Ragdollcatlady's Just a Little Patch of Weeds Farm journal

[ragdollcatlady]

Wow! I had one of "THOSE" kinda yesterdays!

I know, they don't happen often but I just don't get why we have to have them at all.

GOOD THING: DH called to tell me that we had a solution to our house tax money issue....they want alot of money, we don't got that much.....but we got that sorted out. Whew! OK so that is good.

BAD THING: But I had to tell him that the clothes dryer won't turn on or off or start. It is electronic little pad won't shut off and the buttons to start just won't respond. Durn technology.

GOOD THING: Then I got to tell him that we were thinking of him and were in the process of putting together one of his favorite dinners, ravioli and garlic bread. ( I use this killer rustic, cheesy garlic bread and add fresh garlic, butter, oregano, basil and sage......Yum!).....

BAD THING: On the stove.....all 4 regular burners, wouldn't turn on......the oven was set to 375 but topped out at 205.....so I canceled it and tried to reset it. Each time it topped out at a lower temp. I finally left the oven at 155 and threw the bread in anyway. I fired up the propane BBQ grill and heated water to make the raviolis ( they were the frozen kind not from scratch) and we used the microwave for the veggies and sauces.

BAD THING: And then I burned my hand on the fake burner on the stove, when I went to turn it off....it is just a warming burner and I had turned it on to check if it was out of commission too....guess not!

GOOD THING: I had 2 chicks hatch out under my broody. They are ameraucana chicks from my lav hen Purple Poppy and black rooster. The mom was from Sandhills project lav pen and the she and the sister to the roo are nice and thick. I bred him back to mom since I wanted to try and get the recessive lav to come out, and I hope to keep the dark aqua color of the eggs they hatched out of. I guess we will see if it worked. There were some blue birds out of this girl before so I know we also have blue genes in there.


JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS: I think my funky colored goat is just going to be a very dark brown. Still pretty cool and I can't wait for her to grow up and see how she turns out (besides ornery, cause I am putting my money on that!)

Oh yeah!!! I sneaked a peek at the nest my little call is sitting on and she has 3 eggs in there! Crossing my fingers because I need a new girl since my other little girl was killed by the neighbor dog. I have my original Holderreads pair and one other pair and a lone drake. (They are the babies from a few years ago out of my original pair.)

I need to go find the 4h fair forms and get them turned in they are due now!

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Oh My Goodness!!!!

If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would absolutely not believe this one....

I was hanging out in the back with the goats. I was looking at Georgia, trying to decide if she is pregnant. She seemed to cycle almost constantly, every 2 and a half weeks for forever, so after many attempts to breed her, I just decided I would wait til fall and see about it then.

She had plenty of babies for her previous owner so a year off might be just the break she needed. After I ruled out tropical island resorts, she settled on the backyard as her vacation destination. She has just been relaxing and pigging out on the all hours buffett of weeds, more weeds and bark and leaves.

So I noticed that a few weeks ago she started to look very pregnant. Well when I asked her about it, she gave me one of those "you did not just ask me that?!" indignant sort of looks. So I let it go. I thought that her rumen was just filling out. She is a little bit saggy on the sides of her belly and I figured that with the greens and extra weeds she was getting, she was just filling out.

This goat is one that I would describe as serious and dignified. She also seems smarter than the average goat....Now I know that she is. Every other goat that I know, will rub against the fences to scratch their sides or behind if they are itchy.....Not Miss Georgia! Noooooo! She picks up a stick and scratches the exact spot that itches!

I am NOT making this up! She had a forked stick in her mouth (OK maybe twig is a more accurate term) and she is chewing on one of the branches. This stick is maybe 16 inches long on one side and the other side of the "v" is about 5 or 6 inches. She has the short side in her mouth. She turns her head and the long part touches her wide belly and she moves it just enough to scratch. Oh that is kinda cute I think. She was eating and now is accidentally scratching her side. The stick falls out of her mouth. She tries to pick it up but a herdmate is in the way and the stick is knocked out of her mouth a second time. She stops, picks it up and turns her head. Well the stick doesn't touch her side this time. She starts to slide the stick over, using her teeth and gums/lips until the end of the smaller stick is now sticking out the other side of her mouth and she is almost holding the actual "v" in her mouth, then she proceeds to turn her head and use the longer stick that now reaches again, to scratch her belly!

