Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

NH Homesteader said:
Hey I want to see Gracie and Maddie... more pics? Lol
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Ya'll are so demanding, lol! I need to get more pics of Gracie. Wish I could get a pic of her in mid-air catching her 'baby.' (also known as a frisbee) She's really good at it! Ok - I'll try if we ever get a sunny day again.

Maddie is easy - she lounges around on top of the new $400 top we put on the hot tub. I'm sure her 100lb butt isn't doing it any good. It's funny though - she knows she's not supposed to be up there. I can knock on the kitchen window and she jumps off and tries to pretend she's not guilty!
 
Yeah, we are demanding but you're retired now so you have time! Lol!

I still want an English shepherd so I need to see miss Gracie. Does she herd at all? (Or do you not let her try?) One of my sheep really hates dogs so I already feel bad for my future herding dog, lol!
 
I love, love, love the breed. Well, I love Gracie and she's the only English Shepherd I've ever known. She does herd! It is a kind of built in trait of the breed. I wish I had the knowledge/experience to fine tune her, but she has a lot of natural ability. Lately I've been trying to teach her some finesse and she's so darn smart and biddable she tries her best to do what I want. But, sometimes her enthusiasm gets the best of her, lol!

Ok, this might be the wrong thing to say, but I've actually considered breeding her. She is such an awesome representative of the breed, and they are in such short supply that it's kind of a shame that she's not had the opportunity to reproduce. I have never followed through with the thought because I'd probably have to purchase a male and ....ugh. All I need is another dog - not. But, on the other hand - this breed deserves to stick around. Best. Farm. Dog. Ever!

If you were to get a dog with a similar personality to Gracie, she wouldn't back off from a stubborn sheep. Gracie has turned Big Daddy around when he didn't want to be turned around. She will get after the horses that are probably 10 times her size. She grabbed one of my mini's by the tail when it was going somewhere she didn't want her to go, lol. She literally has no fear.

Speaking of my mini's....I actually found their papers today. My original mare is 21 years old now! I woulda swore she wasn't much over 12 lol. I'm terrible at keeping up with the passing of time...
 
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Um yes please, breed her and you can ship a pup to me! The thing I've read about them that I like is that unlike border collies who simply do what you tell them to do, english shepherds have a brain! Lol everyone I have heard of that has one is absolutely in love. I must have one. In fact I feel like they might be the perfect dog and I might need one as long as I have livestock! She sounds like a lovely dog, even if she is a chicken killer!
 
@tortoise I'm really enjoying mine. The broccoli and radishes are almost gone, the corn too. The peas have just come into their own. They are so good! I've used them all in things like salads, sandwiches and even in some soup. I'm going to start some more today.

We got 1.26 inches of rain over night. Just what we needed - NOT! That brings us to a whopping total of nearly 6 inches for January. :barnie

Gracie definitely has a brain and uses it. I probably "taught" her to go after chickens. Years ago we had a pen in the back yard that I used for chicks occasionally. When these got big enough to go over the sides I'd send Gracie to put them back in the pen. They'd hop right back in when they saw her coming. But, one day one of the roo's didn't do what she told him to so she thought it was appropriate to "punish" him. To this day she won't tolerate a chicken in HER yard. Generally they learn to go back where they came from - but let one defy her....let's just say it doesn't end well.

Lots to do today, guess I need to get busy.
 
Got all my tomato seeds out today and deciding which ones I want to try this year. Cherokee Purple is a definite. I have some Cherokee Chocolate seeds that I'm going to try too - along with some Black Cherry. I must have 20 (or more) different varieties of seeds. I'm not even sure how I got so many!

Still haven't started more micro greens...but today might be the day. It's raining so what else is there to do? I did plant some seeds in the raised beds yesterday since the chickens are staying outta there now.

Capitalized on retirement last night, lol. About 6:30 pm I invited DH to go see a movie. I woulda never have done that on a "school" night before. Movie started at 7:30 and we got home a bit before 10.

Got a call from my friend at the college food bank to make a pick-up tomorrow. They have some goodies for the pigs. It's onions, apples, and cabbage. Not a lot she said - but I never turn them down even if I'm just hauling off stuff that the pigs won't eat....like onions. That's ok - I toss 'em out and if nothing eats 'em - they'll either break down or grow, lol!
 
Picked up about 80lbs of onions from the food pantry today. What is wrong with the young folks who won't use a fresh onion? There was also a box of apples that had barely been touched and a couple of cabbages. The pigs don't really love the onions - they will occasionally eat them - but I went through and found more good onions than bad ones. Called a neighbor and gave her a big ol bag of onions, apples and a cabbage.

I found a recipe for canning caramelized onions - yay. It will be a great base for French Onion Soup. Found several recipes for canning the soup, but I decided to maximize the use of canning jars by shoving as many onions as I can into a quart jar instead of canning a bunch of water that would be in the soup. (did that make sense?) So, my crockpot is full and simmering as we speak and my house smells like.... onions. Duh!
I'll be canning some plain onions too. Whole new thing for me - hope they turn out good. I use a lot of onions in recipes so... :fl

Put tomato seeds in peat pellet pots yesterday. They're sitting on the brooder getting a bit of gentle bottom heat. Hope that makes a difference. I really want a big ol' butt load of tomatoes this year! Also put a bunch of lettuce seeds in a raised bed and a row of radishes. I loooove radishes and crackers with dab of butter and salt. Best. Snack. Ever! I should learn to make some keto crackers cuz I could eat my weight in that.

Noticed today that a couple of my does are starting to make tiny udders. They're not due until the first week of April, but that's really only a bit over 2 months. In my working life I always tried to breed for deliveries during spring break. Don't have to worry about that now.

Hoping the tractor will be back home in a few more days. I miss ol' blue!
 
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