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

[pinkfox]

thanks guys, she was realy a pretty and sweet young hen sometimes the world just takes them too soon i guess.
none of the other girls seem effected in any way shape or form and had a feast of turnip and raddish greens today...

managed to get some clearing out done on the veggie beds. the raddish had gone full tilt to flower and just gone incredibly weedy while producing no bulb so they got taken out, we dont eat enough radish to hold on while they go baby booming lol.
thinned out the turnip which despite the raddish getting breeding fever are doing very well coupld or realy nice looking ones in there so ive given them room...all the onions are out there tiny but incredibly yummy
removing the raddish also opend up a little more space for the squash to sprawl in...never grown squash before and there doing pretty dang well...lol.
someone on the forum mentioned putting out onison sets in the fall and letting them over winter for better sized onions?! ive never grown onions before so help there would be great as we do eat alot of onion.
still have some muscelin mix and some leaf lettuce still in the ground that hasnt bolted yet and is still nice and sweet, but the romaine and bib both whent caput, used the space they were removed from to shuffle some peppers that were being consumed by the maters a little bit better real eastate

ONE of our cauliflower plants has started to get a head on it...its sooo cute and tiny, but so far nothing from the others or the broccoli...im told not to worry...lol
the cabbage is starting to tighetn up and is slowly starting to show signs of forming a head.

peas and beans didnt do much this year, think i got a bad batch, got em from walmart as thats realy the only suplier there burbee brand...
but weve got a few vines that look like there pondering something so i weeded carefully around them and will keep an eye on them...
carrot greens seem to be flourishing too though the ones i thinned out were itsy bitsy tiny, hope the ones with larger leaves are doing a little better down there...dont want to disturb them to check lol.
pulled alot of clover and grass from between eveyrhting too...

then whent for a dip in the pool...its not deep enough to swim but its nice to just hang out in...i realy want to put a swim spa or small pool in at my house eventually wondeer how much it would cost to have a small concrete no liner inground pool installed in finger TN?!

and now were getting ready to head out to dinner..
dads having surgery on monday that will restrict what he eats for a while and its his birthday next month so he decided were having his birthday dinner early and going to my favorite steak house! YAY!


oh and ontop of all that, managed to get jack jacks nails doen today..i love him and love having him out of the cage but his nails were so sharp i cuoldnt hold him without him literally removing flesh...so i toweld him while dad cliped and gave him a quick grind and now there much better...hoping his new pedi perch will help keep them down now. (he destroyed his sandy perch brand one...literally ate right through the concrete and sand lol, this new one is alot more solid...

oh and i heard word form one of the kitten owners...the folks who took mouse, the smallest of the group and the longhaired male...he looks stunning first and foremost...but they are right around 4 months old and mouse (who is still called mouse) lives in a large metal shop....he caught his first mouse today...then followed it up an hour later by catching and killing a 2nd mouse! go him! and hes a whopping 5lbs already (as big as his mother and hes not even full grown yet lol)

 

[pinkfox]

dinner was delicious...
texas roadhouse = yummy.
ordered an 8 oz steak, comes wiht 2 sides (got a house salad and steak fries)
ate about 4oz of the steak, 1/2 the salad and about 4 or 5 of the fries...
the rest got brought home to my sister LOL...talk about a cheap "date"

tired now, so i think its time for a glas of milk and an "early" night!

 

[pinkfox]

today was a stressfull day...

today is the day my father joined the ranks of bariatric surgery...
as we know i had bypass 10 month ago, and my progress and drastic change for the better prompeted him, whos diabetic and having more trouble reacently with things he found easy only 2-3 yrs ago, who had been thinking about it but too worried to go for it...that push he needed to get checked out...

he whent through all the steps, met my surgeon attended the info seminars and a coupld of the group meets, talked to his specialists and finally got up the courage to go for it...then it was a few months of back and forth, tests, dietician, psych ect...
today was finally the day.

