Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

Just kidding! No more rain!

Just noticed you're in Iowa...great friend of mine is in the Cedar Rapids area. I couldn't stand the winters ya'll get there. I don't do cold well!

 

[CJ1]

I'm several hours southeast of there. But yes. The winters can be bitterly cold. As far as I'm concerned we can have fall and winter until January. Then go straight to summer.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Dang good idea, CJ!

I got to use my new milker today - really use it! I milked three does in about 15 minutes. Awesome! The does don't mind it at all. I was afraid they'd flip out, but nope. They took right to it!

I need to get warm water at the barn for clean up. I have all the plumbing for a hot water heater out there. In fact, there' IS a hot water heater out there - it just does't work. Should't be too hard to install another one and life will be much easier at that point, lol. As of now, I have to carry out warm water for clean-up. I'll get it all lined out 'someday'!

Not sure if ayone remembers, but a month or so ago I damaged my big toe....well...the toenail came off today and major YUCK factor! There's a little tiny toenail growing in, but most of my big toe is nailless! I wonder if I can paint on a toenal so I can wear sandals?

I'm going to rearrange some mama/babies tomorrow to get all the bucklings and doelings separated. I certainly don't want any accidents with the young'uns!

Why haven't I done a Craigslist posting yet? This would have been a perfect weekend... I'm procrastinating because even though I gripe about all the extra work - I LOVE having all the babies around!

 

[CJ1]

I'm glad you agree. Fall and winter is when venison runs rampant. If it weren't for them I'd be fine with spring and summer year round.

Sorry about your toe.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Not sure if I've said this before - but I LOVE my new milker. Me and the goats are adjusting and I'm learning more tricks every day. Yesterday was my first 'real 'milking and I found myself being afraid of leaving the milker on too long and somehow turning the goats inside out or something, lol. So I didn't get much and I knew they went back out to pasture carrying some milk. I hadn't brought anything to the barn to strip them into... lesson learned. Yesterday got about 3 qts from 3 does... pathetic!

Today I got about 5 quarts from three does - but K'ili hardly counts... she only gave up a pint. One. Measly. Pint. Her baby isn't even 12 weeks old and it looks like K'ili had practically weaned her. Lousy goat. She thinks all she has to do is have a baby and nurse it for less than three months and then she's got a free ride for the rest of the year. Doesn't work that way - she needs to earn her keep. I guess I need to start milking her twice a day and try to increase production. If I do that I'll have to hand milk her in the morning. I don't have time to milk her with the machine and clean the milker before work. Now... when I get that new hot water heater...

So, I got ready to make some cheese out of all that milk and found that my culture had expired. So, cheesemaking will wait until the new culture gets here. Just ordered it. Also ordered some culture to make sour cream. Thought I'd give it a try even though I've got 2 quarts of milk sitting out to clabber right now. I guess you can make a sour cream substitute of sorts from the clabber? I'm ready to experiment and find out!

Guess I'll start a thread on cheesemaking when I get my culture in and turn out a successful batch of cheese. Maybe roasted garlic and rosemary... YUM!

Back to real life tomorrow... Happy Monday Ya'll!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Rain, rain go away.... OMG! I'm going to have to forgo rubber boots and switch to hip waders... GRRRRRRR.

Next major expenditure - French drains...retention pond...bridges to everywhere...100 dump truck loads of gravel...and ducks, geese, and swans for livestock instead of goats, chickens, and horses. Might have to check into water buffalo, lol!

If this is the "new normal" I'm moving to the desert. Maybe I'll raise spiders, lizards and snakes...

Started feeding the pigs some of the extra goat milk I'm getting. I pour some over some corn in the evenings and that's their breakfast the next morning. Still giving 'em pig feed in the evenings for awhile. Probably stop that in a couple months when the little 'un is a bit more grown up. I'm also going to have more available eggs so they'll be getting some hard-boiled goodness thrown in with their corn/milk soup. Come to think of it with the addition of the eggs - that'll probably be enough protein that I can stop the pelleted pig feed pretty soon. That'll be nice.

Finished boiling up the icky meat from the freezer incident. All was fed to chickens, dogs and pigs. Glad all that meat didn't totally go to waste and now I get to start filling up the new freezer. In a month or so I'll have some more young roosters to butcher. Yea - home grown meat again. Not sure I'll get enough from the garden to freeze or can although I'm picking a little here and there. Got a nice yellow squash the other day and the Sweet 100 tomatoes are doing well - basil too. Can you say Caprese salad? Hope I can get enough basil to whip up some fresh pesto. Can't get enough of that stuff!

