Still Here

Just been so busy I haven't taken time to post. William STILL waiting on his truck so is doing odd jobs to bring in a little money. He works all day building fences, tilling gardens, cutting trees down, etc so comes home tired with a sore back. I am trying to get all the animal pens and shelters cleaned out to keep the fly problem down. Also trying to keep too many hens from sitting on eggs. This year we are over run with baby chicks and now all the hens are wanting to set. A friend gave me some green beans, plums, corn and a ton of oranges so am trying to cook, preserve, etc before they all go bad. Mandy (dwarf goat) is very happy at her new home though she is giving Pickles a hard time. Baby and Tiny Tina will be going to their new home tomorrow. Rowdy will only have 5 baby goats to guard so am sure he will be upset for a little bit. Wild Thing is doing fantastic. He is so much smaller than the other bunnies but is running around, eating and drinking. Momma seems to want a break from them but its not time to wean them yet. I am way behind in making soaps but waiting for a few supplies to come in so I can finish them. I am also going to be setting up at a craft fair next Saturday. Its at the same little wonderful church I went to last fall so am excited about that. I just need to get things ready for that. The gardens have really taken off growing and keeping me busy. William gave up his annual camping trip with grandson and boy scouts this year and I am going to miss the family reunion. Watching every penny till his truck is back up and running. Some people can write beautiful fairy tales about homesteading but its hard, long hours, no days off, poor pay, broken equipment, back breaking work. Lots of things go wrong but working to fix them and enjoying milking the goats, gathering fresh eggs, watching the animal babies run and play is worth every minute. Some friends have a dream homestead in their mind. How they want their home and land to look. How many and how well behaved their animals are going to be. How big and beautiful their gardens are going to be. Those are wonderful dreams but they don't realize the hard work involved to make those dreams come true. Believe me there is no fairy tale life here but there is a blessed one! Happy Memorial Day everyone.

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!

Has Anyone Seen My Fall Weather?

Today was a record breaking 80F! Nights aren't any better as they are in the upper 50's. I am so longing for nice cold crisp days and very cold nights. I want to enjoy sitting by a nice warm fire with a nice hot cup of tea. We have had the doors and windows open and worked outside all day. Both of us are having back pains. We are just too old to try to do so much. We sound like we are ready for a retirement home when we sit down in the evening and take our shoes off. Oh the moans and groans along with bones popping and cracking. We cooked dinner together tonight. William grilled steaks while I baked potatoes, made a salad and garlic bread. Now that our tummies are full he is crashed out on the sofa. He wants me to think he is looking at his lap top that is perched on his tummy. I know he is sound asleep though. LOL I am going to take a shower and catch up on some news, do some (little) paperwork and then call it a night. Tomorrow is another busy day. We are so blessed we are able to get things done around here. We are blessed we are able to get up and down even if we do complain. We are very blessed we have chores to do. Hope you have a blessed weekend!

Blame It On The Moon

They say a full moon brings on all kinds of crazy things. We have had a beautiful full moon here and a couple of owls enjoy calling to each other makes it even more enjoyable. I could blame my bad cold on the moon but we all know who really gave it me. William came home with a very bad cold and I finally got him to take some cold medicine. Getting him to take any medicine is worse than trying to give a child a shot! He started feeling some better except for a bad cough and still getting tired easy. He decided he would take a load to Oregon for his company and we rushed around cleaning out his truck and repacking it with warm clothes, snow chains, etc. He left and but left his cold behind for me. I have felt terrible all day. I fed and milked this morning then came inside and rested for a while before going back out to water and rake pens. I came back in and rested before going to post office and pick up chicken feed. Came home and rested before mixing feeds and doing the afternoon feeding and milking. I came in to rest a few minutes before watering. I have had a bowl of soup, a hot shower and taken some cold medication. I am now going to lay on the sofa while dozing and watching TV till after Survivor then I will go to bed and hopefully sleep all night and feel better tomorrow. I have a ton of soap to bag and tag for Saturday. I am going to the craft fair even with my cold. I am really looking forward to my first craft fair and to meeting some new friends. Have a wonderful weekend, stay healthy and count your blessings. I will be back to goat stories and photos soon. The goats don't even want me sneezing on them so are being easy with me. That won't last long and they will be back to their wild adventures.

