Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[Denim Deb]

I'll be praying for your hubby.

 

[hqueen13]

Oh my, that's never comfortable when they don't want to talk about it until more tests are done. Don't they know that makes it MORE stressful for a person!? Geez....
Glad the kiddos got to see a birth, even if it was a messy one. Poor momma with two wee ones trying to come out at the same time! No wonder she wasn't acting right!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Thanks, Deb! I've sure got my fingers crossed that we'll hear something Monday.

Been trying to get a few things accomplished on my days off. The garden is about 2/3's planted. I'm trying to decide whether to grow some sweet corn. I don't usually even plant it because DH stays away from it because of the carbs. But, I'm thinking about doing a 3 sisters planting...and that's a good excuse to plant corn!!! I've already got some winter squashes in some empty chicken pens because they take up so much space in the regular garden. But, I've got an empty corner that would do well for a small patch of corn/beans and squash or pumpkin.

I hope to do fairly well with the garden this year so I can restock some of my canned/dehydrated goods that we've been eating up. We've been trying to use some of it up so that I can add fresher stock to the pantry.

For the last couple days I've turned out the teenage male Guinea Hogs and let them roam the pasture. First day they didn't want to venture very far out. Today they did a little better. And, they're not hard to get back in their pen at all...just rattle a bucket at 'em and they come a grunting. I did notice them hanging out around the sows pen a couple times and she tends to greet them with much gnashing of teeth. I would love to turn her and the babies out too, but not quite ready to do that. I don't know how they'll all get along together and I'd hate for there to be an issue with the little ones. All in good time I suppose.

Hope everyone has a great Easter!

 

[Mini Horses]

Ahh, "feed bucket magic".

I will tell you this, at both farms where I bought mine, a large, strong net was used to "catch" the little ones. Maybe a fishing shop? Anyway, I am not going to be able to make each baby a cuddly plaything, so I'm planning to look for that net within next six months. Also, both farms had sows, boars & piglets all running together. Sows had gone to one of the little sheds & farrowed. Now, I'll probably be watching as my girls are ok with me in their pen. Actually, I can scratch them on the head & back and the rascals will lay down for a belly rub!! Boars are less inviting but, still love a back scratch.

I am doing 3 sisters plantings this yr but, will eat/freeze some corn then let balance dry for animals. Hope to do dry beans out there while pumpkins mature. This yr, when you are done with your garden, plant some root crops and let them overwinter. Pull as needed and feed livestock. My pigs & chickens LOVED the turnips my neighbor had planted and gave me for pulling. Some were a couple lbs & I sliced with my machete & threw them into the pens. Part of the "round robin" feeding. Also, since goats tend to refuse a good amount of their hay, I dump that into pig pen & they eat it. My chickens love the alfalfa leaves left in the troughs, dumped in for them. Sure reduces waste.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That's so funny - here my teenage boy (about 5 months old) pigs are the friendliest. Petunia, the sow, is not bad to deal with but she's a bit pushy at feeding time...but what pig isn't? The babies are real easy to get ahold of - they love to root at my feet. Hmmm, wonder what that says about how my feet smell, LOL! Actually they always go after my left foot/shoe which is the shoe that covered my injured toe. I'm sure that particular shoe smells a little bloody to them... ugh.

I have some mangle beet seeds that I'm thinking about trying. I'm all about growing as much for them as I can. I turned them out again today and they spent a considerable amount of time running up and down the fence line fighting with each other and with the sow trying to get them through the panels. They were pretty fierce looking with their hair all sticking straight up and squealing and grunting like crazy pigs.

Then one of them tried to commit suicide and I had to save a pig from drowning! I have a short oval water trough that spans two pens. DH had cut a hole in the fence panel and set the trough half way through so critters on both sides can use it. However, yesterday both pigs crawled into it, went under the dividing panel and came out on the other side. Soooo, this morning I put a piece of stock panel in there and wired it to the fence so they couldn't do that again. Stoopid pig crawled in there and got himself wedged in the trough sideways! I was behind him and could only see his rear end but could see that he was raising his head up and down. I was laughing at him for 'playing' in the water, but when I got closer I could see that his whole body was wedged in there and his nose was trapped under the lip of the trough. Stoopid pig was literally drowning in an 18 inch deep water trough! Thankfully, I was able to get the dividing piece of panel out and he got loose...poor guy! He was mighty happy to go back to his pen after that.

