Back to work

Started clearing the fence line again.  I just have the west and south side to clear.  The west side will be around 1000 feet, and the south side is 200 feet and closest to the house and is where the main gate will be.  I let the goats clear some of the shrubs for me and then I went in with the loppers and chainsaw and cleaned up the line I wanted.

You might be able to see one of the goats down at the end of the cleared part.

 In other news my five dollar Wal-Mart shoes finally gave up the ghost.  I only had them for 3 months maybe, but they were five bucks and just used around the farm really.  I tried gluing the sole back on, but it wouldn't hold.  Time to buy my next pair.

I think I prefer getting cheaper pairs of shoes than really nice expensive ones.  Cause for just around here I don't want to have to worry about tearing them up.  I love the ariat shoes that I used to get but they were around 100 dollars a pair, and while really comfortable and held up my feet really well on concrete, I didn't like that I tore them up while helping shingle a roof.  Basically the asphalt shingles sandpapered down the thread holding the tops of the shoes together.  I was very sad about that, and still used them around the farm for far longer than I needed to.

Also the persimmons are ripening.  I need to collect some and make some jam with them.  Right now the chickens and turkeys are scooping up what falls on the ground.

Fall

The leaves are turning, but they are mostly turning brown.  Because rain refuses to fall here.  It has been a more than a month since we have seen any measurable sort of rain.  I mean last this morning there was enough rain to make the deck wet but the ground showed little impact.  The dirt is hard and cracked and the grass is brown and brittle.

Went to the horse auction again, this time by myself.  I should have gone a little earlier as I didn't have enough time to wander the aisles to look at the horses like I wanted to.  But I enjoyed seeing the horses.  It still amazes me how cheap horses are now.  There was a 5 month old colt that went for $60.

I hope to have the fence up before winter and in the spring have enough money saved to get some more critters.  I do need to get a trailer though, so that may take precedence over more critters.

If I could get a horse I could train and then sell to someone for a profit that would help.  But I have no guarantee that it would work.  Just the belief that it would.  Sometimes that's all you have to go on.

The goats got out the other day.  I grabbed the grain bucket and was walking around the flatbed trailer to them but Godiva decided a straight line was the fastest way to the grain.

 Last weekend Allie took me to see the balloon glow in Forest Park.  This was the only balloon that got up, there was just too much wind for the others.  When we were leaving they blew the horn for the fires that heat up the air in the balloons.  They lit those torches off, but there were no balloons over them.  Maybe next year.  I doubt I will go again, just too much chaos and children running around screaming for me.

 Rags and Jethro are getting along.  They enjoy playing with each other.  Jethro's twin, Gibbs, is hanging around the garage.  But all he is getting from me is food, and maybe some cuddles, but no more inside pets!

Drama

So I freaked myself out last week.  Made a lot of people worry about me.  But everything turned out ok.

To those I worried, I apologize and I thank you for your kindness and concern.  I have learned a valuable lesson, don't post on facebook when having an anxiety attack.

What it comes down to is our cat Rags got very sick over the weekend and I took him to the vet on Monday.  The vet took great care of him, told me he was very sick and dehydrated.  This much I knew which is why I had taken him to the vet, but then she added that he had fleas.

Fleas?  I don't see any fleas in my house!

But when I went to the vet to pick him up, they showed me all the flea dirt, and he was covered in it.  Flea medication was applied to all critters in the house and flea powder to the carpet.

Rags gradually got better over the week, and at the end of it I released him from his quarantine room.  He was not plugged up (not able to urinate) a common problem with male cats, and once he started feeling better he started drinking again.  The vet still wants to check him for diabetes but I think he just got a virus, but I have been wrong before.  He had been spitting up a lot of saliva which is why he got dehydrated so badly.

On top of that, I was supposed to take Rags back to the vet the next day (Tuesday last week) but Rob's car went on the fritz.  At first we thought it was the transmission going because Rob said it was shifting roughly.  So he brought it home and took the truck.  I didn't take Rags to the vet because I didn't want to damage the transmission anymore, or get stuck on the side of the rode with him, if that was what it was.

So on top of a $300 vet bill, I was looking at a possible broken transmission.

Pay attention folks, this is when Mary enters meltdown mode.

Money worries freak me out.  Our very friendly, lovable, fluffy cat was sick and had fleas. I came unglued and posted on facebook about how horrible I was feeling, thinking there was no way out, thinking I had failed all my pets and maybe should take them out with me.

But no.  This was the sickness in my mind talking.  Sometimes I can stress myself out beyond the delicate balance my medication keeps me at.  And I have wonderful friends and family who care about me and wanted to help.

Anyways, Rags got better.  We got the computer code for the car checked and found out it was a vacuum problem.  A good dusting out of the air filter (yeah it was bad) and the car runs fine.

So that was the cause of all the drama.  I have learned a valuable lesson.  And the world spins on.

I was going to post about fall and the trees turning etc.  Maybe next time, this post ran long.

