Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

Saw mom tonight - totally out of touch with reality.

Farm news - have 10 geese leaving tomorrow. I've caught them and put them in pens where they should be easy to retrieve tomorrow for their trip to their new home. I've had sooo many responses to my ad that I wish I had a billion of them for sale. I've got mixed emotions about selling them, but I really need to lighten the load around here and this is a good beginning.

I need to start thinking about some pigs but not real sure where I'd keep them. I'd have to decide about free ranging them or penning them. I'm not good at decision making these days.. just too much other 'stuff' on my plate right now.

We are back in a rain pattern... ugh.

Still need to get hay.. why am I procrastinating so much on this issue?????

 

[Mini Horses]

Sorry about your mom. These things become "all consuming" with emotion and needs and I do know this personally. You can replace the geese later. Heck, I even had to dry up some goats to keep myself able to manage. Now, THAT really means tough times because I love to milk.

I have 2 AGH that are supposed to be ready to pick up this coming week and I'm getting nervous as the guy should be calling me for scheduling and hasn't -- well, I think he should be!! LOL Haven't raised any piggies in a few yrs, so I'm a little on the fence as to whether I should/should not have made this decision. But we will see.

So, speaking of pigs, you had previously had some (I read your blog!) and said you "smoked" your bacon. Could you elaborate on this as I've always seen info the cure it with the salt/sugar/smoke, etc., and it took way more than a day or two.

Also, how did you cook your goat meat? Raised Boers and never butchered one of them -- -- but have eaten goat meat. Now that I have these triplet bucks from one of my does this Spring, I have a mindset to have at least 2 butchered.
OK, time not here yet but I'm sure it will be done.

 

[Denim Deb]

Sorry about your mom.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Thanks ya'll... My brother and dad visited her today and they think the new meds might be making a difference. Any improvement would be better than what I saw yesterday.

Mini-Horses - first let me say welcome! I apologize, I should have said "howdy" earlier. I love to milk too!

The bacon was delish, but it wasn't a quick process. I think I saved the instructions on my work computer, but don't tell anybody I looked it up at work! I'll look tomorrow and see if I can find the exact instructions.

The simple basics were cutting the belly to fit into large Ziploc bags. I think I had some of the big two gallon bags for the bigger cuts. The meat was rubbed with a combination of salts and spices and had to be turned every day for about a week. It sounds like a lot - but it wasn't so bad. Then it was cold smoked to a certain temperature. I can tell you that it was absolutely delicious, and totally unlike store bought bacon. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

The best recipe I have for 'leg of goat' was just to put it in the crock pot with a bottle of good red wine, some beef broth, onions, garlic, and a little rosemary and just let it cook until the meat literally falls off of the bone. It's just about the best thing I've ever tasted and is absolutely succulent! Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I've got three wethers that will likely find themselves freezer fodder in a few months. ''

Ribs on the grill are pretty good too. I marinate in red wine and rosemary (can you see a trend here?) wrapped them in foil to keep the moisture in and smoked/grilled for awhile. After they're basically cooked I'd unwrap 'em and swab 'em with some "Sweet Baby Ray's" barbecue sauce and let them get a good crust then pull 'em off the grill. Finger lickin' good!

You'll have to let us know how the Guinea Hogs work out for you. I've considered a breeding pair for a long time, but might have to forgo that for awhile longer. I need to get rid of about half of my bucks and free up some pen space. Who needs 7 bucks? Not me, for sure!

I almost gave in and let Dusty (Nubian buck) and Keeley (Nubian doe) have a little private time yesterday - but I talked myself out of it. Don't really want February babies, and not planning on breeding much right now anyway. I'm thinking I might breed two or three does to kid March-ish. Sparkle's baby from last year is ready to breed and I might breed a pygmy or two - or not. I usually have a breeding plan in place by this time of year, but...

Really should have done more this weekend, but not feeling terribly bad about being a slug. Sometimes a gal just needs a break. And, it was either raining or humid beyond all imagination, ugh!

Back to the grind tomorrow. Will retirement EVER get here???

 

[creativetwinszoo]

Phew busy times are here again!
Hope your momma is feeling better asap, its not fun to see anyone like that :'(
Goats good! Ribs, sausage and jerky! :3

Sometimes you just gotta have the 'chill' big, else you'd go insane sooner or later!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Mom was discharged on Tuesday... I thought it was a horrible idea at the time. She was so bad when I was there Sunday. So, when she found out she was going home the guy on tv told her to tear out her IV, she told us about the nurse that brought her kids to work with her but hid them when the doc was around, how that nurse hit all her patients, and how all the other nurses had snakes in their pockets... geeze.

But, getting her back in her home environment seems to be helping. The delusions are receding but her paranoia is coming back. I dunno. Dad is the one who's being a butt head now. He's not happy that he can't be the one to do everything for her. He tried to help her out of bed and she fell. That's not good. He walks with a walker and has no business trying to help her.... OMG!

We found a caregiver to come in a couple days a week to give my brother a break. So far that's helping. Time will tell....

I got on ebay and bid on some silkie eggs...somehow forgot how many I bid on (wine had nothing to do with that, lol) and ended up winning three auctions. Now I have 38 silkie eggs that are going in the incubator tomorrow. I'll finish filling it with as many ameraucana eggs as I can fit in there. Woo hoo - babies! But, I'm NOT counting my chickens before they hatch - just being hopeful!