ive tried to make the process as informed and relaistic as possible for him having gone through it myself, and i think it better prepared him for it, but he was still very nervous.
up early this morning and got him to the surgical center, he prepped and we sat for an hour and ahalf until he was ready for pre-op at which point we whent and grabbed breakfast at the hosital cafe before waiting in the family waiting room...
surgery was running late due to a heavy Emergency room load, but finally got the call at 1pm (wed ben there since 8:30 am) that he was out of surgery did wonderfully and would be in his room by 3 and ready for visitors.

so we ran to the store before heading back.

hes doing great, no nausea just some nasty dry mouth from the intubation tube and some nasty gass with some gas pains (they pump you full of C02 during the surgery to inflate the intestines and stomach and chest cavity for clear movement, and suturing ect...
we left him about 5pm and wont be going back tonight, i remember how tired i was and he was falling asleep by about a quarter to...
will be going back in the morning about 11am to say hi and sit with him for a bit and he should be home on wednesday afternoon.

so healing vibes to my daddy

in other news...
i am currently sat here in a pair of size 16 jeans (down form a 24/26 10 months ago) and they are too big...
so mum offered to buy me a couple pairs of jeans today...
tried on 14's...too big...
im down to a size 12...
i cannot belive it...not even remotly belive it honestly...
i got them home and took them out of the bag to put them away andjust kind of stared at them, i couldnt belive the tiny waistband, it was unreal and i freeked out for a moment...there too small running through my head...
i had to try them on a second time here at home and of course they fit me just as well as they fit in the store...
its an amazing but incredibly odd feeling.
i even picked up an oh so cute sweater for $4...its a size MEDIUM...
now a medium still wont fit me in normal clothing, my chest is too big still, but in sweathers...the medium was perfect!

 

[Denim Deb]

WTG! And I hope your dad heals up fine.

 

[dragonlaurel]

Hope your Dad recovers quick.
Congrats about the progress! Your jeans are smaller than mine now. Oops- I better get working on that.

 

[Denim Deb]

I won't mention what size jeans I wear. I might get shot.

 

[justusnak]

Sending great healing vibes to your dad!! And, Way to go on your weight loss!! Wow!! What a great accomplishment....I know you HAVE to feel wonderful. GO YOU!!!!!

 

[pinkfox]

dads doing good today, stage 1: sipping on water. lenty of discomfort from the gas they pump you full of, and somewhat sleepy but otherwise fine and dandy.
should be comming home otmorrow afternoon assuming he does ok tomorrow with stage 2: chicken broth and sugar free jello lol.

otherwise not much going on.

brains been doing some whiring, found a craiglist listing for someone offering $30 an acre for brush hogging....assuming we close lol
thinking it might be worth it to get the guy in, ive got probably 3/4 - 1 acre around the house currently cleared form the images...but i know at least 1 1/2 acres is goign to need ot be cleared for the sheep pasture/orchard and berry patch that leasves about 2 acres in brush and trees, not sure yet if id have him just brush hog the lot so i can get in there and start fencing ready for goats in the spring, or if i should have him brush hog the paths of where i want the fences for the goat pastures to go so i can get in there and fence and just leave it in brush for the goats to take care of...
im hoping to get 2 does in milk and 2 doelings if that makes any difference in terms of leaving it in brush or if i should just brush hog it all...

right now the general plan is, about 1/4 an acre around the house will be fenced, for "garden" and dog running space, this is where the "pretty" stuff will go, patio, fire pit, dogs space, flower beds for perenials, cutting flowers and herbs...

about 1/4 an acre will go to a small vineyard (and by that i mean a couple of string grape vines lol)

about 1 acre will be a small orchard/open grass for a small group of sheep i dont want too many fruit trees so it wont be typical acre stocking rates, im thinkgin 20 dwarf/semi dwarf fruit trees. im thinking shetlands for their wool. i LOVE shetland wool.

1 acre will go to the dairy does...i think 4 dairy girls should be more than enough for my milk needs

about 1/2 an acre planned for vegatable/crop gardening

1/2 an acre for a couple of large chicken hoop/tractors, hoping for a dozen layers and then will raise about 25 meaties at a time in the other.

