I Think I Need a Pack Mule!!

The current plan is to use cinder blocks as a foundation for the dome....and it occurred to Dad and me the other day that it might be easier to transport them while there's still snow, since the ground is quite uneven and a cart or wheelbarrow might not make it, whereas a sled can slide over the packed snowshoe trail.  

So today I got started on the Great Cinder Block Migration of 2019.

First, I installed steps in the 4-foot-high snowbank along the road, because we've discovered that getting up and over that bank in snowshoes is a rather ticklish business:

Then I loaded up a few blocks in the epic sled that I bought the other day.  I was disappointed to discover that I can't put 4 blocks flat in the bottom, but it worked okay to have them at an angle.

In case you're curious, each cinder block evidently weighs between 30-35 pounds (I Googled it).  By the second trip to the dome site, which is about 400 feet back from the road, I was thinking that a pack Mule might be a nice addition to Butterscotch Farm...

There were a few oopsies along the way...

...but by the end, I had a nice little pile of 13 cinder blocks near the dome site.  (I wonder how many cinder blocks I'll need to support a 20 foot dome??)  Next time we get a pallet at work, I'll bring one over and pile the cinder blocks on that instead, so they don't get lost in the snow. 

Below is the dome site that I'm leaning toward - kind of tucked up against the trees to the right.  It should stay fairly shady there - important, since I probably won't have air-conditioning.  The gray water guy is coming tomorrow and should be able to tell me whether the soil is suitable in this location.

The pooches are greatly enjoying all the extra outings these days.  :) 

Happy Monday!!!

Trail Cam Success

I checked the trail cam today...Dad, Timothy and I had put it in a new spot last week.  Looks like we picked a much better spot this time - check out what it captured!!  

(Note that I still haven't got the time stamp right...I fixed it, all except for the year, lol.)

In the photo below, you can see the glowing eyes and faint shape of the coyote behind the tree to the right.

And two videos:

https://youtu.be/i_enSHsLkEQ

https://youtu.be/eqfz8Mln5Nw

I thought that was pretty neat...and maybe a tiny bit spooky, lol!!  :P 

Trail Cam

My brother Timothy got me a trail camera for Christmas, and Dad and I put it out on my property not too long after that.  I just checked it for the second time today, and nothing profound has happened yet...I may have seen one corner of a bunny one time, lol.  We moved it to a different spot today to see if we get better results.  I seem to recall seeing TONS of tracks last year, but there have been hardly any this year.  Not sure what that means.  

These were the most amusing couple of photos from the SD card - you can see a huge difference in the level of snow in the two shots because we had a big snowstorm.  (Note that the time stamp is incorrect.)

Lol, also not sure what's up with the temperature in the second image...

Dad, Timothy and I also started trampling down a path so that I can have the wastewater guy come out sometime in the next couple of weeks and put together a gray water plan for me.  

We walked through the area where I'll probably be putting the dome (and house, eventually), and I thought this was funny too...remember the natural fence that I started last summer?  Here's what it looked like then:

And here's what it looks like now (albeit from the opposite angle): 

Can we say "underwhelming?"  

I think I have my work cut out for me!!  :P

Anyway....happy Monday, everyone!!!

Gearing Up

I'm still hoping to move into the dome sometime this spring.  I spoke with a company today that can help install a gray water system, and it sounds like the expense isn't going to be as bad as I necessarily thought, though I really had very little idea of what to expect.  

So that was encouraging.  :) 

I also visited the local thrift store and bought some dinnerware, a few utensils, and a really nifty strainer...I'm gradually collecting all the stuff that I'll need for the big move, and packing away most of my decorative stuff to save for when I have a real house in a few years.

The dogs and I played Frisbee for a few minutes this afternoon.  I felt bad for them because the snow is so deep that it was really tough for them to run, but they didn't seem to mind too much.  Here's my favorite picture of the two crazies:

Lol, Thane is such a goof...he lets Thea do the hard work of chasing and catching the Frisbee, then pounces on her when she's on the way back to me, and tries to wrestle the Frisbee from her.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a delightful Tuesday!  :)  

Land Layout Idea #1

I spent an hour or so today drawing out an idea for how I'll lay out the 4 acres I'll be starting with.  I'm sure this will change many times over the next few years, but you gotta start somewhere!

Here's the Google maps image of my land below.  The blue line marks the approximate boundaries of the acreage that I own.  The red lines show the 4 acres I'm taking out of timber tax to build on and (eventually) (with LOTS of super hard work) turn into pastures for a small homestead-type farm.

The picture below is one possibility for laying out the 4 acre chunk.  (If you can't see it very well, I did zoom in a bit in the next couple of photos.)

Zoomed in a little more.  I'll leave trees between me and the neighbor for privacy, as well as between the road and my pastures.  I want to put up a nice, tall fence around this whole section as well, both for privacy, and to help contain dogs and livestock.

