A new bread!!

I'm trying out a new bread procedure that Jenny and I thought sounded interesting. You mix up a batch of dough. The bread in this picture contains a mixture of whole wheat and all purpose flour, salt, yeast and water. After mixing you let it rise in the container for about 2 hours then pop it in the fridge. The next day you cut off a chunk, shape it let it rise for about 90 minutes then pop it in the oven and in 30 minutes you have a wonderful dinner bread. The remainder of the dough is in the fridge waiting for the next day. As it ages it gets a sourdough taste to it. The last dough of the batch was actually the best but they were all good. It's all in the book ArtisanBread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoe Francois. It's yummy and quick. I still make my other bread because I can make that 6 loaves at a time and freeze it, but this is nice for a hot dinner bread.

Looking good!!!!

My talented husband has started trimming out the windows. He's very handy I must say. The bottom of the old plaster wall had too many holes and such to patch so we thought we'd put up the bead board. I think it looks good!!!! I love the windows. This house has a lot of windows. I like the light so I'm glad. He's finished two and only has 16 left :-)

Check out that barn!!!

We finally managed to get some paint on the barn. We ran across a deal at the store so we bought a couple gallons and managed to get it on the same day. I think it looks much better. Before it stuck out like a sore thumb, now it has a calmer look. I think the goats like it too. Wyatt managed to rub up against it before it dried so we had to towel him off. He didn't like that too much. Do you suppose it's a little strange the barn gets painted before the house??

Lost my Head!!!

Ahh, well this whole transition thing kinda set me back as far as my "healthy" eating is concerned. I don't understand how people with a hectic schedule can eat anything but quick and easy which is not always healthy. Being on the road all the time you stop here and stop there and before you know it you're bulging everywhere just like the picture of my unfinished scarecrow. I wasn't even able to bake my bread for a long time and Vince let me know the store bought stuff just wasn't the same. He says it doesn't hold him as long.

So I finally got back to baking the bread, cooking my beans, and yesterday I bought a rice cooker because we eat so much rice. I'm cooking the beans (dried) in my crock pot which is amazing. Although we stumbled for awhile we are back on track now. Although I must say moving to Henderson is making it more difficult. Can you believe Wal-Mart can have two full aisles of candy and not one container of vegetable broth!!! I had to make my own. There are a few other things I have a hard time finding but I'm sure we will adjust and just make those monthly runs to Whole Foods.

Even my tomato loving dog is eating healthy thanks to the garden. First it was a race to see who could pick the tomatoes first then came radishes and now today I caught her actually picking a collard leaf and devouring it. Either she's not getting enough food (she's fed 3 times a day) or she just loves her veggies. I actually had a lady get upset with me because I don't feed them a meat based diet and I know they are carnivores but all the meat based foods irritate her allergies really bad. I do however buy canned meat only dog foods and try to give them some on a fairly regular basis. I'd love to find a local source for fresh meat bones maybe I can talk to one of the local butchers about saving us some.

Most spoiled dogs EVER!!!!

Dog beds seem to be everywhere in the house and they keep moving. One minute it's behind the sofa then beside the chair. We couldn't find a place where they seemed out of the way. Then when our grand dog visits another one is added and of course they all want that one since it's different. We had a little nook that use to be a kind of desk area but we took the counter top out and hadn't really decided what to do with it yet. Ah ha! It was just the right size for both of the dog beds side by side. Vince built them a little platform (to make them feel like they are getting on the furniture I suppose) and made it high enough so Broch's bed can slide under it for when he's not here. Kinda like a doggie trundle bed. They love it. Sometime they sleep together and sometime they sleep apart. They like their pillows too. Rory really gets comfy about 2 in the afternoon. Now if I could just manage to find something that would smell "fresh" like the spring air instead of like dog funk it would all be just perfect.

BBBRRRRR!

Well it's here, cold weather. Are you ready?? We are, well, kind of. Actually the heating system for the "old" house we are working on is not installed yet but we did manage to get a gas space heater that is a wonderful thing. The dogs and I snuggle up to it all the time. I have to watch Annie though she'll stand in front of it till we smell hair burning. Crazy dog!!!! We are making a lot of progress though. Here's a pic of the old kitchen and the new kitchen. I'm still trying to figure out where the "simplicity" comes in though. It seems like everything we tackled gets difficult and complicated. You can't do one thing till you do another and to do one thing you need this gadget or that and then you need another. Fortunately Vince is really good at improvising. Like to drag the pasture rather than buy a 200.00 drag he took a piece of old cattle panel and cut some of the wire and bent it down then ties logs on top for weight and it worked perfectly. Well I'm going to let the goats out to enjoy the pasture. Ha, we let them out and they won't go but a few feet from the barn. Then if an acorn falls in the woods they all scamper back. They are a hoot to watch.

