goats

Forgot to mention that the guys and I took a short trip to a goat farm this week. They have some alpacas, llamas, horses, and lots of goats. There is a 5 year old doe that I am interested in, but she won't be bred until December, and I won't get any milk before then. I'm thinking that I need to keep looking. If I'm going to invest in goats, I would like to be able to milk them now and not have to wait a year. I'm also not sure how healthy these goats are. We'll see how it goes. But it's good to be making some contacts at least.

a new deck and other stuff

So I'm actually getting ready to put my deck in. I had always planned on putting one in, but was afraid that it would be too expensive to do this year. I changed my plans on the wood shed, and the money I saved for that project can go partly into the deck. The wood shed won't be attached to the house, and will cost a whole lot less.

The deck is going to run from the front door to the dog house. I got a great deal on recycled wood decking product that has some poly something or other in it as well, which keeps it from rotting or going bad. The measurements will be something like 28 by 12. We are always tracking sand and dirt into the house, and I think this will really cut down on that. I would also like to build an arbor-type thing that goes from the edge of the deck to the house. I want lots of vine plants growing up and around the wood. Some peas, gourds, and whatever else I can find. Lots of built up garden beds all around the deck. I can't wait to get that all done. It's going to be awesome. Here's a picture of where it will go. I will have to make the ground even, which will be a bit of work, but totally worth it. On the ground is the last pile of junk I need to clean up and find space for. That feels good, too!



I also got all the wood cleaned up that Moe and Liz helped me cut down. The driveway looks really nice now, and I got some wood to burn for next year in the process. Not as much as I would have liked, but anything is better than nothing. Soon Matti will help me cut down some big trees that are either close to dead or smothering some other nice ones. Hopefully I'll be close to getting all the wood I need for next year. As a result of all the cleaning up, here is a picture of my new bonfire wood pile. Geez. It's like halfway up the side of the goat barn!



Another picture of my really clean barn, just because I like looking at it. Another reason to feel very happy!


And last but not least, a picture of the ducks and geese by the clean barn. In the background is the last of the junk pile that needs to go to the dump. I can't believe we are this close to having a really clean piece of land. Once I get the roof off the old house and start tearing that down I'm sure there will be a whole lot more, but that's different. That junk is supposed to be there. I do still have to figure out what to do with the 50+ tires that are lying around everywhere. I looked into building a tire house, but that's a lot of work. What I could do is eventually build a fence with them, but it would be pretty ugly unless I make sure to plant stuff that will grow up and over it. It might make for an interesting project, actually.


Oh, the ducks and geese are now sleeping in the barn where the turkeys used to sleep. They are getting used to heading there every night now, and it is so much more comfortable for them than that little house I built. Tomorrow Matti and I are going to pick up 6 pieces of free standing welded panel fencing which will allow the ducks to have more grazing area and I wont' have to worry about dogs or Bill harassing them. Eventually, when I get an electric fence, I will get a few more pieces so that Bill will have a large grazing pen as well. Then I won't have to worry about any of the animals when I'm off on my long kayaks! And Bill will keep out of trouble that way.

it's friday!

Another week almost gone! GeeZ. And it's the last day of June. Double geez. Very scary how quickly time goes.

But if I think back to my life a year ago, I wouldn't want to be there no way no how. This is a good summer--in fact, I'm going to say that it is shaping up to be one of my favorites. I'm getting lots of work done outside, doing lots of playing, and getting some school work done. I'm really happy these days, and that's always a good thing!

I went on my first long kayak of the season (scary to think that it's the first one and it's the end of June!). I went from Oskar Bay to Dollar Bay and back. Not exactly sure how many miles, but I'm going to bet close to 30. It took me 5 hours and 50 minutes. Give or take a few. The way to DB was awesome--lots of wind at my back, and it felt like I was flying. I bet at times I was going 5-6 knots. (Did I spell that right?) The way back was a different story. The wind kicked up even more, and there were times I was paddling and not going anywhere. At about 4 hours, I was wondering why I was doing it, then how stupid kayaking was to begin with, and wouldn't I much rather be sitting in front of the TV watching movies or something.

Those thoughts passed once I was on shore until I remembered that I had a 30 minute bike ride back home. I sure felt good once I got in the tub, though. What a great workout. I'm going to try to make it to the black sands next week. That will probably add an hour onto the total trip.

