Pink Fox: its Raining...IN MY HOUSE! :/

[pinkfox]

well todays the "big day" i get to go to the bank this afternoon and sign the next 2 years of "free money" away in order to get this place moving forward.
so the plan for this morning is ging to be don clothing (prferably of the warm kind, its chilly today!) and go take a wander through the woods, getsome better pictures for the "before" and try to get a visualization of hats going to be done...im not even going to attempt to visualize what it will look like finnihsed ebcause well, its too overwhelming currently t even thing about it. but i definatly want before and after pictures. i also want to get a better idea of the propety line so if the guys for questions i can poit things out...i know it runs along the power line, but id LIKE to leave a little bit of privet if possible alog the front property line ofr privicy and sound control (so the goats dont bother the people who live along said line)
Id also like to get a better idea as to whatkind of fencing already exists if ay at all on the far end of the property.
i knwo the back side of the property has fencing, rusted and not usefull, but fencing lol, and the eventual plan is to completly perimeter fence with feild fence. i plan on cross fencing in electric just so i can rotate if nessicary and have a buck pen for the boys.

So yeah...im realy excited but trying not to realy get intomy head what i THINK its oging to look like done, because i don want to visulaize one thing and confuse myself if it looks nothing like that.
My brain keeps trying to visualize a big open pasture, but i KNOW thats not what its going to look like because i dont want him ripping the trees out (eventually ill be thinngin some stuff out but nothing in the plans for the dozer guy...his job is to sort out the trash and the undergrowth/brush so i can get in there safely, eaily and not wrestling with privet.

im kinda hoping we can use the trash, burrying it around the enge of what the origional owners tried to make a pond, and develop it more...kind of dam it up and see if i cant get it holding water...its not huge, but big enough if i can get it holding to toss some cat fish in there and give the ducks and geese a spot to actulaly swim.
this guy specilizes in ponds though so im going to talk to him and see if my thoughts would actually work.

so yeah.

im still getting just 1 egg a day from the ducks, but least its consistent...i should get 2-3 a day pretty consistently out of 5 girls once the engines get going lol.
I have one each morning o a slice of toast with cheese and butter, delicious!

 

[pinkfox]

well, money is in the bank, email to Dozer guy sent out, just waiting on confirmation of start day/time. he was talking initially baout starting tomorrow, whihc would be awesome! but we'll see.
walked the property some today and the good news is im not going to have to do quite as much perimeter fencing as i intiially thought. theres actually some fairly deacent welded wire fencing along the front property line starting at about the 1/2 way point and goes all the wal along round the property conrer and stright up the side.
i know the fence along the back is destroyed, but assuming this fence is in fairly good condition once the dozer works done its another thing i ca scratch of the list.

We had the idea of using the trash to evelop the "pond" the origional owners tried to build but ill be frank...i just dont think its going to hold more than a puddle, so right now im thinking of having him USE that ditch as pre-made dump spot, might save me a bit of money, its not big enough to burry everything but if he pushed stuff into there and leveled that area out it might give him a ittle le-way to do a little more work...
i do have another spot on the property ive been thinking about damming up and turning into a pond so it wouldnt be a great loss if that one cant be saved.

also about 1/3rd of that front acre is realy not bad, its not as dense with privet (though theres some larger privet bushes that id like to tear out) but its realy not al that dense in that area meaning it shouldnt take much to get it almost completly, but then theres all the other spots that seriously look like a disaster zone. so hes got his work ahead of him.
i now he plans to bring his digger and his dozer, im assuming hell burn any wood piles and then bury the roofing supplies...we'll see.

but yeah.
*excited*

 

[SSDreamin]

I your new boys! Sounds like they are adjusting well.

Yay on the clean up! I could kick myself for NOT taking before/after pictures of ANY of our projects

 

[Happy to be Me]

I can't wait to see your before and after pics!

 

[pinkfox]

dozer guy plans on delivering the machinery tomorrow afternoon, work should start saturday

so im going to go feed the babies in a min then start pulling some stuff from the shed destruction that i want to keep not burried/burned out of the way. (a couple of doors primarily an mabe some of the planks.)

in other news...
my family in CT were hit hard by Sandy, thankfully they were prepped, no damage to the house and their generator is going strong...(although not cheap to run obviously) yesterday they were told power would be back by noon and i joked with dad that that meant it would be monday before they even considered starting work...
today they get a call telling them power should be rese around November 6th!
thats 10 days without power (in the mean time some areas even harder hit are already back up *shakes head*)

just proves that even when prepped for emergencies its often not enough.

its got me thinking about my own plans for emergencies. i have natural gas heat, so as long as i can light the fire im ok...
but short of a small charcoal grill id be running on a small generator to keep food cold.
its reminded me ith no uncertaintly that SOLAR is a project to get added to the list.
im thinking a system for the house and eventually a system completly seperate to run the barn/milking house. (of course i have to have a barn first for that part lol)
i just wish it wasnt so expensive to set up and i know its the battery banks that realy cost the money.
and an alternative heat source would also be nice...but the question there would become where to put it in my little house lol.

there saying storms like sandy ae going to become more frequent...what is "unusual" now will be the normal weather in 10 years...all the more reason to make sure that with each step i take around here i have the ultimate goal in mind of primary self sufficiency...i dont need to be off the grid...but i want to have theoption to go off grid if something happens and i have to.
just more things to keep in mind...right?

