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:-)

Harvesting garlic :-)

UUMMMMM!! Under out house smells like garlic. I planted it last fall and it has grown very nicely. Vince dug it up today as Zelda looked on. I think she really wanted to help. Basil just kept looking for vanilla wafers.

I think I'll plant some more in the fall. This should last us well into the year. It's a polish garlic and is just a little hot but not so much.

It's been a long sad week :-(

Whoever said goats were "hardy" animals evidently meant old hardened goats. Our poor boys had a big struggle this past week and didn't survive. First Doc (he's the one on the far right) got sick. We tried everything we could think of. Jenny was researching web sites for information and we thought he might make it but Sunday morning he had died. Then Monday morning Vince said Tobi (the one on the far left) was acting funny. So I went down and sure enough he had the same symptoms. We took him to the vet immediately and they did a few things and he came home. He still seemed to be struggling but at least he didn't appear to be in the pain Doc was in. As I held him in my lap he looked up with his wobbling head and his eyes just seemed very distant. Sure enough Tuesday morning he was worse. We took him to the vet to be put down. They tried a few more things during the day but we had to let him go. We took his little body to the lab to see if they can find out what happened. I think the 4 days we went through this seemed like weeks.


Well that leaves Basil all alone and anyone who knows goats knows you can't have only one goat. They will scream till it drives you mad. So we found "Zelda." She lived in Jacksonville. She's 11 months old and a real sweetie. She loves to be loved. Her favorite love is vanilla wafers. We actually took Basil with us on the 3 hour drive and she seemed to enjoy it. Zelda and Basil had to work out their positions but they seem to be enjoying each other now. We took both of them to the vet for a wellness check and they are good to go.

Now the buck is coming next weekend so of course he's going to need a buddy too. Saturday we will take a drive to Mebane to pick out two friends for him, yep I said two. Why two, well why not. What's one more goat???

Basil is still "demanding" that we come out and love on her about every two or three hours. We're hoping that will stretch out a bit soon. As difficult as this whole thing has been it's beginning to seem like we will soon get it all under control.

Chickie Town

After building a wonderful chicken condo in the back yard we have since decided to sell our house and move to a place with more land. What with the accumulation of so many animals now I guess that is the next logical step. In order to get the chickens a place that we can take with us, we decided on an old camper. So far it's turning out to be a very nice pad for the girls. We decided to leave the bathtub and put dry dirt and stuff in there for them to take their dust baths in. They will have their own "spa." It will be much larger and since the roof had leaks we removed the old air conditioner and put a metal roof on giving it a "cathedral ceiling" inside. Vince is going to cut a hole in the middle of the poop shelf so his bucket will fit right under and he can just scrape all that "garden gold" right into the bucket.

They will have an entrance on each side somewhere around the middle and we will build them a portable run that attaches. By doing this we can put the run in 4 different locations before we have to move the trailer. That way they have new ground regularly and it doesn't get all nasty in one spot. I'm hoping the mobility will help keep the mice and snakes off the scent too.

Speaking of snakes, I've decided I need to learn to live with black snakes, as long as they aren't eating my chicken eggs that is. I didn't realize black snakes keep the copper heads in check. So it will be hard and I'm sure there will be more than one scream heard but I'm going to try.

Back to chickie town, I plan to paint the exterior in retro pink and green with daisies on it. In big bubble letters on one side we'll put Chickie Town. I'm sure people are going to think I'm one crazy old lady before it's all over with. I think life's short and you have to enjoy it while you can!!!!