Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

Very busy and productive day. Before we went to look at the prospective rental property I had hard-cooked10 dozen eggs....yep, 10 dozen eggs. That's what I had after two weeks of accumulation. DH and I eat eggs almost daily, so I've got to give kudos to the girls! That's not even all the eggs, cuz I know that several of the hens lay in the pig pen and the pigs eat em before I ever see 'em. I prefer that they get the hard cooked eggs not the raw ones, but I can't stop them from being pigs and doing what pigs do.

We called a fence contractor to come out and replace two sides of privacy fence. We had taken down most of one side for the septic folks to do their work. That fence has been put up and blown down because of Hurricane Ike, and I just don't want to piece it back together again. And, we need a drive-thru gate installed on both sides of the house - so - new fencing in order. They are supposed to start later this week. I think good gates are imperative for smooth farm operations. DH and I spent most of the afternoon taking down the remaining sections and stowing them away. It was pre-fab fencing in 8 foot sections. I don't recommend it and will never use it again. The new fence will be built board by board. I've got to ask the neighbor if he'll use his tractor and pull up the remaining posts. The new fence will be mounted on metal posts - much more hurricane proof. The sections that we took down will be used - nothing gets wasted around here. I think they'll make cute, rustic looking critter shelters.

We're watching the UT game now while some eggplant is simmering in spaghetti sauce. I cooked some bacon, sauteed some onions and eggplant in the bacon fat and poured some italian sausage/garlic spagheti sauce over it to simmer. We'll eat it over some carb free noodles and pretend it's real spaghetti. It's pretty good stuff and doesn't spike DH's blood sugar. I was surprised to find an eggplant left over in the garden, but I snatched it up and am grateful to have it.

If I'm still awake enough afte the UT game is over - I might end the day in the hot tub with a nice glass of merlot...

GO HORNS!

 

[Denim Deb]

That sauce sounds yummy!

 

[pinkfox]

agreed, im not an eggplant fan but the sauce nom!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

It was mighty tasty - I had two servings... I didn't even feel too guilty cuz the noodles are carb/calorie free. They're called "miracle noodles" and they're basically tasteless on their own, but if you put a good sauce on 'em - yummy!

http://www.miraclenoodle.com/?gclid=CKa8-dqwkrMCFcaiPAodWEcARg

They really stabilize DH's blood sugar and it gives us the feeling that we're getting pasta. Pink, the eggplant pretty much just takes on the taste of the bacon and the sauce when simmered together. DH swore he didn't like eggplant when I met him - but he eats it now and asks for more. When my kiddos were small, I'd cut it into strips like french fries and fry it (we don't fry much anymore) but they swore they were eating dipped french fries, lol. I was soooo sneaky back then.

Not really sure what's on the agenda today. Milked and fed the pigs and haven't done much else yet.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

What a great day! The Houston Texans annihilated the Ravens! Whoop, whoop! First time in the Texans history that they've beaten the Ravens. Ad beat them they did - it was awesome. Nope, not a football fan - not at all. Truth-I really only like one college team - Texas Longhorns, and one pro team - Texans. And even worse - I'm a fair weather fan - I like 'em if they're winning....

DH trimmed the hedges, put out fire ant poison and used the weed eater around the house so the front of the place looks presentable, at least. I used the push mower to mow a corner of the yard that is full of holes from my son's dog. I mowed it as best I could, and then hauled dirt to fill in the holes. It was one of those jobs that I always intended to do, but never got around to. So, now it's done... yeah!

I collected 15 eggs by 3:30 this afternoon. But, when I went out to milk at 6:30 I found three more. The girls are out doing themselves. If I value their eggs at $3 a dozen they are more than paying for their feed. Even though I don't actually sell many of their eggs, I use them as part of the pig food, dog food, and even chicken food - so they really do contribute a lot. The milk goats do a lot too - we use the milk for drinking, in ice cream, in kefir, as clabber and to make cheese as well as giving extra to the pigs and occasionally the dogs too. I've always told DH that if you have enough critters they help take care of the other critters. It works!

Maybe a little sugar free goat ice cream and an early bedtime...

 

[Denim Deb]

And that's what you need to take into consideration, not only how much you make, but how much you save.

Sounds like you had a good day.

 

[SSDreamin]

I wish our chickens were laying like that! We average 3/day, from 13 ladies!

I can't wait until Ice Cream comes into milk! All the yummy things to make!
DH says we will never break even on any of our animals, but we'll have the peace of mind of knowing what went into everything we eat and drink, which is worth a lot these days!

