8.14.12 Gentler Days

It was 1:11am when I went to bed last night. It’s 11:11am as I begin to type.

The days have been blessedly cooler and stunningly beautiful. Much too early but already smelling a bit like Fall.

Nik is back to his normal self and doing wonderfully. I hope to never see him that ill again. Health and happiness is all I ask for him and the least of what he deserves. He was in bed for 5 days and was so weak when he finally could get up. But once he passed the danger, he recovered quickly. I’m going to be posting about the whole process and the treatment soon.

There’s always so much to do but with Pepper and Elf’s help (my sister and brother-in-law) things are getting done that had been kept being put off for some time now.

With their help, we’re finally able to start on the pallet fence across the front, which is a huge thing. We are out of fence posts so I’m going to sort of waddle the pallets and lash them together. They’ll hopefully support themselves and be sturdy. It will take probably a third more pallets for this method but, as soon as I get the trailer fixed, we can start picking more up.

Aside from regular chores and working on the fence, we’ll be working on …

Building a horse shelter

Outhouses (at least one but hopefully two)

Firewood

Preparing the main big garden spot

Preparing the cistern

Compost bens  (we have a compost but it’s not what or where it should be)

Building a better stand for the drying racks

I could just keep typing and typing but these are some of the main things that need to be done.

At Sunday dinner we decided to go ahead and get a dairy heifer. I’ll keep the goat girls and milk as well but I have long wanted more butter and with a cow we’ll also have more milk for cheese and yogurt etc… For some reason I can’t just drink cow’s milk tho so we’ll definitely keep a goat or two. Any excess milk can be shared with whomever needs it or go to the animals, which will help a lot too.

I’m going to try and find a smallish breed like Dexter or Highland. A young heifer or calf to raise with all of us.

I’ve decided to sell Thistle. It was a difficult decision but, while she love humans, she loathes other animals and is mean and dangerous with them. She has butted Nemo a few times when he didn’t even realize she was there. She butted Raspberry into the ground and butted Walnut into the fence. I keep her separated from them but on such a small working homestead it’s just not Zen to have to worry about it. So, I’ll find a home where she can be happily alonish and someone will get an excellent milk goat.

The plan is to keep Willow and Clover and I'm looking for a young buck that will be mature enough this fall. Next spring we’ll have kids and milk again.

 All the plans I have …

The horses are most excellent and fitting right in. It is a bit crazy to want to keep them both but they feel like they belong here. I’ve not heard back to confirm but they were for sale and I have offered to buy them both so we will see. I believe they will both ride (the mare does already), drive and pull. We’ll see.

So much happened all at the same time, as it is often wont to do, that I forgot to post about the picking up of the horses. We don’t have a horse trailer (I’m going to be trying to trade our flatbed trailer for one) so my friend Lisa brought hers and we went after the horses together. I was so thankful for the trailer use but more so for her companionship on the deal. We worked very well together and I like the way she handled the horses and cats. I can work with anyone I have to work with but,  I work best alone. In this case I was really glad to have to company and the help.

And the horses were much better than I expected. I expected terrified freaked out animals. They were calm and well behaved. I did get smashed into the trailer wall by the colts southern end, I still have plenty of bruises to show for it. But it was my fault and learned that he doesn't kick  :)

The mare has lost 2 shoes. 1 here and I don;t know about the other. i checked both horses before we loaded them and the thought she had all 4. The colt isn't shod. I don't have any tools anymore so that's high on the list. Their feet look good and I believe I can trim for barefoot. 

It’s 12:12 and I’m off to get more work done.

Gentle days for all of us!