hopped right up on this stack of wood to eat the leaves off the tree.  One little hop, skip, and a jump and they would be over that fence and into the garden.

They didn't try this, but another hop, skip and a jump onto this tarp covered wood pile and they'd be over the fence and eating my hydrangeas.

So, back into their little pasture they went.  And they were very happy to go, I might add.

Completely unrelated to this story is this pile of rocks.  These are the rocks that were in beds across the front of the house; the ones that contained the rock that flew up from my mower, found Meagan's finger, and crushed it this time last year.  I hired our handy-dandy teenager to dig them all out and  pile them there. 

Next up, a bit of front yard landscaping.  Not just because I want to, but because it is necessary to keep rain from flooding into the house.

Rocking M

Tom's building the fence that will close off the corner hayfield and woodland so that we can turn the goats out there.  We're hoping that they will eventually clear out the woodland so we can sort of see through it.

It's amazing what ranchers and farmers leave laying around for future generations to find.  We're trying to use as many found objects as we can - to save money and to just get junk up off the ground.  Tom found this gate with the "Rocking M" emblem on it out in the pasture.  It's rusted, but good and sound, so he used it as a big equipment entrance to the hayfield.

And I wanted a smaller walk through gate for when I take the goats back and forth.  This one was lying around somewhere.

In the chicken yard, the chickens, with all their scratching and digging, have unearthed what appears to be the edge of an old gate and occasionally, they'll dig up other pieces of junk - old pipes, cans, pieces of tools.  I'm waiting for them to dig some more to see if it's an entire gate or just a piece.  Wish they'd dig up some old rancher's Mason jar full of gold coins.

These Boots Were Made for...Walkin'

These are my beloved, old, retired, cowboy boots.

I've glued them to a couple of boards sort of like stuffing the family pet.

But I have a plan.

The Last Babies

That hugely fat goat finally had her babies Saturday morning.  They're the last of the season.

Picture perfect toadstool.

Enjoying the Garden

This Hydrangea gave us something rather unexpected.

A green bloom!

These were supposed to be Nikko Blues.  I guess I'll have to look into amending the soil to make them blue.

And, even though I was determined to, I never took the time to thin out these cannas before they started growing.  I imagine they will have completely taken over this bed by the end of the summer if I don't do something about it.

Blog Statistics

Blogger offers a feature that keeps track of how many page views and other stats about your blog.

I like to look at it sometimes just to see how many page views I've had for the day or the week, etc.  One of the things I've noticed is the all time most popular post is the one about coyote scat.  It appears that most of the people viewing the page were doing a search for images of coyote poop and my blog popped up. 

And I don't even have a picture of the coyote scat!

What was I thinking?

Bah, I wouldn't even come back to my blog without pictures of coyote scat.

My deepest apologies to the seekers of coyote scat images.

Come, Sit, Stay a While

I've finally furnished all surfaces.  So...come visit, sit and stay a while.  We'll sit on the patio and have coffee and a gluten free muffin, that is...until the Texas broiling hot summer sets in.

Got this old deep seating loveseat and chair at the flea market, the little table, also.  I couldn't find any ready made cushions to fit, so as a temporary measure, I'm putting these big pillows on them to sit on.  It looks a little goofy, but it's better than sitting on the bare metal slats.

And this great little vintage dining set, I found on Craigslist.  One of the arms was broken, so Tom was able to practice his welding skills on it and repaired it quite nicely.

All pieces will be painted in the future.  I'm still thinking about a color.  White or black would be classic, but pink or periwinkle would be fun.

New to the Farm

Heeeere's Eddie* (name may be changed in the future to protect the innocent)!

We needed another cat like we needed another hole in our heads, but...he's sort of a rescue.  He came complete, loaded with fleas, worms, and a ringworm patch right in the middle of his forehead.  So, we treated him for the fleas and the worms and put Lotrimin on his head for the ringworm.  He had his vet check a couple of days ago and we got an oral med for the ringworm.  He seriously does not like taking that medicine.

He marches around the barn like a little soldier.

To...

...and fro.

And look at that belly.  Its like he swallowed a tennis ball.

The chickens have already told him, "Don't mess with me, Bud, if you know what's good for you."

"What manner of giant is this?"

Harry just sniffs him carefully and watches him stalking around the barn like he owns the place.  Perhaps Harry is waiting for him to grow up so that he will be a worthy opponent.

*Meagan sort of wanted a name in keeping with our Twilight cat theme, Alice and Jasper.  So, it might be Edward (and, of course, it will be shortened to Eddie), but my niece just named her newborn son Edward.  Is it bad form to knowingly name your animal the same name as a family member?

Why We Don't Burn Our Pastures

This blog post is the fault of Meagan and the Pioneer Woman.

Meagan sent me a link to the Pioneer Woman's blog, written by her husband and it was entitled, "Why we burn our pastures".

If you have a burning desire for that information, you can go to the link below and read about it:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/blog/2011/05/why-we-burn-our-pastures/

Apparently, everyone on earth should be reading the Pioneer Woman's blog.  I don't always do what I should, otherwise, I'd be regularly reading the Pioneer Woman's blog and burning pastures.

Anyway, while perusing the topics offered on the blog, I checked out the "10 Things I've Learned About Blogging" (or something like that).  She says you should blog every day even if you have nothing to say; even if what you say might seem boring.

So, this is me, taking her advice.

We know we should burn our fields.  We know it would be a good thing.  We don't do it because (1) we're too lazy; (2) we're afraid we'll catch the county on fire.

Headboard

Finished.

And installed by most excellent husband.

I love it.

Crafty Stuff

One of the vendors at the flea market was selling these things.  I was tempted to buy one because it was so cottagy looking, but thought I could make it myself.

So I did.

While I was at the market, I came upon a vendor with these trim pieces off of old houses.  I'm not sure what they're called, cornice boards?  Then when I went past the vendor they call Doorknob Bob, I bought a few old doorknobs from him.  I washed everything real good and got Tom to cut the knob stems in half.  Then I marked where I wanted each doorknob and drilled holes the size of the stems.  Because the stems are square and the holes I drilled were round, the stems wedged in there pretty tight.  I think they're tight enough so that they won't get pulled out, but if they do, I'll go back and glue them in.

Hung up in the barn apartment, ready to hang things on.

Next up...this fireplace surround/mantel that I bought a couple of months ago.  I've painted it black and as soon as I find some suitable fabric, I'll make it into a padded headboard for one of the guestrooms in the house.

Hmmm. So, What Does a Baby Possum Eat?

I saw Harry messing with something and looked over to see what he was doing.  At first, I thought he had a mole and I started to pass on by.  Then I thought, "Wow, that's a big RAT!"  But then I realized it was a baby possum.  So, my dilema was...let Harry torture it to death or save it.  Of course, I had to save it.  Now I have no idea what to do.  It's a baby!

Figures

Yesterday morning, the coldest morning of the season (41 degrees), one of the fat goats decided to pop.

Two little girls.  The only resemblance they bear to Billy is his signature frosted ears.  I was sure there were triplets in there.