 

[Canadiannee]

LOVE reading your journal! Brings a BIG ole ear-to-ear smile on my face everytime!

 

[promiseacres]

smart goat! I love watch my sheep use their horns to get their itchy spots

 

[promiseacres]

smart goat! I love watch my sheep use their horns to get their itchy spots

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Thanks Canadiennee and Promiseacres!

I am glad you enjoy reading this cause my DH is glad I have "someone else" to bore with my animal stories!

I think I forgot to mention that my kid was in the newspaper from when we did Farm Day! She was on the front page (small town thing) but still! She was in a pic with her giant pet rooster JJ (short for Julia Jr), and a little girl was petting him. We don't get the local paper but friends told us and her BFF gave her a copy of the paper. That was so cool! I scanned it and sent the pic to mom and grandma.

Several years ago her twin was in the paper with the champion bird (his pet silkie Tumbleweed) and he won first place in showmanship that year. I will be the first to admit that we now have silkies that would blow her away, but she was in excellent condition and other than her crest was a nice little bird.

I have a buyer for my two little boys! and (Goat babies) I am really glad they are going as pets, but man! I really would have liked to keep Junior, Spells boy.

I think I would like to breed Janie again next year, hold back one of her boys and use him over Spell and Reese to add angularity. Watch. She is going to give me girls next year! . Her kids this year were sooo curvy in their legs! Just beautiful! But Spell and her little girl are very poor in that area. I was thinking it was and still might be a selenium deficiency. It seems that I really need at least 3 times a year and maybe 4. I am watching closely to try and do what is best for my herd.

Yesterday we washed off the outside of half the house...Wow that is a lot of work!

We planted more of DH strawberry plants that have been waiting for like 2 weeks....We added compost to a few potted plants were hungry.

We cleaned the rabbits cage and move it outside. They were having so much fun running around. They scared the daylights out of the baby goose when she came to see what was going on.

I filled in the holes DH dog made when he dug out and killed all my flowers.

I think that is about it, but I gotta go. I have the other half of the list of things I need to get done.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Weeeeelllll....how do you like that? My clothes washer is now on the fritz as well. I do believe she is jealous!

I left a message for my appliance repair guy......Yes, we have so many problems that I have an actual guy.....He has fixed my the freezer, dishwasher 2 or 3 times, my clothes washer 2 times and one of those was a 2 time job cause the replacement part had to be replaced, .......and now its the cooktop/oven, washer and dryer.......OYE! If they weren't already overgrown parasites, I'd offer him my firstborn....and my second...and third!!!.... Unfortunately I don't think he would be interested in them in the condition they are in! Gently used, slightly sassy, a little smelly on occasion, but well loved.........

I love my repair guy! When our washer actually broke, he let me know that the washer we had was designed for city folk with barely dirty clothes that don't actually wash 3 or more loads of laundry all day every day! Huh! Imagine that! People don't have billions of pounds of laundry every week????? (blink, blink,blink) What kind of people are they????

Actually my BFF is so clean and her family has maybe a half a load of city laundry every day....So I get it....kinda. I walk into her house and I feel like Pigpen....the cloud of animals/dust/country just following me. And my socks don't match either. Everything in her house matches. Her clothes, her couches, her towels, she even has dishes that match too!!!! Oh and coffee cups and saucers! And they match and aren't chipped! Oh and she is allergic to cats like you would not believe! And of course I am always covered in cat hair...I can see her nose turn red and her eyes start to water when I get near....(well, not usually, but once in awhile). Good thing she likes me huh!?!