 

[Denim Deb]

Pinky, gas is good-unless there's a pipe line break. Right now, they won't even let people ins some neighborhoods because of busted pipes.

As for a generator, you don't need to run it 24/7. Personally, I'd just run it for awhile in the morning and at night, just enough to keep the stuff in the fridge and freezer cold. Some people in northern NJ are having problems finding gas, and I'm sure they have the same problem in other areas that were hard hit. Nor do you really need a generator big enough to run the whole house. If you have one that will run either your fridge or freezer and have a bit to spare, that's plenty big enough. They'll run just as long normally as a bigger generator, but on a lot less gas.

 

[pinkfox]

thats exactly what mine is deb, just big enough to run the chest frezer and the fridge...

for me its more the long term thoughts...i mean a few days without power is easy, but 10 days even running a genny just for a few hours here and there adds up REALY quickly
shtf big time type senario i efaintly ant to be more "long term" prepared...dads now finding the same, the genny has been a god send for them (and there pretty much using it that way, a few hours here a few hours there, making sure food stays cold ect...
but in a serious senario when you cant even get gas to run them ect...it turns into a "what now" situation.

its less a panic type feeling and more a...how could i adapt my homesead to make it so in a situation like they are going through, over the long term i could live quiet and comfortably.
candles and oil lamps are something i lvoe the looks of and think while being decorative they could also make perfect emergency lighting.
a wood stove is a cookin utensil as well as heat so ive been thinking about eventually putting a smal on in, ne specifically designed to do just that not only provide heat but also a usable cooking surface like they SHOULD be.
i do love the gas for heat (and want to put a gas line in to use for cooking too) but as you mentioned, should the pipes break thee goes that option.

i think alot if it is also too man episodes of the walking dead...
hershel has such a lovely farm in the show, but from everything i can gather hes running the whole place of a gas powered generator...and they are MILES from town with flesh eating monsters all around, obiously theres acess to gas to run the dang thing (and vehicles ect) in the early days, but hauling enough to run somehting like that so frequently...and eventually supply WILL run out...what then?

just things that go through my head...
i perfer planning for movie style zombies...lol, its an easier concept for me to grasp in terms of "what would i need close" i mean in ANY emergency situation, having to leave the homestead for any reason or any length of time becomes a potentially dangerous thing e it a zombie threat or flash flooding/odd weather, or flat out other people...

but thats wh were all on this forum...to learn of new ways to make ourselfs more sufficent on ourselves, for ANY reason.

moved the 2 door and a few peices of good wood off to the side, everythign else is burn pile/bury it fodder.
the reality has suddenly set in and now i just wat to see it done. lol.
another day is going to sleep as the sun starts to sink and just reminds me how fast my first year here has gone.

 

[Denim Deb]

If you want a smaller wood stove, one I've read good reviews on is the morso 1410.

 

[pinkfox]

oh thats pretty

Wel today the plan is as follows...wait around.

the dozer guy is supposed to be bringing his machinery by before the end of the day. we'll probably do a final walk through and discuss options.
after looking at the old "pond" yesterday i dont hold out much hope for its resurection but thats fine, becauseits a large divet that already has a natural barrier on the back side and could easily be use as a pre-dug dumping hole to at least get us started, he can start pusshing stuff in there to make oom to dig more holes to burry what wont fit...and since thee ALOT of stuff the dirt dug out to make room to burry the trash can theneventually be spread over the old pond leveing it out some and itll be a nice open spot surrounded by trees, kinda like a fairy circle theres definatly other places on the property i can put a small pond in...and probbalybetter ones too considering run off paths ect, theres a small run off/dry creek that runsabout 2/3rds back thats already got 1 REALY deep spot where its slowly washed through...if i could develop that creek and dam off that deep spot it would make a lovely little swimming hole, We'll see.

im also waiting on word from E. She hasa beautiful nubian Buck, hes a realy flash spotte tri-colo fro soe great bloodlines...
lilly and poppy are old nough to breed now, so im "borrowing" jasper to breed lilly an poppy to and hopefully will hear the pitter patter of tiny goat feet come April.if i get any Does out of him that LOOK like him, ill be keeping 1 to bring my nubian herd up to 4 does.