Surprise!!!!

Yesterday was my daughter's birthday. It is usually very difficult to surprise her in anyway because she just knows me too well. But we got her good this time. I called her hubby a couple weeks ago and asked him if they had any special plans for lunch on her birthday. Well they didn't so I asked him to keep that free and we would drive up (1 1/2 hour drive) and have lunch with them. Poor guy, he's not the real deceptive kind and I guess she wanted to know if they were doing anything and he told her he had special plans but he wasn't going to tell her.

So we took grandma with us and drove up and sat in the driveway next to their house till they got home from church. Turns out her hubby was driving her all over the neighborhood killing time to make sure we were there already. We knew for sure she'd see us sitting in the car but she didn't. They drive up and get out and she's just leisurely walking toward the house while hubby is trying to get her to turn around but she wouldn't. We drove up next to her and said, "Would you like to go to lunch?" She was definitely surprised and pleased.

I just love surprises. Thanks mucho to my wonderful son-in-law. Not only did he keep the secret but he got up that morning and made the house nice and tidy for her cause he knows she like to have it nice when people come. She thought he was just being his usual thoughtful self. Isn't that wonderful???!!!! We are so blessed!!

Making a scarecrow!

I just had a wonderful visit with my daughter. Her hubby went to Washington for the weekend so she visited with us. I just love her visits. We decided to make a scarecrow for the garden, not really to keep the birds out. We just did it for fun. So while we're making the scarecrow we decided to let Zelda and Basil out. Not so sure that was very productive but it was fun. Zelda jumped right up on the hay to "help" us. Basil (aka BaBa) just walked around looking for cookies. She's always looking for cookies. The scarecrow is still in progress. She'll be hanging around in the garden a little later. It was a blast of a weekend. Jenny got a real kick out of Wyatt singing love songs to Zelda. We hope to let them get together around November. Right now Zelda just beats him up all the time. He continues to sing. Poor guy.

Save a duck day!!!!

After all the issues with the ducks, it breaks my heart to see Mama duck go from 11 babies down to 6. I count them every day to see how she's doing. Two days ago I counted 6 then today I headed out to feed them and I counted 7. I counted again and sure enough there were 7. Vince had been working in the pasture filling holes that old posts have left (definite leg breakers), and as he was about to put dirt in a hole he heard peeping. He looked in and there was a little fuzz ball. He pulled the baby out and took her down to the pond where mama was with the others. Well mama heard the baby and came straight for "Vince." Yep, he sat the baby down and backed up and mama went around baby and headed for him but he managed to back away far enough she stopped. I'm thinking baby was pretty happy to see mama and mama was definitely happy to see baby. So now she's back up to seven. As annoying as they are they are still God's creation and I get a lot of joy from watching them. So I'm really glad he was able to save the duck :-)

Good bye Daisy Mae, we will miss you!!!

I think it's so sad that animals live such short lives. But then I guess they'd get old and crabby like us, oh wait Daisy did get old and crabby. Although I must say she handled it very well. The most she did was YOWL at me constantly and that was because she wanted me to sit and rub her face. She was 19 years old and was the best hunter ever!!!! She would bring home her catch minus the head, don't know what she did with that. She even spent a year missing and returned as gorgeous as ever. She had a pretty cushy life all in all. She will be missed but the litter box will not be missed. She was a good kitty.

Fences and gates and gates and fences . . .

Goodness!!!! We have to put up a fence to keep the dogs in and other dogs out, a fence to keep the goats in and coyotes out. We need a fence for the chickens, we now need a fence for the whole pasture!!!!! Of course with all these fences comes gates, walk through gates, drive through gates. Gates that are all different sizes and colors. Where does it end??? What happened to the chickens happily pecking across the yard and the goats grazing in the open field??? Oh that's right, that was only in the Disney movies. When you think of all the things that can get in and get at the little critters you love you just can't leave them out there unprotected. So here we go, get your boots on honey and grab your gloves. Ahhh at least we have the tractor to help dig some holes. So far we've managed to dig 140 holes and put in 140 poles, stretch 4 rolls of fencing. Ugh, I'm tired. The last couple dozen are really giving us a hard time, or I should say giving Vince a hard time. There's solid rock under these. The neighbors started stopping by welcoming us to the neighborhood. I guess seeing the pasture fencing going up they realized we're here to stay for awhile. Either that or they want a close up look at those "crazy goat farmers." Hehehehe!!!!

Baby duck sighting!!

