Still Waiting
I am still waiting for the turkeys to hatch. I don’t know when that is going to happen. Every morning I go check and the two hens just sit there blinking at me.
We have had yucky weather this week again. Wednesday we woke up to 3 inches of snow, which didn’t melt all the way till Thursday late afternoon! Today we were having some snow showers in the afternoon, but it didn’t stick, thank Heavens! Things are slowly growing and turning green.
There is going to be quite a tulip show by the fiber shed if it ever warms up so they can bloom. The bulbs I planted last fall by the battery room are slowly growing. The flowers are pretty small this year. Hope next year they are bigger!
I’ve been making progress on cleaning out the main goat pen. There are some pretty big piles forming in there. I’m making windrows of all the goo, then I will go back in there with the ATV and trailer and start picking it all up and taking it to the compost pile. This fall there will be literally tons of great compost! There are probably at least three big dump truck loads just in the main pen, with about 2 loads in the other pens.
I’m doing all of this by hand. I decided not to rent a tractor after all. I’m paranoid about tipping over, and it’s so wet, the tractor would probably just bog down and get stuck, so I’m shoveling it pitch fork by pitch fork. It will get me in shape for hauling hay later on this summer.
I’m almost done with the afghan for Susan now. Three more rows and it will be done. I think it’s looking pretty darn good. Hope she likes it!
I’m starting to spin cashmere again. I’m almost out of last years’ harvest, so I’m going to have to start washing and preparing this years’ fleeces. I’m about to hatch a new thing here, so I’m getting rather excited about it. I can’t say any more till it’s a done deal, but watch for an announcement pretty soon!
The 18 kids are doing great. Little Carmel, Lucy’s kid, is really becoming my little buddy. She comes up to me and jumps in my lap every time I go out there. So does Lucky. They and their moms are both for sale. I might have a hard time giving them up! They are too cute and friendly. Both of them look like they are going to have nice fiber, too. Oh well, I can’t keep everyone. Now I finally have enough does that I can start to sell some breeding stock, so these two are the first to go. Bridget and Lucy and kids will make someone a really nice little starter herd. They are easy to handle, have good fiber, and the kids are cute! ☺
Tomorrow I am going to the Farmers’ Market for the first time this season. The weather should be decent, if a little cold. So I’m going to wear layers, and stay warm. Hope a lot of customers come! I broke down and ordered some egg cartons tonight, so next week, or whenever they come, I can sell eggs at the market again. A new rule this year says you can’t sell eggs to the public in used cartons. Even though the cartons I use aren’t dirty, look brand new, and have only been used once, they aren’t acceptable. What a waste!! Now I have around a hundred cartons that I can’t use. The government is really getting out of control on things. Treating people like a flock of sheep that can’t make decisions for themselves. We should be able to decide on our own if we want to buy eggs in a gently used container. But no, there might be a germ in there! Even though we don’t eat the shell, the egg is cooked and doesn’t even touch the carton, it doesn’t matter. Silly people on a power trip is what it is. Oh well. That is all going to change in the next few years. Government as we know it will cease to exist. A new and better one is coming.
Now that I’ve ranted about that, I feel better. ☺ Hope tomorrow goes well, the weather stays nice till after the market, and lots of people come through.
I’ve been kind of a mentor to a newbie to the goat world lately. I wish I would’ve had someone like me when I was first starting. The first kidding season would have been so much easier! I’m glad I can help someone. It is a good thing to do. She has two done and one to go. Two boys so far. In the dairy world, girls are better. ☺ More useful, anyway. In the cashmere world, wethers are just as good as the does. They have good fiber and don’t go through the hormonal changes that the does do.
Well, that’s it for now. More later………