Daizy wont be big enough to breed untill spring at the earlist and by then Aspen will be big enough to do his job.im hoping to time things so i have 1/2my does bred in spring and 1/2 my does bred in fall, that shoudl give me year round milk.
Given im also revisiting alot of things (eventually i was thinkingi wanted just 5 goats (4 does and a buck)) and then get a trio of cows and some large pigs and this that and the other thing...
NOW im thinking focus on the goats, expand my herd to 8 does and 2 bucks 4 nubians, and 4 lamancha or 4 Nigerian dwarf. my 2 little nigi bucks can breed for F1 Minis on both the nubians and the lamancha, or f1 minis on the nubian and pure bred nigis...
I can bring in a steer each spring to raise for beef. and get a trio of SMALL pigs instead, guinea hogs or kune pigs. big enough to butcher for meat, but small enough to be able to safely run them in with the goats.
My property is much better suited for browsers rather than grazers (even after its completly dozered unless we dig down 12 inches smear gas and roundup all over the place and burn everything, were NOT going to get all the privet runners out and there going to keep popping back up year after year.)

im still debating on woolies...and i still like the idea of a trio of llama or alpaca (which will also brows) fleeces sell pretty well and even better per ounce if washed and prepped for hand spinners.
llama are less expensive overall than alpaca and make good flock watch dogs, not all llamas guard, but all llamas DO alert...and combine them with some LGD's i should have a good working system.

but yeah...plans now include less cows more goats lol.

 

[pinkfox]

ive gone to the very real realization that im TERRIBLE at waiting...
dozer guy said late this afternoon...so hes not late...but here i am tapping my foot going "come on get here" lol.
i know itll be mid-ate next week before i see the progres on the land, but im SOOO excited i just want to see it done NOW!

mabe this is why im always slightly early to everything...i just hate the sitting around knowing somethings comming or ive got to be somewhere but its ust not quite time yet...HURRY UP! lol

in other news.
Goaty mating rituals make me giggle.
ive got E/s Buck here now, and hes in full rut.
lilly and poppy are VERY close to standing heat, id say give them a few days arounda buck in rut and well have them primed...
but right now...poor guy is following them round like a little lost puppy bellowing at them...he tries to mount them whenevrthey stand still and there not completly avoiding him now...
BUT...
poppy will wit for him to try and mount her...then take 2 steps forward LOL
Lilly aits till hes at her hind en then she starts walking in a tight circle untilhe gets OBVIOUSLY dizzy and has to stand still for a few mins to regain his brain lol.

so silly.

e. has told me i can keep him here as long as i want, i think she's welcomming the break.
im hoping to not have to keep him here too long due to the extra feed...so im realy hoping they come in quick get bred and get thigns moving. ill probably keep him through the en of november as a just in case, given the nubian cycle is 12-48 hours every 21 days if he doesnt catch them this time he SHOULD catch them next cycle. but i also have to keep watch on little daizy and make sure to seperate her out if she shows ANY signs or he shows any interest in her.

assuming we cna get a sucessfull breeding before the end of november we hould have kids in April which to me seems perfect, itll already be fairly warm by then meaning no worries about suplimental heat for the kids, and no worries about frozen hands while milking lol.

today i also planted some canna divides that e brought me, they are along the back wall of the house, sheltered warm and once i move the abbit hutches, full sun. ive got climbing roses there too so im hopign the roses and canas will add lots of height and color.
once the rabbit hutches are moved im going to develop that back wall into a larger flower bed which wil be a beautiful full sun spot.

i also made sausage an 16 bean soup which smells delicious. soaked the bean mix overnight, then today added fresh water, diced and crushed tomatoes, various spces and seasonings, onions and ground pork sausage meat. the house smells yummy! 3/4 will get divided up an froen, the rest will get divied into sinle servings for lunches.
i get bored quickly with food so i cant just eat the same thing every day so by freezing it it breaks it up nicely.

the only problem is...
my freezer is FULL. lol...both of them infact.
so this week comming ive got to completly empty it out, get my paper and pen handy and write EVERYTHING down thats in the freezer.
then ill chip away any ice build up (since deforsting it right now would take too long and waste all said food) and sweep it out, then reload it with hopefully some resembalance of organization.
i think tomorrow afternoon ill stop at the dollar store and see if theyve got any of those small milk crates they typically sell for dorm rom storage...might help keep tihigns a little tiderier in there if i can seperate meat by types. and im going to post the list on the wall in the pantry so i can cross things offas i use them.
then ill do the same for the inside freezer.

i did have a list origioanlly, but i got swept up and stopped tending to it...so this is all my own fault...
not that its a Bad thing ive got full freezers, but it would be nice to have a clue as to whats filling them lol.

and yeah. thats about all i got right now...
trying to keep my brain busy while waiting on the machinery to show...
im SOOOO excited, i think im going to HAVE to make plans to go out this weekend just so im not constantly staring out my window watching LOL!