End of Year Homestead Updates!

 It's absolutely crazy to me that it's already the end of the year. Where did the time go??

I feel like I didn't accomplish much around the homestead other than maintenance this year, but here are some highlights since I last posted:

-I worked on a haying crew a few times over the summer! If you've never seen this, the tractor pulls a baler, and then behind that, a hay wagon. I stood on the wagon and helped stack the bales as the baler shot them out. As you might expect, it's very hot, physically demanding work, and I definitely want to get in better shape if I do more next summer. 😝 

-I got refrigeration!! After over four years of using bags of ice in coolers, I finally got a propane fridge hooked up. I ended up selling the one that had come with the dome because it was going to be more complicated to hook up. I bought a different used one, and it's now installed and running great. 

-I purchased siding for the cottage, and Dad and I started installing it. I feel like my poor cottage has been sorely neglected because I'm always working on the Franken-barn, so I'm excited to be making some progress on actually finishing the exterior. I had originally put board and batten siding up on a couple exterior walls, but later decided I wasn't crazy about how that looked. I finally bit the bullet and got nice, simple wooden siding. I also have cedar shingles for the gable ends. I think it's going to look really nice! I'll be painting the siding and staining the shingles, just haven't fully decided on colors yet. Note that the snow pictured below all melted later!! 😂

-I got my goats bred! I borrowed my friend's Nigerian Dwarf buck, Lightning, and he visited for about 3 weeks, hopefully getting the job done with all 5 girls. I'm still watching them to make sure no one goes back into heat, which would be a sign that they didn't "settle," and they'd need to visit the buck again. So far it's looking very promising for Lilah and Marigold. I'm keeping an eye on Starflower and Oakley now, and Daisy has a little longer before I need to start watching her. So definitely watch for updates in late April and early May... I should hopefully have a bunch of bouncing little goat kids then! If anyone is looking to buy, there could be some very good little dairy mutts among the kids. 

I feel like that's not much news, but I think those are the primary homestead highlights. Between work and regular chores, I often feel like I have very little time to get anything done on the homestead, but I could also definitely have a little better time management. 😝 

I've got some big goals for 2024 and beyond.  My prayer requests regarding the homestead are as follows: wisdom about the location and timing of future building projects (possibly a "real" house and barn), wise use of funds (I'm looking at a tractor), improving my stewardship of existing structures and animals, safety as I work (and safety for my Dad when he helps me!!), good health for my animals, clarity about whether I should be researching ways to make the homestead profitable so I can eventually leave my retail job... the list could certainly go on.

I know there are friends and family who regularly pray for me, and I appreciate you so much! ❤️ I definitely need God's blessing and continued help every single day, and I'm so grateful to Him for the help He's given me these past 4+ years. 

In closing, here are a few pictures from this afternoon. I took Thane and Hazel for a walk, and all three cats tagged along too. 😂 Can you spot Bartholomew, Purrcy and Clawdia in the picture below? I gave you an easy one... there are a couple other pictures where Bartholomew really blends in. 😝

Purrcy paused by this pool, and I thought the effect was neat.

Here's the dogs reluctantly posing. Hazel was pretty sure we were trying to hunt coyotes for most of the first half of the walk. 😒

Purrcy was definitely the most photogenic cat of the day. 😝

And here are the cats following us home! I think they were glad to be back. 😂

So that's it... I'm looking forward to another year of life on the homestead, and hopefully growing in Christ throughout the year. Happy New Year, everyone! ❤️

A Very Special Day and a Turtle

 My youngest brother got married today, and it was an awesome, incredibly special day. They're an adorable couple, and it was very clear that God worked to bring them together. 💖 

I personally don't have pictures of them to share, but when they get them back from the photographer, I can ask if they would like me to post a few on my Facebook page for those who know my brother.

So instead, here are some pictures of a snapping turtle who was crossing my property today, presumably on her way to lay eggs. She came by at almost the same time last year too - I can tell she's the same one because the top of her shell has old damage. Her shell is probably 8-10 inches across and 12-14" long. I've been told they can live up to 50 years.

I hope everyone had a great Friday! Congratulations to Timothy and Karlie!! 💗

Busy Busy!!

 Things have been busy on the homestead the past few weeks! Lots of cleanup... lots of fence building... lots of walking the goats daily because their fence isn't finished... 😂

One thing, besides the goat fence, that I really need to work on is my well. My current pitcher pump seems particularly inefficient, and it takes me around an hour to pump enough water for all the animals. I have a new type of pump that should be faster... I just need to figure out how to install it. If that one isn't significantly more efficient, I may have to investigate something battery or solar powered. 

Here are some pictures from the past few days.

This is an onion that sprouted in the house because I forgot about it. I put it in the ground a couple weeks ago and so far it's still alive. 😂

A wildflower. I've been trying to learn more of their names this year. I believe this is a Canada Mayflower.

A little butterfly... not sure what kind. It had periwinkle-blue wings as it flew.

Just pretty droplets on leaves.

These are my Dominique chicks. There are 21 of them! Lol, they've hit the ugly-cute stage. 😂😂😂 They follow their adoptive mothers in and out through the door into the run quite nicely and are well past the most stressful baby chick stage. 

This picture below might not look like much, but I find it very exciting. I have had a couple big bags of seed kicking around for a while. One was meant to be seed for a goat pasture. I just remembered that I had it recently, and it's just old enough that I figured I didn't have much to lose by spreading it around and seeing if some of it would still germinate. I tried to get it all out before we had a rainy, damp week, and looks like it's working - lots of tiny seedlings!! ❤️

Here's Hazel just being cute. I set her up on Thane's rock, and she struck a nice pose. She's been shedding up a storm lately... it'll be nice for her to have less fur when the full summer heat hits!