1/2 an acre to berry bushes of various kinds

and the remainding 1/2 acre would be for raising a couple meat hogs.
im hoping to also have a GOS pig who will be rotatioally pasture raised in the veggie garden (ill breed her each year to a local meaty and keep 2 hogs for meat) shell get full run of the orchard in the late fall to clean up the windfalls that the sheep dont take and i didnt already feed to the meat hogs)
and then running around riot in all that will also be a couple geese (am buffs or africans) some runners and moscovies.
i also need a spot for a couple of rabbit pens and some quail hutches but they can go "between" things lol

so yea thats the LONG term plan...
now if only i could blink and have it all planned out and done for me by the time i move in LMAO. damned you geenie?! where are you!?

 

[dragonlaurel]

Post surgery is no fun, but glad he's doing okay.

I think brush hogging any paths you want to make, and the area close to your fences is a great idea. Call the other brush goat food. Make sure to get a plant/tree ID book quick to make sure what you have there too. Then you can get rid of any that are bad for them. The county extension office here had pamphlets on which local plants were bad for different kinds of livestock.

You will need to protect the orchard trees till they're grown since nibbling goats and sheep would hurt them. Goats like eating berry bushes too. The animals will appreciate some shade, so the big trees should be a help. You don't have to have separate areas for everything. Grape vines could be trained up a small tree- or an arbor that shades your porch. Running chickens with sheep or goats helps reduce parasites.

What's a GOS pig? Pigs are famous for escaping, so you might not want them right beside your ripening veggies. Penning them in the area before or after harvest could work great though. They like acorns too.

You might do a search on permaculture zones for tips about arranging things. They like arranging stuff according to how much time you'll need to spend working with that animal or project. Like the kitchen garden idea works because you can grab some herbs, or lettuce or whatever fast for your meals and it's easy access to water, etc. Or chicken coops fairly close to the house since you're likely to be tending them a couple times a day.

Have fun planning.

 

[pinkfox]

thanks.
ill look into the permaculture idea, but that sounds like hwat ive been planing in my head, keeping my kitchen garden closer to the house while the grains and animal gardens (i plan to set aside a plot just for extra veggies for the rabbits, chickens ect.)

the goats wont be alowed anywhere neer the fruit lol i know theyll eat anything, same wiht the chickens (found that out when they decimated my flower beds) which i why i plan for tractor the chickens but free range the ducks and geese lol
but i knwo the sheep will pick at the trees when young so they will definatly be protected...planning on caging them to keep the trunks safe as i want shetlands and they will eat bark too sometimes lol.

the pig i want is a Gloucestershire Old Spots
they are an old british breed big but incredibly docile for alarge pig. they were nicknamed the orchard pig as they were raised primarily on windfall apples and whey the farmers often kept them in the orchards full time as there not heavy rooters (they do root, but arnt considered dangerous to mature trees)
the story goes that the black spots were the result of bruises form the falling apples hitting the pigs...and they became permientn.

they are an amazing lard pig and make possibly the best back bacon ever, VERY very delicious meat because of what their raised on tends to be sweet from all the apples.
there very hard to find in the US, but i grew up with a sow and whatever babies my grandfather kept back to put in the freezer and its the only full sized pig i could ever see myself being owned by. even with glets shed let you RIDE her, she preformed all kinds of tricks, even when we were little there was no worry about us in there with her...
grandad always reminded us to NEVER EVER trust any pig you dont knwo well and even then be carefull,
and even with his GOS we were carefull, (and id never let my guard down 100% around ANY ig of ANY size) but she was a puppy dog.
good guard pig too, she never bothered with grandads dogs but if the neighbors dogs wandered in she would have them running for their lives in seconds!
Great pasture pigs, pretty self reliant and WONDERFULL mothers!
Gloucestershire Old Spots

she would be penned in movable electric. Daisy (grandads GOS wasnt so much of an escape artists, but if she got spooked or was in her sty and saw the neighbors dogs neer the fenceline...no wood or metal gate would hold her...she did respect electric though.