And zoomed in even more.  The reason the pastures are all chopped up into small pieces is that I want to employ rotational grazing.  I need to do more research on how that works, though, to see if my pasture layout is a good one.  I know many people use movable electric fence rather than permanent fences.  

I haven't fully settled on where I'll put the dome, but it makes sense to put it near where I want the house, so that if I get a well, septic, and a solar system before I build the house, I can tie the dome into those systems.  And I definitely want the house in the top corner, so as to have maximum privacy from neighbors.  So far I only have neighbors on one side, but I don't know if whoever owns the lot on the other side will be building eventually.  

So we shall see.  This will definitely be a VERY long-term project!  :P  

Ideas for Using Fleece

I still haven't done anything with all that fleece I bought a super long time ago.  I have a spinning wheel, but the more I think about it, the more I'm beginning to suspect that I might not have the right level of patience to learn to spin yarn, much less do any knitting or crocheting with it.  Maybe someday, but probably not any time soon.  :P  

I spotted this little toy at an antique store a few months ago, and that inspired me to think outside the box and come up with some different things to make from my epic fleece collection.  

So today, I asked the members of a Facebook group that I follow for ideas on different things one can do with fleece, and here are some of the answers:

1. Felt it (you can put a layer of felt on a bar of soap, or you can create felted objects like purses, ornaments, hats, slippers, dryer balls, scarves, toy animals...)

2. Sell it as is, or washed and carded into batts

3. Make an ugly Christmas sweater - LOL!

4. Use it to insulate water buckets for livestock (place the fleece into a large bucket, then place a smaller bucket full of warm water inside the first bucket, nestled in the fleece)

5. Use it to insulate bee hives

6. Add small balls of it to potting soil to help retain moisture

7. Use it as insulation inside the walls of a building (barn, chicken coop...even a house, though it would definitely need to be washed first)

8. Use it as garden mulch

9. Use it to make a super warm quilt

10. Use it to keep slugs from getting into your garden (apparently they don't like to crawl across it)

11. Use it to stuff dog beds

So that gives me some cool ideas to work with.  I like how many options I have...makes me excited to own sheep someday.  :D  

And one nice thing - if all else fails, I can just compost the fleeces.  

Farm Visit: Shadow Hill Farm

I visited Shadow Hill Farm in New Gloucester, Maine today.  If you click on the name of their farm, it will take you to their website, where they have hand-crafted fleece items for sale, including products that utilize the fiber from the Alpacas that they raise on their farm.  They also have a Facebook page.

The main purpose of my visit was to meet their Scottish Collie, Hunter, to see if he wanted to be Thea's extra-special friend for the day, if you get my drift.  He was game, but alas, Thea did not return his affection, so we decided to wait.  I'm okay with that...she's still young, and while I have no doubt that she's plenty sturdy and healthy enough to carry a litter, there's nothing wrong with letting her mature a bit more either.  One of the main reasons I was trying now is that I can take time off work in the spring to watch puppies, while I can't in the fall.

I was glad to meet Hunter, though.  He's a handsome guy...very happy-go-lucky and friendly, with the laid-back attitude, athletic build, and moderate coat that I really love in an old-fashioned Collie.  I do hope and plan to use him as a stud in the future.

I spent quite a while chatting with Hunter's owner, Bob, about Collies, sheep, donkeys, Livestock Guardian Dogs...and the list goes on, lol.  He was very knowledgeable and had some pointers for my future livestock.  

Here are a few shots from around the farm.

Guinea fowl...from what I've heard, they're really loud and annoying, but may help keep the tick population down (still researching that claim) and also are one of the only things that will eat Japanese beetles.  And they have really nifty patterns on their feathers...

Two of Shadow Hill's donkeys.  These two are Jennies - females.

The sheep on the right is a CVM Romeldale, a rare breed in the US, renowned for its fiber.  If I recall correctly, the black one might be an Icelandic or an Icelandic mix.  Bob told me that Icelandic meat is often sweeter than that of other breeds, so the age of the animal being butchered doesn't matter as much.

...Hmm...I get the impression these two are smirking at me....

The little guy below was ADORABLE - for whatever reason, he's about half the size of his buddies.  I think he's an Icelandic too.  And in case anyone is curious...horns on sheep and goats are a hugely divisive issue - some people disbud their livestock; others leave the horns on.  I think I might be in the latter camp, if only because I think horns look neat.  (Though some animals are naturally polled - hornless.)

Another CVM...she's an older girl.

Here are these two jokesters again...now they really look like they're laughing!  :P  

Below is the farm's Livestock Guardian Dog, Opal.  She lives with the livestock and protects them from predators.  She's a Great Pyrenees x Anatolian Shepherd cross, and is 90 pounds of love toward people.  It would be a different story if you tried to take an unfamiliar dog in her pen, though!  She might look like a teddy bear, but the LGD breeds are hard-wired with hundreds of years of genetics to bond to their animals and guard them.

And a few peaceful scenes:

Happy Monday...and Happy New Year!