Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[baymule]

One of my ewes had triplets last time my granddaughters were here. We pulled up lawn chairs and they got to watch the whole thing. They were so excited.

I hope that for has her kids while your granddaughter is there. Better yet, if y’all get to watch the birth!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We had triplets last night, but didn't find them until they were already here. But, DGD got to experience newborns. Had to take her back today. I didn't want to...she's such a joy to have around. It was a whirlwind visit. There was fishing, there was quail cage building too. That girl is always willing to jump in and help. We shopped yesterday, played poker last night and ate all kinds of deliciousness. Oh, and she cut my hair, lol. The girl can cut a straight line for sure.

Back to real farm work tomorrow. Of course, I'm even further behind after taking a couple days off. It was totally worth it, but I need to make up for lost time.

Thank goodness we're not in the throes of summer weather yet. Very thankful for that!

 

[flowerbug]

so glad you got a bit of a break.

 

[baymule]

I love my granddaughters visits. It’s so much fun. I’m glad you enjoyed her visit so much. It’s so worth it to take a few days “off” and center your attention on your precious granddaughter!

 

[flowerbug]

hope the storms are not too bad down there this evening/morning!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

hope the storms are not too bad down there this evening/morning!

The storm was intense, but thankfully it was very fast moving and didn't hang around and cause any problems. Haven't checked the rain gauge but I see no standing water.

Slept in a little this morning. Not much sleep last night. Not all the storms fault, but DH's blood sugar was being stubborn. What else is new?

Gonna have to see what the day brings. I'm sporting a bit of a sore lower back this morning, so I'd like not to pi$$ it off any more today. Could be from the new weed whacker. I hate weed whacking and it hates me too.

The new triplets aren't loving life. I guess their mom didn't plan for 3 babies and has come up short on milk. I'm milking a couple of other does to supplement them. Will probably sell at least one buckling as a bottle baby. I'll give them a few more days on the bottle here to make sure they're good to go.

Gotta get outside and get busy.

 

[flowerbug]

i've been up and down all morning. hope your back doesn't get worse!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

hope your back doesn't get worse!

Thankfully, the back problem worked itself out when I got moving this morning.

I definitely have 3 bottle babies. They are getting something from mom, but not nearly enough. Going to make sure they are well adjusted to the bottle and then offer them for sale soon.

Still working on the screen house. Added some t-posts to keep things stable. Started padding up some of the sharp points so the screen fabric won't get too torn up. I'm trying to get the stock panels cut down to shape but I didn't have the right blade on the grinder. Talked to my good neighbor and he's got me all set up with the right blade. I'll pick up replacements for both of us soon. While the battery for the grinder was charging I started assembly on the first raised bed. I've got it basically put together, just need to finish up all the nuts and bolts. I can fill it with dirt and get it planted even before I get the insect screen up. The stink bugs don't attack the tomatoes until it sets fruit, so I have a little time.

Might throw a squash plant or two in there also. Squash bugs are so brutal. Already wish I'd made it bigger. Next year, lol!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Got the first raised bed assembled. I've got cardboard and feed sacks on the bottom. Putting a layer of twigs in next, then l'll layer in dirt, compost and rotted hay.

Need to finish this project - I have too many still waiting on me. Wishful thinking I'm afraid...this will take a while. However, I've GOT to get a shelter in a pen so I can pull the bucklings out or I guess I can just band 'em. However, I still need that pen for weaning so it's gotta get done one way or another.

Have to take DH to an endocrinologist appointment this afternoon, ugh.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Dang - wrote this yesterday morning and never posted.

Raining this morning. Trying not to complain because we need it. However, it does put a kink in my plans to get things done. It's not terribly hard rain so maybe I can sneak in a few projects. I mean, I did feed the critters.

I have a whole bunch of quail. Most of my cages made of hardware cloth so they keep the quail in and for the most part keep out things that should be kept out. However, I have two overflow pens that are made of 1 x 2 inch cage wire. "Things" that shouldn't be in there can get in there. A thing got in there over night with 3 young quail. All three were dead and there was a thing in there that was now too fat to get out. So, I finished feeding and then went to deal with the thing.

I got the English Shepherds, Raine and Karma, out one at a time to see if they wanted to deal with the thing. Gracie (deceased), the best ES ever, would've dispatched the thing in no time flat. The two that I have now wanted nothing to do with the thing - but they really wanted the two dead quail as a morning snack. Sigh.... It's a shame that I had to dispatch a young rat snake. If he woulda stuck to rats he woulda had a safe place here for life. But nope! He was lazy and instead of hunting rats he went for a defenseless, caged bird. He won't do it again.

Yesterday afternoon:
Finished filling a raised bed in the rain. Forty lb bags of dirt weigh twice as much when they're wet as when they're dry...maybe more. I used 10 bags of top soil, a garden cart full of barn gold and 4 big bags of raised bed dirt/filler. Felt like I moved a ton... Decent timing because the rain will help settle the dirt. Hope to get it planted before long. Need to make the area secure from chickens first.

Today:
Found a bunch of volunteer tomatoes in one of the worm containers. Oops - the worms seem to have frozen or drowned or somehow died over winter, but they made great soil for these tomatoes to sprout in. I'm going to try to separate some of them out and might just leave some of them in there to grow. Not even sure what type of tomatoes they are but my guess is that they're from store bought mixed color snacking cherry tomatoes. I'm kind of excited, lol.

Major rain supposed to be on the agenda again today. It was also supposed to rain most of the day yesterday. It rained, but it didn't exactly rain all day. I hope it doesn't pick up this afternoon like they say it might because I've got an early dinner planned with some former co-workers. Looking forward to it - don't need the rain to mess things up.

Gotta get moving. TGIF!