It's that time of year again. Yesterday I hauled 90 bales of hay and stacked them in the dairy barn by myself. Where are helpxers when you need them? :-) Now the dairy goats are set for the year on hay. This should last them an entire year. I am getting another load of 90 next week for the cashmeres to have as an emergency stash in case the weather is bad when I need to go get a big square bale for them. I think I'm done with little bales, at least with the main crew. It is too much work to stack them anymore. I am pretty sore today, tomorrow will probably be a bit worse. Little squares are too labor intensive. Sometimes I wish I had a tractor that was big enough to move the big bales and stack them, but it's only use would be for that, we live on too steep of a hill to be able to use it anywhere else. So that would be a big waste of money to have a tractor for only one use. I will just haul them one at a time and use that one up, then go get another one. I go to town once or twice a week anyway, might as well haul home a bale of hay at the same time.
We are having some really nice summer weather this year. Not too hot, rain when needed, at least so far. Who knows what August will bring.
The goat kids are all growing and doing well. Their cashmere is starting to come in pretty good. Some of the adults are getting a good coat already, they are pretty warm on the sunny days that heat up. Haven't got any good pictures of anything on the game cameras lately, just deer and the goats.
We've started butchering the meat chickens. We have to wait till the bees go to bed before we can do them. So just before dark, we are out there. Can't do too many at a time that way, but we don't have anyplace to do them inside out of the bee zone. That is on the list of projects, building a butchering room that is bee proof. The meat chickens taste so good, I like them much better than the dual purpose egg laying/meat breeds. These are easy to raise, and if they aren't over fed, don't have leg problems. These are still running around and catching bugs and following me every time I go out. I only feed them a lot the last week so they have a final growth spurt to get big enough to butcher. I keep reading about how they only take three steps and lay down, but mine aren't doing that. They are very active.
I've got my store on Square all up and going. I have everything listed on there now, as it's easier to buy from there. It says I only ship in the USA, but I'll ship internationally if you email me and tell me you'd like something. PayPal is the best method to pay with if that is the case. Click here to see My new Store
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and staying cool in this heat wave!
Monday, July 25, 2016
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Good Heavens!
What a wild time we are in! People shooting people left and right, the weather has gone wild almost everywhere, everything is shifting.
I've been without internet service for over a week. It's back on now, obviously, but it was interesting not having it for a while. I do have my smartphone, so I could still check emails anyway. There was a post on Facebook asking if one could live for 90 days completely unplugged from technology if you got $3 million at the end of it. I was thinking that would be easy, but after this, it wouldn't be so easy, but I could do it since I wouldn't have to worry about my finances afterwards. It's funny, I grew up without any of this, it hadn't even been invented till after I was way out of school, but now it's so ingrained in our collective lifestyle, that it's hard to imagine life without it. Probably impossible for some. What would happen if the country's power grid ever goes down and people couldn't communicate easily? Total complete meltdown, that's what. With all the crazy things happening in the world now, it's something to think about a little.
My goat renting adventure didn't turn out all that well. Started out okay, but ended on a somewhat bad note. I took 16 goats over to a newly bought, overgrown farm to eat down the weeds and grass for the new owners. The goats were doing okay with it, although they weren't eating it down as fast as the owner thought it should happen, so after 14 days she ended the contract. Kind of broke the contract actually, but I let that go since I was stressed out not having the goats here anyway. The day I went over to check on them after she had ended the contract there were a couple of women there with horses and a big trailer. They offered to take my goats home for me. Since it had taken two trips to get the goats over there in the back of the truck, I thought it would be nice to have them all home at once. Not a good idea it turns out. Some of the goats allowed themselves to be caught and trailered, but there there was one who jumped through the fence and out into the wetlands that are between the farm and the lake. She was a wild goat and wouldn't let anyone within 50 feet of her after that. So I left 4 other goats there in hopes that she would calm down and let herself be caught again. Didn't happen. I didn't think there were any predators in that area since there are people and farms all over the place and it's pretty open grass and farm fields. Lo and behold there is actually a mountain lion that hangs out in that