Glorious Weather

The weather has been spectacular lately.  I've been cutting some firewood as I have the chance, though I suspect I'll still need to buy a couple more cords if dry wood for this winter.  Here's my current woodcutting set up... I've got some ideas for a more permanent set up, but this works for now.  

Lol, caught Nala mid itch.  :P The wood pile in the foreground is what I've been cutting; it's left over from clearing the land this past spring and summer.  The cinder blocks by Thane are my cutting station... I want to build something completely stable, and try to pick a slightly more central location so I don't have to carry logs back and forth as much.

Here's Thea this morning...if you follow me on Facebook, you know I'm looking for the perfect new home for her, for a variety of reasons.  I'm sad about this, but I believe it's what's best for her and for me.

Anyway, time to go to work now... happy Saturday!!  

The First Goodbye

When I got livestock, I knew this day would come eventually...I didn't expect it so soon, though.  I'm very sad to report that Lotus has died.  

She hadn't really been thriving the whole time she was in my care, despite trying a couple different treatment options, and this past Friday, she really went downhill in a hurry.  The past three days have been a whirlwind consisting of an emergency vet visit and trips to collect supplies to try to nurse her back to health, but it wasn't enough.

I'm sad, but I'm okay.  I'm trusting that God is in control...and there is peace in knowing that He cares about things like this - things that are so small in the grand scheme, but that matter to His children.

Expect the Unexpected

I figured that when I started homesteading, I would encounter plenty of unexpected scenarios.  But I can't say that I ever imagined I would be traipsing through the woods after dark looking for a little lost goat.  

I'm happy to report that after making me think that she was coyote food for a half hour or so, Lotus is now safe and is back in the pen with her buddies!

I will be buying this girl a bell for her collar, and possibly changing her name to Dora, because she keeps getting outside the fence and exploring!!  

Anyway, I'm grateful to God for a happy ending!

Lots of Pictures

I used the big camera today...lol, whenever I go into the chicken pen with that camera, I end up taking a million gazillion photos...so this is going to be a very photo-heavy post.  

First, though, look at this - Dad built me bookshelves...and I got all my books onto them!!  :D  Mind you, they're stacked two deep, and sometimes on top of each other, too, but that's okay...I'm just glad to have them all out of boxes finally.  I also have my kitchen table set up (thanks to Jason and Jess for giving it to me!), even though it has stuff piled on it currently, lol.  The "bathroom" is tucked behind the bookshelves, with a privacy screen for a door.

Here's Nala pacing around the chicken pen.  I need to figure out how to train her not to do that...she does it relentlessly when she's off leash.  Thane is very gentle and sweet with the chickens - he can be in the pen with them off leash - but I have no doubt that the two girls would kill the whole flock in short order if given the opportunity.  Thea actually came really close last week - she slipped past me into the pen and nearly killed Snow White and Houdini!  So I've got my work cut out for me with those two.  

And now the chickens...they're getting bigger.  I'm not sure when they're considered full grown, but it's possible that they'll start laying eggs in the next few weeks, so I would imagine they're probably getting close to their full adult size.  

Frosty:

Houdini...she was limping for a couple days after Thea's attack, but seems okay now:

One of the boys.  A friend offered to let me bring the four boys over to her place, and her husband will show me how to butcher them.  That'll be happening in mid October - Icelandics aren't a super large breed, and so they should be at least 4 months old when butchered; six months is better.

Another rooster.

Mentally preparing himself to crow:

And....there he goes.  Lol, usually when one crows, it sets the others off, and they go back and forth for a few minutes.  :P 

Here are the gorgeous colors on my new rooster.  He seems to be settling in pretty well, though I haven't specifically noticed him crowing yet.

Frosty again:

And Little Miss Floofle.  :)  She's still floofly, lol, and almost seems to have a slightly different body shape/posture than the other birds.  She also is pretty small, and still peeps like a little chick.  But she seems healthy and happy!  

Pumping water for the dogs...a friend suggested putting a small greenhouse over the pump for the winter to keep it from freezing...I love the idea!!

