Great Fall Weather

We continued to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather to clean up and build roads. This week we were lucky to have Sammy finally join us after a long absence. The first of the two big projects was to move the old fireplace that was left over from the blown down cabin. The problem was that it was in the middle of the area I'm trying clear for a barn and was becoming a pain to work around. The rock was very nicely shaped, and it seemed a shame to bury it, so we decided to stack it by hand, out of the way, to save for some future use. We worked hard and got most of it stacked in about an hour. However, I think we'll be turning up rocks for months to come.

From 2011-11-21

Part of Sammy's job was to be the documentarian as we worked. She has a real talent for photography and took these nice pictures of the goats. The first one is of Little Momma giving us one of her looks. She's very smart but standoffish and only comes around when there's food. We like to joke that it's lucky she has brains, because she definitely wasn't blessed with looks.

From 2011-11-21

Gracie is the social one. Here she is, sticking her head through the fence, fighting to get some corn. She is a fun little goat and will follow us anywhere. She is very curious is always coming up to see whats going on.

From 2011-11-21

We also did a lot of work getting the new field cleared so we could start putting the road in. The idea is to create a big loop, so that we can pull a trailer straight through and not have to back it in. We've been taking it slow, to get a chance to see how the water drains during big storms, to see how it looks in different seasons, and to just get a general idea of how to lay things out.

From 2011-11-21

After much thought I finally took the bulldozer to it and laid out where we want the road to go. So far, I like it. Once things dry out, we'll try pulling the trailer through it and see how it does. The next step will be to dig a deep hole for the septic system I'm noodling.

Goat Wrangling

We did a lot of farm work Saturday. The goats have been penned up in the main corral for the longest duration since we've had them. During the spring and summer, they'd always been out in the forest with plenty to eat. Now that fall has hit, we've had to keep them in main corral and feed them hay. We've also had to deal with keeping their stall cleaned out.

From 2011-11-14

I've alternated between a couple of strategies and haven't really settled on the best one yet. The first is to rake out the straw and burn it. It's pretty easy to do but as you can see below, the wet hay is very smoky when it burns and it's kind of a pain to babysit the fire. The second is to just shovel it into the little trailer, spread it around, and use it for compost. You don't have to deal with the fire, but it's a pain to hook the trailer up to the quad and it's less efficient because you have to shovel twice. I'll keep experimenting until I find the best way.

From 2011-11-14

Our next project was to deworm the goats. It sounds a lot worse than it is. We just feed them some treated feed mixed in with their regular feed every 3 months. The hardest part is keeping them from eating each others batch and getting the wrong dose. This time we tried make a little cage and just feeding them one at time. It was still tough. They ones who were waiting kept crashing the gate, trying to get an extra bite or two. Greedy little buggers.

From 2011-11-14

To keep Little Momma away, Sawyer tried riding her. We were amazed that she held up and was able to ride him around. It's not something you want to do the poor critters every day, but I have to admit it was pretty funny to watch.

From 2011-11-14

Of course Seth couldn't miss out on the action and had to start riding Gracie. Gracie was so happy to have her feed that I don't think she even noticed.

From 2011-11-14

Seth celebrated getting them dewormed by carrying Gracie around for a victory lap.

From 2011-11-14

We also moved the old cut-rock, hand built chimney so we could finish bulldozing by the old cabin. It was kind of sad to move it. Not just because it's a pain carrying and stacking and endless supply of heavy rocks, but because it was the last remnant of the old house. It's all gone now. I'll have to post a before/after picture in the next installment.