Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Goats and/or strawberries..it's a blogclog



The milk is made, the goats are fed, the eggs are collected.  The eggs need washed, the strawberries need picking, and weeds are growing.  The first farmers market is this afternoon.  I had given up on the farmer's market because my daughter was supposed to have an ACL revision at basically the same time.  My day had been planned around that.  Just now the surgery center called to say they were rescheduling her surgery for Friday.  Now I have to change my schedule.  I think I have a tour.  Blah...so many things to blog about, so little time.  What to do?  What to say?

First..the goats.  I have a love/hate relationship with goats.  I have long loved their little faces, their bright little eyes, and their perkiness/querkiness.  I have long hated that they get sick, they have babies at the most inopportune time, and they have no respect for anything but a pristinely well kept electric fence.  Oh yeah... I forgot their feet.  They need trimming...seemingly all the time.

Yes, we have goats.  First we had no name goats, that helped us get control of our multiflora rose infested landscape.  Goats are the animal version of round-up.  Then, we had dairy goats..specifically ...OMG, I can't remember...the all white ones.  They were 4-H projects, and provided us milk for cheese.  Yummy cheese.  Milking became a burden, and now we have Boer meat goats.  We don't eat them..but we grow them so other people can.  They were also 4-H projects.  

This year, the goats were annoying.  Two of the first-time mothers refused to be mothers.  We had to pen them, and help their babies eat and/or bottle feed.  Annoying.  This last one is the most annoying.  She is a querky little goat, gets out all the time, and on top of that refuses adamantly to let her babies eat.  Blah!! Blah!!  HE SAYS.."I wish you would get rid of those D__ goats."

Next..the eggs.  I forgot the egg basket.  We have 6 young hens, 1 fancy old hen and a fancy old rooster.  That means we get six eggs most days.  Our chickens and goats are a 5 min walk from the house.  You need a container to carry to the eggs.  We have been using an old kids Easter basket.  I keep forgetting it.  Now we are slowly collecting barn containers in the house, because I rob something to carry the eggs in..and sigh..I don't take them back.  Barn containers around the house are not cool.  And...the chickens did not keep their eggs clean..they need straw in the pen.  The hen guarding the nest, pecked me.  If she was going to do that, at least she should have kept them clean.

The strawberry patch is ripe for picking.  I was seeing some color, and then after a long stretch of no rain, it rained last night.   I was worrying that we wouldn't get rain, and I am not set up for irrigating the large patch.   That I guess, is next on the Agenda.  

Farmers Market..not sure what I am going to do about that.  Since I didn't think I was going, I am not prepared, but I do have lettuce..and strawberries.  Hmm.  

ACL revision... that's the other thing.  My daughter has like a 5 year history of ACL problems.  Soccer...love..hate.  

The good thing...At least the house is semi-clean.  College daughter...expecting sympathy company during ACL revision demanded it.

7 comments:

  1. Somedays I long to live on a farm with animals, I know that it isn't all fun and games. It is work. The goats are cute, but man do they STINK!!!

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  2. You seem to really know your goats, and I love what you wrote about them, love-hate kind of thing but mostly very passionate!!

    ~ Bangchik

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  3. Wow you are busy! I hope everything goes OK with your daughter. I'd love to see pics of the farmer's market. -Jackie

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  4. Those strawberries look yummy! Mine aren't ripe yet, but I'm checking them every day!

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  5. AWWW! Baby goats are the cutest!

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