rachels.haven's Journal

rachels.haven

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The backup plan sheds have come. The does have an 8x20. The bucks have an 8x8 shed. And I snagged 2 5x7 coops (although supposedly I have an 20 chicken limit unless I go commercial, which we will do). We will cover the floors with polywall to protect against urine and they will only be shut in at night. I also need to put pens around them.

Yesterday I picked up 4 (oops.) silkie cockerels to grow out. One or two may not be a cockerel, but the breeder thinks it is, so we'll go with it. If they all are, they will be fabulous boys.

Here's a picture of my grass in the front half of the pasture where they goats want to stay...it's a lot of alfalfa. Unfortunately the fence is still out. Our fence guy said he would come back, and we keep bugging him. He says this week. PLEASE.

I'm collecting the stuff for a hot wire or two.

It occured to me that the neighbors were quick to tells us the segment of privacy fence between our yards was our responsibility, which means if they annoy me enough I may be forced to paint it alternating pink and purple on their side if they annoy me too much. So I feel semi okay today.

Hay delivery today or tomorrow, assuming my hay guy can get it. I'm getting 100 bales. That will help the bucks who have no pasture and probably don't care about it anymore. Rut started about 2 weeks ago and the pee is everywhere. Yay. rut.

The good news there is that the dirt is so hard, sandy, and rocky it seems to be maintaining hooves.
 

rachels.haven

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Heh. Forgot my anemic grass.

Alfalfa grass.jpg
 

rachels.haven

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Pink and purple sounds pretty, those colors compliment each other. I vote for purple and bright orange, with an occasional lime green tossed in the mix. AND paint the Bible verse “Love your neighbor as you love yourself “ on it. Would big red hearts be overkill?
I believe there is an Iowan tradition around where I used to live to paint big smiley faces on outbuildings. I've considered that. Beautiful.
 

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Using the last of my two "same day delivery" credits from TSC for alfalfa pellets today before they expire tomorrow.
Fence is still out. These fence guys...why is it so hard to get a fence around here. More parts are warping the tension rods they used under the fence's own tension without goat help. Please come on, guys.
Yesterday night it rained IN the barn-puddles almost everywhere despite open storm windows (I even snuck around earlier and opened as many as I dare on the second floor). Looks like it really needed all the ventilation it originally had. It mostly didn't rain where i plan to put my hay. Beginning to think this building will not work for this purpose either. Maybe I should hurry up and demo it and put up a temporary structure system for winter hay until the barn is built. I have time to trial and error it out. Probably for the best as I'm seeing more leaning to the left on the right rear part of the building. Hay is going in the front left quadrant. I should probably take my garden tools and barn stuff out of there or it will rust.
My cats are doing their jobs. Keep finding mouse guts everywhere.
The new Little Orchard does are putting on condition, much to my relief. They were a tad thin before. I'm drying off the milking yearling. She needs to grow and can be bred later. The dry 3 yr old is doing fine. Everyone else is doing okay on free choice alfalfa pellets while lusting after their pasture.

Day 2 of 94+ degree heat wave with tons of humidity. Only one or two left. Moses and the kids are camping out in the garage where it tends not to go above 85. Moses must be confined because he poops in the garage. Apparently it's not part of the house for him yet. It's good for him to be confined though. When it's this hot and he runs around like a puppy he over does it in the heat.

Making cheese-farmers cheese and chevre. Need to work up the nerve to test the cold room as a cheese cave. I keep seeing roaches outside though, that concerns me. The line between inside and out is thin here.

DH was thinking about pricing out mini splits. I need to encourage him the rest of the way into it. These temps are not good for babies (or us).
 

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Mini splits are awesome! Maybe see if there are any 4th of July sales/deals to decrease the price?
Anywhere else but here maybe. I suspect Heating/Ac guys are going to be like other contractors around here. There's a shortage of skilled labor. We'll need to find one with a good reputation that doesn't tend to screw people over too often and if we can get a hold of them get on their list and wait. No deals and they can name their prices. But I would like to be wrong so let's find out. Not looking forward to the electric bill associated with air conditioners. Our first full month here was completed. The e bill, no AC, was $287. That's around what it cost to power and AC our last house (and this house is modest rather than whatever the last one was). Yuck. I'm not impressed. Unitil is lame. Sweetening the idea of solar with every bill. Or getting out of Mass.
 

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