So yesterday we washed off another part of the house, so now we just have one fairly small section left then that is done, hopefully for the year. While I am not a fan of plastics and all the bad stuff about them....the vinyl siding on our house is pretty cool. It is way easier than stucco to clean that is for sure! Vinyl is in the plastics category right????

Then we took about 21 loads of laundry to the laundromat...not kidding. We used 4 of the giant machines that easily hold 3 king sized quilts per load or 3 regular sized loads (regular is based on my extra large capacity machine at home. I can wash one large sleeping bag or king sized quilt or the equivalent in clothes.) 6 of the double load machines and 3 of the small machines because we were already using all the big machines. And then we had the whole wall of dryers running and the attendant came in irked that we were starting some laundry at 7:15 because they close at 8. So we took home several wet loads to dry on the fence. But really???? I just blew nearly $40 so they could have been a little more polite about it. And really, I would have spent another $20 easily had they let me finish drying them....I will definitely be looking for a different laundromat next time. That is too much money to spend in a rude store, for just under an hour of use.

Needless to say we didn't get much else done yesterday.... I think I will make myself a cup of coffee then go to bed. My guy will be here tomorrow after I get home from work.

Oh I took a few pics of Georgia.....I think she might be trying to sneak one by me....What do you think?

She doesn't have ANY poofy to her lady parts! I am sooo confused...But I think she is filling her udder, just a little bit........ And boy is she fat! I know she doesn't like me talking about her like that, but her skin is so tight, I think she is just going to absolutely pop! And y'all are going to hear it!

Oh yeah, I also forgot to tell you that I was checking on the chickens and Weird Altitude had the whole nest box over his head and was trapped inside! I personally think one of his ladies Fresia, was mad at him for giving Sandy those lovey dovey eyes and she musta popped that box right over him to teach him a lesson! How dare he give anyone else those smoochy looks! He belongs to her! I personally am waiting for some fertile eggs so I don't really care who gets the smoochy moves and all but what do I know about chicken love?

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Update time.

Yesterday my appliance guy came out. The verdict:
The washer is fixed. It was the same part we had problems with the last 2 times.
The dryer has had the serial number worn off because we over use all our machines and so no replacement parts, but he did get it to kinda work.If we don't let the time run out, we can dry stuff.
The stove/oven is not even likely to be a problem because the outlet is the problem so now I need to get an electrician out.

The plumber was out today and cleared the kitchen drain but suggested a replacement of the metal drain pipes at the cost of $950.00

Haven't called the electrician yet. I was thinking that now might be a good time to run the wire to the other spot in the kitchen where I eventually want the stove to end up....

Truffles went to her new home today. I was sad, but the lady was surprised and happy with how friendly the rest of my goats were. Of course Truffles knew what was up and wasn't real happy. She gave me a sad look, but was calm and the lady thought she just defeated. I think she is just a mello goat and will be happy in a home where she can be closer to the top of the totem pole. She should be coming up to the lady by dinner tonight......The lady did offer to take Nellie instead but I can't part with her.

I got the deposit on the 2 little boys too. They are going home on Sunday.

I had a friend/coworker out today to hang out a bit with her baby. So much fun! He was worn out after and took a nice nap for mom.

Busy day, good day, tired, but I don't have to work tonight so that is good.

Gotta go figure out dinner....Be back later.

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Washer is out again!

My guy will be out as soon as he gets the part again...last time it was the same part and also had to be replaced 2x so I am not surprised. Seems like they need to make better quality parts...

I have been watching Hoarders on netflix. I am fine for the first half of an episode, then I get almost manic and have to go clean! Something! Anything! Everything!........ I guess my brother is the same way!!! I am actually, for real, I know you won't believe it, but I am getting rid of about half of the kids elementary school level books. I love books and don't usually lend them out, almost never let them go. But it has been years since most of them have been read so I kept the kids and my favorites and a few fun books, then we set some side for my DS friend that isn't particularly fond of reading. The kids picked out some good books and we also gave him the choose your own adventure series that we had. Hopefully he will like them.

