Are we living our dreams?

[rhoda_bruce]

So 3 separate nursing locations, in one job??? Don't think I'd want it unless I had a really nice motive. I drive a long time to get to work....about 50 minutes. Never measured the distance though. Before my feet completely gave out on me, I was weekend special. I'd work 16 hours on Saturday, sleep in the rehab room, during night shift and then clock in Sunday morning and work another 16....go home having worked 32, but get paid for 40. If I'd have driven home, I'd have used twice the gas and not gotten enough sleep. I'd usually get called in for at least a single shift, during the week though. With good feet, its an awesome job.
When the bridge job came open, I was working as a part-time nurse because I couldn't do full-time and I decided to take it because of the pain I was experiencing. I had to be pretty frugal to make ends meet because less than half the pay. If I could have held off and just waited a while, the current job I now have would have come available real soon.....its been being filled by various nurses, all this time, while I've been nursing my feet on a bridge. But at least I got to study herbology. Almost finished the program. 3 tests left and about half way finished studying for my next test.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Well, time is passing and my goats are looking like they gonna each drop twins, so had to put my foot down and get some help to work a bit more on the barn, to at least get the goat stall ready before I have kids running around. DH's cousin came over to help me. Now I have a bit less lumber in the loft and shed and a bit more barn put together. I'll need to get my brother to mill a bit more cypress for me, for the outside wall, but we got a lot done. My feet are killing me though.
I will be needing to decide on dealing with high water in the barn. I'm thinking about digging a few shallow grave-size holes in each stall and using the resulting mud, to raise up around and fill the holes with my clear wine bottles, seeings as people gave us way too many wine bottles and DH prefers the tinted ones.....so do I for herbology....then covering the bottles completely with a few inches of limestone and also putting a layer of limestone in each stall to have a pretty hard surface and better drainage.
Of course, the goats will have a couple of tables built in place to bed down on, which I figure will be of great help in high water as well.
I'm thinking about putting a few tires, filled in with mud and capped off with limestone in each of the chicken stalls for emergency high water situations. Thank God, it doesn't happen often. Thats my biggest fear with my barn. Of course, I don't worry about my geese and ducks at all.
Pretty much have decided to close in the south side with just cattle panels. Need some ventilation, afterall.
Well, it was hard on the feet, but glad to have myself closer to completion. If I can just keep on track, I will be able to produce lots of food....Yeehaa!!!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Fingers crossed that you get at least twins out of your does. When are they due?

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Have to get back to that one; and believe me...its ever on my mind. I marked the calendar when I suspected a breeding had taken place and thats all I have to go by, except for just looking at the girls. My little girl has always been on the slender side and now is looking really thick around the middle, so I'm all but positive she has something going on....besides, very shortly after the buck was here, she was having trouble walking, so I just assume. My big girl, kept looking like she was going into heat the while time he was here and she always looked pregnant anyway, so I really don't know. I can only tell you, she hasn't been acting like she is in a heat since he left.
Their boyfriend is for sale and I'm really tempted to buy him because he is friendly, easy to manage, nice to the girls, good on weed control, and quite frankly....I don't wanna have to worry about tracking him down and dealing with new owners. I trust his current owner. But if I buy him, I want him to have his own quarters, away from the girls, until I bring them to him for services and I'd want to have him tending to a few problem areas. Not sure I wouldn't be giving myself more chores and expenses first hand though. I do have a place to put him, that I need help keeping clean, but I'm afraid he might be consumed by the local wildlife. Its a big area, near the woods and not sure I can keep coyotes out. Well, its Mom and Dad's old coop and pond and poultry yard. Hey....if they were able to keep animals there, I'd assume I should be Okay with a single goat. I'd just like him to clean the place up a bit, so I can see what I've got.
But back on topic.....you right. I need to determine gestation and come up with an approximate due date for each girl and be all ready a few weeks ahead of time. DH is giving me grief. He keeps telling me I won't be able to get enough milk from them because they are not milk breeds and I'm :/ really looking forward to proving him wrong....shhhh. I won't rub it in his face, but silence is gold sometimes. I've only read about 30 times that a grade can produce as much as a registered milk breed doe. I'm hoping to at least cut my milk purchases in half.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Cash flow kinda tight, so instead of getting my hired man, I decreased expenses today. Thats a business like way for a farmer to admit she killed all her breeding roos and 2 extra guinea cocks. Took me a long time, but its done. I've combined all my laying hens into one single coop and used the 3 freed stalls to finish off a few young pullets and grow some cockeral and duck meat....so my brooders and tractors are all empty. Very pleased, but very tired. Birds chilling out in the fridge until 3 days.
Just came in with almost 2 gallons of figs to add to 3 quarts we picked yesterday, so I'm about to make preserves. If I pick them everyday, the bugs don't feast much. I itch....jeeze.
I was given 48 turkey eggs yesterday from 2 different breeds...not sure which, but think one is bourbon and forget the other. Hoping for a good hatch rate. Now that I've moved things around and it looks like I can manage some meat projects, I'm thinking I can put more duck eggs to incubate also, but not sure if I should. I probably have enough and they so messy.
Well...hope all is well on all my SS friend's end. It'd be nice if I can type my work done, but its not gonna work like that, huh?

