Around the Homestead

A Hot Weekend

We made a patio area over a week ago. This weekend we actually found time to enjoy it. It helped having friends from New York visiting for the weekend and a couple of neighborhood kids. William cooked breakfast and we took advantage of the not yet hot sunny morning and ate outside. Phill and Jonathan picked one of the hottest weekends to visit Hidden Haven. We sure enjoyed having them as we had help with planting tomatoes, watering, feeding and milking. They are going to be leaving the city life for homesteading this summer so while packing up they found some wonderful vintage and antique items they wanted to give us. It was like Christmas looking at each item and hearing the story behind it. William is in love with the big hour glass. He keeps timing it and is so proud to say its only a few seconds off. I love the antique tables and have been rearranging things to put them in the right spot. Thank you again Phill and Jonathan for giving us some of your precious items. You can come visit them anytime you want! LOL It has been so hot here we are having to water our gardens alot. We are having temps we usually have in the middle of summer. I hope it gets back to being spring soon. Kuma, Lady, Tramp and Sheba haven't had walks in a couple of days. Its just been too hot and they are more interested in finding a nice cool place to take a nap. I think I will be trimming their winter fur off very soon to give them a little relief. Rowdy's winter fur is almost all gone. It comes off easy when he is brushed. The goats are shedding their winter coat as well as the sheep. All the critters are getting ready for a long hot summer. I already miss winter. Have a very blessed week!

Finally a Smile!

Rowdy was very sad his first night here. The next day we moved him and the dwarf goats in the pen with the kids. The kids were afraid of him and after walking, checking the whole pen he laid down behind the goat house. He could keep an eye on the goats but be out of their sight so they wouldn't be afraid. Mandy (dwarf) started ramming Dawn (one of the kids) in the side. This went on all day. Rowdy would stand between them and Mandy would behave. Rowdy would go back behind the goat house Mandy would start ramming. We decided to move the dwarf goats back to their pen and leave Rowdy with the kids. Bad move. Rowdy wanted his goats back and sat at the gate, barked and cried. He finally jumped the fence and went looking for his goats. We brought the dwarf back. We put Baby and Tiny Tina in with the kids and Rowdy. Mandy and CC are in the pen right next to them but away from Dawn. Rowdy would rather they all be in the same pen but at least they are all where he can watch them. He has barked several times and when we went out Baby had her head caught in the fence. Rowdy was standing beside her watching over her till we got her free. So Rowdy is happy he has all his goats insight and we are happy because we finally get to see Rowdy's beautiful smile!

Cabbage Pinata

I was asked how we make our cabbage pinata for the chickens. Here is the very simple way to give your chickens a little fun and food.

Hidden Haven Security

For over a year we have been looking for a great pyrenees dog. They are excellent goat guard dogs. They are very devoted to watching over their goat family. We wanted a dog already trained and raised around goats. Some are more of a family pet and not trained to be with goats. Some are too protective and won't allow humans in the goat pens. Some are chicken killers. So we have just looked and talked about it... until now. William saw an ad on Craigs list and made a call. We emailed and talked on the phone to the very wonderful Wallace family. William even stopped by to visit the family when he was in Lexington on business last week. We emailed and talked some more and finally today we made a rush 6 hour round trip to bring home our great pyrenees puppy. A BIG puppy! He is very very sad to have left his human and goat family. He has taken to me and loves for me to pet and rub him but I still haven't gotten a smile or happy look yet. I know in time he will grow to love us and Hidden Haven but he has to have time to adjust and grieve the loss of his old home and family. The Wallaces were very sad to let him go. Like us times are hard for them right now so they are cutting back on their goat herd and dogs. God brought a christian family looking for a goat dog together with a christian family looking for a good home for their goat dog. Not only did we get a wonderfully trained dog for our goats and new four legged family member, we got some wonderful friends that love goats as much as we do! So here are pictures of our new family member. These are photos the Wallaces took before we brought him home. I have been busy loving on him and getting him settled in instead of taking his picture. He is in the pen next to the back porch with the dwarf goats right now. I walked him around to meet all the goats but Mandy, Baby, CC and Tiny Tina were right at home with him. Eventually he will be staying in the pen with the kids but for now he is where I can go out often and love on him. He is with goats which he likes and is use to being with. He ate all his supper and is settled down to sleep at the moment. Tomorrow I hope he will feel a little less sad and feel all the love Hidden Haven has to offer. Here is Rowdy. Thank you again Wallace Family!

Windy Cool Day

I was all set to give the dogs a bath today. Walked out to get Kuma and the wind was crazy. The temp had dropped and the wind was blowing hard. Too chilly to give the dogs a bath today but decided to let Kuma come inside for awhile. Knowing she didn't have to take a bath she really had a good time. Her mom will be real proud to know Kuma didn't get on the furniture at all. She was busy sitting or speaking to gets small bites of bacon leftover from breakfast. After her treats she took a short nap, checked out the house and then decided it was time to go back outside to her house. I spent most of the day making soap and cleaning the back porch. William planted more in the garden and we did a few outdoor chores. One day that to do list is going to have everything all checked off!

