Tag Archives: Pets

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We’re Down to Two

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Ok, so it’s either “Merry Magpie Farm” or “Patchwork Llama Farm”.  It’s a really, really tough choice!!!!

It’s hard to do much thinking or deciding when it’s 800 degrees outside.  Today’s high was 104.  Too hot to even make use of the pool.  How’s that for awful?

I’ve spent the better part of the week painting the living room and the kitchen.  They were formerly a beige-mauve color, which was nice enough, but I wanted more of a colonial kind of look, and I wanted to get it looking cleaner and nicer in the process.  I chose a “light amber” color, which is basically yellow.

Nice?  I like how much it brightens the rooms.  It also compliments my Martha’s Vineyard painting quite well, no?

Aside from the painting and cleaning I’ve spent the week fretting over the animals and checking the water frequently to be sure they have plenty.  I’ve also been taking extra fruits and vegs out to them.  They love watermelon and apples.  I am thinking I need to keep a bag of apples on hand for them at all times.  I chop them up a bit, put them on a plate and they snort them right out of my hand.

Some days I get side – tracked on my way out with the fruit.  Like days when my mother points out that my tomato plant on the patio is under attack by some nasty green horned tomato worms.  HUGE ones.  We plucked off three and stuck them with the apples to take out for the chickens.

The chickens fought hard for these juicy fellows.  One hen swallowed the biggest one whole; I was afraid she’d choke!  Alas my tomato plant has not recovered.  Thank goodness our neighbor’s tomatoes are doing well, and they like to trade for fresh eggs.  Speaking of which……

Benny laid a double yolker.

Ouch.

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Magical Mini – Donk Mountain

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I tagged along with Susie, Erin & Jenny today out to Castleton,Va (beauuuutiful!) to look at mini – donkeys.  Susie is thinking they might be a nice addition to her farm, since they are effective at removing harmful parasites from sheep pastures.  Personally, I had no idea there even were mini – donkeys.

There is nothing “mini” about their ears.  Their soft, fuzzy, furry ears.

This little one looks just like a fox to me.

As you can see they are not “mini” as in “tiny”, but much smaller than other equines.

Here is one next to Susie for size comparison.

The gentleman who runs the farm had a nice hammock out in the pasture with them.  Isn’t that lovely?  You can relax with a book or your knitting surrounded by nuzzly little inquisitive donkeys.

Erin playing with an ear.  It was impossible to resist those velvety things.

It was exactly eleventy- billion and four degrees out there in the shade and yet the adorably pregnant Jenny never looked any worse for the wear.  I, on the other hand, would have swelled up like a giant red beach ball and collapsed.  Even when not carrying a fetus around I don’t manage heat well.  I was drenched with sweat petting these guys.

We were given a few buckets of carrots to break the ice.  Once they decided were were ok peoples they were very sweet and almost cuddly in as much as an animal like that can be.

Then we met the mini – horse.  I am pretty sure his name was Silver.  He was magical.

Yes, he was this hazy and soft and blue in real life.  Ok, not really, I softened him up a bit to add to his mystique.  I did find myself wondering where the fairies and goblins and princesses were, though.

At that point we were ready to hit the road since Susie and Jenny had a fabulous date ahead of them with the county dump, but our hosts offered us respite from the heat in their AC and set out bowls of cherries and sliced tomatoes and cold water and it was absolutely wonderful.  They told us great stories and we saw the collection of “mistake” wooden bowls he had made.  They were stunning, as was the wooden farmhouse-style dining room table we were sitting at that he had likewise crafted himself.  We were all sent home with one, happy as larks (and those bowls will all be forever known as “Donkey Bowls”).  But before we left, we met Sid Vicious,and got his picture in Susie’s Donkey Bowl.

For more info about the Mini-Donkey Farm check out Susie’s blog; if you don’t see what you’re looking for in her post from today, you can contact her through the blog-site and she’ll hook you up.

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A Leap of Faith

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I mentioned a little while back that things have gotten tight around here and I was worried about how I was going to continue to care for the animals.  I was really thinking I’d have to find good homes for everyone.  Really, though, that would have made me miserable and the kids miserable as well.  I would have been worried sick over them for the rest of my life. Not to mention the fact that this is what makes life worth living – caring for these animals is my life’s calling and I can’t give up now.

Now, don’t think I am putting my own selfish need to have them before their health needs.  Far from it.  Instead we are about to attempt a big change.  If it works it will benefit us all enormously. We’re going to make all necessary repairs and upgrades to put this house on the market.

It’s been a good house for us and in some ways I do really love it, but we are bleeding money into a too – large mortgage for land that we can’t make full use of.

I don’t really know how well this will work, considering market saturation here and the fact that we owe about the same as what we can ask for it.  But we’re going to try.  If we can’t buy a small farm then we will try to rent one for awhile.   We’ve contacted our realtor extraordinaire, my uncle Rick.  He’ll make sure this house and the land are 100% perfect before listing it.  We are so lucky he knows the game so well and he knows us so well, because the whole process makes me a nervous, neurotic wreck.

