Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

Okay, all this talk about farm sitting and vacations has got me freaking out already, lol. I like the young men who work for me very much, and I if it were summer when we were going it would be perfect... But, one of them will be going OFF to college. The other one might or might not be going off to college. They have a younger brother but he has an after school job.... so now I'm not sure I can depend on them. However, I have another option. I have some really good neighbors who took care of my critters when we went to CA last year. I just hate to impose on them for 10 days - maybe 11 - depending on how the flights go.

OH- and speaking of flights...gulp...I checked prices today - very preliminary at this point, but it's not going to make me happy to spend that much money on something that I hate to do, lol! Flying is a necessary evil, but I'm never gonna love it.

I'm gonna have to stock up on round bales before we go, but I need to do that anyway. That'll be the bulk of critters diet while we're gone. It's easy and I'd almost prefer they just eat hay rather than worrying that someone might mis-feed or over feed the grain. I don't want to have horses colic-ing or goats bloating while I'm gone. Right now the pond is full - so that's good. It's never gone completely dry, but it certainly has been lots lower than it is right now. That - and all the auto waterers we have should take care of their drinking needs. Even considering putting up a deer feeder with whole corn in it for the chickens. The dogs will have their self-feeders... Geeze, maybe I don't need anybody to feed after all! (not really - but I'll try to make it as simple as possible for whoever does it)

Now... I've gotta lose 20 lbs, buy a bunch of new clothes and start packing!

We're thinking early October... but we're still not set in stone. Oh great...just thought of something----October is prime hurricane time around here... GRRRRRRRR!

What have I gotten myself in to???

 

[Denim Deb]

Relax and breathe!

 

[hqueen13]

Enjoy the ride! It will all come together as it is supposed to!
Simple is helpful for a farm sitter, but don't compromise your animals either. Have whoever is going to care for them come over and learn the routine and the animals a bit before you go. Also have a nice sheet with instructions printed out and all the important phone numbers too.
You probably know all of this but sometimes in the flurry it is easy to forget!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

All good tips - thanks. Last time we went away I labeled all my feed cans. For example: goat pellets, goat grain, chicken corn, chicken pellets, etc... That way my written instructions were easier to follow. Ex: mix two scoops of goat pellets with one scoop of goat grain... I'll probably ask the neighbors. They've done it before and love the animals. They enjoy the eggs and free veggies that go with it. Now - if I could only teach 'em to milk, lol!

Still haven't got a timeline yet. We've talked about doing a river cruise that would take us from southern Italy northward, with stops at all the normal tourist highlights and some of the "off the path" places too. Stoopid expensive, lol.....but they don't have any availability until April 2015....geeze.

Meanwhile life on the farm goes on. I've still got two more does due within a couple weeks. I've got two baby bucks that I need to find a place for. I'll be selling at least one of the mature F1 Kinder bucks so I can hang on to an F2 now. But - I can't put a baby with a mature buck so I'll be needing pen space. Same with the pygmy buckling I wanna keep. I can put the two little guys together for awhile. If they grow up together maybe they can stay together - but there will be a HUGE size difference when they mature.

I'll be blocking off part of the garden space where most everything is done and let some goats into it to start cleaning it up. It's adjacent to the Kinder bucks pen so they'll get the goodies. They'll appreciate the free eats for sure!

Luckily, I've been able to get quite a few new tomato plants started from the existing plants. I'll be putting them in totes and have decided to purchase a little pop up screen house to grow them in. It'll be the tomato habitat, lol. When the season is over I'll take it down and store it until next spring.

Need to go start something for brkfst. Dh took the day off and is sleeping in. He deserves it since he left the house at 7a yesterday and didn't get home until after 10p. Poor fella - his job is kinda crazy right now He oversees 4 offices and lately there's been one crisis after another. He NEEEEDs a vacation!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Well - it's been a day. Some good, some bad, some just different!

The bad - AC stopped blowing cold air. As I think I've mentioned before - DH isn't real handy, but he's real sweet! Called the AC repair guys and they were here in a couple hours - replaced the capacitor and $200 later we have cold air again!!

