Good Fences Make for Good Neighbors

Our acreage is currently fenced with barbed wire except where we have the wood slat fencing around the front and sides and where the previous owner had installed "no climb" fence.  I don't know why it's called "no climb"  It's a wire mesh fencing with wooden posts and a strip of wood across the top to keep the horses from mashing the fencing down between posts.  Tom has decided to replace the barbed wire with field fencing.  That's a wire mesh that is good to use for keeping goats in.  The wire squares at the bottom are something   like 2x6 and they gradually get bigger towards the top of the fencing.   We need something other than barbed wire to keep our goats in and to keep Harry off the neighbor's property where he steals their belongings, brings them home, and chews them up.  We've apologized and offered to replace said items, but our neighbors insist that they love Harry and don't mind him coming over.  Personally, I think that after having to replace several items over a period of time, that love will wane.  Harry needs to stay home.  Period.

This is a section that Tom has already installed.  This extends from behind our barn out to the road that runs along the side of our property and is between us and the neighbors behind us.  That small section of wood fencing was installed by the neighbors during our previous owner's tenure in which there was a bit of tension over the fact that neighbors could see previous owner's unsightly burn pile.  Maybe the wood fence will be coming down soon?

So, here's Tom's fence installation process.  First, he takes down and rolls up the old barbed wire, then he pulls up the old metal t-posts which have been bent in towards our property because the neighbor's Longhorns subscribe to the belief that "the grass is always greener on the other side".  Then he takes the tractor and levels out the fence line, measures nine to ten feet apart for the t-posts and lays them out.  The house in the background is the neighbor's house out behind our barn.

Then he uses a level and pounds the post in with a couple of knocks with the small sledge hammer to get them started straight.

Next, he hefts the t-post tool, which weighs about 50 lbs. way up over the top of the post....  Aaaaarrrrrr!

...then he lets it drop to pound the post into the ground.  Ooofff!

Lift again.  Aaaaarrrgghhhh!

...and pound!  Ummmph!  It usually takes three or four pounds to drive the post in far enough.

And then we have a row of poles ready to attach the fencing to.

Curtains, Here We Come

Blah.  I finally started on the curtains for my bedroom.  Pinch pleat drapes...I've never made them before, so I guess I'll just figure it out as I go along.

My floor is my cutting board.  Hard on the knees and back.  I've cut all the lengths of fabric except for a couple of lengths of lining because I ran out of it.

So now to turn this pile of fabric into drapes.

EEEEEEKKKKK!

Brown Recluse!  Fiddleback!  Whatever it's called!  In the HOUSE!  This is just NOT right.

I started on my bedroom curtains yesterday and when I finished cutting the lengths of fabric, I took the leftover roll into the back closet to stash away.  When I moved a roll of white lining, I saw this spider on it and wasn't terribly concerned because it looked sort of like the big harmless wolf spiders that we see frequently.  But it occurred to me that this might be a good opportunity to see if Tom's new insect zapper would work on a spider, so I went to find the zapper.  I went back to the closet, dug around til I found this ugly bug and zapped him.  It sparked, but didn't kill him on the first touch.  By that time, I could tell it wasn't a wolf spider and was determined to eliminate him...or HER **shudder**.   I had to do a bit of searching and chasing, but I finally got it.  When I was sure it was dead, I looked at it very closely and, sure enough, it has a perfect little fiddle on it's back.  LOOK!

I enhanced the picture a bit so the fiddle would be easier to see.  Double click on the image for a larger view.

Here's the spider with zapper.

Goat Fun

Along with the capability of being able to place the pictures anywhere in my post, blogger seems to have taken away the capability to post videos.  Here are a few shots of the kids playing on the fallen oak.  Hyacinth's kid jumps up on the high side.

Two up.  One down.

Running and jumping.

Rosie even got in on it.