 

[Wannabefree]

Sounds like you're on a roll sis! Finances aren't too hot here right now either...I tried to downsize, but...I somehow wound up with the same thing, only a bit smaller, and a bit of cash. So next week I'm trying again

 

[rhoda_bruce]

You go girl. There is more than one way to skin a cat. If I can stay motivated, I can cancel out a paycheck, given enough time and resources. I'll get it all done; just trying to do it in the most prudent manner.

 

[Wannabefree]

There IS more than one way to skin a cat, and the cat got skinned today I have officially downsized Sold quite a bit this morning, 24 animals in all....and I didn't even have to try

 

[rhoda_bruce]

You did better than me. I only sold 2 keets and I have an order for 6 black-star pullets that I need to get started. Trouble is the only way I can do that is if I separate my barred rock hens from the others, so I know their eggs and incubate just that, but I'm not stressing. I'm gonna pick up eggs tomorrow and put about 4 or 5 dozen brown eggs to incubate. Most will be some kind of sex-link and a few will be straight run RIR's. Now that I've moved things around, I think I can manage it. I might do some math and figure what day to put the chicken eggs in to hatch out with the the poults. I mean, I will have the brooder empty long before they hatch out and I'll have the stalls empty (due to slaughtering) long before they outgrow the brooder.
DD 17 has 2 girls sleeping over whose families aren't into this type of lifestyle. DH tramatized one of them, by coming into the kitchen and saying, "Rhoda, one of those corpses you have in the fridge, downstairs is leaking blood all over the place." I walked out the kitchen to have a few words with him about the customer who bought the keets wants to bring me all the coons she catches and I heard DD 17 explain to her that all was fine and her Poppa said corpses to pick on Momma, cuz I had cleaned a bunch of roosters. The poor child was just as wide eyed as she could be. I just don't know where some of these kids think their food comes from.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Today is just one of those days that I feel like I'm on my own. DH didn't want me to pick up a brooder that is for sale, at a pretty good price and he told me I had to get rid of one of my other projects before I get something else. Its not like I am not doing good with all of my projects. Clearly I am making them all pay for themselves. He hardly has to bother with anything, so I don't see what the problem is.
On the other hand, I agreed to him ordering a tortoise a few days ago and it costed 250. The supplies that he bought to house and feed it were equally expensive. Its going to outlive my youngest child and some of my grandkids, apparently. And will it feed me, make me happy, cut my grass, solve any problems for me what-so-ever? But I agreed because I thought it would make him happy.
Sorry, but it sucks to feel like this.