This fox is awfully close to the rooster pen! Thankfully it didn't get into them. This spring we got 26 rooster chicks to raise for meat. It's about that time for them to go into the freezer now. They are very close to being full grown, and rather noisy at times. They aren't as big and meaty as the actual meat birds we've got in the past, but they are close. And we got a screaming deal on them. Bielfelder, Welsummer, and a F1 olive egger are the breeds we got. The Bielefelders are the biggest ones. We also got 9 pullets and another rooster that is an F1 olive egger. The girls are Bielefelder and olive eggers. One of them actually laid an egg the other day! They are 5 months old now. Hopefully all of them will come on line in the next couple of weeks. The older group of 6 hens and Henry the rooster are still around, they should be going into the molt pretty soon.
This year I got an Ebike back in June. My goal is to get 300 miles on it by the end of the season. I have 40 miles left. Been so busy with all the other things, I haven't had all that much time to ride. John hasn't either. I'm hoping to get in the miles later this week and maybe next week.
I also got a handpan! I've been wanting one of those since I saw and heard one over 10 years ago. I thought they were thousands of dollars (which the top-quality ones are) but amazon has some that are decent for under $500, so I got one of those. It sounds good. It's tuned good, and so far, is staying in tune. I am really enjoying playing it. YouTube has lots of videos of people playing them if you don't know what they are. Just type in Handpan in the search. It took a bit more effort to learn how to play it than I thought it would. But now I'm getting the hang of it, so I'm starting to sound half-way good. My mom was a music teacher, and I grew up playing almost all the things in the wind department. Was in all the bands, even into college. So, I was surprised that there was a bit more to playing this than I expected. It's fun. Not quite ready to make a video just yet, but maybe someday.
I'm acquiring another floor loom next week. It will be a tight fit in this little house, but I will make it work. It's a Norwood 4 shaft with 10 treadles. Used of course, and it's free! It's smaller than my Leclerc Nilus and lighter weight, so I think I will have fun weaving on it. I think it will take a bit of work to get it restored and working great, but that's ok. I like fixing up things like that.
We had our killing frost for the garden Monday morning, so the garden is pretty much done for the year. Still have carrots in there and maybe a stray bite of broccoli. This was the year of the berry! We had a bumper crop of raspberries from our little patch, the strawberries did well, we are getting a second crop from them right now. I covered them so they didn't get bit by the frost. There are quite a few on the verge of being ripe. Our blackberry bush that we've had for over 20 years finally produced a lot of berries, still some ripening there, too. It likes it's spot up against the south side of the house. The birds got 99% of the goji berries. The apple trees gave us a good amount; we just picked them on Sunday. Honeycrisp, Cortland and a couple of trees we aren't sure what kind they are.
I've been milling our own flour and baking bread and things. I can actually eat this real wheat without having a reaction. I've been gluten free for decades, but the freshly milled flour with all the nutrients still in it, I can eat without a big problem. Good stuff!
I still have the goats, but I am not breeding the cashmeres anymore, at least I'm pretty sure. I sold the buck I had. After 24 years of raising them, I'm starting to get tired of it. I won't ever not have any, I do like working with the fleece, and their personalities are goofy, but I would say I've pretty much "retired". I still have a couple of dairies does so we can have the milk, cheese, butter and all the good things, and I still have a dairy buck, but as one acquaintance said years ago, "there is more to life than goats". At the time I didn't agree with him, but now I'm starting to. :-) I'm still very much tied to the farm with the dairy goats, it's very hard to find someone who can milk them, and especially these two I have now, they are scared of anyone but me getting anywhere near them. John is finally able to walk close to them and hand feed them, but him milking them is out of the question. Life is changing for me, and I'm rather liking it. I still have my GoImagine shop with a few things for sale in there. I have lots of ideas on what to weave next this winter, but I'm not pushing myself to try and sell things online anymore. With all the cheap cashmere items that are mass produced or imported from other countries at low prices, and most people wanting low prices, not realizing just how much work actually goes into a cashmere handwoven or crocheted piece, I'm over it. Most people don't think about the whole year of feeding and taking care of the goats, so they do produce high quality fleece. The hours it takes to process the fleece, from combing it off the animals, washing, dehairing, spinning it into yarn, then weaving or crocheting it into something wearable. That takes a lot of hours! I figured out one year that if I count everything, I make about a $1 an hour with the prices I have on the items. So, if anyone buys anything from me you are getting quite a good deal! goimagine.com/pnfcashmeres/ is where my shop is. Hopefully that link works.
Well, speaking of goats, it's time to go do the evening feeding of them. Hope you are having a wonderful day and enjoying life.