area, along with a couple of coyotes! Cherokee was seen twice after she escaped, then last Saturday morning, early, I had the biggest feeling of dread and anxiety over the goats over there. After two hours it went away suddenly. I'm pretty sure that was when she got killed by the coyotes. Nobody has seen her since. The area is closed to humans till the 15th for the birds and such to nest in peace. It's a federal wildlife refuge. I think I will go over there after then to walk around and see if I can find her remains. Anyway, I went over on Monday the 4th, and spent 4 1/2 hours with the 4 remaining goats trying to catch them and take them home. The first two hours were spent just hanging out with them and letting them rest, they were stressed from being there by themselves and probably seeing the coyotes every night on the other side of the fence. They wouldn't let me catch them, they would come up and stretch way out to get the grain out of my hand, but not close enough to actually get a hold of them. Misty finally laid down and fell asleep and I snuck up on her and slowly grabbed her horns and caught her, put her in the back of the truck and got more serious about catching the other three. Finally got a hold of Elsie's back leg and got her, then Snowflake and Zindy Lou were all wound up being only two goats. They both squeezed under the corral gate, but I got Zindy's back leg just as she was almost all the way through. Finally got a hold of her collar and got the lead on her, then opened the gate so Snowflake would come back through. She stuck close to Zindy Lou and I led them both into a section of the barn that can be closed, and tied up Zindy in the back corner, Snowflake went over by her, I closed the gate, and walked up to Snowflake and put a lead on her. Finally got them all in the truck and back home. Never to leave here again. No more trying to make some extra money by taking goats off the place to do it. Both times it hasn't ended well and I lose a goat or two. From now on, only goats that are sold or headed for the freezer will be leaving. Of course the goat I lost was the prettiest one of the yearlings I had, and the only one I kept. I was looking forward to having lots of babies out of her. She had nice cashmere in an oatmeal color, too. Darn. No more renting out goats. These guys aren't tame enough for that. A few of them are, but the majority aren't, so it's not worth it. I don't like having my goats off our property where I can't see them every day. It was a 32 mile one way trip to the farm, so it was a bit far to just hop over there and check on them every day. I did go quite often, though. I think I spent almost as much in gas money as I got paid for renting them. Not a good deal at all. It was nice not having to feed them hay here, though.
We are having a cool rainy spell for a few days. I am enjoying it! I have even had the wood stove going most every night. Kind of strange having the wood stove going in July, but last year I had the stove going at least overnight one night every month of the year. Even in August!
I had fun at the MAWS (Montana Association of Weavers and Spinners) conference on Flathead Lake a couple weeks ago. I took a class on making "bubble crepe yarn" with Sarah Anderson. It was harder to do than it looked, but it turned out okay and looks pretty cool. She is a good teacher, if you ever get a chance to take a class from her, do so, it'll be fun. I was also a vendor and a volunteer there, so I was somewhat busy, and not very good at any of it. I wasn't at the booth much, so I didn't sell all that much, and I wasn't able to volunteer as much as I thought I'd be able to, so that didn't work out too well. Next time I'll only do one or the other, but not all. It was fun being around a 100 or so like minded people for a weekend. That was great! Robyn Spady gave the keynote speech on "Follow Your Path". That struck a cord with me since my path has taken some unexpected twists and turns lately. I'm still on it, though, just headed in a slightly different direction that I thought I would be taking. It's all good. Life is a journey and I'm having fun most of the time, taking the various twists and turns in stride and carrying on. Cashmere is still my main focus, just a slightly different angle now than the last few years. One door closes and a bigger, better door opens. How fun!
I've been without internet service for over a week. It's back on now, obviously, but it was interesting not having it for a while. I do have my smartphone, so I could still check emails anyway. There was a post on Facebook asking if one could live for 90 days completely unplugged from technology if you got $3 million at the end of it. I was thinking that would be easy, but after this, it wouldn't be so easy, but I could do it since I wouldn't have to worry about my finances afterwards. It's funny, I grew up without any of this, it hadn't even been invented till after I was way out of school, but now it's so ingrained in our collective lifestyle, that it's hard to imagine life without it. Probably impossible for some. What would happen if the country's power grid ever goes down and people couldn't communicate easily? Total complete meltdown, that's what. With all the crazy things happening in the world now, it's something to think about a little.