What Are They Worth

This is Hyacinth goat and her offspring from last year, Rosie goat.  Now, Rosie is a little over a year old.  She should be about as big as her mom.  But if you were reading last year, you'd know that we almost lost Rose due to a series of unfortunate events.  She recovered, but it seems that she is now destined to be a miniature.  I don't know if she'll ever be good for breeding or milking. 

Speaking of milking, take a look at that udder on Hyacinth.  You'd think that udder was just brimming full of yummy milk.  Apparently, it is not.  Or, if it is, it is stubbornly staying put.  I went out on Friday morning to milk Hyacinth for the first time this season.  All this time, I thought that her udder was so big and full because it was...well, FULL.  That udder is as hard as a basketball and I barely got a few ounces out.

I was so excited about getting lots of milk this year because her udder seemed to have recovered from the sad state it was in last year and this time she only has one baby to feed.  So, my first thought when I felt that udder was, "Uh, oh, mastitis again!"  But the milk that I got was white and creamy.  No pink tinge to indicate blood.  She's not off her feed.  Her baby is thriving  So what's the deal? 

As usual, I did an internet search and the only thing I can come up with is "congested udder" and the remedy was massage and milk, massage and milk.  I did that for a while, but it didn't seem to make a difference.  I got less and less milk and I'm concerned about taking the little milk that she does produce away from the baby.  So, I decided to just let it be for a while and see if it works itself out.  It doesn't seem to bother her.

Now I'm wondering if it's even worth keeping Hyacinth.  This is the second year that she hasn't produced enough milk to make it worth the effort of milking her.  And besides that, she's a kicky milker, always trying to kick my hands away and jumping around on the milking stand.  Bah!  What a pain.

Slaughtering Day

Today Mark and Larry came over and helped Tom slaughter the two meat goats that were born last spring.  I really didn't want to see any of the process, but since Tom chose to hang them in a tree right next to the house until he can take them to the meat processor tomorrow, I was forced to look.

This is the only  picture I could bring myself to take.  Maybe next year, I'll be braver or more hardened.

I had to catch one of the goats for them and I felt like a traitor.  I used my come-to-dinner call, "Here goat, here goat.  It's OK".  Liar.

Far!

This is what we came home to tonight.  Don't be alarmed, it's not our house.  Some neighbors were doing a controlled burn on their hay field right across the street.  It was a bit scary to see, but they obviously had it under control.

Tom lit our burn pile so we could have a bonfire, our nieces could have s'mores and Meagan and I could have burnt marshmallows.  I caught the marshmallows on fire, risking scorched face, while my accomplished GSA leading sister, April, assembled the s'mores.  As usual, I forgot to get pictures of actual people, but here's a nice picture of our fire.  It's a good thing I don't attempt to make my living with photography.  We'd starve.  Maybe if I had a better camera?

As Promised

Hog limb from yesterday.  For the morbid among us, if you look close at the joint, you can see some honking big maggots (double click on picture to enlarge).

And, oh joy, Harry brought home the other leg this morning.

A lovely closeup Harry's hog hoof.

If I knew how to put a thought bubble in the picture above Harry's head, you would see what I saw as Harry proudly carried his ham hock, "Mom's garden will be the perfect place to bury this!"  Or, maybe the way Harry thinks, just a picture of the garden.

Yep, he's headin' in that direction.  Just as he was about to slip under the fence, I yelled, "Harreee! NO!"  He stopped and gave it some thought, then turned and headed for the mini forest.

I don't know if he changed his mind about the garden because I told him, "NO!" or because he didn't want me to see the actual burial.  He's very secretive, in his big dopey way, about where he buries his loot.

Limbs In the Driveway

I found the limb of a dead animal in the driveway today.  I think it was a hog leg.  Phew!  It was stinky and had big maggots in it.  I'm sure Harry is the one who drug it up here.  I threw it out by the barn, away from the house, but if I can find it again, I'll take a picture so everyone else can enjoy, if not the odor, then at least the bone, sinew, and nappy hair still clinging to it.

Yum, yum, what's for supper, Harry?!