After that, I went to the KBC with friends for pizza and birch beer. All in all, an unbelieveably excellent Thursday.

Today Diane and I worked a bit more on Matti's house. We are about half way done, although the back side is going to take a lot more time. It's in pretty bad shape, and needs some prep work. Hopefully we can get a lot more done tomorrow if it doesn't rain like predicted.

matti

Matti has been bringing me the newspaper lately, and he decided that he needed a good place to put it. I had replaced the old mailbox that was almost falling over with a nice new shiny white one, and the old one had been sitting out by the road. Matti decided he wanted it by the barn, so he could just throw the paper in there without having to get out of his truck. I tried to move the sucker and could barely budge it, so we dragged it behind his truck. It looks pretty cool, I think. It didn't have a flag anymore, so I rigged a red apple that can be hooked in the front of the box whenever there is something in there. That way we can leave him stuff, and he can leave us the paper. It's a nice trade!


Diane and I were planning on painting Matti's house next weekend, but he kind of got the weekends confused and had planned on us being there this week. Diane had other stuff going, but I thought I would get started anyway. I wasn't thinking it would take too long, but it might be more than I anticipated. It definitely needs 2 coats, and the second one will have to be put on with a brush. Yuck. That's rough on my wrists. But with both of us working we should be ok. We'll see how it goes. Here are some before and a little bit later photos.

other pics and stuff

The barn is mostly clean! Amazing. Still have to move a few things, but it's getting there. Matti and I took a huge load to the dump before I started painting his house, and it was awesome to get rid of stuff. I've got another load for sure that needs to go, but we are really getting close. Now to just get rid of the fridge, water heater and washer that have been laying around!



Benj and Rio have been hanging out with the chickens, guineas, and turkeys a lot this week:





Vanna and cinnamon finally taking a break. They make me really tired--they do nothing but wrestle and run.



I'm so tired I'm almost falling asleep here, and I have yet to take a bath. Time to hit the hay.

our isaiah tree

We have this beautiful old tree on the side of our driveway. It was hard to really notice it because there were so many other trees growing up and around it and through its branches. When Moe and Liz were here for the garage sale, we cut away a lot of those trees. Today the guys and I cleared away 2 of the 3 big piles of wood and the tree is really noticeable. It is one of the coolest trees I have ever seen. I've christened it Isaiah, because it just seems like an Isaiah. You'll see what I mean:



Here's a picture of the guys carrying some trees. It was pretty hot and they worked pretty hard. I thought I would get more fire wood from what we had cut, but most of the trees were fairly small. That's ok. Clearing them out will really save some of the other trees that weren't getting much air. It's looking pretty good along the drive.

it's been a long time and a bear up a tree!

Boy, it's been a while since I messed with the blog. I don't think a whole lot happened in the beginning of the week. I sure didn't take any pictures or do much outside. It was the last week of school, and I think I was a bit lazy.

Regardless, the end of the week ended with a lot of work done, so that's very cool.

But first, I want to talk about the bear that Vanna ran up a tree Wed. night. It was probably around 10 or so, when I heard her barking like crazy. I ran out to see what was going on, and found her on the side of the house, barking at something in a small cluster of trees and bushes there. She wouldn't go in, which is unusual if she is chasing squirrels, so I knew that something was up. Sure enough, I heard a really loud crashing noise a couple of times before I realized that there was a big something that had climbed up the tree. Honestly, I thought it was a cougar. Perhaps it was, I'm not really sure. I guess someone swears she saw one in her yard around this area, but who knows? I'm assuming it was a bear. It was big, anyway. I started making some noise with Vanna, and pretty quickly the thing jumped out of the tree and took off, Vanna in hot pursuit. If it were a cat, I'm assuming that it would have been more aggressive, but what do I know!