I went out to feed the ducks, all of which were sitting over by and on top of their new house. As I opened the cooler I looked left and there sat mama with all her new babies. I couldn't get close enough to count them. I am not sure if she's letting them swim yet, they seemed to be just sitting and looking at the water. The other guys swam over but didn't get too close either and one stayed on his new house which they all obviously like.

From duck "trap" to duck house

Since we decided to keep some of the ducks I was concerned that they didn't have any place to get in out of the weather. They use to stay in the barn but we came in and took that over so.... My sweet man "provider" that he is provided the duckies with a nice new house. There is even a divided nesting area in the back. You see ducks do not like to nest near each other. I think this one will be sufficient for awhile, not sure what will happen when mama hatches out the ones she's laying on. We set up coolers with feed and scratch in them for feeding. It only took one time and they are hanging out morning and evening by the coolers. I got up early this morning and looked over and said ha! I got out before the ducks then I saw streams of water in the pond they were headed over to the coolers. I'd say they are pretty happy campers. So am I. Now we can have our bug and mosquito eaters and all live happily together. And hey if they lay eggs in those nests I'm sure Vince will be happy to eat them.

Ah HA!!!!!

It wasn't enough that the ducks were eating all the tomatoes now I see Rory has joined them. She started out picking out the nice pretty cherry tomatoes only the red ones. Now I see she's decided to eat green tomatoes and any size. Maybe she watched the ducks and thought she'd give them a try. Usually she eats them on the spot but occasionally we'll see her slinking off to the deck with one in her mouth to eat in private. Crazy dog!!!!

Speaking of ducks, well some of them had to go. We caught as many as we could and gave them to a nice man with a nice big pond. We found a way to make peace with the rest of them . . . feed them. Yes I said feed them. We thought if we take food out to the pond where they hang out they would stay away from the chicken feeder. So far it's working pretty well. This morning they were all standing by the edge of the pond waiting for breakfast. After they eat they swim and preen themselves all morning.
Hey did you know that mama duck controls how long the babies stay in the water. Left to themselves they would stay in way too long, get soaked, chilled and die. Mama knows when they've had enough and makes them get out. Isn't that cool!!!
And by the way we have a mama sitting on 11 eggs right now. Eleven more ducks!!!! What are we going to do with all these ducks?????

Annie finally gets to swim

Since the pasture isn't fenced and it is next to a road we haven't let the dogs run outside the yard. Today I decided to give them a bath so Rory was first and she really should be bald at this point but it just keeps on coming. We have a "share the hair" thing in this house. She's dry and I made her stay in the house cause she tends to lose focus when we're out. Annie on the other hand is extremely focused and all you have to do it have her ball and she's completely yours. We walked her out towards the pond which is only yards from the house and as we got closer she kept looking at it (ball in her mouth) as if she was thinking "cool, the pond fairy must have come last night." Actually, it was almost as though she didn't really believe it was there. Of course she was her usual obedient self and stayed with us until Vince threw her ball in the water then she swam and did something out of the ordinary, she passed up her ball twice. She just kept swimming in a big circle as though it felt sooooo good. We threw the ball in a few more time and then . . . the ducks came. All thirteen that are left came swimming around the bend as though they wanted to play too. Pretty sure they were just looking for a handout. Annie swam past them but kept looking at them. We're not sure if she wanted to eat them or just hang out but we thought it was better to bring her in. She came nicely and walked home to a nice cold shower. She is resting peacefully now dreaming of her ball and the pond. Rory is pouting I think she knows Annie went somewhere and she didn't get to go. Now the trick will be to keep Annie out of the pond!!!

Making the neighbors happy!!

Papa is making friends with the neighbors by cutting the tall grass in the pasture. He's having a blast doing it. He also thinks the tractor was made to run on the NASCAR track. Meanwhile I'm just having a blast with the goats. We gave the girls their last shots this morning and since I introduced them to black oil sunflower seed they don't even notice the shot. Of course Basil is still looking for a cookie. She loves cookies. Oh yea and those cute little ducks are still being very annoying. They trash the cats food and water constantly. I have to keep an eye out and scare them off when they come around. I hate it cause they are good to have around. Maybe we can figure something out eventually.

Honey, we got us a tractor!!!!

It's here. Last week we went to visit an old friend that had a tractor for sale. We bought it and on the way home we tried to figure out how to get it home (it was about and hour drive.) Well we called another friend that has a roll back wrecker and he gladly went to pick it up. They just arrived and here's the pics of our new David Brown Case 1212 Selectematic. Quite the tractor. I believe my grandpa had one just like it or at least very similar. Now I just have to get Vince to understand "safety" when using a tractor, something none of my uncles or cousins ever practiced on the farm.