Litterbugs

Why must some people throw their trash out the window of their vehicle?  Is it too much to ask to keep your own stupid beer can, water bottle, Twinkie wrapper, etc. in your own car until you get to your own home and throw it in your own trash can?  Some people are just pigs. 

Pretty Stuff

I bought this from local place that sells all kinds of metal art.  I'd had my eye on it for some time and finally decided one day that I'd just go get it and if it didn't look good in it's intended place (the master bedroom) that I could always hang it up on the front of the barn.  It doesn't look terribly big in the picture, but it's 40 inches across.

I hung it up in our still undecorated master bedroom.  I was afraid it would make the room look small, but instead it accentuates the largeness of the room.

And I'd found this mirror at a local store over a year ago and knew I wanted to buy it, but was waiting for it to go on sale.  It never did, but I was in a mood that same day and I went ahead and bought it for $179.00.  I was vindicated yesterday while looking at a catalog that I'd received in the mail.  They had that very same mirror priced at $349.00 plus shipping.  Now I feel like I got a great deal!

TIP O' THE DAY:  If you have a problem with flakiness on your face, wash it with T-Gel shampoo regularly.  **shrug** It worked for me.

A Big Thanks to Blogger.com

They finally made it possible and easy to position several pictures in one post with captions under them instead of me having to write one paragraph for several pictures and/or make a new post for each picture.  I don't know how long they've offered this, but I just recently decided to click on their upgrade and this was one of the features.  Yay!

More Babies, Freshly Born

I went out to the barn to feed the momma's this afternoon and this is what I found.  Two little boys (bah, we need some girls), still wet and minutes old.  I even helped Pansy expel the afterbirth since she was just letting it hang there.  I know, gross, but hey, I'm a farmer now.  When I saw the black one, I thought, "Who's yo' daddy?"  Billy's got him some powerful genes.

And I'm so happy that I was keeping Pansy in the barn with Hyacinth.  It's raining and yucky outside today and if Pansy hadn't already been in, Tom and I would have been out in the rain bringing goats in.  Yay for planning ahead!

Another tan one like last year.  Pansy is an attentive mother.  Much more so than Hyacinth.  She was nuzzling, licking, and muttering to them contstantly.

And she stands very still while they nurse instead of kicking them in the head in her haste to get away from them.  In this pic, you can see that the umbilical cord is still very fresh.

Baby Sittin'

Awww, just look at that sweet face.

Baby tried to nurse again.  Harry was very patient.

Harry decided to join in the grazefest and see what all the fuss was about.  No, he's not just sniffing, he really is eating the grass and did for some time.

I Kid You Not!

This morning...baby goat tried to nurse on Harry.  Harry stood very still with a hilariously baffled look while baby goat nudged around under him looking for the teat.  The look on Harry's face was priceless.

Annnd, for the first time ever, Hyacinth showed concern for a baby.  She saw her baby standing under big Harry dog and muttered worriedly a couple of times.  When the baby continued to nuzzle Harry, Hyacinth walked over, nudged him out from under Harry and led him away.  Maybe there's hope for that momma yet.

So, kick me. I never have my camera when I really, really need it. OK, so don't kick me, but at least remind me to get my camera before I ever leave the house.

It's a Boy

Hyacinth's new baby was born today.  When I went out to feed the goats, I noticed she was noticeably thinner and knew right away that she had given birth.  I ran down to the shed halfway expecting to find it dead because she had just left it there.  But it was fine, just laying in the sunlight shining into the front of the shed.  I am so glad she only had one this year.  Since she was such a bad mother last time, I was afraid we might have to go through that again.  Also, since she had mastitis last year and one side of her udder stopped producing milk, I thought that side was ruined for good.  But, her whole udder is very full and looks normal, so that's great.  Maybe I'll get lots of milk this season after all.

And this is why we had to get rid of all but two roosters and for the past couple of days we've had those two penned up separately from the hens.  This is what they do to their backs.  We let the roosters out today and penned up two of the hens with the worst wounds.  This is why I need to learn how to make chicken jackets!