I used to be a 'fair weather' Cowboys fan. Well, OK, I used to be in lust with Troy Aikman He was hot back in the day, and that 80 mil contract he signed was just icing on the cake for when I became his next ex-wife Hey, I dreamed big back then!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I know just how you feel about Aikman - he definitely was (um hmm) HOT back in the day! These days my man is JJ Watts - the leading sacker in the NFL - gotta love this man!

Yes - the girls are doing good right now...hope they keep it up during the winter. I don't care if we come out cheaper or break even because the peace of mind I get knowing where your food comes from is worth tons to me!

I can't wait to get some pork from the boys...even though we're months away. They are gaining like gangbusters, which surprises me cuz they run around like crazies all da dang time, lol. I've never seen critters love life the way these guys do, lol. They run around in circles and throw theirselves into the mud pit - chase chickens - antagonize the dog and generally make a nuisance of themselves. So amusing!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Got to work early this morning because I have to leave for a while mid-day. The fence builder called DH last night and wants to come to the house to measure and see the lay out today at 11:00a. DH can't leave work, so I have to be the one to meet him. That's not so bad, cuz my job is only about 10 minutes from the house - but then - I've got to go over to Lowe's (about 20 miles away in the OTHER direction) to order and pay for the supplies. I guess that'll take up my whole lunch hour and then some. Not really a problem since I didn't take lunch yesterday I've already got a built in cushion of an hour.

I got all the feeding done early yesterday, even before DH got home, so that we could watch the debate. While I was feeding I noticed that the older mare was breathing really fast. I watched her for awhile and she didn't seem to slow down, so I pulled her up for the night. She didn't seem stressed, she was interested in the hay, just practically panting. My intention was to go back out and check on her before bed last night and if her breathing still seemed labored I'd check her temp and if warranted, start her on some antibiotics. Well, I never got back outside last night (I'm a bad mama, geeze) but this morning she was just fine. I didn't turn her out, but I will when I go home to meet the fence contractor.

I've been pleasantly surprised at the goat's output lately. I started milking them when their babies were about a month old. First I started locking the babies up at night and just milking in the morning. Eventually I kicked their babies out, kept the mama's up and milked twice a day. They followed the normal patterns of increasing milk production for awhile before tapering off after. Now they've got me totally confused. Their milk production is UP again. These does both kidded in early April, meaning that they've already had nearly a 7 month lactation. So, what's up with this increase in production????? Red, the nubian, seemed to peak at about a quart and a half per milking earlier in the year for a total of 3 qts a day. Not incredible, but not bad for a first freshener. Sunday I got 3.5 quarts from her. Nothing has really changed except the weather. I guess the heat we had earlier in the year took it's toll on milk production because with the cooler weather she's really increased her output. Even the Pygmy is milking more now than she did a couple months ago. It's a pleasant surprise because it not only means more for us - it's more for the piggies too! The little stinkers...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I do NOT know what's up with my critters this week. The goats and the chickens are going like gang busters. The pigs are growing. The horses however - have lost their TINY LITTLE MINDS!!! I had pulled the older mare up last night to watch her and went to turn her out today at lunch. I walked into her stall and she ran into the corner and turned her a$$ to me - WHAT????? So, I gently invited her to turn around and face me like all well-mannered horses should do. She chose to ignore my kind invitation and spun around and charged the length of the run and, again, stuck her face in a corner and her behind aimed at me. So, I popped her butt with the lead rope and she charges around the pen and back into the stall. (seeing a pattern here?) I go to the stall to be greeted by her short wide rear end. I really didn't have time for this so I popped her butt and headed out of the stall with a muttered promise to her that we'd meet again.

After work I came home and gathered up my lead rope and a pocket full of carrot slices. I walk out to the run - she sees me and heads to the corner. Now, granted these mini's are stalled very rarely - but this behavior is simply unacceptable. We had a little behavior modification and she decided that facing me, and getting carrot treats, was so much better than trying to figure out which side of her butt I was gonna smack every time she turned it in my direction, lol. THEN - we had to have a reminder on how to lead. This is a 10 year old mare who for the first time in her life decided it was okay to walk on top of me... Geeze.... we got it all straightened out, but I'm just flabbergasted at her behavior... OH well..

I went back to work and was telling my co-workers about it. One of 'em (who is NOT an animal lover) said to me, "I don't know how you deal with these animals. They can hurt you because you don't know what they're thinking" I assured her that I knew exactly what this mini was thinking - She was thinking "move a little closer lady and I'll take off your knee caps" LOL Must be the moon phase or something because usually they are much more placid.... Critters! Whatcha gonna do?