Guard Dog Toby

This is Toby, our ground-patrol corgi.  Generally he spends his time guarding our goat herd, watching out for my daughter, and providing general guard duties.

Occasionally, though, he has to think outside the box.  Especially when there are intruders.  Like the groundhog who decided to try to make a new home on our property.  Toby did not like that idea one bit, so he chased the groundhog off, as he does with any intruder.  Apparently the groundhog felt so threatened that he ran to the nearest safe place - a tree.

Toby felt so happy with his success that he spent the rest of his day making sure the groundhog stayed in that tree. By the time the groundhog was allowed to come out of the tree, he must have learned his lesson, because we haven't seen him since.

Spring!

It seems like Spring has finally made a commitment to stay.  Which means several things here at the farm: mud season, spring cleaning, and shearing.  I never knew the meaning of "mud room" until living here, and am already plotting for how to expand ours.  Either that or how to make our kitchen look like an exact replica of the many shades of mud/leaves/sticks and other things that seem to be tracked inside every single day.  Seriously, having a brown pergo floor does nothing; it needs to have nuances of outdoors.  Even with daily cleaning, I will not see my actual floor again until the dry summer.

So I focus my energies on cleaning other things, like the barn.  Spring is when we do one of our major semi-annual barn cleaning events.  It's warn enough to stick the animals outside for a day while we overhaul and do general inventory. 

Spring is also shearing time for the angora goats.  The other goats always find it interesting and want to know what's going on, seeing the angora goats as strangers without their long coats.

Sassafrass was the first one done.  As usual, she was best behaved of the group for her haircut.  She did not take kindly to having her picture taken though, high-tailing it for the barn before I could get a good picture.

Basil, our buck, wasn't far behind.  He was the last one shaved and apparently figured out what was going on.  He jumped the fence and made a break for the pasture so that he wouldn't have to be shaved.  Unfortunately his head was no match for his stomach, and we were able to get him back with a bowl of grain very quickly.  But he wasn't sticking around after his trim either.  Or maybe he thought there would be more grain in the barn, since Sassafrass went in there so quickly?

Leah decided to let me know what she thought about the whole thing:

As much as they do not seem to appreciate having been shaved right now, I bet they will appreciate their hair cuts once the weather really warms up!

 



Mystery of the Missing Goats

Now that we've had a few warm days, mud season is here.  The almost two feet of snow is nearly gone, but has left lots and lots of mud behind.  Our younger corgi is reveling in the squishy squashy feeling between his toes, while the other one minces around like a girl trying not to get his pretty little paws dirty.  Very entertaining to watch the two of them out together.

Since the weather is no longer in the negative digits, we've started to let the goats out of the barn.  One day last week after I returned home from work, when I did my usual check on the goats I noticed that it was very quiet.  Too quiet.  No goats in the pasture.  No goats in the pen.

The dogs and I wandered around the side of the barn.  Still no goats.  We looked in the woods.  No goats.  Usually, if they get out they do not go too far.  Being the stomachs-on-legs that they are, as soon as they find a good meal, that's usually where they stop.

Feeling rather concerned, I finally went into the barn to check on the other herd, just to make sure nothing had happened to them.  And that's when I found the missing goats.  Apparently, they had gone out of their pen, into their pasture, through their gate into the other pasture (of course they found a hole in the fence the first day they were out), and then back into the barn on the other side.  Why they chose to go back inside on such a nice day is beyond me.  I am also not sure how they managed to open the barn doors (but I suspect that a certain husband did not lock the doors properly the night before).

Happily all goats are fine, although confined to quarters until we get the fence mended.

Goat Kids!

Well, all our does have finished kidding for the winter.  We started in December, right before Christmas.

Here is the first doe kid of the season.  She is the only all-brown one that we've had survive, and so is already being spoiled by my husband and daughter. We could not decide on a name for her, so she got three: Cocoa cinnamon bon bon. Sounds pretty snooty and high-bred, right?

 

A day later, Muesli, a buck kid was born. Since he's a buck and therefore won't be staying permanently, no one cared what I named him.

After that, we had a break until late January, when Squeaker was born. She got her name because she doesn't make normal goat kid "maaa" sounds. Instead, she sounds like a squeaky toy. Since she's otherwise healthy, we aren't too concerned. Plus, you always know when she's talking.

After Squeaker was born, I was lamenting not seeing any of the goat kids actually coming out. Well, Snowflake decided that she would wait for me.  One day in February, when we had been without power for 24 hours due to an ice storm (and would continue to be without power for another 3 days), I went out to check the goats. It was dark in the barn, even with the flashlight, but I thought I saw a baby. I did.


















As my husband and I went about doing our goat feeding and watering, about an hour later another one came out. So we stood and watched the two for awhile, making sure everything was ok, since Snowflake is a first-time mother.

Well, after about another hour, she had a third kid!

We ended up bringing the third kid inside as a bottle baby, since his mother didn't have enough milk for all three of them.

He enjoys romping in the kitchen with the corgis, and getting into trouble as well. He is well on his way to being spoiled.

Our final kid was born just before Valentine's Day: our first angora kid! Unfortunately, her mother wants nothing to do with feeding her.  So she has also become a bottle baby.  Happily, all kids are doing well and are super cute!

 

 

 

 





Draft Blocking Door Snake Tutorial

With the cold weather hitting, my husband asked for a draft-blocker for some of our doors.  I decided to make them interesting to look at, since they will be in front of our doors for months.

For the tutorial, click here.

Homemade Christmas Presents 2013

Every year I try to make some of our Christmas presents.  It started as a way to try to reduce my fabric stash.  Two years ago everyone got market bags.  Last year I made lap quilts.  This year I made various items.  Unfortunately, my fabric stash does not appear to be shrinking.

My daughter and I attempted to make felted soap for everyone.  They ended up being more like tribble soaps.  Still cool though, right?

 



Per request, an apron for my sister.

A fleece hat for my sister.

I realize this picture is blurry, but I was unable to get a better one.  Apparently my sister was moving too fast while sitting still.

















This is a car organizer, meant to tie on to the back of a car seat.

 

Matching pjs (for my stepfather) and a coat for his dog.  Belle (the dog) looks so thrilled.

 

 

 
A small purse.



















A dress for my daughter's doll.  This matches her Christmas dress, which she is obviously not wearing.

Flannel-lined Pants Tutorial

Since the winter weather has hit, I have been looking for flannel-lined pants to keep me warm since I spend a lot of time outside.  Unfortunately, I am not willing to pay the money ($50+) for a pair of pants that are only going to get dirty during farm work and day work.  So, I made my own.

You can take a look at my tutorial here:

Flannel-lined Pants Tutorial

Note: You will need some sewing experience to make these.