The DNR came to pick up the trap later in the week, and that was ok with me. We've got the coop pretty tight, now, and I feel more comfortable seeing that whatever was up in the tree wasn't aggressive to either Vanna or myself. I think we'll be ok. The strawberries are out, and that's their meal preference, so that's also good. Regardless, it was kind of cool. Although I'm not saying I'm into having bears crash at The Goat or anything. It was just a little bit cool!

no bear

Well, it's been 2 nights since the bear attack, and no bear! The DNR came and dropped off the bear trap the day after the attack. The guy looked around at everything, and there is evidence that it wasn't just a bear, but most probably a fisher as well! Not good. Perhaps one came first and then the other. The first night after the attack, the fowl refused to go in. I had to pick each one up individually to put them in the coop. Last night, they were more comfortable and went in at dusk. Poor guys.

This is a picture of Matti and his truck. He and I sat up until 2 on the first night, and 12 on the second. We got tired. I only got an hour or two of sleep the first night because I decided to sleep out in the car after Matti left. Right. I should have slept on the ground! I think I'm just going to have to trust that screwing the doors in every night is going to keep them safe. There is really nothing else that I can do.


The turkeys are refusing to stay in the outdoor pen, so they fly out and follow everyone around. Sometimes it's Vanna, this time it was Bill. Go figure. Guess they don't think Bill will eat them. I really don't either. Especially because he gets as much as he wants to eat whenever he wants to eat. What a pig!

This isn't the best picture, and Vanna was also around, but I was walking backwards trying to get everyone in it. Didn't work too well.


Matti's taking me out to dinner tonight. I figure I should be taking him, but I think he feels really bad about the loss. He's been a great help, that's for sure! In the picture of Matti, you can see the next load of junk that will go to the dump. There's more now, actually. I finished cleaning out the barn, and will start to put some of the animal stuff in there. It's nice to be getting stuff done. Even if it is really hot out. At least we are getting a few rain drops now. We really need it.

bear attack!!

Some devastating news this morning...we had a bear in the coop. He/she tried to tear down the large front doors of the barn--almost succeeded, but then ripped down the wood part of the fence and got into the coop. We lost 8 chickens, 3 turkeys and a guinea. I couldn't believe it. I shut them all up at 11, and then didn't go to bed until 12:30. Vanna and I didn't hear anything after that.

But the carcasses were everywhere. The rest of the birds seem to be in shock. They're so quiet and they're huddling together inside. I still can't believe it. I haven't gotten a hold of the guys yet as they are at their dad's, but I'm not looking forward to telling them. It's going to be hard for them to take.

I called the DNR and am supposed to hear back from them soon, and Matti and I will be sitting outside tonight with some shotguns. We know they'll be back tonight, and there is no way to keep a bear out of any place when they want in, other than scaring it. We don't want to kill it, by any means, but if it continues, I'm afraid for Bill and the others.

And Diane is seeing a bear with at least one cub in her neck of the woods a lot. It just isn't safe.

I'll keep you posted....

outside chick run

I did finish the outside run for the chickens/turkeys/guineas on Saturday. It didn't take me very long, actually. Right at the end I ran out of fencing, but was able to fudge and use some old pieces of board. It works just fine. I still need to make doors to the coops and the gate for the outside run, so I'm hoping to get that done this weekend. We're using boards and cement blocks at the moment, and it seems to be working well. We haven't lost anyone yet.

We are a bit worried about the turkeys, though, who insist on flying over the fence to get to the grass on the other side. A whole lot of the same grass inside the fence, but like most of us, they are only interested in what is a bit out of reach. Dogs, pigs, and cats lurk on the other side, but nope, they have to get over. Sounds way too human-like to me.


There are some fine looking roosters in the bunch of chicks. They are working on their wakeup call, but end up sounding like a sick cow. It's pretty funny. I told the guys that when their voices start to change, they'll sound the same way. Not sure they believed me.

Here's a picture of Chirp, our beautiful black rooster. He always perches on our shoulders, and comes running whenever he hears the boys. I named him after a pet chicken I had when I was a kid.



Here's the other teenage boy in the mix:



So everyone seems to be getting along these days. Here's a picture of the rooster and turkey cuddling together:



And Buick, our neighbor's dog, and Vanna:

I guess we are the farm to visit for a good time.....

the continuing saga of bill

It's been a while since I wrote. I think I've been a bit burned out. After 5 weeks of nonstop work, this week seemed like a good time to take a break. I did a fair amount of watching tv and movies, and it rained one day so that was a wonderful excuse. I did go to Diane's to cut up a bunch of wood that needed a chainsaw this morning, and it kind of got me back in the mood to work again. Sometimes, I think, I need a few days off The Goat, and then I'm ok again.