Happy rainy Thrusday ya'll!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Not to sound like a broken record ...but rain on and off all day today. "They" are saying we'll have more of the same tomorrow. I simply don't know how this area can continue to deal with this for much longer. "Deal with" is being generous. We are ok here - at least the house is ok. But, I want to cry when I go out to take care of the animals. They are dry inside the barns, but in a couple of places water is creeping around the edges. It's pouring now...

There are so many folks who have lost so much. I am inconvenienced at worst, but definitely worried that the animals will start going down hill. Foot rot...rain rot... coccidia flourish in damp warm environments...Guess what? - snails carry liver flukes and they are over the top in this dampness too.

I know some folks who are just selling out...animals are going to auction. Nice animals - but for a lot of the older folks they simply can't take care of them in this mess. I cannot tell you how many times I've come so close to busting my butt in the mud. This is the kind of mud that will suck the boots right off of your feet or grab hold so tight you have to struggle to get one foot out of the mud so you can take another step...

I'm down to one round bale of hay.... nobody can cut hay. Hay is ridiculously high (last years hay!)and ridiculously low quality. It's the bottom of the barrel...beggers can't be choosy I guess.

We've had over 80% of our annual rainfall and we're not even half way through the year. God forbid that we should get a tropical storm/hurricane anytime soon.

Usually have a more positive outlook - sorry, I'll stop whining now and go start WINE-ing!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ugh - sick all weekend. Went to work this morning, went to the doc, went home. Got meds - hope they work fast!

One of the oldsters decided that it was time to go yesterday - so her wish was granted. Not easy to do when you already feel like crap. Not ever easy to do.

I've got some itty bitty cucumbers on a volunteer vine in the garden. Yay! Cherry tomatoes are doing well, and they're soooo good.

Pigs are enjoying the extra milk. They get milk soaked corn for breakfast and regular ol' pig food for dinner. Still have that young one growing, so I'll probably keep feeding her some manufactured pig feed. Want her to grow up big and strong! I swear these piggies look like black hippos rolling around in their favorite mud puddle. Funny stuff.

Gotta get busy before it (gasp) rains again.

Happy Monday, ya'll.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Its all @baymule 's fault, lol. She made me buy 10 pints of blueberries today because she talked about her blueberry pickin' trip. My local supermarket was having a sale, so I stocked up. They were $1.50 a pint. A pint equals 12 ounces (yes I weighed them) so the per pound rate is $2.00. Not a bad deal at all. Certainly not as fresh as the ones Bay got, but I'm sure I'll enjoy them for quite some time. Best part is that the sale is on for a week. I'll be buying lots!

I've given up on the garden, except for the stuff in tubs. "Somebody" (ahem, ahem, DH) left the gate open to the garden AGAIN! ARGH. So, I officially give up. Still have tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, potatoes and sweet potatoes growing in the tubs so I'll get a little summpin, summpin. But, for now I'm harvesting from the Kroger garden.

S'posed to go visit my DD and grandkiddos this weekend. But, still trying to kick this bronchitis/sinusitis whatever stuff I have been battling for nearly a week. Slowly but surely gettin' better though. Guess I'll have to decide for sure by Friday or so.

I. Need. To. Sell. Goats. I keep saying it, but I haven't done it yet. Can't do it this weekend if I'm gonna be gone. But, probably just leaving here Saturday morning and coming home Sunday afternoon. Can't leave the milking girls longer than that. AND - I think I'm going to try to pick up the new pup on Sunday! I'm excited and dreading it all at the same time. Excited cuz who doesn't LOVE a puppy? But, dreading it because I know I'm going to have to be extra vigilant with him for the next year or so. But, my guess is that he'll be worth all the effort.

I've been hearing coyotes every morning coming from behind my property. Previous years I've only heard them from the big cow pasture across the street - so they're coming closer. Maddie is good - haven't had a loss since we've had her - but I'd hate for her to think she had to take on a whole pack. I have no doubt she'd die trying, but that's certainly NOT what I want. Hence - new pup! At maturity he should be a big ol fella.

Bed time...happy Wednesday, ya'll.

 

[hqueen13]

Finally had the time to catch up with you, and you talk about me being busy! HRUMPH. Wish we could tag team and that would make life easier! That actually is an ideal goal of mine...
Sell some goats! Money is good!
Your new milking machine sounds awesome! I'm gonna have to look into that one day when I get me some goats...