Had my son and his wife over for Easter dinner even though it was impromptu. I needed him to set up my inverter and he needed to borrow the tractor. Worked out well for both of us.

Forgot to say yesterday that I made up a batch or three of homemade wine. Well...it's started...and won't be ready for awhile. I've done this once before and it's really easy. It's as simple as using some bottled fruit juice, adding sugar and yeast and letting it sit for a couple weeks. You have to have a way to release the pressure created when the yeast produces gas so I just crack open the lid a couple times a day. Someday I'll get myself a couple airlocks that do a better job of releasing the gas, but for now my method works ok.

I made some wine back in November. The red was drinkable but I didn't really care for the white. I tasted it again the other day and after aging for 4 months it's quite nice. I'll bet in another 4 months ago it would be awesome.

I'll be headed to my folks house in the morning. I need to take dad and pick up his new hearing aids. I really hope they help him.

 

[hqueen13]

Good luck with the hearing aids, feel free to message or just ask me if you have any questions. I've worked for an Audiologist for 10 years and know quite a lot about how they work and what to expect, and what should be looked at.
Silly pig, glad he was ok. Guess he won't go trough diving again any time soon (one can hope anyway, they are supposed to be smart after all...).

Happy Easter!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Thanks HQ! I hope it works out well. He can already hear a lot better - but the aids are on a fairly low setting right now because everything sounded so loud to him!

He's got zero hearing in one hear but they put an aid in it that transfers the sound to the other ear. That's really cool. I had no idea that technology even existed. We have follow-up appointments in two weeks and two weeks after that...and maybe two more weeks if he still needs tweaking. I'm so excited for both of them. He doesn't feel so isolated and my mom doesn't have to constantly yell.

 

[Mini Horses]

Wine....hmmm. I have a recipe/method that uses just what you say, in a gallon jug with a large, heavy balloon on it. Gas blows it up, it goes down, etc. Have the jugs (what a problem to find those glass ones!) and the balloons. Never got further.

What kind of juice did you use for white? I prefer mine dry & less sweet, so I like the guys note that he cut down sugar use in his 2nd batch. I think I'd like cranberry.... Buying I go for Pinot Grigio or a white Zin. The white Merlots can be nice, some brands, some are to nitrate full.

It's a good thing we don't live close because we'd be eating fried onion ring & drinkin' wine while counting chicks, milking goats & chasing pigs! What a sight THAT would be. LOL

 

[Denim Deb]

Don't cha know you're supposed to ride hogs and chase chicks? (At least that's what I heard some bikers claim.)

 

[frustratedearthmother]

It's a good thing we don't live close because we'd be eating fried onion ring & drinkin' wine while counting chicks, milking goats & chasing pigs! What a sight THAT would be. LOL

You crack me up! Yep - that's exactly what we'd be doing, lol. And, after enough wine I might follow DD's suggestion and ride a hog. But, we'd need a bigger hog than an AGH if I'm gonna ride one. They gotta be big enough that my feet don't drag the ground!

I'm making one jug of plain ol' grape juice wine...another jug of apple/cherry just because...and the third jug is a combination of those juices that I had to remove to add the sugar. So, I guess that one will be grape/apple/cherry. Who knows what that'll turn into! Might be a rose' kind of thing.

http://fivegallonideas.com/1-minute-wine-recipe/ I kinda loosely followed this guy's suggestion.

Came home today to find that K'ili's bag was tight and her babies bellies were empty. What is going on around here? Geeze. I put her on the milk stand and stuck her babies up there and I guess they're afraid of heights because while they nursed a little bit - they mostly just worried about falling off the stand. Hopefully removing a little of that pressure will make her more inclined to stand still for them. I went ahead and milked her so I'll offer them a bottle when I feed the other guy in a little while. I sure hope they don't want anything to do with it.

Ahhhh.... sweetest thing. My dad just called me. He hasn't been able to talk on the phone for a couple of years because he couldn't hear. It just about made me cry.

Back to work tomorrow...