One down...

... and maybe 2 to go. This morning Flower was sniffing Charity's rear end and trying to hump her so she took the trip to see Rastiff today. She hopped right in the car like she does it everyday and drove me nuts on the way over. I have the seat covered with plastic so if there are any accidents its not that bad, but Flower was all over the place like a puppy. She is such a character. Rastiff and Flower are just a match made in heaven. They were blubbering and snorting at each other through the fence and boy was her tail wagging! The deed was done 3 times ensuring Rastiff's nastiness was smeared all over Flower for the ride home. To take advantage of that fact, she made sure to rub up against every available surface while in the backseat. And then, for her last thank you to me for taking her to see her new beau, she peed on the backseat after removing the plastic,of course, mere yards from the driveway. Yea, Flower!


I say maybe 2 to go because maybe Charity got bred on her visit to Rastiff. I have to keep my eye on her to see if she goes into heat next week. And maybe, just maybe, Cole got the job done with Holly on her previous heat. Fingers crossed.

What to do...

I don't know what to do with these does. I can't tell when Charity is in heat. I thought I could tell when Holly was in heat (like yesterday), then today nothing. She was real interested in a buck rag yesterday, today she couldn't care less. She has discharge from her vulva like usual but she never did really holler super loud like she usually does, but what gives?? Oh, btw, a buck rag is a rag that has been wiped all over a bucky buck and stinks to high heaven, (or smells delightfully sexual if you happen to be in the caprine family). Charity wasn't interested in the rag yesterday but today is a little more curious, I don't know, I'm about to give up!

Goings on...

I really need to set up a routine again with this blog. This is such a busy time for us. We get up in the morning and do chores then it is off to Austin to help Stef with Christmas lights, we get home around 9 or later and go to bed. This schedule leaves little time for blogging. I will try to catch you all up though.

First, we had to say goodbye to Ama last Sunday. She was acting very off for a few days and by Sunday had totally lost all of her faculties and we decided it was time to put her down. Right away Lala and DD tried to take her place out front. They both kept escaping from the fenced barn area to roam up front where Ama used to be. I wish I could let them go back and forth at their will but Lala has a bad habit of chasing cars. I really want to get a fence finished around the front of the driveway sot he whole property is fenced off.

I'm still trying to get the girls (goats) bred. For the life of me I cannot tell when Charity is in heat. I thought she was going yesterday. The boys and I somehow managed to get her into the back seat of the car and we went to Fran's. I couldn't use the truck because it has the dumb top on it and I haven't figured out a way to get it off or how to hold it open yet. Anyway, we got to Fran's and put her with Rastiff, a very handsome and highly odiferous young man. She was not interested at all, but he was... There was a possible breeding but not positive. Yeah! We probably get to do that again!!

Cole is just not interested in Holly. We have tried many times with half-hearted results. Luckily I have the best goat friend in the world, Fran, and she is going to let me use one of her bucks, Magnum (Flower's dad), to use on Holly. I think she went into heat today and will probably take a quick trip with her to Fran's tomorrow.

When Flower goes into heat next she will also be taking a trip to Fran's to see Rastiff. Luckily she is such a hussy I have no problem knowing when she is in heat.

I also made my first batches of soap a week or two ago. Fran and I put our brains together and whipped up a couple of batches. Much to our surprise, it actually worked, we made real soap! With goat's milk, of course.

The pigs are getting bigger. Not sure how much they weigh now. I need to get a weigh tape and tape them but I'm not sure how I'm gonna get them to stay still for long enough to do it. I'll tell you about that rodeo when it happens. I want to get them butchered when they are around 250 lbs. That is when the feed to meat ratio begins to lower.

The chickens and ducks, yes we still have the disgusting ducks, are doing fine. We are only getting 2 or 3 eggs a day now. We need to put a light out in the coop so they think the days are longer. It is also time to butcher again. We have a good 6 or 7 roos we need to dispatch.

Stef is working 16 hour or longer days at UPS, doing Christmas lights and still trying to have soccer practice once a week and keep his martial arts classes up. This year has given us a few extra special challenges. I haven't been able to help as much because my back still hurts from the accident, although I am starting to feel much better now. Also, Stef tried to break his ankle a few days ago. It is swollen and black and blue. He is limping around and pitiful looking, yet he is still climbing on roofs every day. He's my hero.

The boys are doing great. Niko's improv classes are over until January. His class had an improv show for we went to and it was really good. Niko did very well, he was really comfortable being in front of an audience. Deklan's art classes are coming to an end next week. His class is having an art show on the 19th. Everyone in the class is picking their favorite masterpiece to be on display. Deklan picked 'Pears at Sea'. I will post a picture of it soon.

Pic of Truck

First, I want to say that Grandma is right. Keiska is finally a good cat and earning her keep. She brought home another dead mouse for us the other night. How thoughtful of her. I only wish she wouldn't leave the "gift" on the living room floor for us.

Second, we bought another truck. We are not sure Stef's truck is going to make it through the xmas season and found this one at a really good price. It is an automatic so I can drive it. So I will drive it through the season and keep looking for a car. After the season, if Stef's truck makes it, we will sell it and Stef can drive the new one. It is another Ford Ranger but this one is a ext cab so we can all fit into it. I'll try to take pics later.

Third, I have been laid up in bed for a day and a half. I got out of bed yesterday morning to do chores and tweaked my neck somehow. I don't have much movement in my neck now and when I do move my head I can hear bones or something rubbing together. That can't be good can it?? My chiropractor is closed on Mondays but I did call his cell phone and left a message just in case he happened to have to be in the office today. Meanwhile, I will just keep popping the muscle relaxers, though they don't seem to be working.

I am a Liar or Voting Day Miracles!

First of all I am a liar because we found about 12 eggs today. That is also a miracle. At least 6 of those could have been laid by the same hen (Niko found a little hidey hole with the cache back in the pig pen), but I'm pretty sure the other 6 were separate hens!! I think one was laying for her very first time. After she laid the egg she screamed and cackled bloody murder for a good minute; either horrified of her first experience or really proud of what she produced.
The second miracle is that it rained at our house today!! Yes, I mean that wet stuff that falls from the sky. I couldn't remember the name of it at first but then it all came back to me when the glorious wet stuff smacked me on the face as I looked up in wonder.

Still not a whole lot going on around here. Cole is still battling some kind of illness. One day his poop is hard the next it is a bit soft. I;m still working on it. It is not as bad as it was though. He has to get better by next week though so I can put Holly back in with him to make babies!!

I've always been pretty surprised about not ever seeing any mice around our place. With all of the animals and animal food you'd think I'd see them once in awhile. Well, the other night Kiska came running through the living room with a very good size mouse dangling from her mouth still alive. The boys got her outside with it and then I had to admit that maybe the cat is not as useless as I thought. Though I have been coming around to that thought recently because of some mole carcasses and innards I found at the front door. Please don't tell Kiska, we have a love hate relationship.

We have a rabbit living under our house. Once again a rabbit escaped from its cage 4 feet off the ground. She has taken up residence under our house and has somehow escaped the jaws of Ama now for a week. We have tried to catch her but she is too wily for us. We need to get a wild animal catching cage.

We are getting 3 eggs a day now. Again none of them are from the chickens that are put up in a chicken yard and get fed everyday. I don't feed the ones outside of the pen, they fend for themselves. So I think it is definitely time to thin our chicken population once again. Besides we are already out of whole chickens in the freezer.

I am still looking for a car. I have to take the rental back Wednesday. If anyone knows of a Honda or a Toyota for a good price let me know!! Car shopping bites.