Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

So much for being unemployed, lol. DH spent 3 whole business days without a job. He interviewed on Tuesday and was hired a couple hours later...and got several promotions at the same time. He accepted a job on a per-diem basis, then they told him they thought they could get him into a part-time position and an hour later they offered him a full-time job. He's been doing paper work and pee-tests today.

But - wouldn't ya know it - two other places called him today. So, now he's torn. I told him the two other places are only "maybe's" right now so to stick with the 'for sure' job to start with. He says he would like to get back to patient care, and this job would do it for him. It's at a drug/alcohol rehab center and being a recovering alcoholic (7 years sobriety next month!) he feels like it would be a worthy calling.

The issue for him is that it's about a 50% reduction in what he earned previously. I told him that I don't care what he makes as long as he's happy doing it. But, I'm a little afraid he would get bored after a while.

Of the two other places that called, one of them would be a director of risk management in a (fairly local) hospital, another would be director of a health management plan (or something like that) at a major insurance company, and there's a third one that responded by email and sent him a questionnaire that they want him to fill out on his management style.

Sooooo, possibilities are popping up.

Supposed to rain again this weekend - yippee! I don't have enough mold growing between my toes yet, but I'll bet this will take care of it.

I turned Red and one of her daughters back out to the pasture this morning. I've had them up for a week giving them some TLC. They both had white membranes so they got the full-meal deal. De-worming, iron injections, red cell... lotsa, lotsa better quality feed than they were getting in the pasture. They are both gaining weight daily and looking a whole lot better than death!

Had five more chicks hatch yesterday. One lavender orpington, 3 meaty-type crosses, and one unidentified cutie pie. All look hale and hearty. I think that's the last hatch I'm gonna do for now...unless I get a bug and try to hatch some to sell. But, not right now. I'm kinda sick of looking at the little darlin's - and even more tired of my breezeway smelling like chicks and all the assorted odors that go along with 'em.

Woo-hoo, almost time for me to shut this down and go home. Yay!

 

[Denim Deb]

Sounds like your hubby is a good employee!

 

[Mini Horses]

Well, there goes all that extra farm work getting done

 

[frustratedearthmother]

MH, you are sooooo right about that! But, since we now officially live in a swamp it doesn't matter.... can't get much accomplished in ankle-deep mud anyway.

The rehab place is desperate for nurses and they are giving him the fast track through the paperwork jungle. I think he starts Monday. I don't have the best feeling about this job - those kind of places burn through nurses very quickly. But, he's worked plenty of psych and psych related jobs previously and he excels at it - so we'll see.

Oh, and he has another interview with a hospital on Tuesday, or is it Wednesday? I don't remember - but he has an interview. He's not crazy about the hospital - too much personal history there. The job would be director of risk management and it's not a part of hospital life that he's so fond of. But - he's gonna keep his resume out there until the "perfect" job comes along. Oh wait - if he does that he'll never work again, lol!

I'm going to try to get some copper into the goat gals today.... in the rain...and the storms... Only good thing about that is the goats will be hiding in the barn instead of tippy-toeing through the pasture and I won't have to chase them down. Not looking forward to it - but I think it'll help. If not - I'm about to lock 'em all in the barn for the next six months or so until it's hot and dry again. I'm so tired of fighting parasites....ugh!

On a brighter note, after all this rain and cra... gets out of here we'll be cooler tomorrow. High tomorrow will be mid-60's... whoop, whoop! That will probably be our one day of fall, lol.

Happy Saturday ya'll!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

It's been a productive day. I like those kind. I moved a couple bales of hay from the bigger barn to the smaller barn to use for the goats that are closer to the house. I'm so disappointed in this hay....it's really poor quality and I am so tired of apologizing to my critters for it.

I've found mold in every bale I've opened so far. Thankfully it's usually just in one spot and it's easy to pull out - and the goats and horses won't touch the bad parts anyway. But, it bothers me. I contacted the guy I bought it from and do you think he will stand behind his hay - heck no. "Maybe you didn't get it in your barn quickly enough - maybe you stored it improperly - maybe it's not even the hay that I sold you..." GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrr Well - you can be darn sure that I will N.E.V.E.R buy hay from him again! Thinking about putting an ad on Craigslist telling other folks what happened. It's not slander if it's the truth!

Thankfully, I got some really nice round bales from another source. All the hay that the critters won't touch will go for bedding and/or the garden. So, it's not a total loss.

Got copper into a bunch of the gals today. I mixed it with some pumpkin puree and they literally slurped IT UP! I've read several schools of thought about copper blousing. Some say that you absolutely MUST get the copper capsule into the goat whole - others say that it's ok to open the capsule and mix the copper rods with something that the goats will eat. I've always opened the capsule to give the girls, and have always noticed an improvement in my goats condition afterwards, so I'm of the belief that it's okay to get it in them any way possible. I need to order some more because I didn't have enough to do all the girls - but I did the gals with the palest membranes so I feel good about that.