Kuma's Birthday

Even though we have been busy around the homestead we're never too busy for birthdays. Kuma celebrated her birthday on April 17th. She had a small party with all the Hidden Haven critters getting treats. Kuma made sure the goats and rabbits got carrots. The geese and ducks got lettuce while the chickens got their favorite.. cabbage pinata! Kuma enjoyed a nice can of Ol Roy beef and gravy. Didn't take her but just a minute to clean her plate and move on to her present. Rawhide pigs ears are her absolute favorite thing so she got a bag of them. Kuma is such a sport and let me dress her up special for her big day. She also sends a big wet kiss to her family in Germany and says thank you for letting us know her birthdate.

Busy Time Around Hidden Haven

I have been popping into blogs and catching up on everyone. I just haven't had time to post. We seem to always have a dozen projects going at once around here and never catch up. The neighbors across the road from our driveway aren't planting a garden this year so we tilled it up and now have another garden to plant and care for. I will hopefully have plenty to can and freeze for winter. William was so tired from tilling that he made a way to ride the wagon and let the tiller pull him back to the house. I think he had way too much fun.
We also got a new fence up around the maternity pen and moved Mandy, Baby, CC and Tiny Tina. Its closer to the house so they are getting handled more and getting use to people stopping by to pet them. We moved the baby ducks and Scooter up with Sally and Daffy. They seem very happy. Scooter is right next door to his mom and dad but doesn't seem to pay them any attention nor them him.
We also finished setting up a patio area. I didn't get any photos as it was after dark when we finished. We had severe storms this afternoon and spent part of that time sitting in the patio area and just watching the rain. We had a nice fire in the burn pit after the storm had passed. We spent so much time trying to get it finished we didn't come inside for supper till after 8:pm. Tomorrow William will be doing mechanic work and I will be getting soap and candle orders out. Then we hope to get the rest of the gardens planted. I can't believe how the trees have leafed out!

Around the Homestead

The kids in the neighborhood are on spring break this week. William decided to let them help till and plant their own little garden.
7 kids each planted a row. There are going to be all kinds of things growing. I just hope they will eat them. A few took a break to ride bikes.
Or to have a slice of bunny cake before going back to work in their garden.
Scooter and Harley have some new friends. We have more baby ducklings that have joined the 2 buddies. Scooter seems to fit right in with all of them though he and Harley still stay close to each other.

Scooter and Harley

Scooter is one of Bonnie and Clyde's goslings. He was so big inside his egg his feet didn't have room to stretch out. When he was hatched the feet were crunched up against his body and he scooted everywhere. After a couple days it was hard for Scooter to keep up with his siblings and he would get left behind. We decided to bring Scooter inside and see if we could help him. When we went out to get him it was like Bonnie and Clyde knew and they led the other goslings off to the side and just stood there while we got Scooter. They didn't hiss or try to attack us at all. To keep Scooter from being lonely we went to tractor supply and brought home a duckling. Since we had a Scooter we decided to name the duckling Harley. Harley and Scooter became fast bosom buddies. Harley actually nudged Scooter to stand and to start walking. In a couple of days Scooter was walking like a normal gosling. We decided to put him back with his family. They took him and were fine for several hours, then they decided they didn't want him after all. They pushed him away from them and wouldn't let him be with his siblings. Back he came to be with his buddy Harley. Harley and Scooter are now in their own little pen in the backyard chasing bugs, swimming and just enjoying life. They haven't noticed or care that they are different. They don't care that Harley is bigger right now. They don't care that Scooter will one day be lots bigger than Harley. They are just happy to have each other.

Happy Easter From Hidden Haven

The dogs got cookies and cream dog treats. The chickens, geese, and ducks got a salad. The rabbits and goats got carrots. The sheep got molasses cookies and I got phone calls from the kids and grands wishing us a Happy Easter. So I think its safe to say all of us here at Hidden Haven are having a blessed Easter. May your Easter be very blessed. May you find all your hidden eggs today and not later this summer. May your table be full and surrounded by loved ones. Happy Easter from Ms. Diva and all of us at Hidden Haven.

A Visit From Pickles!

DiDi's son came for a visit yesterday evening. Well he came for his pedicure (hoof trim) and ended up getting a injection.He wasn't very happy with me after the shot. He had the sniffles so we gave him a little something to help. Pickles was raised on a bottle by a nice young military couple. He thinks he is a dog and loves playing and sleeping with their dogs. He sleeps in a dog crate just like their other dogs and loves it. He also gets baths and smells so good when he comes for a visit. When his human mom and dad go on vacation Pickles is going to come stay with us. We will have a dog crate ready for him on the back porch since he doesn't want anything to do with the goats. DiDi comes up to the fence every time Pickles is here but Pickles rather go to the dog pen and talk with "other" dogs. I can't wait for Pickles to spend a few days with us.

Killer

As I posted last week Killer hatched out 6 chicks. One died but the others are happy and healthy. Killer makes sure they are well taken care of. We were given 23 baby chicks and weren't sure where we were going to keep them. We decided to see what Killer would do if we put them in with her. Killer did us proud. She took those chicks in like they were her very own. William put plastic over the roosting house and hung a heat light. I went in the pen to shoo the chicks inside under the light and Killer came after me! She let me know those were her chicks and she would take care of them. She taught them how to scratch for food and kept going from one side to the other making sure all the chicks were eating and scratching. When the wind picked up she started clucking and rounding them up to go inside. Counting the 5 she already had Killer is now the proud mom of 28 chicks and what a wonderful mom she is! The photos only show part of the chicks as they were all over the pen.