My goat renting adventure didn't turn out all that well. Started out okay, but ended on a somewhat bad note. I took 16 goats over to a newly bought, overgrown farm to eat down the weeds and grass for the new owners. The goats were doing okay with it, although they weren't eating it down as fast as the owner thought it should happen, so after 14 days she ended the contract. Kind of broke the contract actually, but I let that go since I was stressed out not having the goats here anyway. The day I went over to check on them after she had ended the contract there were a couple of women there with horses and a big trailer. They offered to take my goats home for me. Since it had taken two trips to get the goats over there in the back of the truck, I thought it would be nice to have them all home at once. Not a good idea it turns out. Some of the goats allowed themselves to be caught and trailered, but there there was one who jumped through the fence and out into the wetlands that are between the farm and the lake. She was a wild goat and wouldn't let anyone within 50 feet of her after that. So I left 4 other goats there in hopes that she would calm down and let herself be caught again. Didn't happen. I didn't think there were any predators in that area since there are people and farms all over the place and it's pretty open grass and farm fields. Lo and behold there is actually a mountain lion that hangs out in that area, along with a couple of coyotes! Cherokee was seen twice after she escaped, then last Saturday morning, early, I had the biggest feeling of dread and anxiety over the goats over there. After two hours it went away suddenly. I'm pretty sure that was when she got killed by the coyotes. Nobody has seen her since. The area is closed to humans till the 15th for the birds and such to nest in peace. It's a federal wildlife refuge. I think I will go over there after then to walk around and see if I can find her remains. Anyway, I went over on Monday the 4th, and spent 4 1/2 hours with the 4 remaining goats trying to catch them and take them home. The first two hours were spent just hanging out with them and letting them rest, they were stressed from being there by themselves and probably seeing the coyotes every night on the other side of the fence. They wouldn't let me catch them, they would come up and stretch way out to get the grain out of my hand, but not close enough to actually get a hold of them. Misty finally laid down and fell asleep and I snuck up on her and slowly grabbed her horns and caught her, put her in the back of the truck and got more serious about catching the other three. Finally got a hold of Elsie's back leg and got her, then Snowflake and Zindy Lou were all wound up being only two goats. They both squeezed under the corral gate, but I got Zindy's back leg just as she was almost all the way through. Finally got a hold of her collar and got the lead on her, then opened the gate so Snowflake would come back through. She stuck close to Zindy Lou and I led them both into a section of the barn that can be closed, and tied up Zindy in the back corner, Snowflake went over by her, I closed the gate, and walked up to Snowflake and put a lead on her. Finally got them all in the truck and back home. Never to leave here again. No more trying to make some extra money by taking goats off the place to do it. Both times it hasn't ended well and I lose a goat or two. From now on, only goats that are sold or headed for the freezer will be leaving. Of course the goat I lost was the prettiest one of the yearlings I had, and the only one I kept. I was looking forward to having lots of babies out of her. She had nice cashmere in an oatmeal color, too. Darn. No more renting out goats. These guys aren't tame enough for that. A few of them are, but the majority aren't, so it's not worth it. I don't like having my goats off our property where I can't see them every day. It was a 32 mile one way trip to the farm, so it was a bit far to just hop over there and check on them every day. I did go quite often, though. I think I spent almost as much in gas money as I got paid for renting them. Not a good deal at all. It was nice not having to feed them hay here, though.
We are having a cool rainy spell for a few days. I am enjoying it! I have even had the wood stove going most every night. Kind of strange having the wood stove going in July, but last year I had the stove going at least overnight one night every month of the year. Even in August!
I had fun at the MAWS (Montana Association of Weavers and Spinners) conference on Flathead Lake a couple weeks ago. I took a class on making "bubble crepe yarn" with Sarah Anderson. It was harder to do than it looked, but it turned out okay and looks pretty cool. She is a good teacher, if you ever get a chance to take a class from her, do so, it'll be fun. I was also a vendor and a volunteer there, so I was somewhat busy, and not very good at any of it. I wasn't at the booth much, so I didn't sell all that much, and I wasn't able to volunteer as much as I thought I'd be able to, so that didn't work out too well. Next time I'll only do one or the other, but not all. It was fun being around a 100 or so like minded people for a weekend. That was great! Robyn Spady gave the keynote speech on "Follow Your Path". That struck a cord with me since my path has taken some unexpected twists and turns lately. I'm still on it, though, just headed in a slightly different direction that I thought I would be taking. It's all good. Life is a journey and I'm having fun most of the time, taking the various twists and turns in stride and carrying on. Cashmere is still my main focus, just a slightly different angle now than the last few years. One door closes and a bigger, better door opens. How fun!
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Mid-June? Already?!
Okay, so where did the time go? All the kids are born now. 22 total. There would have been 25, but I lost three of the bucklings, one at two days old, one at two weeks old, and the third at one week old. Two I don't know why, and the third I did a necropsy on and he had a twisted large intestine. I have no idea how he got that. The other two were just laying there dead, not a hair out of place. Sad, but at least they were all boys and not any of the girls.