So Bill. Bill is great. Really. He's settling in, not biting Vanna, not getting into trouble. He follows us all around, grunting at the windows begging to be let in. He chased the car once because he didn't want us to leave. After I got home from school tonight, I heard a bit of commotion outside. My neighbor was out there, so I popped out to say hi. He's like, "I brought your pig back. He was in our yard." I actually didn't believe him for a minute. It took him a few times before it sunk in that Bill, after begging to get in the house with me, gave up and, hearing the neighbors, went trotting over there to get some loving. They got a kick out of it, thank goodness, and were pretty impressed that Bill just followed him back over here.

As much as it's great to be loved, it does have its drawbacks. Vanna and I had to sneak out to get our run in. So now we've resorted to ducking low, being very quiet, and running really fast down the driveway hoping Bill won't see us. The first time he did, and he came pounding after us, grunting the whole way. Who would have thought that pigs could run that fast!

I missed a great photo opportunity this afternoon--the boys walking down the drive, Vanna, Bill, and Shady hot on their tails. It would have been priceless. But here's one with Bill in the straw that's on the side of the house. When he bangs against the house, the whole thing shakes. What's going to happen when he gets big? Holy smokes.

bucky the chicken

is out of the house, too. I put her in with the guineas, figuring that because they are scared of everything, they'll leave her poor neck alone. I'm beginning to wonder if she is ever going to grow those feathers back. There is still nothing there!

So far, I think the arrangement is working. She walks around like she owns the place. When I checked on them last night, she was roosting up in the tree, and the guineas were on the window ledge, heads facing the window, butts sticking out. 11, right in a row. I wish I would have had the camera. Because there was only room for 11, there ended up being a lone guinea sleeping by himself. It was a bit sad, and I was pretty surprised that none of the others joined him. Maybe they take turns.

I got bill problems!

Forgot to mention that Diane is coming over today to help me finish the roof on the barn. Can't wait to get that finished. I put the turkeys out there yesterday, hoping that we wouldn't get any rain. They're a bit dense and forget to get out of the rain, freezing themselves and then dying. With the roof fixed, they won't have to think about it and I won't have to worry. The great thing is that my house is finally fowl free, there is no barnyard essence floating around, and it was actually quiet last night! I slept just fine!!!

Speaking of turkeys, while I was getting them ready for the barn, I let them run lose in the house for a bit. Immediately the big guy started showing off his fine feathers, rubbing up against the chickturkeys, and dominating the smaller males. It's a power thing, I reckon. But he sure was magnificent!



On to the continuing saga of Bill. My new problem with Bill is that he is in love with me. I know, it is somewhat flattering (at least there's someone who's crazy about me!) and one wouldn't think that would be a problem, but it really is. He hears my voice and comes running. Fast. Like if he were any bigger it would freak me out. He follows me around everywhere, including the coop, where he insists on getting into the turkey pen and causing problems. The guy I bought Bill from said that he would eat fowl so having him hang out with the turkeys isn't going to work. When I chase him out, he is totally offended, grunts like crazy, and tries to break the door down. Great. Another 50 pounds and I am in serious trouble.

When I go into the house, he circles the house, trying to get in, banging against the side. I swear that the house shakes. Because the house is built into a hill, we have some windows on the north side that allow him to see inside the house. He's been pressing against the screens, grunting for me. That is so not good.

I think it's the belly rubs. He hungers for them. He lays down, rolls over, and shows me his underside. It's not all that cute, really, but I close my eyes and give him the rub down. He grunts like crazy, and gets a bit put out when I've had enough.

What a nut.

Here's a picture of Bill's ear:


He and Vanna are having some difficulties as well. I think they're jealous of each other. If I'm not looking, Vanna will chase Bill back to his house. And somehow she always knows when he's getting a belly rub (I'm sure the loud grunting gives it away) because there she is, asking for her own.

Yesterday I was petting Vanna and Bill came up and tried to eat her leg. Then he did it again. Geez. Vanna may be in trouble pretty soon! I've got to call that guy about the electric fence. I know that Bill will be very offended and hurt to be made to stay in one area, but I think it has to be. He's just going to be getting way to freaking big. It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

roofing day!