Chicken wrangling

I was watching a movie or something last night, so Rob went out to put the pullets away for me.  (The other hens have been on lock down for the past few days to teach them to lay in the nest boxes again).  He called me outside because, he found Jethro's twin, and he couldn't find three of the pullets.  And while Jethro's twin was cute, we were not about to take in another cat.

Rag's, our large orange cat has been sick over the weekend and is racking up quite the vet bill for us.

So onto looking for the three other pullets.  This was the first time they were not near their coop to be put away.  We hoped they had just found a comfy place and decided to sleep there, but feared predators.  It wouldn't have been the first time some of the chickens had been taken out by a predator. But we had just seen them a few hours before while cooking supper.

We looked with the goats, under the big tractor, in the old hen house, under the deck, and under the flatbed trailer.

Nothing.

Then Rob mentioned something about seeing them near the propane tank one night.  So I started shinning my light up there (it is surrounded on three sides with fence and honeysuckle).  Finally I caught a glimpse of one of the birds.  She was nestled into the honeysuckle on top.  There was another even deeper in, and the young white rooster (one day to be stew pot rooster) was up on an old birdhouse platform.

Birds found!

So Rob got a long stick and coaxed them down and with much grumbling we got them put into their house.

Chicken Wrangling.

Security Blanket

Went to the horse auction last night.  Not sure I would have gone without my security blanket but Rob even drove. I know it isn't his idea of a fun Saturday night, but I enjoyed being around horses again, even if it was just the sale barn.
100 plus horses were there. We're not set up to take any in yet, but there was a small mule or two for less than 100 dollars I would have snagged to train up to skid some logs out of the woods if I had been ready.

There was a really cute and fuzzy donkey there that went for 65 dollars.  He was old, scarred up and had a bad back.  He would have been a fuzzy lawn ornament.

I also found 9 eggs under a bush in the front yard.  The next day I found four more.  The hens are locked up in their house for the weekend or until they learn to lay in the boxes again.

 Jethro has figured out he has the good life.  Although he has started to want to go outside more now that he is fat and happy.

 He does enjoy a good game of Diablo 3 though.

Tough Week

Well the depression/anxiety/pudding brain hit me hard this week.  After Dad left I planned to take a day to relax and then get back to work.  I haven't done anything since he left.

The fear is crippling and there is no reason for it, I just don't want to go outside.  The resulting anger and sadness just doubles up on top of it and it all snowballs into a bigger mess in my brain than I can deal with.  I know it is a simple matter of realizing that it is just chemicals or hormones or whatever making me feel this way and I can physically go out and do things.  But it is traumatizing.  And I hate it.

I haven't had a week like this in a long time.  Not since I got my medicine.  I've had a few days of this before while on my medicine but it usually comes back to normal.  At least normal for me.

I know it will pass, but the frustration of my brain releasing me to do what I want is agony.  So for now I am stuck behind this wall until it crumbles enough and I can Kool-Aide man through it.

Visit from Dad

Dad came up for a visit while Mom was at a retreat.  He was bringing up the trailer for me to get hay with and on it a post hole digger and several pieces of wood he had salvaged from a deck he was working on.  Since he was coming up Thursday I stayed near the house and cleaned out the goat pen.  It is now freshly covered with hay and the wood is clear of the dirt (poo) again.

 He helped fix the goat fence the next day while I was finishing cleaning their house.  It is so great when he visits cause he is so helpful and knowledgeable for the projects around here.  The T-post was being pulled over (I know they aren't meant for corner posts but it was what I could do at the time), and the goats had the fence half down.  He got the come-along and some chain and pulled it straight (you can see it pulled from the tree).  And he got some wire and made a tension-er to another older T-post nearby.  Turned out great.

 We also worked on the emergency brake line for my truck since it had broke.  Took us most of the day and we had it assembled about 2/3rd of the way 6 times, but eventually we finished it.  This picture shows the new spring on the line where is attaches to the rear drum brake.

 This is the broken line.  We think there was a rubber grommet that fell out of a hole in the frame where the line ran, and the line just whittled away in the metal.

 We put up one of the posts he brought up so the post hole digger would have a stand to be stored on.  The ground was so dry that me and Rob had to lean on the auger to get it to finish digging.

 Then Dad helped me clear the 200 feet of the north side of the fence line.  There were a lot of trees to chop up and it took around five trips with the little yard wagon to get all the wood put away behind the garage.  The storage area for the wood is packed!  I should have gotten a picture of that too.

 Even got to see the neighbors cows.  I would have liked to get a better shot of them but they were on the other side of an electric fence.

 And finally, meet Jethro Gibbs (yes that NCIS Jethro Gibbs).  Rob had seen him in the morning but he had to get to work.  We found him after coming home from dinner, he was in the driveway, and I just picked him up and brought him in.  Super friendly kitten; even gets along with the dogs!
I am guessing he is 3 or 4 months old since he still has his kitten teeth.
He will be our barn-garage cat.  He has already proved himself to be a mouser.  He was playing with his first mouse his first night in the garage.

Thanks for all the help Dad, you're an amazing man and father.  Couldn't ask for anyone better!