Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

Excited today! Lately I've been hitting two or three different feed stores to get what I need for my critter menagerie. So, I decided to try a new place - a little bit further away, but not that much. OMG - I haven't checked to see if they have everything I use, but so far they're great. Lay Pellets are almost $3.00 cheaper than the other store(s)! And, I buy a LOT of chicken feed. That alone will probably save me close to $30 a month!

I'm also buying Chaffhaye there. I tried my first bag last week and my girls just love it! I probably won't use that for the whole crew, but definitely for the lactating girls. I'm also giving the bucks a little too - just cuz they don't have a lot of pasture area to browse/graze on. Their pens are fairly restricted in size. I'd still like to sell a few more goats, but just haven't had time to deal with it yet.

My sweet little Silkie hen hatched two babies! (well, she was sweet before she started sitting - now she's a henzilla!) I had no idea what kind of eggs she was sitting on, but there's a yellow baby that most likely is a Coronation Sussex, and a black baby that will probably turn out to be a Black Orpington. Like I needed any more chickens....

 

[creativetwinszoo]

Phew!! Sounds like you've been very busy!! Don't forget to keep hydrated and energized!!!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

It's a busy time of year, for sure! I do love it though... can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing than working out side with goats and gardens. And, I'm pretty obsessive about staying hydrated.

It'll be a little tougher this weekend to get much accomplished. I'm going to work a half-day on Saturday. We're treating our students to the annual end of the year "fun day." It's one of those arcade/entertainment mall places that has bowling, laser tag, and a zillion games to play. We're taking about 30 high school kids... can't wait. But, in exchange for that half-day I will get an entire day off. I love comp time! Sunday is Mothers Day so I'll be making a visit to my folks. They're really starting to slow down at their ripe old ages. Dad is having more physical health problems while mom's problems are more of a 'nervous' type.

The baby with the infected umbilical stump is getting better. She never showed any symptoms of being ill...just a swollen stump. But, because I've seen these things progress I started her on antibiotics and after almost a week the swelling is going down. She's still as feisty as ever!

I noticed yesterday that the green beans I planted over the weekend were already popping up - yippee! I still need to get more stuff planted, but it's always a great incentive to see things up and growing. Blackberries are starting to ripen a few at a time. In a couple weeks I should be able to pick a big ol' batch of em. Yum, yum!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ok, back to this fictional dog that I don't intend to ever get....shame on me...but it's happening. I am powerless to prevent it... I admit that now. And, so much for the lap dog we thought we wouldn't get... now we're going for something totally different. I am almost the proud owner of an English Shepherd. Unless something untoward happens between now and next week I'll be picking up Gracie next week.



I knew of the breed but had never really investigated them. I've been doing my research and I think this is the breed for us. They are technically a 'herding' dog, but not hyper or driven like a border collie or aussie.

"The English Shepherd is a highly intelligent, all-around farm dog, being used as a herding dog, livestock guardian, farm watch dog, hunting dog, vermin eradicator and a child's companion. English Shepherds were not bred to be specialized to work one type of livestock as some recent herding dogs have been. English Shepherds were bred to do many tasks on the small diversified farms of the 17th through early 20th centuries that had various types of livestock including cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, and fowl."

I'm excited!

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm not overly familiar w/them. How big do they get?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

There's not a lot of them around. They can range from about 45 - 60lbs depending on male or female. Some family lines run larger or smaller than others too. I'm getting a little bit worried because the breeder hasn't responded to my emails since Thursday. Hope she hasn't changed her mind... ugh!

 

[creativetwinszoo]

Aww what a cutie!

 

[creativetwinszoo]

Hope you hear something back soon!!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Did hear back from her finally. I'll be heading up to meet Gracie on Wednesday morning and if everything goes well, I'll be bringing her home with me! I'm so excited!

 

[Denim Deb]

Congrats!