Once we take this step, the next few months are going to be hard.  There’s a lot of fixing to do, and a lot of cleaning to do.  Worse yet, that cleanliness has to be scrupulously maintained.

I don’t even know HOW I am going to manage the animal pen.  You’ll probably see me doing a lot of stressing and whining as I try to hold it all together in the name of making things better for our growing family.

I will be keeping my eyes on the big picture as much as possible; focusing on sweet nuzzling goat faces and happy chickens.

Not to mention hot llama breath on the back of my neck as I wander out with feed and hay every day.

Bear with me while we go through this process, because it won’t be easy.  I’ll be asking for a lot of moral support and reminders to stay on track.

See you on the other side.

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So Hot and Crispy

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Jerry would like to register his complaint over the heat.  It’s been brutal so far this year.  Normally we do expect some oppressive heat here in Va, but it’s usually later in the summer, and when it does get to be around 100 degrees it certainly doesn’t stay there for weeks end.  In fact, I don’t think it even stays in the high 90’s for prolonged periods.  Generally what makes it oppressive is the heat/humidity combo.  This year has been something awful special in that regard.

I know it’s not just us.  Everyone’s having crazy weather.  Susie mentioned something about how it should be called “Climate Chaos”, and this year has fit the bill.  The coldest, snowiest winter in years followed by the most brutal summer.

Everyone’s gardens are burning due to the excessive heat and lack of rain, and mine are no exception, even with daily watering.  My poor corn, which looked to be on the cusp of readiness, seems  about to spontaneously combust and all of my flowers are in danger of sizzling into nothingness.

Aside from the heat I have had a heck of a time with little Frodo, who has decided that the shock of the electric fence is nothing in comparison to getting at the green weeds beyond it.  It’s gotten to where I am going to have to lock him in the barn if he keeps it up. He’s gotten a little too “bloaty” looking for my liking.   He’s also decided he no longer wants to be petted.  If I try to touch him , he runs.  This happened about the same time he started breaking out.  It’s sad.  At least little Finn is still like a puppy with horns.  He even let me vaccinate him yesterday and still came back for hugs after.  I have yet to successfully vaccinate Frodo.

I also confirmed that the problem with Berry’s foot is Bumblefoot.  It’s fairly common.  It’s a staph infection that gets in their feet through little cuts and then causes swelling and grossness.  I removed much of the infection last night and packed the wound full of antibiotics.  He’s hopping around with vet wrap today and hopefully he’ll be fully recovered before too long.  I also feel like I have passed the “grossness” and “bloody” requirement of being a farmer/goatherd/whatever I am.  If I could just get the fencing thing right, I might have a chance.

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Scenes From A Holiday Weekend, Part Two

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As promised, here are the rest of the pictures I set aside for posting. Keep an eye out for Emily’s new blue hair streaks.  It was rather a pain in the butt to accomplish.

And now, since my stomach is still not quite better, I am off to lie down and finish reading Nineteen Eighty Four for book club.  Hope your 4th was fun and food filled!!!

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Quilts and Pies, Oh My!

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Ok, here’s a random, jumbled post for you.

I made a cherry pie last night with two jars of morello cherries I got from Trader Joe’s a few weeks ago.  It was spectacular, if I do say so myself, and there is a very good reason for that:  I tried a new crust.

For years I have only used the pie crust recipe handed down for generations in my husband’s family.  And I was very happy with it.  But then I saw the latest post over at Smitten Kitchen and thought that her crust just looked……irresistible.

So I tried it.  And good lord, it is the best crust I have tasted in my entire life, I kid you not.  I urge you all to try it immediately!

Other than pie – making I have been doing woefully little because of the massive heat wave we have been experiencing.  The animals are unhappy, I am unhappy….it’s just beastly out there.  Fortunately I have plenty of shade for them and I hooked up a misting attachment so they can get some moisture on them to cool off.  Tomorrow is supposed to be about 100, so wish us luck with that.

Mostly I have been sitting in the A/C working on handquilting.

I started this….two years ago?  Anyway it’s easy and doesn’t require much effort, which is good because seriously I just need a hammock to hang out in and take lots of long, summer afternoon naps.  That’s all I want do do right now.

How about you?  How are you beating the heat?

If you’re looking for good reading I highly recommend The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels.

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Out And About

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Or, as we like to say, “Oot and Aboot”.

Yesterday we went and got our library cards.  I’d never been to the county library here – I’d always gone to the one in Charlottesville, but it’s quite a hike and there’s never any parking.  As it turns out, our local one is pretty great anyway.  Emily and Neve both came away with books they were excited about, and I even scored a great deal on used books for sale.  Check it out:

The soft cover ones were 25 cents and the hardcovers were 50 cents.  I couldn’t resist the lamb one, since it looks like a Southdown, my favorite.

Neve loves this hamster book she found.