Boy, it's been a while since I have been able to get on here. We had a wonderful lightning storm on Tuesay. I happened to be online and my phone line got zapped, burning out my modem. Thank goodness nothing else was damaged, because all of my work is on this laptop. An external modem is doing the trick, now, but it was a good reminder for me to start backing up my work more often.

Got some pictures of Bill and the turkeys, so I'll load them next.....

are we all just a bunch of animals?

It's 11:15, and I should really get to bed, but I can't stop thinking about something. As I have watched all these animals and their interactions with each other, I've been amazed at how they determine who is going to be top dog. It seems as if there has to be a top dog. The chickens do their little neck dance and fly at each other. The bigger turkeys grab the smaller ones and each other by the back of the neck and then sit on them. Vanna and Bill chase each other a bit--so far Vanna is the victor and she sends Bill running back to his house. I haven't quite figured out the guineas, yet. There seems to be one main guy that does all the jabbering, but I'm not sure how they determine which one has the right to be the loud mouth. Very unfriendly and suspicious, the guineas won't let any of us near them. They seem to work together. I guess this makes sense considering the nature of their existence. They like to sleep in trees, and I'm sure one of them has to always be on the lookout while the other guys sleep. They are from a different culture, one in which working together makes the most sense. But still, there's the one guy being the loud mouth thing.

In the humanities, we spend a lot of time talking about hegemony and the dominant culture, resistance to the dominant culture, and other such stuff. For the most part, it seems that we are more supportive of the resistance of the dominant culture than supportive of the dominant culture. I guess we like to think that we are actually thinking about what is going on in the world, and aren't just following blindly. We don't like the top dogs. Certainly it would seem that our jobs as teachers is to get our students to begin to think about the world in a more critical, analytical manner, that is, consider the possibilities, search for alternatives, think for themselves.

But humans are animals, aren't we? In the animal world, there is a top dog, and that position is often determined in some really mean ways, like grabbing someone's neck and sitting on them. While humans might not grab each other by the neck and sit on each other to determine who is top dog, we have other ways. In this culture, it would seem that the top dog position always stems from wealth. And in some ways, maybe the rich do become top dog by grabbing necks and sitting on people-- it is simply done behind closed doors where the rest of us can't see what is going on.

I would like to believe that humans have evolved to the point where there doesn't need to be a top dog, where we can work together equally to benefit mankind, which, in turn, also benefits ourselves. This, I am beginning to believe, is just a dream. I don't think we have evolved nearly far enough for this to become a possibility in any near future.

But the fact that we can imagine it does make it possible, right? If we can talk and dream about such a world, doesn't that mean we can work towards it?

But in the meantime, what are we supposed to do and how are we supposed to work to make such a world possible? Do we fight the dominant culture, resisting the neck pressure and the big guy on our back pressing us down? Or do we make like turkeys, and accept that the biggest guy becomes the leader, shut up and let peace reign? For I don't think there can be any doubt that peace can be possible if there is no resistance to the top dog. If every country could accept one country's position as top dog, wars would cease and we would stop killing each other, and there probably wouldn't be starvation and all the other bad stuff that goes along with that. If we could just believe in the same God, think how much better the world would be!

We say we want world peace now, but have we really stopped to consider what that would mean? If we haven't evolved to the point where we don't need a top dog (and I assert we aren't nearly close enough), peace would come at a terrible price, one that I'm not willing to pay. I don't want some rich powerful people telling me what I can believe, what I can do, and that every animal I own has to have a chip in its neck so it can be kept track of.

And in my daily life, if I am to stand for what I believe, have personal integrity and be my own best friend, peace will not always be possible. I might not always be able to shut up. I might have to make waves and tick people off. There are always going to be people who don't want to hear no, or yes. It seems that there is a price to pay for personal integrity.

Maybe the peace I need to seek comes from listening and following my own heart, even if it means creating unpeaceful surroundings. As Sue keeps reminding me, what really matters is that at the end of the day I like myself. Maybe that means shutting up in one situation, or maybe that means speaking out in another. Maybe if at the end of the day we ALL liked ourselves, we'll begin to make more like the guineas, and the real possibility for peace won't be as far fetched as I have come to believe.

the drunken goat fire circle and other stuff

The bonfire was a lot of fun. We had quite a few people come out, everyone bearing gifts of some sort--smores, beer, pop, and chips. Lots of hotdogs and buns.

