Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

And as a reward for giving the pregger does a nice clean pen- one of them decided to bless me with a brand new Conan jr! A single buckling-should I name him Supper?

 

[NH Homesteader]

Um, well that was prompt lol congrats!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

It's kinda funny cuz I actually locked them up last night and checked ligaments and udders.... I even checked this morning. But, early afternoon when my back started hurting I noticed her lay down gingerly and I made a mental note to go back and check on her....but I ate Motrin and watched a movie and waited several hours before I went back out. Baby was up, dry, had nursed and was already pooping! Can't ask for more than that! I'm even glad it's a boy and there's only one. He should grow very well being an only child.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Don't you love when they don't need you? Yes, name him Supper. No temptation to keep him!

How's your back feeling now?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I DO love it when they don't need me!

Yes, name him Supper. No temptation to keep him!

Absolutely no temptation to keep him at all - unless he lives in the freezer. It's kinda ok that the Kiko's mostly all look alike. Can't want to keep 'em on looks. Well, except for Cameo's spotted buckling. Spotted goats sell very well! And, he's half Nubian instead of half Kinder. I suspect he'll be bigger and meatier....does this sound like I'm talking myself into keeping him? Last thing I need to do is keep another buck - unless I get rid of at least two.

I've also been looking at Lucy's two Kiko/Kinder girls. (I need a new name for them.... Kiker's...or Kindo's?)
Anyway, I like one of them much more than the other one. She's thicker and heavier and meatier than her sister....even though her sister is friendlier. Does that mean I might be able to sell one? I dunno…. all I know is that if I'm switching gears here there's going to be a time when I have more goats than I want. (what else is new?) I'll have to get some of these young'uns to weaning age and even breeding age before I can get rid of their mama's. But, by late fall, if growing goes well, I might be able to breed some of these early babies.

 

[Mini Horses]

I know we can do it - but there is still a tiny feeling of panic. I'm not even sure why

Because this forces us to acknowledge that we have always spent "on a whim" and see that it needs to stop. Because we are used to the steady appearance of $$$ added to our accounts (more to spend on whim). Because we know the limitations will be there and not sure if we want to comply. Hard to change gears after so many years in the work force. I'm seeing the same right now. Like I said before, much of retirement is emotional. Unknown is scary.

I need to ponder this a bit. I guess I could move him and then let him settle down.

No matter when you to it, I agree, this sounds the best.
My goat was a full grown, full size breed. There was a good amount of meat, especially for a dairy breed. My Boers were heavy bodied and they were sent to butchers by the buyers. You get chops & all that. By the way, I did cut the hams, shoulders, etc. into chunks & slabs of meat...nice sized. Left one hind qtr whole and plan to BBQ this Sprinq -- outside.

Recently I found out about a small, private slaughter/butcher fairly near me. USDA, etc. They are a Mennonite family, so I feel real good about that because they use it all -- you get it all back and they know how to cut it to GET it all. My next "ready" goes there. Also better pricing.


Nice of the doe to present such a nice "thank you". Gonna be a lot of white ones...

 

[sumi]

Oh wow, congrats on another little one! Hope your back is feeling better!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Back is stiff and sore - but no muscle spasms so that's a big plus!

Goats are doing their best to try and make me crazy. (what else is new?) Had to build a separate pen inside the red shed for Not Patch. I know - weird name, lol. But her sister is Patch and she's Not Patch. But, right now she's being Not Cooperative! She won't stay anywhere I put her and I'm afraid she'll injure herself constantly fighting her containment. I figured she'd stay in a pen if I left her in the red shed with all her family/friends. So far so good. But, I'm a little concerned with her. Not sure if she's not eating well because of the move or another reason. There's nothing I can really put my finger on but her eyes are dull and she's just not herself. Soooo, I started treating her for ketosis. I'm not getting drastic, but I gave her some probiotics, a B-complex injection and some molasses. And, or course she spit as much out as she could and was just a general _itch about it all....grrrrr! None of that will hurt her if she's NOT ketotic. I'm probably over reacting...

I got the rest of the pig(s) vacuum packed and back in the freezer. I think it's easier to vacuum pack it if it's already frozen so I had previously just wrapped it in cling wrap and put it in the freezer. Got it all out and correctly packaged for storage. I really need to organize my freezer. It' just had stuff shoved in it and not in any particular order. If I'm gonna get more meat in it I need to get that done.

I am so bummed about the weather this week. I had already adapted to weather in the 80's and now I have to go back the other way. I neeeeeed some sunshine! We've only had 11 days this year with sunshine...and only 2 days that were sunny all day. There's something wrong with this picture!

Trying to get some laundry done and will have to go back out and feed in just a little bit and then start the work week tomorrow. Ugh. But hey - Spring Break is coming up! Really excited about that. That's usually when I really work on the garden - but that AIN'T happening this year. I may use that time to try to get some of those tubs out of the garden. Any gardening this year will be done in a couple of raised beds and/or tubs. Sigh....

 

[baymule]

I went to Walmart and bought plastic tubs that would fit on my freezer shelves. it did a LOT to organize the freezers. The freezer used to throw things at me when I opened the door, but not any more.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

What style tubs did you use?