We've had rain - lots and lots of rain. But, we also had a little bit of cooler, less humid weather. Can't complain about that.

Told DH today that it's time to start thinking about getting the hot tub ready! I NEEEED some hot tub time.

Here's my list of things I haven't done: Still don't have hay, still have goats to be wormed, still need to delete some roosters, still need to sell some goats....

The one thing I did accomplish was to sell all 10 geese! It's a lot quieter out there now, and the geese aren't goosing the goats in the eyes to run them off of their feeders anymore.

Gotta go watch the UT / Rice game.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Weather was sooooo good the last couple of days - I'm afraid to get used to it just yet. S'posed to get hot again next week... grrrrrr.

I got one thing done on my 'didn't do' list. I wormed some goats, yea! I'm sure they appreciated it - NOT! One of my gals is old and arthritic and I'm sure she's wondering why I still work hard to keep her alive. I figure as long as she still wants to go out with the herd and participate in all things 'goaty' that I should help her in that goal. When she stops being part of the herd it'll be time to seriously consider letting her go---as in easing her transition over the rainbow bridge.

My practical self says to just 'do it' she's eating expensive feed and costing me money in wormings and other maintenance fees.... but I'm glad to be able to say that it's not all about money. I wouldn't do this if I didn't care about the animal's welfare. As long as they still get some enjoyment out of life - I'm not going to play goat god. I figure they'll tell me when it's time to go.

UT won with authority yesterday - but,Texans lost today... ugh.

 

[Denim Deb]

I hear ya on keeping them around. Sometimes I think about how much easier my life would be if I put down Stormy. He's getting 9 lbs. of feed a day as well as needing to be wormed, vetted and hoof trims. I do nothing w/him. But, he still enjoys life. If he didn't, I wouldn't hesitate.

 

[hqueen13]

Whew, your life is as crazy as mine! I'm sorry to hear about your mom. It is so tough when things start changing and they can't figure out how to cope. I hope that everything settles down soon into a routine that is liveable.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Thanks hqueen!

I talked to mom yesterday and, thank God, she sounded pretty good. And-she called me...at least that means she's still functioning pretty well. Our conversation was totally seated in reality even though she says she has no memory of all the 'bad' things she did. I told her not to worry about it, that she wasn't herself during that time. And she wasn't.

My brother says she still has occasional breaks, and lots of irrational thoughts, but that she doesn't stay stuck there. Dad is being a butthead though. He's just not happy that someone else has taken control of their lives...but whatcha going to do? One minute he's grateful, but then he grouches about it the next minutes... sheesh! I'm going down Sunday to visit and I'll have to have a conversation with him about keeping an attitude of gratitude!

I put silkie eggs in the incubator Sunday morning. I had turned it on the Saturday evening and watched to see that it was holding a steady temp - and it did. Soooo, I get home from work yesterday and thought, just for kicks and grins I'll candle a couple eggs. They were shipped eggs and I wanted to check out the air pockets. I picked one up and I actually could see some veins starting after only three days incubating. BUT - the egg didn't feel warm enough to me, so I picked up another one. This one had a wonky air cell and it also didn't feel warm enough. At this point there's a tiny little panic button that starts flashing. I checked the temp and it was 96 - EEKS!

Now, this is a Brinsea incubator and it's been totally reliable for a couple years now. But, maybe a couple years is all it's good for? The auto turner crapped out on me during the last hatch - so I wasn't too happy about that either. I went ahead and adjusted the temp and watched it all yesterday evening. I was afraid I'd go from too cool to too hot if I wasn't careful. When I checked it right before bed it looks like it's about 99.5. If it won't hold steady, I've got another incubator and praise God, last night I noticed a hen that has gone broody. I may try to move her to a safer nest and put a few eggs under her too.

I have so much to do and this weekend will pretty much be a bust. I've missed so much work with my mom's problems and then last week my back went haywire. My back started hurting on Tuesday evening. I toughed it out Wednesday, but Thursday and Fridays were just not good days. I came to work Thursday but left early. Same thing on Friday - but stopped by an urgent care on the way home. Got diagnosed with a bladder infection - but I kept telling her that wasn't all of it. I know how muscle spasms feel and I also know that when the pain is going down through my butt and into my leg that it's sciatica. Stoopid dr. gave me Bactrim for the infection and NOTHING, ZIP, NADA for my back problem. So, I suffered horribly all weekend - simply couldn't do anything or any position for more than 5 minutes at a time.

Monday I came to work again, and am just in agony. My co-workers are trying to send me home again, but I had sooo much to do. I finally called my regular doc and, miracle of miracles, he had an opening that afternoon.

I get in there and he starts doing the exam asking me to move my legs up and down, to put pressure against his hands and I fail all tests miserably. Then he asks me to get up and walk across the office. What humiliation, lol. I barely make it off the table and my right leg just won't move. I literally had to swing my body, which was a trial in itself, just to get the leg off the ground. He sits me down and tells me that he knows a patient is in trouble when they turn white, start sweating and trembling during an exam. I love this man! He gave me a prescription for steroids and a muscle relaxer and tells me he thinks I probably need a scan - but I politely declined.

Steroids are da bomb-diggity, lol! I've still got some residual muscle soreness, but that's a piece of cake compared to not being able to lift my leg, and having muscle spasms continuously. It feels so good to feel good again!