Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

Not my pic....but this is what a male looks like:

Females look very similar but with black speckles on the breast.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hmmmmph! I'm just a little ticked off at my personal weakness... I couldn't help myself. I did it. I did it even after I said I wasn't gonna did it!

True confessions - I bred a doe tonight. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! I can't help myself when I start thinking about the possibilities. Ya see, I've got this doe that's 1/2 Nigi, 1/4 Pygmy and 1/4 Nubian. (her mom is a Kinder)

So, I bred her to a buck that is technically a Kinder, but he's 3/4 Pygmy and 1/4 Nubian.

My curiosity is how much Nubian will come out in this cross. I'm not so concerned about the Nubian traits like ears or nose....I want a goat that's a little bigger than the sire and dam. This is just pure curiosity on my part.

Hoping there's a nice udder in there too - but mostly I'm interested in the kids... gonna take awhile until I get that question answered.

Stoopid new quail didn't lay a single egg today. Grrrrrrr. I'm sure they got a little stressed n the move - but they better pick up the pace!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

And today when I got home the nigi buck was out. I seriously walked the perimeter of their pen a month ago and didn't see any weak spots. I don't know what it is about these cedar posts that won't hold onto a staple.... ugh. Don't know why I even try...

 

[NH Homesteader]

geeze boys!! Curious what you get from tat breeding too.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Last night we're all sitting around the dining room table eating dinner and my dad says to me...."Don't plan on cooking anything this weekend because I'm going to town to buy a barbecue pit and a brisket and I'll cook it for us." Very sweet idea dad.... He can't stand up for more than a minute or so - he certainly can't carry anything when both hands are on his walker - and I have no idea how he plans to get to town - but by golly he wants to! Such a sweetie. Except that means I will be cooking a brisket this weekend...and I have to work Saturday. Maybe I'll just cook one in the oven. But - what an insult to a brisket! LOL Ya know, to a Texan - anything but slow smoked brisket is a crime!

Dad had gotten better about being strong enough to get up and down from chairs and such...but yesterday he started asking for help again. I won't let mom help him...guess I'm just a mean ol' witch. He can do it - he just doesn't want to. I know it's hard for him, but he needs to keep doing it to keep his strength up.

I broke down yesterday and contacted two assisted living facilities. Already feeling guilty about THAT! Haven't heard back from either of them yet. Really don't think my folks can afford it anyway right now. We would have to sell the house and use some of that money to supplement their monthly income to be able for them to afford it. I'm guessing it'll probably be 5 - 6K a month for both of them.

Here's my thought: Does it make sense to move them back home (even with help), buy all new furniture and appliances and then need to move them back out when it becomes obvious that they need constant care? Major hard decisions coming up and I don't want to make them.

Got a whopping two more quail eggs yesterday. I really should NEVER send my DH to do any animal stuff. He was supposed to get two males and it looks like there's three. Don't need three males and 4 females...grrr. I probably need to separate them now. With that ratio there will be too much breeding competition and the males are gonna drive the females crazy.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Don't blame you for not wanting to make those decisions! And it stinks that your brother isn't all that helpful, isn't that the whole point of siblings? Not having to do it all yourself? Ok maybe not THE point but seriously...

Very sweet of him to want to cook for you all, hope it doesn't cost you your day off cooking brisket!

Sounds like you need more quail. Female only!

 

[Mini Horses]

Assisted living -- I can say it is probably more than 5-6K for both. Go to "A place for Mom" site. They can give you lists of places in area you need with feedback. That's how I found one we could afford for mom. Well, pay the fees, and it was very nice.

Hope you do get to grill that brisket!! Maybe DH could do on Sat while you were at work.

NOW -- since you were the cause of this wine making thing (I can't find the thread) I came across the 3 bottles I had begun. Of course, I decided to sample & keep or discard. It's been 5 months that they have been sitting. Actually, they were quite nice!! It does take a while to mature. The one "too grape & sweet" had mellowed to an ok drink. Less sugar & would be ok. Still a little sweeter than I prefer but not excessive. The cranberry & white grape -- that I had felt might be worth doing -- is now nicely dry, very pleasant. So I would do as I had thought in beginning, increase the cranberry. Believe that could be made into a good wine. Since I still have unopened juice, now have the Foodsaver wine stoppers, that might be something to do -- seal & wait until Summer to enjoy. Right now I am loaded with wines from demos but, one day I may very well quit work and would need the ability to do this. Besides....I have a collection of bottles to empty & recycle. DIY at it's best.

Oh, yeah -- It's ok to breed some does. You know that you MUST do that to get milkers.....do you want milk?? Breed the does. My public service announcement to you.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

@Mini Horses Glad to hear the wine aged well! I've got a bunch of bottles ageing too. I need to bust one out and give it a try.

Already talked to "a place for mom" a while back. I even looked at a nice facility a couple years ago...only it was deemed 'independent living' at an assisted living facility. They were in better shape then. It was going to be a little over 4K for both of them at that time. Was hoping that the extra help needed now wouldn't be that much more. Some places charge "x" for the housing and "x" for whatever care level you sign up for.

The original plan was for milking through with these two does that I'm milking now! One of them, the Kinder, is still coming in every evening with a tight bag so I'm pretty sure she's gonna be fine. The Nubian is slowing down a bit because she's not getting as much grain. But, if I bump up the groceries - she bumps up the milk. I milked her through on her first freshening so I know she can do it.

At this point - if I'm gonna have babies I might as well HAVE BABIES! I could use the income when it comes time to sell 'em and now that all the mama's are looking so much better I'll bet their babies will be healthier too. If we would just have a winter/spring that wasn't so stinking wet all would be well. Hoping for a winter drought here. We are at over 77 inches of rain this year and even at this point (with three months to go) we've had more yearly rain than ever recorded (!) thanks to Harvey. Geeze - that's enough already! (did that sentence even make sense?)

 

[tortoise]

Clear as .... erm.... MUD.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Lemme try that again.

We've had more rainfall so far this year than ever in recorded history....and we've got three months to go.

So there!