The good - Pygmy doe delivered two little bucklings. And, just so you know HOW good that was - she was bred to a Kinder buck - not a pygmy. (It was NOT of my doing!) Five months ago there was a weak spot in the fence around the bucks pen (which has been totally replaced now) and I guess she went visiting. I didn't know she was even bred until she started getting fat. One of the big disadvantages of old age is that you forget things, lol. I thought I had bred her to the pygmy buck, I even had a picture of the breeding to prove it....except it wasn't her - it was a doe that looks just like her. I identify them by the white mark on their feet. One doe has a white spot on her left foot and the other doe has a white spot on her right foot... When I checked closer it was the doe with the OTHER white foot that was bred to the pygmy buck - but she didn't settle. Anyway - that was my long-winded way of saying she safely delivered two little fellers from a daddy that is at least three times her size! I think the saving factor was that these little guys are 3/4 pygmy so I think that's what saved us....whew!

The different - I made some "bread" out of almond butter, flax meal, coconut flour and a bunch of eggs. AND - it's pretty tasty. I'm surprised and happy. I've been struggling to stay on this "no grain" thing with DH - but I can NOT live without some sort of bread product and I think this will be a reasonable substitute. I'm gonna keep experimenting though cuz there are LOTS of recipes out there.

We've planned a day out for tomorrow. Gonna drive down to the beach, have some lunch and shop for a new Kitchen television. Mine is making sound but no picture..ugh. On top of the AC issue that'll be a chunk of cash laid out this weekend. Oh well...whatcha gonna do? I guess I could continue to listen to TV in the kitchen.

 

[Britesea]

or you could like I do... sing at the top of my unmelodious voice, lol... Keeps everything out of the kitchen but the flies!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Now THAT is a plan, lol. I have a pretty small (I call it efficient) kitchen and when we have guests I feel like I need to put up a gate to keep them out.

 

[Britesea]

Every once in a while I wistfully remember the kitchen of the house I grew up in... about 15x15, 2 walls of solid cabinets and counter, 'milk' glass paneling up to 4 feet (made washing the walls real easy!) big kitchen table in the center and a walk-in pantry...*sigh* They don't make em like that anymore (the house was built in 1912). Of course, when I lived there I didn't think anything of it, lol

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That sounds like it was an awesome place! Isn't it funny how sometimes we don't see what we've got til it's gone....sigh. My first house, which was half the size of this one had a kitchen that was at least twice as big. It took up the whole front section of the house and had over 30 cabinets in it. Nice...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Today DH and I had a "date day". We left the house about 10am and went on a drive around some backwater bays and then along the coast. The coast road is called "Blue Water Hwy" - sounds beautiful huh? Except, this is the Galveston area and there is NOTHING blue about Galveston water, lol. The water is generally muddy coming into the bay anyway and today was no exception. It was made even worse because the sea was really rough and that stirred up even more mud. AND, the seaweed was the worst that I have ever seen. Wish I had a way to haul a bunch of it home for the garden. I've heard it makes incredible mulch. But, we still love the coast and it was a great trip.

We had lunch at a well-known Gumbo restaurant. DH chose to have the cioppino because it was rice-less as opposed to the gumbo. I found the roux in the gumbo a little harsh for my taste even though I ate it. The cioppino was absolutely to DIE for - it was tomato-y and seafood-y and you could taste a little bit of the white wine in the sauce and I LOVED it... at least the little bit that DH would share with me... Nah - he actually offered to switch dishes with me but he doesn't need all the carbs in the rice (that was in the gumbo) so we finished our own original dishes. It wasn't that my dish was baaaad, it was just that his was so good! All in all it was a really enjoyable lunch and we will definitely go back.

After that we walked around on the Strand (historic touristy area with lots of shops and restaurants) for awhile. It was H.O.T. so we didn't stay very long. We've been there plenty of times so we didn't feel like we were missing anything.

Left the Galveston area and decided to catch a movie. We were just in time for the 3-D showing of Godzilla, lol. I thought it would be horrible, but was pleasantly surprised that the movie actually kinda, sorta had a plot. I didn't consider it a total waste of money.

On the way home from the movies we had to stop at Wally-world (ugh) and pick up a new weed whacker and also a little television for the kitchen - both of which died in the last couple days.

All in all we had a GREAT day. It was nice just spending time together remembering just how much we enjoy each other's company so much! I know...sappy and all that stuff... but it's all true!

Came home and had a very light dinner. Just sliced some tomatoes and avocadoes and had some fresh cucumbers with olive oil and vinegar on a plate. Very light, very refreshing and pretty darn tasty too.