Penelope had triplets! These are her first kids, too. She is a good mom and they are the cutest little things out there. Penelope is half dairy and half cashmere. She's the last kid Dottie, my first ever goat, had. The kids are 3/4 cashmere. They were born June first, I wasn't even here, I got home and here were three kids up and wobbling around, all healthy and mom doing fine. I got home less than an hour after they were all born.
Penelope had triplets! These are her first kids, too. She is a good mom and they are the cutest little things out there. Penelope is half dairy and half cashmere. She's the last kid Dottie, my first ever goat, had. The kids are 3/4 cashmere. They were born June first, I wasn't even here, I got home and here were three kids up and wobbling around, all healthy and mom doing fine. I got home less than an hour after they were all born.
June is the one on the left, Uno is the cream one, and Pearl is the one in the back. This was taken after they wore themselves out playing on that stump and two boulders just off camera.
Celeste had her kid on Monday of this week (the 13th). I missed that one, too! I rented out 16 goats to a farm to eat down their weeds and grass on Sunday, and I was so concerned with going and checking on them, that I didn't really pay attention to Celeste that morning. I wasn't expecting her to kid till yesterday, so when I got back home and there was a kid, I was surprised. Celeste is 10 years old this year, so she's an experienced mom. Everything was fine, and the little girl I named Celine.
I have a lot of goats for sale this year. I want to get down to 10 does, and 10 wethers, plus the 3 bucks, and sell all the rest, including the two mature bucks that are related to everyone in some way. I have 20 sold now, but I still have the bucks, one white and one black, and a couple of does with this year's kids on them. I really like the kids the two bucks are throwing, but it's time they found a new batch of does that aren't related in any way to them. They are 4 and 7 years old, lots of life left in them, they've had it pretty easy here. I really don't want to take any to the auction, I don't like doing that.
Next weekend I get to go to the Montana Association of Weavers and Spinners conference down on Flathead Lake. The guild I'm in is hosting it this year, so I get a weekend away from here playing with like minded fibery folk! :-) I'm also a vendor there, with my needle felted critters and some handspun cashmere yarn. I am looking forward to it! Hope the weather is half way warm, and not too much rain.
Well, back to needle felting, I want to get a few more critters made before next week!
Friday, April 29, 2016
A short video, Winnie
I've sold all raw cashmere that I wanted to, now I'm sorting through and bagging up the fleece I'll send off to a mill to be dehaired. Now I almost wish I hadn't got rid of the machine! I liked doing my own fleeces, and being able to do them separately. But, it is such a slow process that that was all I did all summer and fall was dehair cashmere. This year I will have time for other things, which around this place, there is never a shortage of projects to do!
It's time for my drastic downsizing of the herd again. Every few years I do that, although this time I'm really downsizing. Going from 70 some to under 30. So if anyone wants any quality cashmere goats, get in touch with me. There are pet quality to breeding stock, including two proven bucks, and one of the prettiest does I have. I'm developing a smaller line of goats, so all the bigger ones are going. There are some smaller ones going, too. A lot of wethers, most of whom are friendly and will be nice pets as well as cashmere producers. This is going to be hard for me to say good bye to all of them, they are my babies, but our land needs a rest, and so do I. There are a couple of does with this years' babies on them that are for sale, too.
Rocky and Cloud, my two Turkish Akbash LGDs are wonderful! Third time's the charm. They have bonded with the goats, they are guarding well, they are gentle with the babies, and they don't bark unless something is actually on the property and near the goats. Unlike Nellie, who barks at anything and everything she hears whether it's on our place or not. I will never get another Great Pyrenees again. I am sticking with the Akbash from here on out. It's hard to believe, but Nellie is going to be 10 in July! Time sure goes by fast. I still remember the day I got her as a little white fluff ball.
Dani is going to be 17 on may 17th. She is really old, but still going strong. I give her and Nellie both bone broth on their food, and that is really keeping them going. That stuff is good for pets as well as humans.
Well, I hope this video works, it didn't in the preview, but I hope it does now. If not, I'll try again. With Mercury and 4 other planets in retrograde, who knows what will happen. ☺
Monday, April 25, 2016
Kid pics!
Friday, April 15, 2016
A bit of a break
The kidding is over except for 4 does that are spread out over the next two months! There are 17 kids. I've lost two, they just died for some reason. I don't see anything at all wrong with them..The first one died at 2 days old. He actually did look like something internal was going on. He didn't move quite right, and he looked a bit different. The second one was 14 days old and seemingly in perfect health. He was playing around and doing fine that morning when I fed. Then I went to town, came home, went out to feed and here he was dead. Not a hair out of place on him. Thankfully both were boys and not the girls. There were 12 boys and only 6 girls born this year, so far. The rest of them seem to be doing quite well.