I was also happy to see the library carries a lot of the books we’ll be reading next year for home school.  The craft section sadly was rather pathetic, but you can’t win ’em all, I guess.

The temperature was a little lower today than what we’ve been dealing with so I decided to do more than just the standard cursory check on the gardens, and I was pretty happy with what I saw.

The tomatoes are doing well.

There are little butternut squashes starting to grow in.

And corn!!!  I have corn!!!!!!  I really can’t wait for that to be ready to harvest.

My nasturtiums are doing very well this year.

So is the cilantro.

Other things are thriving around here, too.

Plenty of deer pass through to drink from our stream.

Our stream happens to be home to these guys, as well.  That’s about a 4 inch long crayfish that was swimming around out there this evening.

Dragonflies are likewise in abundance.

Unfortunately, with the cool critters some the not so cool.

This guy was hanging out on the back deck.  Until I shot him full of this:

And he wasn’t even one of those big ones.

Now if I could only locate those two huge frogs that are hiding out in my garage before they die in there.

It’s Wild Kingdom around here for goodness sake.

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Still Playin’ Around

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I’m still having fun with my camera.  I haven’t discovered half of what it can do yet, but I can’t help taking pictures of everything around me.  Which means there’s about a milli0n pictures of the cats, the kids, etc.

Like this one of Sushi, who has recently taken up sleeping on Neve and nibbling on her nose, fingers and toes all night long.  This makes Neve very grumpy and she has decided that Sushi must be dreaming about eating sausages all night.

There’s many more of Jasper cat because he loves all the attention and enjoys posing for pictures.

Oona begs to have her picture taken and it’s hard to get one of her acting naturally rather than making funny faces or contorting into some weird position that she thinks is hilarious.

Most of the picture – taking has been happening inside because it’s only 10 bajillion degrees outside and the humidity is so bad it’s like walking into a sauna.  Maddie and I got fed up waiting for the excavation of the pool site to be completed so we headed out with gloves and shovels to get the ball rolling ……

but it was just way too hot and we were miserable.  I think we lasted maybe 20 minutes and got next to nothing accomplished other than drenching ourselves in sweat.  Where can we find some good, reliable, cheap labor around here??????

So, we still have no pool.  And because of this, and despite the heat, I keep telling myself that summer hasn’t really started yet.  We’ve had no days of swimming and nights of s’more roasting, no firefly catching, no picnics out on the deck, nada.  Hopefully we’ll get there before August.  Maddie goes back to school on the 9th and she’ll be really upset if the pool isn’t done by then.

I’ve been working on some frou-frou chiffon petticoat skirts for the girls, and let me just say…it has to be the worst sewing project in the world.  I detest it.  Yet I seem to be getting better at it at least as it drags on.  Pictures to follow soon.

I have done no knitting, despite wanting to very much.

BUT.

I did make an acquisition relating to all things wonderful and fiber – related.  I’ve gained part custody of this:

My friend Kim’s loom!!!!  She’ s had it hanging around for years, but lately it’s just been gathering dust.  So for now I get to try my hand at weaving until she is ready to get back to working on it.  Not that I really need anymore projects, but how could I resist??????

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It’s Goat Balls

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Clearly I can’t just have one post about balls this week. 

This evening while on the phone with my brother I was walking around petting the goats and stumbled upon…something.  I picked it up and my suspicions were confirmed.  Dessicated goat testicles.  One of my boys has apparently come all the way through the castration process.  And to show just how evil I am, I immediately had the idea to place it in my husband’s hand.

Now, just to show how evil he is (or that we are collectively) he recovered quickly enough from his revulsion to form an idea AND catch it on video. 

Here, my friends, is the meanest video ever made and posted on the internet (okay, maybe not…)  and as awful as you all no doubt will think we are, somewhere out there I just know that my uncle Jamie, at the very least, is laughing out loud right now.

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Little Green Balls!

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Finally, more than two months after sowing the little seeds indoors, one of my tomato plants has finally sprouted some little green balls!

Looks like they’ll be ready around the same time as the basil I planted out front.  Tomato-Bail pesto, here we come!!!!

Mostly the gardens out front are in serious need of weeding, re-planting and re-organizing.  I’ve been working on it as the weather allows, but it’s either been dangerous – stormy (tornado watches already!) or killer hot and humid.  The kind of killer hot and humid  that makes me want to commit complete and total herbicide and forget the whole blasted thing.  And people wonder why central air is so important to me.

The bee balm is growing in nicely, though.

Anyway, back to the pesto.  It’s my favorite summer food.  I put it on everything I can.  Including the muffuletta I made last night.

With homemade boule.

Stuffed with ham, salami, provolone and marinated artichoke hearts.  So yummy.

Even Mabel seemed to know something yummy was going on in the kitchen.

I really think she wants to be a house chicken.  She likes to hop the gate and hang out on the back porch.  It drives Pippa nuts.

But it gives Emily an opportunity for chicken snuggles.

Personally, I prefer furrier creatures for snuggling.