Weird that somebody stole two of our Medina for Governor signs.  Was it meanness or did a Medina supporter want a sign for their own yard?  I suspect it was meanness.  I can't imagine a Medina supporter stealing a sign.

Spam. Bah!

Why do people spam blogs?  What a colossal waste of time and energy.  I just spent about an hour cleaning spam comments off my blog this morning.

Go Ahead, Make My Day

Now THIS brightened my day up considerably. I love flowers and this was a lovely thank-you from our weekend guest. Thank you, Edwin.

Motley Crew

Tom's friends arrived at the farm for a weekend extravaganza of guy talk. I felt smarter just being in the same house with these brainiacs.

An added bonus was that I was able to feed them dozens of our excess eggs.

Hallelujah!

I've finished the living room drapes. Finally. I am so glad that is over with.

Now I have to psche myself up to start the bedroom. :o(

I Should Get a Blobby

Don't worry if the heading doesn't make sense to you.

But, wow, I have three followers! I feel just like Ugly Betty with her six cat-loving weirdo followers. And I'm sort of eligible since my last name is Spanish in origin.

Chicken Sez

"'ello, what's this, then? 'ave we all gone on 'oliday?"

(This must be read with a Chicken Run English accent.)

Harry Sez

"Awesome!"

Winter Wonderland

We got record snow here in TX and aren't likely to see it again in many years - maybe in our lifetime. It's beautiful...and even quieter than it usually is here. I tossed on a coat over my PJs and slipped on my boots just to run out and take a few pictures, but when I got out there, it wasn't terribly cold and was so beautiful that I ended up staying out much longer than I planned.

A Few Things...

I can't remember when we've had such a long stretch of miserable weather. It has been overcast and/or raining for weeks. Everything is sodden and I seriously need some sunshine in my life. Pearlie doesn't want to go outside to potty. Today she has held it from 5:30 this morning until just now, 4:00 pm, when I made her go out.

We gave two of our roosters away, so we have two left. With four roosters and just nine hens, the hens were being abused. When we first started this farming endeavor with plans of getting chickens and I was reading in my chicken book about making jackets for the hens, I laughed and joked about it. But now I really do see the necessity for it. The roosters jump on the hens' back to breed and the hens get all torn up by the rooster's claws. This happens every day, several times a day. I'm hoping the hens will get a bit of a rest and their backs will be able to heal now that there are only two roosters after them.

I hadn't planned to name our chickens, but over time, in my mind, I've named the roosters. The ones we kept are Tubby and Hubby. Tubby, because he's the fattest rooster. Hubby, because since the beginning, he has hung out with one hen in particular. Tom and I didn't want to split the "little married couple" up so we made sure that Hubby didn't get butchered or given away.

Annnd, I sold some eggs yesterday. So far, I've just been giving them away. We have way too many for us to use and I enjoy sharing them with friends and family. But yesterday at church one of the women that I had previously given eggs to asked me if I had any eggs to sell. I had happened to bring a carton of them with me to church with the intention of giving them to someone, but she insisted that she pay for them and wouldn't take them otherwise. So...I took the money. **shrug**

Harry ate one of the apple trees that we planted this past spring. It's not enough that he has a whole forest of trees that he could gnaw on. No, he had to destroy our fruit tree. He bit it off right at the base.

Stupid mutt.

Dreary Days

We've had days of clouds and drizzle. Since I pretty much have to stay inside anyway, I'm working on the curtains for the living room. I've got them all hanging up, but they aren't all finished. In the picture, only the ones in the righthand corner are finished. The others aren't hemmed or stitched up the sides so they are still all wrinkly. I went ahead and hung them because they help keep the room warmer.

Honestly, I'm not crazy about them. I don't really want to hang curtains because I like being able to see out and when closed, they make the room seem smaller. Also, I thought the house needed more color so I got colorful curtains. But now that I have them hanging, I think I like the monocromatic look better. **sigh** Well, maybe when I get all my sewing stuff out of the room it won't look so busy.