Changing goals and speed

[AClark]

So, it's been a long month! We are moved, semi-unpacked. We rented a place that is farm critter friendly and has 2 acres. We thought we were going to lose quite a bit of square footage but it didn't end up being that way, this house is probably the same sq ft, just layed out different (better, IMHO) I gained kitchen space, office space, and bedroom space, but lost some footage in the dining room.

There were definitely some interesting setbacks, a fair amount of our furniture showed up broken (the stuff we didn't throw in our trucks) and the pack job is amazingly dumb. Nothing like unwrapping 20 pieces of paper to find a toothbrush and a washrag thrown into it, while drinking glasses got a single sheet. Our trip was uneventful, I towed the flatbed with my old pickup on it like a dream with the old F350. The recently repaired Dodge ran great too. I just got DSL internet installed today, as we're too far out to get anything but DSL or sattelite, but it seems sufficiently fast.

As for the creatures. We ended up putting the Shepherd down, our cattle dog is with us though. The GSD came with us and she flipped out so bad she tore a bunch of 2x6's up, stopped eating all together, and did nothing but pace and bark for 4 days even with a sedative, so it made the decision easier. All 8 rabbits made the trip in their cages in the bed of the old pickup on the trailer, covered with a tarp. I have an incubator going now with 24 mixed breed chicken eggs in it, we'll see how that works out as they are shipped eggs. We are planning on some quail after the chicken eggs. It's my first time incubating eggs so it's been a learning experience - I put in an automatic egg turner but I had to hand turn them for a couple of days before it got here as the farm store was sold out. I also have 2 Nubian does coming sometime this week, hopefully early on because we're in the path of the ice storm that is all over the news.

I don't mind it here. I'm not too sure about the weather, with us getting snow last Friday. My F350 waited until we got here to have a breakdown so that was nice, and it wasn't a major one. My heater core bit the dust and poured out the better part of a gallon of antifreeze, but it was a reasonably priced part and took my husband about an hour and a half to put in - as we couldn't get the "easy" clamps off and had to literally cut it out. I had a very heavy heart when I saw all the antifreeze pouring out of it, figuring it was the water pump (while not expensive, a lot more involved in replacing) but then noticed it was back by the passenger door, and when we removed the glove box and the cover, all kinds of antifreeze pouring out of the heater core.

Lucky for me, this place came with a barn and a lean-to shed in the fenced pasture. I bedded it down for my goats already and I'm excited to bring them home. They are gorgeous!

 

[Baymule]

So glad that you made the move and are getting settled in. That is a major event. Sorry about having to put your dog down. That is never an easy decision.

You'll have to post pictures of your new place and don't forget the goats!!!

 

[Bruce]

Wow, must have been and still is exhausting!


Soooo, where are the pictures?

@Baymule you beat me to it!

 

[HomeOnTheRange]

Glad you made it!

 

[Mike CHS]

I hate that about your dog but glad you got home finally.

 

[AClark]

Pictures pending finding my camera amongst all the boxes, lol.

 

[Latestarter]

Sorry you had to put the one down, but from everything you shared, it was best all around. Glad you're there and starting to get settled! I think you said this will be DH's final tour, right? So you'll be staying there after he's out? But maybe moving to (buying) a different (bigger) place? Did you have the goats before or are they brand new to you? I can't recall... Already hatching eggs to boot... Do you have a coop and run set up already? I'm jealous... I need to get off my butt and start getting things accomplished around here

 

[NH homesteader]

Seriously Latestarter! Joking...

Congrats on the move and the goats.. Sorry you had to put your dog down but it sounds like it was best for all involved. Best not to let her suffer.

 

[AClark]

It was the best thing for my poor dog. I cried at the vet, my husband wouldn't even get out of the truck. She was well loved but mentally suffering. I don't think we'll get another dog, at least for a very long time, our cattle dog is under 1 year old and he has a long life left with us.

Late, I did not have the goats before. I had a goat when I was a teenager though; a smelly, nasty pygmy buck aptly named Stinky - but he was cool, he would ride in the back of my truck like a dog. We will probably stay in the house we rented as long as we can before deciding to purchase somewhere. We still want to get a feel for the area and if we're going to like it enough to stay, but so far so good. It also depends on DH's work. It looks like he got a good cushy job here, and if he can stay in that, he'll be a lot happier, and so will I. We've grown really tired of all the field time and deployments, and since his back surgery I think it's best if he stays in an admin job vs. out working with heavy guns.
I do not have a coop set up yet. DH already planned out how to do it, as he is the carpenter around here and said he can knock it out in a day and not to worry about it, we had time before our chickens would be out in one, lol. I candled my shipped eggs - they didn't have the best shipping experience so I was pretty leary about any of them even starting. They're at day 4 now and I can see veins in some of them (the white and Maran ones anyway, the blue ones I can't see squat in, they are thick!) so at least I know they were fertile and not damaged enough in shipping to not do anything. I do realize they may still not make it, but at least I know they were good to start with.
We had a snow storm the day they were to be delivered and we didn't get mail that day. I talked to the post office the next day and our rural carrier said "Oh no, I saw what they were and kept them inside, so they've been warm." - heck I was just calling to see if they knew where they were so we could drive down and pick them up. I am terrible at driving on snow, but DH being from upstate NY is excellent at it. He's starting to teach me how to drive on it but I'm so scared I doubt I'll ever learn. I lived in upstate NY for 4 years and had many little bumps into snowbanks and such so I don't trust myself to drive when the weather sucks. I learned that if the weather is going to be sucky, just to make sure I have everything I need and hunker down for it.

I picked up my saddles from my parents, we plan on getting a horse when I can settle on something that isn't ridiculously expensive or dangerous to ride. I want DH and the kids riding experiences to be good. I didn't really have it that way and had a lot of broken bones due to it, so I'm being very picky about what I get for them to ride since none of them have ever ridden and what I can ride and expect is different.

 

[Bruce]

I would think that driving in snow in West Texas would be a lot harder than up north where snow is a months long fact of winter life. I doubt most people in TX have tires that are good in snow. "All Season" usually means "any season except when it snows or is icy".

After this final tour, don't forget to look at East Texas. It seems particularly popular with BYH members. I think they have become a magnetic force for moving vans.