Wild strawberries I found today...they were very tasty. 🥰

A load of tools I got from a very nice lady for a bargain! I had snapped the handle on my rounded-tip shovel recently, and even though it can be fixed, it occurred to me it'd be good to have a couple duplicate tools around. The pry bar apparently is named Big Bertha. 😂

Another wildflower. I think this may be Northern Bedstraw.

Lol, while I was out picking up my hand tools, I swung by a local garden center because I know they carry chicken feed and I was low. But I made the mistake of wandering through the plants for a minute. And the further mistake of smelling the herby leaves of a bee balm. That did it. 😂 I managed to escape with only the bee balm and this Yarrow plant. Used one of my new shovels to plant them. Only trouble is now that I've worked on my perennial bed, I can see that it needs attention... and more plants. 😝

Lol, if you've ever heard the term "chicken math," you'll laugh at these next couple pictures. So I've got 2 Icelandic chicks that Buffy hatched. And 21 Dominique chicks that Speedy and Snow White adopted. But in the other half of the coop, one of my girls has been faithfully staying broody for WEEKS, even though I kept taking away the eggs everyone was laying in her nesting box. I thought about giving her eggs to hatch, but she had parked herself in the most popular box, and broodies don't like to change boxes. I knew chances of her hatching something successfully in a popular nesting box were very low - plus that would mean she'd be sitting another 21 days, which is pretty hard on the bird. So yesterday afternoon I stopped in at the local feed store to see what they had for chicks. I had thought to maybe grab just a couple....but they were on sale for 50 cents apiece...so I ended up with 10. 😂 They're an assortment of breeds, so it'll be really fun to see how they mature. I know I've got a few Buckeyes, a couple Cuckoo Marans, I think a couple Golden Laced Wyandottes. And then I think there was one more breed, but I can't remember what. 😂😂😂 Anyway, after a little finagling, they are bonded now, and Mama is SO proud and protective of her clutch of chicks. ❤️

I hope everyone had a great Monday... and if anyone needs started chickens this fall, you know who will have plenty to spare!! 😂😂😂

Just Goats!

I've had a lot of time off this spring during the slow season at work, which is awesome. One of the bigger projects I've been working on is getting my goat fencing up. I'm determined not to let this crew free range the neighborhood like the previous goats, even though my really nice neighbors apparently greatly enjoyed their visits. 😂

Because the fence isn't finished, though, I've been taking them on little field trips to have some supervised browsing time once a day. They stick pretty close to me, and if they start going in a direction I don't want them to, usually all I have to do is walk in the opposite direction, and they'll stampede after me. 

I thought you might enjoy seeing some pictures and hearing a little bit about their personalities. 

First is Lilah. One of my three Guernsey goat mixes, I think she is probably the "herd queen." Friendly and sweet, she is the most outgoing of the half sisters. In fact, I've been trying to teach her not to put her front hooves up on me when I'm in their pen. :P

Scratching an itch!

Next up is Marigold, Lilah's half sister. I like her feminine expression and rich orange color. She frequently starts a game of zoomies, which is hysterical to watch. I think she's probably somewhere in the middle of the herd hierarchy. She's less outgoing than Lilah, but still sweet.

Oakley is the third Guernsey mix. All three share the same father, but have different mothers. While the other two are registered as first generation British Guernsey crosses, Oakley can't be registered because she's the wrong color. I think she's pretty neat looking, though, and she may actually have the nicest structure of the three. She's a background goat, unobtrusive and quiet, probably very low on the totem pole. 

Starflower is a Nigerian Dwarf goat. They're a small breed known for having extremely rich, creamy milk. I had considered the breed a while back, but decided to go a different route because the market in this area seems to be extremely flooded with Nigerians. But then I tried the milk and just had to have one. 😂 Starflower may be small, but she doesn't let the bigger goats push her around...in fact, she bullies Marigold a little bit. I think they're "frenemies" - I've seen them playing together sometimes too.

The picture below shows the size difference pretty well. My other girls aren't even very large goats, either! 

Daisy is a Nubian. They're known for being loud and talkative, and Daisy is no exception. When she first came, she bleated until she literally lost her voice, poor girl. 😂 Other than being loud, she's another "background" goat with a mild, sweet personality. I think because she joined the herd most recently (last fall), she sometimes hangs out in the periphery of the group. There have been a few times when she almost got left behind, suddenly realized she was alone, and ran to catch up with everyone else. She is the most friendly toward strangers.

I didn't need another goat, but I got her because she was a steal of a deal, was only 10 minutes down the road, and because huge-eared, skinny-legged Nubian kids are just about the cutest thing you've ever seen. :P 

Here are a couple pictures of a little goat stampede. Yesterday's zoomies lasted several minutes, and were, of course, instigated by Marigold.

In theory, I'll be trying to get all 5 girls bred this fall for spring 2024 kids (gestation is 5 months). I'm not totally certain what will happen after that, as 5 goats is already more than I need. As of right now, they're essentially just pets, and hay is expensive. But they are helping to clear and fertilize my land, and I can probably sell their kids next spring. I don't plan on selling milk, as I don't have a good setup to keep it cold...it's possible that I'd get pigs next spring and use any extra milk to supplement their feed.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed "meeting" the girls! Happy Wednesday! :)