Eric and friends made it safely. There were a few instruments as well. Justin serenaded us with his lovely depressing songs that made me want to through myself into the fire. I resisted, but only cause I wanted more smores. Buck sang a few songs. Again, the smores saved me.

People took off around midnight. Justin and Matt left to go do something illegal, and Eric (otherwise known as Grasshopper--named by an indian elder from Pine Ridge) and I talked until 3. It was pretty awesome. I even slept in until 9 the next morning. The latest I've slept in for at least a year. Cool!

So I would have to say that the first meeting of the drunken goat fire circle was a success. Here's to many more.



Diane found this moth on our window yesterday. Isn't it cool? Buck had found one on the door after the bonfire, but that one was smaller and had some red on its wings.




I think the turkeys are starting to go insane in their cages. I let them out to run and fly a bit today. I'm sure I'll be finding poop for a while, hopefully not on the bottom of our shoes. They are actually starting to look a bit depressed. Their coop is ready, I am just afraid to put them out there. It is still getting really cold at night, and although we can stick lights out there, I'm still a bit nervous. Diane and I will finish roofing the barn on Friday, and then I'll feel better about it.



Otherwise, stuff is good at the drunken goat. I didn't do a lick of work today, that is, the outside kind, but I did finally get some school work done. After class, I came home and camped out on the couch for a few hours. I must admit it felt pretty good as I hadn't done that for a while. Tomorrow will be a new day, and I'll get something done then, I'm sure.

By the way, the guys have been super great helping with all the animals. They totally helped with Bill tonight, and took care of everyone else while I did a bit of panicking.I think they are getting into this farming stuff.

poor bill #2

You know, Bill has not had an easy life thus far. He gets his tail cut off, a metal tag put in his ear, he's carted across the country, carried around by his back legs, dumped into a dog carrier, and then taken to this weird place with a bunch of strange people and dogs running around.

He's been doing better, though. He has been letting us rub his belly, following us around, and getting into a bit of trouble, but not much. He seems to have accepted that he is not allowed in the dog house, because I haven't caught him in there for the last few days. That doesn't mean he isn't in there when I'm not home, but if he is, he hears the car and takes off. Plus his poop is not so runny.

We finished the turkey coop, and bill has found that the sand in the barn is really great for eating, pooping, and rolling around in. It's cool, the bugs pretty much stay away, and he gets to look at the chickens and eat their poop if they happen to let loose on the chicken fence. So I have to think that, at least for a while, Bill was finally feeling pretty good about his life.

Until today. I found him in the turkey coop, locked in because he insisted on shutting the door behind him (I still can't figure out why he does that), with his ear half torn off and blood all over the place. Somewhere he had gotten his tag stuck and he pulled it out of his ear, taking a lot of the ear with it. It looks pretty bad. I think he was pretty shook up, because he actually laid down and let me clean him off a bit. It must have just happened because it was still bleeding pretty badly. It took a while, but it finally stopped. Hopefully he will be ok, because I'm not really sure what to do about it. I tried to put a bandage on it but that lasted about 1 second.

He didn't want to go in his pen afterwards, and ate a bunch of grass, so I'm thinking that's a good sign. Bad news is that he has the runs again. Just like that. You know, he isn't that different from humans. Ever get into a stressful situation and immediately get the runs? Yep, so does Bill. Except that his really stinks badly. So we'll see how he does tomorrow. Maybe this crisis will make him trust us more since we were giving him lots of attention. I think he's starting to like it.

finally!

Here's a bunch of people sitting on the fence. Things were getting pretty hot that night, if I recall. We were burning old tables and chest of drawers. It was pretty awesome.



Here's Benj and Rio making use of the fire circle for some snacks. It was a bit too hot that day, but hey, they got to make a fire. They'll miss tonight's because they are with their dad, but maybe next time!

here they aren't

well, for some reason, I can't get these uploaded. I'll try again later, and certainly post more from tonight. It should be a fun time!

By the way, thanks for your comments, Mike! I'm glad you enjoy following this. I hope you are driving to make it here tonight. That would be awesome! You can always camp here or sleep on the couch. Or with the chicks! They would love the company! I wouldn't recommend the ducks or the geese--they poop too bloody much!

ok, now I remember

Some of it, anyway.