Arianna had triplets this year! I'm having to give the little girl a bottle in the morning, she just isn't quite getting enough milk on her own, her two brothers push her away. Arianna is not the best mom in the world, either. She's making plenty of milk, she just is mostly rejecting little Ruthie. She won't let her drink by herself, and she only lets the boys drink for a few seconds.
I've gone and done it. I joined Facebook again, after a few years of not being on there. Now I'm trying to figure it all out, like how to join groups, etc. I've clicked two of the "join group" buttons, but I'm still in the pending mode on them. I have a business page, Pine Needle Farm Cashmeres and Mountainside Needle Felting, but I don't know if that page shows up on my personal page? That's why I joined, to promote my business. If you'd like to friend me, that would be great.
We woke up to three inches of snow, but it melted fast once the sun shone this afternoon. The kids weren't too happy this morning. They are not big fans of snow, it's cold and wet. ☺ There were lots of baby yells out in the goat pens this morning.
Happy Spring....
Arianna had triplets this year! I'm having to give the little girl a bottle in the morning, she just isn't quite getting enough milk on her own, her two brothers push her away. Arianna is not the best mom in the world, either. She's making plenty of milk, she just is mostly rejecting little Ruthie. She won't let her drink by herself, and she only lets the boys drink for a few seconds.
I've gone and done it. I joined Facebook again, after a few years of not being on there. Now I'm trying to figure it all out, like how to join groups, etc. I've clicked two of the "join group" buttons, but I'm still in the pending mode on them. I have a business page, Pine Needle Farm Cashmeres and Mountainside Needle Felting, but I don't know if that page shows up on my personal page? That's why I joined, to promote my business. If you'd like to friend me, that would be great.
We woke up to three inches of snow, but it melted fast once the sun shone this afternoon. The kids weren't too happy this morning. They are not big fans of snow, it's cold and wet. ☺ There were lots of baby yells out in the goat pens this morning.
Happy Spring....
Monday, April 4, 2016
A baby day!
This morning at 5:30 I was awoken by a bellowing doe. Ming was having her kids! She had twin boys, both are really nice looking, beautiful coloring and cute ears. Just after that was done, Speckles, the dairy doe was having her twins. So I ran across the yard to the dairy side of things and watched Speckles have her two. Actually I got there just after she had the second one. A boy and a girl. Both are huge and strong, healthy babies. No wonder she looked so big with those two in there!
Luna had her boy around 2 pm, then Heather had a boy around 3 pm. Just before feeding time, at 5 pm, Oksana had a boy. Lots of boys this year! So far there have been 15 kids born, but I lost one. Little Oscar died sometime in the night two days after he was born. I went out to feed in the morning and here he was laying in the spool house dead, with Olive standing beside him. Bummer! I don't know what he died from. He hadn't seemed quite right from the beginning, but I couldn't see anything wrong, he just seemed "off" for some reason. He must have had something internal going on. At least Olive is alive and well. She's a playful kid, more than the other ones, so far. Out of the 14 live kids, there are 9 boys and 5 girls. Shades of brown are the dominant color. As soon as I get pictures of everyone, I'll post them on here. Now there are 5 more does to go, and it will be all over for this year. Two more are due this week, then one in late April, mid May and mid June.
Today was a long day! I should sleep good tonight. No one is due to kid till Wednesday, so I hope I get a good night's sleep tonight anyway. I'll have pictures up soon....
Luna had her boy around 2 pm, then Heather had a boy around 3 pm. Just before feeding time, at 5 pm, Oksana had a boy. Lots of boys this year! So far there have been 15 kids born, but I lost one. Little Oscar died sometime in the night two days after he was born. I went out to feed in the morning and here he was laying in the spool house dead, with Olive standing beside him. Bummer! I don't know what he died from. He hadn't seemed quite right from the beginning, but I couldn't see anything wrong, he just seemed "off" for some reason. He must have had something internal going on. At least Olive is alive and well. She's a playful kid, more than the other ones, so far. Out of the 14 live kids, there are 9 boys and 5 girls. Shades of brown are the dominant color. As soon as I get pictures of everyone, I'll post them on here. Now there are 5 more does to go, and it will be all over for this year. Two more are due this week, then one in late April, mid May and mid June.
Today was a long day! I should sleep good tonight. No one is due to kid till Wednesday, so I hope I get a good night's sleep tonight anyway. I'll have pictures up soon....
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