Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

We've been lucky and didn't get too much of the rain that was forecast. It's been crazy all around us.

I got a little bit done this weekend. I wormed some goats. Gave some more a coccidia prevention/treatment. Weaned some boys. Milked some girls. Trimmed some hooves. Moved some goats into the barn yard. Moved some goats out to the pasture. Did more mulching in the garden. And, picked up about a million seeds from the palm trees. Just can't take the chance that Gracie will get into them since I think that's what killed my other dogs. Gonna cut them down if it ever dries up enough...grrrrr.

She doesn't get to go outside alone in the back yard because of that. Having said that - we spent several hours in the back yard today. Whenever I would take a break from working I'd let her loose to run and play - and oh my - did she EVER run and play! She also had 'free' time with Maddie (the LGD) and they were good together. Gracie wants to play and Maddie just hasn't relaxed that much with her. Gracie met some bucklings today too. She was on leash for the first introduction, but she was just as well-behaved off leash with them. I sure hit the jackpot with this pup!

We had lamb shanks for dinner that spent about 8 hours in the crock pot with some red wine, rosemary, and onion soup as a base. Finger-lickin' good! Oh - almost forgot. I've got some yogurt 'cooking' in the Yogotherm. Can't wait!

Things are rolling along. Picked a couple little yellow squash from the garden. Looks like we'll be getting a couple zucchini this week too. Stink bugs found us...ugh. The little drawstring organza bags I ordered last year don't even slow them down, so I'm trying Ziploc sandwich bags over the 'maters....and so far... it seems to keep them off. I cut the corners off and poked holes in the bags with a needle so hopefully they won't actually cook the tomatoes inside the bag, lol. I'm willing to try just about anything.

I woke up Monday morning with a cough and sore throat. The sore throat didn't really last long, but the cough is still hanging on and may be getting worse....ugh. I tend to get a round of bronchitis just about every winter, but in MAY? Don't feel that sick, but certainly don't have much energy because of reduced oxygenation with compromised lungs. (sounded very medical, huh?)

I've got broody hens everywhere. Every time I turn around there's another one sitting on a batch of eggs somewhere. The silky hatched out two babies from two eggs and a meaty/Sussex cross hatched the only egg I let her sit on. That's a 100% hatch rate out of both of them. I found another Sussex in a very hidden spot the other day on about 360 eggs! Seriously, she can't cover them all and about 4 had been pushed to the side and were cold. I tossed them to the dogs and oops, they had little embryo's in 'em. Poor little things were already dead though. I really should go pull the eggs from under her and candle them and put the good ones back under her. Then I could put a little fence around her so the other hens wouldn't keep laying in the same spot. Sounds like a lot of work though for someone with bronchitis...

Gracie, the new pup is still amazing. At four months and a week she's already very consistent with 'sit' and 'down'. 'Stay' is a little harder for her. She's good for a minute or so and I'm sure she'll get more patience with age. We've been working on 'pick it up' for a day or so and by golly she's pretty good at that too. My highest aspiration for her would be if she could serve as a Diabetic Alert Dog for DH. That will be a challenge for her and for me. I've always trained my dogs to do at least basic obedience - but this would be a huge challenge. She's probably up for it, but the limiting factor might very well be me.... I've read all I can find on it and I think it can be done but it is a pretty long process and a lot of steps that have to be strung together. But - we're going to give it a shot.

I made some kick butt ribs for dinner last night and then stuck a pork shoulder in the oven and cooked that bugger alllll night long on a very low setting. Gotta say that my house smells pretty mouth-watering good right now and I see some pulled pork in my near future!

Ok - gotta find out if my compromised lungs can handle a little vacuuming... ugh.

Wow - Houston got absolutely SLAMMED with the rain last night. We got a lot here - but not nearly as devastating as just 20ish miles north of us. DH couldn't make it into an office this morning, so he did a 'work at home' day. I took this week off, so I was already home anyway.

Found Sparkle this morning with major diarrhea... yuck! So, she got a nice dose of Totrazuril and some Quest wormer. I'll be tossing her milk for awhile - but she needed treatment - so whatcha gonna do?

Spent some time in the garden fighting the weeds and the stink bugs. I got a pretty good handle on the weeds. Got another area weeded and mulched so I'm feeling pretty good about that. The stink bugs are another issue altogether. I brewed up a concoction that's s'posed to run 'em off, but so far they seem to be thriving on it. It's garlic, and rosemary steeped in some hot water with dish soap added. I strained it and put it in a spray bottle....hmmmm... time will tell I guess.

Gracie is still da bomb - even if she had a kinda rough day today... she's a puppy still so I'm sure those days will happen occasionally. I've got faith that she will come through it and be even more awesome than she already is.

LMK how your concoction works for the bugs. I wonder if it would also work on squash bugs.

My concoction for the bugs is making a difference! But, it seems to also be making a difference in the plants. I have to be careful how much I spray because it's causing the tomato plant leaves to shrivel up...argh! I take rosemary, garlic powder, pepper flakes and dry mustard and boil it up in some water, let it steep as long as possible, strain it into a sprayer and attack every bug in sight.... oh, almost forget, I add some dawn dish soap to the sprayer before I pour in the concoction. No measurements, just go by feel.

I've had a long, busy week. Wish I'd gotten more accomplished, but I did make some good strides. I moved goats, medicated goats, weeded, gardened, planted, chased bugs, ran errands, built things, moved things, re-configured things, trimmed feet, worked with the dog, played with the dog, did house things, did garage things, did yard things.. But - it's still never enough, lol! I need more me's to go around, lol.

I swear tomorrow, the very last day of my vacation, I'm not gonna do a thing! Except maybe feed the goats, feed the chickens, milk the goats, spray some bugs, pick some peppers, cook some dinner, wash some clothes, re-make the bed, and get stuff ready for next week. Not much at all!

I make me tired, lol!

You need Calvin's "duplicatur"

I think we all do!

Dang! You are very busy!!! Hope you've been taking a few breaks here And there!!

I do like the idea of that duplicator!

Yep - I was busy, busy, busy. So busy in fact that I've done something to my shoulder and you know what? It's darn near impossible to do what I do with only one functional arm! If I can do it without moving my shoulder I'm ok, but there's only so much you can do with an arm that only works from the elbow down... geeze louise! Have an appt. with an orthopedic guy but he's out of town until next Wednesday - can't wait that long so going to see my primary care doc at lunch time today. First day back to work after vacation and I've gotta go to a doc appt. This stinks big time!

Ouch! Been there, done that. If you can't see your primary guy, try holding your arm right next to your body to do stuff. I did that for years.