Here's vanna and little guy on a hot one.

Bill is definitly feeling better, I think. He still has snott running from the 2 very big holes in his nose, and his eyes are pretty yucky every morning, but by the time he wakes up and rambles around a bit, he seems to feel pretty good. This morning I slept in till 7 and was wondering how he would be fairing since I'm usually out there by 6, but he was still snoring away. He let me pet him for a bit, which is very good. I still have to take the metal tag out of his ear. Jill and Alex had come over last week and Jill said that I will need to take two pliers and pull them apart. Geez. It is always bleeding and looking pretty bad. What they do to these animals getting them ready for auctions is terrible. We are lucky that Bill will even let us get that close. But he is definitly looking for us now, which is good, and also bad. Cause he's bad and gets into everything. But he sure is cute.



The guys named our beat up chicken Bucky after the song "Bucky the chicken," and our friend Buck. She is doing much better these days, but her feathers still aren't growing back. There is another chick in the coop who is missing the top of his wing feathers. He looks very strange. I'm keeping an eye on him and he is never bleeding or getting picked on, so hopefully he will do ok. There should be enough room in the coop that the fighting will be kept to a minimum.




Finally got the guinea coop built. Boy, they needed to get out of the house. They were making way too much noise at night and kept waking me up. They haven't quite found their "buckwheat" call yet, but I'm hearing variations on it. And man, are they easily freaked out. It was hard to catch them from their little cage to take them to their coop. I had to keep a lid on the box and even then some of them got out. I was pretty happy to catch them all. I think they will like their new home, although they don't get quite as much light as the chicks. Their space isn't quite so big either, just because they probably won't be spending much time in there. I hear they like to wander free and fly into trees. I want them to get used to that being their home, and will keep the water and food in there, but I guess if I want them to be eating all the ticks we have, I will have to let them loose. We'll see how that works.

I gave the turkeys the biggest space, because they will get hugical, and because I will like to raise more of them next year.

Although the coop turned out ok, I did make a few stupid mistakes that cost me some time. I ended up using some old 2x6's that were on the property for the bottom dividing line. I buried them in the sand, and attached the upward beams to them. It worked really well. Where I goofed was in my placement of the lower beams. I forgot to line them up with the rafters, which meant I had to find a new way to support the upward beams. I worked it out, but geez, it took more time and made the chicken wire fencing a lot more complicated to put up. It doesn't look near as nice as the chick coop does. But it will do. I ended up using a large glass window for the door, but was suprised to realize that I had run out of old hinges! I actually had to go buy some. Couldn't believe it. I'm starting to run out of wood and other stuff. Crazy! For some reason I thought I had an endless supply of whatever I need through the recycling of all this stuff here. It's good in that it means I am using stuff, bad because it means I have to start spending some money. Bummer!



I do still have the old goatbarn to get materials from.



We're having our first of the "drunken goat fire circle" bonfires this evening. It's kind of hard to see from this picture, but this is where the fire pit is--next to the horse barn. My friend Eric is in town, and it was a perfect opportunity! I have so much to burn it isn't even funny. When that supply runs out I'll be really shocked! I think people may come early so they can see the animals before it gets dark. Thought I would hunt up some fun pictures of one of last year's fire circles.

saturday? already?

Boy, the bad thing about not doing this every night is that I have totally forgotten what I have done this week. Some things I can think of right off the bat:

1) I smashed my finger with a hammer for the first time this season. You know, that isn't really that bad at all considering I've been pounding for over a month. I forgot how freaking bad that hurts.

2) Bill has found the dog house. This is so not good at all, because the house is just a flap away. I don't think he realizes yet that he could get in the house if he wanted to, but it would be a total disaster if he ever did. I have tried to lower the door so just the cats can get it, since vanna spends most of her day outdoors anyway, but every time I go by I hear a grunt hello telling me where he is. I scold him and chase him out with a broom, but darn it if he isn't in there the next time I go by. He got into the sauna another time, but this time his poop wasn't so runny, so we can be thankful for small favours!

What else....I'm going to see what pictures I have taken and maybe that will jog my memory. Stay tuned....