As for the goats, today we gave Zelda and Basil their antibiotic shots. Oh if only they knew how hard that was on "us." I managed to provide a pretty good distraction though. I mixed up milk replacer and put it in a baby bottle, dipped the nipple in a molasses vitamin mix and ta da they both latched on and barely flinched. Then I let them sip some "goat Gatorade" to make sure they stay well hydrated.
Zelda can suck that stuff up very quickly. Here's Basil saying "you're going to stick me with whaaaaaat."

Farm life

Today was hoof trimming day. We did it and I have the scratches and bruises to prove it. Lesson learned, don't wear shorts if you're the one holding the goat. But all our little goats have nicely trimmed hooves now. We even painted them purple when we were done. We used an anti fungal spray and turns out it has a purple dye in it. "Most" of it went on the hooves. Then it was cookies all around. The vet visited and gave Basil and Zelda an antibiotic for a cough. This means we have to give them a shot everyday for 10 days. That should be interesting. I think I'll do the holding again. I don't like giving shots. They all got the vaccine boosters and Luke was not happy. He pouted again. The chickens have taken a liking to the hay pile. In fact it was 93 degrees and one of them insisted in laying in it to lay her egg. Eggs are few and far between these days because they are molting. It looks like someone spilled a feather pillow all over the yard. One poor chicken looks so pitiful she has no tail feathers. I think she's embarrassed. No telling what tomorrow will bring.

We've MOVED!!!!!

Yep that's right!!!! We left our home of 12 years and moved to a small farm house in Henderson. We put our house on the market thinking it would take at least 6 months to sell and guess what, yep it sold in a little over 2 weeks. And the best part is the farm house needed complete renovation. Ha!!!! Vince has been working his regular job and renovating the farm house and getting the house ready to move all at the same time. Well over the last month we've managed to get it all somewhat in order. Thanks to Matt for painting and single handedly moving all of Vince's tools and assorted "random" things, many of which came in multiples. Jenny spent her time packing up the old house and cleaning as she went. Can't imagine how much dust she managed to wade through. And Irene cooked wonderful meals in makeshift conditions and cleaned and unpacked things at the farm house.

We still don't have a kitchen sink, a few of the old windows still have to be replaced, there's no bathroom sink and the walls are still in demolition phase, oh and the best in July we have no air conditioning. I did manage to talk Vince into a tiny and I mean tiny window unit because poor Rory was about to just faint from the heat.
All the chickens made it to their new home in tip top shape. They had a nice cushy ride in an air conditioned van. Then they checked out their new accommodations and seem to approve. They aren't too crazy about the ducks so we're chasing the ducks back to the pond. They managed fine on their own for a year so I'm sure they'll be okay.
The goats are in goat heaven. All the fescue, orchard grass and timothy hay they can eat. And believe me they eat, ALL the time!!!! If Basil so much as spots a person she starts whining for more and doesn't stop till she gets it. The new boys are Luke and Jessie. The are the loviest. Jessie was a little skittish at first but he warmed up to neck and back rubs real quick. They are all healthy and so much fun to watch.

Rory was quite exhausted after the move and with no air conditioning decided the only thing she wanted to do for awhile was nap on the sofa. I guess she's been through a lot so I'll let her be.Well now it's time to try and find a place for all the "things" I didn't think I had. I try to weed through and keep things to a minimum but I don't think I did such a good job.

Meeting Wyatt

Well we have our two girls, Zelda and Basil. We picked up our little bucky boy, Wyatt on June 20th. Basil was curious, Zelda just wanted to hit him. He amused himself exploring his new surroundings and Basil amused herself with her favorite thing to do "eat." I kid you not she eats non stop all day long. I think after all the recent stress she's become a stress eater. Of course now she shouldn't be stressed and she still eats. Oh well I guess she's come to the right place cause that's our favorite thing to do too. We also have our two boys that will be companions for these three. Luke and Jesse came from Tranquility Acres. I'll post pics of them later. Tranquility is a top notch farm. These boys lived in the lap of luxury. They are adjusting pretty well. Luke is a lovie, lovie. He snuggles and wants to be rubbed all the time. Jesse is a little standoffish but is coming around quickly. At first we have to coax him to come to us but now he comes right up. Luke like to butt Wyatt around a lot and since he's quite a bit huskier Wyatt is learning how to move quickly. I'll post pics of their new home which is at our new home next time. We are almost finished redoing an old farm house, well at least it will be "almost livable" soon. So far it's been quite a job trying to work and live in two different locations but soon we'll be there for good. It's going to be fun. Gotta go get some goat kisses:-)