Thane listening to something.  He tried VERY hard to become a daddy with Nala last week, LOL!!  I am 99% sure that I kept that from happening, but we'll know for sure in about 2 months.  ;P

Lotus browsing on top of the hill in the goat pasture.  The goats heartily approve of the current location of the fence, surrounding this hummock:

Here you can see the whole hill:

Goat vignettes:

Happy Thursday!!!

Updates

So Thea is still with me... I still have her advertised, but I will be talking to a trainer to see if we can achieve harmony on this little homestead.  I don't know if it will work or not, but it's certainly worth a try.  Right now, I tether Nala and Thea away from each other.  Thane could be loose, except that Nala is in heat, and he is not allowed to make puppies with her, as much as he would like to do that, LOL, so he is in a pen when we're outside, and crated when we're inside.

So, lol, I basically spend most of my spare time these days juggling dogs!  :P  I did walk the two girls together for a few minutes this morning, and they did fine...it seems to be just certain circumstances that set them off.

Here's Thea being adorable.  

In other news, Dad and Timothy installed the stove pipe for my chimney this past Saturday - hooray!!  

They also built me steps going off the side of my deck, and installed posts where my solar panels will go.

So we're making progress. I'm off now to decide if I want to try to move the goat fence again to give them some fresh pasture. 

Happy Monday!!  :) 

A Slightly Rocky Patch

So Thea and Nala don't get along.  I'm honestly not too surprised... my family and I have said for a long time that we believe Thea would do best going to a new home where she could be the only dog and not have to share anything, as sharing really isn't her forte, lol.  I actually started advertising Thea on various pages and sites a few weeks before Nala was due to arrive, but there hasn't been a ton of interest.  She's going to visit one potential new home tomorrow night, though.

I actually thought the girls were doing okay for the first few days, but then Saturday night and Sunday morning, they fought.  I'm sure it doesn't help that Nala came to me in heat, so there are extra hormones involved, but I would be very surprised if they were peaceful even after the heat ends.  I've been praying for wisdom and clarity, and I would appreciate it if my friends who know Christ would do the same... this is not an easy decision.

Anyway, some other updates... I finally caved and bought a propane camping stove the other day, after spending a good chunk of time trying to cook breakfast over a campfire in the rain, lol.  It works awesome!  :D

Another dog update...as I said, Nala came to me in heat.  I went back and forth a million times about whether to breed her now, but finally decided to wait for her next heat.  So I'm looking forward to the first litter of Scottish Collies at Butterscotch Farm late next summer.  ♥️

The chickens and goats are doing well.  I'll probably process my extra roosters sometime in the next few weeks...THAT will be quite the learning curve!  😳

(This one is Rusty...he has a drinking problem, LOL!!  I'm not kidding... I think he probably drinks three times as much water as anyone else... he's obsessed!!!)

I moved the goat fence last week, as they had pretty much grazed their pasture as much as they were going to.  Lol, that was entertaining!  I need to work on my technique... I ended up with a ridiculous tangle of wire - so tangled that I ended up cutting it and just splicing it back together!  It was kind of pointless, too, as I didn't gain much pasture, and they had that stripped within just a couple days.  I want to move it again soon, and this time I want to encompass the little grassy hill in their field - that ought to keep them busy for a while!  

Now I need to figure out what needs to be done before winter.  I probably need more firewood, and I need to hook the woodstove up, lol.  I also need to decide if the goat shed is staying where it is, and if so, I will need to button that up a little more, and come up with some way to store hay - I've just been buying a bale or two as needed, but I'll want to stock up for the winter, as the goats will eat a lot more in order to stay warm.

The dome itself is coming along... once Dad builds me a couple bookshelves, and once I pick up a table and chairs from a friend, I think I'll be pretty much done as far as furniture.  Oh, and I could use some sort of tall, very skinny pantry cupboard.  But I got some more organizing done the other day, and it's very satisfying to see things coming together.  :)

Anyway, I guess I will end this lengthy post, lol, and go pump some water for my goats!  :P 

Happy Thursday!!!