Tuesday

I saw this picture of Killer and her baby chicks from a few months ago. Killer is still mothering her chicks even though they are as big as she is now.Today felt like summer. It was 86F! Tomorrow is suppose to be even hotter but the kicker is by the weekend the highs will be in the low 60's! Its suppose to rain Saturday but the craft fair is inside so am sure its still on. I have soap everywhere! You can't see a surface in the soap shop and the scents mixed all together will give you one big headache! I have the labels on the shopping bags. Have my baskets and tablecloth ready as well as some fall decorations to decorate the table. Need to get a frame to put Diva's photo and information about the soap in. Hopefully everything will go well and I will want to do another craft fair someday. I trimmed bushes and trees in the front yard yesterday. I gave the trimmings to the goats. I gave the boys, the dwarfs, and the pregnant ones a small amount and they did fine. I gave the milking goats way too many trimmings and they ate way too much. I knew when I did it I shouldn't but dumb me did it anyway. They woke up with a tummy ache this morning and didn't want breakfast. After a injection of vitamin B12 and some probios inside their mouth they are feeling better. They even ate their supper. I felt bad and have decided no more trimmings for them! We got a load of hay this afternoon so I had to clean out where we are storing it and then had to help unload and stack. My back isn't very happy with me right now. Nickel is becoming a pain! He puts his head through the fence to the girls pen. He is the only Nubian that has horns so his head gets stuck. We get it out and within minutes he is stuck again. I finally took the goat by the horn and put him in jail with the dwarf boys. He has cried like a baby all afternoon cause he can't get out. The dwarfs look like they want to put a hoof in his mouth to shut him up. And look at me like I am punishing them with Nickel. Hopefully he will calm down soon. William rode with me to get a stack of bread for the chickens. He wasn't feeling very well but did help me put the bread in the van. He was nice and let me run to Michael's before coming home. He sat in the van and waited. I finally got him to take some cold medicine and he is starting to feel a little better. Hopefully his cold or flu will leave soon without passing my way. We had leftover pintos for supper with salmon patties, potatoes, and leftover corn muffins. I am so tired I just threw somethings together and we ate it. Have some more soaps to pour before bedtime so better run. Have a great night!

This and That

Photo is of Nitro last Halloween. Sure do miss the big guy.

Been busy today with 2 big wholesale soap orders and got a order for 25 candles for tomorrow. William is going to a Boy Scout weekend camping trip with 2 of his grandsons. I have been busy making a huge pot of chili and lots of corn muffins that they can heat up tomorrow night after they get their tents and everything set up. I also made some pumpkin muffins and goat milk fudge that I got the recipe from Pine Pod Farm . I must say it is yummy. I don't like the taste of coffee but I like this fudge! I have been packing up camping gear, food, etc so our hired hand can take it and meet William. He is going to go camping with them too. I will be taking care of the animals and trying to build up my soap stock for the craft fair next weekend. I hope to finish a book I started a couple months ago.

I was asked if I used a pod press for some of my teas. No, but I am thinking about getting one.

I was also asked about Bud's eyes in the photo from last post. His eyes were closed as he was asleep. The big spot is not his eye but the subtympanic shield.

The boys are still in rut at the moment and yes there is that goat smell in the air. Nubian's don't smell as strongly as other breeds but they do have that strong scent at the moment. They are in the woods in front of the property and thank goodness the clothesline is in the back of the property. Hopefully this rutting will end soon and the scent and crazy behavior will settle down. LOL

Yes, we do have a lot of animals and I do feel like ma Walton saying good night. I usually go out each night before bed to make sure everyone is okay.

Yes, Fred was right again. We didn't get the rain the weatherman was calling for. My neighbor called me today saying she checked to see where Fred was before she went to bed. She wanted to know if she needed to close her windows for rain or not. She says she trusts Fred much more than the TV.

My friend HomemakerAng is having a fantastic give away! You should visit her blog and check it out. With all the things she has been doing I get tired just reading about her day.

That's about it for my day. I still have a few things to clean up in the kitchen and things to pack for the camping trip before I head to bed. Everyone have a great Friday and a fun relaxing weekend!

Happy Memorial Day

Hope everyone has had a wonderful day. William has been home so we spent the day trimming goat hooves,worming and building a milking stanch. A young guy lost control of his car last night and took out our mailbox and sign post. His father talked with William and is going to pay for us to replace everything. We went to Lowe's this evening and purchased new mailbox, posts and materials. William will be out early in the morning putting everything together. I spent the evening in the soap shop and will be delivering local orders tomorrow morning after milking. After trimming the dwarfs hooves we milked the 2 does. We have been weaning the babies. Its different than milking our Nubian's but it all worked out. We did our holiday grilling last night. We had a lady truck driver friend that was visiting Wendy come over and we grilled steaks. Had the usual fresh salad, baked potato, garlic cheese bread, watermelon, cantaloupe and chocolate cake. Tonight we just picked up a hotdog while out at Lowes. We both are dragging tonight. Had a busy day and another one tomorrow. I hope to take pictures of the goslings swimming but have been so busy I haven't taken any pictures. This past Sunday was my family reunion. William was on his way home and I was busy with the catering thing so didn't make it. I hope to get up to the mountains in June to visit family. Just don't seem to have time to go anywhere lately. Everyone have a blessed week!