DD and I butchered 3 of the boy muscovies today and built a big fire to cook them. It ends up being half smoked, half deep (shallow) pit and is crazy good! One of the boys went over the fence and was bothering someone next door so he was the first volunteer. I have to say, I don't really like the male Scovies all that much. We have one female, mom to these particular babies, that is sweet as can be. But I get tired of the too friendly boys, either trying to get fresh with my pants/shoes or trying to get fresh with my geese! I always end up eating them, that way I don't have to go to bed mad at them...I just go to bed full! This year we are keeping one little girl to keep Ferdie company and we will hold on to the nicest male until I get tired of him. But the geese are setting on some eggs already so we will probably have some confused "scovie? But I thought I was a goose! You didn't tell me I was adopted!!! " birds running around soon. They will fit in even better.... everything around here seems to think it is some other animal.......

Speaking of some other animal, did I mention that I named the little goose Nessie? She reminds me of the Loch Ness Monster. She comes in the kitchen at night with her silkie to sleep in my brooder (plastic tub). Well, we don't usually eat dinner til pretty late so when we make too much noise, she slowwwwwly peeks her head up out of the box (like 6 inches at least) and starts telling us how rude we are....that she and her pet silkie are "trying to sleep in here, and could we please keep it down some, for goodness sakes!"

Oh , some sad news. That little siamese cat was hit by a car this morning and didn't make it. The neighbor found him and came to check if he was ours. I am so angry at he owner that dumped all 3 of those cats! Dumped pets are no match for a road like ours or dogs and fences that they aren't used to..... At least ferals and strays stand a fighting chance. Housepets don't.

I think that's it for now....

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Today was a good day!

This morning my coworker brought me a venti mocha from Starbucks!!!! Ahhhh!!!! Nice!!!!! When she comes in I am about halfway through my shift because I work graveyard....so extra nice!!!!

My 2 little goat boys went to their new home today. I couldn't be happier. I am a little sad about Junior (now Oh Henry) being wethered because he was so nicely shaped I would have loved to use him as a buck over my girls next year, but I am glad he is going to a pet home. I know some bucks end up with less of a quality of life due to stinkyness and testosterone run behaviors, so he got lucky. I had let their new mom know before that Chip was a little shy and I was hoping that was OK. At one point she picked him up and he snuggled right against her. I am glad. He is used to being picked up as we carry him in every night still and he does come up for pets, but when the others knock him away, he just leaves. They loved Oh Henry of course. And her Hubby wanted Nellie! Of course! I could have sold her 2x already! She was the runt and there was never a question about her staying. The fact that DS fell for her just made that easier.

Then I fell asleep on the couch. So a good day.

I do need to call the electrician tomorrow. Wish me luck on that one. I hope it doesn't cost me a fortune. Also the appliance guy didn't make it out Friday so hopefully he will be out on Monday so we can wash clothes again.

Last week when my coworker/friend came out to the house, she gave me one of the best compliments. She said it felt like a home when she walked in. I laughed and asked if it was the mess or the mismatched furniture?!? But then I looked around. There are family pics on the wall and it is clear that all of us live here. There are books and games and clothes everywhere and the display cabinet is full of old toys and books from my kids younger days. I love matching things and organizing, so having 5 other people helping me mess up the house and clutter up everything almost makes me crazy. I try and remind myself that the day I clean my house and it stays that way, will be the saddest day of my life, because that will mean the kids are all gone and most likely my DH too. So while I do enjoy order, I try to remember to appreciate what I have, where I am, while I am here.

I asked 2 of my own kids what made the house feel like home. They both said the mess. DD said that at one friends house, everything is so clean and they aren't allowed to leave anything or mess up anything. They have to clean everything right away and watch the clutter. Just not the kick your feet up and relax kinda place. I guess I don't have to feel SO guilty for the mess after all. We try and keep it under control, but it isn't worth constant yelling about. And the kids rooms are generally allowed to be pig pens for a few months before I insist they clean them up. It is their space so they have some control over it most of the time.