Also managed to get some mite/lice strips hung where the chickens will have to brush up against them to get to their roosting spot. I really hope that helps cut down on the mites or lice or whatever little blood suckers might get on the chickens. I used some Ivomec pour - on a month or so ago so I'm trying to prevent a re-infestation. I prefer not to use anything chemical-ish, but it's been so wet for months now that they don't even have a dry place to dust themselves. GRRRR, chickens need their dust baths!

And - in between all the outside 'stuff' I got some bread baked. I'm trying to become proficient in sourdough bread. Years ago I baked bread every single day and became quite skilled (if I do toot my own horn, lol). But, this sourdough stuff is a whole new challenge. This was my second attempt and while it was leaps and bounds better than my first attempt - it still wasn't what I wanted. I gave in and added yeast to it and it made a fairly decent loaf, but not quite what I expected/wanted. Sourdough is supposed to be a bit better for diabetics, and DH loves bread, so I'm going to keep trying until I get it right.

Speaking of bread - it's calling my name. Time to find something to fill the belly.

 

[Denim Deb]

I hope it dries out for you soon. I've had years when it seems like the only footwear I can wear at the farm for months was muck boots!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

What an absolutely glorious day. I started they day early and did the usual feeding chores in (wait for it) 55 degree weather - clear and beautiful - a little breezy. It was the kind of day that just begged you to stay outdoors all day - and I did, mostly.

After the morning chores I poured a cup of coffee and DH and I slipped into the hot tub. There is just nothing better... coffee, good company and warm, bubbly water. It was devine!

We had planned to help my son do some moving, but he decided to take the day off. So, I spent the day doing 'stuff'.

I have a pretty puny doe, so I went and checked on her first thing - even before hot tub time. She's working hard at staying alive, so I'm helping her as best I can. I gave her an Ivomec Plus injection last weekend and an iron injection before I lost my iron... argh! How did that happen? I've been slipping her a little red cell and got some copper into her yesterday. She must be doing better because she's intent on eating everything in her path. Fingers crossed that she'll make a good recovery.

Spent a little time weeding some of the raised beds and spreading some chicky poopy shavings in them. I've had some Brussels sprouts, broccoli and several types of cabbages planted for a couple weeks and they are doing well. Today I planted some onion sets, some onion seeds (that's a new one), radishes and some carrots. Hoping they'll pop up and do well. And - crazily enough - I found some green tomatoes in the summer garden, picked a yellow squash, some hot peppers and an eggplant. Crazy weather has extended the season beyond what I've seen before. I mean, this is NOVEMBER and I'm picking summer veggies. What's up with that?????

OH, and I have a squash plant behind the barn that has totally taken over a pen back there. The blooms are huge and there is a squash hanging on the fence that is pushing basketball size. I don't even remember what kind it is, lol. But, its out-doing itself right now. Most of the summer the little squashes rotted and fell off the vine before they even got a good start, but now, it's going like gangbusters. I just don't get it, lol.

Need to separate some goats this week, if possible. I think I'm gonna turn a pygmy buck in with all the pygmy does, and maybe a Kinder doe or two, for a couple weeks and see what happens. Only downside is that I need to remember that I should sell the babies... sell the babies... sell the babies. I have this terrible tendency to hang on to them because they're so darn cute.

I put some baby back ribs in the oven and cooked them low and slow this afternoon. I had rubbed them with a really flavorful dry rub and the odor they put off made your mouth water just walking through the house. AND, I had found some quail while I was digging through the freezer, so I brined them, wrapped 'em in bacon and tossed them in the oven too. I made a marinade that I spooned over them a couple times and topped 'em with some bacon. Delicious if I do say so myself. We have enough cooked meat to last for several days at least.

Need to go get some laundry taken care of so I'll have clean clothes for next week.

Another weekend gone....

 

[Denim Deb]

And I'll beat the weekend just wasn't long enough.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

It never is....

Let me put this out there - and make it totally official:

I HATE GOATS (today anyway)

Maybe I just hate big goats...stoopid, stooopid, bucks. They popped all the staples out of the cedar fence posts that were holding up the cattle panels and walked right through their new "gate". do you know how hard it is to get a staple IN to a cedar fence post? I am totally amazed. After that, TOTAL mayhem ensued. There were does getting bred all over the place. As much as I hate to give him any credit - Dusty is the MAN. He bred one doe two or three times before I could even get out to the pasture - then he moved on to another goat and bred her twice - all in about 4 minutes. The pygmy buck bred the old lady who I really didn't plan on breeding. I may lutalyse her. But, she's a great mama and loves her role so I'll monitor her body condition for a couple weeks and see how she looks before making my decision. Can't use the lutalyse for a couple weeks anyway.

I got the two big bucks caught pretty easily - but that little pygmy... GRRRRRR! I literally chased him for 30 minutes at least. He was huffing and puffing harder than me, lol. I finally took some panels and made a little catch pen for him. He didn't like it, but I caught him in there. And, because he's never really enjoyed leading he spent a couple of seconds being dragged through the mud. Guess what - he led pretty good after that.

I have a whole lot of chores that didn't get finished because of the great escape. I bought 18 bags of feed today and only got about half of 'em unloaded. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

 

[Denim Deb]

Can you put some cable ties around the posts as well as the staples?