Not Much about Nothing

The past week we have enjoyed temps in the 80's. I set out tomato plants. Planted squash and peppers. Picked lettuce and onions for a nice salad every day. Worked outside as much as possible and enjoyed the sun warming my bones. This morning I go out to feed and milk in jeans, a turtleneck and a sweatshirt! Its. 39 degrees and suppose to be colder tonight. Our highs this week will be in the low 50's. I think if its cold enough to build a fire in the stove then we should at least get snow. But that's spring around this area. Hot, cold, warm and chilly. If you don't like the weather wait a few minutes and it will change except in the summer. Then its hot and humid all the time. Wonder if I could talk William and the goats into moving to a snowy climate? LOL

Have a fire going so will do some housework, laundry and work on dreaded paperwork. The goats have fresh straw in their stalls to snuggle down in. The rabbits have fresh shredded paper to hide in, and the chickens have fresh straw in their nesting boxes. After the nice warm weather this cool air is kinda a shock to them. They just want to snuggle together and sleep. I have been milking Sonya and DiDi twice a day but only been milking Diva and Sammi just a little each day. I started yesterday milking them twice a day. I lock them in the stall while milking but I have these little heads reaching through the slates trying to nurse. They actually try to butt my hands out of the way so they can suck! Between Diva, Sammi and myself we are slowly weaning the kids. They are eating grain and hay really well and only nurse in evening and morning. I am going to have to get busy making cheese since I am getting so much milk. But that's a good thing.

We are getting around 20 eggs a day which we have regular customers for most. That's another good thing. Still waiting on Bonnie to come off her nest so I can see the goslings. Went to gather eggs yesterday and found a nice big black snake curled up in the nest where Sister Sister was sitting. The eggs were gone but I could see where he had swallowed them. I took a hoe and put him in a live trap, carried him down the road to some ponds and set him free. Had to clean the nesting box, put fresh straw and give Sister Sister more eggs to sit on. She is not happy if she isn't hatching eggs. Just another day at Hidden Haven. Hope yours is fantastic!

No Babies

Sammi has decided to stay pregnant forever. No contractions or anything else. She acts like she isn't even pregnant. Eating like a horse, laying in the sun and teasing Diva. I have a teeshirt and tote bag ready to give to the kids godmother as soon as I have kids photos to put on them. I am also going to do a tote give away to celebrate the new kids if they ever get here. On a different topic Flower, my satin bunny had 9 babies the other night when the temps were down to 21F. She has always been a awesome mom so we weren't worried about the babies. We put in extra bedding for them and left them alone. The next morning William went out to find she had taken the babies out of the nestbox and put them out in the cold on bare screen. All were dead except for 2. William brought the 2 in and I have been bottle feeding them for 5 days. They are like mexican jumping beans. When I take them out to nurse they are bouncing everywhere! One is black and one is gray but I haven't named them yet. I really didn't think they would live after being so cold all night. The first couple of days I kept them wrapped in a baby blanket that I put in our bed under the electric blanket. Now that they are doing so well they are in a small box with bedding and a blankie. We are finally a one cat family again. Whiskers is the only one we kept. He belonged to my mother and I promised I wouldn't find him a new home and keep him. Baby Kitty didn't go far though as the handyman adopted her. We tilled up some of our garden spots today. We have cabbage, carrots, radishes,lettuce and onions to plant in the next couple of days. William is still working on his truck. Please say a prayer that it will be a inexpensive repair and he can get back to work soon. Life here at the homestead is busy, stressful but I wouldn't trade a bad day of homesteading for a month of fun and easy days of city living. Have a great weekend and don't forget to count your blessings!

Fayetteville, NC For Now

Well, from a cabin in Minnesota to a cabin in Illinois to a trailer in Tennessee, we are now going to stay in Fayetteville for a while. William bought a house there when he was stationed at Ft. Bragg in the 70's. We lived there for 2 yrs when we first married but moved to Lexington. The house has set empty and after hurricanes last year has had major roof damage and inside water damage. We are going to repair and remodel the whole house and that will take at least a year. After that we aren't sure if we will go to TN fulltime or just have a getaway there for us and family. William doesn't want to sell the house in Fayetteville and its in a perfect location. The house is at the end of a long dirt lane and sits among a grove of big old oak trees. It is away from everyone yet you have nice neighbors near. Its out in the country yet close to shopping centers. There is woods all around and lots of garden spots and places for goats and chickens. Plenty of room for the dogs and cats. So that is where we will be for now. I will post pictures and updates on all the work we are doing. We are going to eventually put the house on solar and it already has a great well with lots of good water. The grandkids already love going there and having all that space to play, run and ride bikes. I have been so busy running to Fayetteville and here in Lexington that I didn't have time to post on my old blog so shut it down. Now that we know where we will be and what we will be doing for at least the next year I will try to keep this new blog up to date. I will from time to time call in my blogs and you can click on the audioblog and hear me talk about that days adventure........ Hope you drop by often!